Says Dr. Croly:—

“The emperor’s letter must have been sent before the 25th of March, 533.

For, in his letter of that date to Epiphanius he speaks of its having been

already despatched, and repeats his decision, that all affairs touching

the church shall be referred to the Pope, ‘head of all bishops, and the

true and effective corrector of heretics.’

“In the same month of the following year, 534, the Pope returned an answer

repeating the language of the emperor, applauding his homage to the See,

and adopting the titles of the imperial mandate. He observes that, among

the virtues of Justinian, ‘one shines as a star, his reverence for the

Apostolic chair, to which he has subjected and united all the churches, it

being truly the head of all; and was testified by the rules of the

fathers, the laws of the princes, and the declarations of the emperor’s

piety.’

“The authenticity of the title receives unanswerable proof from the edicts

in the ‘Novellæ’ of the Justinian code.

“The preamble of the 9th states that ‘as the elder Rome was the founder of

the laws, so was it not to be questioned that in her was the supremacy of

the pontificate.’

“The 131st, on the ecclesiastical titles and privileges, chapter II.

states: ‘We therefore decree that the most holy Pope of the elder Rome is

the first of all the priesthood, and that the most blessed archbishop of

Constantinople, the new Rome, shall hold the second rank after the holy

Apostolic chair of the elder Rome.’

“The supremacy of the Pope had by those mandates and edicts received the

fullest sanction that could be given by the authority of the master of the

Roman world. However worthless the motives, the act was done, authentic

and unquestionable, sanctioned by all the forms of state, and never

abrogated,—the act of the first potentate in the world. If the supremacy

over the church of God had been for man to give, it might have been given

by the unrivalled sovereignty of Justinian.

“From this era the church of Rome dates the earthly acknowledgment of her

claim. Its heavenly authority is referred to the remoter source of the

apostles.”—_Apoc._, pp. 14-16, 30, 31.

The war against the Vandals was vigorously prosecuted by Belisarius,

Justinian’s general, and resulted in their conquest the same year. Thus

was the second of the first ten divisions of the empire subjugated: the

second horn was plucked up.

Rome was still in possession of an Arian monarch, who was the bitter enemy

of the Catholic church. Intelligence of the success of Belisarius in

Africa reached the emperor, Dec. 16th, A. D. 533. “Impatient to abolish

the temporal and spiritual tyranny of the Vandals, he proceeded, without

delay, _to the full establishment of the Catholic church_.”—_Gibbon_,

Harpers’ ed., v. 3, p. 67. Belisarius proceeded to the conquest of Italy,

which he effected, and marched on to Rome. Only 4000 soldiers were

stationed for its defence; and they could not oppose the wishes of the

Romans, who voluntarily submitted. Seized with a momentary enthusiasm,

“they furiously exclaimed that the apostolic throne should no longer be

profaned by the triumph or toleration of Arianism; that the tombs of the

Cæsars should no longer be trampled on by the savages of the north; and

without reflecting that Italy must sink into a province of Constantinople,

they fondly hailed the restoration of a Roman emperor as a new era of

freedom and prosperity. The deputies of the Pope and clergy, of the senate

and people, invited the lieutenant of Justinian to accept their voluntary

allegiance, and to enter the city.” Thus was “the city, after sixty years’

servitude delivered from the yoke of the barbarians,” Dec. 10, A. D. 536.

And “the Catholics prepared to celebrate, without a rival, the approaching

festival of the nativity of Christ.”—_Ib._ p. 80.

In the winter, the Ostrogoths made preparations, and besieged Rome with an

army of 150,000 fighting men. Pope Sylverius was suspected of treachery,

and on proof that he had communicated with the enemy, he was banished by

Belisarius. At the emperor’s command, the clergy of Rome proceeded to the

choice of a new bishop, and elected “deacon Virgilius, who had purchased

the papal throne by a bribe of two hundred pounds of gold.”—_Ib._ p. 85.

As he had obtained the papal seat by fraud, it was claimed that he was not

the lawful Pope; but in A. D. 538, he was owned as such by the 5th General

Council, and the whole Christian world.—See Bowers’ _Hist. Popes_, v. 2,

p. 374. In March of this year (538),—after “one year and nine days”—the

Ostrogoths raised the siege of Rome, and burned their tents—one-third of

their number having perished under its walls. The arms of Justinian

triumphed, and the Catholic hierarchy was established. The third horn had

been plucked up by the fall of the third of the first ten divisions of

Rome.

The Bishop of Constantinople did not submit willingly to the Primacy of

Rome. On the death of Justinian, the supremacy of the Pope was utterly

denied; and, in A. D. 588, John, Bishop of Constantinople, himself assumed

the coveted title of “Universal Bishop.” The Roman bishop, Gregory the

Great, indignant at this usurpation, denounced him as a “usurper, aiming

at supremacy over the whole church,” and declared that whoever claims such

supremacy “has the pride and character of _Antichrist_.”

Boniface succeeded to the Roman See, and in the following year, A. D. 606,

only two years after Gregory’s death, applied to Phocas,—who had ascended

the throne of Constantinople by the murder of the Emperor Mauritius,—for

the same blasphemous title, with the privilege of continuing it to his

successors. His request was granted, the Eastern Bishop was forbidden its

use, and the Primate of Rome was again acknowledged as “Universal Bishop,”

and the unrivalled “Head of all the churches.” This title has been worn by

all the succeeding Popes; “but the highest authority,” says Dr. Croly,

“among the civilians and annalists of Rome, spurn the idea that Phocas was

the founder of the supremacy of Rome. They ascend to Justinian as the only

legitimate source, and rightly date the title from the memorable year

533.”—_Apoc._ p. 117.

In A. D. 730, Emperor Leo issued an edict for the destruction of all

images used in religious worship. From that time the Pope scorned his

authority, and acted in defiance of the emperor’s will, who found himself

unable to compel the Pope to obey the edict.

The Papacy thus defied all human authority; but did not as yet attempt the

exercise of political power.

In A. D. 756, Pepin, the usurper of the crown of France, compelled the

King of Lombardy to cede the exarchate of Ravenna to the Pope, “to be

forever held and possessed by St. Peter and his lawful successors in the

See of Rome.” The Pope had now become a temporal prince, and one of the

kings of the earth. In A. D. 774, Charlemagne, the successor of Pepin,

confirmed the former gift, and in addition, subjugated the Lombards, and

annexed a large portion of their kingdom and the Duchy of Rome to the

Roman See. In A. D. 817, Louis the Pious, granted “St. Peter’s patrimony”

to the Pope and his successors, “in their own right, principality, and

dominion, unto the end of the world.” Hence, as a temporal prince, the

Pope wears a triple crown.

In A. D. 800, Charlemagne was solemnly crowned and proclaimed emperor by

the Pope, having reduced under his sway nearly the whole of Europe. From

this time the Popes claimed superiority to all kings and emperors,

received homage from them, and exercised all the rights of sovereignty;

but they were nominally dependent on the Emperors of the West till A. D.

1278, when the Emperor Rudolph released the people of the Papal States

from all allegiance they might still owe to the imperial crown. This act

was confirmed by the electors and princes of the empire. The Popes, in the

greatness of their power, crowned and uncrowned kings at their pleasure,

absolved subjects from all allegiance to their rulers, excommunicated

whoever they would, and compelled secular princes to put to death

heretics.

In A. D. 1294, Boniface VIII. became Pope. From his accession Hallam dates

the decline of the Papacy, which, for “more than two centuries, had been

on throne of the earth, and reigned despot of the world.”—_Dowling_. This

was 1260 years from the death of Peter,—the earliest time from which they

can date. His bull of excommunication against Philip of France, being

disregarded by that monarch, who adroitly made the Pope his prisoner, his

rage brought on a fever, which caused his death. Only a few succeeding

pontiffs claimed, and none attempted to enforce, the prerogatives

exercised by the preceding Popes. For seventy years the successors of

Boniface resided at Avignon, in France, and paid great deference to the

monarch of that country. After this was the Western schism, which divided

the church for forty years,—two rival Popes claiming the mitre, and

thundering out their anathemas against each other. These events greatly

weakened the Papacy. About this time appeared Wickliffe and Huss, and

Jerome of Prague; and still later, in 1517, Martin Luther, in opposition

to the Papal pretensions, published his Thesis against Indulgences, 1260

years from the time of the arrogance of Pope Stephen.

In A. D. 1572, 1260 years from the removal of Constantine from Rome to

Constantinople, occurred the bloody massacre of St. Bartholomew, when in

one day 5000 Protestants were murdered in Paris, and in the same

proportion in other parts of France. The persecutions of the Papists

continued till near the close of the last century; and as late as

November, 1781, a woman was burned alive by the Inquisition in Spain.

In 1793, 1260 years from Justinian’s letter to the Pope, the Papal church,

with all religion, was entirely suppressed in France. And in 1798, which

was the same length of time from the establishment of the papacy, by the

conquest of the Ostrogoths,—the plucking up of the last of the three horns

in 538, Gen. Berthier entered Rome, compelled the Pope to flee, and

terminated the Papal government.

The temporal power was afterwards restored; but in 1848, twelve hundred

and sixty years from 588 when John assumed the title of Universal Bishop,

the Pope again fled from his throne. Two years subsequently, he was again

restored.

“Flacius, in his ‘Catalogue of Witnesses,’ represented the twelve hundred

and sixty days as having commenced in 606;” and Scott, and several others,

reckon them from the same epoch.

4. The image had power to speak. It thus filled the office of the “mouth,”

which was given to the ten-horned beast (v. 5), which synchronizes with

the view taken of that appendage, p. 172.

5. It should _cause_ the infliction of death on those who should refuse to

worship. The worship it would exact, is doubtless of the kind bestowed on

the wild beast, 13:4. The Papal hierarchy claimed to be infallible and

invincible, and to have power to bind and loose on earth and in heaven;

those who refused to recognize its claims, if incorrigible, were punished

with death.

The Image was not to put to death, but would _cause_ them to be killed.

The symbolization corresponds with the fulfilment in this particular. The

ecclesiastical officials punished rebellious subjects, by delivering them

over to the civil arm; which punished heretics according to the will of

the Papacy. “Lucius III. and Innocent III. by formal decrees required them

to be seized, condemned, and delivered by the civil magistrates, to be

capitally punished; and enjoined the princes and magistrates to execute on

them the sentences denounced by the canon and civil laws.”—_Lord’s Exp. of

Apoc._, p. 434. This is substantiated by Bellarmini and other writers.

Civil rulers, who refused to enforce the decrees of the councils, were

anathematized, excommunicated, and often deprived of their political

power. When the Papacy has been reminded of the numbers killed and

otherwise punished for alleged heresy, she has replied that the civil

power, and not the church, has done this! She, however, has caused the

kings of the earth to execute her wishes.

6. The image would cause all to receive the _mark_ of the Beast. A mark is

a token of recognition. Slaves, soldiers, and the devotees of various

gods, were thus identified on their hands or foreheads, both before and

after the time of St. John—slaves by the name of the Emperor on their

forehead, and soldiers by his name on their hand. Mr. Elliott proves this

by quotations from Valerius, Maximus, Ælian, Ambrose, and others. The

devotees of particular gods gained admittance to the secret meetings of

the worshippers of their respective deity, by a _mark_ by which they

identified each other. At the present day the Hindoos are marked on the

forehead by the hieroglyphic of the god they are consecrated to.

The mark of the beast, is its _name_, or the _number_ of its name. The

ancients often used numbers to indicate names. “Among the Pagans, the

Egyptian mystics spoke of Mercury, or Thouth, under the number 1218,

because the Greek letters composing the name Thouth, when estimated

according to their numerical value, together made up that number. By

others, Jupiter was invoked under the mystical number 717; because the

letters of Ἡ ΑΡΧΗ, _the beginning_, or _first origin_, which was a

characteristic title of the supreme deity worshipped as Jupiter, made up

that number: and Apollo under the number 608, as being that of ηυς, or

υης, words expressing certain solar attributes. Again, the

pseudo-Christian or semi-pagan Gnostics, from St. John’s time downwards,

affixed to their gems and amulets, of which multitudes remain even to the

present day, the mystic word σβρασαξ, or αβραξας, under the idea of some

magic virtue attaching to its number 365, as being that of the days of the

annual solar circle; and equal moreover with that of Μειθρας, or Mithras,

the Magian name for the sun, whom they identified also with Christ. Once

more, the Christian fathers themselves fell into the same fancies, and

doctrine of mysteriousness in certain verbal numbers. For example, both

Barnabas and Clement of Alexandria speak of the virtue of the number 318

as being that of ΙΗΤ the common abbreviation for Jesus crucified; and

partly ascribe to its magical virtue the victory which Abraham gained with

his 318 servants over the Canaanitish kings. Similarly Tertullian refers

the victory of Gideon, with his 300 men, to the circumstance of that being

the precise number of Τ, the sign of the cross. In the name of Adam, St.

Cyprian discerned a mysterious numeral affinity to certain characteristics

in the life and history of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Irenæus notes

the remarkable number 888 of the name Ιησους, Jesus. And in the

pseudo-Sibylline verses, written by Christians about the end, probably, of

the second century, and consequently not long after Irenæus, we find

enigmas proposed of precisely the same characters as that in the text;—the

number being given, and the name required.”—_Elliott’s Horæ Apoc._, vol.

iii., pp. 204-6.

The “number of the beast” is indicated in the text by the Greek letters

“χξς” which were severally used to represent the numbers 600, 60 and 6,

making 666. As the name of the beast is equivalent to this number, the

letters in it will represent numbers which amount to six hundred

threescore and six.

After the division of the Roman empire, the western kingdom adopted for

itself the name of the Latin kingdom; and its subdivisions were called the

Latin kingdoms. The church connected with those kingdoms was also

emphatically called the Latin church. Says Dr. More: “They Latinize

everything. Mass, prayers, hymns, litanies, canons, decretals, bulls, are

conceived in Latin. The Papal councils speak in Latin. Women pray in

Latin. The Scriptures are read in no other language under the Papacy than

Latin. In short, all things are Latin.” The Council of Trent declared the

Latin Vulgate to be the only authentic version of the Scriptures; and

their doctors have preferred it to the Hebrew and Greek text, written by

prophets and apostles.

This Latin kingdom is the only one that ever corresponded to the

characteristics of the beast. And its name—_Latinos_ in the Greek, and

_Romiith_ in the Hebrew—is equivalent to the required number.

“The Greek and Hebrew letters composing the words רומיית,

_Romiith_—רמענוש, _Romanus_—λατεινος, _Latinos_, each of them making in

numerals exactly 666, plainly point out not only his name, and the number

of his name, but also the _mark_ of his _name_; as for example:

in ר ו מ י י ת _Romiith_; so likewise

400 10 10 40 6 200 = 666

ר מ ע נ ו ש _Romanus_; and also

300 6 50 70 40 200 = 666

the Greek λ α τ ε ι ν ο ς _Latinos_,

30 1 300 5 10 50 70 200 = 666.

in each of which the exact mark is contained.

“It therefore evidently appears, that each name is both a mark and a

number; a mark, when viewed as made up of so many letters, therefore

called the mark of his name; a number, when viewed as made up of so many

numerals, then called the number of his name. But when considered merely

as a name, derived from _Romiith_, a Roman, or _Romulus_, the founder of

Rome, a name common among men, it may then be properly called the _mark,

or number of a man_.”—_Fleming’s Rise and Fall of Papacy._

To receive the mark of the beast, would be an acknowledgment of subjection

to it. The connection of the beast and its image was so intimate, that

submission to the one, was virtual submission to the other. To submit to

the rites of the church modelled after the wild beast, to profess its

faith, and to honor its authority, would be a reception of its mark. And

all persons were compelled to do this, and give evidence of submission to

its authority on the peril of their lives.

7. Those who should refuse the mark of the beast, were to be prohibited

from buying and selling. The Lateran Council under Pope Alexander II.,

passed an act forbidding any to harbor heretics in their houses or to

trade with them. The Synod of Tours passed a law that no one should assist

them, “no, not so much as to exercise commerce with them in _selling_ or

_buying_.”(5)—_Elliott._ In 1179, the third Lateran Council sentenced

certain heretics, “their defenders and harborers, to an anathema, and

forbid, under an anathema, that any should presume to keep them in their

house, or on their lands, sustain them, or transact any business with

them.”—_Lord._ “It was just the same fearful penalty of interdict from

buying and selling, traffic and intercourse, that had been inculcated long

before by the Pagan Dragon’s representative Diocletian, against the early

Christians.”—_Elliott._

So exact a correspondence between the wild beast and the Western kingdoms,

the two-horned beast and the Eastern empire, and the image to the wild

beast and the Roman Hierarchy, makes the symbolization of this chapter

very intelligible. These three agencies will severally continue till the

end of the world. The latter will be destroyed by the brightness of

Christ’s coming (2 Thess. 2:8), and the two former will then be taken and

“cast alive into the lake of fire,” 19:20.

The vision would have been defective without a representation of the end

of those who refuse to worship the beast, or its image, or to receive

their mark, and who, although warred against and overcome by the beast,

should maintain their integrity to Christ. Accordingly the revelator has a

view of:

The Redeemed on Mount Zion.

“And I looked, and behold a lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with

him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his name and the

name of his Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice

from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of

loud thunder: and the voice which I heard was like that of harpers

playing with their harps: and they sung as it were a new song

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

elders: and no one could learn the song except the hundred and

forty-four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth. These are

they, who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These

are they who follow the Lamb wherever he goeth. These were

redeemed from among men, the first fruit to God and to the Lamb.

And in their mouth no lie was found for they are faultless.”—Rev.

14:1-5.

The Lamb is shown by the connection to be Christ,—here called by one of

his metaphorical names.

The Mount Zion, doubtless, symbolizes the place where, in the

regeneration, the Lord will reign with his saints—_i.e._ in the new earth.

“The Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion,” Micah 4:7.—“And they sung

a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the

seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy

blood out of every kindred and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast

made us kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth,” 5:9,10.—“And

I saw a new heavens and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first

earth were passed away.... And I heard a great voice out of heaven,

saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with

them, and they shall, be his people, and God himself shall be with them

and be their God,” 21:1-3.

The names of Mount Zion, and Jerusalem, were both used to denote the city

which the Lord chose above all the goodly places of earth to put his name

there. It is proper to designate the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, by

all the names which were applied to the old. The king is to be set upon

the holy hill of Zion—“Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the

towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces,” Psa.

48:12, 13. “When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in glory,”

_Ib._ 102:16. “For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his

habitation. This is my rest forever; here will I dwell; for I have desired

it,” _Ib._ 132:13, 14. “For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort

all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her

desert like the garden of the Lord; and joy and gladness shall be found

therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.... Therefore the redeemed

of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting

joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and

sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” Isa. 51:3-11. “Awake, awake, put on

thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy

city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised

and the unclean.... How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him

that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good

tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, ‘Thy God

reigneth!’ Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together

shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring

again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of

Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed

Jerusalem.” _Ib._ 52:1-9. “And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto

them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.” _Ib._ 59:20.

The standing of the Lamb on Mount Zion, symbolizes an epoch when Christ

shall assume a corresponding relation to his people. He there appears in

person; and “when Christ who is your life, shall appear, then shall ye

also appear with him in glory,” Col. 3:4. It will not be till he shall

have judged “the quick and the dead at his appearing,” (2 Tim. 4:1), that

“the redeemed from among men” will “follow the Lamb whithersoever he

goeth.”

The 144,000, who are with Christ, correspond with the number which are

sealed, “of all the tribes of the children of Israel,” (7:4); and they are

doubtless the same persons, who, under the sixth seal, are designated,

among all denominations of Christians, by the mark of the living God. They

are there shown to be the godly, who shall be alive on the earth at

Christ’s coming and shall then be changed, and, with the risen dead,

caught up to meet him in the air.

The sealing process there symbolized, is here shown to be the inscribing

of the Father’s name on their foreheads. The subjects of the beast and its

image, receive its mark; but the children of God and the Lamb, are

designated instead, by the name of the Father.

The voice from heaven as the voice of many waters, with the voice of

harpers, is the singing of the new song which none but the 144,000 could

learn. Those who are translated at Christ’s coming, will be favored above

all, save two, who will have lived on the earth, insomuch as they will

have been redeemed from the earth without being subjected to death.

These sing in the presence of the four living creatures and the elders,

who symbolize those who also are redeemed from among men and will reign on

the earth, 5:8-10. Consequently those must symbolize the resurrected dead,

with whom the 144,000 will be ushered into the Lord’s presence, 1 Thess.

4:16, 17. The two bodies of the redeemed, are therefore both represented

with the Lord on Mount Zion.

Their not being defiled with women, probably implies that they were not

guilty of idolatry, which is represented by that figure, Ezek. 16:15. They

had not submitted to the wiles of the woman seated on the scarlet-colored

beast, (17:3); had not worshipped the beast or its image (14:9), and had

been true to their Divine Sovereign.

They follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. All the redeemed will

doubtless thus follow the Lamb, for of all the “great multitude which no

man could number, of all nations and kindreds, and people, and tongues,”

who stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed “with white

robes, and palms in their hands,” (7:9)—it was said: “The Lamb which is in

the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living

fountains of water,” 7:17.

Those who are redeemed from among men, are called the “first fruits unto

God and to the Lamb.” They are not necessarily first fruits of the

redeemed, to distinguish them from others of the redeemed, but are first

fruits of the race: “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth,

that we should be a kind of _first fruits_ of his creatures,” James 1:18.

By his resurrection from the dead, Christ became “the first fruits of them

that slept,” 1 Cor. 15:20. And at his coming there is to be a “first

resurrection” (20:6), when the bodies of the saints will “be fashioned

like unto his glorious body” (Phil. 3:21), and thus become the first

fruits with their risen Head. Those who come up at the second resurrection

will not attain to that beatific state.

They are faultless, and without guile. They are not perfect by reason of

any inherent goodness in themselves; for “all we like sheep have gone

astray ... and the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all,” Isa. 53:6.

The redeemed church will be faultless, because its members will be

sanctified and cleansed by the blood of Christ. Such will constitute “a

glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ... holy

and without blemish,” Eph. 5:27. While “the nations of them which are

saved shall walk in the light” of the New Jerusalem, and shall “bring

their glory and honor into it,” there “shall in no wise enter into it

anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh

a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life,” 21:24-27.

“There awaiteth at the end

Such a home, and such a Friend,

Such a crown, and such a throne,

Such a harp of heavenly tone,

Such companions, such employ,

Such a world of hallowed joy!”—_Bunyan._

The Angel of the Everlasting Gospel.

“And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the

everlasting good news to preach to those dwelling on the earth,

and to every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people, saying

with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of

his judgment is come: and worship him who made the heaven, and the

earth, and the sea, and fountains of water!”—Rev. 14:6, 7.

The era symbolized by the flight of this angel, has been applied, by

different writers to the epoch of the Reformation, to that of modern

missions, &c. The view here taken, is that it synchronizes with the

preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles.

The angel flying through the midst of heaven, doubtless symbolizes a body

of men conspicuous for their position, energetic in their movements,

extensive in their operations, and urgent in their proclamation,—whose

teachings correspond with this announcement of the angel.

The message they bear is that of the everlasting gospel ευαγγελιον,

(_evangelion_)—which is, literally, the good news, the glad tidings; that

which brings “life and immortality to light,” 2 Tim. 1:10. It is a message

which foreshadows the resurrection and coming judgment at Christ’s

appearing; and is therefore called “the gospel of the kingdom,” (Matt.

4:23);—the good news of the glorious kingdom of the Son of God.

It is the preaching of the _everlasting_ gospel which is thus symbolized.

It is no _new_ gospel; for, “the Scripture foreseeing that God would

justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto

Abraham,—saying: In thee shall all nations be blessed,” Gal. 3:8. And not

Abraham alone, but all the fathers “did eat the same spiritual meat, and

did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual

Rock that followed them: and that rock was Christ,” 1 Cor. 10:3, 4. Of

this gospel the Jewish nation and a few proselytes, were for ages the sole

recipients. “Unto them were committed the oracles of God.” Rom. 3:2. To

them pertained “the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the

giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises,” Rom. 9:4.

But the time had been foretold when the Gentiles should come to their

light, and kings to the brightness of their rising, Isa. 60:3.

With the coming of Christ, and his rejection of that nation, the gospel,

was no longer to be confined within its former narrow limits. The Savior

said to his disciples: “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing

them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;

teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and

lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,” Matt. 28:19, 20.

“Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that

believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall

be damned,” Mark 16:15, 16. “Then opened he their understanding that they

might understand the Scriptures, and he said unto them, Thus it is

written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, to rise from the dead the

third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in

his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem,” Luke 24:45-47.

The fulfilment of those predictions and commands could not be more

beautifully and appropriately symbolized, than by an angel flying “in the

midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that

dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and

people.” It could be no other gospel: for Paul testified: “Though we, or

an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we

have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I

now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have

received, let him be accursed,” Gal. 1:8, 9.

In accordance with the divine command, to preach the gospel to all the

nations, beginning at Jerusalem, the apostles began their mission; and

when the Jews rejected their message, they turned to the Gentiles, and

went everywhere preaching the word “according to the revelation of the

mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made

manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the

commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the

obedience of faith,” Rom. 16:25, 26.

The first converts to the faith, comprised “Parthians, and Medes, and

Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia,

in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of

Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and

Arabians,” Acts 2:9-12. When the Jews contradicted and blasphemed, “Paul

and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God

should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and

judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the

Gentiles,” Acts 13:46. Afterwards Paul, in writing to the Colossians,

refers to the gospel as that “which was preached to every creature which

is under heaven,” Col. 1:23.

This gospel was to be preached to those who dwell on the earth, and also

to all nations. The symbolic earth of the Apocalypse, being generally

admitted to be the Roman empire under a quiet government, its fulfilment

would require an early introduction of the gospel there. Accordingly we

find, within thirty years after the crucifixion of Christ, a flourishing

church existing in the metropolis of the Roman empire, to which Paul

addressed one of his most able letters. In it, he thanks God that their

“faith is spoken of throughout all the world,” Rom. 1:8. The apostle had

then “fully preached the gospel of Christ” from Jerusalem “round about

[the coast of the Mediterranean] unto Illyricum,” (Rom. 16:19);—a country

on the Adriatic, or Gulf of Venice. He afterwards visited Rome, and is

supposed to have preached the gospel as far west as Spain. The apostles

spread Christianity throughout the Roman empire. Palestine, Syria,

Natolia, Greece, the islands of the Mediterranean, Italy, and the northern

coast of Africa, contained societies of Christians in the first century.

In the second century societies existed, and Christ was worshipped, among

the Germans, Spaniards, French, Celts, and Britons, and many other nations

in Europe, and almost throughout the whole east. In the fourth century

Christianity had become the prevailing religion of the empire.

In later times the gospel which began to be preached at Jerusalem, has

been extended to more distant countries, and is still finding its way to

every tribe and people that have not before heard its joyful sound. Thus

has the light of the gospel nearly encircled the globe, having been, in

one age or another, proclaimed in every known country—fulfilling the words

of the Saviour: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all

the world, for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come,”

Matt. 24:14. “And the gospel must first be published among all nations,”

Mark 13:10. It would not follow from these predictions that it must be

preached at the _same time_ to all nations, any more than the light of day

shines on all parts of the earth at once: but all must have been illumined

by it before the end.

In accordance with this view, those who are finally redeemed to God “out

of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (5:9), are those who

will “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the

Lamb” (7:14), in consequence of this universal extension of the gospel.

The command to fear and give glory to God, and to worship the Creator of

all things implies that it was to be proclaimed to worshippers of false

gods, and was not a mere proclamation addressed to _actual Christians_.

The Gentiles to whom the apostles preached _were_ actual worshippers of

such, and needed to be taught the worship of the _true_ God. While Paul

was at Athens, his spirit was stirred within him when he saw the city

wholly given to idolatry. “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars hill, and

said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too

superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an

altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye

ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and

all things therein, seeing that he is the Lord of heaven and earth,

dwelleth not in temples made with hands,” Acts 17:22-24. “Ye know that ye

were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led,” 1

Cor. 12:2. “For they themselves show us of what manner of entering in we

had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and

true God: and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the

dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come,” 1 Thess.

1:9, 10.

The great motive, to be held forth to induce men to turn from the worship

of idols to that of God, was the certainty of the approaching judgment. In

accordance with this, the apostles make constant references to it. The

Corinthians are exhorted to “come behind in no gift; waiting for the

coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end,

that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1 Cor. 1:7,

8. As Paul “reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come,

Felix trembled,” Acts 24:25. He said to the impenitent Romans, that they

were “treasuring up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath, and

revelation of the righteous judgment of God,” Rom. 2:5. The first things

which were presented in all their teachings were “the foundation of

repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of

baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and

of eternal judgment,” Heb. 6:1, 2. Thus “Enoch also, the seventh from

Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten

thousand of his saints,” Jude 14, 15.

As Christ was to judge the world “at his appearing and kingdom” (2 Tim.

4:1), a reference to his coming always involved a consideration of the

hour of his judgment; and his appearing was a great incentive to holiness.

“For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the

Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,” Phil. 3:20. And “when Christ, who is our

life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory,” Col.

3:4. “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye

in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” 1 Thess. 2:19.

“To the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before

God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his

saints,” _Ib._ 3:13. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,

even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this

we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and

remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are

asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with

the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in

Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be

caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:

and so shall we ever be with the Lord,” _Ib._ 4:14-17. “And to you who are

troubled, rest with us, 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 that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 2 Thess.

1:7, 8.

Not only the apostles, but their successors, in succeeding ages, have

constantly made reference to the judgment, as the motive to holiness.

Beginning in the days of the apostles, the same gospel has been continued

by a succession of men to the present time; and those who are now

preaching, or who support those who so preach the everlasting gospel, in

connection with the warning of approaching judgment, must be regarded as

belonging to the same body of men symbolized by the angel flying in the

midst of heaven.

Commencing in the apostolic age, sections of the globe were evangelized—in

Asia and Africa, that have never received the gospel since, either under

the reformers or by modern missionaries. But beginning with the

dispensation of the gospel to the Gentiles, its fulfilment is found in

China, in Tartary, in Japan, in Egypt, and Ethiopia, and in lands so

remote that no one can say it has not been almost universally promulgated.

The Angel announcing the Fall of Babylon.

“And another angel, a second, followed, saying, She is fallen!

Babylon the great is fallen! She made all nations drink of the

wine of the wrath of her fornication!”—Rev. 14:8.

This angel, like the former, must symbolize a body of religious teachers.

The former resulted in the spread of Christianity. This announces the fall

of a corrupt hierarchy.

Babylon being regarded as a symbol of the Roman church, her fall must be

understood to be her loss of power, as mistress of the kings of the earth;

and synchronizes with her displacement from her position on the beast, as

symbolized in the 17th chapter. The epoch of her fall, and consequently of

the flight of this angel, is that of the Reformation, when the corruptions

of the Papal See were first exposed, and it was denounced as the

Apocalyptic harlot. The argument for this application is given in the

exposition of Rev. 18:1, which is a repetition of the symbol here given,

p. 300.

The Wrath-denouncing Angel.

“And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud

voice, If any one worship the wild beast and his image, and

receive his mark on his forehead, or on his hand, even he will

drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out

unmingled into the cup of his wrath; and he will be tormented with

fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the

presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth for

ever and ever: and they have no rest day or night, who worship the

wild beast and his image, and whoever receiveth the mark of his

name!”—Rev. 14:9-11.

The cry of this angel synchronizes with the “voice from heaven” (18:4),

and follows the discovery of the corruptions of Romanism.—See the

exposition of that Scripture, p. 307.

The worship of the beast consisted in a regard for it, equivalent to

saying, “Who is like unto the beast? and, Who is able to make war with

him?” 13:4. To worship, is to manifest homage and respect. To worship any

inferior object, is to bestow on it the confidence and affection which is

due only to God. It is to trust in it, as invincible, able to protect, and

infallible in judgment. Thus to regard any civil or ecclesiastical

organization, is to substitute it for Him, by whom the powers that be are

ordained (Rom. 13:1), who giveth the kingdom to whomsoever he will (Dan.

4:17), and by whom alone, kings reign, and princes decree justice, Prov.

8:15.

Whenever any civil or ecclesiastical enactment conflicts with the

requisitions of Jehovah, that power is worshipped, which is obeyed in

preference to the other: “Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves

servants to obey, his servants ye are whom ye obey?” Rom. 6:16. The

worship of God is incompatible with obedience to any power which compels a

violation of His laws. Due obedience to government is commanded, when no

question of conscience is involved. When it is, no forcible resistance to

the execution of the law is permitted; but while God is obeyed, the

penalty of the law is to be meekly endured.

The early Christians chose death, rather than to deny their Saviour at the

command of Jewish Sanhedrim or Roman emperor. When Peter and John were

commanded “not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus,” their

answer was, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you

more than unto God, judge ye; for we cannot but speak the things which we

have seen and heard,” Acts 4:19, 20. In like manner, the Christians living

at the epoch of this angel, were to be similarly tried, which is implied

in the command, not to worship.

So soon as the reformers were placed in direct conflict with the Church of

Rome, her anathemas were hurled against all who assented not to her

mummeries. And the power of the civil arm was also brought into exercise

to compel obedience to her commands. Those who maintained their integrity,

did so in opposition to the requirements of the church and state; while

those who submitted to the state as invincible, or to the church as

infallible, extended to the beast or its image that homage and regard

which was due to God. They thus acknowledged themselves the servants of

him whom they obeyed, and subjected themselves to the wrath of God.

The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, and they have

no rest, day nor night, who worship the beast and his image. While the

righteous enter into rest, the wicked are like the troubled sea which

cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt, Isa. 57:20.

The Harvest of the Earth.

“Here is the patience of the saints: here are those who keep the

commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice

from heaven, saying, Write, Happy the dead who die in the Lord,

from henceforth! Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from

their toils; and their works go with them. And I looked, and

behold, a white cloud, and one was seated on the cloud like the

Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a

sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying

with a loud voice to him seated on the cloud, Thrust forth thy

sickle and reap: for the hour is come for thee to reap; for the

harvest of the earth is ripe. And he, who sat on the cloud, cast

his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.”—Rev. 14:12-16.

The announcement that here are they who keep the commandments of God,

implies that, at the epoch symbolized, they are to be the subjects of

special notice. By the voice from heaven, they are shown to include all of

the dead who have died in the Lord; and their being blessed from

thenceforth, indicates that they will at that epoch enter upon their

eternal reward.

The “rest” of the righteous, is at the advent of Christ:—“To you who are

troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven,”

2 Thess. 1:6. “There remaineth a rest for the people of God,” Heb. 4:9.

On hearing the voice from heaven, the revelator looked, and beheld on a

cloud “one like the Son of man.” In Ezek. 1:26, “the likeness as the

appearance of a man,” upon “the likeness of the throne,” is explained to

be “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” In Dan.

7:13, “one like the Son of man,” who comes to the Ancient of days, is

evidently a symbol of Christ. In Rev. 1:13, “one like unto the Son of

man,” is the one who was alive, was dead, and is alive forevermore. The

same symbol repeated, must here also be a representative of Christ.

His position on a cloud, indicates the arrival of the period when he is to

be manifested in mid-heaven: “Behold he cometh with clouds; and every eye

shall see him,” 1:7. “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,” Dan. 7:13, 14. “And they

shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and

great glory. And he shall send his angels, with a great sound of a

trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds,

from one end of heaven to the other,” Matt. 24:30, 31.

The epoch of this manifestation, according to the above, is that of the

last trump, the second advent, and the first resurrection. “At the last

trump ... the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be

changed,” 1 Cor. 15:52. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven

with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God;

and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and

remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the

Lord in the air,” 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.

His “golden crown” indicates that he is now to take to himself his great

power, and to reign, “when the kingdoms of this world become our Lord’s

and his Christ’s,” 11:15, 17. Crowns are symbols of sovereignty. As such,

they respectively denoted the periods, when the forms of government,

symbolized by the heads of the beast (12:3) and its horns (13:1), bore

rule. Now the diadem is to be transferred from them, to encircle the brow

of earth’s rightful Sovereign.

The sharp sickle in his hand, indicates that the time of harvest has

arrived; and the act of reaping, the gathering of the harvest. There are

two gatherings symbolized, corresponding to the two classes of persons who

are to be gathered. “The dead in Christ shall rise first,” and will be

“caught up to meet the Lord in the air,” before the wicked are gathered, 1

Thess. 4:16, 17. “I will come again, and receive you unto myself,” said

the Saviour, John 14:5. The Lord of the harvest directs its gathering, but

effects it by the instrumentality of angels: “He shall send his angels,

and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the

uttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost part of heaven,” Mark 13:27.

When thus gathered, they are caught up to meet the Lord in the air, where

the Lord of the harvest sits. This is the separation of the righteous and

wicked, who were to “grow together till the harvest,” which, says the

Saviour, “is the end of the world,” Matt. 13:39.

Mr. Lord suggests, that it is inconsistent with the dignity of Christ, to

be notified by an angel when to begin his work; and therefore dissents

from the application of the symbol to him. It may not, however, be

necessary to consider the cry of the angel, as one of command. The angel

may be a messenger from the Ancient of days, announcing the epoch of the

resurrection. Or he may symbolize a body of men, who will be ardently

praying for the return of the nobleman to take his kingdom.

The harvest is spoken of in distinction from the gathering of the vine,

and in contrast with it. Men harvest what they prize,—their grain and

fruits. They do not harvest briers and thorns. They cut or reap both; but

the act of reaping is not expressive of the destiny of what is reaped.

This is indicated by the disposition made, and the terms applied; the one

is gathered into the garner of the Lord; but the other is given to the

consuming fire.

The righteous being caught up to meet the Lord at his coming, the

destruction of the wicked, which must precede the regeneration of the

earth and descent of the saints, is next symbolized.

The Reaping of the Vine.

“And another angel came out of the temple in heaven, he also

having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar,

who had power over the fire, and called with a loud shout to him

who had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and

cut off the clusters of the vine of the earth; for its grapes are

ripe. And the angel cast in his sickle into the earth, and cut off

the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine-press of

the wrath of God. And the wine-press was trodden without the city,

and blood came out of the wine-press, even to the bridles of the

horses, for the distance of one thousand six hundred

furlongs.”—Rev. 14:17-20.

The wicked also are gathered by the instrumentality of angels: said the

Saviour, “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so

shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his

angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend,

and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire:

there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth,” Matt. 13:40-42. In the

parable of the tares, the Saviour said, “Let both grow together until the

harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye

together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but

gather the wheat into my barn.” Thus the tares were to be gathered

_first_—not before the righteous are gathered, but before the wheat is

placed in the garner: the new earth being the garner where the righteous

are _finally_ to be gathered, they cannot be placed there till the wicked

have been gathered out. “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun

in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear,”

Matt. 13:30, 43.

The disposition of the vine, its being trodden down, and the great

presence of blood flowing, symbolize the awful judgments to overtake the

wicked, after the escape of the righteous, when they are gathered into

bundles and burned. Thus Isaiah prophesied: “Who is this that cometh from

Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his

apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in

righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel,

and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat? I have trodden

the wine-press alone: and of the people there was none with me: for I will

tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood

shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For

the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come,”

Isa. 63:1-4.

Before the destruction of the old world by the deluge, Noah was secure in

the ark. Before the destruction of Sodom, Lot is removed to a place of

safety. So before the destruction of the vine of the earth, the righteous

are caught up to the Lord in the air, where they are symbolized, in the

following chapter, as:

The Victors on the Sea of Glass.

“And I saw another sign in heaven, great and wonderful, seven

angels having the seven last plagues; for by these, the wrath of

God is completed. And I saw as it were a transparent sea mingled

with fire; and those who had obtained the victory over the wild

beast, and over his image, and over the number of his name,

standing on the transparent sea, having harps of God. And they

sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the

Lamb, saying, Great and wonderful are thy works, O Lord God

Almighty; just and true are thy ways, king of nations! Who should

not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art

holy; for all nations will come and worship before thee; for thy

judgments are manifested.” Rev. 15:1-4.

This appears to close the vision commencing with the sixth verse of the

14th chapter, and to be independent of the remaining portion of the 15th

chapter.

These “seven angels,” in the subsequent vision, discharge the contents of

the vials of God’s wrath; but the epoch here presented is evidently

subsequent to that fulfilment; for the imitation of the “Song of Moses,”

must follow the infliction of the judgments which call forth that song of

rejoicing. They had here completed the wrath of God, the manner of which

act is subsequently shown in a separate vision.

The “sea of glass,” must represent an elevation above the earth. For those

stationed there had gotten the victory over the beast and his image, had

escaped the wrath to be poured on those who worshipped those powers

(14:9), had been gathered when the harvest of the earth was reaped

(14:16), being then caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17),

and now, the clusters of the vine of the earth having been gathered and

cast into the wine-press of the wrath of God (14:19), they rejoice above

the fires of earth, witnesses of the manifestations of God’s judgments.

They have come out of all their tribulations, and evidently synchronize

with the palm-bearing multitude (Rev. 7:9), the hundred and forty-four

thousand on Mount Zion (14:1), and the multitude in heaven who sing

Alleluia over the judgment of the great harlot, 19:1.

“The song of Moses,” was that sung by the Israelites when the Egyptians

had perished in the waters of the Red Sea, and they were safely encamped

on its further shore. The Lord had triumphed gloriously over the enemies

of Israel, had buried the horse and his rider in the sea, and was about to

plant his people in the mountain of his inheritance,—in the place which he

had made for them to dwell in,—in the sanctuary which he had established,

Ex. 15:1-21. The analogy requires that when this corresponding song is

sung, the ransomed of the Lord shall have correspondingly witnessed the

overthrow of the adversaries of Jehovah, and shall themselves have escaped

from the perils of the many waters which had threatened to engulf them.

The judgments of God being manifested on the nations of the ungodly, there

are none remaining, only “the nations of them which are saved,” 21:24. As

these will all walk in the light of the new Jerusalem, those on the sea of

glass may well sing:

“Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty!

Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints!

Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name?

For thou only art Holy:

For all nations shall come and worship before thee;

For thy judgments are made manifest.”

In accordance with the foregoing view, this synchronizes with the “new

song” sung by those who are redeemed from every nation, kindred, tongue

and people (5:9), who are afterwards seen standing with the Lamb on Mount

Zion, 14:3.

The Angels with the Seven Vials.

“And after this, I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of the

testimony in heaven was opened; and the seven angels came out of

the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure white linen,

and girded around the breasts with golden girdles. And one of the

four living beings gave to the seven angels, seven golden bowls

filled with the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. And

the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from

his power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven

plagues of the seven angels were completed.” Rev. 15:5-8.

“And I heard a loud voice out of the temple saying, to the seven

angels, Depart, and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the

earth.” Rev. 16:1.

“The temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven,” must symbolize

heaven itself. It corresponds with the tabernacle “after the second

veil,”—called “the holiest of all,” where the tables of the covenant were

deposited by the command of Moses, Heb. 9:1-5. There, the “cherubims of

glory” over-shadowed the mercy-seat,—a type of the presence-chamber of the

Almighty. Consequently, when it is symbolized as being opened in heaven,

the angels who come out are divinely commissioned executors of God’s

purposes.

The “seven angels,” are the ministers of the divine vengeance,—the

rectitude of their character and the dignity of their office, being

symbolized by their “white robes” and “golden girdles.”

The period of time symbolized by the pouring out of the vials, must be

anterior to the second advent; for in the analogous instances of God’s

judgments, he visits his enemies with plagues previous to the deliverance

of his children. Thus were the ancient Egyptians visited, before the

Israelites escaped from their power, Ex. 5-11.

The deliverance of the vials to the angels by one of the four “living

creatures,” indicates that the intelligences in the divine presence, which

are thus symbolized, are cognizant of God’s design, and acquiesce in his

purpose to visit the subjects of his wrath with these plagues.

By these being called “the vials of God’s wrath,” we learn that their

infliction is not corrective, but judicial;—that they are not agents of

mercy, but of vengeance.

The filling of the temple with the smoke of God’s glory, to the exclusion

of all persons during the pouring out of the vials, shows that during that

period, there will be no intercession with God for him to refrain from the

execution of the purposes thus symbolized. They are inevitable; and there

will be no supplication for their suspension. When Moses had finished the

type of the “Holiest of all,” a “cloud covered the tent of the

congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses

was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud

abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle,” Ex.

40:34, 35. It was only when Moses could enter the tabernacle, that he

could there commune with God face to face, Ex. 33:9, 11.

The voice from the temple to the seven angels, shows that the acts

commanded are the subjects of divine appointment,—the angels simply

designating the commencement of the several judgments.

The First Vial.

“And the first went away, and poured out his bowl on the earth;

and there came an evil and sore ulcer on the men who had the mark

of the beast, and on those worshipping his image.” Rev. 16:2.

The “earth,” in the Apocalypse, symbolizes a quiet and settled government

(13:11), in distinction from one politically agitated, which is symbolized

by waters, 13:1; 17:15.

Those who receive the contents of the first vial, being the worshippers of

the “beast” and its “image” (13:15), it is certain that the governments on

which it is poured, are subservient to the church of Rome and within the

boundaries of the ten kingdoms.

The effect of the vial is “a noisome and grievous sore;” and the only

things analogous, are mental maladies. Therefore the results symbolized

must be noxious principles and opinions, which fill the mind with rancor

and hate,—producing strife, alienation and contention.

The _epoch_ here symbolized, in the very unanimous opinion of most

judicious writers, corresponds with the commencement of the agitations

which preceded the outbreak of the first French revolution, about A. D.

1785. Commencing in France, and extending with more or less virulence

throughout the ten kingdoms, there was excited an intense uneasiness of

the people respecting their relation to their rulers. They regarded

themselves as insupportably oppressed and degraded, and were exasperated

to madness against their respective governments. This, under the next

vial, resulted in the overthrow of the French monarchy, and in attempted

revolutions in other kingdoms.

The Second Vial.

“And the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea; and it

became like the blood of a dead person; and every living creature

in the sea died.” Rev. 16:8.

The first vial having excited political agitations in previously quiet

governments, they are now more fitly symbolized by the “sea” than by the

“earth.” And on such the second vial is poured.

As the sea symbolizes a people agitated and disquieted, the living things

in it, must symbolize those who live on and are sustained by the people.

Consequently, the waters becoming blood, and the death of the things

living in the waters, symbolize the shedding of the blood of the people,

and the slaughter, by them, of their rulers and superiors.

The epoch symbolized, would therefore correspond with the actual outbreak

of the French revolution, to which the agitations produced by the previous

vial had goaded on the excited people. In their riots and insurrections,

history records the destruction of large numbers of the populace; and

these exterminated the members of the royal family, and all persons of

rank and influence. A million of people, according to Alison, perished in

the civil war of La Vendee alone; and thousands of the nobility and

persons of distinction were ruthlessly slaughtered throughout France,

whose rivers were discolored with the blood of the slain.

The Third Vial.

“And the third poured out his bowl on the rivers and on the

fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel

of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Thou, who art, and wast

holy, because thou hast inflicted these judgments; for they have

poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given

them blood to drink: they are worthy! And I heard one from the

altar, saying, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are

thy judgments!” Rev. 16:4-7.

Mr. Lord justly remarks that “Rivers and fountains of waters, are to a

sea, what smaller exterior communities and nations are to a great central

people.” As the French nation was the sea, the “rivers and fountains”

symbolize contiguous or more remote communities surrounding it. These are

said to have become blood, without its being specified that the living

things in them perished, as in the sea. Accordingly, while the greater

portion of Europe continued, with little interruption, for twenty years

from 1792, to be deluged with war and bloodshed, the nobles and rulers of

the other nations were not exterminated, as in France.

The nations thus overwhelmed with blood, were those which had sanctioned

the shedding of the blood of the saints; consequently their retribution

was just.

The Fourth Vial.

“And the fourth angel poured out his vial on the sun; and it was

given him to burn men with fire. And men were burned with great

heat, and reviled the name of God, who had power over these

plagues; and they repented not to give him glory.” Rev. 16:8, 9.

The influence of the sun on the earth and sea, is analogous to that of a

government on the subjects of its rule. As the right degree of light and

heat is conducive to vegetation, and the excessive action of the sun’s

rays will scorch and destroy; so a genial government is a blessing to the

people, while its arbitrary and tyrannical acts are often insupportably

oppressive.

With the overthrow of the French monarchy under the second vial, there

arose new rulers in France, who usurped despotic powers, and subjected the

governed to most oppressive exactions. The rich were impoverished, the

nation was robbed, the business of the country was paralyzed, the

obnoxious were slain, every species of misery and wickedness abounded, the

males were subjected to military conscription, and hundreds of thousands

of them were sent to subjugate surrounding nations. The countries they

invaded were also devastated, and oppressed, and robbed by impoverishing

taxations. These continued, though in a milder form, under the imperial

rule, and all parts of the Roman earth felt the scorching effects of the

devouring heat of French usurpation. But when Napoleon passed beyond the

boundaries of the Roman empire, he was met and driven back by the snow and

frost of the Almighty.

Notwithstanding the oppressions to which the people were subjected, and

the exactions under which they groaned, they made no recognition of God’s

sovereignty. They saw not that this chastisement was from Him. They did

not deprecate his wrath, nor acknowledge his righteousness, but still

continued to be infidels and apostates. They continued to blaspheme the

name of God, who had power over these plagues, and repented not to give

him glory.

The Fifth Vial.

“And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the wild

beast; and his kingdom was darkened; and they gnawed their tongues

through pain, and reviled the God of heaven, because of their

pains and their ulcers, and repented not of their deeds” Rev.

16:10, 11.

The beast, here spoken of, is the same seven-headed, ten-horned wild beast

that ascended out of the sea (Rev. 13:1), symbolizing the Roman empire in

its divided form. Consequently the seat or throne of the beast would be

the ruling power which exercised and controlled the government of these

kingdoms. Just previous to this epoch, Napoleon had reached the summit of

his power; and the subversion of his throne, with the restoration of the

Bourbon dynasty in 1814 and 1815, is evidently here symbolized. Napoleon

had become the idol of France, which worshipped at the shrine of his

glory. With his fall, their sun was stricken from its firmament, and the

kingdom was darkened.

The change being effected by foreign arms, the chagrin and mortification

of his adherents was natural and expected. They were filled with pain and

anguish at this termination of all their hopes. The re-imposition on them

of the Bourbon line, revived all their former hatred towards their rulers

and sense of oppression, symbolized by the ulcers of the first vial. They

continued still a nation of infidels, performing the same works of

blasphemy against God; and again and again have they risen in rebellion

against their government.

The Sixth Vial.

“And the sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the

Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way of the kings

from the rising of the sun might be prepared.” Rev. 16:12.

This symbol resembles a like prediction respecting ancient Babylon: “A

drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up,” (Jer. 50:38); and

“I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry,” Jer. 51:36. Ancient

Babylon was situated on the river Euphrates, which contributed to the

wealth and greatness of the city, and was a means of its defence. The

kings of Media and Persia, from the east of Babylon, subjugated it by

diverting from the city the waters of the river, and entering by its

unprotected bed. The turning of the waters into other channels, fulfilled

the prediction that it should be dried up.

Waters, when used as a symbol, are explained to be “peoples, nations,”

&c., Rev. 17:15. In the 17th chapter of the Apocalypse, the angel informs

the revelator that he will show him “the judgment of the great harlot who

sitteth on many waters,” (17:1); which implies that he had already seen a

vision to that effect. He is then shown a woman on a scarlet-colored beast

(v. 3), who is spoken of as sitting “on many waters” (v. 1), and on seven

mountains (v. 10), and who is affirmed to be the “great city, which

reigneth over the kings of the earth,” v. 18. Under the seventh vial, the

“great city,” which is “great Babylon,” is divided into three parts

(16:19); and the inference is, that the harlot and ancient Babylon are

analogous symbols of the same organized agency; and, that the city was

here exhibited on the great river Euphrates.

As a woman clothed with sunbeams and crowned with stars (Rev. 12:1), and a

city illuminated with the glory of God (Rev. 21:10), are each symbols of

the true church, corresponding symbols of opposite moral characteristics

are appropriate representatives of a corrupt and apostate church. As

Jerusalem was the seat of the ancient church, so was Babylon the seat of

her oppressors. The former is addressed as a woman, and told to put on her

“beautiful garments,” (Isa. 52:1); and Babylon is called the “daughter of

the Chaldeans,” and “the lady of kingdoms,” (Isa. 47:5): so that a woman,

and a city of corresponding character, may, interchangeably, symbolize the

same object. Consequently, the “Babylon,” and the “harlot” of the

Apocalypse, both symbolize the corrupt Roman hierarchy.

Ancient Babylon is described as a harlot, and is addressed as one who

“dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures,” (Jer. 51:13); whose

end was to come by her waters being dried up, 51:36. That city sustained a

relation to the waters on which it was situated, analogous to that held by

the Roman Catholic church to the people who support and defend her

pretensions. Their alienation and withdrawal from her support, must

therefore be symbolized by the drying up of the great river Euphrates,

which becomes diverted into other channels. This is now apparently being

fulfilled in the marked alienation of feeling from the church of Rome,

which is evident throughout the ten kingdoms. During the last twenty

years, the hold of that community on the affection of her supporters in

Europe, has been constantly becoming weaker and weaker. Infidel principles

have been extensively propagated. Her cathedrals have been comparatively

deserted; and her existence has been endured more as a matter of

expediency than of affection. At the present moment, probably, the mass of

the people have little confidence in her pretensions; but it will require

a more marked withdrawal from her support than has yet been witnessed, to

fulfil, in all its significance, the meaning conveyed in the symbol.

The “kings of the east,” whose way is to be thus prepared, are doubtless

her enemies, who, having produced the desired alienation from her support,

will take advantage of her defenceless position, and hasten her ruin; as

the kings of Media and Persia, in like manner, subjugated old Babylon.

Under the operation of the sixth vial, and, according to the fulfilment of

the preceding symbols, corresponding with the present time, are to be

developed:

The Unclean Spirits.

“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth

of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the wild beast, and out of

the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons,

performing signs, that go forth to the kings of the whole world,

to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”

Rev. 16:13, 14.

The “dragon,” “beast,” and “false prophet,” being regarded as symbols: the

first, of the Roman empire previous to its subversion by the northern

barbarians; the second of the ten kingdoms which subsequently arose; and

the third, of the eastern Roman empire—now the Mohamedan power; the mouths

of each, from which the frog-like spirits emerge, are next to be

considered.

To the wild beast was given “a mouth, speaking great things and

blasphemies,” the power of which was “to continue forty and two months,”

Rev. 13:5. The agreement of this with the corresponding appendages of

Daniel’s “little horn” (Dan. 7:8), makes it evident that a “mouth” is a

symbol of an ecclesiastical organization existing in a political one,—that

it symbolizes the agency by which the people are taught, and is

representative of ecclesiastics, who are the mouthpiece of the nation in

all matters of faith and worship, p. 172.

The religion of Rome imperial, when symbolized by the dragon, was

Paganism; that of the ten kingdoms, was the Papacy; and that of the

eastern empire, is Mohammedanism. From these three, then, emerge the

“unclean spirits.” Diverse as their origin appears, they have no marked

individual peculiarities. Being alike in their characteristics, they must

symbolize some common agency:—a combination of religious teachers, whose

views harmonize in a system of belief common to Paganism, Catholicism, and

Mohammedanism.

The character of these teachers, is shown by the declaration that “they

are the spirits of _devils_ working miracles.”

There are two words rendered devils in the New Testament, viz.: δαιμονιον

(_daimonion_) or δαιμων (_daimoon_), and διαβολος (_diabolus_). The latter

signifies the Devil, or Satan, who is the same as Beelzebub the prince of

the _demons_, Matt. 12:25. He it was by whom Jesus was tempted in the

wilderness, (Matt. 4:1-11); who sowed the tares in the field, (Matt,

13:39); and for whom, with his angels, the final punishment for the wicked

is prepared, Matt. 25:41.

The word here, is _daimoon_. It is used, in different forms, sixty-five

times by our Lord and his apostles; and on no occasion do they hint that

they use the word in a sense different from its then accepted

signification; to learn which, recourse must be had to the testimony of

the Pagan, Jewish, and Christian writers of those times.(6)

HESIOD taught that, “The spirits of departed mortals become _demons_ when

separated from their earthly bodies;” and PLUTARCH, that “The demons of

the Greeks were the _ghosts_ and _genii_ of departed men.” “All Pagan

antiquity affirms,” says Dr. CAMPBELL, “that from Titan and Saturn, the

poetic progeny of Cœlus and Terra, down to Æsculapius, Proteus, and Minos,

all their _divinities_ were the _ghosts_ of dead men; and were so regarded

by the most erudite of the Pagans themselves.”

Among the Pagans, the term _demon_, as often represented a good as an evil

spirit; but among the Jews, it generally, if not universally, denoted an

unclean, malign, or wicked spirit. Thus JOSEPHUS says: “Demons are the

spirits of wicked men.” PHILO says that “The souls of dead men are called

demons.” “The notion,” says Dr. LARDNER, “of demons, or the souls of dead

men, having power over living men, was universally prevalent among the

heathen of these times [the first two centuries], and believed by many

Christians.” JUSTIN MARTYR speaks of “those who are seized by the souls of

the dead, whom we call _demons_ and madmen.” Ignatius quotes the words of

Christ to Peter thus: “Handle me and see; for I am not a _daimoon

asomaton_,—a disembodied demon,”—_i.e._ a spirit without a body.

The foregoing is evidence of the New Testament signification of the word

_daimoon_, here improperly rendered devils,—spirits of which, the

frog-like agencies are affirmed to be.

Demon worship is a characteristic of the three religions referred to. As

already shown, all Pagans regarded their gods as the ghosts of dead men;

and the Bible speaks of them as devils, _i.e._ _demons_. Moses says of

them, “Even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to

their gods,” (Deut. 12:31); while the Psalmist affirms that “they

sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto _devils_,” Ps. 106:37.

“They sacrificed unto _devils_, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to

new gods that came newly up,” Deut. 32:17. Jeroboam “ordained him priests

for the high places, and for the _devils_,” 2 Chron. 11:15. “The things

which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to _devils_, and not to God:

and I would not that ye should have fellowship with _devils_. Ye cannot

drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of _devils_; ye cannot be partakers

of the Lord’s table, and of the table of _devils_,”—_i.e._ of _demons_.

Of the same kind are the gods of the heathen now. In the Youth’s

Day-Spring, for June, a missionary describing the alarm and grief of the

Africans on the Gaboon river, at the near prospect of a death in their

village, says: “The room was filled with women, who were weeping in the

most piteous manner, and calling on the _spirits of their fathers and of

others who were dead_, and upon all spirits in whom they believe, Ologo,

Njembi, Abambo, and Mbwini, to save the man from death. These spirits

could not help them, but they knew of none mightier, and so called on

them.” Mr. White, a Wesleyan missionary, says: “There is a class of people

in New Zealand, called Eruku, or priests. These men pretend to have

intercourse with departed spirits, ... by which they are able to kill by

incantation any person on whom their anger may fall.” The Sandwich

Islanders, when they found that Christians supposed they worshipped the

images of their gods, were much amused, and said “We are not such fools.”

They used the idol as an aid to fix their minds on their divinity. Some of

them supposed their divinity was a spirit residing in their idol.

The Mohammedans, while they recognize God, are also “taught by the Koran

to believe the existence of an intermediate order of creatures, which they

call Jin, or genii;” some of which are supposed to be good and others bad,

and capable of communicating with men, and rewarding or punishing them.

The 72d chapter of the Koran consists of a pretended communication from

the genii to Mohammed. They are made to say: “There are some among us who

are upright, and there are some among us who are otherwise;” and speaking

of men: “If they tread in the way of truth, we will surely water them with

abundance of rain,” _i.e._ will grant them plenty of good things. Thus

they are recognized as dispensers of good. They bear a striking

resemblance to the spirits which now pretend to communicate with men! All

who are familiar with Arabian romances know how frequently genii, fairies,

&c., figure as agents in the execution of wonderful exploits.

The Romanists also pretend to communicate with _demons_,—_i.e._ with

departed spirits. They deify the Virgin Mary, and supplicate the

intercessions of many departed saints; and some they supplicate, whose

claim to saintship is somewhat equivocal. Their teachings in this

particular, Protestants generally recognize as the subject of the

following prediction: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the

latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing

spirits, and doctrines of devils,”—_demons_, 1 Tim. 4:1.

Demon-worship being common to Paganism, Mohammedanism, and Popery, when

the frog-like agency emerges from them, the conditions of the symbol seem

to require that it shall originate with, but shall pass beyond and outside

the influence of those religions. The agency thus symbolized, was to “go

forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world.” Its fulfilment

requires a wonderful and an alarming increase of those who teach and

believe these doctrines; and as they are to work miracles, whereby the

world will be deceived, their teachings are to be accompanied by

extraordinary phenomena, which will be unexplainable by any of the known

laws of science. The spirits of the departed are to be recognized by them

as authoritative teachers, who are to be reverenced and obeyed. They will

be regarded as communicating with mortals, as unveiling the hidden things

of the invisible state, and as performing acts requiring the exercise of

physical power. The former are evident from the analogy which exists

between this and demon-worship; and the latter, from the ascription to

them of miraculous acts.

The existence of demoniacal intelligences, capable of communicating with

and acting on mortals, appears to be in accordance with the teachings of

the Saviour and apostles. Demoniacal possessions are clearly distinguished

from all diseases; and demons are shown, by the admissions of the New

Testament, to be actual intelligences, capable of physical power. When the

fame of Christ “went throughout all Syria, they brought unto him all sick

people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which

were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those which

had the palsy; and he healed them,” Matt. 4:24. “When the unclean spirit

is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and

findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I

came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.

Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked

than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of

that man is worse than the first,” Matt. 12:43-45. “And as they went out,

behold they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil.(7) And when

the devil was cast out, the dumb spake; and the multitudes marvelled,

saying, It was never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, He casteth

out devils,(8) through the prince of the devils,” Matt. 9:32-34. “And when

they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man kneeling

down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is lunatic,

and sore vexed, for oft-times he falleth into the fire, and oft into the

water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how

long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to

me. And Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him; and the child

was cured from that very hour,” Matt. 17:14-18. “And there was in their

synagogue a man with an unclean spirit: and he cried out, saying, Let us

alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come

to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus

rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the

unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of

him. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among

themselves, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with what

authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him!”

Mark 1:23-27. “And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met

him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling

among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because

that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had

been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither

could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the

mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But

when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a

loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the

Most High God! I adjure thee, by God, that thou torment me not. (For he

said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.) And he asked

him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we

are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of

the country. Now there was nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine

feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine,

that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the

unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine; and the herd ran

violently down a steep place into the sea (they were about two thousand),

and were choked in the sea,” Mark 5:2-13.

In all these instances, the demons are recognized as actual intelligences,

performing given acts. Without the admission of this, it will be difficult

to explain the meaning of a large class of scriptures. It cannot for a

moment be supposed that the inspired writers would be permitted to use

language which should directly mislead the common mind.

Among the miracles which the apostles wrought, “unclean spirits, crying

with a loud voice, came out of many possessed with them, and many taken

with palsies, and that were lame, were healed,” Acts 8:7. “And God wrought

special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought

unto the sick handkerchiefs, or aprons, and the diseases departed from

them, and the evil spirits went out of them. Then certain of the vagabond

Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits,

the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul

preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the

priests, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know,

and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was,

leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that

they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And many that believed,

came and confessed, and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used

curious arts, brought their books together, and burned them before all

men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand

pieces of silver,” Acts 19:11-16, 18, 19.

The necromancy, divination, and witchcraft, forbidden in the Old Testament

and practised by the heathen of those times, were all of a similar

character. A necromancer was one who had, or pretended to have

communication with the dead,—who sought “for the living to the dead,”(9)

Isa. 8:19. They practised divination in divers ways, but usually admitted

their dependence on familiar spirits,—the spirits of the departed,—demons.

“The king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the

two ways, to use divination; he made his arrows bright, he consulted with

images, he looked in the liver. At his right hand was the divination for

Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to

lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering-rams against the

gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort. And it shall be unto them as

false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he

will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken,” Ezek.

21:21-23. They observed times, _i.e._ they regarded some as lucky, and

others as unlucky times for the commencement of any work,—recognizing

distinctions which God had not made. The heathen divinities were regarded

as more propitious at some times than others. It is enumerated among the

sins of Manasseh, that he “made his sons pass through the fire, and

observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and

wizards,” 2 Kings 21:6.

They practised various arts, whereby they thought to protect themselves

from evil, and to pry into the secrets of futurity. Because of these

things, ancient Babylon was suddenly overwhelmed,—“for the multitude of

thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.” These

could not save, as they supposed. Therefore God said to them: “Stand now

with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein

thou hast labored from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit,

if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy

counsels. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly

prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come

upon thee,” Isa. 47:12, 13. All these practices were forbidden by God, who

said: “Neither shall ye use enchantments, nor observe times,” Lev. 19:26.

Those who consulted with familiar spirits were termed wizards and

witches,—the practice of which was also expressly forbidden. To make

witchcraft a mere pretence, is to impute to Jehovah the making of laws

against pretences and nonentities. To suppose that he would legislate

against, and inflict capital punishment, because of mere pretences, is

incredible! God said to Moses, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,”

Ex. 22:18. And to the Jews he said, “Regard not them that have familiar

spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord

your God,” Lev. 19:31. “And the soul that turneth after such as have

familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will

even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his

people.” “A man, also, or a woman, that hath a familiar spirit, or that is

a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones:

their blood shall be upon them,” Lev. 20:6,27. When Egypt was to be

destroyed, they were left to “seek to the idols, and to charmers, and to

them that have familiar spirits, and to wizards,” Isa. 19:3.

The manner in which the familiar spirit spoke, was by “peeping,”

“muttering,” whispering out of the dust, &c. God said to Ariel, “And thou

shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech

shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a

familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of

the dust,” Isa. 29:4. “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them

that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter:

(should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead!) to

the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it

is because there is no light in them,” Isa. 8:19, 20.

Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of

the land; but when he “inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not,

neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul unto his

servants, Seek a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her,

and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman

that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor. And Saul disguised himself, and put

on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the

woman by night: and he said, I pray thee divine unto me by the familiar

spirit, and bring me him up whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman

said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut

off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards out of the land;

wherefore, then, layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? And

Saul sware unto her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, there shall

no punishment happen to thee for this thing. Then said the woman, Whom

shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. And when the

woman saw Samuel she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul,

saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. And the king said

unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto

Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What

form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with

a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his

face to the ground, and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast

thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore

distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed

from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams:

therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I

shall do. Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the

Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the Lord hath

done to him, as he spake by me: for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of

thine hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David: because thou

obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedest his fierce wrath upon

Amelek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day.

Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the

Philistines: and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the Lord

also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid,

because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him,” 1 Sam.

28:6-20.

Micaiah “saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven

standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who

shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one

said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth

a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And

the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I

will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou

shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore,

behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy

prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee,” 1 Kings

22:19-23.

When Paul was in the house of Lydia, he says, “It came to pass, as we went

to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination, met us,

which brought her masters much gain by her soothsaying: the same followed

Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most

high God, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this she did many

days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command

thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the

same hour,” Acts 16:16-18.

By sorcery, enchantment, &c., they performed wonders, or _miracles_,

either real or pretended. “There was a certain man called Simon, which

beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of

Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: to whom they all gave

heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power

of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had

bewitched them with sorceries,” Acts 8:9-11. When “Aaron cast down his rod

before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent, then

Pharaoh also called the wise men, and the sorcerers: now the magicians of

Egypt they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast

down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod

swallowed up their rods,” Ex. 7:10-12. When Aaron turned the water of the

river to blood, “the magicians did so with their enchantments,” v. 22. In

like manner they “brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt,” 8:7. But when

Aaron changed the dust to lice, the magicians attempted the same with

their enchantments, “but they could not,” Ex. 8:18. These sorcerers who

withstood Moses, we learn by Paul, were “Jannes and Jambres,” 2 Tim. 3:8.

They belonged to an ancient profession in Egypt; for, when Pharaoh dreamed

his dreams, he first “sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and

all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dreams; but there was

none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh,” Gen. 41:8. In like manner

Nebuchadnezzar “commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and

the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they

came, and stood before the king,” Dan. 2:2.

These things were practised to some extent in Judah, but were all put away

by Josiah. “Moreover, the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards,

and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in

the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might

perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah

the priest found in the house of the Lord,” 2 Kings 23:24.

The acts and influences of demoniacal agencies are apparent from the

foregoing; and the symbolization under the sixth seal, seems to indicate a

revival of those teachings and manifestations at the present time. Within

a few years, the curiosity of the community has been excited, and large

numbers of persons greatly interested, in various phenomena, known as

Mesmerism, Animal-Magnetism, Clairvoyance, Pathetism, Neurology,

Psychology, Biology, Electro-Biology, &c. &c. Similar manifestations have

been before exhibited, but not in modern times to the extent now

witnessed. These were regarded as harmless phenomena and independent of

any supernatural agency, till audible sounds were heard communicating

intelligible responses. Then the claim was set up that these are caused by

departed spirits.

These sounds were first heard near Rochester, New York, in 1847; and, at

the present time (1852), they are affirmed to exist in hundreds of places

in this country, and other sections of the globe. They are audible raps,

the cause of which, aside from the hypothesis of spiritual agency, has

never been satisfactorily accounted for. By these raps, unimpeached and

credible witnesses testify that correct answers have been given to

questions, the facts respecting which were known to no one at the time of

answering. Since then, furniture has been seen to move about the room, and

other _wonders_, or miracles, been performed, by invisible agency, at the

command of mediums to attending spirits,—_i.e._ to _demons_. Mediums have

written on paper, as they profess, involuntarily, lengthy communications,

in poetry and prose, the subjects of which they claim to have been

ignorant of, while the pen they held was moved independent of their own

will. These exhibitions have been attested by hundreds of credible

witnesses.

By such manifestations large numbers of persons have given their adherence

to these real or pretended agencies as truthful and reliable

intelligences; whose responses they receive with the same credence that we

do the revelations of scripture. “Circles” are extensively formed, who

have sittings, at stated times, to receive communications from the spirits

of the departed; and these are enforced by miracles, audible sounds, the

exercise of physical power, &c.

The reality and the credibility of these agencies are separate questions.

Their reality is shown by their identity with similar manifestations of

former times. The Bible affirms the existence of such: “For we wrestle not

against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,

against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual

wickedness in high places;” or “wicked spirits” in “heavenly places,” as

the _margin_ reads, Eph. 6:12.

1. The familiar spirits of old responded in a manner similar to these.

They did “peep” and “mutter;” their speech was low out of the dust; they

spoke out of the ground, and whispered; or, as in the margin, did “peep”

or “chirp” out of the dust. These “rap” and mutter. They respond from

beneath chairs, tables and floors.

2. They exercised similar physical powers. They threw down and tare the

persons they possessed. They turned the swine into the sea, &c. These

claim that chairs and tables, are lifted and moved at will by an invisible

agency.

3. They made similar pretensions to credibility. Simon Magus gave out

“that himself was some great one;” and these, that they utter divine

truths.

4. Similar regard was bestowed on those, which is claimed for these. To

Simon “they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This

man is the great power of God.” Yet “he had bewitched them with

sorceries.” Similar claims by, and regard for these modern pretenders to

the same art, do not relieve them from the suspicion of a like agency.

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves

into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is

transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his

_ministers_ also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness: whose

end shall be according to their works,” 2 Cor. 11:13-15.

5. Both have given utterance to some truths. The legion of demons who were

cast out of the man into a herd of swine, acknowledged Jesus to be “the

Son of the Most High God;” and the pythonic spirit which so grieved Paul,

declared the apostles to be “the servants of the Most High God, which show

unto us the way of salvation.” Such communications with the invisible

world being forbidden, their _credibility_ is disproved.

They claim that spirits of the departed are brought into direct and

intelligent communication with the living, who desire to interrogate them.

What more was claimed by the necromancers of old? Said Saul to the woman

of Endor: “Divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up whom

I shall name unto thee,” 1 Sam. 28:8.

They claim that not all, but only those persons are mediums who are

peculiarly susceptible to spiritual influences. Wherein, then, admitting

their claims, do the “mediums” differ from those of old, who divined by a

familiar spirit?

Their responses are frequently disproved by facts; and themselves admit

the existence of unreliable spirits, which communicate like them. They

give contradictory responses, and mutually criminate each other; but their

_reality_ is not disproved by any discrepancy, or want of truthfulness in

their responses; for if they are spirits, none but unclean spirits would

respond in a forbidden manner.

These spirits are to be discredited, because they preach a different

gospel from that preached by Paul, who says: “I marvel that ye are so soon

removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ, unto another

gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and

would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from

heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let

him be accursed,” Gal. 1:6-9. “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ,

let him be Anathema, Maran-atha.” 1 Cor. 16:22. Said John, “Beloved,

believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:

because many false prophets are gone out into the world,” 1 John 4:1. Also

Isaiah said, “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have

familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not

a people seek unto their God? To the law and to the testimony: if they

speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in

them,” Isa. 8:19, 20.

Because of these practices, the nations were driven out from before the

children of Israel. And with the _miracles_ to be wrought, the frog-like

spirits are to go forth to “the whole world to gather them to the battle

of that great day of God Almighty.”

In the time of Abraham, “the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full,”

(Gen. 15:16); but in four hundred years they had practised all the

abominations for which they were to be destroyed, and the practice of

which God has expressly forbidden. He said to Israel, in the wilderness,

“When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou

shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nation. There shall

not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass

through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an

enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits,

or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an

abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy

God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the

Lord thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto

observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God

hath not suffered thee so to do,” Deut. 18:9-14.

Similar pernicious practices and dangerous heresies, are to prepare the

way for the final destruction of the nations who reject the claims of

Jehovah. Peter declares that “there shall be false teachers among you, who

privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that

bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall

follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be

evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words

make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not,

and their damnation slumbereth not,” 2 Pet. 2:1-3. And Paul says of that

wicked: “Whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and

signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness

in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that

they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong

delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they might be damned who

believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness,” 2 Thess.

2:9-12.

“The battle of that great day of God Almighty,” it would seem, must

commence by a conflict of opinions. Mind will war with mind, and puny man

will stoutly contend against the truths of the Almighty. In this revival

of demon-worship, the old gods of the heathen are to be set up against the

claims of Jehovah. His declarations are to be made to give place to

“doctrines of demons.” The teachings of God and of these spirits are to be

brought into direct conflict.

The followers of the spirits have baptized their new theological dogmas,

“The Harmonial Philosophy,” of which _Reason_ is the final umpire.

Revelation no longer speaks to them in tones of authority. From the Bible,

it is claimed, “the seal of infallibility must be broken away, before a

new light and beauty can enliven and embellish the mystical disclosures of

any seer, prophet, or evangelist.” So writes Andrew Jackson Davis, the

Poughkeepsie seer, one of the leaders of this new school, who complains

that “owing to the dogmatism of infallibility, the Bible is taught

now-a-days as it was nearly four centuries ago.”—_Review of Dr. Bushnell_,

p. 10.

The Scriptures are, with those of his faith, only “the _paper and ink_

relics of Christianity,” (_Ib._, p. 21); which they regard as “a

foundation as impermanent as the changeful sand” (_Ib._ p. 24), and not

adapted “to the wants or requirements of the nineteenth century,” _Ib._ p.

26. They reject Him, whom they style “the cruel and capricious God

generally worshipped by the Bible Christians,” _Ib._ p. 47. “The Jewish

God,” says Davis, “is cruel, capricious and tyrannical,” whose “kingdom is

more despotic, and more contracted in principle, than the present

government of the Russian empire,” _Ib._ p. 61. He adds, “The Old

Testament idea of a Deity is the outgrowth of the despotic stage of human

mental development,” and “a superannuated monotheistic conception,” _Ib._

p. 62. In their opinion, “the developments of republicanism, and of mental

happiness among men, depend very much upon the _absence_ of these

dogmatical compilations, or fossil relics, of an old Hebrew and Chaldean

theology,” _Ib._ p. 70. With them “the Bible account of creation is a very

interesting _myth_,—mainly a plagiarism from the early traditions and

cosmological doctrines of the ancient Persians and Chaldeans;” and,

instead of being “a divine revelation of truth,” is “a pagan relic, which

should no more command serious respect than the ancient doctrines of

Fetichism,” _Ib._ p. 90.