their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. 20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the heighten the description, and hence said, "For their power is in their mouth and in their tails;" i. e., in the latter as well as the former. He says no more about their mouths, but proceeds, "their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt." Such is the picture. They had not such tails as horses generally have, the long, graceful, flowing hair, but instead of these, serpents were appended "their tails were like unto serpents ;" that is, they resembled serpents, and like serpents, "they had heads." With them they do hurt. The description is very singular; but the only intention is to make the horses. appear as fearful as possible; to give them the power of doing fearful execution. It must be confessed that horses and horsemen thus armed would be invincible. Breathing fire, and smoke, and brimstone, they could not be resisted in front; and having tails like serpents, with heads, (the part of a serpent's body in which his fearful power lies.) they were safe from assaults in the rear. Such is the picture; and when we consider how much in the habit of hieroglyphical writing were the ancients, and what strange pictures they sometimes presented to give the idea of fearful power, we shall be less surprised at the revelator's images. 20. Were not killed by these plagues. The plagues mentioned in the Apocalypse will be treated of more fully under xxii. 19. The plagues in this case were certainly not in the immortal state, but were such as were inflicted by the armies that came up against Jerusalem. T Repented not. See under verse 21. T Worship devils. The word here works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear nor walk: is not diabolous, but daimonia. "It is manifest here (says Dr. Campbell) that the word rendered devils ought to have been demons; nor is it less manifest, that every being who is not the one true God, however much conceived to be superior to us, whether good or bad, hero or heroine, demigod or demi-goddess, angel or departed spirit, saint or sinner, real or imaginary, is in the class comprised under the name demons. And the worship of them is as much demonolatry, (if you will admit the word,) as the worship of Jupiter, Mars, and Minerva. This may serve to show of how much consequence it is to attend with accuracy to the differences to be found in the application of words. It is only thereby that we can learn their exact import, and be qualified to judge. both of the subject and of the completion of scriptural prophecies. As to the worship of the devil, tou diabolou, nothing can be clearer than that in Scripture no pagans are charged with it; and as to the worship tou darmonian, beings subordinate to the Supreme, it may be considered how far we can with justice say that the pagans are peculiarly chargeable. It will deserve to be remarked, by the way, that the only difference between demonolatry and idolatry appears to be, that the first regards the object of worship, the second the mode. The former is a violation of the first commandment; the latter of the second. The connection, however, is so intimate between them, that they have rarely, if ever, been found separate." — (Prelim. Diss. vi., p. i., sec. 19.) The Jews seem to have been guilty of both demonolatry and idolatry; for they not only worshipped demons, but 21 Neither repented they of | ceries, nor of their fornication, their murders, nor of their sor- nor of their thefts. idols, also, of gold and silver, and brass, and stone, and wood. writer states, in another place, that when Titus had obtained possession of the upper city, "he admired not only some other places of strength in it, but particularly those strong towers which the tyrants, in their mad conduct, had relinquished: for when he largeness of their several stones, and the exactness of their joints, as also how great was their breadth, and how extensive their length, he expressed himself after the manner following: 21. Neither repented they. — This is true to the facts as they existed. Notwithstanding the Roman armies encompassed the city, notwithstanding the fall of the city and temple was very imminent, notwithstanding saw their solid altitude, and the there had been destruction on every hand, and full a third part of the people had been slain, yet those who remained, viz., "the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues," repented not of their wick-We have certainly had God for our edness. It is a well known fact that the Jews grew more wicked as their troubles increased; they seemed to grow more and more forgetful of God as they fell more and more into need of his protection. The Romans had a very severe and dangerous service to perform, even after their forces around the city had been increased by calling the squadrons from the Euphrates. It seemed for a long time doubtful whether Vespasian, and after him Titus, would obtain full possession of the city and temple, and put down all opposition. What would have been the consequence had the Jews repented of their idolatries, and all their evil deeds, [for idolatry is put in the Scriptures as a metaphor for all kinds of sin,] before their final fall, we will not undertake to say; but it seems almost impossible that the Romans should ever have prevailed, had the Jews maintained a virtuous union among themselves. The city was very strong in a military point of view. It stood on a high elevation, and had great works and ramparts to secure it. Josephus says, "The temple was like a citadel, having walls of its own, which had more labor and pains bestowed on them than the rest. The cloisters wherewith the temple was enclosed were an excellent fortification." See his third Dissertation. And the same assistant in this war, and it was no other than God who ejected the Jews out of these fortifications; for what could the hands of men, or any machines, do towards overthrowing these towers?'" -(De Bell. Jud., Book vi., ch. ix., sec. 1.) Thus we have the testimony of the Roman commander, that the final overthrow of this people must be attributed to the interposition of God. This fact is treated of in the 10th and 11th chapters of Revelation. We have seen that it was God who gave them up to destruction; and the reason is described in the verses before us, viz., “The rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues [i. e., such plagues as had already occurred] repented not of the works of their hands." They resorted to deeds that might have been expected only from those given up to idolatry. They plundered the temple, melted down the sacred utensils, emptied the vessels of the sacred wine and oil, and distributed them among their followers; and these worse than idolatrous iniquities led Josephus to say, "that had the Romans made any longer delay in coming against these villains, that the city would either have been swallowed up by the ground opening upon them, or been overflowed by water, or else been destroyed by such thunder as the country of Sodom perished by; for it had brought forth a gene AN CHAPTER X. and a rainbow was upon his ND I saw another mighty head, and his face was as it were angel come down from the sun, and his feet as pillars heaven, clothed with a cloud of fire: ration of men more atheistical than were those that suffered such punishments, for by their madness it was that all the people came to be destroyed." -(De Bell. Jud., Book v., ch. xiii., sec. 6.) When, therefore, all which they had suffered, especially under Cestius Gallus, Vespasian and Titus, failed to bring them to repentance, (the Roman armies still encompassing their city,) it seems God gave them over to absolute and immediate destruction, - city, temple and nation. An angel came down from heaven; and with one foot on the land, and another on the sea, he cried with a loud voice, and swore by him that liveth forever and ever, that there should be time no longer, i. e., that no more time should elapse before the final overthrow. But of this we shall treat in our notes on the next chapter.. CHAPTER X. At the conclusion of the last chapter, we read that the people repented not "of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts;" ch. ix. 21; and because they repented not, God's forbearance endured no longer. He resolved then to execute judgment without any further delay. And this, let it be remembered, is the principal fact brought out in chap. x. The plan of the revelator in respect to the fall of Jerusalem is fast hastening to its development. 1. Another mighty angel. This has reference to some former angel, perhaps to the one of whom we read in ch. ix. 1, under the figure of the star, who came down from heaven to unlock the bottomless pit; or it may refer to the one mentioned ch. v. 2. Come down from heaven. This "mighty angel," this angel of great power, came down from heaven, i. e., he was divinely commissioned. ¶ Clothed with a cloud. - He was clothed or enveloped in a cloud. Το come in the clouds of heaven was, among the Jews, the known symbol of divine power and majesty. The divine presence upon the mount, at the giving of the law, was veiled in a cloud. Our Saviour said that at his second advent he should come "in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory;" Matt. xxiv. 30. Hence the angel is said to be a mighty angel. ¶ A rainbow upon his head. - The "great glory" of his coming is described by the "rainbow upon his head." A splendid figure! and what a unity of metaphors - the cloud and the rainbow! As it were the sun. — His face was as the sun. This was the exact description given of the Son of man, ch. i. 16: "His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength." See also the account of the transfiguration; Matt. xvii. 2. His feet as pillars of fire. This, also, is the language applied to Jesus, ch. i. 15: "His feet like unto fine brass as if they burned in a furnace." The angel then seems to be the Son of man, who descends from heaven to judge the nations, and to bring the first covenant to a close, agreeably to his repeated declarations. Jesus is peculiarly the angel of the Lord, above all other angels, the "messenger of the [new] covenant,” Mal. iii. 1, which at the second advent he was to establish by putting aside the old. The appearance of this angel was pronounced by Sir William Jones to equal in sublimity any description to be found in the inspired writers, and to be far superior to anything of the kind produced by human composition. 2. A little book open. This little 2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, book seems to represent what remained of the seventh seal. It is not the book (Biblion) of which we found an account in v. 1, said to have been sealed with seven seals; but a little book (Biblaridion) the diminutive of Biblion. The word occurs nowhere else in the Bible, except in this chapter; but it occurs in classic authors. The sealed book consisted of seven parts, each part sealed by itself. Six seals had been opened, and the contents declared. The opening of the seventh, or final seal, is described viii. 1; and the seventh, or final seal, differs from either of the others, in that it was subdivided into seven parts, denoted by the seven trumpets, viii. 2, 6. Six of the angels had sounded; see ix. 13. The seventh remained to sound. What remained, therefore, to be revealed, although very important in itself, and the denouement of the whole tragedy, was but the seventh fraction of the seventh seal. How appropriately, then, was it called a little book, when spoken of in comparison with the book with seven seals. And mark, it was not brought forward as a little book sealed, but open; for the seven seals having been broken, there remained no more to be broken. Right foot upon the sea. The mighty angel had his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the earth, or land. This was to denote his control over both, -over the whole earth, universal control. Why is the earth called God's footstool? Is it not because he has dominion over it? It is beneath him; he is its sovereign. To make one's enemies his footstool, is to put them completely in subjection to him. So when it is said, the angel set his right foot on the sea, and his left on the earth, is meant that he had dominion over them. We know of no angel who ever had this wide do 3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. minion, except the Lord Jesus. He was the angel of the covenant, and to him had been given "all power in heaven and on earth;" Matt. xxviii. 18. His enemies were to be made his footstool; and this is signified by his placing one foot upon the sea, and another upon the land. The time of his great power had come. - He 3. Cried with a loud voice. demanded attention. There is a striking resemblance here to the descent of God upon Sinai, when he gave the law: "There were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceedingly loud," Exod. xix. 16. So the mighty angel "cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth, and seven thunders uttered their voices." Thus it is seen, that the description of the giving of the law is like that of its passing away; only in the first case the agent is God; in the second he is the Son, the " messenger of the [new] covenant." Seven thunders, means nothing more than great thunder. Seven, as we have repeatedly had occasion to remark, was a perfect number with the Jewish writers; it was a round or series that was continually occurring. Apocalypse is full of proofs of this. Seven of the Asiatic churches were addressed; there were seven golden candlesticks; seven stars which are the seven angels of the churches; the Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God; seven angels stood before God, who had seven trumpets; there were seven last plagues and seven golden vials full of wrath, &c. &c. In other parts of the Bible the same use is made of the number. Certainly this word is not to be understood strictly. This voice of the angel is the same that was ascribed to the Son of God; i. 15: "His voice as the sound of many The 4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. waters." Sir Isaac Newton, speak- 5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, 6 And sware by him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that nicate them, he would not have been forbidden to write them. strain of praise to the angel, as the hosts of heaven had praised the Lamb, on his appearance, v. 8, 9. But as the praise was no part of the prophecy in this case, and as the revelator was concerned to write only what the angel communicated, so it 4. Seven thunders, -as mentioned in was said to him, write not those the preceding verse. The voice was things which the seven thunders utone that could be understood; it was tered. At any rate, whatever those not merely thunder; but an articu- things were, it cannot be important late voice, loud like seven-fold thun- for us to know; for if it had been neder. I was about to write.-Hecessary for the revelator to commuhad been commanded to do so. "What thou seest write in a book;" Rev. i. 11. But more especially ver. 19: "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter." Agreeably to this command, he was about to write. ¶ Seal up those things. - The words were not to be written. Observe, they were not first written and then sealed up, but were not written at all. We cannot, therefore, know what the import was. It is possible this has reference to the fact that the precise day and hour of the fall of Jerusalem was not to be made known. Our Lord assures us that no one, neither the angels in heaven, knew the precise time when the holy city would fall. God alone knew when that event would transpire. This was one of the circumstances which Jesus could not utter in his account of the fall of Jerusalem, while he was on earth; and it is possible this was the fact that John was forbidden to write. This is a mere conjecture, however, and we offer it as such. There is another conjecture. On the appearance of the mighty angel, the voices like seven thunders, broke forth, it may be in a 5. Upon the sea and upon the earth. - For the explanation of this phraseology, see ver. 2. ¶ Lifted up his hand to heaven. — In the metaphorical language of the Scriptures, God is said to make solemn oath, and even to lift up his hand in doing ; Exod. vi. 8; Deut. xxxii. 40; Heb. vi. 13. It is a figure to show that the annunciation was made in the most solemn and impressive manner. The revelator evidently borrowed his description from Daniel: "And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever, that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished ;" xii. 7. 6. Sware by him that liveth, &c. This was the ancient form of description of the Supreme Being. See Neh. ix. 6. Also Rev. iv. 11, and xiv. 7. And what was sworn to? What great fact was declared in this solemn manner? That there should |
