The sealing of the servants of God in their foreheads, designates them,

but does not constitute them such; for none are sealed, only those who are

previously his. This is in allusion to the ancient custom of stamping with

a hot iron the name of the owner on the forehead or shoulder of his slave.

Before the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, Ezekiel saw

in vision a man clothed in linen, with a writer’s ink-horn by his side,

who was commissioned to go through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark

on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the

abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And the destroying angels

who were commanded to slay all, both old and young, to spare not, nor to

have pity, were expressly told to “come not near any man upon whom is the

mark,” Ezek. 9:2-6. When the destroying angel passed through Egypt, on the

night of the Passover, “to slay all the first-born of that nation, the

houses of the Israelites were indicated by the blood of the Paschal Lamb

sprinkled on their lintels and door-posts; and by these the angels

passed,” Ex. 12:23. Thus in the present instance, before the descent of

the impending storm, the servants of the Lord are to be indicated by the

seal of the living God in their foreheads, and will be spared the horrible

tempest which will “hurt” all those on whom it shall fall.

The 144,000,—the whole number sealed, is a perfect number,—an appropriate

symbol of all the living righteous on the earth. The twelve tribes, then,

would symbolize all the branches of Christ’s mystical body in which the

servants of God are found. The pious dead would need no mark indicative of

their acceptance, having previously, in the white robes given them,

received the symbols of their justification, 6:11. That their resurrection

and the changing of the living, immediately succeeded, is evident from:

The Palm-bearing Multitude.

“After these things I looked, and lo, a great crowd, which no one

could number, out of all nations, and tribes, and people, and

tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed

with white robes, and palm-branches in their hands; and they cried

with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God seated on the

throne, and to the Lamb! And all the angels stood around the

throne, and the elders and the four living beings, and fell before

the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen:

blessing and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and

power, and might, be to our God for ever and ever. Amen! And one

of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these arrayed in

white robes? and whence came they? And I said to him, My Lord,

thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they who came out of

great affliction, and have washed their robes, and made them white

in the blood of the Lamb. For this, they are before the throne of

God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and He, who

sitteth on the throne, will dwell among them. They will hunger no

more, and will thirst no more; nor will the sun light on them, nor

any heat. For the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will

tend them, and lead them to fountains of living waters: and God

will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”—Rev. 7:9-17.

This great multitude of white-robed palm-bearers, must include those who,

under the preceding seal, anxiously inquired how long was to be deferred

the avenging of their blood on those who dwell on the earth. That epoch

had now arrived; and they come forth arrayed in the white robes then given

them. The palm-branches in their hands, are emblems of victory. They

symbolize the subjects of the first resurrection, caught up to meet the

Lord in the air. That they are gathered from every land and every age, is

asserted when it is said they are from every kindred, tongue, and people;

and that they triumph over death and the grave, is evident from the answer

of one of the elders to the questions: “What are these?” and “Whence came

they?”

The epoch, is a point of time intervening between the first resurrection,

and the descent of the new Jerusalem, 21:2. The loud and united voice,

with which the redeemed multitude cry “Salvation to our God which sitteth

upon the throne, and unto the Lamb,”—synchronizes with that of the “great

multitude,” which, like the voice of many waters, and of “mighty

thunderings,” shouted “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth”

(19:6), immediately preceding the marriage-supper of the Lamb (19:6-9).

They are removed above the troubles of earth, which are impending upon the

wicked, under:

The Seventh Seal.

“And when he opened the seventh seal, silence took place in heaven

for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels, who stood

before God; and seven trumpets were given to them. And another

angel came and stood by the altar, having a golden censer; and

much incense was given to him, that he should offer it with the

prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne.

And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints,

ascended before God from the angel’s hand. And the angel took the

censer, and filled it with the fire of the altar, and out it into

the earth: and there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings,

and an earthquake.”—Rev. 8:1-5.

The epoch of this seal, is sometimes regarded as anterior to that of the

trumpets; and those are often supposed to be included in the events of

this seal; but no conclusive reason has ever been given for removing it

from its obvious position as the closing one, of a series of successive

periods, commencing with the gospel, and extending to the end of the

world. If the first six are successive in their respective order, analogy

would require that the seventh be thus considered.

Under the sixth seal, the great men and rich, are seen fleeing to the

rocks for refuge from the wrath of the Lamb; and the risen saints

symbolized, are in the Saviour’s presence; but the infliction of the wrath

of God on the wicked is not there symbolized. The events of that seal come

down as far as those in the 19th chapter, which precede the marriage of

the Lamb, 19:7.

The half-hour’s silence, is the first thing indicated under the seventh

seal. Being so expressly noticed, it would seem to be of some

significance. As a period of symbolic time, on the scale of a day for a

year, “about half an hour,” would equal a week’s duration—corresponding to

the time which intervened between the entrance of Noah into the ark, and

the commencement of the deluge, Gen. 7:1-4. As the period evidently

synchronizes with the parable of the Saviour, when “the Bridegroom came;

and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door

was shut” (Matt. 25:10),—the others being still without,—it would seem to

symbolize the time, between the entrance to the marriage of the Lamb

(19:7), and the going forth of the Word of God with his armies, to judge,

make war, and to slay the remnant with the sword, 19:11-21. It would be a

period of holy joy to the righteous in the Saviour’s presence, and of

awful suspense to the wicked.

The seven angels, to whom were given seven trumpets, being introduced

here, have doubtless caused the events of this seal to be regarded as

anterior to the first trumpet. As those immediately following, evidently

synchronize with occurrences of the closing epoch, the angels can only be

introduced here in anticipation of the symbolization which they are to

unfold under the sounding of the successive trumpets—the same as the seven

angels with the last plagues are introduced, before the epoch of the

commencement of their allotted work, 15:1.

The golden censer was the instrument in which incense was burned in the

Jewish worship. Incense symbolizes prayers (5:8). The offering of much

incense with the prayers of all saints and the smoke of the incense

ascending up before God, indicates the acceptance of their offerings in

heaven—the act being before the throne, and not on the earth. The

acceptance of their prayers, also implies their own acceptance, when

presented “faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”

Jude 24.

The fire from the altar, symbolizes the instruments of divine justice; and

the filling the censer with coals after the acceptance of the saints, and

the casting of both the censer and fire to the earth, indicate that

thenceforth there would be no more acceptance of prayer from those left on

the earth, but the speedy infliction of impending judgments.

The “voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake,” which

followed, evidently synchronize with the same events which follow the

seventh trumpet: when the “wrath of God” has come, with “the time of the

dead that they should be judged;” and when those are to be destroyed who

have destroyed the earth, 11:19. They are the same, also, as those under

the seventh vial, (16:18); and symbolize the final overturn and commotion,

previous to the cleansing of the earth and the ushering in of a better

day: Then will the

“fire purge all things new,

Both Heaven and Earth, wherein the just shall dwell.”—MILTON, BOOK XI.

The Seven Trumpets.

“And the seven angels having seven trumpets prepared themselves to

sound.”—Rev. 8:6.

The sounding of each successive trumpet marks the commencement of an era,

of a longer or shorter duration, as the striking of a clock does the

succession of hours. During each era, were to be fulfilled the events

symbolized in connection with its respective trumpet. Those under the

trumpets are more of a political character than those presented in

connection with the seals.

The First Trumpet.

“And the first angel sounded, and there was 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 every green herb was burnt up.”—Rev. 8:7.

The earth of the Apocalypse is regarded by most expositors as the Roman

empire, in a state of comparative quiet. As no tornado like this described

has ever happened, its correspondence must be sought for in the political

relations of the empire. There is great unanimity among commentators

respecting the period and the agents here symbolized,—that it refers to

the invasions of the Goths and other barbarians, from A. D. 363 to 410.

After 395, their incursions were more severe than during the earlier

portion of that period. The third part of the earth, would be the third

part of the Roman empire, in distinction from the other two-thirds.

The green grass of the earth, the trees, &c., are distinguished from

“those men which have _not_ the seal of God in their foreheads” (9:4), and

must therefore symbolize the people of God in the third part of the

empire. As all the green grass is burnt up, while only one-third of the

trees suffer, the latter cannot include one-third of all the trees in the

empire, but only one-third in the parts affected,—the grass indicating the

more weakly, and the trees the more hardy classes of Christians.

The infidel historian, Gibbon, has given the events which fitly correspond

with the symbolization of these trumpets. After the death of Theodosius,

in January, A. D. 395, Alaric, the bold leader of the Gothic nation, took

arms against the empire. The terrible effects of this invasion, are thus

described:—

“The barbarian auxiliaries erected their independent standard; and boldly

avowed hostile designs, which they had long cherished in their ferocious

minds. Their countrymen, who had been condemned, by the conditions of the

last treaty, to a life of tranquillity and labor, deserted their farms at

the first sound of the trumpet, and eagerly assumed the weapons which they

had reluctantly laid down. The barriers of the Danube were thrown open;

the savage warriors of Scythia issued from their forest; and the uncommon

severity of the winter, allowed the poet to remark, that ‘they rolled

their ponderous wagons over the broad and icy back of the indignant

river.’ The unhappy nations of the provinces to the south of the Danube,

submitted to the calamities, which, in the course of twenty years, were

almost grown familiar to their imagination; and the various troops of

barbarians, who gloried in the Gothic name, were irregularly spread from

the woody shores of Dalmatia, to the walls of Constantinople. The Goths

were directed by the bold and artful genius of Alaric. In the midst of a

divided court, and a discontented people, the emperor, Arcadius, was

terrified by the aspect of the Gothic arms. Alaric disdained to trample

any longer on the prostrate and ruined countries of Thrace and Dacia, and

he resolved to seek a plentiful harvest of fame and riches in a province

which had hitherto escaped the ravages of war.

“Alaric traversed, without resistance, the plains of Macedonia and

Thessaly. The troops which had been posted to defend the Straits of

Thermopylæ, retired, as they were directed, without attempting to disturb

the secure and rapid passage of Alaric; and the fertile fields of Phocis

and Bœotia were instantly covered with a deluge of barbarians, who

massacred the males of an age to bear arms, and drove away the beautiful

females, with the spoil and cattle of the flaming villages. The travellers

who visited Greece several years afterwards, could easily discover the

deep and bloody traces of the march of the Goths. The whole territory of

Attica was blasted by his baneful presence; and if we may use the

comparison of a cotemporary philosopher, Athens itself resembled the

bleeding and empty skin of a slaughtered victim. Corinth, Argos, Sparta,

yielded without resistance to the arms of the Goths; and the most

fortunate of the inhabitants were saved, by death, from beholding the

slavery of their families, and the conflagration of their

cities.”—_Gibbon’s Rome_, vol. v., p. 177.

Being tempted by the fame of Rome, Alaric hastened to subjugate it. He put

to flight the Emperor of the West; but deliverance soon came, and Rome was

saved from his hands. Alaric was first conquered in 403. But another cloud

was gathering, and is thus described by Gibbon:—

“About four years after the victorious Toulan had assumed the title of

Khan of the Geougen, another barbarian, the haughty Rhodogast, or

Radagaisus, marched from the northern extremities of Germany almost to the

gates of Rome, and left the remains of his army to achieve the destruction

of the West. The Vandals, the Suevi, and the Burgundians, formed the

strength of this mighty host; but the Alani, who had found a hospitable

reception in their new seats, added their active cavalry to the heavy

infantry of the Germans; and the Gothic adventurers crowded so eagerly to

the standard of Radagaisus, that, by some historians, he has been styled

the King of the Goths. Twelve thousand warriors, distinguished above the

vulgar by their noble birth, or their valiant deeds, glittered in the van;

and the whole multitude, which was not less than two hundred thousand

fighting men, might be increased by the accession of women, of children,

and of slaves, to the amount of four hundred thousand persons.

“The correspondence of nations was, in that age, so imperfect and

precarious, that the revolutions of the North might escape the knowledge

of the court of Ravenna, till the dark cloud, which was collected along

the coast of the Baltic, burst in thunder upon the banks of the Upper

Danube, &c. Many cities of Italy were pillaged or destroyed; and the siege

of Florence by Radagaisus, is one of the earliest events in the history of

that celebrated republic, whose firmness checked or delayed the unskilful

fury of the barbarians.

“While the peace of Germany was secured by the attachment of the Franks,

and the neutrality of the Alemanni, the subjects of Rome, unconscious of

the approaching calamities, enjoyed a state of quiet and prosperity, which

had seldom blessed the frontiers of Gaul. Their flocks and herds were

permitted to graze in the pastures of the barbarians: their huntsmen

penetrated, without fear or danger, into the darkest recesses of the

Hercynian wood. The banks of the Rhine were crowded, like those of the

Tiber, with elegant houses and well-cultivated farms; and if the poet

descended the river, he might express his doubt on which side was situated

the territory of the Romans. This scene of peace and plenty was suddenly

changed into a desert; and the prospect of the smoking ruins, could alone

distinguish the solitude of nature, from the desolation of man. The

flourishing city of Mentz was surprised and destroyed; and many thousand

Christians were inhumanly massacred in the church. Worms perished, after a

long and obstinate siege; Strasburg, Spires, Rheims, Tournay, Arras,

Amiens, experienced the cruel oppression of the German yoke; and the

consuming flames of war spread from the banks of the Rhine over the

greatest part of the seventeen provinces of Gaul. That rich and extensive

country, as far as the ocean, the Alps, and the Pyrenees, was delivered to

the barbarians, who drove before them, in a promiscuous crowd, the bishop,

the senator, and the virgin, laden with the spoils of their houses and

altars.”—_Ibid._, vol. v., p. 224.

After this invasion of the empire by Radagaisus, Alaric again returned,

invaded Italy in 408, and in 410 he besieged, took, and sacked Rome, and

died the same year. In 412 the Goths voluntarily retired from Italy.

In this last year, “a public conference was held in Carthage, by order of

the magistrate;” and it was there agreed to inflict the most severe

penalties on those who dissented from the Catholic doctrines, in the

African part of the Roman empire. Says Gibbon:—“Three hundred bishops,

with many thousands of the inferior clergy, were torn from their churches,

stripped of their ecclesiastical possessions, banished to the islands, and

proscribed by the laws, if they presumed to conceal themselves in the

provinces of Africa. Their numerous congregations, both in the cities and

country, were deprived of the rights of citizens, and of the exercise of

religious worship.”

The Second Trumpet.

“And the second angel sounded, and it was as if a great mountain

burning with fire were cast into the sea: and the third part of

the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures in the

sea, and having life, died; and the third part of the ships was

destroyed.”—Rev. 8:8, 9.

A mountain differs from a tornado, and must symbolize a compact, organized

body of invaders. Its being of a volcanic nature, renders it so much the

more terrible and destructive.

As waters symbolize “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues,” the sea

into which the mountain is cast, is a people already agitated by previous

commotions.

The ships and fish in the sea, must necessarily symbolize agents

sustaining a relation to the Roman Sea, analogous to the relation of such

to the literal sea. They are those who live upon, and are supported by,

the people:—the rulers and the officers of state.

The symbol of a burning mountain fitly represents the armed invaders under

Genseric. In the year 429, with fifty thousand effective men he landed on

the shores of Africa, established an independent government in that part

of the Roman empire, and from thence, harassed the southern shores of

Europe and the intermediate islands, by perpetual incursions. Says

Gibbon:—“The Vandals, who, in twenty years, had penetrated from the Elbe

to Mount Atlas, were united under the command of their warlike king; and

he reigned with equal authority over the Alarici, who had passed within

the term of human life, from the cold of Scythia, to the excessive heat of

an African climate.

“The Vandals and Alarici, who followed the successful standard of

Genseric, had acquired a rich and fertile territory, which stretched along

the coast from Tangiers to Tripoli; but their narrow limits were pressed

and confined on either side by the sandy desert and the Mediterranean. The

discovery and conquest of the black nations that might dwell beneath the

torrid zone, could not tempt the rational ambition of Genseric; but he

cast his eyes towards the sea; he resolved to create a new naval power,

and his bold enterprise was executed with steady and active perseverance.

The woods of Mount Atlas afforded an inexhaustible nursery of timber; his

new subjects were skilled in the art of navigation and ship-building; he

animated his daring Vandals to embrace a mode of warfare which would

render every maritime country accessible to their arms; the Moors and

Africans were allured by the hope of plunder; and, after an interval of

six centuries, the fleet that issued from the port of Carthage again

claimed the empire of the Mediterranean. The success of the Vandals, the

conquest of Sicily, the sack of Palermo, and the frequent descents on the

coast of Lucania, awakened and alarmed the mother of Valentinian, and the

sister of Theodosius.”

“The naval power of Rome was unequal to the task of saving even the

imperial city from the ravages of the Vandals. Sailing from Africa, they

disembarked at the port of Ostia, and Rome and its inhabitants were

delivered to the licentiousness of Vandals and Moors, whose blind passions

revenged the injuries of Carthage. The pillage lasted fourteen days and

nights; and all that yet remained of public and private wealth, of sacred

or profane treasure, was diligently transported to the vessels of

Genseric. In the forty-five years that had elapsed since the Gothic

invasion, the pomp and luxury of Rome were in some measure restored; and

it was difficult either to escape, or to satisfy the avarice of a

conqueror, who possessed leisure to collect, and ships to transport, the

wealth of the capital.”—_Gibbon._

The Third Trumpet.

“And the third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven,

burning like a torch, and it fell on the third part of the rivers,

and on the fountains of waters; and the name of the star is called

Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and

many men died by the waters, because they were made bitter.”—Rev.

8:10, 11.

The sounding of the third trumpet marks the advent of a third invader of

the Roman empire. And such was Attila, the king of the Huns, who invaded

Gaul A. D. 451. Gibbon says:—

“The kings and nations of Germany and Scythia, from the Volga perhaps to

the Danube, obeyed the warlike summons of Attila. From the royal village

in the plains of Hungary, his standard moved towards the west; and, after

a march of seven or eight hundred miles, he reached the conflux of the

Rhine and the Necker.” “The hostile myriads were poured with resistless

violence into the Belgic provinces.” “The consternation of Gaul was

universal.” “From the Rhine and the Moselle, Attila advanced into the

heart of Gaul, crossed the Seine at Auxerre, and, after a long and

laborious march, fixed his camp under the walls of Orleans.” “An alliance

was formed between the Romans and Visigoths.” The hostile armies

approached. “ ‘I myself,’ said Attila, ‘will throw the first javelin, and

the wretch who refuses to imitate the example of his sovereign, is devoted

to inevitable death.’ The spirit of the barbarians was rekindled by the

presence, the voice, and the example, of their intrepid leader; and

Attila, yielding to their impatience, immediately formed his order of

battle. At the head of his brave and faithful Huns, Attila occupied, in

person, the centre of the line.” The nations from the Volga to the

Atlantic were assembled on the plains of Chalons; and there fought a

battle, “fierce, various, obstinate, and bloody, such as could not be

paralleled, either in the present, or in past ages! The number of the

slain amounted to one hundred and sixty-two thousand, or according to

another account, three hundred thousand persons; and these incredible

exaggerations suppose a real or effective loss, sufficient to justify the

historian’s remark, that whole generations may be swept away, by the

madness of kings, in the space of a single hour.”

Attila was compelled to retreat; but neither his forces nor reputation

suffered. He “passed the Alps, invaded Italy, and besieged Aquileia with

an innumerable host of barbarians.” “The succeeding generation could

scarcely discover the ruins of Aquileia. After this dreadful chastisement,

Attila pursued his march; and, as he passed, the cities of Altinum,

Concordia, and Padua were reduced into heaps of stones and ashes. The

inland towns, Vicenza, Verona, and Bergamo, were exposed to the rapacious

cruelty of the Huns. Milan and Pavia submitted, without resistance, to the

loss of their wealth;” and “applauded the unusual clemency which preserved

from the flames the public as well as private buildings, and spared the

lives of the captive multitude.” “Attila spread his ravages over the rich

plains of modern Lombardy; which are divided by the Po, and bounded by the

Alps and Apennines.” He took possession of the royal palace of Milan. “It

is a saying worthy of the ferocious pride of Attila, that the grass never

grew on the spot where his horse had trod.”

He advanced into Italy, only as far as the plains of Lombardy and the

banks of the Po, reducing the cities he passed to stones and ashes; but

there his ravages ceased. He concluded a peace with the Romans in the year

of his invasion of Italy (451), and the next year he died. Thus he

appeared like a fiery meteor, exerted his appointed influence upon the

tongues and people, who were tributary to the Romans,—as rivers and

fountains of waters are to the sea; and like a burning star, he as

suddenly expired. As a specimen of the bitterness which followed his

course, it is recorded of the Thuringians who served in his army, and who

traversed, both in their march and in their return, the territories of the

Franks, “that they massacred their hostages as well as their captives. Two

hundred young maidens were tortured with exquisite and unrelenting rage;

their bodies were torn asunder by wild horses, or were crushed under the

weight of rolling wagons; and their unburied limbs were abandoned on

public roads, as a prey to dogs and vultures.”

The Fourth Trumpet.

“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; so that the third part of them was darkened, and the day

shone not for a third part of it, and the night in like

manner.”—Rev. 8:12.

The sun, moon, and stars cannot here, any more than under the sixth seal

(6:12,13), symbolize agents of their own order, but must represent the

rulers of the Roman empire. Says Dr. Keith:—

“At the voice of the first angel, and the blast of his trumpet, the whole

Roman world was in agitation, and ‘the storms of war’ passed over it all.

‘The union of the empire was dissolved;’ a third part of it fell; and the

‘transalpine provinces were separated from the empire.’ Under the second

trumpet, the provinces of Africa, another, or the maritime, part, was in

like manner reft from Rome, and the Roman ships were destroyed in the sea,

and even in their harbors. The empire of Rome, hemmed in on every side,

was then limited to the kingdom of Italy. Within its bounds, and along the

fountains and rivers of waters, the third trumpet reëchoed from the Alps

to the Apennines. The last barrier of the empire of Rome was broken. The

plains of Lombardy were ravaged by a foreign foe: and from thence new

enemies arose to bring to an end the strife of the world with the imperial

city.

“ ‘In the space of twenty years since the death of Valentinian’ (two years

subsequent to the death of Attila), ‘nine emperors had successively

disappeared; and the son of Orestes, a youth recommended only by his

beauty, would be the least entitled to the notice of posterity, if his

reign, which was marked by the extinction of the Roman empire in the west,

did not leave a memorable era in the history of mankind.’ ”

The throne of the Cæsars had been for ages the sun of the world; while

other kings were designated as stars. The imperial power had first been

transferred to Constantinople by Constantine; and it was afterwards

divided between the east and the west; but the eastern empire was not yet

doomed to destruction. The precise year in which the western empire was

extinguished, is not positively ascertained, but it is usually assigned to

A. D. 476. Some place it in 479. The imperial Roman power, of which either

Rome or Constantinople had been jointly or singly the seat, whether in the

West or the East, ceased to be recognized in Italy; and the third part of

the sun was smitten, till it emitted no longer the faintest rays. The

power of the Cæsars became unknown in Italy; and a Gothic king reigned

over Rome.

Dr. Keith considers that “the concluding words of the fourth trumpet imply

the future restoration of the Western empire: ‘The day shone not for a

third part of it, and the night likewise.’ In respect to civil authority,

Rome became subject to Ravenna; and Italy was a conquered province of the

Eastern empire. But, as more appropriately pertaining to other prophecies,

the defence of the worship of images first brought the spiritual and

temporal powers of the Pope and of the emperor into violent collision;

and, by conferring on the Pope all authority over the churches, Justinian

laid his helping hand to the promotion of the papal supremacy, which

afterwards assumed the power of creating monarchs. In the year of our Lord

800, the Pope conferred on Charlemagne the title of Emperor of the Romans.

The title was again transferred from the King of France to the Emperor of

Germany. By the latter it was formally renounced, within the memory of the

existing generation. In our own days the iron crown of Italy was on the

head of another ‘emperor.’ ” Then the sun was suddenly darkened, as

symbolized under the sixth seal, 6:12. p. 66.

The Woe-denouncing Angel.

“And I beheld, and heard an eagle flying in the midst of heaven,

saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the

earth, from the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three

angels, who are to sound.”—Rev. 8:13.

The word eagle, instead of angel, is in accordance with the more recent

revised editions of the Greek. It must symbolize persons peculiarly

apprehensive at this crisis, of disasters to follow the extinction of the

Roman empire in the west. During the first half of the sixth century, the

Sclavonians invaded the east, “spread from the suburbs of Constantinople

to the Ionian Gulf, destroyed thirty-two cities or castles, razed Potidæa,

which Athens had built, and Philip had besieged, and repassed the Danube,

dragging at their horses’ heels one hundred and twenty thousand of the

subjects of Justinian.”—_Gibbon._ And they continued their inroads, until

the citizens became apprehensive that the Empire of the East would be

extinguished like that of the West.

This symbol also indicates that the events under the trumpets which were

to follow, would be far more dreadful and terrible than those of the

preceding ones. For this reason, the last three are sometimes denominated

THE WOE TRUMPETS.

The Fifth Trumpet.

“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star, which had fallen

from heaven to the earth: and to him was given the key of the pit

of the abyss. And he opened the pit of the abyss: and a smoke

arose out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the

sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. And locusts

came out of the smoke into the earth: and power was given to them,

as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was said to them

that they should not injure the herbage of the earth, nor any

green thing, nor any tree; but only those men who have not the

seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not allowed to kill

them, but to torment them five months: and their torment was like

the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those

days men will seek death, and will not find it; and will desire to

die, and death will flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts

were like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads were as

it were crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of

men. And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth

were like those of lions. And they had breast-plates, like

breast-plates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the

sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle. And they

had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails:

and their power was to injure men five months. They had a king

over them, the messenger of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is

Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue he hath the name Apollyon. One

woe is past away; and behold, there come yet two woes

hereafter.”—Rev. 9:1-12.

The previous trumpets reveal the agencies which effected the dismemberment

and overthrow of Western Rome. The fifth and sixth unfold those which

terminated that empire in the east, embracing the territory between the

Adriatic and Euphrates, the Lybian desert and the Danube.

A star (1:20) symbolizes a messenger, or head of a religious body, p. 31.

Mohammed is generally regarded as represented by this symbol. He was, by

birth, of the princely house of the Koreish, Governors of Mecca, a family

of eminence.

The star had fallen to the earth before opening the pit of the abyss,

which illustrates the flight of Mohammed from Mecca, and the seeming

termination of all his hopes. To save his life, he took refuge, with one

companion, in a cave near Medina, in A. D. 622, which forms the epoch of

the Hegira, _i.e._, of his flight.

The bottomless pit, is where Satan is subsequently cast (20:3); and the

key of it being given to this agent, symbolizes his power to open and to

cause the smoke to issue from it; the Satanic origin of which is thus

indicated:

Smoke is an appropriate representative of error, and symbolizes the

Mohammedan doctrines; which, like the smoke of a great furnace, were

disseminated far and wide, subverting the religion, and, in time,

effecting the overthrow of the remaining portion of the Roman empire—the

sun, one-third of which was smitten under the fourth trumpet.

The locusts were generated in the smoke from whence they issued. In a

corresponding manner, the spread of Mohammedanism resulted in the

organization of hordes of Saracens, who propagated the religion of the

false prophet by the sword, and founded the famous Arabian empire, which

extended from the Atlantic ocean to the river Euphrates.

The shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle; and the

Saracenic hordes, thus symbolized, were mounted horsemen, famous for the

swiftness of their flight or pursuit, and ever ready for the contest.

Their crowns, faces, hair, teeth, breast-plates, &c., seem to be

indicative of their personal appearance: on their heads they wore yellow

turbans, like coronets; their demeanor was grave and firm; their hair,

like that of women, was suffered to grow uncut; they were defended by the

cuirass or breast-plate; and in rushing to battle, their onset was like

that of chariots and many horses.

They had a king over them, named Abaddon in the Hebrew, and Apollyon in

the Greek, both of which signified the Destroyer. The Saracens

acknowledged the authority of Mohammed during the whole period of their

conquests; not only recognizing him as their prophet and king during his

lifetime, but his successors, after his death, considered and called

themselves Mohammed’s _Caliphs_, or _Vicars_.

Their mission was not against the grass, green things, and trees, but had

express reference to the men who had _not_ the seal of God in their

foreheads. The antithesis here expressed, shows that by the former were

symbolized the servants of God, and that these locust-warriors were

particularly commissioned against infidels and apostates. Christians were

not to be molested; and provision was made for their protection, in the

circular letter which Abubekir sent to the Arabian tribes, A. D. 633. He

said:

“ ‘Remember, that you are always in the presence of God, on the

verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of

paradise: avoid injustice and oppression; consult with your

brethren, and study to preserve the love and confidence of your

troops. When you fight the battles of the Lord, acquit yourselves

like men, without turning your backs; but let not your victory be

stained with the blood of women and children. Destroy _no

palm-trees, nor burn any fields of corn_. Cut down no fruit-trees,

nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat. When

you make any covenant, or article, stand to it, and be as good as

your word. As you go on, you will find some _religious persons_

who live in retired monasteries, and propose to themselves to

serve God that way; let them alone, and neither kill them nor

destroy their monasteries; and you will find another sort of

people that belong to the synagogue of Satan, who have _shaven

crowns_; be sure you cleave their skulls, and give them no quarter

_till they either turn Mohammedans or pay tribute_.’ ”

At this epoch, the Greek church at Constantinople had been preserved from

the reproach of image worship, and still later it made strenuous efforts

against it; but the churches of the north of Africa, and the Asiatic

portion of the Eastern empire, had become greatly debased, and worshipped

saints and images. And while the territories of these were speedily

subverted to Mohammedanism, and became a part of the Arabian empire, the

east of Europe was wonderfully preserved from their inroads.

Their power was not to kill, but to torment men five months. To kill,

symbolically, according to the significance of the second seal, p. 60, is

to compel men to apostasize; and they could not be in a condition to force

their religion on the men of the eastern empire, without first subjecting

it by force of arms.

The time of this torment was limited to five prophetic months. In one

hundred and fifty years from the _Hegira_ the Saracen empire had ceased to

be aggressive. In 762 Bagdad, the city of peace, was founded on the

Tigris, by Al-Mansur, who died in 774. “From this time,” says ROTTICK,

“the Arabian history assumes an entirely different character.” It was no

longer progressive; the proud Saracen empire became dismembered, and three

independent and hostile Caliphates, and several fragments of kingdoms,

were formed from its ruins. In 841, the reigning Caliph at Bagdad,

distrusting the spirit of his own troops, hired a body of fifty thousand

Turkish soldiers, which he distributed in his dominions. These accelerated

the ruin of the Caliphate, and, in time, the whole of the Saracen

territory became subject to the Tartar rule, which had become Mohammedan,

and also aimed to subject the eastern empire.

The declaration that “one woe is past,” v. 12, implies an interval between

that and the woe following. In a corresponding manner, the crusaders from

Europe, like the successive overflowing of a mighty river, restrained the

Tartars from the conquest of Constantinople, which had now consented to

image worship, till the sounding of:

The Sixth Trumpet.

“And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice out of the four

horns of the golden altar before God, saying to the sixth angel

having the trumpet, Loose the four messengers bound near the great

river Euphrates. And the four messengers were loosed, prepared for

an hour, and day, and month, and year, to slay the third part of

men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred

thousand thousand: I heard the number of them. And thus I saw on

the horses in the vision, and those, who sat on them, having red,

blue and yellow breast-plates: and the heads of the horses were

like the heads of lions; and fire, and smoke, and brimstone issued

from their mouths. By these three plagues the third part of men

was killed; by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone,

which issued from their mouths. For the power of the horses is in

their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails having heads were

like serpents, and they injure with them. And the rest of the men,

who were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the

works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and

idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood:

which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk; nor did they repent of

their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication,

nor of their thefts.”—Rev. 9:13-21.

The great river, the Euphrates,—waters being a symbol of people,

(17:15)—must symbolize those who sustain a relation to the Roman

hierarchy, as its defenders and supporters; analogous to that sustained by

the river Euphrates to the city of Babylon; which was situated on, and

drew its wealth and support from it.

The angels bound near the Euphrates, must then be those powers, which,

approaching and attacking the Roman Empire, were _restrained_ from

effecting its conquest and enforcing the profession of Mohammedanism.

Their being loosed, signifies the removal of those restraints. Mr. Lord

suggests that they symbolize leaders of the four armies of the Tartars,

which successively overran the surrounding provinces. He says:

“The first horde were the Seljukians, who invaded the Eastern empire about

the middle of the eleventh century, under Togrul Beg. He suddenly overran,

with myriads of cavalry, the frontier, from Taurus to Arzeroum, and spread

it with blood and devastation. Alp Arslan, his successor, soon renewed the

invasion, conquered Armenia and Georgia, penetrated into Cappadocia and

Phrygia, and scattered detachments over the whole of lesser Asia. His

troops being subsequently driven back, he renewed the war, and recovered

those provinces. His descendants, and others of the race, soon after

extended their conquests, and established the kingdoms in the east of

Persia and Syria, and Roum, in lesser Asia, which they maintained through

many generations, and made their sway a scorpion scourge to the idolatrous

inhabitants. The Christians were allowed the exercise of their religion on

the conditions of tribute and servitude, but were compelled to endure the

scorn of the victors, to submit to the abuse of their priests and bishops,

and to witness the apostasy of their brethren, the compulsory circumcision

of many thousands of their children, and the subjection of many thousands

to a debasing and hopeless slavery.

“The second army was that of the Moguls, who, in the thirteenth century,

after the conquest of Persia, passed the Euphrates, plundered and

devastated Syria, subdued Armenia, Iconium, and Anatolia, and extinguished

the Seljukian dynasty. Another army advancing to the west, devastated the

country on both sides of the Danube, Thrace, Bulgaria, Servia, Bosnia,

Hungary, Austria, and spread them with the ruins of their cities and

churches, and the bones of their inhabitants. This horde had been prepared

for this invasion by vast conquests in the East.

“The third were the Ottomans, who in the beginning of the fourteenth

century conquered Bithynia, Lydia, Ionia, Thrace, Bulgaria, Servia, and in

the following century Constantinople itself, and have maintained their

empire to the present time. They were released from restraint on the one

hand by the decay of the Mogul Khans, to whom they had been subject, and

on the other by the dissensions and weakness of the Greeks.

“The last was that of the Moguls under Tamerlane, who in the beginning of

the fifteenth century overran Georgia, Syria, and Anatolia, and spread

them with slaughter and desolation. He also had been prepared for this

incursion by his previous victories and conquests.”—_Ex. Apoc._, pp. 225,

226.

These armies, the number of which is literally “myriads of myriads,” were

not all subsequent to the time when they had power to subject the Eastern

Roman empire; but may be the four, from the fact that the Mohammedan power

was extended by these armies, which till this time had been restrained

from accomplishing the subjugation of Constantinople.

The restraints being removed, they were now to have power to kill, by

compelling the third part of men to embrace the doctrines of

Mohammed,—evident reference being had to the men of the eastern empire;

the conquest of which was now to be effected, the dial of heaven having

indicated the arrival of the predicted epoch.

In 1449 Constantine Deacoses, being entitled to the throne of

Constantinople by the death of John Paleologus, did not venture to take

possession till he had sent ambassadors and gained the consent of Amurath,

the Turkish Sultan. From this fact, Ducas, the historian, counts

Paleologus as the last Greek emperor—for he did not consider as such, a

prince who did not dare to reign without permission of his enemy. Amurath

died and was succeeded in the empire, in 1451, by MAHOMET II., who set his

heart on Constantinople, and made preparations for besieging the city. The

siege commenced on the 6th of April, 1453, and ended in the taking of the

city, and death of the last of the Constantines, on the 16th of May

following, when the eastern city of the Cæsars became the seat of the

Ottoman empire; and its “religion was trampled in the dust by the Moslem

conquerors.” Thus the two-horned beast (13:11), became merged in, and

identified with the false prophet, 16:13, and 19:20.

The description of the horses, and those who sat on them (v. 17), is

strikingly emblematic of the Turkish warriors who subjugated

Constantinople. Says Dr. Keith: “The breast-plates of the horsemen, in

reference to the more destructive implements of war, might then, for the

first time, be said to be fire, and jacinth, and brimstone. The musket had

recently supplied the place of the bow. _Fire_ emanated from their

breasts. _Brimstone_, the flame of which is _jacinth_, was an ingredient

both of the _liquid fire_ and of gunpowder.... A new mode of warfare was

at that time introduced, which has changed the nature of war itself, in

regard to the form of its instrument of destruction; and sounds and sights

unheard of and unknown before, were the death-knell and doom of the Roman

empire. Invention outrivalled force, and a new power was introduced, that

of musketry as well as of artillery, in the art of war, before which the

old Macedonian phalanx would not have remained unbroken, nor the Roman

legions stood. That which JOHN saw ‘in the vision,’ is read in the history

of the times.”

By these three, the fire, smoke, and brimstone, were the third part of men

killed (v. 18), and by these was the conquest of Constantinople effected.

Says Gibbon: “At the request of Mahomet II., Urban produced a piece of

brass ordnance of stupendous and almost incredible magnitude. A measure of

twelve palms was assigned to the bore, and the stone bullet weighed about

six hundred pounds. A vacant place before the new palace was chosen for

the first experiment; but to prevent the sudden and mischievous effects of

astonishment and fear, a proclamation was issued that the cannon would be

discharged the ensuing day. The explosion was felt or heard in a circuit

of a hundred furlongs; the ball, by the force of the gunpowder, was driven

about a mile, and on the spot where it fell, it buried itself a fathom

deep in the ground. For the conveyance of this destructive engine, a frame

or carriage of thirty wagons was linked together, and drawn along by a

train of sixty oxen; two hundred men, on both sides, were stationed to

poise or support the rolling weight; two hundred and fifty workmen marched

before to smooth the way and repair the bridges, and near two months were

employed in a laborious journey of a hundred and fifty miles.

“In the siege, the incessant volleys of lances and arrows were accompanied

with the smoke, the sound, and the fire of their musketry and cannon.

Their small arms discharged at the same time five or even ten balls of

lead of the size of a walnut, and according to the closeness of the ranks,

and the force of the powder, several breast-plates and bodies were

transpierced by the same shot. But the Turkish approaches were soon sunk

into trenches, or covered with ruins. Each day added to the science of the

Christians, but their inadequate stock of gunpowder was wasted in the

operation of each day. Their ordnance was not powerful either in size or

number, and if they possessed some heavy cannon, they feared to plant them

on the walls, lest the aged structure should be shaken and overthrown by

the explosion. The same destructive secret had been revealed to the

Moslems, by whom it was employed with the superior energy of zeal, riches,

and despotism. The great cannon of MAHOMET was flanked by two fellows

almost of equal magnitude: the long order of the Turkish artillery was

pointed against the walls: fourteen batteries thundered at once on the

most accessible places, and of one of these it is ambiguously expressed

that it was mounted with one hundred and thirty guns, or that it

discharged one hundred and thirty bullets.”

The conquest of Constantinople being accomplished, they were to have power

to kill men during an hour, day, month, and year of prophetic time—_i.e._

three hundred and ninety-one years, fifteen days. If reckoned from the

conquest of the city, this would extend to June 1844. Whether any

particular act has transpired to mark the precise point of its

termination, may not be important; but it is interesting to consider that

within a few years the Mohammedan government has formally granted

permission for the full enjoyment of the Protestant religion; and has

renounced the right of punishing by death, apostates from Islamism.

In August 1843, an Armenian, who had become a Mussulman and subsequently

returned to the religion of his fathers, was beheaded at Constantinople.

The Christian powers of Europe immediately remonstrated, and it was hoped

that the law against apostates from Mohammedanism would be permitted to

become a dead letter. In a few months, however, a firman issued from the

government ordering the decapitation of a young man near Brooza, who was

put to death for having promised in a passion, but had afterwards refused,

to become a Mohammedan. Lord Aberdeen, the British Secretary of Foreign

Affairs, then demanded of the Turkish Sultan that the Porte should not

insult and trample on Christianity, “by treating as a criminal any person

who embraces it;” but should “renounce, absolutely and without

equivocation, the barbarous practice which has called forth the

remonstrance now addressed to it.” To this communication the following

answer was made early in 1844: “The Sublime Porte engages to take

effectual measures to prevent, henceforward, the execution and putting to

death of the Christian who is an apostate.” On the 15th of November, 1847,

for the first time, a firman was issued recognizing Protestant Christians

as a distinct community, forbidding any molestation or interference “in

their temporal or spiritual concerns,” and permitting them “to exercise

the profession of their creed in security.” This coming from the Vizier,

did not necessarily survive a change of ministry; but in November, 1850, a

firman was issued from the Sultan himself, _establishing_ the policy of

the empire in respect to Protestants, and confirming them in all needed

civil and religious privileges. Thus has the Mohammedan government

formally and forever renounced the power it had so long wielded, of

causing spiritual death by compelling men to apostatize from Christianity.

The rest of the men not killed, must be those in portions of the Roman

territory not included in the eastern third. The Roman Catholics in the

western parts, were not reformed by the judgments inflicted on the east.

They continued to worship the canonized dead, and to bow down to images of

the saints. Under this trumpet, a mighty movement was to be there

effected, which was symbolized by the descent of:

The Rainbow Angel.

“And I saw another mighty angel descending from heaven, clothed

with a cloud: and the rainbow was over his head, and his face was

like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his

hand a little book opened: and he set his right foot on the sea,

and his left foot on the land. And shouted with a loud voice, as a

lion roareth: and when he shouted, seven thunders uttered their

voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I

was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal

up those things, which the seven thunders uttered, and write them

not. And the angel, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the

land, raised his hand to heaven, and swore by him who liveth for

ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things in it, and the

earth, and the things in it, and the sea, and the things in it,

that the time should not yet be; but in the days of the voice of

the seventh angel, when he will sound, the secret of God will be

finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets. And

the voice, which I heard from heaven, spoke with me again, and

said, Go, take the little book, which is opened in the hand of the

angel, who standeth on the sea and on the land. And I went away to

the angel, and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said

to me, Take, and eat it up; and it will make thy stomach bitter,

but in thy mouth, it will be sweet as honey. And I took the little

book from the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth

sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it my stomach was bitter. And

he said to me, Thou must prophesy again concerning many people,

and nations, and tongues, and kings.”—Rev. 10:1-11.

This angel, like those in corresponding passages, must symbolize a body of

men, whose importance is indicated by the might and splendor of the

symbol.

His descent from heaven, the cloud, the rainbow, the sun-like face, and

the fire-like feet of the Mighty Messenger, attest the heaven-inspired

origin of his utterances. His “eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like

unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace,” would not be given to

one who came to announce other than heaven-inspired truths.

The _open book_ in the hand of the angel, fixes the chronology of the

fulfilment of this vision at an epoch when the Scriptures cease to be a

closed and sealed book, and the people are permitted to have free access

to them.

His _position_—one foot resting on the sea, and one on the land—attests

the universality of the movement which is to date from that epoch.

His lion voice, must symbolize the manner in which would be announced the

great truths, at which the whole world would be startled.

The _singleness_ of his cry, is also symbolic of the simplicity of the

truth, which is never symbolized by discordant multitudinous sounds.

The _responsive thunders_, unlike the single voice of the angel, are

multitudinous and discordant; and consequently symbolize errors. Their

_following_ so immediately on the shout of the angel, shows the proximity

of their promulgation to the utterance of the truths to which they are

responsive.

JOHN’S _readiness to write_ what the seven thunders uttered, shows that

what they uttered was _professedly_ in harmony with the truths previously

announced, and that men would be liable to be deceived, by their

promulgation.

His being _forbidden_ by the cloud-robed angel, to write what they

uttered—while he was commanded to “seal not the sayings of the prophecy of

this book” (22:10),—shows that their utterances were not heaven-inspired,

and constituted no part of “the word of GOD, and of the testimony of JESUS

CHRIST,” which JOHN bare record of.

The _subsequent oath_ of the angel, by Him who liveth forever, that “the

time is not yet,” shows that those thunders, however erroneous in their

form manner and connection with other errors, had respect to some great

event foretold in Scripture; but which the thunders had _antedated_ and

presented in an _unscriptural_ form.

His further announcement that it would be fulfilled under the sounding of

the “seventh trumpet,” and that then the mystery of GOD should be finished

in the manner foretold to his servants the prophets, shows that the great

event, the time of which was “not yet,”—_i.e._, under the sixth trumpet,

was the coming of the kingdom of GOD—the fifth universal empire; that at a

period anterior to the time when it might rationally be expected, it would

be proclaimed in a form repugnant to the teachings of the prophets; and

that when thus heralded, it would be met by the party uttering the

heaven-inspired truths, with the denial that the time had arrived, and by

arguments to show its true nature and epoch, under the seventh trumpet.

The command to take and eat the little book, shows that its contents were

such as the soul might feed on; which should be sweet to the believer’s

taste, but would subject him to bitter persecution. And the announcement

that they were to prophesy _again_ before many nations and peoples and

tongues and kings, marks this as the commencement of an era when the

Gospel should again begin to go forth into distant lands.

All of the above particulars harmonize in the time of the reformation of

LUTHER in the sixteenth century, and with no other epoch. The great truths

then promulgated, of which “justification by faith” was the cardinal one,

electrified the whole world, as the loud roaring of a lion would startle

the passer-by. These were immediately responded to by the multitudinous

errors of the Anabaptists and others, who thought to set up the kingdom of

GOD in _this world_, and _before the resurrection_, by putting to death

the ungodly and sparing only the saints.

As in all efforts for good Satan is careful to attempt a counterfeit, or

to mingle impure elements to the injury of the truth, so in the

Reformation there were false reformers. THOMAS MUNZER, and others, in

1525, incited vast numbers on the borders of the Danube to make physical

war on the Papal ecclesiastics. He denounced LUTHER, also, with the same

violence that he did the Pope. In his mad attempt to slay the ungodly, he

took possession of Muhlhausen, appointed a new city council, pillaged the

houses of the rich, proclaimed a community of goods, and committed various

excesses; but they were finally defeated in a pitched battle, with a loss

of from five thousand to seven thousand killed. Others succeeded him,

teaching that GOD spake to them in person, instructing them how to act.

They professed the most extravagant doctrines, setting aside both LUTHER

and the Bible. The former did not go near far enough for them; and the

latter was in their view insufficient for man’s instruction, who could

only be taught of God. They taught that the world was to be immediately

devastated; and no priest or ungodly person be left alive; and that then

the kingdom of GOD would commence, and the saints possess the earth. Those

who adhered to LUTHER, united with him in bearing a faithful testimony

against such extravagances, adhered to the written word, denounced new

revelations, and showed from the Bible that Antichrist was to be

overthrown by the personal advent of CHRIST, and not by the sword of man.

The following extracts are from MR. LORD:

“The pretences of the Anabaptists to inspiration were in like manner

denounced by Melancthon. ‘The Anabaptists, infatuated by the devil, have

boasted a new species of sanctity, as though they had left the earth, and

ascended to the skies; and given out, moreover, that they enjoy

extraordinary inspiration. But as the pretence was hypocritical, and

designed merely to subserve appetite and ambition, they soon plunged into

debauchery, and then excited seditions, and undertook to establish a New

Jerusalem, as other enthusiasts have often attempted. A like tragedy was

formerly acted at Pepuza in Phrygia, which fanatical prophets denominated

the new Jerusalem.’

“He also refuted by the Scriptures, the expectation of the Anabaptists of

the immediate establishment of Christ’s millennial kingdom. He regarded

the term Antichrist as denoting both the Mohammedan empire and the Papacy,

and held that they were not to be overthrown till the time of the

resurrection of the dead, and that a considerable period was to pass

before that event. ‘God showed to Daniel a series of monarchies and

kingdoms, which it is certain has already run to the end. Four monarchies

have passed away. The cruel kingdom of the Turks, which arose out of the

fourth, still remains, and as it is not to equal the Roman in power, and

has certainly, therefore, already nearly reached its height, must soon

decline, and then will dawn the day in which the dead shall be recalled to

life.’ He then repeats the saying ascribed to Elias, that six thousand

years were to pass before the advent of Christ; two thousand before the

law, two under the law, and two under the gospel; and proceeds to show

that four hundred and fifty-eight years were, therefore, to intervene

before the advent of the Redeemer, the destruction of Antichrist, and the

establishment of the kingdom of the saints. ‘It is known that Christ was

born about the end of the fourth millenary,(1) and one thousand five

hundred and forty-two years have since revolved. We are not, therefore [in

1542], far from the end.’

“These views corresponding so conspicuously with the symbol, continued to

be repeated by a crowd of writers, till at the distance of sixty-seven

years from the death of Melancthon, the celebrated Joseph Mede published

his ‘Clavis Apocalyptica,’ in which he showed from the coincidence of the

periods of the wild beast and the witnesses, that the advent of the

Redeemer, and the destruction of the anti-Christian powers were not to be

expected until twelve hundred and sixty years had passed from the rise of

the ten kingdoms, and that near one hundred of them, therefore, were still

to revolve. As that period expired and the knowledge of the prophecy

advanced, the catastrophe of the wild beast was referred to a later time.

Many recent expositors regard the twelve hundred and sixty years as having

reached their end in 1792; and most refer the fall of the anti-Christian

powers to the last half of the present, or the beginning of the next

century.”—_Ex. of Apoc._, pp. 238-240.

All the vagaries of the various sects of heretics were connected with an

expectation of the immediate establishment of CHRIST’S kingdom. That the

seven thunders gave utterance to such an expectation, is evident from the

response of the angel, when he lifted up his hand to heaven and with the

solemnity of an oath, by Him who liveth forever, affirmed that “_the time

should not yet be_;” but that “in the days of the voice of the seventh

angel, when he delays to sound,(2) the secret of GOD will be finished, as

he hath announced to his servants the prophets.” Why such an annunciation

at this stage of the vision? It must be to correct a misapprehension which

would exist at a corresponding time in its fulfilment, respecting the

immediate appearance of the kingdom. Thus did PAUL correct the

Thessalonian brethren, when he wrote to them in his second epistle not to

be shaken in mind, as that the day of the LORD was then impending, 2 Th.

2:2.

The Bible, was, at this epoch, first opened to the common people. Before,

it was only found in languages which they were entirely ignorant of. It

was translated by LUTHER into their own language, and thus made

accessible. The art of printing, discovered at about that time, enabled

all who wished, to avail themselves of its unsealed contents. They feasted

on the words of inspiration, which were sweeter to them than honey, or the

honey-comb. But afterwards, they had to endure bitterness for the sake of

the Gospel. Divisions and subdivisions followed, parties multiplied, and

heresies abounded, accompanied with bitter and mischievous discussions,

and fierce and rancorous contentions. These being based on the

understanding which the several parties attached to portions of scripture,

were fitly symbolized by the bitterness that followed the eating of the

book. At this time, also, was revived a system of religious teachings

which has gone forth into many lands.

The reörganization of the church at this epoch, is next symbolized.

The Measuring Reed, Temple, &c.

“And there was given me a measuring reed like a rod, and it was

said, Arise, and measure the temple of God, (and the altar,) and

those who worship in it. But the court which is without the

temple, leave out, and measure it not; for it is given to the

Gentiles: and they will tread the holy city under foot forty-two

months.”—Rev. 11:1, 2.

These symbols are evidently taken from the temple and altar of Jewish

worship, and represent corresponding analogies under the Christian

dispensation.

To measure anything, is to examine and take notice of its parts and

proportions; and that by which it is measured, is the standard or rule to

which it should conform.

The temple, is a proper symbol of the church of God; which is “built upon

the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being

the Chief Corner Stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together,

groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord,” Eph. 2:20, 21.

At the epoch of the Reformation, the nominal church was subjected to the

scrutiny of the word of God; and its pretensions were measured by the

scriptural rule. The reformers found the Man of Sin, “as God sitting in

the temple of God,” (2 Thess. 2:4); and they had to re-model their church

relationship, in accordance with the pattern presented in the New

Testament. This involved the consideration of what constituted the

church,—its organization, its ministry, its sacraments, and its

membership,—their mutual relation to God, and to each other.

The altar, must symbolize the sacrifice and atonement of Christ,—the

“altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle,” Heb.

13:10. The great question, of justification by faith in the death of

Christ, was the rallying cry of the Reformation. The fundamental

principles of Christian truth were then unfolded anew, and the doctrines

of the Papacy, including the sacrifice of the mass, were rejected as

contrary to Bible teachings.

The worshippers in the temple, who were to be measured by the same rule,

are Christians. All who were to be recognized as such, were to give

evidence of conformity to the Bible standard. Regeneration by the Holy

Ghost, was held by the reformers to be necessary to church membership. The

Papists required only baptism and confirmation.

The court without the temple, was that to which the Gentiles had access,

and beyond which their entrance was prohibited. Devout foreigners were

there permitted to pay their devotions to the God of heaven. As the

Gentiles must symbolize those who are not Christians, the occupants of the

outer court, must be the congregation—the nominal worshippers who throng

the outer courts of the Lord, in distinction from the true worshippers.

Such were to have free and unrestricted access to the places of Christian

worship.

The holy city is that in which the temple is situated, and must embrace

the church as a whole, subjected to Gentile rule. Its being trodden under

foot, indicates that the civil polity under which the church would

subsist, should, during the period specified, be under the control of

those who worship only in the outer court.

The forty and two months, is a period of time, corresponding with the

thousand two hundred and three score days of the verse following, the time

and times and half a time of Rev. 12:14, and the corresponding periods of

Rev. 12:6; 13:5; Dan. 7:25; and 12:7; symbolizing a period of twelve

hundred and sixty years, according to the almost unanimous opinion of

Protestant writers.

This period does not commence with this epoch, but began with the

subjection of Christianity to the power of the civil arm, which was to

continue during the time predicted,—notwithstanding the reädjustment of

the temple-worship,—when Christians should cease to be responsible to any

human tribunal for the orthodoxy of their faith.

During the same period, also, power to prophesy, though shrouded in

sackcloth, was to be given to:

Christ’s Two Witnesses.

“And I will give charge to my two witnesses, and they will

prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in

sackcloth. These are the two olive-trees, and the two lamp-stands,

standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any one wisheth to

injure them, fire proceedeth from their mouth, and devoureth their

enemies: and if anyone wisheth to injure them, he must thus be

killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it may not rain in

the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to

turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as

often as they wish. And when they shall have finished their

testimony, the wild beast that ascendeth out of the abyss will

make war with them, and will overcome them, and kill them. And

their dead body _will lie_ on the wide street of the great city,

which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord

was crucified. And those of the people, and tribes, and tongues,

and nations, will see their dead body three days and a half, and

will not allow their dead body to be put into a tomb. And those,

who dwell on the earth, will rejoice over them, and exult, and

send gifts to each other; because these two prophets tormented

those, who dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half

the Spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood on their

feet; and great fear fell on those, who saw them. And they heard a

great voice from heaven, saying to them, Ascend here! And they

ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them. And

in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of

the city fell, and in the earthquake seven thousand names of men

were slain: and the remnant became terrified, and gave glory to

the God of heaven. The second woe is past away; behold, the third

woe cometh quickly.”—Rev. 11:3-14.

The two witnesses are not symbolically exhibited, but are referred to by

an elliptical metaphor, and are explained to be the “two olive-trees, and

the two candlesticks.” Therefore, they are not two living men, as some

suppose, shown to John in vision, symbolizing analogous agents; but their

nature is to be determined by a consideration of the olive-trees and

candlesticks which symbolize them.

Candlesticks symbolize churches. Thus the Saviour said to John: “The seven

candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches,” 1:20. When “men

light a candle,” they put “it on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto

all that are in the house,” Matt. 5:15. The candlestick does not

originate, but sustains the light in a position to be seen and exert a

beneficial influence. It is thus that the church is said to be “the light

of the world,” and is required to let her light “shine before men,” _Ib._

vs. 14-16,—_i.e._ She is to disseminate the light committed to her; and in

so doing, she becomes a _witness_ for Jesus.

The church comprises all the holy persons who have lived on earth, and is

symbolized by two candlesticks, corresponding to the two dispensations of

its existence. Those who lived under the former dispensation, are called

“a great cloud of witnesses,” Heb. 12:1. Of Christ, “give all the prophets

witness,” Acts 10:43. They constitute the voice of the church in that age.

Under the gospel dispensation, also, Christ had chosen witnesses of

himself. He said to his disciples, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in

Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts

of the earth,” (_Ib._ 1:8); and they said, “We are his witnesses,” _Ib._

5:32. “We are witnesses of all things which he did, ... witnesses chosen

before of God,” (_Ib._ 10:39-41);—“his witnesses unto the people,” _Ib._

13:31. They and their successors have “testified and preached the word of

the Lord,” (_Ib._ 8:25), overcoming “by the word of their testimony,”

(Rev. 12:11),—many of them being “slain for the word of God, and for the

testimony which they held,” 6:9. The church, one in all ages, symbolized

by the two candlesticks, is thus a _witness_ of Jesus.

The two olive-trees, symbolize the other witness, which must sustain a

relation to the church, analogous to that sustained by the olive-trees to

the candlesticks. The declaration, that the witnesses are _the_ two

olive-trees and candlesticks, implies the existence of some previous

symbolization, where those objects and their relation to each other are

presented. And the connection shows clearly that reference is made to the

vision, wherein Zechariah beheld “a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl

upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the

seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof; and two olive-trees by it,

one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side

thereof,” Zech. 4:2, 3. The relation which the olive-trees sustain to the

candlestick, is shown by the questions of the prophet: “What are these, my

Lord?” (_Ib._ v. 4); “What are these two olive-trees upon the right side

of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? What be these two

olive-branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out

of themselves?” _Ib._ vs. 11, 12. The office of the olive-trees, was to

supply the candlestick with oil which alone enabled them to give light.

The oil of the olive-tree, was burned before the Lord continually. The

light committed to the church, is the truth of God’s word. And thus the

angel explains the meaning of the olive-trees: “This is the word of the

Lord unto Zerubbabel,” (_Ib._ v. 6); “These are the two anointed ones

[_mar_, sons of oil], that stand by the Lord of the whole earth,” _Ib._ v.

14. And this expression, corresponding with that in Rev. 11:4, shows that

this vision of Zechariah is the one referred to, and that it is

explanatory of the witnesses.

The Scriptures, as well as the church, testify of Christ: “Search the

Scriptures,” said the Saviour, speaking of those then written; “they are

they which _testify_ [or bear witness] of me,” (John 5:39); and of the New

Testament, he said: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all

the world for a _witness_ unto all nations,” Matt. 24:4. Like two

olive-trees supplying the candlesticks with oil, the Scriptures of the

Old, and of the New Testament give light to the church, and testify of

Christ. They stand on either side of him,—the one beginning with the

creation and pointing to a Messiah to come, testifying of him by types and

shadows; and the other looking back to the death and resurrection of

Christ, and cheering the heart of the believer by the evidence of his

second coming at the end of the world. Thus stood within the oracle of the

temple the two cherubim, which Solomon made “of _olive-tree_,” and whose

wings met over the ark of the covenant: “He set the cherubim within the

inner house, and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that

the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub

touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst

of the house,” 1 Kings 6, 27. Thus symbolized, the Scriptures and the

church are Christ’s two witnesses.

To prophesy, is to make known the truths of God. Thus, at the epoch of the

Reformation, they were to prophesy _again_ before many peoples, and

nations, and tongues and kings, 10:11. It was to enable the witnesses to

do this, that the necessary power was to be given them.

Sackcloth, is a symbol of humiliation and sorrow; and the witnesses being

thus clothed, indicates that during the time specified, they should be in

a despised and oppressed condition.

The one thousand two hundred and sixty days, symbolize years. God said to

Israel, after the evil report of the twelve spies: “Your children shall

wander in the wilderness forty _years_ ... after the number of the _days_

which ye searched the land,” Num. 14:33, 34. And to Ezekiel, “This shall

be a sign to the house of Israel: Lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the

iniquity of the house of Israel upon it, ... for I have laid upon thee the

years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three

hundred and ninety days.... And when thou hast accomplished them, lie

again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of

Judah forty days: I have appointed thee _each day for a year_,” Ezek.

4:3-6.

This period of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, is not the whole

time in which the witnesses prophesy, but marks the duration of their

prophesying in sackcloth. It commenced when the light of the Bible began

to be obscured by the secondary place which was accorded to it in the

estimation of the Papal church, and the living witnesses were no longer

permitted to preach the gospel in its purity.

In A. D. 533, the Emperor Justinian, wrote a letter to the Pope declaring

him to be “the head of all the holy churches,” and subjecting to his

control “all the priests of the whole East.” By the edicts and mandates of

Justinian, who was master of the Roman world, the supremacy of the Pope

received the fullest sanction; and the highest authorities among the

civilians and annalists of Rome, refer to these as evidence of the right

of the Pope to the title of “Universal Bishop,” and date it from A. D.

533. p. 200.

With this supremacy, the power of the Papacy commenced. The Bible was

permitted only in a dead language, and the faithful Christian was obliged

to seek refuge in the wilderness. False doctrines obscuring the Bible, and

persecuting enactments oppressing the church, clothed the witnesses in

sackcloth; and thus only did they testify, till the power of the papacy

was broken.

Fire proceeded out of their mouth, when they made known the fiery

judgments predicted in the Scriptures against all their enemies. And they

shut heaven, smite with plagues, turn water to blood, &c., when, in

accordance with the inspired record, are fulfilled the predictions which,

in various places, are thus symbolized.—See Rev. 15:6; 16:4, &c.

The finishing of their testimony, refers to the termination of the

sackcloth period,—twelve hundred and sixty years from A. D. 533; _i.e._ in

1793,—if the former date is correct.

The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, is that on which, in a

subsequent vision, the woman is seated, 17:7, 8. John saw this beast arise

out of the sea, (13:1); and the subsequent exposition given of it, will

show that it symbolized the civil power of the Roman empire in its divided

form.—See p. 169. As the ten kingdoms constitute the beast, what is done

by any of these kingdoms, is done by the beast. France was one of the more

prominent of these kingdoms, and at one period, under Napoleon, controlled

the greater portion of the whole.

To war against the witnesses, is to oppose, resist, and endeavor to crush

them; and to overcome them, is to be successful in such efforts.

To kill, when used symbolically and applied to Christians, is to cause

them to apostatize—producing spiritual death, 9:5. When applied to the

Scriptures, it can only denote their prohibition.

The great city, as shown in connection with Rev. 16:19, p. 290, is the

Roman hierarchy:—symbolized by Babylon, and “spiritually called Sodom and

Egypt.” By being thus “_spiritually_ called Sodom,” some understand that

it is a “spiritual Sodom,” &c., which would be a contradiction of terms;

others understand that it is called _figuratively_ by those names, and

deduce from it an argument for spiritualizing the Scriptures; but the use

of the word “_spiritually_,” it is believed, will not sanction any such

meaning. It occurs only in two other passages:—in Rom. 8:7, to be

“spiritually minded,” is to have a mind in accordance with the will of the

Spirit; and in 1 Cor. 2:14, things “spiritually discerned,” signifies that

they are discerned by the aid of the Spirit. The great city, then, is

called by the Spirit, “Sodom and Egypt;” and is so called because of her

licentiousness and idolatries, and her subjecting the saints to bondage.

To crucify the Lord afresh, is to apostatize from his teachings, Heb. 6:6.

In 1793, twelve hundred and sixty years from the date of the Papal

supremacy, the Bible was abolished in France, by the solemn decree of the

government, which declared that the nation acknowledged no God. A copy of

the Bible could not be found in a single bookstore in Paris. Inquiry also

was made for it in Rome, in _all_ the book establishments of that city,

and the invariable reply was, that it was prohibited. All the churches of

Paris were shut, and the church plate was declared the property of the

nation. Professors of religion, at the same time, in large numbers openly

apostatized and embraced infidelity. Says Dr. Croley:—

“On the 1st of November, 1793, Gobet, with the republican priests of

Paris, had thrown off the gown and abjured religion. On the 11th, a ‘grand

festival,’ dedicated to ‘Reason and Truth,’ was celebrated instead of

divine service in the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, which had been

desecrated, and been named, ‘the Temple of Reason;’ a pyramid was erected

in the centre of the church, surmounted by a temple, inscribed, ‘To

Philosophy.’ The torch of ‘Truth’ was on the altar of ‘Reason,’ spreading

light, &c. The National Convention, and all the authorities, attended at

this burlesque and insulting ceremony. In February, 1794, a grand fête was

ordered by the convention, in which hymns to Liberty were chanted, and a

pageant in honor of the abolition of slavery in the colonies, was

displayed in the ‘Temple of Reason.’ In June another festival was

ordered—to the Supreme Being: the God of Philosophy. But the most superb

exhibition was the ‘general festival,’ in honor of the republic. It was

distinguished by a more audacious spirit of scoffing and profanation than

the former. Robespierre acted the ‘high-priest of Reason’ on the day, and

made himself conspicuous in blasphemy. He was then at the summit of

power,—actual sovereign of France.”

The dead bodies of the witnesses, would be their existence in that

prohibited condition, when, in France, neither the Scriptures, nor the

church showed any symptoms of life. In the street, would be the

conspicuous and public manner in which indignities should be heaped on

them. France had been one of the principal states yielding homage to the

Roman church. Surrounding nations beheld, but would not permit the

extermination of the Bible and Christianity.