_THE FIRST SIX TRUMPETS._
REV. viii., ix.
The two consolatory visions of chap. vii. have closed, and the Seer
returns to that opening of the seven Seals which had been interrupted
in order that these two visions might be interposed.
Six Seals had been opened in chap. vi.; the opening of the seventh
follows:--
And when He opened the seventh seal, there followed silence in
heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels
which stand before God; and there were given unto them seven
trumpets. And another angel came and stood over the altar, having
a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that
he should give it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the
golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the
incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of
the angel's hand. And the angel taketh the censer; and he filled
it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth: and
there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an
earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets
prepared themselves to sound (viii. 1-6).
Before looking at the particulars of this Seal, we have to determine the
relation in which it stands to the Seals of chap. vi. as well as to the
visions following it. Is it as isolated, as independent, as those that
have come before it; and are its contents exhausted by the first six
verses of the chapter? or does it occupy such a position of its own
that we are to regard the following visions as developed out of it? And
if the latter be the case, how far does the development extend?
In answering these questions, it can hardly be denied that if we are
to look upon the seventh Seal as standing independent and alone, its
contents have not the significance which we seem entitled to expect.
It is the last Seal of its own series; and when we turn to the last
member of the Trumpet series at chap. xi. 15, or of the Bowl series at
chap. xvi. 17, we find them marked, not by less, but by much greater,
force than had belonged in either case to the six preceding members.
The seventh Trumpet and the seventh Bowl sum up and concentrate the
contents of their predecessors. In the one the judgments of God
represented by the Trumpets, in the other those represented by the
Bowls, culminate in their sharpest expression and their most
tremendous potency. There is nothing of that kind in the seventh Seal
if it terminates with the preparation of the Trumpet angels to sound;
and the analogy of the Apocalypse therefore, an analogy supplying in a
book so symmetrically constructed an argument of greater than ordinary
weight, is against that supposition.
Again, the larger portion of the first six verses of this chapter does
not suggest the contents of the Seal. Rather would it seem as if these
contents were confined to the "silence" spoken of in ver. 1, and as if
what follows from ver. 2 to ver. 6 were to be regarded as no part of
the Seal itself, but simply as introductory to the Trumpet visions.
Everything said bears upon it the marks of preparation for what is to
come, and we are not permitted to rest in what is passing as if it
were a final and conclusive scene in the great spectacle presented to
the Seer.
For these reasons the view often entertained that the visions to which
we proceed are developed out of the seventh Seal may be regarded as
correct.
If so, how far does the development extend? The answer invariably
given to this question is, To the end of the Trumpets. But the answer
is not satisfactory. The general symmetry of the Apocalypse militates
against it. There is then no correspondence between the _last_ Trumpet
and the _last_ Seal, nothing to suggest the thought of a development
of the Bowls out of the seventh Trumpet in a manner corresponding to
the development of the Trumpets out of the seventh Seal. In these
circumstances the only probable conclusion is that _both_ the Bowls
and the Trumpets are developed out of the seventh Seal, and that that
development does not close until we reach the end of chap. xvi.
If what has now been said be correct, it will throw important light
upon the relation of the Seals to the two series of the Trumpets and
the Bowls taken together; while, at the same time, it will lend us
valuable aid in the interpretation of all the three series.
Returning to the words before us, it is said that, at the opening of
the seventh Seal, _there followed silence in heaven about the space of
half an hour_. This silence may perhaps include a cessation even of
the songs which rise before the throne of God from that redeemed
creation the voice of whose praise rests not either day or night.[197]
Yet it is not necessary to think so. The probability rather is that it
arises from a cessation only of the "lightnings and voices and
thunders" which at chap. iv. 5 proceed out of the throne, and which
are resumed at ver. 5 of the present chapter, when the fire of the
altar is cast from the angel's censer upon the earth. A brief
suspension of judgment is thereby indicated, a pause by and during
which the Almighty would call attention to the manifestations of His
wrath about to follow. The exact duration of this silence, "about the
space of half an hour," has never been satisfactorily explained; and
the general analogy of St. John's language condemns the idea of a
literal interpretation. We shall perhaps be more in accordance with
the spirit in which the Revelation is written if we consider--(1) that
in that book the half of anything suggests, not so much an actual
half, as a broken and interrupted whole,---five a broken ten, six a
broken twelve, three and a half a broken seven; (2) that in the Gospel
of St. John we find on more than one occasion mention made of an
"hour" by which at one time the actions, at another the sufferings, of
Jesus are determined: "Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour
is not yet come;" "Father, save Me from this hour: but for this cause
came I unto this hour."[198] The "hour" of Jesus is thus to St. John
the moment at which action, having been first resolved on by the
Father, is taken by the Son; and a "half-hour" may simply denote that
the course of events has been interrupted, and that the instant for
renewed judgment has been delayed. Such an interpretation will also be
in close correspondence with the verses following, as well as with
what we have seen to be the probable meaning of the "silence" of ver.
1. Preparation for action, rather than action, marks as yet the
opening of the seventh Seal.
That preparation is next described.
St. John saw _seven trumpets_ given to _the seven angels which stand
before God_. In whatever other respects these seven angels are to be
distinguished from the hosts of angels which surround the throne, the
commission now given shows that they are angels of a more exalted order
and a more irresistible power. They are in fact the expression of the
Divine Judge of men, or rather of the mode in which He chooses by
judgment to express Himself. We are not even required to think of them
as numerically seven, for seven in its sacred meaning is the number of
unity, though of unity in the variety as well as the combination of its
agencies. The "seven Spirits of God" are His one Spirit; the "seven
churches," His one Church; the "seven horns" and "seven eyes" of the
Lamb, His one powerful might and His one penetrating glance. In like
manner the seven Seals, the seven Trumpets, and the seven Bowls embody
the thought of many judgments which are yet in reality one. Thus also
the angels here are seven, not because literally so, but because that
number brings out the varied forms as well as the essential oneness of
the action of Him to whom the Father has given "authority to execute
judgment, because He is a Son of man."[199]
As yet the seven trumpets have only been given to the seven angels.
More has to pass before they put them to their lips and sound. Another
angel is seen who _came and stood over the altar, having a golden
censer_ in his hand. At the opening of the fifth Seal we read of an
"altar" which it was impossible not to identify with the great brazen
altar, the altar of burnt-offering, in the outer court of the
sanctuary. Such identification is not so obvious here; and perhaps a
majority of commentators agree in thinking that the altar now spoken
of is rather the golden or incense altar which had its place within
the Tabernacle, immediately in front of the second veil. To this altar
the priest on ordinary occasions, and more particularly the
high-priest on the great Day of Atonement, brought a censer with
burning frankincense, that the smoke of the incense, as it rose into
the air, might be a symbol to the congregation of Israel that its
prayers, offered according to the Divine will, ascended as a sweet
savour to God. It is possible that this may be the altar meant; yet
the probabilities of the case rather lead to the supposition that
allusion is made to the altar of sacrifice in the Tabernacle court;
for (1) when the Seer speaks here and again in ver. 5 of "the altar,"
and in ver. 3 of "the golden altar," he seems to distinguish between
the two. (2) The words _fire of the altar_ are in favour of the same
conclusion. According to the ritual of the Law, it was from the brazen
altar that fire was taken in order to kindle the incense,[200] while
at the same time fire continually burned upon that altar, but not upon
the altar within the Tabernacle. (3) The thought represented by the
symbolism seems to be that the sufferings of the saints gave efficacy
to their prayers, and drew down the answer of Him who says, "Call upon
Me in the day of trouble, and I will answer thee, and thou shalt
glorify Me."[201] (4) The words of ver. 3, _the prayers of all the
saints_, and the similar expression in ver. 4, remind us of the
prayers of the fifth Seal, now swelled by the prayers of those New
Testament saints who have been added to "the blessed fellowship" of
the Old Testament martyrs. These prayers, it will be remembered, rose
from beneath the altar of burnt-offering; and it is natural to think
that the same altar is again alluded to in order to bring out the idea
of a similar martyrdom. What we see, therefore, is an angel taking the
prayers and adding to them much incense, so that we may behold them as
they ascend up before God and receive His answer.
Further, it ought to be observed that the prayers referred to are for
judgment upon sin. There is nothing to justify the supposition that
they are partly for judgment upon, partly for mercy to, a sinful
world. They are simply another form of the cry, "How long, O Master,
the holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them
that dwell on the earth?"[202] They are a cry that God will vindicate
the cause of righteousness.[203]
The cry is heard, for the angel takes of the fire of the altar on
which the saints had been sacrificed as an offering to God, and casts
it into the earth, that it may consume the sin by which it had been
kindled. The _lex talionis_ again starts to view; not merely
punishment, but retribution, the heaviest of all retribution, because
it is accompanied by a convicted conscience, retribution in kind.
Everything is now ready for judgment, and _the seven angels which had
the seven trumpets prepare themselves to sound_:--
And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled
with blood, and they were cast into the earth: and the third part
of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was
burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up (viii. 7).
To think, in interpreting these words, of a literal burning up of a
third part of the "earth," of the "trees," and of the "green grass,"
would lead us astray. Comparing the first Trumpet with those that
follow, we have simply a general description of judgment as it affects
the _land_ in contradistinction to the sea, the rivers and fountains
of water, and the heavenly bodies by which the earth is lighted. The
punishment is drawn down by a guilty world upon itself when it rises
in opposition to Him who at first prepared the land for the abode of
men, planted it with trees pleasant to the eye, cast over it its
mantle of green, and pronounced it to be very good. Of every tree of
the garden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, might
our first parents eat; while grass covered the earth for their cattle,
and herb for their service. All nature was to minister to the wants of
man, and in cultivating the garden and the field he was to find light
and happy labour. But sin came in. Thorns and thistles sprang up on
every side. Labour became a burden, and the fruitful field was changed
into a wilderness which could only be subdued by constant, patient,
and often-disappointed toil. This is the thought--a thought often
dwelt upon by the prophets of the Old Testament--that is present to
the Seer's mind.
One of the plagues of Egypt, however, may also be in his eye. When the
Almighty would deliver His people from that land of their captivity, "He
sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the
Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire
mingled with the hail, very grievous.... And the hail smote throughout
all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast;
and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the
field."[204] That plague the Seer has in his mind; but he is not content
to use its traits alone, terrible as they were. The sin of a guilty
world in refusing to listen to Him who speaks from heaven is greater
than was the sin of those who refused Him that spake on earth, and their
punishment must be in proportion to their sin. Hence the plague of Egypt
is magnified. We read, not of hail and fire only, but of _hail and fire
mingled with_ (or rather _in_) _blood_, so that the blood is the outward
and visible covering of the hail and of the fire. In addition to this,
we have the herbs and trees of the field, not merely smitten and broken,
but utterly consumed by fire. What is meant by the "third part" of the
earth and its products being attacked it is difficult to say. The
probability is that, as a whole consists of three parts, partial
destruction only is intended, yet not destruction of a third part of the
earth, leaving two-thirds untouched; but a third part of the earth and
of its produce is everywhere consumed.
The second Trumpet is now blown:--
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain
burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the
sea became blood; and there died the third part of the creatures
which were in the sea, even they that had life; and the third part
of the ships was destroyed (viii. 8, 9).
As the first Trumpet affected the land, so the second affects _the
sea_; and the remarks already made upon the one destruction are for
the most part applicable to the other. The figure of removing a
mountain from its place and casting it into the sea was used by our
Lord to express what beyond all else it was impossible to accomplish
by mere human power: "Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and
doubt not, ye shall not only do what is done to the fig tree, but even
if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the
sea, it shall be done."[205] In so speaking, our Lord had followed the
language of the prophets, who were accustomed to illustrate by the
thought of the removal of mountains the greatest acts of Divine power:
"What art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become
a plain;" "Therefore will we not fear, though the mountains be carried
into the midst of the seas."[206]
Even the figure of a "burnt mountain" is not strange to the Old
Testament, for the prophet Jeremiah thus denounces woe on Babylon:
"Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which
destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out Mine hand upon thee,
and roll thee down from the rocks, and make thee a burnt mountain."[207]
The plagues of Egypt, too, are again taken advantage of by the Seer,
for in the first of these Moses "lifted up the rod, and smote the
waters that were in the river; ... and all the waters that were in the
river were turned to blood. And the fish that was in the river died;
and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of
the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt."[208]
Here, however, the plague is extended, embracing as it does not only
the river of Egypt, but the sea, with all the ships that sail upon it,
and all its fish. Again also, as before, the "third part" is not to be
thought of as confined to one region of the ocean, while the
remaining two-thirds are left untouched. It is to be sought everywhere
over the whole compass of the deep.
The third Trumpet is now blown:--
And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great
star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the
rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters; and the name of the
star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became
wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made
bitter (viii. 10, 11).
The third Trumpet is to be understood upon the same principles and in
the same general sense as the two preceding Trumpets. The figures are
again such as meet us in the Old Testament, though they are used by
the Seer in his own free and independent way. Thus the prophet Isaiah,
addressing Babylon in his magnificent description of her fall,
exclaims, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning!"[209] and thus also the prophet Jeremiah denounces judgment
upon rebellious Israel: "Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with
wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink."[210] The bitter
waters of Marah also lived in the recollections of Israel as the
first, and not the least terrible, punishment of the murmuring of
their fathers against Him who had brought them out into what seemed
but a barren wilderness, instead of leaving them to quench their
thirst by the sweet waters of the Nile.[211] Thus the waters which the
world offers to its votaries are made bitter, so bitter that they
become wormwood itself, the very essence of bitterness. Again the
"third part" of them is thus visited, but this time with a feature
not previously mentioned: the destruction of human life,--_many men
died of the waters_. Under the first Trumpet only inanimate nature was
affected; under the second we rose to creatures that had life; under
the third we rise to "many men." The climax ought to be noticed, as
illustrating the style of the Apostle's thought and aiding us in the
interpretation of his words. A similar climax may perhaps also be
intended by the agents successively employed under these Trumpets:
hail and fire, a great mountain burning, and a falling star.
The fourth Trumpet is now blown:--
And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was
smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the
stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day
should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like
manner (viii. 12).
This Trumpet offers no contradiction to what was previously
said,--that the first four members of the three series of Seals, of
Trumpets, and of Bowls deal with the material rather than the
spiritual side of man, with man as a denizen of this world rather than
of the next.[212] The heavenly bodies are here viewed solely in their
relation to earth and its inhabitants. As to the judgment, it rests,
like those of the first and second Trumpets, upon the thought of the
Egyptian plague of darkness: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch
out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land
of Egypt, even darkness that may be felt. And Moses stretched forth
his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land
of Egypt three days: they saw not one another, neither rose any from
his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had lights in
their dwellings."[213] The trait of the Egyptian plague alluded to in
this last sentence is not mentioned here; and we have probably,
therefore, no right to say that it was in the Seer's thoughts. Yet it
is in a high degree probable that it was; and at all events his
obvious reference to that plague may help to illustrate an important
particular to be afterwards noticed,--that all the Trumpet judgments
fall directly upon the world, and not the Church. As under the first
three Trumpets, the third part of the light of sun, and moon, and
stars is alone darkened.
The first four Trumpets have now been blown, and we reach the line of
demarcation by which each series of judgments is divided into its
groups of four and three. That line is drawn in the present instance
with peculiar solemnity and force:--
And I saw, and I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven, saying with
a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth by
reason of the other voices of the three angels who are yet to
sound (viii. 13).
Attention ought to be paid to the fact that the cry uttered in
_mid-heaven_, and thus penetrating to the most distant corners of the
earth, proceeds from an _eagle_, and not, as in the Authorised Version,
from an "angel;" and the eagle is certainly referred to for the purpose
of adding fresh terror to the scene. If we would enter into the Seer's
mind, we must think of it as the symbol of rapine and plunder. To him
the prominent characteristic of that bird is not its majesty, but its
swiftness, its strength, and its hasting to the prey.[214]
Thus ominously announced, the fifth Trumpet is now blown:--
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star out of heaven fallen
unto the earth: and there was given to him the key of the well of
the abyss. And he opened the well of the abyss; and there went up
a smoke out of the well, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the
sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the well.
And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth: and power
was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it
was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the
earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only such
men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads. And it was
given them that they should not kill them, but that they should be
tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a
scorpion, when it striketh a man. And in those days men shall seek
death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die,
and death fleeth from them. And the shapes of the locusts were
like unto horses prepared for war, and upon their heads as it were
crowns like unto gold, and their faces were as faces of men. And
they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the
teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates
of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots
of many horses rushing to war. And they have tails like unto
scorpions, and stings: and in their tails is their power to hurt
men five months. They have over them as king the angel of the
abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue he
hath the name Apollyon (ix. 1-11).
Such is the strange but dire picture of the judgment of the fifth
Trumpet; and we have, as usual, in the first place, to look at the
particulars contained in it. As in several previous instances, these
are founded upon the plagues of Egypt and the language of the
prophets. In both these sources how terrible does a locust plague
appear! In Egypt--"And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine
hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up
upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that
the hail hath left. And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of
Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day,
and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the
locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and
rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before
them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be
such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land
was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the
fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any
green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all
the land of Egypt."[215] Darker even than this is the language of the
prophet Joel. When he sees locusts sweeping across a land, he
exclaims, "The land was as the garden of Eden before them, and behind
them a desolate wilderness;"[216] and from their irresistible and
destructive ravages he draws not a few traits of the dread events by
which the coming of the day of the Lord shall be accompanied: "The
appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so
shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains
shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the
stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.... They shall run
like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they
shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their
ranks.... They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon
the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at
the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the
heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the
stars shall withdraw their shining."[217]
It is no doubt true that in the description before us the qualities
of its locusts are preternaturally magnified, but that is only what we
might expect, and it is in keeping with the mode in which other
figures taken from the Old Testament are treated in this book. There
is a probability, too, that each trait of the description had a
distinct meaning to St. John, and that it represents some particular
phase of the calamities he intended to depict. But it is hardly
possible now to discover such meanings; and that the Seer had in view
general evil as much at least as evil in certain special _forms_ is
shown by the artificiality of structure marking the passage as a
whole. For the description of the locusts is divided into three parts,
the first general, the second special, the third the locust-king. The
special characteristics of the insects, again, are seven in number:
(1) _upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold_; (2) _and
their faces were as faces of men_; (3) _and they had hair as the hair
of women_; (4) _and their teeth were as the teeth of lions_; (5) _and
they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron_; (6) _and the
sound of their wings was as the sound of many chariots_; (7) _and they
have tails like unto scorpions, and stings_.
Whether the period of _five months_, during which these locusts are said
to commit their ravages, is fixed on because the destruction caused by
the natural insect lasts for that length of time, or for some other
reason unknown to us, it is difficult to determine. There is a want of
proof that a locust-plague generally continues for the number of months
thus specified, and it is otherwise more in accordance with the style of
the Apocalypse to regard that particular period of time as simply
denoting that the judgment has definite limits.
One additional particular connected with the fifth Trumpet ought to be
adverted to. It will be noticed that the _well of the abyss_ whence
the plague proceeds is opened by a _star fallen_ (not "falling") _out
of heaven_, to which _the key of the well was given_. We have here one
of those contrasts of St. John a due attention to which is of such
importance to the interpreter. This "fallen star" is the contrast and
counterpart of Him who is "the bright, the morning star," and who "has
the keys of death and of Hades."[218]
At this point the sixth angel ought to sound; but we are now in the
midst of the three last woes, and each is of so terrible an import
that it deserves to be specially marked. Hence the words of the next
verse:--
The first Woe is past; behold, there come yet two Woes hereafter
(ix. 12).
This warning given, the sixth Trumpet is now blown:--
And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of
the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth
angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound
at the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed,
which had been prepared for the hour, and day, and month, and
year, that they should kill the third part of men. And the number
of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten
thousand; I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in
the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates as of
fire, and of hyacinth, and of brimstone. By these three plagues
was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and the smoke, and
the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths. For the power
of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their
tails are like unto serpents, and with them they do hurt. And the
rest of mankind which were not killed with these plagues repented
not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship
demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of
stone, and of wood: which can neither see, nor hear nor walk: and
they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of
their fornication, nor of their thefts (ix. 13-21).
There is much in this Trumpet that is remarkable even while we confine
ourselves to the more outward particulars contained in it. Thus we are
brought back by it to the thought of those prayers of the saints to
which all the Trumpets are a reply, but which have not been mentioned
since the blowing of the Trumpets began.[219] Once more we read of
_the golden altar which was before God_, in His immediate presence. On
that altar the prayers of all the saints had been laid, that they
might rise to heaven with the much incense added by the angel, and
might be answered in God's own time and way. The voice heard from _the
four horns_ of this altar--that is, from the four projecting points at
its four corners, representing the altar in its greatest
potency--shows us, what we might have been in danger of forgetting,
that the judgment before us continues to be an answer of the Almighty
to His people's prayers. Again it may be noticed that in the judgment
here spoken of we deal once more with a _third part_ of the class upon
which it falls. Nothing of the kind had been said under the fifth
Trumpet. The inference to be drawn from these particulars is
important. We learn that, however distinct the successive members of
any of the three series of the Seals, the Trumpets, or the Bowls may
seem to be, they are yet closely connected with one another. Though
seven in number, there is a sense in which they are also one; and any
characteristic thought which appears in a single member of the series
ought to be carried through all its members.[220]
The judgment itself is founded, as in the others already considered,
upon thoughts and incidents connected with Old Testament history.
The first of these is the river Euphrates. That great river was the
boundary of Palestine upon the northeast. "In the same day the Lord made
a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land,
from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates;"[221]
and in the days of Solomon this part of the covenant appears to have
been fulfilled, for we are told that "Solomon reigned over all kingdoms
from the river" (that is, the Euphrates) "unto the land of the
Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt."[222] The Euphrates, however,
was not only the boundary between Israel and the Assyrians. It was also
Israel's line of defence against its powerful and ambitious neighbour,
who had to cross its broad stream before he could seize any part of the
Promised Land. By a natural transition of thought, the Euphrates next
became a symbol of the Assyrians themselves, for its waters, when they
rose in flood, overflowed Israel's territory and swept all before them.
Then the prophets saw in the rush of the swollen river a figure of the
scourge of God upon those who would not acknowledge Him: "The Lord spake
also unto me again, saying, Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters
of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son; now
therefore behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the
river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and
he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: and
he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall
reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill
the breadth of Thy land, O Immanuel."[223] When accordingly the
Euphrates is here spoken of, it is clear that with the river as such we
have nothing to do. It is simply a symbol of judgment; and _the four
angels which had been bound at it_, but were now _loosed_, are a
token--four being the number of the world--that the judgment referred
to, though it affects but a third part of men, reaches men over the
whole surface of the globe. When _the hour, and the day, and the month,
and the year_--that is, when the moment fixed in the counsels of the
Almighty--come, the chains by which destruction has been kept back shall
be broken, and the world shall be overwhelmed by the raging stream.
The second Old Testament thought to be noted in this vision is that of
_horses_. To the Israelite the horse presented an object of terror
rather than admiration, and an army of horsemen awakened in him the
deepest feelings of alarm. Thus it is that the prophet Habakkuk,
describing the coming judgments of God, is commissioned to exclaim,
"Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for
I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it
be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty
nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess
the dwelling-places that are not theirs. They are terrible and
dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of
themselves. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are
more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread
themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as
the eagle that hasteth to eat. They shall come all for violence: their
faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the
captivity as the sand. And they shall scoff at the kings, and the
princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every
stronghold; for they shall heap dust, and take it."[224] Like the
locusts of the previous vision, the "horses" now spoken of are indeed
clothed with preternatural attributes; but the explanation is the
same. Ordinary horses could not convey images of sufficient terror.
The last two verses of chap. ix., which follow the sixth Trumpet,
deserve our particular attention. They describe the effect produced
upon the men who did not perish by the previous plagues, and they help
to throw light upon a question most intimately connected with a just
interpretation of the Apocalypse. The question is, Does the Seer, in
any of his visions, anticipate the conversion of the ungodly? or does
he deal, from the beginning to the end of his descriptions, with
righteousness and sin in themselves rather than with righteous persons
who may decline from the truth or sinful persons who may own and
welcome it? The question will meet us again in the following chapters
of this book, and will demand a fuller discussion than it can receive
at present. In the meantime it is enough to say that, in the two
verses now under consideration, no hint as to the conversion of any
ungodly persons by the Trumpet plagues is given. On the contrary, the
"men"--that is, the two-thirds of the inhabitants of the earth or of
the ungodly world--who were not killed by these plagues repented
neither of their irreligious principles nor of their immoral lives.
They went on as they had done in the grossness of their idolatries and
in the licentiousness of their conduct. They were neither awakened nor
softened by the fate of others. They had deliberately chosen their own
course; and, although they knew that they were rushing against the
thick bosses of the Almighty's buckler, they had resolved to persevere
in it to the end.
Two brief remarks on these six Trumpet visions, looked at as a whole,
appear still to be required.
1. No attempt has been made to interpret either the individual objects
of the judgments or the instruments by which judgment is inflicted. To
the one class belong the "earth," the "trees," the "green grass," the
"sea," the "ships," the "rivers and fountains of the waters," the
"sun," the "moon," and the "stars;" to the other belong the details
given in the description first of the "locusts" of the fifth Trumpet
and then of the "horses" of the sixth. Each of these particulars may
have a definite meaning, and interpreters may yet be successful in
discovering it. The object kept in view throughout this commentary
makes any effort to ascertain that meaning, when it is doubtful if it
even exists, comparatively unimportant. We are endeavouring to catch
the broader interpretation and spirit of the book; and it may be a
question whether our impressions would in that respect be deepened
though we saw reason to believe that all the objects above mentioned
had individual force. One line of demarcation certainly seems to
exist, traced by the Seer himself, between the first four and the two
following judgments, the former referring to physical disasters
flowing from moral evil, the latter to the more dreadful
intensification of intellectual darkness and moral corruption visited
upon men when they deliberately choose evil rather than good. Further
than this it is for our present purpose unnecessary to go.
2. The judgments of these Trumpets are judgments on _the world_ rather
than the Church. Occasion has been already taken to observe that the
structure of this part of the Apocalypse leads to the belief that both
the Trumpets and the Bowls are developed out of the Seals. Yet there
is a difference between the two, and various indications in the
Trumpet visions appear to confine them to judgments on the world.
There is the manner in which they are introduced, as an answer to the
prayers of "all the saints."[225] It is true, as we shall yet see, that
the degenerate Church is the chief persecutor of the people of God. But
against her the saints cannot pray. To them she is still the Church.
They remember the principle laid down by their Lord when He spoke of His
kingdom in the parable of the tares: "Let both grow together until the
harvest."[226] God alone can separate the false from the true within her
pale. There is a sense in which the Church can never be overthrown, and
there is not less a sense in which the world shall be subdued. Only for
the subjugation of the world, therefore, can "all the saints" pray; and
the Trumpets are an answer to their prayers.
Again, the three Woe-Trumpets are directed against "them that dwell on
the earth."[227] But, as has been already said, it is a principle of
interpretation applicable to all the three series of the Seals, the
Trumpets, and the Bowls, that traits filling up the picture in one
member belong also to the other members of the group, and that the
judgments, while under one aspect seven, are under another one. The
three Woes therefore fall upon the same field of judgment as that
visited by the plagues preceding them. In other words, all the six
plagues of this series of visions are inflicted upon "them that dwell
on the earth;" and that is simply another form of expression for the
ungodly world.
Again, under the fifth Trumpet the children of God are separated from
the ungodly, so that the particulars of that judgment do not touch
them. The locusts are instructed that _they should not hurt the grass
of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only such
men as have not the seal of God in their foreheads_.[228]
Again, the seventh Trumpet, in which the series culminates, and which
embodies its character as a whole, will be found to deal with judgment
on the world alone: "The nations were roused to wrath, and Thy wrath
came, and the time of the dead to be judged," ... and "the time to
destroy them that destroy the earth."[229]
Finally, the description given at the end of the sixth Trumpet of those
who were hardened rather than softened by the preceding judgments leads
directly to the same conclusion: _And the rest of mankind which were not
killed by these plagues repented not of the works of their hands, that
they should not worship devils, and the idols of gold, and of silver,
and of brass, and of stone, and of wood._[230]
These considerations leave no doubt that the judgments of the Trumpets
are judgments on the world. The Church, it is true, may also suffer
from them, but not in judgment. They may be part of her trial as she
mixes with the world during her earthly pilgrimage. Trial, however, is
not judgment. To the children of God it is the discipline of a
Father's hand. In the midst of it the Church is safe, and it helps to
ripen her for the fulness of the glory of her heavenly inheritance.
FOOTNOTES:
[197] Chap. iv. 8.
[198] John ii. 4; xii. 27.
[199] John v. 27.
[200] Smith's _Dictionary of the Bible_, INCENSE.
[201] Ps. l. 15.
[202] Chap. vi. 10.
[203] Comp. p. 103.
[204] Exod. ix. 23-25.
[205] Matt. xxi. 21.
[206] Zech. iv. 7; Ps. xlvi. 2.
[207] Jer. li. 25.
[208] Exod. vii. 20, 21.
[209] Isa. xiv. 12.
[210] Jer. ix. 15.
[211] Exod. xv. 23.
[212] Comp. p. 97.
[213] Exod. x. 21-23.
[214] Comp. Job ix. 26.
[215] Exod. x. 12-15.
[216] Joel ii. 3.
[217] Joel ii. 4-10.
[218] Chaps. xxii. 16; i. 18.
[219] Vers. 3-5.
[220] Comp. p. 268.
[221] Gen. xv. 18.
[222] 1 Kings iv. 21.
[223] Isa. viii. 5-8.
[224] Hab. i. 5-10.
[225] Chap. viii. 3.
[226] Matt. xiii. 30.
[227] Chap. viii. 13.
[228] Chap. ix. 4.
[229] Chap. xi. 18.
[230] Chap. ix. 20.