_THE PAUSE OF VICTORY AND JUDGMENT OF THE
BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET._
REV. xix.
Those who have followed with attention the course of this commentary can
hardly fail to have observed its leading conception of the book with
which it deals. That conception is that the Revelation of St. John
presents to us in visions the history of the Church moulded upon the
history of her Lord whilst He tabernacled among men. It is the
invariable lesson of the New Testament that Christ and His people are
one. He is the Vine; they are the branches. He is in them; they are in
Him. With equal uniformity the sacred writers teach us that just as
Christ suffered during the course of His earthly ministry, so also His
people suffer. They have to endure the struggle before they enjoy the
victory, and to bear the cross before they win the crown. But the
peculiarity of the Apocalypse is, that it carries out this thought much
more fully than the other New Testament books. St. John does not merely
see the Church suffer. He sees her suffer in a way precisely as her Lord
did. He lives in the thought of those words spoken by Jesus to Salome at
a striking moment of his life with regard to his brother and himself,
"The cup that I drink ye shall drink; and with the baptism that I am
baptized withal shall ye be baptized."[495] That very cup is put into
his hands and into the hands of his brethren, who are "partakers with
him in the tribulation, and kingdom, and patience which are in
Jesus;"[496] with that very baptism they are all baptized.
Now we know from the fourth Gospel what the light was in which St.
John looked back, at a distance of more than half a century, upon the
life of Jesus. Nothing therefore was more natural than that, dealing
only with the great principles at work in God's government of the
world and guidance of His Church, and seeing these principles embodied
in visions, the visions should present to him a course of things
precisely similar to that which had been followed in the case of the
Forerunner of the Church and the Captain of her salvation.
Turning then to the fourth Gospel, it has long been acknowledged by
every inquirer of importance that the struggle of Jesus with the
world, which the Evangelist chiefly intends to relate, ends with the
close of chap. xii. It is equally undeniable that with the beginning
of chap. xviii. the struggle breaks out afresh. Between these two
points lie chaps. xiii. to xvii., five chapters altogether different
from those that either precede or follow them, marked by a different
tone, and centring around that institution of the Last Supper in
which, Judas having now "gone out," the love of Jesus to His disciples
is poured forth with a tenderness previously unexampled. In these
chapters we have first a narrative in which the love of Jesus is
related as it appears in the foot-washing and in the institution of
the Supper, and then, immediately afterwards, a pause. This
pause--chaps. xiii. 31-xvii.--together with the narrative preceding
it, occurs at the close of a struggle substantially finished--"I
glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou
hast given Me to do"[497]--and only yet again to burst forth in one
final and unsuccessful effort against the Prince of life.
It would seem as if we had a similar structure at the point of the
Apocalypse now reached by us. There is a transition narrative which, so
far as the thought in it is concerned, may be regarded either as closing
the fourth or as beginning the fifth section of the book. It is probably
better to understand it as the latter, because the mould of the Gospel
is thus better preserved; and, where so much else speaks distinctly of
that mould, there is no impropriety in giving the benefit of a doubt to
what is otherwise sufficiently established. Although therefore the fifth
section of the Apocalypse, the Pause, begins properly with ver. 11 of
the present chapter, the first ten verses may be taken along with these
as a preparatory narrative standing to what follows as John xiii. 1-30
stands to chap. xiii. 31-chap. xvii. The probability, too, that this is
the light in which we are to look at the passage before us, is rendered
greater when we notice, first, that there is in the midst of the
preliminary narrative, and for the first time mention made of a
"supper," the marriage supper of the Lamb,[498] and, secondly, that at a
later point in the book there is a final outburst of evil against the
Church, which, notwithstanding the powerful forces ranged against her,
is unsuccessful.[499]
What we have _now_ to do with is thus not a continuation of the
struggle. It is a pause in which the fall of Babylon is celebrated, and
the great enemies of the Church are consigned to their merited fate:--
After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great
multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and
power, belong to our God: for true and righteous are His
judgments: for He hath judged the great harlot, which did corrupt
the earth with her fornication, and He hath avenged the blood of
His servants at her hand. And a second time they say, Hallelujah.
And her smoke goeth up for ever and ever. And the four-and-twenty
elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God
that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah. And a voice
came forth from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all ye
His servants, ye that fear Him, the small and the great. And I
heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice
of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying,
Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth. Let us
rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto Him:
for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made
herself ready. And it was given unto her that she should clothe
herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the
righteous acts of the saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed
are they which are bidden unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And he saith unto me, These are true words of God. And I fell down
before his feet to worship him. And he saith unto me, See thou do
it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren that
hold the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of
Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (xix. 1-10).
Babylon has fallen; and the world, represented by three classes of its
inhabitants--kings, merchants, and sailors--has poured out its
lamentations over her fall. Very different are the feelings of the
good, and these feelings appear in the narrative before us. _A great
multitude_ is heard _in heaven_, not necessarily in the region beyond
the grave, but in that of the righteous, of the unworldly, of the
spiritual, whether in time or in eternity. This "multitude" is
probably to be identified with that of chap. vii. 9. The definite
article, which would render the identification complete, is indeed
wanting; but we have already found instances of the same method of
speech with regard to the one hundred and forty and four thousand of
chap. xiv. 1, and with regard to the glassy sea of chap. xv. 2. The
whole ransomed Church of God is therefore included in the expression.
They sing first; and the burden of their song is _Hallelujah_, or
Praise to God, because He has inflicted upon the harlot the due
punishment of her sins and crimes. Nor do they sing only once; they
sing the same ascription of praise _a second time_. The meaning is not
simply that they do this twice, the "second time" having more than its
numerical force, and being designed to bring out the intensity of
their feelings and their song.[500] Then the four-and-twenty elders,
the representatives of the glorified Church, and the four living
creatures, the representatives of redeemed creation, answer, _Amen_,
and take up the same song: _Hallelujah_. All creation, animate and
inanimate, swells the voice of joy and praise.
Meanwhile the _smoke of the harlot's torment goeth up for ever and
ever_. Again, as once before,[501] we have here no right to fasten our
thoughts upon immortal spirits of men deceived and led astray. Such may
be included. If they have identified themselves with the harlot, we need
not hesitate to say that they are induced. But what is mainly brought
under our notice is the overthrow, complete and final, of sin itself.
Babylon has been utterly overthrown, and her punishment shall never be
forgotten. Her fate shall remain a monument of the righteous judgment of
God, and shall illustrate unto the ages of the ages the character of Him
who, for creation's sake, will "by no means clear the guilty."[502]
A voice from heaven is then heard calling upon all the servants of God
to praise Him; and this is followed by another voice, _as it were the
voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the
voice of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the
Almighty, reigneth_. He always indeed really reigned, but now He has
taken to Himself His great power, and everything acknowledges its King.
Thus a new moment is reached in the history of God's saints. The Lamb
is come to claim His bride, and _His wife hath made herself ready_.
She has been long betrothed, and has been waiting for the Bridegroom.
Through storm and calm, through sorrow and joy, through darkness and
light, she has waited for Him, crying ever and again, "Come quickly."
At last He comes, and the marriage and the marriage supper are to take
place. For the first time in the Apocalypse we read of this marriage,
and for the first time, although the general idea of supping with the
Lord had been once alluded to,[503] of this marriage supper. The
figure indeed is far from being new. The writers both of the Old and
of the New Testament use it with remarkable frequency.[504] But no
sacred writer appears to have felt more the power and beauty of the
similitude than St. John. In the first miracle which he records, and
in which he sees the whole glory of the New Testament dispensation
mirrored forth, He who changed the water into wine is the Bridegroom
of His Church[505]; and, when the Baptist passes out of view in the
presence of Him for whom he had prepared the way, he records the
swan-like song in which the great prophet terminated his mission in
order that another and a higher than himself might have sole
possession of the field: "Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said,
I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the
bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which
standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the
bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled."[506]
Such is the moment that has now arrived, and the bride is ready for
it. Her raiment is worthy of our notice. It is _fine linen, bright and
pure_; and then it is immediately added, _for the fine linen is the
righteous acts of the saints_. These acts are not the imputed
righteousness of Christ, although only in Christ are the acts
performed. They express the moral and religious condition of those who
constitute the bride. No outward righteousness alone, with which we
might be clothed as with a garment, is a sufficient preparation for
future blessedness. An inward change is not less necessary, a personal
and spiritual meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light.
Christ must not only be on us as a robe, but in us as a life, if we
are to have the hope of glory.[507] Let us not be afraid of words like
these. Rightly viewed, they in no way interfere with our completeness
in the Beloved alone, or with the fact that not by works of
righteousness that we have done, but by grace, are we saved through
faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God.[508] All our
salvation is of Christ, but the change upon us must be internal as
well as external. The elect are foreordained to be conformed to the
image of God's Son[509]; and the Christian condition is expressed in
the words which say, not only "Ye were justified," but also "ye were
washed, ye were sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
in the Spirit of our God."[510]
Thus "made ready," the bride now enters with the Bridegroom into the
marriage feast; and, as the whole of her future rises before the view
of the heavenly visitant who converses with the Seer, he says to him,
_Write, Blessed are they which are bidden to the marriage supper of
the Lamb_.
Once before St. John had heard a similar, perhaps the same, voice from
heaven, saying, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from
henceforth."[511] Then we believed; now we see. The clouds are
dispelled; the veil is rent asunder; we enter into the palace of the
great King. There is music, and festivity, and joy. There is neither
sin nor sorrow, no privilege abused, no cloud upon any countenance, no
burden upon any heart, no shadow from the future to darken the rapture
of the present. Here is life, and life abundantly; the peace that
passeth understanding; the joy unspeakable and glorified; the
inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading.
In particular, when we think of this marriage supper of the Lamb, we
cannot but return to that supper in the upper chamber of Jerusalem
which occupies so strikingly similar a position in the life of Jesus.
There Jesus said, "Take, eat: this is My body, which is for you;"
"This cup is the new covenant in My blood: drink ye all of it."[512]
That was a feast, in which He gave Himself to be for ever the
nourishment of His Church. And in like manner in the marriage supper
of the Lamb the Lord who became dead and is alive for evermore is not
only the Bridegroom, but the substance of the feast. In Him and by Him
His people lived on earth; in Him and by Him they live for ever.
All this St. John saw. All this, too, he heard confirmed by the
statement that, wonderful and glorious as was the spectacle, it was
yet _true words of God_. He was overwhelmed, and would have worshipped
his angelic visitant. But he was interrupted by the declaration on the
angel's part, _See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and
with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus: worship God_.
These fellow-servants are first the prophets, but then also all true
members of Christ's Body. The last not less than the first hold the
testimony of Jesus[513]; and because they do so, they too are
prophets, for prophecy, whether in Old or in New Testament times,
testifies to Him. In Him all revelation centres. He is the expression
of the God whom no man hath seen. He is thus the Alpha and the Omega,
"over all, God blessed for ever."[514]
By so contemplating Him we are prepared for the next following vision:--
And I saw the heavens opened, and behold a white horse, and He
that sat thereon, called Faithful and True; and in righteousness
He doth judge and make war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and
upon His head are many diadems; and He hath a name written, which
no man knoweth, but He Himself. And He is arrayed in a garment
sprinkled with blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And
the armies which are in heaven followed Him upon white horses,
clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of His mouth
proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations
and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And He
hath on His garment and on His thigh a name written, KING OF
KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS (xix. 11-16).
Of the position of this passage in the structure of the Apocalypse we
have already spoken; and, looked at in that its true light, it may be
called the Pause of Victory. There is no renewal of the struggle. A
Warrior is indeed presented to us; but He is a Warrior who has already
conquered, and who comes forth not so much to subdue His enemies as to
inflict upon them their final punishment.
_Heaven_ is _open_, and our attention is first of all directed to a
rider _upon a white horse_. The description given of this rider leaves
no doubt as to who He is. The "whiteness" of the horse is the emblem
of a purity that can be connected with the kingdom of God alone. The
description of the Rider--_Faithful_, who will not suffer one word
that He has promised to fail; _True_, not true as opposed to false,
but real as opposed to shadowy--corresponds only to something
essentially Divine; while the particulars of His appearance afterwards
mentioned take us back to the glorified Son of man of chap. i., and to
other passages of this and other books of the Bible which speak of the
same glorious Person. There are _the eyes_ like _a flame of fire_ of
chap. i. 14 and chap. ii. 18. There are _upon His head many diadems_,
a fact not previously mentioned, but corresponding to the many
royalties which belong to Him whom all things obey. There is the _name
which none but He Himself knoweth_, for "no one knoweth the Son save
the Father."[515] There is the _garment sprinkled with blood_, of
which we read in the prophet Isaiah,[516] the blood, not that of the
Conqueror shed for us, but the blood of His enemies staining His
raiment as He returns victorious from the field. There is the name
_The Word of God_, with which St. John alone has made us familiar in
the opening of his Gospel. There are _the armies which are in heaven,
following Him upon white horses_, and _clothed in fine linen, white
and pure_, to which our attention is directed, not for their sake, but
for His, for He has made them partakers of His victory. There is the
_sharp sword proceeding out of His mouth_ of chap. i. 16 and chap. ii.
12. There is the _smiting of the nations_, of which we have already
heard in chap. ii. 27 and chap. xii. 5. There is the _treading of the
winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God_, spoken of
in chap. xiv. 19, 20. Finally, there is _on His garment and on His
thigh the name_ KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. All these traits
leave no doubt who this Captain of salvation is; and all are noted
that we may better understand both the glory of His person, and the
nature of His accomplished work.
One thing therefore alone remains: that the great adversaries of His
people shall be consigned to their doom; and to this the Seer
proceeds:--
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud
voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, Come and be
gathered together unto the great supper of God; that ye may eat
the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of
mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit thereon,
and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great.
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against Him that sat upon the
horse, and against His army. And the beast was taken, and he that
was with him, the false prophet that wrought the signs in his
sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of
the beast, and them that worshipped his image. They twain were
cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone. And
the rest were killed with the sword of Him that sat upon the
horse, even the sword which came forth out of His mouth: and all
the birds were filled with their flesh (xix. 17-21).
The angel beheld at the beginning of this scene is the first of the
three forming the second group of that series of seven parts of which
the triumphing Conqueror was the centre. He stood _in the sun_, which
is to be thought of as in the zenith of its daily path, in order that
he may be seen and heard by all. It is to _the birds that fly in
mid-heaven_ that he calls; that is, to those strong and fierce birds
of prey, such as the eagle and the vulture, which fly in the highest
regions of the atmosphere. His cry is that they shall come to the
great supper of God, that they may feast upon the flesh of all the
enemies of the Lamb. The idea of such a feast is found in the
prophecies of Ezekiel; and there can be no doubt, from the many
accompanying circumstances of similarity between the description of it
there and here, that St. John has the language of the prophet in his
eye: "And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto the
birds of every sort, and to every beast of the field, Assemble
yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to My sacrifice
that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains
of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the
flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth,
of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of
Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye
be drunken, of My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. And ye
shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots, with mighty men,
and with all men of war, saith the Lord God."[517] Yet, while the
picture of the prophet is unquestionably before the Seer's mind, it is
impossible to doubt that we have in this supper a travesty of that
marriage supper of the Lamb which had been spoken of in the previous
part of the chapter.[518] In contrast with the joyful banquet at which
the children of God shall be nourished by Him whose flesh is meat
indeed and whose blood is drink indeed, the wicked, to whatever rank
or station they belong, shall themselves be a meal for all foul and
ravenous birds. The whole passage reminds us of the spectacle at
Calvary, as it is set before us in the fourth Gospel, and may be
accepted as one of the innumerable proofs of the similarity between
two books--that Gospel and the Apocalypse--at first sight so different
from each other. On the Cross Jesus is the true Paschal Lamb, not so
much in the moment of its death as at a subsequent stage, when it was
prepared for, and eaten at, the paschal meal. In the conduct of the
Jews on that occasion St. John appears to behold an inverted and
contorted Passover. The enemies of Jesus had not entered into the
judgment-hall of Pilate, "lest they should be defiled; but that they
might eat the passover."[519] They had not eaten it then Amidst the
tumult and stormy passions of that dreadful morning, when had they an
opportunity of eating it? St. John does not tell us that they found
one. Rather is the whole narrative so constructed, so full of close,
rapid, passionate action, that it is impossible to fix upon any point
at which we can insert their eating until it was too late to make it
legal. May it not be that they found no opportunity for eating it?
They lost their passover. Lost it? Nay; the Evangelist seems to say,
they found a passover. Go with me to the Cross; mark there their cruel
mockeries of the Lamb of God; and you shall see the righteous dealings
of the Almighty as He makes these mockeries take the shape of a
passover of judgment, a passover of added sin and deepened shame.[520]
The punishment of the wicked, and especially of the three great
enemies of the Church, now proceeds; and it ought still to be
carefully observed that we have to do with punishment, not war or
overthrow in war. It was so at ver. 17, where, after the triumphing
Conqueror had ridden forth, followed by His armies, there is no
mention of any battle. There is only the angel's cry to the birds to
gather themselves together unto the great supper of God. The battle
had been already fought, and the victory already won. We are now told
indeed of the gathering together of the beast and the kings of the
earth and their armies, _to make war against Him that sat upon the
horse, and against His army_. But, whatever may have been their
design, it is not executed. No actual fighting is spoken of. The
enemies referred to are at once taken, apparently without fighting,
and are consigned to the fate which they have brought upon themselves.
Two of the three great enemies of the Lord and of His Church meet this
fate,--_the beast_ and _the false prophet_. The first of these is the
beast so frequently mentioned in previous chapters. More particularly
it is the beast of chap. xvii., the representative of the
antichristian world in its last and highest form. The second is not
less certainly the second beast of chap. xiii., of whom it is said
that "he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs
which it was given him to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them
that dwell upon the earth, that they should make an image to the
beast."[521] The "signs," the "deception," and the "worship" of the
beast now spoken of can be no other than those thus referred to.
One point may be noticed further. According to what seems to be the best
reading of the original Greek, we are told here, not that "the beast was
taken, and with him the false prophet," but "the beast was taken, and he
that was with him, the false prophet." In other words, the language of
St. John is designed to bring out the closeness of connexion between
these two beasts, the fact that the one is always dependent on the
other. They are never separated. The first cannot act without the
second. Hence in all probability the reason why, in treating of the doom
by which these enemies of the Church are overtaken, a separate paragraph
is not assigned to each. They are taken together.
A more important question has been raised in connexion with the words
before us; and it has been urged that they conclusively prove that both
the beast and the false prophet are persons, not personifications.[522]
We have already seen that in regard to the "beast" that conclusion is
hasty.[523] It appears to be not less so in regard to the "false
prophet." The simple fact that he deceiveth _them_--that is, all _that
had received the mark of the beast_--is inconsistent with such an idea,
unless we ascribe to him a ubiquity that is Divine; or unless we
suppose, what Scripture gives us no warrant for believing, that there is
in the realm of evil a personal trinity--the dragon, the beast, and the
false prophet--corresponding to the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. It is much more natural to think that St. John's statements upon
this point spring from that general method of conception which
distinguishes him, and by which everything existing in the realm of good
is thought of as having its counterpart in the realm of evil. The
question thus raised is wholly independent of any consideration of the
fate by which the two beasts are overtaken. When principles are viewed
as persons, they must be spoken of as persons; and it will surely not be
urged that death and Hades are persons because it is said of them, in
chap. xx. 14, that they "were cast into the lake of fire."
The beast and the false prophet then are cast together into _the lake of
fire that burneth with brimstone_; and this lake of fire is further
explained in chap. xx. 14 to be "the second death." It is impossible to
avoid the questions, How are we to conceive of this "lake of fire"? and,
What is its effect? Yet, so far as at present concerns us, the answer to
these questions must be taken from St. John alone. In the first instance
at least we have nothing to do with the _general_ teaching of Scripture
on what is called the doctrine of "eternal punishment." Our only inquiry
must be, What impression is the language employed by the Seer in these
visions intended to convey? Upon this point it would seem as if there
can be little doubt. To St. John it is no matter of consequence to tell
us what shall be the condition of the enemies of the Church throughout
the ages of the future, or whether they shall be preserved everlastingly
alive in torment and misery and woe. His one aim is to deal with the
condition of the kingdom of God while it contends with its foes in this
present scene. His one object is to tell us that these foes shall be
destroyed for ever, and that the world shall be wholly purged from them.
No further information is required to comfort us. We may leave them in
the hands of God.
Looking at the matter in this light, we do not need to ask whether by
"the lake of fire" we are to understand a lake in which the wicked are
consumed or one in which they are upheld in undying flames. Either
interpretation is consistent with the Apostle's course of thought, and
with the impression which he wishes to produce.
No doubt it may be said that the principle of contrast, of which we
have so often availed ourselves in interpreting this book, implies
that, as the righteous shall be upheld amidst the joys of everlasting
life, so the wicked shall be upheld amidst the torments of everlasting
death. But it is precisely here that the peculiarity of St. John's
mode of thought comes in. To him "life" is in the very nature of the
case everlasting. Were it not so, it would not be life. Only therefore
in so far as the conception of everlasting torment lies in the idea of
"death" can it be truly said that the principle of contrast, so deeply
rooted in St. John's mode of thought, demands the application of
everlasting torment to the wicked. But the idea of torment
everlastingly continued does not lie in the idea of "death." Death is
privation; when inflicted by fire, capacity for torment is speedily
destroyed; and death itself is cast into the lake of fire. The
natural conclusion is that the idea of torment belongs to the mode by
which the death spoken of is inflicted--fire--and that the words with
which we are dealing may mean no more than this,--that the eternity of
effect following the overthrow of the beast and the false prophet is
the leading conception associated with the "fire that burneth with
brimstone" to which these great enemies of God's people are consigned.
If what has been said be correct, the whole question of the
everlasting _suffering_ of the wicked is left open so far as these
passages in the Apocalypse are concerned; and St. John's main lesson
is that when the beast and the false prophet are cast into the lake of
fire they shall no longer have power to war against the righteous or
to disturb their peace.
When these two enemies of the Church had thus been destroyed, _the
rest were killed with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, even
the sword which came forth out of His mouth_. The persons thus called
"the rest" are those who stand to the beast and the false prophet in
the same relation as that in which "the rest of the woman's seed,"
spoken of in chap. xii. 17, stand to the man-child "caught up unto God
and unto His throne." The man-child exalted and glorified is the same
as "He that sat upon the horse," and in that condition a sword
proceedeth out of His mouth.[524] The Guardian and Protector of His
own, who has kept their true life safe amidst all outward troubles,
brings also these troubles to an end. Their enemies are "killed." They
are not yet cast into the lake of fire, because their hour of judgment
has not come. By-and-by it will come.[525] Meanwhile not only can
they harm the righteous no more, but they afford a supper to the
ravenous birds already spoken of; and the birds are more than
satisfied: they are gorged with the unholy banquet. _All the birds
were filled with their flesh._
FOOTNOTES:
[495] Mark x. 39.
[496] Rev. i. 9.
[497] John xvii. 4.
[498] Ver. 9.
[499] Chap. xx. 7.
[500] Comp.
[501] Comp. p. 250.
[502] Exod. xxxiv. 7.
[503] Comp. chap. iii. 20.
[504] Comp. Ps. xiv. 9-15; Isa. liv. 5; Hos. ii. 19; Matt. xxii. 2;
Eph. v. 32, etc.
[505] John ii. 1-11.
[506] John iii. 28, 29.
[507] Col. i. 27.
[508] Eph. ii. 8.
[509] Rom. viii. 29.
[510] 1 Cor. vi. 11.
[511] Chap. xiv. 13.
[512] Matt. xxvi. 26, 27; 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25.
[513] Comp. chaps. i. 3, 9, vi. 9, xi. 7, xii. 17, xx. 4.
[514] Rom. ix. 5.
[515] Matt. xi. 27.
[516] Isa. lxiii. 3.
[517] Ezek. xxxix. 17-20.
[518] Ver. 9.
[519] John xviii. 28.
[520] The writer has endeavoured to unfold this view of Jesus on the
Cross in two papers in _The Expositor_, first series, vol. vi., pp.
17, 129.
[521] Chap. xiii. 14.
[522] Burger _in loc._
[523] Comp. p. 297.
[524] Chaps. i. 16; xix. 15.
[525] Chap. xx. 15.