_THE EPILOGUE._
REV. xxii. 6-21.
The visions of the Seer have closed, and closed with a picture of the
final and complete triumph of the Church over all her enemies. No more
glorious representation of what her Lord has done for her could be set
before us than that contained in the description of the new Jerusalem.
Nothing further can be said when we know that in the garden of
Paradise Restored into which she is introduced, in the Holy of holies
of the Divine Tabernacle planted in the world, she shall eat of the
fruit of the tree of life, drink of the water of life, and reign for
ever and ever. Surely as these visions passed before the eye of St.
John in the lonely isle of Patmos he would be gladdened with the light
of heaven, and would need no more to strengthen him in the kingdom and
patience of Jesus Christ. Was it not too much? The Epilogue of the
book assures us that it was not; and that, although the natural eye of
man had not seen, nor his ear heard, nor his heart conceived the
things that had been spoken of, they had been revealed by the Spirit
of God Himself, not one word of whose promises would fail.
And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and the
Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to
show unto His servants the things which must shortly come to pass.
And, behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the words
of the prophecy of this book.
And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I heard
and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which
showed me these things. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not:
I am a fellow-servant with thee, and with thy brethren the
prophets, and with them which keep the words of this book: worship
God (xxii. 6-9).
Attention has been already called in this commentary both to that
characteristic of St. John's style as a writer which leads him, at a
longer or a shorter interval, to the point from which he started, and
to the fact that light is thus frequently thrown on the interpretation
of what he says.[585] Every illustration of such a point is therefore
not only interesting, but important; and in the words before us it is
illustrated with more than ordinary clearness.
The person introduced with the words _He said unto me_ is not indeed
named, but there can be little doubt that he is the angel spoken of in
the Prologue as sent to "signify" the revelation that was to
follow.[586]
Again, when the Seer is overwhelmed with what he has seen, and may be
said to have almost feared that it was too wonderful for belief, the
angel assures him that it was all _faithful and true_. A similar
declaration had been made at chap. xix. 9 by the voice which there
"came forth from the throne,"[587] and likewise at chap. xxi. 5 by Him
"that sitteth on the throne." The angel therefore who now speaks, like
the angel of the Prologue, has the authority of this Divine Being for
what he says. It is true that in the following words, which seem to
come from the same speaker, the angel must thus be understood to refer
to himself in the third person, and not, as we might have expected, in
the first,--_The Lord sent His angel_, not The Lord sent me. But, to
say nothing of the fact that such a method of address is met with in
the prophetic style of the Old Testament, it appears to be
characteristic of St. John in other passages of his writings. More
particularly we mark it in the narrative in the fourth Gospel of the
death of Jesus on the Cross: "And he that hath seen hath borne
witness, and his witness is true: and he knoweth that he saith true,
that ye may believe."[588]
Again, we read here that _the Lord sent His angel to show unto His
servants the things which must shortly come to pass_; and the
statement is the same as that of chap. i. 1.
The next words, _And, behold, I come quickly_, are probably words of
our Lord Himself; but the blessing upon him _that keepeth the words of
the prophecy of this book_ again leads the Seer back to the Prologue,
where a similar blessing is pronounced.[589]
Again, the remembrance of the Prologue is in the Apostle's mind when,
naming himself, he proceeds, _I John am he that heard and saw these
things_. In precisely the same manner, after the introductory verses
of the Prologue, he had named himself as the writer of the book: "John
to the seven Churches;" "I John, your brother."[590] Then he was about
to write; now that he has written, he is the same John whom the
Church knew and honoured, and whose consciousness of everything that
had passed was undimmed and perfect. This going back upon the Prologue
is also sufficient to prove, if proof be thought necessary, that the
words "these things" are designed to include, not merely the vision of
the new Jerusalem, but all the visions of the book.
That the Seer should have fallen down to _worship before the feet of
the angel which showed him these things_ has often caused surprise. He
had already done so on a previous occasion,[591] and had been reproved
in words almost exactly similar to those in which he is now addressed:
_See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee, and with thy
brethren the prophets, and with them which keep the words of this
book: worship God._ How could he so soon forget the warning? We need
not wonder. The thought of the one vision preceding his former mistake
might easily be swallowed up by the thought of the whole revelation of
which it was a part; and, as the splendour of all that he had
witnessed passed once more before his view, he might imagine that the
angel by whom it was communicated must be worthy of his worship. His
mistake was corrected as before.
The prophecy is now in the Seer's hands, ideally, though not actually,
written. He may easily speak of it, therefore, as written, and may
relate the instructions which he received regarding it. He does this,
and again it will be seen how closely he follows the lines of his
Prologue:--
And he saith unto me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of
this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unrighteous, let
him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let him be
made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do
righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy
still. Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to render
to each man according as his work is. I am the Alpha and the
Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed
are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to
come to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the
city. Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the
fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one
that loveth and maketh a lie (xxii. 10-15).
To the prophet Daniel it had been said, "But thou, O Daniel, shut up
the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end."[592] The
hour had not yet come for the full manifestation of that momentous
future upon which he had been commissioned to dwell. The situation of
St. John was wholly different, and the hour for winding up the history
of this dispensation was about to strike. It was not a time then for
sealing up, but for breaking seals, a time for prophecy, for the
loudest, clearest, and most urgent proclamation of the truth. "Behold,
I come quickly," had been a moment before the voice of the great
Judge. Let the bride for whom He is to come be ready; and, that she
may the more promptly be so, let her hear with earnest and immediate
attention _the words of the prophecy of this book_.
It is by no means easy to say whether the following words, _He that is
unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy,
let him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do
righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still_,
are to be considered as coming from the Apostle or from the angel who
has been speaking to him. This difficulty is the same as that
experienced in the fourth Gospel at such passages as chap. iii. 16 and
31, where it is nearly impossible to tell the point at which in the one
case the words of Jesus, at which in the other the words of the Baptist,
end. It would appear as if St. John so sank himself in the person with
whom he was occupied at the time that he often gave utterance to
thoughts without being able to distinguish between the other's and his
own. In the present instance it matters little to whom we directly refer
the words, whether to St. John, or to the angel, or to Him who speaks by
the angel. In any case they contain a striking and solemn view of the
relation between the righteous Judge and His creatures, when that
relation is looked at in its ultimate, in its final, form. One thing is
clear: that the first two clauses cannot be regarded as a summons to the
wicked telling them before the Judgment to go on in their wickedness
even while the period of their probation lasts. Nor can the second two
clauses be regarded as an assurance to the good that there is a point in
the actual experience of life at which their perseverance in goodness is
secured. The words can only be understood in the light of that idealism
which is so characteristic alike of the Apocalypse and of the fourth
Gospel. In both books the world of mankind is presented to us in exactly
the same light. Men are divided into two great classes: those who are
prepared to receive the truth and those who are obstinately opposed to
it; and these classes are spoken of as if they had been formed, not
merely after, but before, the work of Christ had tried and proved them.
Not indeed that the salvation to be found in Jesus was not designed to
be universal, that there was even one member of the human family doomed
by eternal and irresistible decree to everlasting death, nor, again,
that men are considered as so essentially identified with the two
classes to which they respectively belong that they incur no moral
responsibility in accepting or rejecting the Redeemer of the world. In
that respect St. John occupied the same ground as his fellow-Apostles.
Not less than they would he have declared that God willed all men to be
saved; and not less than they would he have told them that, if they were
not saved, it was because they "loved the darkness rather than the
light."[593] Yet, notwithstanding this practical mode in which he would
have dealt with men, such is his idealism, such his mode of looking at
things in their ultimate, eternal, unchanging aspect, that he constantly
presents the two classes as if they were divided from each other by a
permanent wall of separation, and as if the work of Christ consisted not
so much in bringing the one class over to the other as in making
manifest the existing tendencies of each. The light of the one
brightens, the darkness of the other deepens, as we proceed; but the
light does not become darkness, and the darkness does not become
light.[594]
Hence, accordingly, the conversion of Israel or of the heathen finds
no place in the Apocalypse. The texts supposed to offer such a
prospect will not bear the interpretation put upon them. It does not
indeed follow that, according to the teaching of this book, neither
Israel nor the heathen will be converted. St. John only sees the end
in the beginning, and deals, not with the everyday practical, but with
the ideal and everlasting, issues of God's kingdom. Hence, in
interpreting the words before us, we must be careful to put into them
the exact shade of meaning which the whole spirit and tone of the
Apostle's writings prove to have been in his mind when they were
written. The clauses "He that is unrighteous" and "He that is filthy"
are to be understood as "He that has loved and chosen unrighteousness
and filthiness:" the clauses "Let him do unrighteousness still" and
"Let him be made filthy still" as "Let him sink deeper into the
unrighteousness and filthiness which he has loved and chosen." A
principle freely selected by himself is supposed to be in the breast
of each, and that principle does not remain fixed and stationary. No
principle does. It unfolds or develops itself according to its own
nature, rising to greater heights of good if it be good, sinking to
greater depths of evil if it be evil. Hence also we are not to imagine
that the words under consideration are applicable only to the end, or
are the record only of a final judgment. They are applicable to the
Church and to the world throughout the whole course of their
respective histories, and it is at this moment as true as it will ever
be that, in so far as the heart and will of a man are really turned to
evil or to good, the allegiance he has chosen has the tendency of
continued progress towards the triumph of the one or of the other.
In connexion with thoughts like these, we see the peculiar propriety of
that declaration as to Himself and His purposes next made by the
Redeemer: _Behold, I come quickly._ He comes to wind up the history of
the present dispensation. _And My reward is with Me, to render to each
man according as his work is._ He comes to bestow "reward"[595] upon His
own; and there is no mention of judgment, because for those who are to
be rewarded judgment is past and gone. _I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the first and the last, the beginning and the end_, the words again
taking us back to the language of the Prologue,[596] upon which follows
a blessing for such as _wash their robes_, for those otherwise described
in the Prologue as "loosed from their sins in His blood,"[597] and in
chap. vii. 14 as having "washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb." These _have the right to come to the tree of life,
and they enter in by the gates into the city_. A different order might
have been expected, for the tree of life grows within the city, and it
is the happy inhabitants of the city who eat its fruits. But this is the
blessed paradox of faith. It is difficult to say which privilege enjoyed
by the believer comes first, and which comes second. Rather may all that
he enjoys be looked on as given at once, for the great gift to him is
Christ Himself, and in Him everything is included. He is the gate of the
city, and as such the way to the tree of life; He is the tree of life,
and they who partake of Him have a right to enter into the city and
dwell there. Why ask, Which comes first? At one moment we may think that
it is one blessing, at another that it is another. The true description
of our state is that we are "in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us
wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the
Lord."[598]
To enhance our estimate of the happiness of those who are within the
city, there comes next a description of those who are without. They are
first denoted by the general term _the dogs_, that animal, as we learn
from many passages of Scripture, being to the Jew the emblem of all that
was wild, unregulated, unclean, and offensive.[599] Then the general
term is subdivided into various classes; and all of them are _without_,
not put out. They were put out when judgment fell upon them. Now they
_are_ without; and the door once open to them "is shut."[600]
The last words follow:--
I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things for
the Churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright,
the morning star.
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him
say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come. He that will, let
him take the water of life freely. I testify unto every man that
heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add
unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in
this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book
of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of
life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book. He
which testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen (xxii. 16-21).
Once more in these words it will be seen that we return to the
Prologue, in the opening words of which we read, "The Revelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave Him, to show unto His servants; ... and
He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John."[601] The
glorified Lord now takes up the same words Himself; and, connecting by
the name "Jesus" all that He was on earth with all that belongs to His
condition in heaven, He declares of the whole revelation contained in
the visions of this book that the angel through whom it was
communicated had been sent by Him. He Himself had given it--He, even
Jesus,--Jesus the Saviour of His people from their sins, the Captain
of their salvation, the Joshua who leads them out of the "wilderness"
of this world, across the valley of the shadow of death, into that
Promised Land which Canaan, with its milk and honey, its vines and
olive trees, its rest after long wanderings, and its peace after hard
warfare, only faintly pictured to their view. Well is He able to do
this, for in Him earth meets heaven, and "the angels of God ascend and
descend upon the Son of man."[602]
First, He is _the root and the offspring of David_, not the root out of
which David springs, as if He would say that He is David's Lord as well
as David's Son,[603] but the "shoot that comes out of the stock of Jesse
and the branch out of his roots that bears fruit."[604] He is the "Son,
who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,"[605] the
substance of ancient prophecy, the long-promised and looked-for King.
Secondly, He is _the bright, the morning star_, the star which shines in
its greatest brilliancy when the darkness is about to disappear, and
that day is about to break of which "the Sun of righteousness, with
healing in His wings," shall be the everlasting light,[606] Himself "our
Star, our Sun." Thus He is connected on the one side with earth, on the
other with heaven, "Immanuel, God with us,"[607] touched with a feeling
of our infirmities, mighty to save. "What then shall we say to these
things? If God is for us, who is against us? He that spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him
freely give us all things? Who shall say anything to the charge of God's
elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that shall condemn? It is
Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who
is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or
anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Even as it is written,
For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as
sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that
loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."[608]
The Saviour had declared, "Behold, I come quickly," had spoken of the
"reward" which He would bring with Him, and had used various images to
set forth the happiness and joy which should be the everlasting
portion of those for whom He came. These declarations could not fail
to awaken in the breast of the Church a longing for His coming, and
this longing now finds expression.
_The Spirit and the bride say, Come._ We are not to think of two
separate voices: the voice of the Spirit and the voice of the bride. It
is a characteristic of St. John's style that where there is combined
action, action, having both an inward and invisible and an outward and
visible side, he often separates the two agencies by which it is
produced. Many illustrations of this may be found in his mention of the
actions of the Father and the Son, but it will be enough to refer to one
more strictly parallel to that met with here. In chap. xv. of the fourth
Gospel we find Jesus saying to His disciples, "But when the Advocate is
come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall bear witness of Me;
and ye also bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the
beginning."[609] In these words we have not two works of witnessing, the
first that of the Advocate, the second that of the disciples. We have
only one,--outwardly that of the disciples, inwardly that of the
Advocate. In like manner now. The Spirit and the bride do not utter
separate calls. The Spirit calls in the bride; the bride calls in the
Spirit. The cry "Come" is therefore that of the spiritually enlightened
Church as she answers the voice of her Lord and King. Her voice is the
echo of His. He says, "I come;" she answers, "Come." St. John then adds
the next clause himself: _And let him that heareth say, Come_; that is,
let him that heareth with the hearing of faith; let him who has made his
own the glorious prospects opened up in the visions of this book as to
the Lord's Second Coming add his individual cry to the cry of the
universal Church. To this the Saviour replies, _And he that is athirst,
let him come. He that will, let him take the water of life freely._ The
words appear to be addressed, not to the world, but to the Church. He
that is "athirst" has already drunk of the living water, but he thirsts
for deeper draughts from that river the streams whereof make glad the
city of God. To partake more and more largely of these is the believer's
longing; and fulness of blessing is within his reach. Let him never say,
"It is enough." Let him drink and drink again; let him drink "freely,"
until the water that Christ shall give him becomes in him "a fountain of
springing water unto eternal life."[610] The statements and replies
contained in these words are those of the glorified Lord, of the Church
speaking in the Spirit, and of the individual believer, as they hold
converse with one another in that moment of highest rapture when evil
has been extinguished, when the struggle is over, when the victory has
been gained, and when the Lord of the Church is at the door. He in them
and they in Him, what can they do but speak to and answer one another in
strains expressive of mutual longing and affection and joy?
Once more the Seer--for it seems to be he that speaks--turns to the
book which he has written.
In the Prologue he had said, "Blessed is he that readeth, and they
that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things which are
written therein."[611] In the same spirit he now denounces a woe upon
him who adds to it: _God shall add unto him the plagues which are
written in the book_; nor less upon him who takes from it: _for God
shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy
city, which are written in this book_. The book has come from Him who
is the faithful and true Witness of God, and it has been written in
obedience to His command and under the guidance of His Spirit. St.
John himself is nothing; Christ is all: and St. John knows that the
words of his great Master are fulfilled, "He that receiveth you
receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent
Me."[612] Therefore may he speak with all authority, for it is not he
that speaks, but the Holy Spirit.[613]
Yet once again, before the parting salutation, Christ and the Church
interchange their thoughts. The former speaks first: _He which
testifieth these things saith, Yea, I come quickly._ It is the sum and
substance of His message to His suffering people, for they can desire
or need no more. The "I" is the Lord Himself as He is in glory, not in
the feebleness of the flesh, not amidst the sins and sorrows of the
world, not with the cup of trembling and astonishment in His hand, but
in the unlimited fulness of His Divine power, clothed with the light
of His heavenly abode, and anointed with the oil of gladness above His
fellows. Especially is the Church told that this revelation is all she
needs, because throughout the book she is supposed to be in the midst
of trials. To the troubled heart the Apocalypse is given; and by such
a heart is it best understood.
Jesus has spoken; and the Church replies, _Amen. Come, Lord Jesus._
Amen to all that the Lord has promised; Amen to the thought of sin and
sorrow banished, of wounded hearts healed, of tears of affliction
wiped away, of the sting taken from death and victory from the grave,
of darkness dissipated for ever, of the light of the eternal day.
Surely it cannot come too soon. "Why is His chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the wheels of His chariots?"[614] "Yea, I come quickly.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."
The salutation of the writer to his readers alone remains. It ought to
be read differently from its form in the authorised English version,
not "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all," but _The
grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints_. For the saints the book
had been written; to them it had been spoken: they alone can keep it.
Let no man who is not in Christ imagine that the Revelation of St.
John is addressed to him. Let no man imagine that, if he has not found
Christ already, he will find Him here. The book will rather perplex
and puzzle, more probably offend, him. Only in that union with Christ
which brings with it the hatred of sin and the love of holiness, which
teaches us that we are "orphans"[615] in a present world, which makes
us wait for the manifestation of the kingdom of God as they that wait
for the morning, can we enter into the spirit of the Apocalypse,
listen to its threatenings without thinking them too severe, or so
embrace its promises that they shall heighten rather than lower the
tone of our spiritual life. Here, if anywhere, faith and love are the
key to knowledge, not knowledge the key to faith and love. It is in
the very spirit of the book, therefore, not in a spirit hard, or
narrow, or unsympathetic, that it closes with the words, "The grace of
the Lord Jesus be with the saints."
* * * * *
We have reached the end of this singular, but at the same time most
instructive, book of the New Testament. That the principles upon which
it has been interpreted should be generally accepted were too much to
hope for. Their acceptance, where they are received, must depend
mainly upon the consideration that while, as scientific principles,
they are thoroughly capable of defence, they give unity to the book
and a meaning worthy of that Divine Spirit by whose influence upon the
soul of the Apostle it was produced. On no other principles of
interpretation does it seem possible to effect this; and the writer of
these pages at least is compelled to think that, if they are rejected,
there is only one conclusion possible,--that the Apocalypse, however
interesting as a literary memorial of the early Christian age, must be
regarded as a merely human production, and not entitled to a place in
the canon of Scripture. Such a place, however, must in the present
state of the argument be vindicated for it; and as an inspired book it
has accordingly been treated here. What the reader, therefore, has to
consider is whether, though some difficulties may not be completely
overcome, he can accept in the main the principles upon which, in
endeavouring to explain the book, the writer has proceeded. These
principles the reader, whoever he be, undoubtedly applies to
innumerable passages of Scripture. In so applying them to the prophets
of the Old Testament, he follows the example of our Lord and His
Apostles; and much of the New Testament itself equally demands their
application. There is nothing new in them. All commentators in part
apply them. They have only been followed out now with more consistency
and uniformity than usual. Archdeacon Farrar has said that one of the
two questions in New Testament criticism which have acquired new
aspects during the last few years is, What is the key to the
interpretation of the Apocalypse?[616] The question is certainly one
urgently demanding the Church's answer, and one which will without
doubt be answered in due time, either in the present or some other
form. May the Spirit of God guide the Church and her students, and
that speedily, into all the truth.
FOOTNOTES:
[585] Comp. p. 373.
[586] Chap. i. 1.
[587] Chap. xix. 5.
[588] John xix. 35. Wider questions than can be here discussed would
be opened up by an inquiry how far the same method of explanation may
be applied to John xvii. 3.
[589] Chap. i. 3.
[590] Chap. i. 4, 9.
[591] Chap. xix. 10.
[592] Dan. xii. 4; comp. viii. 26.
[593] Comp. John iii. 19.
[594] See a fuller treatment of this important point by the author in
his _Lectures on the Revelation of St. John_, p. 286, etc.
[595] Comp. chap. xi. 18.
[596] Chap. i. 8.
[597] Chap. i. 5.
[598] 1 Cor. i. 30.
[599] Comp. Ps. xxii. 16, 20; Matt. vii. 6; Phil. iii. 2.
[600] Comp. Matt. xxv. 10.
[601] Chap. i. 1.
[602] John i. 51.
[603] Matt. xxii. 45.
[604] Isa. xi. 1.
[605] Rom. i. 3.
[606] Mal. iv. 2.
[607] Matt. i. 23.
[608] Rom. viii. 31-39.
[609] John xv. 26, 27.
[610] John iv. 14.
[611] Chap. i. 3.
[612] Matt. x. 40.
[613] Comp. Mark xiii. 11.
[614] Judges v. 28.
[615] John xiv. 18, R.V. (margin).
[616] _Expositor_, July, 1888, p. 58.
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation and spelling errors have been fixed throughout.
Non-Latin characters have been replaced with the nearest Latin
equivalent for example [oe] (the oe ligature), was replaced with oe.
Missing footnote anchors have been added where it was possible to
determine placement.
Inconsistent hyphenation has been left as in the original text.
Page 266: The quote ending (... in the sea_.") does not have an
opening quote, left as in the original text.
Footnote 500: This footnote is missing the page number reference to
compare to, left as in the original text.