he walk naked, and they see his | poured out his vial into the air; shame. . 16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 17 And the seventh angel 18 And there were voices, design and end of the comparison, and slaughter; see Judges v. 19; 2 and it should not be pursued any fur-Kings ix. 27; xxiii. 29; 2 Chron. ther. The thief comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy; but we must not push the comparison to this length, for Jesus came for no such purpose. We see, then, that by pushing the application of metaphors and comparisons too far, we do essential injustice to the meaning of the sacred writers. Obtain, if possible, the true meaning, and there stop. See the remarks on iii. 3. The passage before us is evidently parenthetical; for the strain of the 14th verse is resumed in the 16th. Paul exhorted his brethren, at Thessalonica, not to let "the day of the Lord" overtake them as a thief; 1 Thess. v. 4; and this seems to be the design of the verse before us. The Christians were required to watch for that day, and keep their garments in order, that they might not be obliged to walk in their shame. 16. Gathered them together. Here the account of the battle mentioned in verse 14 is resumed again. And he gathered them together; i. e., the power did this which was mentioned in the verse last named, which went forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day, &c. ¶ In the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the place to which they were gathered together was called in Hebrew, Armageddon. There are different speculations as to what is meant by Armageddon. We incline to the opinion that it is formed from the Hebrew word signifying a mountain, and Megiddo, the name of a place mentioned in the Old Testament; so that Armageddon signifies the Mountain of Megiddo. It was a place famous in the history of the Old Testament for blood xxxv. 22; Zech. xii. 11. Armageddon 17. Seventh angel. The seventh angel was the last of the series. The description of the judgment is now about to be finished. ¶ Into the air - In the imagery of the chapter the seventh vial of the wrath of God is said to have been poured into the air. ¶ A great voice. And there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, the very place of the Holy One, saying, "It is done." That is, the last vial is poured out, and under this vial the judgment is completed. The facts to be stated in the succeeding verses of the account are the completion of the judgment. On the subject of "the great voice," see the note on xiv. 18. 18. Thunders, and lightnings, and a great earthquake.. The terms used here are repeatedly employed in the Scriptures, and especially in the Apocalypse, to represent great commotions among men, and the overthrow of nations. An earthquake is usually attended by a great noise, like the and thunders, and lightnings; | divided into three parts, and the and there was a great earth- cities of the nations fell: and quake, such as was not since great Babylon came in remem men were upon the earth, so brance before God, to give unto nighty an earthquake, and so her the cup of the wine of the great. fierceness of his wrath. 19 And the great city was rolling of thunder, which, in the language of Scripture, is the voice of God. And as nothing more quickly or more utterly destroys a place than an earthquake, so that convulsion of nature is made to represent, in the sacred writings, the overthrow of states and empires. The destruction of Jerusalem is described in the same terms; Rev. vi. 12; viii. 5; xi. 13, 19. The last quoted verse bears a very strong resemblance to the verse now before us. It was the destruction of Rome and the other cities of the empire that was intended under the metaphor, as is evident from the next verse. 20 And every island fled upon the Roman Empire on the earth. Hence, when we are told, "The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever," (Rev. xiv. 10, 11,) we are made certain that the metaphors refer to the judgment which God sent upon the Romans here on the earth, and not in the immortal state. Compare the last quoted text with Rev. xvi. 1, 19. 20. Every island, &c. - These met19. Into three parts. The great aphors are introduced merely to city was undoubtedly Rome, which, heighten the description. Islands and by the divine judgments became di- mountains are sometimes removed by vided and broken, like a place broken earthquakes; there is a corresponinto chasms by an earthquake. The dence, therefore, in the figures. This expression "three parts" is used here, figure is identical with that employed as in other places in the Apocalypse, to represent the judgment that befel not in a strictly numerical sense. the Jews; see vi. 14. To describe Other cities of the empire were prob- the power of God, Isaiah had said, ably involved in the judgments." Behold, the nations are as a drop of ¶ Great Babylon - i. e., Babylon spiritually, meaning Rome, (as Jerusalem was called Sodom, for its wickedness, xi. 8,) came up in remembrance before God; i. e., he did not forget her sins; he did not fail to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath;" he did not forget to pour out her wickedness upon her. In this sense she came in remembrance before him. These seven vials were the wrath of God. They were "the seven last plagues." The vials were poured Out " upon the earth," verse 1. The cup of the wine of the fierceness of God's wrath, then, was the same as the vials of God's wrath, and of course referred to the judgments that fell a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance, behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing;" xl. 15. Ezekiel described with similar figures the fall of Tyre: "Thus saith the Lord God to Tyrus ; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee? Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee. And they shall take up a lamentation away, and the mountains were not found. for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of sea-faring men, the renowned city, which was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it! Now, shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure;" xxvi. 15-18. Is it to be wondered at, then, that the revelator should describe the fall of Rome by the metaphors that occur in this verse? Commotions in the mountains are very frequently used to represent the judgments of God upon his enemies, or upon his rebellious children. David calls on God to send judgments on his enemies, in the following manner: "Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke;" Psa. cxliv. 5. The mountains melted at his presence; Isa. xxxiv. 3. They flowed down; Idem, lxiv. 1-3. He made them waste; Idem, xlii. 15. We can no longer wonder that the revelator, who had been educated in the school of the prophets, should describe the effects of the divine judgments on Rome, by the islands fleeing away, and the mountains being moved out of their places. 21. A great hail. And as to the hail, that also is parallel, like the judgments mentioned in the preceding verse, to the metaphor in xi. 19, which forms a part of the description of the judgments of the Jews. The storm of hail is represented as terribly severe, each stone about the weight of a talent, many pounds. A horrid judgment! ¶ The plague thereof was exceeding great.· This last sentence explains the whole design. Whatever metaphors are employed, the only object was to represent the plagues to be "exceeding great." We submit our notes on this chapter with the following concluding observations. 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, These several vials, as we have shown, do not signify so many special judgments. They are not to be taken severally, but as a whole. The number seven signifies completeness, perfection, as if all the judgments of the Apocalypse that remained to be described were fulfilled by the vials. In them was "filled up the wrath of God;" xv. 1. But there is a propriety observed through the whole. The first vial was poured on the land, and a grievous sore fell on the people; the second on the sea, and it became blood; the third on the rivers and fountains, and the waters were changed in the same manner; the fourth on the sun, and his power was greatly increased; the fifth on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was filled with darkness; the sixth on the Euphrates, and it was dried up, that the enemy might pass; the seventh on the air, and that was agitated by thunders and lightnings, and the great hail and an earthquake. There is a plan in the whole; the scenery is not chaotic. The consequences of pouring out each vial are proper to the place or element on which it was poured out. The pouring out of the seven vials answers to the opening of the seven seals, mentioned from chap. vi. 1, to viii. 1. Under the seven seals were described the catastrophes that came upon the Jews; under the seven vials those that came on the Romans. There is somewhat of a uniformity in the plan pursued in both cases. The Jews were represented as being about to be visited by war, prefigured by the rider on the red horse, (vi. 4;) famine, by the rider on the black horse, with the pair of balances, (vi. 5;) and pestilence, by death on the pale horse, (vi. 8.) The same fate awaited the Romans. The plagues poured out from the seven vials are all resolvable into these three great evils of nations. every stone about the weight plague of the hai; for the of a talent and men blas- plague thereof was exceeding phemed God because of the 1st. The pestilence is described under the grievous sore, (xvi. 2,) which is represented to have been rendered more fatal, by the people being cut off from all power to cleanse themselves, the rivers and fountains being turned to blood, (verses 3, 4,) which they were also obliged to drink, (verse 6.) Was not this a forcible description of a pestilence? 2d. The famine is described under the excessive drought and scorching. The idea of a famine must be involved; for how could the fruits of the earth be produced, if the heat of the sun were increased to that degree, that "power was given to him to scorch men with fire?" (verse 8.) 3d. War was also evidently intended, for the sixth vial was poured out on the river Euphrates, which was dried up, "that the way of the kings of the East [i. e., the kings reigning east of that river] might be prepared;" verse 12; and what is said of gathering the forces together to battle at Armageddon is further confirmation of the fact. Thus, although we place no dependence on the consecutive order of the vials, and do not suppose they were designed to impress the Christians with the expectation of a regular series of seven judgments, still we do see that the idea of pestilence, famine and war is involved. As in chapters vii., viii., ix., x. and xi., we found a continued description of the events prefigured under the seven seals, so in chapters xvii., xviii., xix., &c., we shall find a continued description of the events prefigured under the pouring out of the seven vials. The similarity of the imagery which was used under the seven trumpets, chapters viii., ix., X., xi., with that which occurs under the seven vials, chapter xvi., will best be seen by the following table : great. forth against Jerusa- the beast, or place of lem, the seat of the his power, 10. Jewish persecuting power, ix. 1—12. 6. Operations in the 6. Upon the great region of the Euphra- river Euphrates, 12. tes, 14. 7. In the region of 7. Into the air; and the air: and there were there were voices, light great voices in heaven, thunderings, saying, The kingdoms nings, and a great of this world are be- earthquake, and hail come the kingdoms of immensely great, ev. our Lord and of his ery hail stone about Christ; and the con- the weight of a talent, tinued opposition was 17-21. denoted by lightnings, voices, thunderings, earthquakes, and great hail, 15-19. Apocalypse; the book is not chaotic. There is evidently a plan in the Better is it to study it, in connection with the prophets, to see what is its true import, than to neglect it altogether, and scoff at it as unworthy of notice. CHAPTER XVII. Preliminary Remarks. Let us see, at the commencement of this chapter, how far we have brought down the prophecy of the punishment of the Roman persecutors of Christianity. In the 12th chapter, we saw that the ecclesiastical power of Rome was set forth under the figure of the dragon; and, in the 13th, the civil power of the same empire was set forth under the figure of a beast. Both the dragon and beast had seven heads and ten A CHAPTER XVII. ND there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with horns, showing that the same empire was represented by both; but there were such marks of dissimilarity, and such different actions attributed to each, that it is evident the power of the empire was described under two different aspects. Both the religious and civil power of Rome persecuted the Christians. In the 14th chapter (which we said was, as it were, a table of contents to what remained to be treated of in the Apocalypse) we found, 1st. A representation of the perseverance and fidelity of the Jewish church notwithstanding the persecutions; 1-5. 2d. The opening of the gospel to the Gentiles; verses 6, 7. 3d. The impending judgment of the Romans announced, who were to have no rest day nor night; verses 8-11 and 14-20; and 4th. During these troubles the Christians were blessed, by resting from their persecutions, while their works of great success in the gospel followed them wherever they went; verses 12, 13. So much for the 14th chapter. In the 15th we find just what we should expect, viz., the success of the gospel among the Gentiles; for the church of the Gentiles is seen standing on the sea of glass, praising God and the Lamb, while the commission is issued to the angels to pour out their woes upon the wicked, idolatrous, persecuting empire. The seven angels are furnished with "seven golden vials [or bowls] full of the wrath of God;" and the 16th chapter is occupied with a description, highly metaphorical, and thus in keeping with the general style of the Apocalypse, of the pouring out of the vials on the earth. And thus we are brought to the 17th chapter. 1. One of the seven angels. The 17th chapter is explanatory of the judgments which had been intended me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters; by the pouring out of the seven vials. Let the fact be distinctly remembered. The revelator says, that one of the seven angels, who had the seven vials, came to him, and talked with him, i. e., to give him further information concerning what was intended by the pouring out of the vials. It was not some other angel, but one of the seven-vial angels; which seems to show that the same subject is to be continued - that what is to be described is a part of the judgment denoted by the vials. We are now to see whose judgment it was that had been described in xvi. 19: "And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." I will show unto thee.. That is, "I will point out to thee more fully the judgment of great Babylon, of which I have already spoken." ¶ The judgment of the great whore.. The metaphor of a woman "sitting on many waters," seems to be a kind of mixed metaphor; but it will all appear plainly as we proceed. By the vile woman was intended the city spiritually called "Babylon;" xiv. 8; xvi. 19; xvii. 5; xix. 2; and to speak of a city as being set on many waters is a very just description. The revelator learned his figure of the lewd woman from the prophets. Nahum thus describes the wickedness of Nineveh: "Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts;" iii. 4. See the whole passage from verse 1-7; and for more concerning this figure of speech, see under verse 3, below. The judgment |
