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washed their robes, and made | him day and night in his tem

them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve

This was "the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost;" Titus iii. 5.

ple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more;

enjoyed by the believer here on the earth. God "dwelleth not in temples made with hands," but in the spiritual 15. Before the throne of God. In temple of the heart. He dwelt in what sense were they "before the Jesus and in his disciples; yea, all throne of God?" They had an the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in habitual sense of his presence; they him. "He that keepeth his commandlived near to him; they acknowl-ments dwelleth in him, and he in him. edged his divine government; they And hereby we know that he abideth praised and glorified his name; they in us, by the spirit which he hath rendered him willing obedience. given us;" 1 John iii. 24. "If we Thus were they before the throne of love one another, God dwelleth in us," God. Served him day and night in for "God is love;" 1 John iv. 8. 12, his temple. — They were, by metaphor, 15, 16. Such is the sense in which represented as kings and priests unto God dwells among his saints. God; Rev. i. 6; v. 10; and of course it may be said they served him, like the priests of old, day and night, i. e., continually, in his temple. Not in the outward temple upon Mount Zion, but in the inward, spiritual temple, of which the edifice on Zion was the representative. In the New Jerusalem, there is no need of any outward temple. John "saw no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it ;" Rev. xxi. 22. It was a spiritual temple. There is now a temple to God wherever the saints assemble to worship. When Jacob had his vision of the Almighty, he awoke and said, "This is none other than the house of God, and the very gate of heaven;" Gen. xxviii. 17. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?" said Paul to his brethren; 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17; vi. 19; 2 Cor. vi. 16. They served God in the spirit continually; the allusion to the temple is merely metaphorical. T Shall dwell among them.. If men are said in the spiritual sense to be the temple of God, He may be said to dwell among them. In this sense God "dwells among men," in their hearts, by the power of his truth and love; Rev. xxi. 3. All this may be

16. They shall hunger no more. — Hunger and thirst are put for the need which the soul hath of divine truth. The figures here are the most beautiful that the mind can conceive. Divine truth is to the soul what nourishment is to the body. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God ;" Matt. iv. 4. Sublime truth! Jesus was the living bread. Whoso eateth that bread hath eternal life; John vi. 58. "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst;" Idem, 35. His doctrine was also represented as the "water of life." "Whoso drinketh of the water that I shall give him (said Jesus) shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life;" John iv. 14. Hence it is said of believers, who dwell in God's spiritual temple, "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more." Neither shall the sun light on them.- The meaning is, they shall be relieved of all distress. One species of human distress is hunger; the redeemed shall hunger no more.

neither shall the sun light on | feed them, and shall lead them them, nor any heat. unto living fountains of waters; 17 For the Lamb which is in and God shall wipe away all the midst of the throne shall tears from their eyes.

Another kind of distress, perhaps more poignant, is thirst; the redeemed shall thirst no more. Men frequently suffer when on deserts, or wrecks of ships, not only from hunger and thirst, but also from the scorching rays of the sun; but the redeemed are safe, - the sun shall not light on them. The description is evidently taken from Isaiah xlix. 10: They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them." The blessings of the Messiah's king-tains of water." In Rev. xxi. 6 it is dom are represented sometimes by the prophets under the metaphor of a tent or shadow, that screens men from the extreme heat of the sun; Isaiah iv. 6; xxv. 4; xxxii. 2.

of the shepherd is still kept up. How much like the language of the 23d Psalm. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters ;" ver. 1, 2. The tenderest care which the shepherd can bestow upon his flock is here used to represent the care which Jesus had for his faithful followers. The goodness of God "is a fountain of living waters;" Jer. ii. 13. Refreshing his people on the knowledge of divine love, Jesus indeed leads them "unto living foun

17. Lamb in the midst of the throne. - This is agreeable to the description in Rev. v. 6. T Shall feed them. This is the reason they shall hunger no more; ver. 16. Jesus, the Lamb of God, in this case assumes the character of a shepherd; and his church are his flock. He feeds them, as the False shepherd feeds his flock. teachers are compared to shepherds who feed not their flocks. See Ezek. xxxiv. 2, 3, 10. Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Feed my lambs," "Feed my sheep;" John xxi. 15, 16; i. e., nourish the flock. John had the authority of his Master, then, for the metaphor. St. Paul said to the Ephesian elders, "Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood;" Acts XX. 28. And Peter gives the same advice to the elders of the church, 1 Epis. v. 2. T Shall lead them by liv ing fountains. Here the metaphor

said, "I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." ¶ Wipe away all tears from their eyes. This heightens the description, which had been truly beautiful without it. To wipe away tears is put for the removal of all causes of sorrow. The gospel is said to wipe all tears away; Isa. xxv. 8; Rev. xxi. 4. This passage in the 7th chapter, 13-17, is one of the most beautiful in the whole book.

CHAPTER VIII.

1. And when he had opened the seventh seal. We now come to the opening of the seventh seal, or roll, (sealed book,) of which we found a description in chap. v. 1-7. The opening of six of these seals has been described in chap, vi. In the Sth chapter we have a more particular description of the woes that were to fall upon the Jews previously to the approach of the Roman armies. The approach of these armies is mentioned in chapter ix. The opening of the first seal is described chap. vi., verse 1; of the second, verse 3; of the third, verse 5; of the fourth, verse 7; of the fifth, verse 9; and of the sixth, verse 12. The famines, the pesti

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CHAPTER VIII. ND when he had opened the seventh seal, there was

lences, and the earthquakes, mentioned chap. vi., were "the beginning of sorrows;" Matt. xxiv. 7, 8; and therefore are put down first in the order of the Apocalypse. Then comes the persecution and killing of the Christians, or martyrs; Matt. xxiv. 9-12; and hence the crying of the martyrs for vengeance is placed next in the Apocalypse; vi. 9-11. Next in order in 24th of Matthew, comes a premonition of the "abomination of desolation," verse 15, which is described under the sixth seal in the Apocalypse, 12-17. Jesus then states that the Christians were to be saved from these calamities, Matt. xxiv. 16-21, which is beautifully described in the Apocalypse by the sealing of the 144,000, chap. vii. For the sake of the elect, or the believers, the days of tribulation at first were shortened, or remitted; the siege was raised for a short time, Matt. xxiv. 22; and thus the Christians escaped; which is represented in the Apocalypse by the angels holding back the winds from blowing on the earth, to destroy it, until the 144,000 of spiritual Israel were sealed; vii. 1-3. Thus we find that so far as the destruction of Jerusalem is concerned, the order of Christ in describing the events in his prophecy, in Matt. xxiv., is principally followed by the revelator in his seven seals. The events placed by our Lord as happening immediately before the fall of the city, are described in the following words: "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not :"

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silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

2 And I saw the seven angels

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Matt. xxiv. 23-26. These are the events which are described in bold and glowing metaphors in the 8th chapter of Revelation, under the opening of the seventh seal, which is subdivided into seven parts. ¶ Silence in heaven. The metaphors are still based on the plan of the services in the temple. We behold, in verse 3, that the angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer. This was preparatory to offering incense in the holy place. The people stood without, i. e., without the sacred place, in some other part of the temple, every one in secret, silent prayer the meanwhile. The Lord was supposed to be in the temple, in a special manner, at the time of incense. Hence it is said, "The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him;" Hab. ii. 20. The same service is more definitely referred to, Luke i. 9-10: "According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without, at the time of incense." The prayer was secret, in each one's soul, and silence of course prevailed. When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, and preparation was made for burning incense, there was said to be, in conformity to the temple service, "silence in heaven about the space of half an hour," which was probably about the length of time that was consumed in this part of the temple service.

2. Seven angels which stood before God. These are those we call the angels of the divine presence, because they always stand before God, like the seven confidential ministers, nearest the throne of the earthly monarch. See Tobit xii. 18. See, also, the notes on the angelology of the Apocalypse under v. 2, and the notes on i. 4, iii. 1, iv. 5. The events

which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

under the seventh seal are divided into seven parts; and hence seven trumpets, with which to announce those events, are placed in the hands of the seven angels. The whole, of

course, is scenical.

censer.

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4. Ascended up before God. At that time, especially, therefore, the prayers of Christians everywhere ascended to heaven, denoted by the words, "And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God, out of the angel's hand."

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3. Another angel. This was the angel of the golden censer. — - Angelology, Apoc., §9. ¶ At the altar. The altar here spoken of was unquestionably the altar of incense, as incense was about to be offered. It is mentioned Exod. xxx. 27. ¶ Golden - The golden censer was for the purpose of incense. The sacred vessels were many of them of gold and silver, and hence were for their value carried off into Babylon, at the captivity, and afterwards restored; Ezra vi. 5, and Dan. v. 2, 3. The censer was of pure gold; 1 Kings vii. 50; 2 Chron. iv. 22; Heb. ix. 4. ¶ Given unto him much incense.. To the angel was given much incense, the occasion being an extraordinary one. That he should offer it. This he was to offer while the people were in silent prayer. He offered it during the prayers — during the half hour's siience. We have already shown, on chapter v. 8, that the odors were the prayers of saints. "Let my prayer be set before thee as incense;" Psa. cxli. 2. The Jews gave themselves much to prayer, as did also the Christians; Acts vi. 4. The Jewish Christians were directed specially to praying fire from the altar to cast upon during the calamities of the nation; Matt. xxiv. 20. In fact, the believers everywhere were directed to pray in reference to that event. See 1 Peter

5. Filled it with fire. The facts mentioned in the verse are preparatory to what is to follow, of metaphorical introduction to the threatened judgments. Fire was always burning on the altar; Lev. xvi. 12; Isa. vi. 6. It is used to signify not only the judgments which God sends upon the earth, but the purifying power of God, and ofttimes the purifying power of his judgments. It is put for the judgments of God in the verse before us. The angel filled the censer with fire from the altar, and cast it on the earth, or land of Judea, to show that further judgments were to fall on the Jews. A great commotion followed. "There were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake;" a figure of tumults, anger, great noises, frightful visitations from heaven, and a great overthrow. We think the figure of tak

the earth is designed to show that the judgments originated in heaven; and are sent out from the presence of God. So the desolation of Israel was

and an earthquake.

6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

were cast upon the earth, and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

7 The first angel sounded, 8 And the second angel and there followed hail and fire sounded, and as it were a great mingled with blood, and they mountain burning with fire was

described by Ezek. ix. and x. serve carefully x. 1, 2.

Ob-ferent portions of the Jews, without the aid of the Roman armies. The destruction being described by burning, or overthrow of the forests and herbage, or grass, is drawn also, we think, from the account of the plague of hail in Egypt, Exod. ix. 22, 25.

6. Prepared themselves to sound. No further delay is to be expected. All is now ready for the commencement of final action. The woes were about to come; they were just on the point of commencing; and hence it is said, the angels prepared themselves to sound.

8. The second angel sounded. - This opens another series of calamities, another source of woe. TA great 7. Hail and fire mingled with blood. mountain burning with fire. - High -The figure here signified destruc-mountains and lofty hills denoted tion. What could be more expressive of devastation, with loss of life added thereto, than "hail and fire mingled with blood?" The figure is borrowed from the Old Testament. One of the judgments upon Egypt was thunder, hail and fire; Exod. ix. 21-25. The figures of hail and fire for judgments originated here. See, also, Ezek. Xxxviii. 22: "And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone." Third part of trees. The third part of trees being burnt signified that this was as yet but a partial destruction. This is not the treading of the holy city under foot. That was to be done by the Roman armies and we have not yet come to that part of the Apocalypse in which the approach of the Roman armies is described. In our judgment, what follows in the chapter before us refers to the tumults among the Jews themselves, which broke out in different places, some in the country, some on the coast, near the sea, and some in the holy city, endangering the very city itself, which was threatened to be destroyed by the quarrels of dif

kingdoms, republics, states, cities, and proud men that exalt themselves. See how Isaiah describes the fall of the proud and lofty: "For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up;” ii. 12—14. Here it is manifest, that by the high mountains and hills were intended those that were proud and lofty. ¶ Cast into the sea.- The figure of throwing down a burning mountain is borrowed from Jer. li. 25: "Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain." See Ezek. xxxviii. 14-23, where the reader will find a train of metaphors very similar to those which occur in the chapter before us. See, also, Amos vii. 4, and Rev. xvi. 3. The burning mountain may well have represented some proud, ambitious, influential and seditious person, claiming to be a

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