10. _And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them._

Those dwelling in the land would rejoice over their fall and ruin. This

cannot, of course, mean _all_ who inhabit the globe; but, according to

the usage in Scripture, those who dwell in the country where this would

occur. Comp. Notes on Lu. ii. 1. We now affix to the word “earth” an

idea which was not necessarily implied in the Hebrew word אֶרֶץ _ērĕtz_

(comp. Ex. iii. 8; xiii. 5; De. xix. 2, 10; xxviii. 12; Ne. ix. 22;

Ps. xxxvii. 9, 11, 22, 29; lxvi. 4; Pr. ii. 21; x. 30; Joel i. 2); or

the Greek word γῆ――_gē_, comp. Mat. ii. 6, 20, 21; xiv. 15; Ac. vii. 7,

11, 36, 40; xiii. 17. Our word _land_, as now commonly understood,

would better express the idea intended to be conveyed here; and thus

understood, the meaning is, that the dwellers in the country where

these things would happen would thus rejoice. The meaning is, that

while alive they would, by their faithful testimony against existing

errors, excite so much hatred against themselves, and would be so

great an annoyance to the governing powers, that there would be general

exultation when the voice of their testimony should be silenced. This,

too, has been so common in the world that there would be no difficulty

in applying the _language_ here used, or in finding events which it

would appropriately describe. ¶ _And make merry._ Be glad. See Notes

on Lu. xii. 19; xv. 23. The Greek word does not necessarily denote the

light-hearted mirth expressed by our word _merriment_, but rather joy

or happiness in general. The meaning is, that they would be filled

with joy at such an event. ¶ _And shall send gifts one to another._ As

expressive of their joy. To send presents is a natural expression of

our own happiness, and our desire for the happiness of others――as is

indicated now by “Christmas” and “New Year’s gifts.” Comp. also Ne.

viii. 10‒12: “Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and

drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is

prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry;

for the joy of the Lord is your {281} strength,” &c. See also Es. ix.

19‒22. ¶ _Because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the

earth._ They “tormented” them, or were a source of annoyance to them,

by bearing testimony to the truth; by opposing the prevailing errors;

and by rebuking the vices of the age: perhaps by demanding reformation,

and by denouncing the judgment of heaven on the guilty. There is

no intimation that they tormented them in any other way than by the

truths which they held forth. See the word explained in the Notes on

2 Pe. ii. 8.

11 And after three days and an half the [351]Spirit of life

from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet;

and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

11. _And after three days and an half._ See Notes on ver. 9.

¶ _The Spirit of life from God._ The living, or life-giving Spirit

that proceeds from God entered into them. Comp. Notes on Job xxxiii. 4.

There is evidently allusion here to Ge. ii. 7, where God is spoken of

as the Author of life. The meaning is, that they would seem to come to

life again, or that effects would follow _as if_ the dead were restored

to life. If, when they had been compelled to cease from prophesying,

they should, after the interval here denoted by three days and a half,

again prophesy, or their testimony should be again borne to the truth

as it had been before, this would evidently be all that would be

implied in the language here employed. ¶ _Entered into them._ Seemed to

animate them again. ¶ _And they stood upon their feet._ As if they had

come to life again. ¶ _And great fear fell upon them which saw them._

This would be true if those who were dead should be literally restored

to life; and this would be the effect if those who had given great

annoyance by their doctrines, and who had been silenced, and who

_seemed_ to be dead, should again, as if animated anew by a divine

power, begin to prophesy, or to proclaim their doctrines to the world.

The statement in the symbol is, that those who had put them to death

had been greatly troubled by these “witnesses;” that they had sought

to silence them, and in order to this had put them to death; that they

then greatly rejoiced, as if they would no more be annoyed by them.

The fact that they seemed to come to life again would, therefore, fill

them with consternation, for they would anticipate a renewal of their

troubles, and they would see in this fact evidence of the divine favour

towards those whom they persecuted, and reason to apprehend divine

vengeance on themselves.

12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them,

Come up hither. And they [352]ascended up to heaven in a cloud;

and [353]their enemies beheld them.

12. _And they heard a great voice from heaven._ Some manuscripts read,

“I heard”――ἤκουσα――but the more approved reading is that of the common

text. John says that a voice was addressed to _them_ calling them to

ascend to heaven. ¶ _Come up hither._ To heaven. ¶ _And they ascended

up to heaven in a cloud._ So the Saviour ascended, Ac. i. 9; and so

probably Elijah, 2 Ki. ii. 11. ¶ _And their enemies beheld them._

That is, it was done openly, so that their enemies, who had put them

to death, saw that they were approved of God, _as if_ they had been

publicly taken up to heaven. It is not necessary to suppose that

this would literally occur. All this is, manifestly, mere symbol.

The meaning is, that they would triumph _as if_ they should ascend

to heaven, and be received into the presence of God. The sense of the

whole is, that these witnesses, after bearing a faithful testimony

against prevailing errors and sins, would be persecuted and silenced;

that for a considerable period their voice of faithful testimony would

be hushed as if they were dead; that during that period they would be

treated with contempt and scorn, as if their unburied bodies should be

exposed to the public gaze; that there would be general exultation and

joy that they were thus silenced; that they would again revive, as if

the dead were restored to life, and bear a faithful testimony to the

truth again; and that they would have the divine attestation in their

favour, _as if_ they were raised up visibly and publicly to heaven.

13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the

tenth part[354] of the city fell, and in the earthquake

were slain [355]of men seven thousand: and the remnant were

affrighted, and [356]gave glory to the God of heaven.

13. _And the same hour._ In immediate connection with their triumph.

¶ _Was there a great earthquake._ An earthquake {282} is a symbol

of commotion, agitation, change; of great political revolutions, &c.

See Notes on ch. vi. 12. The meaning here is, that the triumph of the

witnesses, represented by their ascending to heaven, would be followed

by such revolutions as would be properly symbolized by an earthquake.

¶ _And the tenth part of the city fell._ That is, the tenth part of

that which is represented by the “city”――the persecuting power. A city

would be the seat and centre of the power, and the acts of persecution

would seem to proceed from it; but the destruction, we may suppose,

would extend to all that was represented by the persecuting power.

The word “tenth” is probably used in a general sense to denote that a

considerable portion of the persecuting power would be thus involved

in ruin; that is, that in respect to that power there would be such a

revolution, such a convulsion or commotion, such a loss, that it would

be proper to represent it by an earthquake. ¶ _And in the earthquake._

In the convulsions consequent on what would occur to the witnesses.

¶ _Were slain of men seven thousand._ Marg., as in the Greek, “names

of men”――the name being used to denote the men themselves. The number

here mentioned――seven thousand――seems to have been suggested because

it would bear some proportion to the tenth part of the city which fell.

It is not necessary to suppose, in seeking for the fulfilment of this,

that just seven thousand would be killed; but the idea clearly is,

that there would be such a diminution of numbers as would be well

represented by a calamity that would overwhelm a tenth part of the

city, such as the apostle had in his eye, and a proportional number

of the inhabitants. The number that would be slain, therefore, in the

convulsions and changes consequent on the treatment of the witnesses,

might be numerically much larger than seven thousand, and might be as

great as if a tenth part of all that were represented by the “city”

should be swept away. ¶ _And the remnant were affrighted._ Fear and

alarm came on them in consequence of these calamities. The “remnant”

here refers to those who still remained in the “city”――that is,

to those who belonged to the community or people designed to be

represented here by the city. ¶ _And gave glory to the God of heaven._

Comp. Lu. v. 26: “And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and

were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to-day.” All

that seems to be meant by this is, that they stood in awe at what God

was doing, and acknowledged his power in the changes that occurred.

It does not mean, necessarily, that they would repent and become truly

his friends, but that there would be a prevailing impression that

these changes were produced by his power, and that his hand was in

these things. This would be fulfilled if there should be a general

willingness among mankind to acknowledge God, or to recognize his hand

in the events referred to; if there should be a disposition extensively

prevailing to regard the “witnesses” as on the side of God, and to

favour their cause as one of truth and righteousness; and if these

convulsions should so far change public sentiment as to produce an

impression that theirs was the cause of God.

14 The [357]second woe is past; _and_, behold, the third woe

cometh quickly.

14. _The second woe is past._ That is, the second of the three

that were announced as yet to come, ch. viii. 13; comp. ch. ix. 12.

¶ _|And|, behold, the third woe cometh quickly._ The last of the series.

The meaning is, that that which was signified by the third “woe” would

be the next, and final event, in order. On the meaning of the word

“_quickly_,” see Notes on ch. i. 1; comp. ii. 5, 16; iii. 11; xxii. 7,

12, 20.

In reference now to the important question about the application of

this portion of the book of Revelation, it need hardly be said that the

greatest variety of opinion has prevailed among expositors. It would

be equally unprofitable, humiliating, and discouraging to attempt to

enumerate all the opinions which have been held; and I must refer the

reader who has any desire to become acquainted with them to Poole’s

_Synopsis_, _in loco_, and to the copious statement of Professor Stuart,

_Com._ {283} vol. ii. pp. 219‒227. Professor Stuart himself supposes

that the meaning is, that “a competent number of divinely-commissioned

and faithful Christian witnesses, endowed with miraculous powers,

should bear testimony against the corrupt Jews, during the last days

of their commonwealth, respecting their sins; that they should proclaim

the truths of the gospel; and that the Jews, by destroying them,

would bring upon themselves an aggravated and an awful doom,” ii. 226.

Instead of attempting to examine in detail the opinions which have been

held, I shall rather state what seems to me to be the fair application

of the language used, in accordance with the principles pursued thus

far in the exposition. The inquiry is, whether there have been any

events to which this language is applicable, or in reference to which,

if it be admitted that it was the design of the Spirit of inspiration

to describe them, it may be supposed that such language would be

employed as we find here.

In this inquiry it may be assumed that the preceding exposition

is correct, and the application now to be made must accord with

that――that is, it must be found that events occurred in such times and

circumstances as would be consistent with the supposition that that

exposition is correct. It is to be assumed, therefore, that ch. ix. 20,

21, refers to the state of the ecclesiastical world after the conquest

of Constantinople by the Turks, and previous to the Reformation; that

ch. x. refers to the Reformation itself; that ch. xi. 1, 2, refers to

the necessity, at the time of the Reformation, of ascertaining what

was the true church, of reviving the Scripture doctrine respecting

the atonement and justification, and of drawing correct lines as to

membership in the church. All this has reference, according to this

interpretation, to the state of the church while the Papacy would have

the ascendency, or during the twelve hundred and sixty years in which

it would trample down the church _as if_ the holy city were in the

hands of the Gentiles. Assuming this to be the correct exposition, then

what is here said (ver. 3‒13) must relate to that period, for it is

with reference to that same time――the period of “a thousand two hundred

and threescore days,” or twelve hundred and sixty years――that it is

said (ver. 3) the witnesses would “prophesy,” “clothed in sackcloth.”

If this be so, then what is here stated (ver. 3‒13) must be supposed to

occur during the ascendency of the Papacy, and must mean, in general,

that during that long period of apostasy, darkness, corruption, and

sin, there would be faithful witnesses for the truth, who, though they

were few in number, would be sufficient to keep up the knowledge of the

truth on the earth, and to bear testimony against the prevailing errors

and abominations. The _object_ of this portion of the book, therefore,

is to describe the character of the faithful witnesses for the truth

during this long period of darkness; to state their influence; to

record their trials; and to show what would be the ultimate result in

regard to them, when their “testimony” should become triumphant. This

general view will be seen to accord with the exposition of the previous

portion of the book, and will be sustained, I trust, by the more

particular inquiry into the application of the passage to which I now

proceed. The essential points in the passage (ver. 3‒13) respecting

the “witnesses” are six: (1) who are meant by the witnesses; (2) the

war made on them; (3) their death; (4) their resurrection; (5) their

reception into heaven; and (6) the consequences of their triumph in the

calamity that came upon the city.

I. Who are meant by the witnesses, ver. 3‒6. There are several

specifications in regard to this point which it is necessary to notice.

(a) The fact that, during this long period of error, corruption, and

sin, there were those who were faithful witnesses for the truth――men

who opposed the prevailing errors; who maintained the great doctrines

of the Christian faith; and who were ready to lay down their lives

in defence of the truth. For a full confirmation of this it would be

necessary to trace the history of the church down from the rise of the

Papal power through the long lapse of the subsequent ages; but such an

examination would be far too extensive for the purpose contemplated in

these Notes, and, indeed, would require a volume by itself. Happily,

this has already been done; and all that is necessary now is to

refer to the works where the fact here affirmed has been abundantly

established. In many of the histories of the church――Mosheim, Neander,

Milner, Milman, Gïeseler――most ample proof may be found, that amidst

the general darkness and corruption {284} there were those who

faithfully adhered to the truth as it is in Jesus, and who, amidst

many sufferings, bore their testimony against prevailing errors.

The investigation has been made, also, with special reference to an

illustration of this passage, by Mr. Elliott, _Horæ Apoca_. vol. ii.

pp. 193‒406; and although it must be admitted that some of the details

are of doubtful applicability, yet the _main_ fact is abundantly

established, that during that long period there were “witnesses”

for the pure truths of the gospel, and a faithful testimony

borne against the abominations and errors of the Papacy. These

“witnesses” are divided by Mr. Elliott into (1) the earlier Western

witnesses――embracing such men, and their followers, as Serenus,

bishop of Marseilles; the Anglo-Saxon church in England;[358] Agobard,

archbishop of Lyons from A.D. 810 to 841, on the one side of the Alps,

and Claude of Turin on the other; Gotteschalcus, A.D. 884; Berenger,

Arnold of Brescia, Peter de Bruys, and his disciple Henry, and then

the Waldenses. (2) The Eastern, or Paulikian line of witnesses, a sect

deriving their origin, about A.D. 653, from an Armenian by the name

of Constantine, who received from a deacon, by whom he was hospitably

entertained, a present of two volumes, very rare, one containing the

Gospels, and the other the Epistles of Paul, and who applied himself

to the formation of a new sect or church, distinct from the Manicheans,

and from the Greek Church. In token of the nature of their profession,

they adopted the name by which they were ever after distinguished,

Paulikiani, _Paulicians_, or “disciples of the disciple of Paul.”

This sect continued to bear “testimony” in the East from the time of

its rise till the eleventh or twelfth centuries, when it commenced

a migration to the West, where it bore the same honourable character

for its attachment to the truth. See Elliott, ii. 233‒246, 275‒315.

(3) Witnesses during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, up to the time

of Peter Waldo. Among these are to be noticed those who were arraigned

for heresy before the councils of Orleans, Arras, Thoulouse, Oxford,

and Lombers, in the years 1022, 1025, 1119, 1160, 1165, respectively,

and who were condemned by those councils for their departure from the

doctrines held by the Papacy. For a full illustration of the doctrines

held by those who were thus condemned, and of the fact that they were

“witnesses” for the truth, see Elliott, ii. 247‒275. (4) The Waldenses

and Albigenses. The nature of the testimony borne by these persecuted

people is so well known that it is not necessary to dwell on the

subject; and a full statement of their testimony would require the

entire transcription of their history. No Protestant will doubt that

they were “witnesses” for the truth, or that from the time of their

rise, through all the periods of their persecution, they bore full

and honourable testimony to the truth as it is in Jesus. The general

ground of this claim to be regarded as Apocalyptic witnesses, will be

seen from the following summary statements of their doctrines. Those

statements are found in a work called _The Noble Lesson_, written

within some twenty years of 1170. The treatise begins in this manner:

“O brethren, hear a Noble Lesson. We ought always to watch and pray,”

&c. In this treatise the following doctrines are drawn out, says

Mr. Elliott, “with much simplicity and beauty: the origin of sin in the

fall of Adam; its transmission to all men, and the offered redemption

from it through the death of Jesus Christ; the union and co-operation

of the three persons of the blessed Trinity in man’s salvation; the

obligation and spirituality of the moral law under the gospel; the

duties of prayer, watchfulness, self-denial, unworldliness, humility,

love, as ‘the way of Jesus Christ;’ their enforcement by the prospect

of death and judgment, and the world’s near ending; by the narrowness,

too, of the way of life, and the fewness of those who find it; as also

by the hope of coming glory at the judgment and revelation of Jesus

Christ. Besides which we find in it a protest against the Romish system

generally, as one of soul-destroying idolatry; against masses for the

dead, and therein against the whole doctrine of purgatory; against the

system of the confessional, and asserted power of the priesthood to

absolve from sin; this last point being insisted on as the most deadly

point of heresy, and its origin referred to the mercenariness of the

priesthood, {285} and their love of money;――the iniquity further

noticed of the Romish persecutions of good men and teachers that

wished to teach the way of Jesus Christ; and the suspicion half-hinted,

and apparently half-formed, that, though a personal Antichrist might

be expected, yet Popery itself might be one form of Antichrist.” In

another work, the _Treatise of Antichrist_, there is a strong and

decided identification of the Antichristian system and the Papacy. This

was written probably in the last quarter of the fourteenth century.

“From this,” says Mr. Elliott (ii. 355), “the following will appear

to have been the Waldensian views: that the Papal or Romish system was

that of Antichrist; which, from infancy in apostolic times, had grown

gradually by the increase of its constituent parts to the stature of

a full-grown man; that its prominent characteristics were――to defraud

God of the worship due to Him, rendering it to creatures, whether

departed saints, relics, images, or Antichrist;――to defraud Christ,

by attributing justification and forgiveness to Antichrist’s authority

and words, to saints’ intercession, to the merits of men’s own

performances, and to the fire of purgatory;――to defraud the Holy Spirit,

by attributing regeneration and sanctification to the _opus operatum_ of

the two sacraments; that the origin of this Antichristian religion was

the covetousness of the priesthood; its tendency, to lead men away from

Christ; its essence, a ceremonial; its foundation, the false notion

of grace and forgiveness.” This work is so important as a “testimony”

against Antichrist, and for the truth, and is so clear as showing that

the Papacy was regarded as Antichrist, that I will copy, from the work

itself, the portion containing these sentiments――sentiments which may

be regarded as expressing the uniform testimony of the Waldenses on the

subject:――

“Antichrist is the falsehood of eternal damnation, covered with the

appearance of the truth and righteousness of Christ and his spouse. The

iniquity of such a system is with all his ministers, great and small:

and inasmuch as they follow the law of an evil and blinded heart, such

a congregation, taken together, is called Antichrist, or Babylon, or

the Fourth Beast, or the Harlot, or the Man of Sin, who is the son of

perdition.

“His first work is, that the service of _latria_, properly due to

God alone, he perverts unto Antichrist himself and to his doings; to

the poor creature, rational or irrational, sensible or insensible;

as, for instance, to male or female saints departed this life, and to

their images, or carcasses, or relics. His doings are the sacraments,

especially that of the Eucharist, which he worships equally with God

and Christ, prohibiting the adoration of God alone.

“His second work is, that he robs and deprives Christ of the merits

of Christ, with the whole sufficiency of grace, and justification,

and regeneration, and remission of sins, and sanctification, and

confirmation, and spiritual nourishment; and imputes and attributes

them to his own authority, or to a form of words, or to his own

performances, or to the saints and their intercession, or to the fire

of purgatory. Thus he divides the people from Christ, and leads them

away to the things already mentioned; that so they may seek not the

things of Christ, nor through Christ, but only the work of their own

hands; not through a living faith in God, and Jesus Christ, and the

Holy Spirit; but through the will and the work of Antichrist, agreeably

to the preaching that man’s salvation depends on his own deeds.

“His third work is, that he attributes the regeneration of the Holy

Spirit to a dead outward faith; baptizing children in that faith, and

teaching that by the mere outward consecration of baptism regeneration

may be procured.

“His fourth work is, that he rests the whole religion of the people

upon his Mass; for leading them to hear it, he deprives them of

spiritual and sacramental manducation.

“His fifth work is, that he does everything to be seen, and to glut his

insatiable avarice.

“His sixth work is, that he allows manifest sins without ecclesiastical

censure.

“His seventh work is, that he defends his unity, not by the Holy Spirit,

but by the secular power.

“His eighth work is, that he hates, and persecutes, and searches after,

and robs and destroys the members of Christ.

“These things, and many others, are the cloak and vestment of

Antichrist; by which he covers his lying wickedness, lest he should be

rejected as a heathen. {286} But there is no other cause of idolatry

than a false opinion of grace, and truth, and authority, and invocation,

and intercession; which this Antichrist has taken away from God, and

which he has ascribed to ceremonies, and authorities, and a man’s own

works, and to saints, and to purgatory” (Elliott, ii. 354, 355).

It is impossible not to be struck with the application of this

to the Papacy, and no one can doubt that the Papacy was intended

to be referred to. And, if this be so, this was a bold and decided

“testimony” against the abominations of that system, and they who bore

this testimony deserved to be regarded as “witnesses” for Christ and

his truth.

If to the “testimony” thus briefly referred to, we add that of

such men as Wycliffe, John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, and then that

of the Reformers, Luther, Calvin, Zuingle, Melancthon, and their

fellow-labourers, we can see with what propriety it was predicted

that even during the prevalence of the great apostasy there would

be a competent number of “witnesses” to keep up the knowledge of

the truth in the world. And supposing that this is what was designed

to be represented, it is easy to perceive that the symbol which is

employed is admirably appropriate. The design of what is here said

is merely to show that during the whole of the period of the Papal

apostasy――whenever it may be supposed to have begun, and whenever

it shall cease, it is and will be true that the Saviour has had

true “witnesses” on the earth――that there have been those who have

“testified” against these abominations, and who, often at great

personal peril and sacrifice, have borne a faithful testimony for the

truth.

(b) The number of the witnesses. In ver. 3, this is said to be “two,”

and this has been shown to mean that there would be a _competent_

number, yet probably with the implied idea that the number would not be

large. The only question then is, whether, in looking through this long

period, it would be found that, according to the established laws of

testimony under the divine code, there was a _competent_ number to bear

witness to the truth. And of this no one can doubt, for, in respect to

each and every part of the period of the great apostasy, it is possible

now to show that there was a sufficient number of the true friends of

the Redeemer to testify against all the great and cardinal errors of

the Papacy. This simple and obvious interpretation of the language,

it may be added, also, makes wholly unnecessary and inappropriate all

the efforts which have been made by expositors to find precisely _two_

such witnesses, or _two_ churches or people with whom the line of the

faithful testimony was preserved: all such interpretations as that

the Old and New Testaments are referred to, as Melchior, Affelman, and

Croly suppose; or that preachers are referred to who are instructed by

the Law and the Gospel, as Pannonius and Thomas Aquinas, supposed; or

that Christ and John the Baptist are referred to, as Ubertinus supposed;

or that Pope Sylvester and Mena, who wrote against the Eutychians, are

meant, as Lyranus and Ederus supposed; or that Francis and Dominic,

the respective heads of two orders of monks, are intended, as Cornelius

à Lapide supposed; or that the great _wisdom_ and _sanctity_ of the

primitive preachers are meant, as Alcassar maintained; or that John

Huss and Luther, or John Huss and Jerome of Prague, or the Waldenses

and Albigenses, or the Jewish and Gentile Christians in Ælia, are

intended, as others have supposed. According to the obvious and fair

meaning of the language, all this is mere fancy, and can illustrate

nothing but the fertility of invention of those who have written on

the Apocalypse. All that is necessarily implied is, that the number

of true and uncorrupted followers of the Saviour has been at all times

sufficiently large to bear _a competent testimony_ to the world, or to

keep up the remembrance of the truth upon the earth――and the reality of

this no one acquainted with the history of the church will doubt.

(c) The condition of the “witnesses” as “clothed in sackcloth,” ver. 3.

This has been shown to mean that they would be in a state of sadness

and grief; and they would be exposed to trouble and persecution. It is

unnecessary to prove that all this was abundantly fulfilled. The long

history of those times was a history of persecutions; and if it be

admitted that the passage before us was designed to refer to those

above mentioned as “witnesses,” no more correct description could be

given of them than to say that they were “clothed in sackcloth.”

{287} (d) The power of the witnesses, ver. 5, 6. Of this there are

several specifications. (1) They had power over those who should injure

or hurt them, ver. 5. This is represented by “fire proceeding out

of their mouth, and devouring their enemies.” This has been shown to

refer to the doctrines which they would proclaim, and the denunciations

which they would utter, and which would resemble consuming fire. This

would be accomplished or fulfilled if their solemn testimony――their

proclamations of truth――and their denunciations of the wrath of God

should have the effect ultimately to bring down the divine vengeance

on their persecutors. And no one can doubt that this has had an ample

fulfilment. That is, the effect of the testimony borne; of the solemn

appeals made; of the denunciations of the judgment of heaven, has

been to show that that great persecuting power that oppressed them is

arrayed against God, and must be finally overthrown. In order to see

the complete fulfilment of this, it would be necessary to trace all the

effect of the testimony of the witnesses for the truth from age to age

on that power, and to see how far it has been among the causes of the

ultimate and final overthrow of the Papacy. Of course, it may be said

that in an important sense it is _all_ to be traced to that, since if

they had forborne to bear that testimony, and to protest against those

corruptions and abominations, that colossal power would have stood

unshaken. But the solemn appeals made from age to age by the friends

of truth, amidst much persecution, have contributed to weaken that

power, and to prepare the world for its ultimate fall――as if fire from

heaven fell upon it. The causes of the decline of the Papal power were,

therefore, laid far back in the solemn truths urged by those persecuted

“witnesses;” and the calamities which have ravaged Europe for these

three hundred years, and the changes now occurring which make it so

certain that this mighty power hastens to its fall, may all be the

regular results of the “testimony” for the truths of a pure gospel

borne long ago by the men that dwelt amidst the Alps, and their

fellow-sufferers in persecution. (2) They “have power to shut heaven,

that it rain not in the days of their prophecy,” ver. 6. This has

been shown to mean that they would have power to cause blessings to be

withheld from men _as if_ the rain were withheld. The reference here

is probably to the spiritual heavens, and to that of which rain is

the natural emblem――the influences of truth, and the influences of

the Divine Spirit on the world. So Moses says, in De. xxxii. 2, “My

doctrine shall drop as the rain, and my speech shall distil as the

dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon

the grass.” So the psalmist (Ps. lxxii. 6), “He shall come down like

rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.” So Isaiah

(lv. 10, 11), “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven,

so shall my word be,” &c. Comp. Mi. v. 7. The meaning here, then, must

be, that spiritual influences would seem to be under their control;

or that they would be imparted at their bidding, and withheld at their

will. This found an ample fulfilment in the history of the church in

those dark periods, in the fact that it was in connection with these

“witnesses,” and in answer to their prayers, that the influences of the

Holy Spirit were imparted to the world, and that the true religion was

kept up on the earth. “It is an historical fact,” says the author of

_The Seventh Vial_ (p. 130), “that during the ages of their ministry,

there was neither dew nor rain of a spiritual kind upon the earth, but

at the word of the witnesses. There was no knowledge of salvation but

by their preaching――no descent of the Spirit but in answer to their

prayers; and, as the witnesses were shut out from Christendom generally,

a universal famine ensued.” (3) They had power over the waters to turn

them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, ver. 6. That

is, as explained above, calamities would come upon the earth _as if_

the waters were turned into blood, and this would be so connected

with them, and with the treatment which they would receive, that these

calamities would _seem_ to have been called down from heaven in answer

to their prayers, and in order to avenge their wrongs. And can anyone

be ignorant that wars, commotions, troubles, disasters have followed

the attempts to destroy those who have borne a faithful testimony for

Christ in the dark period of the world here referred to? The calamities

that have befallen the Papal communion from time to time may have been,

and seem to have been, to a great degree, the consequence of its {288}

persecuting spirit, and of its attempts to quench the light of truth.

When the oppressed and persecuted nations of Europe had borne it long,

and when attempts had long been made to extinguish every spark of true

liberty, the spirit of freedom and revenge was roused. The yoke was

broken; and in the wars that ensued rivers of blood flowed upon the

earth, as if these “witnesses” or martyrs had, by their own power and

prayers, brought these calamities upon their oppressors. A philosophic

historian carefully studying human nature, and the essential spirit

of Christianity, might find in these facts a sufficient explanation

of all the calamities that have come upon that once colossal power――the

Papacy――and a full demonstration that, under the operation of these

causes, that power must ultimately fall――_as if_ in revenge called down

from heaven by the martyrs for the wrongs done to them who had borne a

faithful testimony to the truth.

II. The war against the witnesses, ver. 7. There are several

circumstances stated in regard to this which demand explanation in

order to a full understanding of the prophecy. Those circumstances

relate to the time when this would occur; to the government by which

this war would be waged; and to the victory.

(a) The time when the war referred to would be waged. The whole

narrative (comp. ver. 3, 5) supposes that opposition would be made to

them at all times, and that their condition would be such that they

could properly be represented as always clothed in sackcloth; but it is

evident that a particular period is here referred to, when there would

be _such_ a war waged with them that they would be for a time overcome,

and would seem to be dead. This time is referred to by the phrase “when

they shall have finished their testimony” (ver. 7); and it is to the

period when this could be properly said of them that we are to look

for the fulfilment of what is here predicted. This must mean, when

they should have borne _full_ or _ample_ testimony; that is, when they

had borne their testimony on all the great points on which they were

appointed to bear witness. See Notes on ver. 7. This, then, must not be

understood as referring to the time of the _completion_ of the twelve

hundred and sixty years, but to any time _during_ that period when it

could be said that they had borne a full and ample testimony for the

truths of the gospel, and against the abominations and errors that

prevailed. In this general expression there is not, indeed, anything

that would accurately designate the time, but no one can doubt that

this _had been done at the time of the Reformation_. In the preceding

remarks it has been shown that there was a succession of faithful

witnesses for the truth in the darkest periods of the church, and that

to all the great points pertaining to the system of religion revealed

in the gospel, as well as against the errors that prevailed, they had

borne an unambiguous testimony. There is no impropriety, therefore,

in fixing this period at about the time of the Reformation, for all

that is necessarily implied in the language is fulfilled on such a

supposition. Faithful testimony had been borne during the long period

of the Papal corruptions, until it could be said that their peculiar

work had been accomplished. The earlier witnesses for the truth――the

Paulicians, the Waldenses, the Vaudois, and other bodies of true

Christians――had borne an open testimony, from the beginning, against

the various corruptions of Rome――her errors in doctrine, her idolatries

in worship, and her immoralities, until in the end of the twelfth

century――the same century in which, according to Mr. Gibbon, the

meridian of Papal greatness was attained――they proclaimed her, as

we have seen, to be the Antichrist of Scripture, the Harlot of the

Apocalypse. Thus did they fulfil their testimony; and then was the war

waged against them, with all the power of apostate Rome, to silence

and to destroy them. This war was commenced in the edicts of councils,

which stigmatized the pure doctrines of the Bible, and branded those

who held them as heretics. The next step was to pronounce the most

dreadful anathemas on those who were regarded as heretics, which were

executed in the same remorseless and exterminating manner in which

they were conceived. The confessors of the truth were denied both their

natural and their civil rights. They were forbidden all participation

in dignities and offices; their goods were confiscated; their houses

were to be razed and never more to be rebuilt; and their lands were

given to those who were able to seize them. They were shut out from

the solace of human converse; no one might give them shelter {289}

while living, or Christian burial when dead. At length a crusade was

proclaimed against them. Preachers were sent abroad through Europe to

sound the trumpet of vengeance, and to assemble the nations. The pope

wrote to all Christian princes, exhorting them to earn their pardon

and win heaven rather by bearing the cross against heretics than by

marching against the Saracens. The war, in particular, which was waged

against the Waldenses, is well known, and the horror of its details is

among the darkest pages of history. The peaceful and fertile valleys of

the Vaudois were invaded, and speedily devastated with fire and sword;

their towns and villages were burnt; while not one individual, in

many cases, escaped to carry the tidings to the next valley. To all

the cruelties of these wars, and to all the open persecutions which

were waged, are to be added the horrors of the Inquisition, as an

illustration of the fact that “wars” would be made against the true

witnesses for Christ. Calculations, more or less accurate, have been

made of the numbers that Popery has slain; and the lowest of those

calculations would confirm what is said here, on the supposition that

the reference is to the Papal power. From the year 1540 to the year

1570, comprehending a space of only thirty years, no fewer than nine

hundred thousand Protestants were put to death by the Papists, in

different countries of Europe. During the short pontificate of Paul the

Fourth, which lasted only four years (A.D. 1555‒1559), the Inquisition

alone, on the testimony of Vergerius, destroyed a hundred and fifty

thousand! When he died, the indignant populace of Rome crowded to the

prison of the Inquisition, broke open the doors, and released seventeen

hundred prisoners, and then set fire to the building (Bowers’ _History

of the Popes_, iii. 319, edit. 1845). Those who perished in Germany

during the wars of Charles the Fifth, and in Flanders, under the

infamous Duke of Alva, are reckoned by hundreds of thousands. In France

several millions were destroyed in the innumerable massacres that took

place in that kingdom. It has been computed that since the rise of the

Papacy, not fewer than fifty millions of persons have been put to death

on account of religion! Of this vast number the greater part have been

cut off during the last six hundred years; for the Papacy persecuted

very little during the first half of its existence, and it was in this

way that it was not until the witnesses had “completed” their testimony,

or had borne full and ample testimony, that it made war against them.

Comp. _The Seventh Vial_, pp. 149‒157. For a full illustration of

the facts here referred to, see Notes on Da. vii. 21. There can be no

reasonable doubt that Daniel and John refer to the same thing.

(b) By whom this was to be done. In ver. 7, it is said that it would

be by “the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit.” This is

undoubtedly the same as the fourth beast of Daniel (Da. vii.), and for

a full illustration I must refer to the Notes on that chapter. It is

necessary only to add here, if the above representation is correct,

that it is easy to see the propriety of this application of the symbol

to the Papacy. Nothing would better represent that cruel persecuting

power “making war with the witnesses,” than a fierce and cruel monster

that seemed to ascend from the bottomless pit.

(c) The victory of the persecutors, and the death of the witnesses:

“and shall overcome them, and kill them,” ver. 7. That is, they would

gain a temporary victory over them, and the witnesses would seem for

a time to be dead. The subsequent statement shows, however, that they

would revive again, and would again resume their prophesying. Comp.

Notes on ch. ix. 20. The victory over them would appear to be complete,

and the great object of the persecuting power would seem to have been

gained. A few facts on this subject will show the propriety of the

statement that “when they had finished,” or _had fully borne their

testimony_, a victory was obtained over them, and that they were so

silenced that it might be said they were _killed_. The first will be

in the words of Milner, in his account of the opening of the sixteenth

century (_History of the Church_, p. 660, ed. Edin. 1835): “The

sixteenth century opened with a prospect of all others the most gloomy,

in the eyes of every true Christian. Corruption both in doctrine and

in practice had exceeded all bounds; and the general face of Europe,

though the name of Christ was everywhere professed, presented nothing

that was properly evangelical. The Waldenses were too feeble to molest

the popedom; and the Hussites, divided {290} among themselves, and

worn out by a long series of contentions, were reduced to silence.

Among both were found persons of undoubted godliness, but they appeared

incapable of making effectual impressions on the kingdom of Antichrist.

The Roman pontiffs were still the uncontrolled patrons of impiety;

neither the scandalous crimes of Alexander VI., nor the military

ferocity of Julius II., seemed to have lessened the dominion of the

court of Rome, or to have opened the eyes of men so as to induce them

to make a sober investigation of the nature of true religion.” The

language of Mr. Cunninghame may here be adopted as describing the

state of things at the beginning of the sixteenth century: “At the

commencement of the sixteenth century, Europe reposed in the deep sleep

of spiritual death, under the iron yoke of the Papacy. That haughty

power, like the Assyrian of the prophet, said in the plenitude of his

insolence, ‘My hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people; and

as one gathereth eggs, I have gathered all the earth; and there was

none that moved the wing, _or opened the mouth_, or peeped.’” And in

a similar manner, the writer of the article on the Reformation, in

the _Encyclopædia Britannica_――in a statement made, of course, with no

reference to the fulfilment of this passage――thus speaks of that period:

“Everything was quiet; _every heretic was exterminated_, and the whole

Christian world supinely acquiesced in the enormous absurdities

inculcated by the Romish church.” These quotations will show the

propriety of the language used here by John, on the supposition that it

was intended to refer to this period. No symbol would be more striking,

or more appropriate to that state of things, than to represent the

witnesses for the truth as overcome and slain, so that, for a time at

least, they would cease to bear their testimony against the prevailing

errors and corruptions. It will be remembered, also, that this occurred

at a time when it might be said that they had “fulfilled” their

testimony, or when, in a most solemn manner, they had protested against

the existing idolatries and abominations.

III. The witnesses dead, ver. 8‒10. The preceding verse contains the

statement that they would be overcome and killed; these verses describe

their treatment when they would be dead; that is, when they would be

silenced. There are several circumstances referred to here which demand

notice.

(a) The _place_ where it is said that this would occur――that “great

city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our

Lord was crucified,” ver. 8. In the explanation of this verse, it has

been shown that the language used here is such as would be properly

employed, on the supposition that the intention was to refer to Rome,

or the Romish communion. A few testimonies may serve to confirm the

interpretation proposed in the Notes on ver. 8, and to show farther

the propriety of applying the appellation “Sodom” and “Egypt” to Rome.

Thus among the Reformers, “Grosteste perceived that the whole scheme

of the Papal government was enmity with God, and exclaimed that nothing

but the sword could deliver the church from the _Egyptian_ bondage”

(D’Aubigné). Wycliffe compared the Romish priestcraft to “the accursed

sorceries with which the sages of Pharaoh presumed to emulate the works

of Jehovah” (Le Bas’ _Wycliffe_, pp. 68, 147). Luther, in a letter to

Melancthon, says, “Italy is plunged, as in ancient times in Egypt, in

darkness that may be felt.” And of Zuingle in Switzerland, they who

longed for the light of salvation said of him, “He will be our Moses,

to deliver us out of the darkness of Egypt.” Any number of passages

could be found in the writings of the Reformers, and even some in

the writings of Romanists themselves, in which the abominations that

prevailed in Rome are compared with those in Sodom. Comp. Elliott, ii.

pp. 386, 387, notes. Assuming this to be the correct interpretation,

the meaning is, that a state of things would exist after the silencing

of the witnesses which would be well represented by supposing that

their dead bodies would lie unburied; that is, that there would be

dishonour and indignity heaped upon them, such as is shown to the dead

when they are suffered to lie unburied. No one needs to be informed

that this accurately represents the state of things throughout the

Roman world. To the “witnesses” thus persecuted, downtrodden, and

_silenced_, there was the same kind of indignity shown which there is

when the dead are left unburied.

(b) The exposure of their bodies, ver. 8. That is, as we have seen,

they {291} would be treated with indignity, _as if_ they were not

worthy of Christian burial. Now this not only expresses what was in

fact the general feeling among the Papists in respect to those whom

they regarded as heretics, but it had a literal fulfilment in numerous

cases where the rites of Christian burial were denied them. One of

the punishments most constantly decreed and constantly enforced in

reference to those who were called “heretics,” was their exclusion from

burial as persons excommunicated and without the pale of the church.

Thus, in the third council of Lateran (A.D. 1179), Christian burial was

denied to heretics; the same in the Lateran council A.D. 1215, and the

Papal decree of Gregory IX., A.D. 1227; the same again in that of Pope

Martin, A.D. 1422; and the same thing was determined in the council of

Constance, A.D. 1422, which ordered that the body of Wycliffe should

be exhumed, and that the ashes of John Huss, instead of being buried,

should be collected and thrown into the lake of Constance. It may be

added that Savonarola’s ashes were in a similar manner cast into the

Arno, A.D. 1498; and that in the first bull intrusted to the cardinal

Cajetan against Luther, this was one of the declared penalties, that

both Luther and his partisans should be deprived of ecclesiastical

burial. See Waddington, p. 717; D’Aubigné, i. 355; Foxe, v. 677.

(c) The mutual congratulations of those who had put them to death;

their exultation over them; and the expression of their joy by the

interchange of presents: “And they that dwell upon the earth shall

rejoice over them,” &c., ver. 10. The language here used is expressive

of general joy and rejoicing, and there can be no doubt that such joy

and rejoicing occurred at Rome whenever a new victory was obtained over

those who were regarded as heretics. Pareus remarks on the passage in

Luke xv. 32, “It was meet that we should make merry,” &c., that “when

heretics are burnt, Papists play at frolicsome games, celebrate feasts

and banquets, sing _Te Deum laudamus_, and wish one another joy.”

And so too Bullinger, _in loco_. But there was special rejoicing,

which accorded entirely with the prediction here, at the close of the

sessions of the Lateran council A.D. 1517, in the splendour of the

dinners and fêtes given by the cardinals. The scene on the closing of

the council is thus described by Dean Waddington: “The pillars of the

Papal strength seemed visible and palpable; and Rome surveyed them with

exultation from her golden palaces. The assembled princes and prelates

separated from the council with _complacency_, _confidence_, and

_mutual congratulations_ on the peace, unity, and purity of the church.”

Still, while this was true of that particular council, it should be

added that the language here used is general, and may be regarded as

descriptive of the usual joy which would be felt, and which was felt at

Rome, in view of the efforts made to suppress heresy in the church.

(d) The _time_ during which the witnesses would remain “dead.” This,

it is said (ver. 9), would be for “three days and an half,” during

which time they would “not suffer their dead bodies to be put in

graves;” that is, there would be a course of conduct, and a state of

things, _as if_ the dead were left unburied. This _time_, as we have

seen (Notes on ver. 9), means probably three years and a half; and in

the application of this we are to look for some striking event relating

to the “witnesses,” when they should have “finished their testimony,”

or when they had fully borne their testimony, that would fully

correspond with this. Now it happens that there _was_ a point of time,

just previous to the Reformation, when it was supposed that a complete

victory was gained for ever over those who were regarded as “heretics,”

but who were in fact the true witnesses for Christ. That point of time

was during the session of the council of Lateran, which was assembled

A.D. 1513, and which continued its sessions to May 16, 1517. In the

ninth session of this council a remarkable proclamation was made,

indicating that all opposition to the Papal power had now ceased. The

scene is thus described by Mr. Elliott (ii. 396, 397): “The orator

of the session ascended the pulpit; and, amidst the applause of the

assembled council, uttered that memorable exclamation of triumph――an

exclamation which, notwithstanding the long multiplied anti-heretical

decrees of popes and councils, notwithstanding the yet more multiplied

anti-heretical crusades and inquisitorial fires, was never, I believe,

pronounced before, and certainly never since――‘Jam nemo reclamat,

nullus obsistit’――‘There is an end of resistance to the Papal rule and

religion; opposers there exist no more:’ {292} and again, ‘The whole

body of Christendom is now seen to be subjected to its _Head_, _i.e._

to _Thee_.’” This occurred May 5, 1514. It is, probably, from this

“time” that the three days and a half, or the three years and a half,

during which the “dead bodies of the witnesses remained unburied,” and

were exposed to public gaze and derision, are to be reckoned.

But it was with remarkable accuracy that a period of three years and

a half occurred from the time when this proclamation was made, and

when it was supposed that these “witnesses” were “dead,” to the time

when the voice of living witnesses for the truth was heard again, as

if those witnesses that had been silenced had come to life again; and

“not in the compass of the whole ecclesiastical history of Christendom,

except in the case of the death and resurrection of Christ himself,

is there any such example of the sudden, mighty, and triumphant

resuscitation of his church from a state of deep depression, as was,

just after the separation of the Lateran council, exhibited in the

protesting voice of Luther, and the glorious Reformation.” All accounts

agree in placing the beginning of the Reformation in A.D. 1517. See

Bowers’ _History of the Popes_, iii. 295; Murdock’s _Mosheim_, iii. 11,

note. The _effect_ of this, as compared with the supposed suppression

of heresy, or the death of the witnesses, and as an illustration of

the passage before us, will be seen from the following language of

a writer in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_:――“Everything was quiet;

_every heretic exterminated_; and the whole Christian world supinely

acquiescing in the enormous absurdities inculcated in the Romish

church, when, in 1517, the empire of superstition received its first

attack from Luther.” Or, in the language of Mr. Cunninghame, “At the

commencement of the sixteenth century, Europe reposed in the deep sleep

of spiritual death, under the iron yoke of the Papacy. There was none

that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped: when suddenly in

one of the universities of Germany the voice of an obscure monk was

heard, the sound of which rapidly filled Saxony, Germany, and Europe

itself, shaking the very foundations of the Papal power, and arousing

men from the lethargy of ages.”

The remarkable coincidence in regard to _time_――supposing that

three years and a half are intended――will be seen from the following

statement. The day of the ninth session of the Lateran council, when

the proclamation above referred to was made, was, as we have seen,

May 5, 1514; the day of Luther’s posting up his theses at Wittemberg

(the well-known epoch of the beginning of the Reformation), was

October 31, 1517. “Now, from May 5, 1514, to May 5, 1517, are three

years; and from May 5, 1517, to October 31 of the same year, 1517, the

reckoning in days is as follows:――

May 5‒31 27

June 30 30

July 31 31

August 31 31

September 30 30

October 31 31

in all 180, or half of 360 days, that is, half a year; so that

the whole interval is precisely, to a day, three and a half years”

(Elliott, ii. 402, 403). But, without insisting on this very minute

accuracy, anyone can see, and all must be prepared to admit, that, on

the supposition that it was intended by the Spirit of God to refer to

these events, this is the language which would be used; or, in other

words, nothing would better represent this state of things than the

declaration that the witnesses would be “slain,” and would be suffered

to “remain unburied” during this period of time, and that at the end of

this period, a public testimony would be borne again for the truth, and

against the abominations of the Papacy, as if “the Spirit of life from

God should again enter into them, and they should stand upon their

feet,” ver. 11.

IV. The resurrection of the witnesses, ver. 11. Little need be added

on this point, after what has been said on the previous portions of

the chapter. We have seen (Notes on ver. 11) that this must mean that

a state of things would occur which would be well represented by their

being restored to life again; and if the previous illustrations are

correct, there will be little difficulty in admitting that this had

its fulfilment in the commencement of the Reformation. As to the

_time_ when they would revive, we have seen above how remarkably this

accords with the commencement of the Reformation in 1517; and as to

the correspondence of this with what is here symbolized, nothing would

better represent this than to describe the witnesses as coming to life

again. It was _as if_ “the Spirit of life from God entered into” those

who had been slain, {293} and “they stood upon their feet” again, and

again bore their solemn testimony to the truth as it is in Jesus. For

(a) it was the same kind of testimony――testimony _to_ the same truths,

and _against_ the same evils――which had been borne by the long array

of the confessors and martyrs that had been put to death. The truths

proclaimed by the Reformers on the great doctrines of grace were

the same which had been professed by the Waldenses, by Wycliffe, by

John Huss, and others; and the abominations of image-worship, of the

invocations of the saints, of the arrogant claims of the pope, of the

doctrine of human merit in justification, of the corruptions of the

monastic systems, of the celibacy of the clergy, of the doctrine

of purgatory, against which they testified, were the same. (b) That

testimony was borne by men of the same spirit and character. In what

would now be called _personal religious experience_ there was the

closest resemblance between the Waldenses and the other “witnesses”

before the Reformation, and the Reformers themselves――between the

piety of Huss, Jerome of Prague, Wycliffe, and Peter Waldo; and Luther,

Melancthon, Zuingle, Calvin, Bucer, Latimer, Ridley, and Knox. They

were men who belonged to the same spiritual communion, and who had been

moulded and fashioned in their spiritual character by the same power

from on high. (c) The testimony was borne with the same fearlessness,

and in the midst of the same kind of persecution and opposition. All

that occurred was _as if_ the same “witnesses” had been restored to

life and again lifted up their voice in the cause for which they had

been persecuted and slain. The _propriety_ of this language, as applied

to these events, may be further seen from expressions used by the

“witnesses” themselves, or by the persecuted friends of the truth. “And

I,” said John Huss, speaking of the gospel-preachers who should appear

after he had suffered at the stake, “and I, _awaking as it were from

the dead_, and _rising from the grave_, shall rejoice with exceeding

great joy.” Again, in 1523, after the Reformation had broken out,

we find Pope Hadrian saying, in a missive addressed to the Diet at

Nuremberg, “The heretics Huss and Jerome are now _alive again_ in the

person of Martin Luther” (_The Seventh Vial_, p. 190).

V. The ascension of the witnesses, ver. 12: “And they ascended to

heaven in a cloud.” We have seen (Notes on this verse) that this means

that events would take place _as if_ they should ascend in triumph to

heaven, or which should be properly symbolized _by_ such an ascent to

heaven. All that is here represented would be fulfilled by a triumph

of the truth under the testimony of the witnesses, or by its becoming

gloriously established in view of the nations of the earth, _as if_ the

witnesses ascended publicly and were received to the presence of God

in heaven. All this was fulfilled in the various influences that served

to establish and confirm the Reformation, and to introduce the great

principles of religious freedom, giving to that work ultimate triumph,

and showing that it had the favour of God. This would embrace the whole

series of events after the Reformation was begun, by which its triumph

was secure, or by which that state of things was gradually introduced

which now exists, in which the true religion is free from persecution,

in which it is advancing into so many parts of the world where the

Papacy once had the control, and in which, with so little molestation,

and with such an onward march toward ultimate victory, it is extending

its conquests over the earth. The triumphant ascent of the witnesses to

heaven, and the public proof of the divine favour thus shown to them,

would be an appropriate symbol of this.

VI. The consequences of the resurrection, ascension, and triumph of

the witnesses, ver. 13. These are said to be, that there would be “in

the same hour a great earthquake; that a tenth part of the city would

fall; that seven thousand would be slain, and that the remainder would

be affrighted and would give glory to the God of heaven.”

(a) The earthquake. This, as we have seen (Notes on ver. 13), denotes

that there would be a shock or a convulsion in the world, so that the

powers of the earth would be shaken, as cities, trees, and hills are in

the shocks of an earthquake. There can be little difficulty in applying

this to the _shock_ produced throughout Europe by the boldness of

Luther and his fellow-labourers in the Reformation. No events have ever

taken place in history that would be better compared with the shock

of an earthquake than those which occurred when the long-established

governments of Europe, and especially the {294} domination of the

Papacy, so long consolidated and confirmed, were shaken by the

Reformation. In the suddenness of the attack made on the existing

state of things, in the commotions which were produced, in the

overthrow of so many governments, there was a striking resemblance

to the convulsions caused by an earthquake. So Dr. Lingard speaks

of the Reformation: “That religious revolution which astonished and

_convulsed_ the nations of Europe.” Nothing would better represent the

convulsions caused in Germany, Switzerland, Prussia, Saxony, Sweden,

Denmark, and England by the Reformation than an earthquake.

(b) The fate of a part of the city: “And the tenth part of the city

fell.” That is, as we have seen (Notes on ver. 13), of that which is

represented by the city, to wit, the Roman power. The fall of a “tenth

part” would denote the fall of a considerable portion of that power;

_as if_, in an earthquake, a tenth part of a city should be demolished.

This would well represent what occurred in the Reformation, when

so considerable a portion of the colossal Papal power suddenly fell

away, and the immediate effect on the portions of Europe where the

Reformation prevailed, as compared with the whole of that power, might

well be represented by the fall of the _tenth_ part of a city. It is

true that a much larger proportion _ultimately_ fell off from Rome, so

that now the number of Romanists and Protestants is not far from being

equal; but in the first convulsion――in what passed before the eye in

vision as represented by the earthquake――that proportion would not be

improperly represented by the tenth part of a city. The idea is, that

the sudden destruction of a tenth part of a great city by an earthquake

would well represent the convulsion at the breaking out of the

Reformation, by which a considerable portion of the Papal power would

fall.

(c) Those who were slain, ver. 13: “And in the earthquake were slain

of men seven thousand.” That is, as we have seen (Notes on ver. 13),

a calamity would occur to this vast Papal power, _as if_ this number

should be killed in the earthquake, or which would be well represented

by that. In other words, a portion of those who were represented by

the city would be slain, which, compared with the whole number, would

bear about the same proportion which seven thousand would to the usual

dwellers in such a city. As the numbers in the city are not mentioned,

it is impossible to form any exact estimate of the numbers that would

be slain on this supposition. But if we suppose that the city contained

a hundred thousand, then the proportion would be something like a

fourteenth part; but if it were half a million, then it would be about

a seventieth part; if it were a million, then it would be about a

hundred and forty-fifth part; and, as we may suppose that John, in

these visions, had his eye on Rome as it was in the age in which

he lived, we may, if we can ascertain what the size of Rome was at

that period, take that estimate as the basis of the interpretation.

Mr. Gibbon (ii. 251, 252) has endeavoured to form an estimate of

the probable number of the inhabitants of ancient Rome; and, after

enumerating all the circumstances which throw any light on the subject,

says: “If we adopt the same average which, under similar circumstances,

has been found applicable to Paris, and indifferently allow about

twenty-five persons for each house, of every degree, we may fairly

estimate the inhabitants of Rome at twelve hundred thousand.” Allowing

this to be the number of the inhabitants of the city, then the number

here specified that was slain――seven thousand――would be about the one

hundred and seventieth part, or one in one hundred and seventy. This

would, according to the purport of the vision here, represent the

number that would perish in the convulsion denoted by the earthquake――a

number which, though it would be large in the aggregate, is not

probably too large in fact as referring to the number of persons

that perished in Papal Europe in the wars that were consequent on the

Reformation.

(d) The only other circumstance in this representation is, that “the

remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven,” ver. 13.

That is, as we have seen (Notes on ver. 13), fear and consternation

came upon them, and they stood in awe at what was occurring, and

acknowledged the power of God in the changes that took place. How well

this was fulfilled in what occurred in the Reformation, it is hardly

necessary to state. The events which then took place had every mark

of being under the divine hand, and were such as to fill the minds of

men with awe and to teach them to recognize the hand of God. The power

which tore asunder that immense ecclesiastical establishment, that {295}

had so long held the whole of Europe in servitude; which dissolved the

charm which had so long held kings, and princes, and people spell-bound;

which rent away for ever so large a portion of the Papal dominions;

which led kings to separate themselves from the control to which they

had been so long subjected, and which emancipated the human mind, and

diffused abroad the great principles of civil and religious liberty,

was well adapted to fill the mind with awe, and to lead men to

recognize the hand and the agency of God; and if it be admitted that

the Holy Spirit in this passage _meant_ to refer to these events,

it cannot be doubted that the language here used is such as is well

adapted to describe the effects produced on the minds of men at large.

15 And the [359]seventh angel sounded; and there were great

voices in heaven, saying, [360]The kingdoms of this world are

become _the kingdoms_ of our Lord, and of his Christ; and

[361]he shall reign for ever and ever.

15. _And the seventh angel sounded._ See Notes on ch. viii. 2, 6, 7.

This is the last of the trumpets, implying, of course, that under this

the series of visions was to end, and that this was to introduce the

state of things under which the affairs of the world were to be wound

up. The place which this occupies in the order of time, is when the

events pertaining to the colossal Roman power――the fourth kingdom of

Daniel (Da. ii.‒vii.)――should have been completed, and when the reign

of the saints (Da. vii. 9‒14, 27, 28) should have been introduced.

This, both in Daniel and in John, is to occur when the mighty power of

the Papacy shall have been overthrown at the termination of the twelve

hundred and sixty years of its duration. See Notes on Da. vii. 25. In

both Daniel and John the termination of that persecuting power is the

commencement of the reign of the saints; the downfall of the Papacy,

the introduction of the kingdom of God, and its establishment on the

earth. ¶ _And there were great voices in heaven._ As of exultation and

praise. The grand consummation had come, the period so long anticipated

and desired when God should reign on the earth had arrived, and this

lays the foundation for joy and thanksgiving in heaven. ¶ _The kingdoms

of this world._ The modern editions of the New Testament (see Tittmann

and Hahn) read this in the singular number――“The kingdom of this world

has become,” &c. According to this reading, the meaning would be,

either that the sole _reign_ over this world had become that of the

Lord Jesus; or, more probably, that the dominion over the earth had

been regarded as one in the sense that Satan had reigned over it,

but had now become the kingdom of God; that is, that “the kingdoms of

this world are many considered in themselves; but in reference to the

sway of Satan, there is only _one_ kingdom ruled over by the ‘god of

this world’” (Professor Stuart). The sense is not materially different

whichever reading is adopted; though the authority is in favour of the

latter (Wetstein). According to the common reading, the sense is, that

all the kingdoms of the earth, being many in themselves, had been now

brought under the one sceptre of Christ; according to the other, the

whole world was regarded as in fact one kingdom――that of Satan――and

the sceptre had now passed from his hands into those of the Saviour.

¶ _|The kingdoms| of our Lord._ Or, the _kingdom_ of our Lord,

according to the reading adopted in the previous part of the verse. The

word _Lord_ here evidently has reference to God as such――represented

as the original source of authority, and as giving the kingdom to

his Son. See Notes on Da. vii. 13, 14; comp. Ps. ii. 8. The word

_Lord_――Κύριος――implies the notion of possessor, owner, sovereign,

supreme ruler――and is thus properly given to God. See Mat. i. 22; v. 33;

Mar. v. 19; Lu. i. 6, 28; Ac. vii. 33; He. viii. 2, 10; Ja. iv. 15,

_al. sæpe_ ¶ _And of his Christ._ Of his anointed; of him who is set

apart as the Messiah, and consecrated to this high office. See Notes on

Mat. i. 1. He is called “_his_ Christ,” because he is set apart by him,

or appointed by him to perform the work appropriate to that office on

earth. Such language as that which occurs here is often employed, in

which God _and_ Christ are spoken of as, in some respects, distinct――as

sustaining different offices, and performing different works. The

essential meaning here is, that the kingdom of this world had now

become the kingdom of God _under_ {296} Christ; that is, that that

kingdom is administered by the Son of God. ¶ _And he shall reign for

ever and ever._ A kingdom is commenced which shall never terminate. It

is not said that this would be on the earth; but the essential idea is,

that the sceptre of the world had now, after so long a time, come into

his hands never more to pass away. The fuller characteristics of this

reign are stated in a subsequent part of this book (ch. xx.‒xxii.).

What is here stated is in accordance with all the predictions in the

Bible. A time is to come when, in the proper sense of the term, God

is to _reign_ on the earth; when his kingdom is to be universal; when

his laws shall be everywhere recognized as binding; when all idolatry

shall come to an end; and when the understandings and the hearts of

men everywhere shall bow to his authority. Comp. Ps. ii. 8; Is. ix. 7;

xi. 9; xlv. 22; lx.; Da. ii. 35, 44, 45; vii. 13, 14, 27, 28; Zec.

xiv. 9; Mal. i. 11; Lu. i. 33. On this whole subject, see the very

ample illustrations and proofs in the Notes on Da. ii. 44, 45; vii. 13,

14, 27, 28; comp. Notes on chap. xx.‒xxii.

16 And the [362]four and twenty elders, which sat before God

on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God.

16. _And the four and twenty elders which sat_, &c. See Notes on

ch. iv. 4. ¶ _Fell upon their faces, and worshipped God._ Prostrated

themselves before him――the usual form of profound adoration. See Notes

on ch. v. 8‒14.

17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty,

[363]which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast

taken to thee thy great power, and [364]hast reigned.

17. _Saying, We give thee thanks._ We, as the representatives of

the church, and as identified in our feelings with it (see Notes on

ch. iv. 4), acknowledge thy goodness in thus delivering the church

from all its troubles, and having conducted it through the times of

fiery persecution, thus establishing it upon the earth. The language

here used is an expression of their deep interest in the church,

and of the fact that they felt themselves identified with it. They,

as representatives of the church, would of course rejoice in its

prosperity and final triumph. ¶ _O Lord God Almighty._ Referring to God

as all-powerful, because it was by his omnipotent arm alone that this

great work had been accomplished. Nothing else could have defended the

church in its many trials; nothing else could have established it upon

the earth. ¶ _Which art, and wast, and art to come._ The Eternal One,

always the same. See Notes on ch. i. 8. The reference here is to the

fact that God, who had thus established his church on the earth, is

unchanging. In all the revolutions which occur on the earth, he always

remains the same. What he was in past times he is now; what he is now

he always will be. The particular idea suggested here seems to be, that

he had now shown this by having caused his church to triumph; that is,

he had shown that he was the same God who had early _promised_ that it

should ultimately triumph; he had carried forward his glorious purposes

without modifying or abandoning them amidst all the changes that had

occurred in the world; and he had thus given the assurance that he

would now remain the same, and that all his purposes in regard to

his church would be accomplished. The fact that God remains always

unchangeably the same is the sole reason why his church is safe, or

why any individual member of it is kept and saved. Comp. Mal. iii. 6.

¶ _Because thou hast taken to thee thy great power._ To wit, by setting

up thy kingdom over all the earth. Before that it _seemed_ as if he had

relaxed that power, or had given the power to others. Satan had reigned

on the earth. Disorder, anarchy, sin, rebellion, had prevailed. It

seemed as if God had let the reins of government fall from his hand.

Now he came forth as if to resume the dominion over the world, and

to take the sceptre into his own hand, and to exert his great power

in keeping the nations in subjection. The setting up of his kingdom

all over the world, and causing his laws everywhere to be obeyed,

will be among the highest demonstrations of divine power. Nothing

can accomplish this but the power of God; when that power is exerted

nothing can prevent its accomplishment. ¶ _And hast reigned._ Professor

Stuart, “and shown thyself as king”――that is, “hast become king, or

acted as a king.” The idea is, that he had now vindicated {297} his

regal power (Rob. _Lex._)――that is, he had now set up his kingdom on

the earth, and had truly begun to reign. One of the characteristics of

the millennium――and indeed the main characteristic――will be that God

will be everywhere obeyed; for when that occurs all will be consummated

that properly enters into the idea of the millennial kingdom.

18 And the nations [365]were angry, and thy wrath is come,

and [366]the time of the dead, that they should be judged,

and that thou [367]shouldest give reward unto thy servants

the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy

name, [368]small and great; and shouldest destroy them which

[369]destroy the earth.

18. _And the nations were angry._ Were enraged against thee. This they

had shown by their opposition to his laws; by persecuting his people;

by slaying his witnesses; by all the attempts which they had made to

destroy his authority on the earth. The reference here seems to be to

the whole series of events preceding the final establishment of his

kingdom on the earth; to all the efforts which had been made to throw

off his government and to crush his church. At this period of glorious

triumph it was natural to look back to those dark times when the

“nations raged” (comp. Ps. ii. 1‒3), and when the very existence

of the church was in jeopardy. ¶ _And thy wrath is come._ That is,

the time when thou wilt punish them for all that they have done in

opposition to thee, and when the wicked shall be cut off. There will

be, in the setting up of the kingdom of God, some manifestation of

his wrath against the powers that opposed it; or something that will

show his purpose to destroy his enemies, and to judge the wicked.

The representations in this book lead us to suppose that the final

establishment of the kingdom of God on the earth will be introduced

or accompanied by commotions and wars which will end in the overthrow

of the great powers that have opposed his reign, and by such awful

calamities in those portions of the world as shall show that God has

arisen in his strength to cut off his enemies, and to appear as the

vindicator of his people. Comp. Notes on ch. xvi. 12‒16; xix. 11‒26.

¶ _And the time of the dead, that they should be judged._ According to

the view which the course of the exposition thus far pursued leads us

to entertain of this book, there is reference here, in few words, to

the same thing which is more fully stated in ch. xx., and the meaning

of the sacred writer will, therefore, come up for a more distinct

and full examination when we consider that chapter. See Notes on

ch. xx. 4‒6, 12‒15. The purpose of the writer does not require that

a _detailed_ statement of the order of the events referred to should

be made here, for it would be better made when, after another line

of illustration and of symbol (ch. xi. 19, xii.‒xix.), he should have

reached the same catastrophe, and when, in view of both, the mind would

be prepared for the fuller description with which the book closes,

ch. xx.‒xxii. All that occurs here, therefore, is a very _general_

statement of the final consummation of all things. ¶ _And that thou

shouldest give reward unto thy servants._ The righteous. Comp. Mat.

xxv. 34‒40; Re. xxi., xxii. That is, in the final winding-up of human

affairs, God will bestow the long-promised reward on those who have

been his true friends. The wicked that annoyed and persecuted them will

annoy and persecute them no more; and the righteous will be publicly

acknowledged as the friends of God. For the _manner_ in which this will

be done, see the details in ch. xx.‒xxii. ¶ _The prophets._ All who,

in every age, have faithfully proclaimed the truth. On the meaning of

the word, see Notes on ch. x. 11. ¶ _And to the saints._ To all who

are holy――under whatever dispensation, and in whatever land, and at

whatever time, they may have lived. Then will be the time when, in a

public manner, they will be recognized as belonging to the kingdom of

God, and as being his true friends. ¶ _And them that fear thy name._

Another way of designating his people, since religion consists in

a profound veneration for God, Mal. iii. 16; Job i. 1; Ps. xv. 4;

xxii. 23; cxv. 11; Pr. i. 7; iii. 13; ix. 10; Is. xi. 2; Ac. x. 22, 35.

¶ _Small and great._ Young and old; low and high; poor and rich. The

language is designed to comprehend _all_, of every class, who have a

claim to be numbered among the friends of God, and it furnishes a plain

intimation that men of all classes will be found at last {298} among

his true people. One of the glories of the true religion is, that, in

bestowing its favours, it disregards all the artificial distinctions of

society, and addresses man as man, welcoming all who are human beings

to the blessings of life and salvation. This will be illustriously

shown in the last period of the world’s history, when the distinctions

of wealth, and rank, and blood shall lose the importance which has been

attributed to them, and when the honour of being a child of God shall

have its true place. Comp. Ga. iii. 28. ¶ _And shouldest destroy them

which destroy the earth._ That is, all who have, in their conquests,

spread desolation over the earth, and who have persecuted the righteous,

and all who have done injustice and wrong to any class of men. Comp.

Notes on ch. xx. 13‒15.

Here ends, as I suppose, the first series of visions referred to in the

volume sealed with the seven seals, ch. v. 1. At this point, where the

division of the chapter should have been made, and which is properly

marked in our common Bibles by the sign of the paragraph (¶), there

commences a new series of visions, intended also, but in a different

line, to extend down to the consummation of all things. The former

series traces the history down mainly through the series of _civil_

changes in the world, or the _outward_ affairs which affect the destiny

of the church; the latter――the portion still before us――embraces the

same period with a more direct reference to the rise of Antichrist, and

the influence of _that_ power in affecting the destiny of the church.

When that is completed (ch. xi. 19, xii.‒xix.), the way is prepared

(ch. xx.‒xxii.) for the more full statement of the final triumph of the

gospel, and the universal prevalence of religion, with which the book

so appropriately closes. That portion of the book, therefore, refers

to the same period as the one which has just been considered under the

sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the description of the final state

of things would have immediately succeeded if it had not been necessary,

by another series of visions, to trace more particularly the history

of Antichrist on the destiny of the church, and the way in which that

great and fearful power would be finally overcome. See the Analysis

of the Book, part V. The way is then prepared for the description

of the state of things which will exist when all the enemies of the

church shall be subdued; when Christianity shall triumph; and when the

predicted reign of God shall be set up on the earth, ch. xx.‒xxii.

CHAPTER XII.

ANALYSIS OF CH. XI. 19, XII.

This portion of the book commences, according to the view presented

in the closing remarks on the last chapter, a new series of visions,

designed more particularly to represent the internal condition of the

church; the rise of Antichrist, and the effect of the rise of that

formidable power on the internal history of the church to the time of

the overthrow of that power, and the triumphant establishment of the

kingdom of God. See the Analysis of the Book, part V. The portion

before us embraces the following particulars:――

(1) A new vision of the temple of God as opened in heaven, disclosing

the ark of the testimony, and attended with lightnings, and voices,

and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail, ch. xi. 19. The

view of the “_temple_,” and the “_ark_,” would naturally suggest a

reference to the church, and would be an appropriate representation on

the supposition that this vision related to the church. The attending

circumstances of the lightnings, &c., were well fitted to impress the

mind with awe, and to leave the conviction that great and momentous

events were about to be disclosed. I regard this verse, therefore,

which should have been separated from the eleventh chapter and attached

to the twelfth, as the introduction to a new series of visions, similar

to what we have in the introduction of the previous series, ch. iv. 1.

The vision was of the temple――the symbol of the church――and it was

“opened” so that John could see into its inmost part――even within the

veil where the ark was――and could have a view of what most intimately

pertained to it.

(2) A representation of the church, under the image of a woman about to

give birth to a child, ch. xii. 1, 2. A woman is seen, clothed, as it

were, with the sun――emblem of majesty, truth, intelligence, and glory;

she has the moon under her feet, as if she walked the heavens; she

has on her head a glittering diadem of stars; she is about to become

a mother. This seems to have been designed to represent the church

as about to be increased, and as in that {299} condition watched

by a dragon――a mighty foe――ready to destroy its offspring, and thus

compelled to flee into the wilderness for safety. Thus understood, the

point of time referred to would be when the church was in a prosperous

condition, and when it would be encountered by Antichrist, represented

here by the dragon, and compelled to flee into the wilderness; that

is, the church for a time would be driven into obscurity, and be almost

unknown. It is no uncommon thing, in the Scriptures, to compare the

church with a beautiful woman. See Notes on Isa. i. 8. The following

remarks of Professor Stuart (vol. ii. 252), though he _applies_ the

subject in a manner very different from what I shall, seem to me

accurately to express the general design of the symbol:――“The _daughter

of Zion_ is a common personification of the church in the Old Testament;

and in the writings of Paul, the same image is exhibited by the phrase,

_Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all_; _i.e._ of all Christians,

Ga. iv. 26. The main point before us is the illustration of that church,

ancient or later, under the image of a _woman_. If the Canticles are

to have a spiritual sense given to them, it is plain enough, of course,

how familiar such an idea was to the Jews. Whether the woman thus

exhibited as a symbol be represented as _bride_ or _mother_ depends,

of course, on the nature of the case, and the relations and exigencies

of any particular passage.”

(3) The dragon that stood ready to devour the child, ver. 3, 4.

This represents some formidable enemy of the church, that was ready

to persecute and destroy it. The real enemy here referred to is,

undoubtedly, Satan, the great enemy of God and the church, but here

it is Satan in the form of some fearful opponent of the church that

would arise at a period when the church was prosperous, and when it

was about to be enlarged. We are to look, therefore, for some fearful

_manifestation_ of this formidable power, having the characteristics

here referred to, or some opposition to the church such as we may

suppose Satan would originate, and by which the existence of the church

might seem to be endangered.

(4) The fact that the child which the woman brought forth was caught up

to heaven――symbolical of its real safety, and of its having the favour

of God――a pledge that the ultimate prosperity of the church was certain,

and that it was safe from real danger, ver. 5.

(5) The fleeing of the woman into the wilderness, for the space of

a thousand two hundred and threescore days, or 1260 years, ver. 6.

This act denotes the persecuted and obscure condition of the church

during that time, and the period which would elapse before it would be

delivered from this persecution, and restored to the place in the earth

which it was designed to have.

(6) The war in heaven; a struggle between the mighty powers of heaven

and the dragon, ver. 7‒9. Michael and his angels contend against the

dragon, in behalf of the church, and finally prevail. The dragon is

overcome, and is cast out, and all his angels with him; in other words,

the great enemy of God and his church is overcome and subdued. This is

evidently designed to be symbolical, and the meaning is, that a state

of things would exist in regard to the church, which would be well

represented by supposing that such a scene should occur in heaven; that

is, _as if_ a war should exist there between the great enemy of God and

the angels of light, and _as if_, being there vanquished, Satan should

be cast down to the earth, and should there exert his malignant power

in a warfare against the church. The general idea is, that his warfare

would be _primarily_ against heaven, as if he fought with the angels in

the very presence of God, but that the form in which he would _seem_ to

prevail would be against the church, _as if_, being unsuccessful in his

direct warfare against the angels of God, he was permitted, for a time,

to enjoy the appearance of triumph in contending with the church.

(7) The shout of victory in view of the conquest over the dragon, ver.

10‒12. A loud voice is heard in heaven, saying, that now the kingdom of

God is come, and that the reign of God would be set up, for the dragon

is cast down and overcome. The grand instrumentality in overcoming

this foe was “the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony;”

that is, the great doctrines of truth pertaining to the work of the

Redeemer would be employed for this purpose, and it is proclaimed that

the heavens and all that dwell therein had occasion to rejoice at the

certainty that a victory would be ultimately obtained over this great

enemy of God. Still, however, his influence was not wholly at an end,

{300} for he would yet rage for a brief period on the earth.

(8) The persecution of the woman, ver. 13‒15. She is constrained to

fly, as on wings given her for that purpose, into the wilderness, where

she is nourished for the time that the dragon is to exert his power――a

“time, times, and half a time”――or for 1260 years. The dragon in rage

pours out a flood of water, that he may cause her to be swept away by

the flood: referring to the persecutions that would exist while the

church was in the wilderness, and the efforts that would be made to

destroy it entirely.

(9) The earth helps the woman, ver. 16. That is, a state of things

would exist _as if_, in such a case, the earth should open and swallow

up the flood. The meaning is, that the church would not be swept away,

but that there would be an interposition in its behalf, _as if_ the

earth should, in the case supposed, open its bosom, and swallow up the

swelling waters.

(10) The dragon, still enraged, makes war with all that pertains to the

woman, ver. 17. Here we are told literally who are referred to by the

“seed” of the woman. They are those who “keep the commandments of God,

and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (ver. 17); that is, the true

church.

The chapter, therefore, may be regarded as a general vision of the

persecutions that would rage against the church. It seemed to be about

to increase and to spread over the world. Satan, always opposed to it,

strives to prevent its extension. The conflict is represented _as if_

in heaven, where war is waged between the celestial beings and Satan,

and where, being overcome, Satan is cast down to the earth, and

permitted to wage the war there. The church is persecuted; becomes

obscure and almost unknown, but still is mysteriously sustained; and

when most in danger of being wholly swallowed up, is kept _as if_ a

miracle were wrought in its defence. The _detail_――the particular form

in which the war would be waged――is drawn out in the following chapters.

19 And the [370]temple of God was opened in heaven, and there

was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there

were [371]lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an

[372]earthquake, and great hail.

Ch. xi. 19. _And the temple of God was opened in heaven._ The temple

of God at Jerusalem was a pattern of the heavenly one, or of heaven,

He. viii. 1‒5. In that temple God was supposed to reside by the visible

symbol of his presence――the Shekinah――in the holy of holies. See Notes

on He. ix. 7. Thus God dwells in heaven, as in a holy temple, of which

that on earth was the emblem. When it is said that that was “opened in

heaven,” the meaning is, that John was permitted, as it were, to look

_into_ heaven, the abode of God, and to see him in his glory. ¶ _And

there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament._ See Notes on

He. ix. 4. That is, the very interior of heaven was laid open, and John

was permitted to witness what was transacted in its obscurest recesses,

and what were its most hidden mysteries. It will be remembered, as an

illustration of the correctness of this view of the meaning of the

verse, and of its proper place in the divisions of the book――assigning

it as the opening verse of a new series of visions――that in the _first_

series of visions we have a statement remarkably similar to this,

ch. iv. 1: “After this I looked, and, behold, _a door was opened in

heaven_;” that is, there was, as it were, an _opening_ made into heaven,

so that John was permitted _to look in_ and see what was occurring

there. The same idea is expressed substantially here, by saying that

the very interior of the sacred temple where God resides was “opened

in heaven,” so that John was permitted to look in and see what was

transacted in his very presence. This, too, may go to confirm the idea

suggested in the Analysis of the Book, part V., that this portion of

the Apocalypse refers rather to the _internal_ affairs of the church,

or the church itself――for of this the _temple_ was the proper emblem.

Then appropriately follows the series of visions describing, as in the

former case, what was to occur in future times: this series referring

to the internal affairs of the church, as the former did mainly to

what would outwardly affect its form and condition. ¶ _And there were

lightnings_, &c. Symbolic of the awful presence of God, and of his

majesty and glory, as in the commencement of the first series of

visions. See Notes on ch. iv. 5. {301} The _similarity_ of the symbols

of the divine majesty in the two cases may also serve to confirm the

supposition that this is the beginning of a new series of visions.

¶ _And an earthquake._ Also a symbol of the divine majesty, and perhaps

of the great convulsions that were to occur under this series of

visions. Comp. Notes on ch. vi. 12. Thus, in the sublime description

of God in Ps. xviii. 7, “Then the earth shook and trembled, the

foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he

was wroth.” So in Ex. xix. 18, “And Mount Sinai was altogether on a

smoke――and the whole mount quaked greatly.” Comp. Am. viii. 8, 9; Joel

ii. 10. ¶ _And great hail._ Also an emblem of the presence and majesty

of God, perhaps with the accompanying idea that he would overwhelm and

punish his enemies. So in Ps. xviii. 13, “The Lord also thundered in

the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice: hailstones and coals of

fire.” So also Job xxxviii. 22, 23:――

“Hast thou entered into the treasures of snow?

Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail?

Which I have reserved against _the time of trouble_.

Against the day of _battle and war_?”

So in Ps. cv. 32:

“He gave them hail for rain,

And flaming fire in their land.”

Comp. Ps. lxxviii. 48; Is. xxx. 30; Eze. xxxviii. 22.

CHAPTER XII.

AND there appeared a great [373]wonder in heaven; a [374]woman

clothed with the [375]sun, and the moon under her feet, and

upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

Ch. xii. 1. _And there appeared a great wonder in heaven._ In that

heavenly world thus disclosed, in the very presence of God, he saw the

impressive and remarkable symbol which he proceeds to describe. The

word _wonder_――σημεῖον――properly means something extraordinary, or

miraculous, and is commonly rendered _sign_. See Mat. xii. 38, 39;

xvi. 1, 3, 4; xxiv. 3, 24, 30; xxvi. 48; Mar. viii. 11, 12; xiii. 4, 22;

xvi. 17, 20;――in all which, and in numerous other places in the New

Testament, it is rendered _sign_, and mostly in the sense of _miracle_.

When used in the sense of a miracle, it refers to the fact that the

miracle is a _sign_ or _token_ by which the divine power or purpose

is made known. Sometimes the word is used to denote _a sign of

future things_――a portent or presage of coming events; that is, some

remarkable appearances which foreshadow the future. Thus in Mat. xvi. 3:

“_signs of the times_;” that is, the miraculous events which foreshadow

the coming of the Messiah in his kingdom. So also in Mat. xxiv. 3, 30;

Mar. xiii. 4; Lu. xxi. 7, 11. This seems to be the meaning here, that

the woman who appeared in this remarkable manner was a portent or

token of what was to occur. ¶ _A woman clothed with the sun._ Bright,

splendid, glorious, _as if_ the sunbeams were her raiment. Comp. ch.

i. 16; x. 1; see also Ca. vi. 10――a passage which, very possibly, was

in the mind of the writer when he penned this description: “Who is she

that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun,

and terrible as an army with banners?” ¶ _And the moon under her feet._

The moon _seemed_ to be under her feet. She seemed as if she stood on

the moon, its pale light contrasted with the burning splendour of the

sun, heightening the beauty of the whole picture. The woman, beyond all

question, represents the church. See Notes on ver. 2. Is the splendour

of the sunlight designed to denote the brightness of the gospel? Is the

moon designed to represent the comparatively feeble light of the Jewish

dispensation? Is the fact that she stood upon the moon, or that it was

under her feet, designed to denote the superiority of the gospel to the

Jewish dispensation? Such a supposition gives much beauty to the symbol,

and is not foreign to the nature of symbolic language. ¶ _And upon her

head a crown of twelve stars._ A diadem in which there were placed

twelve stars. That is, there were twelve sparkling gems in the crown

which she wore. This would, of course, greatly increase the beauty of

the vision; and there can be no doubt that the number _twelve_ here

is significant. If the woman here is designed to symbolize the church,

then the number twelve has, in all probability, some allusion either to

the twelve tribes of Israel――as being a number which one who was born

and educated as a Jew would be likely to use (comp. Ja. i. 1), or to

the twelve apostles――an allusion which, it may be supposed, an apostle

would be more {302} likely to make. Comp. Mat. xix. 28; Re. xxi. 14.

2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and

pained to be delivered.

2. _And she being with child cried, travailing in birth_, &c. That is,

there would be something which would be properly represented by a woman

in such circumstances.

The question now is, what is referred to by this woman? And here

it need hardly be said that there has been, as in regard to almost

every other part of the book of Revelation, a great variety of

interpretations. It would be endless to undertake to examine them,

and would not be profitable if it could be done; and it is better,

therefore, and more in accordance with the design of these Notes, to

state briefly what seems to me to be the true interpretation. (1) The

woman is evidently designed to symbolize the church; and in this there

is a pretty general agreement among interpreters. The image, which is

a beautiful one, was very familiar to the Jewish prophets. See Notes on

Is. i. 8; xlvii. 1; comp. Eze. xvi. (2) But still the question arises,

_to what time_ this representation refers: whether to the church before

the birth of the Saviour, or after? According to the former of these

opinions, it is supposed to refer to the church as giving birth to the

Saviour, and the “man child” that is born (ver. 5) is supposed to refer

to Christ, who “sprang from the church”――κατὰ σάρκα――according to the

flesh (Professor Stuart, vol. ii. p. 252). The church, according to

this view, is not simply regarded as _Jewish_, but, in a more general

and theocratic sense, as _the people of God_. “From the Christian

church, considered as Christian, he could not spring; for this took its

rise only after the time of his public ministry. But from the bosom of

the _people of God_ the Saviour came. This church, _Judaical_ indeed

(at the time of his birth) in respect to rites and forms, but to become

_Christian_ after he had exercised his ministry in the midst of it,

might well be represented here by the woman which is described in ch.

xii.” (Professor Stuart). But to this view there are some, as it seems

to me, unanswerable objections. For, (a) there seems to be a harshness

and incongruity in representing the Saviour as _the Son of the church_,

or representing the church as giving birth to him. Such imagery is

not found elsewhere in the Bible, and is not in accordance with the

language which _is_ employed, where Christ is rather represented as the

_Husband_ of the church than the _Son_: “Prepared as a bride adorned

for her husband,” Re. xxi. 2. “I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s

wife,” Re. xxi. 9; comp. Is. liv. 5; lxi. 10; lxii. 5. (b) If this

interpretation be adopted, then this must refer to the _Jewish_ church,

and thus the woman will personify the Jewish community before the

birth of Christ. But this seems contrary to the whole design of the

Apocalypse, which has reference to the _Christian_ church, and not to

the ancient dispensation. (c) If this interpretation be adopted, then

the statement about the dwelling in the wilderness for a period of 1260

days or years (ver. 14) must be assigned to the Jewish community――a

supposition every way improbable and untenable. In what sense could

this be true? When did anything happen to the Jewish people that could,

with any show of probability, be regarded as the fulfilment of this?

(d) It may be added, that the statement about the “man child” (ver. 5)

is one that can with difficulty be reconciled to this supposition. In

what sense was this true, that the “man _child_” was “caught up unto

God, and to his throne?” The Saviour, indeed, ascended to heaven, but

it was not, as here represented, that he might be _protected_ from the

danger of being destroyed; and when he _did_ ascend, it was not as a

helpless and unprotected babe, but as a man in the full maturity of

his powers. The other opinion is, that the woman here refers to the

Christian church, and that the object is to represent that church as

about to be enlarged――represented by the condition of the woman, ver.

2. A beautiful woman appears, clothed with light――emblematic of the

brightness and purity of the church; with the moon under her feet――the

ancient and comparatively obscure dispensation now made subordinate and

humble; with a glittering diadem of twelve stars on her head――the stars

representing the usual well-known division of the people of God into

twelve parts――as the stars in the American flag denote the original

states of the Union; and in a condition (ver. 2) which showed that

the church was to be increased. The time there referred to is at the

{303} early period of the history of the church, when, as it were, it

first appears on the theatre of things, and going forth in its beauty

and majesty over the earth. John sees this church, as it was about

to spread in the world, exposed to a mighty and formidable enemy――a

hateful dragon――stationing itself to prevent its increase, and to

accomplish its destruction. From that impending danger it is protected

in a manner that would be well represented by the saving of the child

of the woman, and bearing it up to heaven, to a place of safety――an

act implying that, notwithstanding all dangers, the progress and

enlargement of the church was ultimately certain. In the meantime,

the woman herself flees into the wilderness――an act representing the

obscure, and humble, and persecuted state of the church――till the great

controversy is determined which is to have the ascendency――God or the

Dragon. In favour of this interpretation, the following considerations

may be suggested:――(a) It is the natural and obvious interpretation.

(b) If it be admitted that John _meant_ to describe what occurred in

the world at the time when the true church seemed to be about to extend

itself over the earth, and when that prosperity was checked by the rise

of the Papal power, the symbol employed would be strikingly expressive

and appropriate. (c) It accords with the language elsewhere used in the

Scriptures when referring to the _increase_ of the church. “Before she

travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered

of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? As soon as Zion travailed,

she brought forth her children,” Is. lxvi. 7, 8. “Sing, O barren, thou

that didst not bear; for more are the children of the desolate than

the children of the married wife, saith the Lord,” Is. liv. 1. “The

children which thou shalt have, after thou shalt have lost the other,

shall say again in thy ears, The place is too strait for me; give place

to me that I may dwell,” Is. xlix. 20. The comparison of the church

to a woman as the mother of children, is one that is very common in

the Scriptures. (d) The future destiny of the child and of the woman

agrees with this supposition. The child is caught up to heaven,

ver. 5――emblematic of the fact that God will protect the church, and

not suffer its increase to be cut off and destroyed; and the woman

is driven for 1260 years into the wilderness and nourished there,

ver. 14――emblematic of the long period of obscurity and persecution

in the true church, and yet of the fact that it would be protected and

nourished. The _design_ of the whole, therefore, I apprehend, is to

represent the peril of the church at the time when it was about to be

greatly enlarged, or in a season of prosperity, from the rise of a

formidable enemy that would stand ready to destroy it. I regard this,

therefore, as referring to the time of the rise of the Papacy, when,

_but_ for that formidable, corrupting, and destructive power, it might

have been hoped that the church would have spread all over the world.

In regard to the _rise_ of that power, see all that I have to say, or

can say, in the Notes on Da. vii. 24‒28.

3 And there appeared another wonder[376] in heaven; and behold

a [377]great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and

seven crowns upon his heads.

3. _And there appeared another wonder in heaven._ Represented as in

heaven. See Notes on ver. 1. That is, he saw this as occurring _at

the time_ when the church was thus about to increase. ¶ _And behold a

great red dragon._ The word rendered _dragon_――δράκων――occurs, in the

New Testament, only in the book of Revelation, where it is uniformly

rendered as here――_dragon_: ch. xii. 3, 4, 7, 9, 13, 16, 17; xiii. 2, 4,

11; xvi. 13; xx. 2. In all these places there is reference to the same

thing. The word properly means a large serpent; and the allusion in the

word commonly is to some serpent, perhaps such as the anaconda, that

resides in a desert or wilderness. See a full account of the ideas that

prevailed in ancient times respecting the dragon, in Bochart, _Hieroz._

lib. iii. cap. xiv., vol. ii. pp. 428‒440. There was much that was

fabulous respecting this monster, and many notions were attached to the

dragon which did not exist in reality, and which were ascribed to it by

the imagination at a time when natural history was little understood.

The characteristics ascribed to the dragon, according to Bochart,

are, that it was distinguished (a) for its vast size; (b) that it had

something like a beard or dew-lap; (c) that it had three rows of teeth;

(d) that its colour was black, {304} red, yellow, or ashy; (e) that

it had a wide mouth; (f) that in its breathing it not only drew in the

air, but also birds that were flying over it; and (g) that its hiss

was terrible. Occasionally, also, feet and wings were attributed to the

dragon, and sometimes a lofty crest. The dragon, according to Bochart,

was supposed to inhabit waste places and solitudes (comp. Notes on Is.

xiii. 22), and it became, therefore, an object of great terror. It is

probable that the original of this was a huge serpent, and that all the

other circumstances were added by the imagination. The prevailing ideas

in regard to it, however, should be borne in mind, in order to see

the force and propriety of the use of the word by John. Two special

characteristics are stated by John in the general description of the

dragon: one is, its _red colour_; the other, that it was _great_. In

regard to the former, as above mentioned, the dragon was supposed to

be black, red, yellow, or ashy. See the authorities referred to in

Bochart, _ut sup._, pp. 435, 436. There was doubtless a reason why

the one seen by John should be represented as _red_. As to the other

characteristic――_great_――the idea is that it was a huge monster, and

this would properly refer to some mighty, terrible power which would be

properly symbolized by such a monster. ¶ _Having seven heads._ It was

not unusual to attribute many heads to monsters, especially to fabulous

monsters, and these greatly increased the terror of the animal. “Thus

Cerberus usually has three heads assigned to him; but Hesiod (_Theog._

312) assigns him fifty, and Horace (Ode II. 13, 34) one hundred. So the

Hydra of the Lake Lerna, killed by Hercules, had fifty heads (Virg.

_Æn._ vi. 576); and in Kiddushim, fol. 29, 2, Rabbi Achse is said to

have seen a demon like a dragon with seven heads” (Professor Stuart,

_in loco_). The seven heads would somehow denote _power_, or seats of

power. Such a number of heads increase the terribleness, and, as it

were, the _vitality_ of the monster. What is here represented would be

_as_ terrible and formidable as such a monster; or such a monster would

appropriately represent what was designed to be symbolized here. The

number seven _may_ be used here “as a perfect number,” or merely to

heighten the terror of the image; but it is more natural to suppose

that there would be something in what is here represented which would

lay the foundation for the use of this number. There would be something

either in the _origin_ of the power; or in the union of various powers

now combined in the one represented by the dragon; or in the _seat_

of the power, which this would properly symbolize. Comp. Notes on Da.

vii. 6. ¶ _And ten horns._ Emblems of power, denoting that, in some

respects, there were _ten_ powers combined in this one. See Notes on

Da. vii. 7, 8, 20, 24. There can be little doubt that John had those

passages of Daniel in his eye, and perhaps as little that the reference

is to the same thing. The meaning is, that, in some respects, there

would be a tenfold origin or division of the power represented by the

dragon. ¶ _And seven crowns upon his heads._ Gr., _diadems_. See Notes

on ch. ix. 7. There is a reference here to some _kingly_ power, and

doubtless John had some kingdom or sovereignty in his eye that would be

properly symbolized in this manner. The method in which these heads and

horns were arranged on the dragon is not stated, and is not material.

All that is necessary in the explanation is, that there was _something_

in the power referred to that would be properly represented by the

seven heads, and _something_ by the ten horns.

In the application of this, it will be necessary to inquire what was

properly symbolized by these representations, and to refer again to

these particulars with this view.

(a) _The dragon._ This is explained in ver. 9 of this chapter: “And

the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and

Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.” So again, ch. xx. 2, “And he

laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil.” Comp.

Bochart, _Hieroz._ ii. pp. 439, 440. There can be no doubt, therefore,

that the reference here is to Satan, considered as the enemy of God,

and the enemy of the peace of man, and especially as giving origin and

form to some mighty power that would threaten the existence of the

church.

(b) _Great._ This will well describe the power of Satan as originating

the organizations that were engaged for so long a time in persecuting

the church, and endeavouring to destroy it. It was a work of vast

power, controlling kings and nations for ages, and could have been

accomplished only by one to whom the appellation here used could be

given.

{305} (c) _Red._ This, too, is an appellation properly applied here

to the dragon, or Satan, considered as the enemy of the church, and

as originating this persecuting power, either (1) because it well

represents the bloody persecutions that would ensue, or (2) because

this would be the favourite _colour_ by which this power would be

manifest. Comp. ch. xvii. 3, 4; xviii. 12, 16.

(d) _The seven heads._ There was, doubtless, as above remarked,

something significant in these heads, as referring to the power

designed to be represented. On the supposition that this refers to

Rome, or to the power of Satan as _manifested_ by Roman persecution,

there can be no difficulty in the application; and, indeed, it is such

an image as the writer would naturally use on the supposition that it

had such a designed reference. Rome was built, as is well known, on

seven hills (comp. Notes on ch. x. 3), and was called the seven-hilled

city (_Septicollis_), from having been originally built on seven hills,

though subsequently three hills were added, making the whole number

ten. See Eschenburg, _Manual of Classical Literature_, p. 1, § 53. Thus

Ovid:――

“Sed quæ de septem totum circumspicit orbem

Montibus, imperii Romæ Deûmque locus.”

Horace:――

“Dis quibus septem placuere colles.”

Propertius:――

“Septem urbs alta jugis, toti quæ præsidet orbi.”

Tertullian:――“I appeal to the citizens of Rome, the populace that

dwell on the seven hills” (Apol. 35). And again, Jerome to Marcella,

when urging her to quit Rome for Bethlehem: “Read what is said in the

Apocalypse of the seven hills,” &c. The situation of the city, if that

was destined to be represented by the dragon, would naturally suggest

the idea of the seven-headed monster. Comp. Notes on ch. xiii. The

explanation which is here given of the meaning of the “seven heads” is,

in fact, one that is given in the book of Revelation itself, and there

can be no danger of error in this part of the interpretation. See ch.

xvii. 9: “The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman

sitteth.” Comp. ver. 18.

(e) _The ten horns._ These were emblems of power, denoting that in

reference to that power there were, in some respects, _ten_ sources.

The same thing is referred to here which is in Da. vii. 7, 8, 20, 24.

See the Notes on Da. vii. 24, where this subject is fully considered.

The creature that John saw was indeed a _monster_, and we are not to

expect entire congruity in the details. It is sufficient that the main

idea is preserved, and that would be, if the reference was to Rome

considered as the place where the energy of Satan, as opposed to God

and the church, was centered.

(f) _The seven crowns._ This would merely denote that kingly or royal

authority was claimed.

Illustration: Roman Standard.

The _general_ interpretation which refers this vision to Rome may

receive confirmation from the fact that the _dragon_ was at one time

the Roman standard, as is represented by the annexed engraving from

Montfauçon. Ammianus Marcellinus (xvi. 10) thus describes this standard:

“The dragon was covered with purple cloth, and fastened to the end of a

pike gilt and adorned with precious stones. It opened its wide throat,

and the wind blew through it; and it hissed as if in a rage, with its

tail floating in several folds through the air.” He elsewhere often

gives it the epithet of _purpureus_――purple-red: _purpureum signum

draconis_, &c. With {306} this the description of Claudian well agrees

also:――

“Hi volucres tollent aquilas; hi picta draconum

Colla levant: multumque tumet per nubila serpens,

Iratus stimulante noto, vivitque receptis

Flatibus, et vario mentitur sibila flatu.”

The dragon was first used as an ensign near the close of the second

century of the Christian era, and it was not until the third century

that its use had become common; and the reference here, according to

this fact, would be to that period of the Roman power when this had

become a common standard, and when the applicability of this image

would be readily understood. It is simply _Rome_ that is referred

to――Rome, the great agent of accomplishing the purposes of Satan

towards the church. The _eagle_ was the common Roman ensign in the time

of the republic, and in the earlier periods of the empire; but in later

periods the dragon became also a standard as common and as well known

as the eagle. “In the third century it had become almost as notorious

among Roman ensigns as the _eagle_ itself; and is in the fourth century

noted by Prudentius, Vegetius, Chrysostom, Ammianus, &c.; in the fifth,

by Claudian and others” (Elliott).

4 And his [378]tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven,

and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before

the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her

child as soon as it was born.

4. _And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven._ The

word rendered _drew_――σύρω――means to _draw_, _drag_, _haul_. Professor

Stuart renders it “drew along;” and explains it as meaning that “the

danger is represented as being in the upper region of the air, so that

his tail may be supposed to interfere with and sweep down the stars,

which, as viewed by the ancients, were all set in the visible expanse

or welkin.” So Daniel (viii. 10), speaking of the little horn, says

that “it waxed great, even to the host of heaven, and it cast down some

of the host and of the stars to the ground.” See Notes on that passage.

The main idea here undoubtedly is that of _power_, and the object of

John is to show that the power of the dragon was _as if_ it extended

to the stars, and _as if_ it dragged down a third part of them to the

earth, or swept them away with its tail, leaving two-thirds unaffected.

A power that would sweep them _all_ away would be universal; a power

that would sweep away one-third only would represent a dominion of

that extent only. The dragon is represented as floating in the air――a

monster extended along the sky――and one-third of the whole expanse

was subject to his control. Suppose, then, that the dragon here was

designed to represent the Roman Pagan power; suppose that it referred

to that power about to engage in the work of persecution, and at a time

when the church was about to be greatly enlarged, and to fill the world;

suppose that it referred to a time when but one-third part of the Roman

world was subject to Pagan influence, and the remaining two-thirds were,

for some cause, safe from this influence,――all the conditions here

referred to would be fulfilled. Now it so happens that at a time when

the “dragon” had become a common standard in the Roman armies, and had

in some measure superseded the eagle, a state of things _did_ exist

which well corresponds with this representation. There were times under

the emperors when, in a considerable part of the empire, after the

establishment of Christianity, the church enjoyed protection, and the

Christian religion was tolerated, while in other parts Paganism still

prevailed, and waged a bitter warfare with the church. “Twice, at least,

before the Roman empire became divided permanently into the two parts,

the Eastern and the Western, there was a _tripartite_ division of

the empire. The first occurred A.D. 311, when it was divided between

Constantine, Licinius, and Maximin; the other A.D. 337, on the death of

Constantine, when it was divided between his three sons, Constantine,

Constans, and Constantius.” “In two-thirds of the empire, embracing its

whole European and African territory, Christians enjoyed toleration;

in the other, or Asiatic portion, they were still, after a brief and

uncertain respite, exposed to persecution, in all its bitterness and

cruelty as before” (Elliott). I do not deem it absolutely essential,

however, in order to a _fair_ exposition of this passage, that we

should {307} be able to refer to minute historical facts with names

and dates. A sufficient fulfilment is found if there was a period when

the church, bright, glorious, and prosperous, was apparently about to

become greatly enlarged, but when the monstrous Pagan power still held

its sway over a considerable part of the world, exposing the church to

persecution. Even after the establishment of the church in the empire,

and the favour shown to it by the Roman government, it was long before

the Pagan power ceased to rage, and before the church could be regarded

as safe. ¶ _And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be

delivered, for to devour her child._ To prevent the increase and spread

of the church in the world.

5 And [379]she brought forth a man child, [380]who was to rule

all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up

unto God, and _to_ his throne.