“A very remarkable and _prophetic_ distinction of this period, was the
spirit of frenzied festivity which seized upon France. The capital, and
all the republican towns, were the scene of civic feasts, processions, and
shows of the most extravagant kind. The most festive times of peace under
the most expensive kings were thrown into the shade by the frequency,
variety, and extent of the republican exhibitions. Yet this was a time of
perpetual miseries throughout France. The guillotine was bloody from morn
till night. In the single month of July, 1794, nearly _eight hundred
persons_, the majority, principal individuals of the state, and all
possessing some respectability of situation, were guillotined in Paris
alone. In the midst of this horror, there were twenty-six theatres open,
filled with the most profane and profligate displays in honor of the
‘triumph of reason.’ ”
In Lyons a Bible was tied to the tail of an ass and dragged in a
procession through the streets of that city. Thus they rejoiced over the
supposed end of religion in France; and congratulated themselves that the
terrors of God’s word, and the church would no more torment them.
“After three days and a half,” would be that number of years from the
suppression of Christianity in November, 1793. On the 17th day of June,
1797, three and a half years from the abolition of the Bible and religious
worship, CAMILLE JOURDAN, in the _Council of Five Hundred_, brought up the
memorable report on the _Revision of the Laws Relative to Religious
Worship_, by which France gave permission to all citizens to buy or hire
edifices for the free exercise of it; repealing all opposing laws, and
subjecting those to a heavy fine who should in any way impede or interrupt
any religious service. The Bible and the church again stood erect, to the
dismay of all who had rejoiced over their overthrow. Those two witnesses
were again in a position to resume their testimony.
They were not only to be thus restored, but were to be elevated far above
their former position. Since that epoch, have been made all those great
efforts to evangelize the world, by means of missionary, tract, Bible, and
other benevolent societies, which have caused the _Scriptures_ to be
translated into nearly all known languages, and carried by the _living
preacher_ to the ends of the earth. The very room in which Voltaire
uttered his famous prediction—that “the time would arrive when the Bible
would be regarded only in the light of an old curiosity,”—is now used for
a Bible depository, and is “piled to the ceiling with that rare old book.”
Copies of the Bible have been multiplied a million fold, and scattered
broadcast over the earth. The other witness,—the church, has since then,
also, been greatly magnified. In this age of missions and Bibles, the
number of believers has been greatly multiplied; and missionaries have
penetrated all lands. The last half-century has been distinguished for its
wonderful revivals; and the servants of the cross have “prophesied [or
testified] again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and
kings,” 10:11.
The same hour, is the time of the slaughter of the witnesses. Its epoch
was to be marked by a great political revolution, which, in the
Apocalypse, is symbolized by an earthquake. In the year in which
Christianity was suppressed by France, they beheaded their king, abolished
the monarchy, and entirely revolutionized the government. In the reign of
terror following, the best blood of the nation was shed like water, and no
man of influence could consider his life secure. Men, women and children
were dragged before the revolutionary tribunals, had their accusations
read to them, and were immediately condemned, and hurried off in crowds
without a trial, to be shot, drowned or beheaded. At Lyons thirty-one
thousand persons were thus slain; at Nantes thirty-two thousand,—and
throughout France in proportion. The number thus slain, has been estimated
at over one million,—a number hardly credible, and which might well be
symbolized by seven thousand—a perfect number. Well might the remnant be
affrighted, and hasten to give glory to the GOD of heaven, by the
restoration of that book, the setting aside of which had involved them in
such dire calamities.
The tenth of the city which fell, must be the tenth of the Roman
hierarchy, which is symbolized by the city. With the suppression of
religion, the Catholic church was prohibited, with all others. France was
one of the ten kingdoms, and the overthrow of the church in France, would
be the fall of one-tenth of that city.
Thus passed the second woe—the prelude to the third woe, which cometh
quickly.
The Seventh Trumpet.
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in
heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world hath become the kingdom
of our Lord, and of his Anointed; and he will reign for ever and
ever. And the twenty-four elders, who sat before God on their
thrones, fell on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We thank
thee, O Lord God Almighty, who art, and who wast, because thou
hast taken to thyself thy great power, and reigned. And the
nations were enraged, and thy wrath is come, and the season of the
dead, when they should be judged, and a reward should be given to
thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to those who
fear thy name, small and great; and when thou shouldest destroy
those, who destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in
heaven, and the ark of his covenant in his temple appeared, and
there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an
earthquake, and great hail.”—Rev. 11:15-19.
The seventh, like the preceding trumpets, marks an epoch from which an era
dates. “The days of the voice of the seventh angel” (10:7), are indicative
of a period of time to follow its sounding, in which will be fulfilled the
events predicted of that era.
The voices in heaven, which immediately follow its sounding, are prophetic
utterances of events then to transpire; and are distinct from the response
of the elders. When Christ “shall be revealed from heaven,” he will be
accompanied “with his mighty angels,” 2 Thess. 1:7. He will descend “with
a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God,” (1
Thess. 4:16); and the shout is evidently that of the attending angels,
symbolized by those voices, which will announce the revolution which is to
be made in the empire of the earth, and of the substitution of the kingdom
of God in the place of human governments.
The kingdom here established, is the long promised consummation, foretold
by prophets, and anticipated by saints of every age. It is that predicted
by Daniel, when he says: “In the days of these kings shall the GOD of
heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom
shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and
consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Dan. 2:44. He
also “saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came
with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they
brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory,
and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him:
his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and
his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.... And the kingdom and
dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall
be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” _Ib._
7:13, 14, 27. It is that referred to in the simple petition, “Thy kingdom
come” (Matt. 6:10), which was to be the great object of our prayer till
the final consummation; which the disciples thought was to appear
immediately, when they journeyed towards, and were nigh to, Jerusalem, and
which misapprehension the Saviour corrected by the parable of a nobleman
going into a far country to receive for himself kingly authority, and to
return, Luke 20:12. It is that respecting which they inquired, as the
SAVIOUR was about to be taken from them, if he would at that time restore
it to Israel, (Acts 1:6); and to which the apostle refers, when he
declares to TIMOTHY that the Lord JESUS CHRIST will judge the living and
the dead at his appearing and kingdom, 2 Tim. 4:1.
“Thy kingdom come! Thus, day by day
We lift our hands to God and pray;
But who has ever duly weighed
The meaning of the words he said?”
This kingdom is to be an eternal kingdom: “He will reign for ever and
ever.” This is in accordance with the declaration in Daniel, that “the
saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom
forever, even for ever and ever,” Dan. 7:18. To its eternity Nathan
testifies when he says to David, “Thy house and thy kingdom shall be
established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever,”
2 Sam. 7:16. Though this was spoken to David, it was to be fulfilled in
Christ; for we read in Luke (1:32, 33), “He shall be great, and shall be
called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the
throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob
forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” It is predicted in
Isaiah, that “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the
government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no
end; upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to
establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth, even
forever,” Isa. 9:6, 7. To the Son the Father saith, “Thy throne, O God, is
for ever and ever,” (Heb. 1:8); and the blood-washed throng ascribe to him
“glory and dominion for ever and ever,” 1:5, 6.
“Thy kingdom come! O day of joy,
When praise shall every tongue employ;
When hate and strife and war shall cease,
And man with man shall be at peace.
Jesus shall reign on Zion’s hill,
And all the earth with glory fill;
His word shall Paradise restore,
And sin and death afflict no more.
God’s holy will shall then be done
By all who live beneath the sun;
For saints shall then as angels be,
All changed to immortality.”
The four-and-twenty elders,—symbolizing those who are redeemed “out of
every kindred and tongue and people and nation,” 5:8, 9,—at the
establishment of the kingdom, are to be made “kings and priests,” and are
to “reign on the earth,” 5:10. They are “saints of the Most High,” who are
to “take the kingdom,” and possess it “forever.” With the announcement of
its establishment, they immediately respond with glad hosannas, which
spontaneously and unitedly burst forth from the enraptured hosts of the
ransomed ones, as they find themselves clothed upon with immortality, and
in the joyful presence of their Lord. They are raised from the dead at
this epoch; or are among the living who will then be translated, as says
the apostle:
“Behold I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, _at the last
trump_,”—the last of the seven;—“for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead
shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
The nations who are angry, will be the nations out from whom the righteous
are taken, and who are left to the recompense of their reward;—“when the
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his
power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired
in all them that believe,” 2 Thess. 1:7-10.
The heathen had raged, and the people imagined a vain thing. The kings of
the earth had set themselves, and the rulers taken counsel against the
Lord, and against his anointed. Now the time of their anger is to end: the
time for the exercise of the wrath of Jehovah upon them, has arrived, and
they are filled with fear, consternation, and shame. The time has come
when the dead are to be avenged,—when those who had been slain for the
word of God, and for the testimony which they held, whose souls under the
altar during the fifth seal, cried with a loud voice, saying,
“How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood
on them that dwell on the earth?” (6:10) find their expectations answered,
and the destroyers, or perverters of the earth, in like manner perverted
and destroyed. This winds up the kingdom of Satan on earth; his reign
terminates, and his subjects are banished. The absence of all the wicked,
with the transfiguration of all the righteous living and resurrection of
the just, leave for subjects only those who have passed the period of
their probation, and are introduced into the everlasting kingdom of God.
The opening of the temple in heaven, and the presentation of the Ark of
the Covenant, symbolize the unfolding of the mystery, in which the
administration of God may have been shrouded, making apparent all which
may have been inexplicable in his dealings with men; and rendering evident
the verity of his promises to his chosen ones.
The voices, lightnings, thunders, earthquake, and hail, are appropriate
symbols of the plagues which will fall upon the wicked. These are
fearfully depicted in the Scriptures. God says to Job, “Hast thou seen the
treasures of hail which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
against the day of battle and war,” 38:22, 23. Judgment then will be laid
“to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep
away the refuge of lies. The Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be
heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm with the indignation of
his anger, and with the flame of devouring fire, with scattering, and
tempest, and hailstones,” Isa. 28:17.
This prepares the way for the purification of the earth as foretold by
Peter (2 Pet. 3:12, 13), the restitution of all things (3:21), the new
heavens and new earth (21:1), the descent of the saints (21:2), and the
kingdom of God on the earth, 21:3. Assuming the correctness of the view
here given, how near to the time now present does it seem to fix the
consummation!
“So shall the world go on,
To good malignant, to bad men benign,
Under her own weight groaning: till the day
Appear, of respiration to the just,
And vengeance to the wicked; at return
Of him—thy Saviour and thy Lord:
Last in the clouds from heaven, to be revealed
In glory of the Father, to dissolve
Satan, with his perverted world; then raise
From the conflagrant mass, purged and refined,
New heavens, new earth, ages of endless date,
Founded in righteousness, and peace, and love,
To bring forth fruits, joy, and eternal bliss.”—_Milton._
“The world shall burn, and from her ashes spring
New heavens and earth, wherein the just shall dwell,
And after all their tribulations long,
See golden days, fruitful of golden deeds,
With joy and love triumphing, and fair truth.”—_Ib._
The Woman and Dragon.
“And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the
sun, and the moon was under her feet, and on her head a crown of
twelve stars; and she, being with child, cried, travailing in
birth, and pained to be delivered. And another sign appeared in
heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten
horns, and seven diadems on his heads. And his tail dragged the
third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and
the dragon stood before the woman, who was about to be delivered,
to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth
a male child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and
her child was snatched up to God, and to his throne. And the woman
fled into the desert, where she hath a place there prepared of
God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and
sixty days.”—Rev. 12:1-6.
With this chapter commences a new series of events, extending through the
entire gospel dispensation; the former series being terminated by the
events of the last trumpet.
The heaven, where these great “wonders” are exhibited, must symbolize the
theatre of their fulfilment—the station to be occupied by the agents
symbolized, which must be as conspicuous as heaven is relatively high
above the earth.
The woman, according to the use of the symbol in other places, must be a
representative of the church. As the harlot on a scarlet-colored beast
(17:3), is a symbol of a corrupt and apostate church, so a virtuous woman
is a chosen symbol of the true church.
The “Jerusalem which is above is the mother” of all true Christians (Gal.
4:26); she is also “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (21:9); and “the remnant
of _her seed_,” are those “which keep the commandments of God, and have
the testimony of Jesus Christ,” v. 17. Her robe of light, her position
above the moon, and her crown of stars, indicate her greatness and glory.
The epoch symbolized, as appears from the relative position of the woman
and dragon, is evidently just prior to the first advent of the Messiah,
when his coming was eagerly anticipated and ardently desired by the
church, and the Roman power had thereby been excited to jealousy.
The church is the same in all ages, comprising only the true people of
God; all of whom will have part in the first resurrection, 20:6. The
Jewish church was continued by the breaking off of unbelieving branches,
and the grafting in of believing Gentiles with believing Jews, who alike
partake of the root and fatness of the same olive-tree, Rom. 11:17.
Previous to the first advent, the Jewish church occupied a high political
position, above that of the inferior officers of state, and was in the
enjoyment of imperial favor. Patriarchs and prophets—the messengers of the
church—were stars in her crown of rejoicing, 1:20. From the utterance of
the prediction that the woman’s seed should bruise the serpent’s head
(Gen. 3:15), the coming of the promised deliverer was the great desire of
the church. Even Eve exclaimed, at the birth of her first-born
(_literally_), “I have gotten _the_ man from the Lord,” Gen. 4:1. For his
coming,
“Kings and prophets waited long
But died without the sight.”
They “inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that
should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the spirit of
Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the
sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow,” 1 Pet. 1:10, 11.
“Many righteous men desired” to see his day (Matt. 13:17); Abraham
rejoiced and was made glad at its prospect, when in the distant future
(John, 8:56); and Hezekiah lamented that because of death he should not
see “the Lord in the land of the living,” Isa. 38:11.
The seventy weeks indicated to the Jews the time of “the Messiah, the
Prince,” Dan. 9:26-27. When these were near their termination, to the
pious and devout Simeon who was “waiting for the consolation of Israel,”
it “was revealed by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he
had seen the Lord’s Christ,” Luke 2:25, 26. And the opinion was so
general, that when the _Baptist_ preceded him, “the people were in
expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were
the Christ or no,” Luke 3:15. This expectation is testified to by the
Jewish historians Philo and Josephus; and it was that which so troubled
Herod, when wise men came, saying, “Where is he that is born King of the
Jews?” Matt. 2:1-3.
The belief that some remarkable personage was about to appear in Judea,
was not confined to Palestine, but extended to Egypt, Rome, Greece, and
wherever the Jews were scattered abroad. Says Suetonius, a Roman
historian: “An ancient and settled persuasion prevailed throughout the
East, that the Fates had decreed some one to proceed from Judea, who
should attain universal empire.” And Tacitus, another Roman historian,
says: “Many were persuaded that it was contained in the ancient books of
their priests, that at that very time the East should prevail, and that
some one should proceed from Judea, and possess the dominion.”
The great red dragon sustains a relation to the woman, analogous to that
sustained by the nondescript beast (of Dan. 7:7), to the saints of the
Most High; and his position respecting the man-child is like that of the
exceeding great horn (Dan. 8:9), to the Prince of princes, Dan. 8:25. Like
the beast referred to, the dragon has ten horns; and its characteristics
indicate that it also symbolizes the Roman empire,—“the fourth kingdom
upon earth,” Dan. 7:23. The dragon is a monster serpent. “That old
serpent” who seduced Eve (Gen. 3:5), “called the devil” (Matt. 4:1-12),
and “Satan” (2 Cor. 2:11), “who deceiveth the whole world,” is an
appropriate representative of Rome.
The “head” of a beast, sustains a relation to the beast analogous to that
of the government to the people of an empire. It is that by which the
beast is directed and governed. When distinguished from the body of the
beast (Dan. 7:11), according to the analogy, it must be understood as a
symbol of the directing and controlling power, in the kingdom indicated by
the beast. Several heads on the same beast, on this principle, must
indicate the several forms of government to which the nation is subject.
As these cannot be contemporary, like the divisions of a kingdom
represented by the horns, they must be successive. To suppose they
represent different governments, destroys the analogy, and makes them
separate beasts, instead of heads of the same beast; and no government can
be subject to more than one head at the same time.
The “seven heads” of the dragon, then, symbolize the directing and
controlling powers which ruled the Roman empire,—the seven successive
forms of government under which it existed. Rome was founded about B. C.
753, from small beginnings, on the summit of Mount Palatine, and gradually
increased in extent, till it spread over seven hills: the Palatine,
Capitoline, Aventine, Esquiline, Cœlius, and Quirinalia; and its
population of about three thousand in the time of Romulus, increased to
about two millions in the time of Augustus Cæsar.
Previous to the subversion of the empire, Rome existed under different
forms of government, as follows:—
1. _Kingly._—The first government established was a monarchy, and lasted
two hundred and forty-four years, under seven kings, viz., Romulus, Numa,
Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Martius, Tarquin Priscus, Servius Tullius, and
Tarquin the Proud, who was afterwards expelled from the throne. This was
denominated the infancy of the Roman empire.
2. _Consular._—In B. C. 509, the constitution of Rome was remodelled, and
the executive power committed to two consuls, to be elected annually. This
commenced the “Commonwealth of Rome.”
3. _Dictatorial._—The office of dictator was the highest known in Rome,
and was only resorted to in cases of emergency. He was elected for six
months only, and usually resigned his authority, which, for the time, was
nearly absolute, as soon as he had effected the object for which he was
chosen.
4. _Decemviral._—In B. C. 451, the government was so changed, that,
instead of the two consuls, the government was committed to ten men, to be
chosen annually, and jointly exercise the sovereign power. After two years
the decemvirs were banished, and the consular government was restored.
5. _Tribunitial._—In B. C. 426, Rome having become a military state,
military tribunes were substituted for the consular power, till B. C. 366,
when the latter was again restored.
6. _Pagan Imperial._—With the battle of Actium, B. C. 31, the Roman
Commonwealth terminated; and Augustus Cæsar united in his own person not
only the offices of Consul, Tribune, &c., but also that of _Supreme
Pontiff_,—the head of the pagan hierarchy. This last office, says Gibbon,
“was constantly exercised by the emperors.” Thus were united the highest
civil and ecclesiastical powers of the state.
7. _Christian Imperial._—In A. D. 312, the government was revolutionized,
by the accession of Constantine to the throne. He effected important
changes in the relations of the people to the monarch, opposed idolatry,
and by the introduction of Christianity, effected a political change in
the laws and administration of the empire. This continued, with a slight
interruption under Julian the Apostate, till the subversion of the Western
empire, A. D. 476.
Mr. Elliott, in explanation of the first five heads, says: “I adopt, with
the most entire satisfaction, that generally-received Protestant
interpretation, which, following the authoritative statement of Livy and
Tacitus (the latter great historian, St. John’s own contemporary),
enumerates kings, consuls, dictators, decemvirs, and military tribunes, as
the first five constitutional heads of the Roman city and commonwealth;
then as the sixth, the Imperial head, commencing with Octavian.”—_Horæ
Apoca._, vol. III., p. 106, 4th ed.
Those heads are shown to symbolize seven forms of government, by the
explanation that “they are seven mountains where the woman sits on them
[mountains also symbolizing governments], and are seven kings,” 17:9, 10.
And they are shown to be successive, by the fact that, when John wrote,
the first five had passed away, one only then existed,—the Pagan
Imperial,—and the other head was then in the future, 17:10.
The “ten horns” also symbolize kings, or dynasties; but, unlike the heads,
instead of being successive, they are contemporaneous. According to the
explanation, they had received no kingdom when John wrote, and were all to
exercise power at the same time: “The ten horns which thou didst see, are
ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom; but they receive power as
kings, one hour with the wild beast,” 17:12. These will be more
particularly noticed in connection with the thirteenth chapter, and there
shown to be the ten contemporaneous governments which succeeded to the
dominion, on the subversion of the Western Empire. See p. 169.
The “seven crowns” on the heads of the dragon, indicate that the acts here
symbolized, would be fulfilled during the period when the sovereignty of
Rome should be vested in the forms of government symbolized by the heads,
and not during that symbolized by the horns.
The woman appeared in the symbolic heavens anterior to the dragon. Prior
to the birth of Christ, the church was conspicuous and honored. The
sacrifices which smoked on Jewish altars, were offered to Jehovah. The
subjects of the divine government conducted their service with all the
splendor imparted by the Jewish ritual. Royalty was an appendage of the
nation: the sceptre did not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from
between his feet, till Shiloh came, Gen. 49:10. By an alliance with the
Romans, B. C. 135, Rome took its position in the presence of the woman.
The first act of the dragon was by a sweep of its tail to draw down
one-third of the stars, and to cast them to the earth. This was before the
birth of the man-child. After Rome attained the supremacy, Judea
proportionably suffered. Her glory was measurably dimmed by many
indignities before her subjugation to Rome was consummated. Jerusalem was
repeatedly besieged. At one time (B. C. 94) Alexander Jannæus slew six
thousand persons on account of their meeting in the temple at the feast of
tabernacles. In B. C. 63, Judea was conquered by Pompey, the Roman
general. In B. C. 54, Crassus plundered the temple of Jerusalem. In B. C.
37, Jerusalem was taken, after a siege of six months. Various other
difficulties occurred between Judea and Rome, previous to the Saviour’s
advent, on account of which she was greatly depressed and humbled, so that
it might with propriety be said that one-third of her stars were cast to
the ground. This depression was one great reason why the church within her
borders looked so earnestly for a Deliverer.
The Man-child is the one “who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron,”
according to the prediction of Christ in the second Psalm; which proves
its reference to the Saviour.
The purpose of the dragon to destroy the child of the woman as soon as it
should be born, in accordance with the view here taken, would symbolize
the purpose of the Roman power, by the agency of Herod the Roman governor
in Judea, to destroy the infant Saviour. “When he had gathered all the
chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them
where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem, in
Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet.” And Herod “sent forth and
slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts
thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had
diligently inquired of the wise men,” Matt. 2:1-16. Thus Rome sought to
slay the Saviour as soon as he was born; but Joseph took the child and
fled into Egypt. Afterwards Christ was crucified by Roman soldiers, and
deposited in the tomb, arising again the third day.
His being caught up to God and to his throne, symbolizes his resurrection
from the dead, and ascension from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:9), to the
right hand of the Majesty on high; “whom the heaven must receive until the
times of restitution of all things,” _Ib._ 3:21.
The flight of the woman into the wilderness, denotes her descent from the
conspicuous position she had occupied, and the dispersion of the church.
With the crucifixion of Christ, Judaism was no longer the casket in which
the church was enshrined. It left its place in the moral heavens, and the
followers of Christ were scattered abroad, Acts 8:1-4. Thus she virtually
fled into the wilderness—into the condition, where, subsequently, she was
to be nourished for 1260 prophetic days.
It is objected to the application of the man-child to the Saviour, that it
should be prophetic, and not retrospective. This objection would be
equally valid to the application of the symbolic heads, against which it
is never urged. That which is retrospective, to be appropriately
symbolized, must be in harmony with, and explanatory of other parts. Thus,
by the man-child and previous travail of the woman, she is identified, and
her relation to the dragon established. No other subject could fulfil the
conditions of the symbol, for of no other was it predicted: “Thou art my
Son; this day have I begotten thee.—Ask of me, and I shall give thee the
heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for
thy possession.—Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash
them in pieces like a potter’s vessel,” Psa. 2:8-10.
The War in Heaven.
“And a war took place in heaven: Michael and his angels fought
with the dragon;, and the dragon fought and his angels, and he
prevailed not; nor was their place found any more in heaven. And
the great dragon was cast out, the old serpent, called the Devil,
and Satan, who deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the
earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”—Rev. 12:7-9.
The churches,—which on the persecution subsequent to the Pentecostal
season were scattered abroad, and went everywhere preaching the word (Acts
8:4),—afterwards had rest, and were multiplied, _Ib._ 9:31. They were thus
enabled again to act a conspicuous part, as symbolized by the contest
between Michael and the dragon.
The contest symbolized, is a religious one; for the dragon is overcome “by
the word of their testimony,” v. 11.
Michael and his angels, then, must symbolize the body of Christ,—the
apostles, and their successor, under the guidance of the Lord,—who
constituted an army of religious teachers. With the arrows of truth they
assailed the idolatrous combinations of their opponents. Under the first
seal, they are represented by a mounted warrior, with bow and crown, going
forth conquering and to conquer, 6:2. See p. 58.
The dragon, with the appendages of heads, horns, and diadems, was seen to
be a symbol of the Roman government. Divested of those, it would simply
represent the Pagan hierarchy with which the contest was waged. The
heathen priests and their adherents, thus warred with the preachers of
Christianity.
Its prevailing not, shows the relative success of the two parties. The
struggle continued from the day of Pentecost till the accession of
Constantine. The church waded through bloody scenes of bitter persecution,
which, instead of diminishing, greatly added to her numbers—“the blood of
the martyrs” proving “the seed of the church.”
The heathen priests were not deficient in logic, philosophy, and artful
sophistry, by which to defend their mythology. They exhausted these, and
then resorted to persecution, torture, and death; yet they prevailed not.
With the weapons of truth, the teachers of Christianity successfully
assailed those antiquated forms of error,—overcoming “by the blood of the
Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.” “They loved not their lives
unto the death,” but freely gave themselves for Christ, till, in time, the
current of popular favor ceased to flow in the direction of paganism. The
accession of Constantine to the throne, put an end to the dragonic period
of Rome; the Pagan service gave place to the worship of Jehovah. The rites
of heathenism were no longer the religion of the state, and its ministers
were displaced from the exalted position they had so long occupied. Their
place was no longer in the symbolic heavens, but in a less conspicuous
station.
The casting out of the dragon, would then be this expulsion of the pagan
hierarchy from its national importance, and the dejection of the
priesthood and their adherents to the earth,—below their former high
station,—and to the sea, among the unsettled tribes and nations outside of
Rome. This being a religious and not a political event, it does not
immediately affect Rome’s nationality. That it is not the overthrow of a
kingdom, but of religious rites, is shown by the rejoicings which
followed.
Rejoicings of the Victors.
“And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the
salvation and the strength, and the Kingdom of or God, and the
power of his Anointed: for the accuser of our brethren it cast
out, who accused them before our God day and night. And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
testimony; and they loved not their lives to death. On this
account, rejoice, ye heavens, and ye who dwell in them.”—Rev.
12:10-12.
The loud voice is heard in the symbolic heaven from which the Dragon had
been cast. By the displacement of the Pagan hierarchy, and the
substitution of Christianity under Constantine, the adherents of the
latter succeeded to the place of the former, and rejoiced over them.
A loud voice symbolizes the utterance of the thoughts and feelings of an
interested multitude. The nature of the voice indicates the nature of the
utterance—whether it be one of expectation, fear, warning, or instruction.
This voice is expressive of the then prevalent expectation, that, with the
displacement of Paganism commenced the establishment of the Kingdom of God
on earth. This belief was not necessarily well founded;—its _existence_
only being symbolized.
On the triumph of Constantine over Licinius, Eusebius says:—“There were
illuminations everywhere. They who were before dejected looked on one
another with joyful aspects and smiles, and with choirs and hymns through
the cities and country, gave honor first to God, the Supreme Ruler of all,
as they were taught, and then to the pious emperor and his children.” Says
Mr Lord:
“Eusebius represents the victors at the precipitation of Maxentius and his
attendants into the Tiber, as saying, like Moses at the overthrow of the
Egyptians in the Red Sea: ‘Let us sing to the Lord, for he is signally
glorified. Horse and rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord my helper
and defender was with me unto salvation. Who, O Lord, is like to thee
among gods? Who is like to thee, glorified by the holy, admirable in
praise, doing wonders? Constantine entered Rome in triumph, hymning these
and similar passages to God, the author of the victory.’ And on the fall
of Licinius he represents the church as uniting in thanksgiving for the
deliverance, and congratulations at the overthrow of idolatry, and
establishment of Christ’s kingdom; and devotes the tenth book of his
history to the edicts of the emperor by which the church was nationalized
and endowed, and to the restoration of the temples, and the public
rejoicings at their dedication. ‘Let thanks be given by all to the
Almighty Ruler of the universe, and to Jesus Christ, our Saviour and
Redeemer, through whom we pray that peace from external foes may be
uninterruptedly preserved to us, and tranquillity of mind.’
“ ‘Let us sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wonderful things.
His right hand has saved him and his holy arm. The Lord has made known his
salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the presence of the
nations. We may now appropriately respond to the inspired command to sing
a new song, inasmuch as after such direful spectacles and narrations we
now have the happiness to see and celebrate what many holy men before us
and the martyrs for God desired to see on earth, and did not see, and to
hear, and have not heard. But advancing more rapidly they attained far
superior gifts in heaven, being caught up to the paradise of celestial
joy; while we acknowledge the gifts we enjoy are greater than we deserve,
and contemplate with wonder the largeness of the divine bounty. Admiring
and adoring with all our souls, we testify to the truth of the prophet’s
words, “Come and see the works of the Lord, what wonders he has wrought in
the earth, abolishing wars to the ends of the world. The bow he has
broken, he has dashed the arms, the shield he has burned in the fire.”
Rejoicing at the manifest fulfilment of these predictions to us, we go on
with our history.’ He goes on accordingly to represent the whole
population, freed from the domination of the tyrants, and relieved from
oppression, as acknowledging the only true God and protector of the pious,
and these especially who had placed their hope in Christ, as filled with
inexpressible joy; the ministers everywhere delivering commemorative
addresses, and the whole multitude offering praises and thanksgiving to
God.
“Lactantius also: ‘Let us celebrate the triumph of God with gladness; let
us commemorate his victory with praise; let us make mention in our prayers
day and night of the peace which, after ten years of persecution, he has
conferred on his people.’ ”—_Ex. of Apoc._, pp. 343-4.
Multitudes actually supposed the long-predicted kingdom of God was now
being established. Says Mr. Elliott:
“Can we wonder, then, at the exultation that was felt at this time by
many, perhaps by most, that bore the Christian name: or at their
high-raised expectations as to the future happy destiny of the Roman, now
that it had been changed into the Christian, nation? It seemed to them as
if it had become God’s covenanted people, like Israel of old: and the
expectation was not unnatural,—an expectation strengthened by the
remarkable tranquillity which, throughout the extent of the now reünited
empire, followed almost immediately on Constantine’s establishment of
Christianity,—that not only the temporal blessings of the ancient Jewish
covenant would thenceforth in no small measure attach to them, but even
those prophesied of as appertaining to the latter day. Hence on the medals
of that era the emblem of the phœnix, all radiant with the rising
sunbeams, to represent the empire as now risen into new life and hope, and
its legend which spoke of the happy restoration of the times. Hence, in
forgetfulness of all former prognostications of Antichrist and fearful
coming evils, the reference by some of the most eminent of their bishops
to the latter-day blessedness, as even then about fulfilling. The state of
things was such, Eusebius tells us, that it looked like ‘the very image of
the kingdom of Christ.’ The city built by the emperor at Jerusalem, beside
the new and magnificent Church of the Holy Sepulchre,—the sacred capital,
as it were, to the new empire,—might be, perhaps, he suggested, the New
Jerusalem, the theme of so many prophecies. Yet again, on occasion of the
opening of the new church at Tyre, he expressed in the following glowing
language, not his own feelings only, but those, we may be sure, of not a
few of the congregated Christian ministers and people that heard him:
‘What so many of the Lord’s saints and confessors before our time desired
to see, and saw not, and to hear, and heard not, that behold now before
our eyes! It was of us the prophet spake when he told how the wildernesses
and solitary places should be glad, and the desert rejoice and blossom as
the lily. Whereas the church was widowed and desolate, her children have
now to exclaim to her, Make room, enlarge thy borders! the place is too
strait for us. The promise is fulfilling to her, In righteousness shalt
thou be established: all thy children shall be taught of God: and great
shall be the peace of thy children.’ ”—_Horæ Apoc._, v. i., pp. 230-1.
They rejoiced over the downfall of the dragon as over “the Accuser of our
brethren, who accused them before our God day and night.” The phrase “our
brethren,” proves that those who unite in this song are the living saints
on the earth. The reference to Satan as an Accuser bears a close
resemblance to Zech. 3:1, where Joshua, as a symbol of the people of
Israel, is represented as standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan
standing at his right hand to resist him.—“שטן Satan signifies an
_adversary_. רשטנו _lesiteno_, to be his adversary or accuser.”—_Dr.
Clark._
Satan’s most common work is to invent false accusations against those
whose efforts tend to frustrate his designs. The Christians had endured
false accusations and bitter persecutions, and therefore rejoiced the more
over the defeat of the Pagans.
The Flight of the Woman.
“Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, and of the sea! for the
devil is come to you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that
he hath but a short season.”
“And when the dragon saw that he was cast out into the earth, he
persecuted the woman, who brought forth the male child. And two
wings of a great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly
into the desert, into her place, where she is nourished for a
time, and times, and half a time, from the presence of the
serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water like a river,
after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the
river. And the earth helped the woman; and the earth opened its
mouth and swallowed up the river, which the dragon cast out of his
mouth. And the dragon was enraged against the woman, and went away
to make war with the remnant of her seed, that keep the
commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.”—Rev.
12:12-17.
The rejoicing of Christians, according to this symbolization, is
afterwards followed by renewed triumphs of the Pagans over them. The
hatred of the Pagan worshippers to Christianity, is strikingly evinced;
but it is manifested in a manner different from the former contest.
When the church sought only to overcome by “the blood of the Lamb, and by
the word of their testimony,” it was owned of Christ; but as it became
proud and worldly, and cared more for popular favor than for purity of
faith and practice, the true church which the woman symbolized, was
represented only by those who continued faithful to their profession.
Historians inform us that with the success of Constantine, the visible
church became speedily corrupt. As it became popular, unconverted men
sought to be enrolled as members. The Pagans, instead of approaching as
enemies, came as professed friends. As a profession of Christianity was
alone necessary for admission to the church, multitudes sought connection
with it. This caused a condition of things, of which Dr. Milner thus
speaks:—“In the general appearance of the church, we cannot see much of
the spirit of godliness. External piety flourished. But faith, love,
heavenly-mindedness appear very rare. The doctrine of real conversion was
very much lost, and external baptism placed in its stead: and the true
doctrine of justification by faith, and true practical use of a crucified
Saviour for troubled consciences were scarcely to be seen at this time.
Superstition and self-righteousness were making vigorous shoots; and the
real gospel of Christ was hidden from the men that professed it.”
To the same effect is the report of Mosheim:—Of the life and morals of the
professing Christians of the fourth century, he says: “Good men were, as
before, mixed with bad; but the bad were by degrees so multiplied, that
men truly holy and devoted to God appeared more rarely; and the pious few
were almost oppressed by the vicious multitude.” Of their doctrines he
says: “Fictions, of early origin” (about saint veneration and relics, a
purifying fire, celibacy, &c., &c.), “now so prevailed as in course of
time almost to thrust true religion aside, or at least to exceedingly
obscure and tarnish it.”
Says Mr Lord:—“Constantine and his successors introduced a flood of false
doctrines, superstitions and idolatries, into the church, which were
incompatible with a pure worship, and swept all who yielded to their
impulse to the gulf of apostasy. Such were the veneration of the cross,
and ascription to it of miraculous powers, the homage of relics, the
invocation of saints, the conversion of religion into gorgeous ceremonies,
the encouragement of celibacy, and the arrogation of the throne and
prerogatives of God by civil and ecclesiastical rulers. These falsehoods,
follies, and impieties, introduced or adopted by the emperors, encouraged
by their example, sanctioned by their laws, and enforced by the penalties
of excommunication, imprisonment, the forfeiture of civil rights,
banishment, and death, came armed with an overpowering force to all who
were not fortified against them by the special aids of the divine spirit,
and like a resistless torrent bore away the great mass of the
church.”—_Exp. of Apoc._, p. 350.
With the accession of multitudes of unworthy members, and the prevalence
of false doctrines, the true church would have been speedily overwhelmed
had not the people of God been sustained from such deleterious influences.
To the woman, therefore, were given two wings of a great eagle that she
might escape. Wings are symbolic of power of flight—for succor, or escape.
The four-winged leopard of Daniel used his speed to approach and demolish
the enemy; the woman, to escape hers. The church of old was sustained in
like manner. Thus God said to Israel, “Ye have seen what I did unto the
Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to
myself.”—Ex. 19:4.
On the introduction of new rites and doctrines into the church, multitudes
withdrew from the public assemblies, and worshipped apart. They retired
from the observation of their rulers and lived secluded for a long period.
Some may inquire for the historical evidence of the _time_ when such a
body withdrew. This, from the nature of the case, it may be difficult to
give. If the withdrawal of the true worshippers had been an occurrence of
so much notoriety as to be prominently historically noticed, it might have
defeated their withdrawal. It is sufficient that the prophecy makes such a
withdrawal necessary; and that at a later period such a body was found
existing as predicted. See p. 198. Says Mr. Lord:
“Her retreat into her place from the face of the serpent, denotes that the
scene of her residence was unknown to the rulers. The anger of the serpent
indicates their continued disposition to destroy her, if in their power;
while its going on to make war with such of her seed as had not retreated
to the desert, denotes that they continued, after her disappearance, to
persecute the isolated individuals that from time to time dissented from
the corrupt church, and professed the pure faith.
“As it was by spiritual aids that the true worshippers were enabled to
resist the temptations and force by which the rulers endeavored to
constrain them to apostasy, and to fly to the desert, no specific record
of those aids is to be sought on the page of history. The only evidence
that we can ask or possess, that they were conferred, is presented in the
fact that a body of dissentients from the corrupt church were in a latter
age found in a secluded scene, who had survived the endeavors of the
rulers of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and following centuries, to compel all
their subjects to conformity, and who have continued to maintain a
separate existence, and offer an unidolatrous worship to the present time.
“And such a body were the Waldenses, inhabiting the eastern valleys of the
Cottian Alps. They are known, from the testimony of cotemporary Catholics
and their own authors, to have existed there as early as the eleventh
century. It was then, and is now, claimed by themselves, and admitted by
their enemies, that they had subsisted there from a much earlier age.
These were a Christian church, having the Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments, regarding them as a revelation from God, and making them the
rule of their faith; having a ministry of their own, holding religious
assemblies, professing and teaching the doctrines of the gospel, and
celebrating the sacraments.
“They were distinguished for the simplicity and purity of their lives. It
was asserted by them, and repeated by the Catholics, that they were
induced to retreat to the secluded valleys which they inhabit, to escape
the despotism of the rulers and the corruptions and tyranny of the church,
soon after its nationalization by Constantine. They have continued to
subsist there to the present time, as a separate and evangelical
church.”—_Exp. Apoc._, pp. 348, 349, 359.
Says Mr. Elliott:—“I must not pass on without pressing on the reader’s
notice this notable pre-figuration of the seclusion of Christ’s church in
the wilderness, as the true and fittest answer to the Romish
anti-Protestant taunt, ‘Where was your religion before Luther?’
Protestants have not duly, as it seems to me, applied the answer here
given. For the wilderness-life necessarily, as I must repeat,—and that on
Bossuet’s own showing,—implies the _invisibility_ of her who lives in it.
And consequently, instead of the long previous invisibility of a church
like the Lutheran, or Anglican Reformed, of the sixteenth century, in
respect of doctrine and worship, being an argument against, it is an
argument for it. The Romish church, which never knew the predicted
wilderness-life, could not, for this very reason, be the woman of the 12th
Apocalyptic chapter; that is, could not be the true church of Christ.
“For 1260 prophetic days, then, or years, she was to disappear from men’s
view in the Roman world. Is it asked how her vitality was preserved?
Doubtless in her children, known to God, though for the most part unknown
to men; just like the 7000 that Elijah knew not of, who had not bowed the
knee to Baal; some, it might be, in monasteries, some in the secular walks
of life; but all alike insulated in spirit from those around them, and as
regards the usual means of grace, spiritually destitute and desolate; even
as in a barren and dry land, where no water is.—Besides whom, some few
there were of her children,—some very few,—prepared, like Elijah of old,
to act a bolder part, and stand forth, under special commission from God,
as Christ’s witnesses before Christendom.”—_Horæ Apoc._, pp. 55-57.
The flood of water cast out after the woman, is an appropriate symbol of
the various tribes which subsequently overran the Western empire. Waters
symbolize peoples, 17:15; and by hordes of barbarian Huns, Goths, and
Vandals, Rome was inundated as by a flood, in the 5th century; and in A.
D. 476 its government was entirely subverted.
Such an irruption of barbarians might be expected to extirpate
Christianity from the earth; but help came from an unexpected quarter. The
woman had retired to her secure retreat, and the earth swallowed up the
flood. Those barbarous tribes were absorbed by, and mixed with, the
previous population of the empire, and constituted the clay ingredient
with the iron, in the feet of the metallic image.—Dan. 2:41. They rapidly
assimilated to the character and habits of the previous inhabitants; and
ultimately adopted the forms of government and religion which for a time
they subverted; and within the limits of the Western empire, in the place
of the Imperial head, constituted ten contemporary kingdoms. These were a
continuation of the former government, and were symbolized by:
The Ten-Horned Beast.
“And I was standing on the sand of the sea, and saw a wild beast
ascending out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on
his horns ten diadems, and on his heads names of reviling. And the
wild beast, which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like
those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion: and the
dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority.
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his
deadly wound was healed: and all the world admired and followed
the beast. And they worshipped the dragon, for he gave power to
the wild beast: and they worshipped the wild beast, saying, Who is
like the wild beast, and who is able to make war with him?”—Rev.
18:1-4.
The sea, from which this beast emerged, is evidently the turbulent state
of anarchy, to which the people of the fourth kingdom had been reduced, on
its subversion. And the beast which came up out of the sea, represents the
forms of government which then arose.
Its heads and horns synchronize with those of the dragonic monster, which
had preceded it, and disappeared from the view of the revelator. And they
doubtless symbolize the same forms of government. See pp. 145-148.
The ten crowns encircling its horns, indicate that an era is foreshadowed,
when the sovereignty of the kingdom shall have been transferred from the
forms of government symbolized by the heads,—which had before been
encircled by the crowns,—to that represented by the horns. There is great
unanimity among Protestant writers, in regarding these as the first ten
kingdoms which existed in the western empire arising during the period of
its decline, viz: