(M129) 1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the midst of the
street thereof(281). And on this side of the river and on that was the
tree(282) of life, bearing twelve _manner_ of fruits(283), yielding its
fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the
nations.
(M130) 3 And there shall be no curse(284) any more: and the throne of God
and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his servants(285) shall serve him; 4
and they shall see his face; and his name _shall be_ on their foreheads. 5
And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither
light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign
for ever and ever(286).
III The Epilogue
1 The Final Words of the Angel with the Promise of Christ
(M131) 6 And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and the
Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show unto
his servants the things which must shortly come to pass. 7 And behold, I
come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this
book.
(M132) 8 And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I
heard and saw, I fell down to worship(287) before the feet of the angel
that showed me these things. 9 And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I
am a fellow‐servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with
them that keep the words of this book: worship(288) God.
(M133) 10 And he saith unto me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of
this book; for the time is at hand. 11 He that is unrighteous, let him do
unrighteousness still(289): and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy
still: and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still: and he
that is holy, let him be made holy still.
(M134) 12 Behold, I come quickly; and my reward(290) is with me, to render
to each man according as his work is. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
first and the last, the beginning and the end. 14 Blessed are they that
wash their robes, that they may have the right(291) _to come_ to the tree
of life, and may enter in by the gates(292) into the city. 15 Without are
the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and
the idolators, and every one that loveth and maketh(293) a lie.
(M135) 16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things
for(294) the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the
bright, the morning star.
2 The Closing Testimony of John
(M136) 17 And(295) the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that
heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that
will, let him take the water of life freely.
(M137) 18 I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy
of this book, If any man shall add unto(296) them, God shall add unto him
the plagues which are written in this book: 19 and if any man shall take
away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his
part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are
written(297) in this book.
(M138) 20 He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen:
come, Lord Jesus.
3 The Author’s Benediction
(M139) 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus(298) be with the(299) saints. Amen.
ANALYSIS AND NOTES
The Book of Revelation bears the inherent marks of a thoroughly wrought
out and carefully finished literary production, showing evident traces of
design and arrangement throughout, which constitute a studied setting for
the remarkable series of visions that contain its chief message to the
church. Behind the outer form lies the deep experience of the author who
received a fresh revelation of divine truth. To him God spoke in strange
visions and in a marvellous way about the divine purpose concerning his
people and the great world of men: for couched though it is in the strange
figures of Apocalyptic, a method of religious thought belonging to that
time, it yet bears to the Christian mind indisputable marks of divine
inspiration. Moved by the visions which it records, John wrote to the
churches in Asia a message not only for them but for all believers in all
time; for its lessons lie not alone in the events of that age, but in the
wider and permanent relations of the church and the world throughout the
centuries, and they appeal to us with new force as the varying conditions
continue to change with the revolving years. The lessons of the book are
for us in our day no less than they have been for others in the past, and
as they will be for still others in the advancing future; and though these
lessons are not always easy to grasp or lightly to be understood, they are
yet eminently worthy of our attentive study and patient consideration. The
synthetic analysis which is here given, attempts to set forth the main
thought of the Revelation as it has been interpreted by many eminent
commentators, and it is presented in as concise a form as is consistent
with clearness for the benefit of the general reader, for the chief
purpose of the present work is to make plain the symbolic view as it has
taken form in the mind of the writer. No extended discussion of the more
difficult portions of the book has been attempted, for a satisfactory
conclusion is more often reached by careful thought than by elaborate
argument, though it has seemed best to reinforce the view presented by
constant reference to well‐known authorities, and also to provide a brief
comparison of different opinions on the main points of disagreement for
those who desire further study.
The book is found upon examination to consist of three principal parts,
which are those common to every finished composition, viz:—
I THE PROLOGUE, OR INTRODUCTION, Ch. 1:1‐3:23;
II THE MAIN APOCALYPSE, OR REVELATION PROPER, Ch. 4:1‐22:5; and
III THE EPILOGUE, OR CONCLUSION, Ch. 22:6‐21.
This division is one generally accepted by those who have studied the
book, for it is to most minds both natural and obvious, though some make
the Introduction end with the first chapter, and include the Epistles to
the Churches in the second part. As these, however, are not so markedly
Apocalyptic in form as the chapters that follow, and do not enter into the
chief message of the book, but rather serve to prepare the way for it,
they are more properly regarded as part of the Introduction.
I The Prologue, Ch. 1:1‐3:22
The introductory and epistolary portions of the book which occupy the
first three chapters, consist of four parts, viz. the superscription, the
salutation, a vision of the exalted Redeemer, and messages to the seven
churches in Asia. These give the source and authority of the Revelation,
convey a greeting to the seven churches that are named, set forth the
present activity of Christ in his redemptive work with the certainty of
his personal return, and then present particular messages to each of the
churches in Asia, which through their general condition afford a
perspective view of the continuous and varied experience of the whole
church in the process of redemption. These preliminary parts of the book,
also, serve to introduce the great theme which is to occupy the subsequent
revelation, viz. Christ and the Church through Time to Eternity. The style
is at once that of Apocalyptic, though the form is less characteristic in
the second and third chapters than in the first and subsequent ones; the
literary construction is marked by obvious and sustained artistic skill;
and the subject‐matter shows a profound inner connection of thought with
the visions that follow, affording a clear indication of the unity of the
whole work that should not be overlooked in our study of the book.(300)
1 The Superscription, Ch. 1:1‐3
In the superscription the book is described, its history and contents are
given (v. 1‐2), and a blessing is pronounced (v. 3) upon those who read
it, i. e. aloud before the congregation (ἀναγινώσκων), and those who hear
and keep the things written therein, an indication that they were expected
to be understood. This blessing is the first of seven beatitudes found in
the book (see App’x C), and serves to show that the office of public
reader in the primitive church was established in the first century,
evidently because of a general lack of education among the early converts.
The book is declared to be the Revelation or Apocalypse of things about to
happen,—not a revelation which has Jesus Christ for its subject,(301) but
“the things which must shortly come to pass”, a phrase that is best
interpreted as a prophetic formula for the uncertain future which is
always near with God (cf. Lu. 18:8), and not to be taken in the stricter
sense of limiting the prophecy to the immediate future,(302)—to have been
given of God (v. 1), and to have been made of, i. e. through or by, Jesus
Christ as the communicating witness,(303) to have been sent by the
instrument of an angel, and to have been testified to by John, who
witnessed concerning the word of God and the testimony of Jesus
Christ(304) which he received through the visions that are herein
recorded. These introductory verses (v. 1‐3) are usually regarded as an
integral part of the book, though they are thought by some to have been
added afterward as an introduction and authorization by the church,
probably by the elders at Ephesus.(305)
2 The Salutation, Ch. 1:4‐8
The salutation is an address and greeting of grace and peace to the seven
churches in Asia from John, in the name of each person of the triune God,
viz:—(1) in the name of the Father, who is designated as “him who is and
who was and who is to come”,(306) i. e. whose existence is alike present,
past, and future, the Eternal One, and expansion of the sacred name
Jehovah, the I AM, or the I WILL BE, of Hebrew historic faith (cf. Ex.
3:14, Am. R. V., marg.); (2) in the name of the Holy Spirit, who is
typified by “the seven Spirits that are before his throne” as being seven‐
fold in his operation, i. e. complete and perfect (cf. Isa. 11:2);(307)
and (3) in the name of Jesus Christ, who is presented as “the faithful
witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the
earth”, whose redemptive work is declared in a doxology of praise (v. 5b
and 6) which is rendered unto him as the one “that loveth us, and washed
us from our sins in his own blood”,(308) and whose coming again is notably
heralded—a pivotal thought throughout the book.(309) The descriptive
phrase “the firstborn of the dead” is an evident recognition of Christ as
the first to conquer death by resurrection. The closing part of the
salutation (v. 7‐8) is exclamatory and parenthetical, and forms a kind of
prelude to all that follows, affirming the certainty of the second advent
as if already present, and introducing at this point the divine witness,
which is generally attributed to Christ who speaks as God, affirming
himself to be the source and end of all things, the Eternal and All‐Ruler,
whose word stands as surety for the fulfilment of the visions. The fact of
God as All‐Ruler (Παντοκράτωρ, “the Almighty”),(310) and the realization
of that fact in history, “constitutes the deep undertone which pervades
every part of the Apocalypse, and rises here and there into its loftiest
strains”. Terms like this, never applied to any but God in the Old
Testament, and well understood as belonging only to the Divine Being, are
freely used of Christ in the Revelation, showing how fully his divine
nature was realized in that stage of the church’s experience. The
connection of the eighth verse may properly be considered as the answering
voice of Christ to the cry of John in the seventh, “Behold he cometh”!
3 The Introductory Vision (The Glorified Son of Man), Ch. 1:9‐20
This vision presents a transcendent Christophany, unfolding the source of
the Revelation, and introductory to all that follows throughout the book;
a view of the glorified Son of Man in his exalted relation to the church
as King‐Priest, manifesting his dignity and authority in bold and striking
imagery through a seven‐fold vision.
(1) The Trumpet Voice, Ch. 1:9‐11
A great voice is heard, making a special revelation to John as he partook
with the saints in the tribulation of Jesus(311) in the isle of Patmos,
off the coast of Asia Minor,(312) where he was banished for the word of
God and the testimony of Jesus, when he was in the Spirit, i. e. in the
ecstatic state peculiar to the prophets, on the Lord’s day;(313) speaking
behind him, i. e. while the speaker was yet unseen, in a voice as of a
trumpet, commanding him to write the things which he saw in a book (v.
11), and to send it to the seven churches which are then named, the chief
churches in Asia, to whom the message of the Revelation is addressed as
the typical representatives of all the churches throughout the world. The
human name Jesus is here found twice in one verse (v. 9), and occurs in
the Revelation nine (or ten) times, whereas it is seldom used by Paul and
never by Peter in the Epistles. This seems to point toward the Johannine
authorship, for the name that belonged to the earthly life of our Lord was
not likely to be used by one who had not known Jesus in familiar
fellowship.(314)
(2) The Triumphant Son of Man, Ch. 1:12‐13a
The divine Savior at this point appears in the vision as “one like unto a
son of man”, i. e. human though transfigured, standing in the midst of
seven golden candlesticks, or lampstands, which represent in symbol the
seven churches of Asia bearing light on the earth, and in a wider sense
the whole church in its completeness witnessing for the truth, for seven
is the number of universality—a scene recalling the temple, and indicating
Christ’s triumphant and continual presence in the midst of his
people.(315)
(3) The Gracious Apparel, Ch. 1:13b
The Divine One is clothed with a garment down to the foot, the mark of
dignity, and is girded about with a golden girdle at the breasts as for
reigning or priestly intercession, not about the loins as for toil or
conflict, indicating the nature of Christ’s present and continuous work on
behalf of his church.
(4) The Glorious Appearance, Ch. 1:14‐15, and 16c
The revealed Son of Man is majestic in form and mien, and wondrous in
appearance, like the Ancient of Days in Daniel’s vision (Dan. 7.9f), his
head and hair like wool in purity and majesty, his eyes penetrating and
enkindling as a flame of fire, his feet awe‐striking and destructive like
molten brass glowing in a furnace, his voice sounding like the roar of
cataracts, and his countenance like to the unclouded sun—symbols all of
these of his exalted state, and perhaps intended to present a reminiscence
of the transfiguration. The Greek word Χαλκολίβανος (v. 15), translated
“burnished brass” by the Revisers, is of unknown origin, and occurs only
here and in ch. 2:18. It is thought to have been a technical term in local
use among the metal workers of Ephesus, and to apply to some alloy of
copper or brass.(316) The literal interpretation of the word is “incense‐
brass”, which suggests a metal used for making utensils in which to burn
incense, evidently precious, and having a glow in the furnace, or like a
furnace.
(5) The Seven Stars, Ch. 1:16a
The Glorious One has in his right hand seven stars, which, we are told (v.
20), are the angels, or heavenly representatives of the seven churches, i.
e. Christ holds the churches in his right hand, for the stars and the
angels are declared to be identical.(317) It will be seen that the seven
angels, which stand as the ideal representatives of the churches
throughout the first part of the Revelation, are here presented under
another symbol, as seven stars which are upheld in the hand of Christ
“like a chain of glittering jewels”, thereby showing his sustaining care
of the churches. The angels of the churches that are symbolized by the
stars, are not to be regarded as true angelic beings any more than the
stars are real stars, but are the churches themselves personified by
angelic forms after the manner of the Apocalyptic. The figure is not
properly applicable to the bishops, pastors, or leaders of the churches,
though often so interpreted, for these are leaders upon earth, whereas the
angels like the stars belong in heaven.(318)
(6) The Two‐Edged Sword, Ch. 1:16b
Out of the mouth of the Conquering Christ proceeds a sharp two‐edged
sword,(319) the emblem of the Word of God in its penetrating power (cf.
Eph. 6:17b, and Heb. 4:12) which is designed both to reprove and punish,
and which serves to show that the divine Christ speaks with supreme
authority.
(7) The Assuring Message, Ch. 1:17‐20
The Gracious Savior reassures John, who fell at his feet as one who was
dead, both by his touch and by his words as of old on the holy mount (Mat.
17:7); declaring that he, the Son of Man, is the first cause, and final
arbiter of destiny, the ever living one though once dead; affirming that
he has the keys of death and of Hades,(320) i. e. through his own
resurrection has forever gained the power over death, holding the key of
its control, and has also the key of Hades, the invisible spirit‐world,
which is commonly associated with death in the New Testament as the
general habitation of the dead during the intermediate state (not “hell”,
as in the Authorized Version); and reaffirming the command to John to
write therefore the things which he saw in a book, viz. “the things which
are”, i. e. which now exist, looked at from the divine point of view as
beheld in the vision, and “the things which shall come to pass hereafter”,
i. e. which shall be made manifest in history, those things that belong to
the mystery(321) of the seven stars and the seven golden candlesticks, or
to the mysterious and hidden future of the church of Christ in the world
which the seven churches represent in its ideal unity.
The change of symbols in this vision is apt to be confusing unless we
catch the distinctive meaning of each. Three different symbols are here
used to represent the churches, each presenting a different point of view,
viz:—(1) the angels, who represent the churches in their individual and
organic life, engaged in active service for God; (2) the stars, which
represent the churches in their relation to Christ, receiving and
reflecting light from him and upheld by his hand; and (3) the
candlesticks, which represent the churches in their relation to the world,
bearing light to men upon the earth. If these distinctions are kept in
mind the interpretation will be greatly simplified. At this point it may
also be well to note that the view which regards the visions in the
Revelation as purely literary in origin, fails to satisfy the
circumstantial account of John. On the contrary we find it is more in
accord with the spirit of the record to regard them not as literary
inventions in which the message is clothed, but as true visions divinely
given which were, nevertheless, essentially adapted to and conditioned by
the previous mental training and habits of the writer—the product of an
ethical and not a magical inspiration. In fact the reality of the visions
is in some sense coming now to be recognized upon psychological grounds as
the natural view.(322) And it should also be seen that the studied
literary setting of the visions, indicating arrangement and design upon
the part of the seer in his record of them, does not militate against the
view that the visions were real and the experience recorded an actual one.
But, “even were the supposition correct that the seer had only certain
truths divinely impressed upon his mind, which his poetic fancy led him to
clothe in the shapes before us, it would in no degree modify either the
extent of his inspiration or the value of his teaching”.(323)
4 The Seven Epistles, Ch. 2:1‐3:22
The seven epistles are Christ’s messages of encouragement and warning, of
praise and blame, which were given to John in vision, and which are
addressed to the seven churches of proconsular Asia,(324) the scene of
John’s later ministry, and through them to the church at large, for each
epistle contains not only a message to the particular church, but “what
the Spirit saith to [all] the churches”. The form of epistles or letters
in an apocalypse was foreign to the Jewish method of writing, but was
doubtless introduced by John because the use of such letters or epistles
had already become established in the church as a characteristic
expression of the Christian mind.(325) These seven churches were not the
only ones then existing in Asia,(326) but were evidently chosen to
represent them all, and were intended through their individual experience
“to exemplify the experience of the whole church in the field of history”;
not, however, in numerically successive and historic stages, but the
general experience of the church universal throughout all time, for seven
is the symbol of universality, and the seven churches are here intended to
symbolize the universal church. Each of the seven churches named occupied
a strategic point of special opportunity for gospel dispersion, and they
were doubtless addressed for that reason, though the message imparted was
divinely intended for the whole church in all the ages. The number seven
occurs so often in the Revelation that it necessarily attracts our
attention, and the book itself has not inaptly been styled “the Book of
Sevens”. In each case, too, as here, the number has a symbolic reference,
a fact that should not escape our observation, for it points the way to a
general principle of interpretation, viz. that _every number used
throughout the book, without exception, has an acquired symbolical
meaning_,(327) i. e. its ordinary arithmetical value is ignored, or
becomes subordinate, and it represents a different idea that has in some
way become associated with it as a number; and this important
consideration often furnishes a key to the correct interpretation. The
origin of this symbolism is very early, antedating history—seven, for
example, was a sacred number with the Accadian predecessors of the Semites
in the remote dawn of Babylonian civilization.(328) This use probably had
its rise from observations of the heavenly bodies, such as the phases of
the moon lasting seven days, the seven planets of ancient astronomy, and
the Pleiades, together with the occurrence of seven as a factor in
gestation and in other well known phenomena, all of which served to
impress upon the Eastern mind that the number was somehow inwrought in the
order of nature and must therefore have a special significance. In a
similar way the number ten probably had its origin as a symbol in the fact
that it represented the complete number of digits on a man’s hands, and
formed the norm of mathematical reckoning. Other numbers, also, from some
real or fancied relation to things, became ready symbols for the Oriental
mind. In the Apocalypse numbers are often introduced first in their
ordinary significance, as the seven churches, and then pass easily and
naturally to their symbolic meaning which is usually apparent. But it
should be seen that a number does not thereby cease to have a quantitative
value when it becomes symbolical, e. g. the seven churches represent a
number still, though it is the number of all the churches, the whole
church, and not seven units as before. It is the definite numerical value
only that is lost in the symbolism, and not the entire idea of number or
quantity; and the failure to recognize this fact may lead us astray in the
interpretation, as for instance, in that of the thousand years in chapter
twenty, where a great and complete number of years seems to be meant, and
not the completeness of Satan’s binding apart from any period of time, as
held by some commentators.(329)
Each epistle is addressed to the angel of the individual church which is
named, i. e. to its heavenly representative, the church personified in the
form of an angel according to the prevailing symbolism of the book, a
poetic form of addressing the church itself; and the message is given by
authority of Christ himself,(330) who is described in veiled terms that
are drawn mainly from the imagery of the preceding vision, where the
exalted Redeemer is so vividly set forth; and the terms are aptly chosen
to suit the particular needs of the church to which it is sent. It has
been suggested, also, that these epistles to the churches contain numerous
historical allusions to events connected with the cities in which the
churches were located, as for example Sardis, whose fortress had been
twice captured while its people slept, is exhorted to be watchful.(331)
The epistles are addressed first to the individual and historic churches
named, and then through them are addressed to the whole church throughout
the world, of which the number seven is representative. Each of the
epistles contains seven component parts, viz:—(1) the address to the
individual church, i. e. to the angel of the church who represents the
church itself; (2) the command of Christ to the seer to write; (3) the
title of Christ, usually taken from the vision of the glorified Redeemer
in the opening chapter; (4) the praise or blame for good or ill, given to
the church for the conduct of the past; (5) the divine charge or warning
against special forms of sin; (6) the promise of blessing to the victors;
and (7) the call to each individual Christian to hear and heed. The order
in which the churches are addressed is that of a geographical circuit
beginning at Ephesus, the first city of Asia, and going northward, which
seems also to have been the order of their importance from the chief city
downward. The literary form of this section may be regarded as a
reflection or echo of the manner of the opening part of the rhapsody of
Amos where recurrent formulæ of doom on seven nations are given (Amos ch.
1‐2).(332)
(1) The Epistle to the Church in Ephesus, Ch. 2:1‐7
The epistle to the church in Ephesus is Christ’s message to a _declining_
church, a church which had left its first love:—“Remember ... and repent”.
In this epistle Christ is “he that walketh in the midst of the seven
golden candlesticks”, and “he that holdeth the seven stars in his right
hand”, i. e. he who is continually present among the churches, and who
upholds them by his power. The candlesticks are objective representations
of the seven churches bearing light upon the earth, as in the prophecy of
Zechariah (ch. 4:1‐10) a seven‐branched candlestick stands for the Jewish
nation as the representative of the kingdom of God; while the seven stars,
the counterpart of the candlesticks, represent the churches held in the
hand of Christ shining in heaven. In this symbolism it will be seen that
the stars represent the churches in their relation to Christ, while the
candlesticks are intended to exhibit their relation to the world. To move
the “candlestick out of its place” is a threatening of extinction to the
particular church unless it repent. Those “who call themselves apostles
and they are not”, were probably well known pretenders of the closing part
of the first century. The Nicolaitans here condemned, were an early
obscure sect concerning which little is known, but who are reputed to have
been libertines and seem to have denied the obligation of the moral law.
The epistle is declared to contain, as we find the other epistles are
also, “what the Spirit saith to the churches”, a clear indication of a
wider message than to the individual community of the separate
church.(333) “To eat of the tree of life” as the reward of overcoming, is
a reference to the story of Eden (Gen. 3:22), and then by anticipation to
the joys of the New Jerusalem which are the inheritance of the redeemed
soul (cf. ch. 22:2; and _Bk. of Enoch_, 25:4‐5). Paradise, a word rarely
used in the New Testament and probably of Persian origin, is here employed
to describe the future abiding place of the redeemed.(334) The church of
Ephesus, to which this epistle is addressed, is the chief of the seven
churches to whom John was instructed to write, though it has long since
ceased to exist. The city of Ephesus, which was some sixty miles northeast
of Patmos and was then a large and wealthy metropolis, has experienced
more vicissitudes in its history than any other city of the Roman province
of Asia. At that time it ranked first among all the cities of the
province, and shortly after it became the capital; but it subsequently
fell into decay, and it is now only a squalid heap of ruins.
(2) The Epistle to the Church in Smyrna, Ch. 2:8‐11
The epistle to the church in Smyrna is Christ’s message to a _suffering_
church, a church which had endured tribulation, poverty, and the blasphemy
of the Jews:—“Fear not.... Be thou faithful”. Christ is here described as
“the first and the last, who was dead and lived again”, a thought of
special consolation for those who were about to be cast into prison in the
coming persecution, and many of whom would suffer death—like Christ they
would live again. There is, also, a possible allusion in this to the
popular myth concerning the death and resurrection of Dionysius, the
favorite deity of Smyrna,(335) with which the death and resurrection of
Christ, the notable facts of the gospel, are placed in marked contrast.
The recognized poverty of the church in such a rich city is remarkable,
and it has been suggested that it may have been partly at least the result
of pillage by a mob;(336) though more likely the feeling against the
gospel in the midst of wealth like that of Smyrna was so strong as to make
its message unacceptable to any but the very poor. It will be seen that
the church receives no blame in this epistle, but only counsel and
encouragement. The ten days of tribulation represent a period that is
short but complete in itself, i. e. it has a fixed limit, for ten is the
number of completeness. The crown of life promised to the victors is not
the royal diadem but the victor’s crown, which is the symbol of life
eternal, and is the antithesis of the second death, i. e. of the soul in
hell (cf. ch. 20:14; and 21:8). John may have here had in mind the crown
often laid upon the head of the dead body of an earthly victor in his
funeral procession—a crown of death with which the crown of life is placed
in apposition. The second death by which “he that overcometh shall not be
hurt”, is the death of the soul—not ceasing to be, but dying to the best
in life—the final condemnation which sinners undergo at the judgment.
Smyrna is located some forty miles north, and somewhat west, of Ephesus,
and was one of the most wealthy, important, and beautiful cities of Asia
Minor. It has an unbroken record from the dawn of history to the present
day, and now has a population of some two hundred and fifty thousand, and
is both rich and prosperous.
(3) The Epistle to the Church in Pergamus(337), Ch. 2:12‐17
The epistle to the church in Pergamus is Christ’s message to an _impure_
church, a church which had some that held the teaching of Balaam, and
others the teaching of the Nicolaitans:—“Repent ... or else I come with
the sword”. To this church Christ is “he that hath the sharp two‐edged
sword”, i. e. who wields the instrument of rebuke and punishment. The
location of Satan’s throne in Pergamus denotes that the city was under his
dominion, and may refer to the newly introduced worship of the Emperor in
which that city was recognized as an important center;(338) while the
death of Antipas, an otherwise unknown martyr, called “my witness, my
faithful one”, and also the presence of those holding the teaching of
Balaam,(339) the symbolic name for a doctrine akin to the Nicolaitans,
serve to show that it was truly a place “where Satan dwelleth”. The
aptness of the name lies in the similarity of Balaam’s method of seducing
the Israelites by licentiousness, and that of the false teachers who were
introducing Antinomianism (cf. Num. 25:1‐2; and 31:16). The hidden manna
represents the true bread of life, and is doubtless an allusion to the pot
of manna laid up before the Lord in the hidden recesses of the holy place
in the tabernacle (Ex. 16:33f.). There may also be a reference to the
Jewish tradition that Jeremiah had hidden the ark with its contents in a
cave of Sinai until the advent of the Messiah (_II Macc._ 2.1), when it
was be restored. The white stone is probably the jade, which has been held
in high esteem in the East from the earliest times,(340) although some
think it refers to the diamond. White stands as the emblem of purity, but
the exact symbolism of the stone in this connection is obscure, though
clear enough to the first readers of the epistle. The figure may possibly
have been drawn from the Jewish sacred use of precious stones, especially
of the mysterious Urim and Thummim kept in the pouch of the breastplate of
the high priest, which according to Jewish tradition were inscribed with a
name known only to the priest himself.(341) The gift would then imply the
conferring of high‐priestly privileges on those who overcome. Some,
however, find in it a reference to the white pebble of acquittal used in
courts of justice, or in casting the lot; others a reference to the
_tessera_, or ticket, which admitted the victor in the Olympic games to
the public tables, and entitled him to the awards of his city; still
others a reference to the common use of amulets and charms with a secret
name or pass‐word on them, in that case the white stone conferring the
real power which the charm was assumed to have.(342) But more probably the
reference is to a stone engraved as a seal, with the name of Christ upon
it, the gift of which like the signet of a king (Gen. 41:42 and Est.
8:2f.) is regarded as bestowing something of the royal authority of Christ
upon the recipient. Precious stones of different shapes were commonly used
for seals, and were often unmounted and hung by a cord about the neck; and
the name of the owner and of the deity whom he specially worshipped were
engraved upon them.(343) Every man of rank and wealth in the East from
time immemorial had his own seal; and among the Babylonians so constant
and imperative were its uses that it was generally placed with his body in
his coffin.(344) In all these interpretations the gift carries with it
special privilege or advantage, though the chief virtue of the stone
apparently lies in the name written upon it. The “new name” is not
probably a new designation for the believer, but the new name of Christ
(ch. 3:12) which is expressive of the new and more perfect revelation of
him in heaven that only the redeemed can know (ch. 14:1). Many, however,
regard the new name as the heavenly name of the individual Christian,(345)
and this would be quite as appropriate for a seal as the name of Christ.
Pergamus was about a hundred miles north of Ephesus, and less than fifteen
from the sea. It was at that time the official capital of the Province of
Asia, and the seat of official authority. It ranked with Ephesus and
Smyrna as one of the great cities of proconsular Asia, and though it is
now chiefly “a city of magnificent ruins”, it still continues to exist
under the name of Bergama at the present day.
(4) The Epistle to the Church in Thyatira, Ch. 2:18‐29
The epistle to the church in Thyatira is Christ’s message to a
_struggling_ church, a church which had shown love and faith, ministry and
patience:—“Hold fast till I come”. Christ is called “the Son of God, who
hath his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like unto burnished
[or molten] brass”, i. e. he who is divine, and whose all‐searching sight
and destroying footstep will surely recompense the evil (cf. Dan. 10:6).
It is interesting to note that the title “Son of God” which is here used
is not found elsewhere in the book, though the divine personality of
Christ is so evident throughout. Jezebel, the self‐styled prophetess that
the church had tolerated, but who with her children is about to be
punished with death, is probably the symbolic name of a class or leader in
the church, seducing it to sin.(346) The angel of the church is regarded
as the weak Ahab who allows himself to be the tool of this new
Jezebel.(347) “The deep things of Satan” designate the mysteries of the
false doctrine here condemned.(348) “The morning star” to be given to
those who overcome,(349) is such a revelation of Christ himself (ch.
22:16b) made to the redeemed when the night of earth is over as will usher
in the morning of eternal day—the beginning of the future and ever
progressive revelation of God. The titles applied to Christ in this
epistle, “Son of God”, and “morning star”, have suggested a possible
contrast in thought with Apollo, the sun‐god worshipped at Thyatira,
though such an allusion is quite uncertain. The epistle to this church is
the central one of the seven, and is the longest as well as in some
respects the most solemn of all the epistles. Thyatira lay about forty
miles southeast from Pergamus, and was an important and wealthy city in
the northern part of Lydia, though it never became a leading city of Asia.
The modern name of the town is Ak‐Hissar, “the white castle”.
(5) The Epistle to the Church in Sardis, Ch. 3:1‐6
The epistle to the church in Sardis is Christ’s message to a _dying_
church, a church which had a name as living and yet in a sense was
dead:—“Establish the things that remain”. Christ is designated as “he that
hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars”, i. e. he that hath
the Holy Spirit, whom the seven Spirits represent in his sevenfold or
multiple activity, and—as seems to be implied by connecting the seven
Spirits with the seven stars or angels of the churches—imparts the Spirit
to the churches, upon which their life so fully depends. This church
receives only rebuke, but the rebuke given is for lack of spiritual life
rather than for any special form of sin. It is declared to have no works
fulfilled before God—“before my God”, a Johannean phrase—and is exhorted
to “remember ... and repent”, for Christ “will come as a thief”;(350) but
the “few names [or persons] in Sardis that did not defile their garments”
are promised that they shall walk with Christ “in white”. The white
garments here promised to the victors are emblems of the perfect purity
and heavenly state of the glorified (cf. _Bk. of Enoch_, 90:31);(351)
while to blot one’s name out of the book of life,(352) a fate from which
those who overcome are declared to be exempt, is to cease to have any part
in the life eternal—a figure drawn from the custom of striking out the
names of the dead from the list of citizens. Not only shall the name of
him that overcometh be found in the register of the living, but it shall
also be acknowledged before God and the angels. The command to “Watch” was
a fitting exhortation for a city that was a well‐nigh impregnable
fortress, and yet had twice been seized by its enemies because of neglect
within its walls.(353) The exhortation to “hear what the Spirit saith to
the churches”, in the last four of the epistles, it will be seen, follows
instead of precedes the promise to the victors. This does not, however,
imply that a distinction is thereby intended between the churches,
dividing them into two groups, the first consisting of three and the
second of four, the former faithful and the latter faithless, a view held
by some.(354) The difference is conceded to be chiefly one of “tone ...
which it is easier to feel than to describe”,(355) and it must be said
that for most minds it does not exist. The church in Philadelphia, among
the last four, is a steadfast church, while the church at Pergamus, among
the first three, is an impure church in the view of many careful
interpreters; and Ephesus has evidently gone back, while Thyatira has gone
forward. The city of Sardis, to which this letter was addressed, lay about
thirty miles south‐east of Thyatira, and was anciently one of the most
famous cities of Asia; but even in John’s time it was “a town of the past
... decayed from its former estate ... and it is now only a ruin, with a
tiny village called Sart, while the town is Saliki, about five miles
east”.(356)
(6) The Epistle to the Church in Philadelphia, Ch. 3:7‐13
The epistle to the church in Philadelphia is Christ’s message to a
_steadfast_ church, a church which had kept his word and had not denied
his name:—“Hold fast ... that no one take thy crown”. Christ is set forth
as “he that is holy, he that is true”, i. e. he who possesses these
attributes which are recognized as divine; and “he that hath the key of
David”, i. e. he who has full control in the kingdom of God, of which the
kingdom of David was the enduring type (cf. Isa. 22:22), he who grants or
withholds according to his will. These titles of Christ, it will be seen,
are not taken from the introductory vision, like most of those in the
seven epistles, but from the Old Testament, probably, as has been
suggested, because of the number of Jewish Christians in the Philadelphian
church. The “door opened” is one of opportunity for service afforded by
the position of Philadelphia on the borders of Mysia, Lydia, and
Phrygia.(357) Those “that say they are Jews and they are not”, are men
untrue to their Judaism in rejecting the promised Messiah; for to John’s
mind it was evident that only such Jews as believe in Jesus could belong
to the real people of God. “The hour of trial” (Gr. τοῦ πειρασμοῦ—of _the_
trial), “that hour which is to come upon the whole world”, seems to be
here equivalent to “the great tribulation” spoken of by our Lord (Matt.
24:21), and serves to introduce that element of shadow which ever hung in
the background of Apocalyptic perspective. But the crisis at hand is not
necessarily the end; the general tenor of the Revelation would rather show
that it is only one of many crises that constantly progress toward the
end.(358) The reward of overcoming is to be made “a pillar in the temple
of God”, i. e. in the ναὸς or inner sanctuary of the heavenly temple where
God dwells, not so much for support as for glory and for beauty, like the
pillars of brass in Solomon’s temple (I K. 7:15f.), though perhaps with
the additional idea of permanence and strength (cf. _II Esdra._ 2.15).
The pillar was not only a prominent part of ancient temples, but was often
sculptured in human shape(359)—a beautiful conception of man’s relation to
religion. Also the name of God, of the city of God, and of the Son of God,
Christ’s own new name known only to himself, are to be written upon the
victors in token of absolute divine ownership—three, the sign of the
spiritual, being perhaps also in mind in the use of three names.
Philadelphia, which lay about twenty‐eight miles southeast from Sardis,
receives unmixed praise, and the city remains almost unchanged unto this
day, though it has been transformed into the Mohammedan town of Ala‐
Sheker, “the reddish city”, a name derived from the speckled, red brown
hills around. It is renowned as having had the most glorious history of
all the cities of Asia Minor in the long struggle against the Turks;(360)
and it is a remarkable fact that the churches of Philadelphia and Smyrna,
the two which receive no censure in these epistles, both continue to exist
unto the present time.
(7) The Epistle to the Church in Laodicea, Ch. 3:14‐22
The epistle to the church in Laodicea is Christ’s message to a _self‐
deceived_ church, a church which had grown lukewarm and was neither cold
nor hot:—“Be zealous ... and repent”. In this final letter Christ is
called “the Amen [cf. Isa. 65:16, R. V. marg.], the faithful and true
witness”,(361) as a sure guaranty of the fulfilment of the promises; and
he is also declared to be “the beginning of the creation of God”, i. e.
not, indeed, the first whom God created, for Christ is not a creature, but
rather he is the primal source and causative agent in divine
creation,(362) the One who began the creation of God, whether the material
creation that waxeth old or the new creation that endureth forever. The
church is openly rebuked for a tepid Christianity that is nauseous to
Christ, a religion that is “neither cold nor hot”. Laodicea was a city of
trade and enterprise, but John regarded the church as “devoid of
initiative” in Christian work. The phrase “thou sayest I am rich ... and
have need of nothing”, perhaps reflects the boast of the city which, proud
of its wealth, had lately refused help from the liberality of the Emperor
after being destroyed by an earthquake (A. D. 60); and the exhortation “I
counsel thee to buy of me gold”, is perhaps a reference to the heavenly
riches as far surpassing the earthly which the people of the city
possessed. The “white garments”, the type of a pure life, may be here
intended to be put in contrast with those produced from the glossy black
wool of the sheep for which the place was noted; and the “eye‐salve” to be
contrasted with the noted eye‐powder of the neighboring temple of
Asklepios, as the restorer of spiritual vision.(363) Laodicea during the
Roman period attained great prosperity, and was the meeting place of the
Council of Laodicea in A. D. 361, but has long since been ruined and
deserted. It lay some sixty miles southeast of Philadelphia, and east of
Ephesus, in the valley of the Lycus, and was the leading bishopric of
Phrygia throughout the Christian period.(364) In this closing epistle of
the seven the climax of promise is reached in the assurance that “he that
overcometh” shall sit with Christ in his Messiah throne (v. 21), i. e.
shall share with him in the glory and rule of the church triumphant. This
promise seems to take a forward glance to the vision of the next two
chapters, especially to the view of the Lamb in the midst of the throne. A
preparation is thus made for the sudden transition from the introduction
and epistles to the chief visions of the book, after the closing words of
this epistle have been written. “He that hath an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit saith to the churches,” is a final voice of admonition and
warning to the church in Laodicea, to each of the seven churches in Asia,
and then through them to the whole church throughout the world in all
time, exhorting them to hear and obey the message given in each and all of
the seven epistles.
II THE MAIN APOCALYPSE, Ch. 4:1‐22:5
The Revelation Proper, which occupies the chief portion of the book, is a
symbolic view of the great spiritual conflict of the ages, reviewing the
whole course and outcome of the far‐reaching struggle between the church
and the world, with the multiple and diverse forces that are engaged in
it, and setting forth the absolute decisiveness of the final issue. It
consists of a series of seven visions which undertake to solve the
apparent anomalies of God’s present rule among men by affording recurrent
glimpses of the working out of a great, comprehensive, underlying plan,—a
providential and moral order in the world that is divine and sovereign,
interpenetrated with a concurrent redemptive purpose that is gracious and
elective,—which leads on through progressive stages of trial and warfare,
of threatening and judgment, to the complete and final overthrow and
punishment of all the wicked and to the full and glorious vindication and
triumph of all the holy. The seven visions, when carefully examined, will
be seen to be progressive in their revelation; for while they do not
follow any line of temporal succession, they yet show a progress of
thought and movement throughout. Beginning with the vision of God on the
throne, a vision of sovereignty, they advance in manifest order through
the vision of the seven seals, a vision of trial, and the vision of the
seven trumpets, a vision of threatening, to the vision of conflict, a
vision of warfare, which is central to all and furnishes a key to the
general interpretation of the book. Then by a scale of descending climax
they pass on to the vision of the seven vials, a vision of judgment,
followed by the vision of victory, a vision of vindication, and this again
by the vision of the New Jerusalem, a vision of triumph, which reveals the
final goal of Christian hope in the immediate presence of God.(365) The
purpose of the Apocalypse is thus disclosed to be interpretative of God’s
plan of the ages, an unfolding of the drama of destiny, in which,
notwithstanding all apparent contradictions and present reverses, he is
yet ever leading on to full and final victory in the end—through all the
conflict he is winning, even against appearances, and will triumph at
last,—a view full of encouragement for tried and disheartened Christians
of the first and each succeeding century. Why God permitted this struggle
to be begun and then let it continue throughout the centuries, why he ever
allowed sin to find a place among his moral creatures, is a topic nowhere
entered upon or discussed throughout the book. It is evidently recognized
as belonging to the unrevealed mysteries of God which lie outside the
sphere of the present Revelation. But that he overrules all the apparently
inapt and sinful conditions of this world for the ultimate good of his
kingdom, and that he will victoriously triumph at last, is the assuring
witness of the whole series of visions. The Apocalyptic form, we find,
becomes more marked and definite in this main portion of the book, and the
difficulties of interpretation are correspondingly increased; for they are
no longer chiefly those of grammatical exegesis and historical allusion,
but rather the elucidation of a body of mysterious symbols. The purpose
and limits of the present volume forbid the discussion of many of the
exegetical difficulties, and serve to confine attention mainly to the
meaning of the symbolism as the chief subject concerning which there is
wide difference of opinion. Questions of grammatical, or grammatico‐
historical, exegesis will be found more fully considered in the various
commentaries to which the reader is referred in the footnotes. The visions
and episodes into which the main part of the book is properly divisible,
are given separately in the following analysis, i. e. the seven seals,
trumpets, and vials are each considered in order consecutively, and the
episodes which intervene are taken up after each sevenfold vision is
complete, in order that they may be better understood. This preserves the
connection of the seven in the series, and emphasizes by itself the lesson
of the episodes which are interjected into the natural order.
I The Vision of God on the Throne (A Vision of Sovereignty). Ch. 4:1‐5:14
The opening vision of the seven chief visions in the Revelation is a
Theophany, revealing the majesty of the divine glory and the might of the
sovereign rule of God as the abiding source of the church’s confidence in
the midst of trial and distress, and as the unfailing ground of faith in
the fulfilment of the revelation that follows. This vision of the fifth
and sixth chapters is preparatory to those that deal with the present and
future prospects of the church upon earth, and with this in view it sets
forth the causal and higher relations upon which the history of the church
depends, viz. God’s sovereignty in creation and in redemption; for it is
only in relation to these two great abiding facts of the divine activity
that the passing events of time have their true meaning. We look first
upon the stability of the eternal throne, and upon the person of the
divine atoning Lamb, and then we are better prepared to understand the
drama of history, and to view with equanimity the dread scenes of crisis
and conflict which belong to the lot of the church upon earth. The scene
described in the fourth and fifth chapters, of the eternal throne with
those who are attendant upon it, and of the Lamb in the midst of it,
constitutes a proem to the succeeding visions, and may be thought of as
continuing throughout and forming the background for all that follows, in
the light of which it must be viewed and its meaning interpreted. In the
fifth chapter the action proper to the Revelation begins with the taking
of the sealed book, though some regard the action as beginning with the
sixth chapter in the opening of the seals. The present vision is
introduced with the phrase “after these things” (v. 1), which does not
indicate an interval of time but rather a succession of events, and always
marks a break in the connection and a new phase of the revelation.
1 The Throne and the King, Ch. 4:1‐3, 5a, and 6a
A door is opened in heaven that the seer may look in, and the trumpet
voice of ch. 1:10 is heard again, saying, “Come up hither, and I will show
thee the things which must come to pass hereafter”, the further
announcement of a prophetic vision, the sign not only that eternal
verities are to be revealed, but that earthly things are to be seen from
the heavenly point of view. And we are told that straightway John “was in
the Spirit”, i. e. he became conscious of an additional impulse of divine
rapture, for he was already in the Spirit (ch. 1:10); and then the throne
of God, the seat of the divine government, is seen in the eternal splendor
of repose, the reflection of the divine sovereignty, surrounded by a
rainbow of emerald green arching above it, the emblem of God’s covenant
mercy (Gen. 9:13), and sending forth lightnings, thunders, and voices, the
tokens of divine power, majesty, and judgment. The divine Person is
presented as enthroned, but is not named, and is described only by
comparison, a touch of reverent reserve as consonant with religion as it
is true to art. His appearance is glorious like jasper and sardius, the
last and first of the precious stones on the breastplate of the
highpriest, and part of the foundation stones of the heavenly city.(366)
The pure jasper and the red sardius are the apparent symbols of purity and
justice (cf. Ezek. 1:26, and 10:1; Dan. 7:9; _Bk of Enoch_ 14:18f.).
Before the throne, we are told, there is “as it were, a sea of glass(367)
like unto crystal”, the symbol of the calm and fulness of life in God’s
completed kingdom in contrast with the stormy sea of earthly nations, the
calm of the heavenly life in antithesis with the turmoil of the earthly.
This seems to be the more natural interpretation of the passage, yet the
symbolism of the sea in the Revelation has been interpreted with a good
deal of freedom, and there is wide difference of opinion concerning its
meaning. It is regarded by many as the symbol of purification the antitype
of the laver before the tabernacle, while others find in it a type of the
eternal fulness of joy in the presence of God. Some think the sea is
placed before the throne as a symbol of the former trial and conflict of
the earthly life through which the saints have passed to reach the
presence of God, and that it has now become a perpetual memorial of
victory, for the sea is glassy and quiet as the sign that the conflict is
over.(368) Other late writers connect the sea with early Hebrew ideas of
the waters before the firmament (Gen. 1:7), traces of which continue to
appear in Apocalyptic literature, and hold that this conception underlies
the symbolism of the molten sea in Solomon’s temple and forms the basis of
the present description.(369) With figures so flexible as these it is
quite possible that different thoughts have been included, for the sea was
closely interwoven with the early stage of Israel’s history, and may have
become a symbol covering a wide range of correlative ideas. But however we
may interpret the meaning of the symbolism, the presence of the sea in the
vision undoubtedly serves to enhance the majesty and splendor of the
scene, and may have been introduced partly for that purpose, though the
sea undoubtedly had a permanent place in Hebrew thought.
2 The Four and Twenty Elders, Ch. 4:4, 10 and 11
The vision presents the worship of heaven in the forms of earth for our
apprehension. The elders (Gr. “presbyters”) are the ideal representatives
of the redeemed church,(370) who are clothed in white raiment and placed
round about the throne wearing golden crowns and sitting on lesser thrones
reigning with Christ, the fitting tokens of royal dignity and authority,
and of their triumphant victory through him who is their Saviour. They are
ever active in service, casting their crowns before the throne and him
that sitteth thereon as they worship, and joining in every chorus of
adoration.(371) Their number is that of the twelve patriarchs and apostles
combined, indicating that they represent the church of both dispensations,
the saints of the Old and New Testaments. They are not, however, the
twelve patriarchs and apostles themselves enthroned, as suggested by some,
but ideal beings who have a representative character. Their number, twice
twelve, i. e. twice the national number of Israel, aptly symbolizes the
glorified church of all the ages.(372) Some find in these elders a group
of angelic beings who are attendants of the divine glory and whose
presence in the heavenly temple was a part of ancient Jewish tradition, as
in the _Judgment of Peter_, where it is said, “For there are four and
twenty elders, twelve upon the right hand and twelve upon the left.”(373)
There is no reason to infer, however, that the Greek term “presbyters”, or
“elders”, with its definite meaning in the New Testament church, is
otherwise used in the Apocalypse, even though the elders are here the
representatives of a class. It is quite possible that the earlier use of
the four and twenty elders in Apocalyptic literature may have been the
occasion of their introduction here, but there was nothing in the usage of
the past to prevent its modified application in a Christian sense so
natural as this in the first century; on the contrary it is quite in
accord with the gradually progressive method of Apocalyptic thought that
they should be introduced here to represent the church enlarged by New
Testament accessions. It is certainly quite beside the mark to affirm that
this idea of the church as a combination of the Old and New Testament
saints is “medieval”;(374) when it is found so clearly in the Epistles of
Paul.
3 The Seven Lamps of Fire (or Torches), Ch. 4:5b
These lamps are seen burning before the throne which they serve to
illumine, recalling the seven‐branched candlestick in the tabernacle, and
they are seven in number, doubtless, to indicate their fulness or
completeness. We are told that the lamps “are [i. e. are the symbol of]
the seven Spirits of God”; they are, therefore, evidently designed to
represent the Holy Spirit throughout the Revelation, the seven Spirits
that are before the throne (ch. 1:4) and that serve to denote the fulness
of the Spirit’s operation, his manifold energy in contradistinction to the
unity of his person. The fitness of fire, or a flaming torch, to symbolize
the illuminative influence of the Spirit is quite evident, throwing light
upon the throne and revealing God to men, but the use of seven torches,
like that of seven Spirits, is peculiar to the Revelation, and is
introduced, one is constrained to think, for a special purpose. That the
Holy Spirit is indicated by this symbol throughout is shown by the context
(cf. chs. 1:4 and 3:1), but it is evidently used here to set forth the
Spirit from a particular point of view, i. e. to represent in a concrete
form the divine perfection of the Spirit as displayed in his multiple
activities. It seems to be an echo from the vision of Zechariah (ch. 3:9,
and 4:10) where the divine pervasive insight is represented by the “seven
eyes of the Lord”, (cf. also Rev. 5:6, “the seven eyes of the Lamb”).
4 The Four Living Creatures, Ch. 4. 6b‐9
The four living creatures (cf. Ezek. 1:5f.),—which are not to be thought
of as “beasts” even in a good sense, as in the Authorized Version, but
rather as in the Greek, “the living ones”, which gives a better idea,—are
seen “in the midst of the throne and round about the throne”, evidently
indicating their function in the heavenly court, to wait upon the divine
Person, though their exact arrangement in the vision is not so clear.(375)
These are composite creature‐forms that are manifestly to be identified
with the cherubim of the Old Testament. Each creature consists of four
representative forms of animal life combined in one, viz. that of the
lion, the ox, the eagle, and man, together producing a strange, anomalous
figure which is generally thought to personify wild animals, domestic
animals, birds, and man, as possessing a common physical life, or created
life in its entirety represented by its higher and more notable forms. In
the Revelation each has a different face, according to the animal form
which is made prominent, and not four faces as in Ezekiel (Ezek. 1:5‐14),
the individual life being thereby made more manifest. These living ones
are ideal symbols of the physical creation, especially of all created
life, and represent in the vision the entire earthly creation as sharing
in the benefits of redemption,(376) manifesting the divine glory, and
waiting upon God. They are used in the Old Testament as impressive symbols
of the divine presence, and Jehovah is known as “he that dwelleth between
the cherubim”, (Am. R. V. “sitteth above”—marg. “is enthroned”, i. e. upon
the cherubim),(377) a reflection of the thought embodied in the
arrangement of the ark of the covenant, where the mercy seat with the
shekinah flame was placed between the cherubim. In John’s vision the
living creatures are seen in closest proximity to the throne, and they
lead the heavenly choir in an unceasing song of praise (the Creation
Chorus, v. 8‐11), the closing verse of the song indicating their function
in the heavenly court to glorify God, as also the part they subsequently
have in the song of the redeemed (the Redemption Chorus, ch. 5:13)
reflects the nature of their worship. They are full of eyes, the sign of
their all‐seeing watchfulness; they have three pairs of wings, the symbol
of their spiritual ministry, for three is the sign of the spiritual as the
wings are of activity; and they are four in number while each is fourfold
to indicate their relation to the organic world, for four is always the
earth number. Also, they rest not day and night, showing the
characteristic of life in its fullest energy and ceaseless activity,
saying “Holy, holy, holy,” i. e. “holy” thrice repeated,—three a symbol of
the divine,—corresponding to the Trisagion of Isaiah’s prophecy (ch. 6:3),
declaring the holiness of God, the All‐Ruler, as especially revealed in
creation, all created beings ministering to the manifestation of the
divine glory. The identity of the living creatures with the cherubim of
the Old Testament is generally recognized, but the origin of the idea of
the cherubim in connection with the worship of Jehovah is as obscure as
the actual form is indefinite, though probably derived from a primitive
stage of religious thought among the Semitic people, and early
incorporated as a symbol in the religion of Israel. Apparently the form
and conception varied somewhat through time, as will be seen by comparing
Ezekiel’s description with that which is given here, though the general
idea remained the same. Some think the cherubim to have been originally
the storm‐clouds personified, regarded as supporting the divine throne and
surrounding the divine Person, while the seraphim represented the
lightning‐flash revealing God to men. Others regard them as unidentified
nature‐forces idealized in forms of life, and traditionally associated
with the throne of God. But whatever their origin, their meaning in
Scripture is plain, viz. the physical creation waiting upon God.(378)
5 The Sealed Book (or Scroll), Ch. 5:1‐5
A new phase of the vision now begins with chapter five, indicated by the
words “And I saw”, setting forth the glory and honor of the exalted
Redeemer, and indicating the divine purpose through him to throw light
upon the plan of God for the ages. A sealed book or scroll, the sign that
its contents are hidden, and written within and without, i. e. upon both
sides, or within and also on the back,—filled to its very margins like the
roll in Ezekiel (ch. 2:9‐10),—indicating the exceeding fulness of its
contents and the completeness of the divine plan, is seen lying “in [or
upon] the right hand of him that sat on the throne”. This book, which at
first no one can be found to open, apparently contains God’s multitudinous
and unrevealed purposes concerning the future course of the church in the
world,—as is afterward more fully indicated by the nature of the things
portrayed when the seals are broken,—for it evidently pertains to the
mysteries of the kingdom of God on earth, part of which are about to be
disclosed to John.(379) The book is closed by seven seals, a perfect
number, the symbol implying that it is perfectly sealed or fully
closed,(380) a roll apparently sealed in sections, perhaps with the end of
the parchment fastened down by the seals to its staff so that it cannot be
opened except by one having authority to break the seals.(381) The book
itself, it should be noted, is never read at any period of the vision,
showing that what it contains is not fully disclosed, but as the seals are
broken the general nature of the contents of each section is symbolically
portrayed in the form set forth in the succeeding vision of the seals.
6 The Lamb, Ch. 5:6‐8a
At this point in the vision the divine Redeemer, Jesus Christ, appears in
order to open the seals, portrayed as the Lamb of God, the recognized
atoner for sin, a symbol of striking power to every one familiar with the
Old Testament system of sacrifices. The importance of opening the seals
had been already indicated in the vision (ch. 5:2f.) by the appearance of
a strong or mighty angel, the sign of high rank and great power,
proclaiming with a great voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to
loose the seals thereof?” And when no one was found “in the heaven, or on
the earth, or under the earth”, i. e. in the place of the spirits of the
dead—a phrase equivalent to saying that no one could be found in all the
universe—the prophet wept much, showing his deep interest and bitter
disappointment when his expectation seemed about to fail. But one of the
elders, a representative of the redeemed church, points out to John him
who is able to open the book because he “hath overcome”, indicating the
glorified Redeemer as the source of help.(382) He is described by the
elder as “the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah” (Gen. 49:9), and “the
Root of David” (Isa. 11:1), indicating his kingly(383) and prophetic
relations to Israel; but when he appears to John’s wondering view it is in
sacrificial form as the Lamb of God,(384) the sign of his priestly
relation to his people, bearing marks as though he had been slain, but now
standing in living power in the midst of the throne, the center of all
attention and the glorified object of all worship, alike the agent of
redemption and the consummation of sacrifice. The words “in the midst of
the throne” may mean in the center of the throne and encircled by it, or
between the throne and those surrounding it. Some regard the throne as a
semi‐circle in the open side of which the Lamb stands, and within which
are placed two of the living creatures, with the other two at the back,
while the elders surround the throne, and the many angels form the outer
circle,(385) a view that is helpful to those who wish detail in such
matters, for the chief thought in the symbolism is sufficiently plain. It
may also be worth while to note how clearly this symbolism implies that
the redeemed church, represented by the elders, stands nearer to the
throne of God than even the angels.(386) The seven horns of the Lamb
symbolize the fulness of his power, for the horn is the Hebrew emblem of
power as seven is of fulness or completeness of quality; and his seven
eyes represent the perfection of his vision and knowledge, seeing with the
omniscient eyes of the Holy Spirit (Zech. 4:10) who proceedeth alike from
the Father and the Son.(387) He takes the book out of the right hand of
God as a token of his rightful authority, an act full of meaning, for he
alone has prevailed and has power to open the book and to reveal God’s
purposes because he has redeemed the church and himself directs the path
of her history. In this sublime vision of the Lamb in the midst of the
throne we may be truly said to have reached “the point of highest dramatic
interest in the whole book”.
7 The Heavenly Worship, Ch. 5:8b‐14
The taking of the book is followed by an act of profound worship; the four
living creatures and the four and twenty elders fall down before the Lamb,
having each one a harp, the instrument of praise, and a golden bowl full
of incense, representing the prayers of the saints, which they offer
before God. Then they voice their thought in a new song, the song of the
redeemed (the Redemption Chorus), which is rendered unto him that sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, declaring him worthy that hath been
slain to take the book and to open the seals, and “to receive the power,
and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing”,—a
sevenfold or complete ascription of praise—who hath redeemed his people
with his blood out “of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation”,—a
fourfold or world‐wide redemption for all peoples(388)—“and madest them
_to be_ unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon the
earth”, even now in the midst of trials, in a spiritual sense which though
imperfect foreshadows and assures their complete spiritual reign in the
new world wherein dwelleth righteousness. This song is sung by the four
living creatures as the representatives of the whole creation who unitedly
rejoice in the work of redemption together with man, and by the four and
twenty elders who represent the church of all time, the personal subjects
of redemption; and it is chorused by an innumerable company of angels,
God’s sinless creation, who are described as consisting of “ten thousand
times ten thousand”, i. e. the square of a myriad, a hundred millions in
number (or, as the words may mean, “myriads of myriads” i. e. hundreds of
millions), and in addition “thousand of thousands”, i. e. millions more,—a
symbolical expression for a numberless host; and it is echoed by “every
created thing which is in the heaven and on the earth and under the earth
and on the sea”, i. e. it is re‐echoed from every created being throughout
the universe. Thus the Chorus of Creation, wonderful as it was, is
surpassed by the Chorus of Redemption: and the four living creatures who
represent creation said in full accord, “Amen”, while the four and twenty
elders “fell down and worshipped” him that liveth forever and ever. The
opening of the seals then follows, and because of its widely different
bearing from that which precedes, is usually considered as forming a
separate vision, though the transition is not otherwise marked than by a
change of action and progress of thought.
II The Vision of the Seven Seals (A Vision of Trial). Ch. 6:1‐17, and 8:1
The vision of the seven seals is a prophetic delineation of the trials and
triumphs of the church of Christ throughout all her history, especially
from the days of John to the end of the world, depicted in the symbols of
Apocalyptic. These trials fall upon all men in common, and from another
point of view are also judgments upon the sinful world, but they are
regarded here chiefly as involving the church in suffering, and as
preparing the way for the triumph of the kingdom of God, the coming of our
Lord, and the final consummation of all things. The opening of the seals
by Christ indicates his purpose of revealing the hidden contents of the
book which he had taken from the right hand of God (ch. 5:7), and the
number of the seals (seven) shows the completeness of the series. The
order of the seals is progressive, but they have no definite or
categorical time‐relation; they regard only the ceaseless swing of the
ages ever sweeping on toward the final consummation. The underlying divine
purpose of testing men by moral struggle is apparent throughout; the
trials set forth are disciplinary to those who believe, but punitive to
those who resist. The form of trials in the vision is that of an
illustrative symbolism which should not be limited in interpretation to
the few particular kinds of trouble that are described, but should be
taken as representative of the whole round of sorrows endured by God’s
people throughout all time, a prophetic forecast which, though receiving
an immediate fulfilment in the experience of the early church, has yet had
and will have a further and wider fulfilment throughout the course of the
ages. The subordinate element of judgment upon the wicked in the vision is
implied rather than stated, except under the sixth seal; nevertheless upon
further reflection it may be clearly seen, for the advancing conquest of
Christ includes the overthrow of the wicked, while the sorrows of war,
famine, and death fall upon them without any consolation like the
recompense of the righteous, the avenging of the martyrs is foretold as
eventually to be visited upon them, and amidst the terrors of the final
judgment they find no availing refuge, but cry to the mountains and to the
rocks to fall upon them to hide them from the face of him that sitteth on
the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. This bearing of the trials of
the seals, revealing judgment upon the world, should not be overlooked in
our interpretation, though we should not lay special stress upon it, for
it is not the foremost thought in mind.
In entering upon the more obscure portions of the book it may be well to
remind the reader that the interpretation will be much simplified, and
many of the difficulties will disappear, if we regard all the mysterious
action in these visions as in the broadest sense symbolical, and not
requiring detailed application. And although an effort may well be made to
recover what has been called the “ground‐view” of the Apostle, i. e. the
natural application of the prophecy that lay in the immediate horizon of
history and belonged to the conditions of his time, yet this cannot be
regarded as absolutely essential to the correct interpretation for us and
for all ages. We should not forget that we are dealing with what is really
a great creative poem in prose, containing idealized conceptions of widely
pervasive principles, and therefore its true interpretation lies in facts
of universal experience rather than in the special circumstances which
helped to give it form in the mind of the writer, but beyond which he
passed with poetic freedom to grasp the larger ideal—for to deny that John
had any such ideal in mind is to do injustice both to his prophetic and
poetic insight. And if in our anxiety to reproduce the author’s native
horizon, we allow the basis of historical fact to become the chief matter
of concern, we are sure to lose in literary insight in the interpretation
of the book far more than we gain through clearness of local perspective.
For it is always to be reckoned “amongst the impediments to the study of
literature ... that the personality of the author, and the circumstances
of actual life, are forever being allowed to interpose between a creative
poem and the mind of the reader”,(389) to the constant hindrance of any
free following of the author’s constructive idealization. And it is only
by avoiding this narrowing influence of realism that we are at all likely
to reach the heart of the Apocalypse.
1 The Opening of the First Seal, Ch. 6:1, 2
The Lamb as the ruler and revealer of destiny opens the seals. At the call
of one of the four living creatures, “come”,(390) a white horse and his
rider, who bears a bow, the sign of warfare, and receives a crown, the
token of victory, appear in view, representing Christ going forth
conquering and to conquer,(391) a vision depicting the beginning and trend
of the gospel age: the symbol of the victory of Christ’s cause attained
through conflict, Christianity triumphing in the earth,—for the progress
of the life of the church is viewed like that of the national life of
Israel as marked by constant conflict. The assurance of victory is made to
precede the revelation of trial as a ground of comfort and confidence
throughout the succeeding seals. We may properly regard the contents of
this seal as a present view of the onward course of the church, the
details of which are to be imagined rather than described, a suggestive
picture which stamps itself upon the mind, for the figure of the crowned
and conquering Christ once distinctly seen can never be effaced but marks
all our after‐thought of him. This vision was realized in some measure in
the splendid growth of the church in the first and following centuries,
but the full realization of its promise lies in the fulness of the ages
(ch. 19:11‐21)—Christ is ever moving on through the years to final
victory.
Many historical interpreters find in this rider the symbol of conquest,
especially of judgment on the Roman Empire by the Parthians, indicated by
the bow, their usual weapon, and premonitory of the end.(392) In that case
the first seal, like the succeeding ones, would indicate a form of trial
to the church. Others see in the rider the sign of Roman conquest, and in
the subsequent seals precursors of the destruction of Jerusalem, assuming
the earlier date of the book. These views, however, fail to recognize the
close similarity and apparent identity of the rider in this vision with
the one on the white horse in chapter nineteen (v. 11) who is evidently
divine;(393) nor do they agree with the above view as to the scope of the
seals, but limit them to the first century, while in the interpretation
given in this work they reach forward throughout the history of the church
to the end of time. We must be duly careful, according to the symbolic
view, not to limit the prophecy to too narrow a scope in its complete
fulfilment, and especially not to exclude the world‐wide and universal
reference, even though it be regarded as the secondary meaning, since to
many minds this is the essential and larger thought in the vision. For we
should not forget that while the visions of the Apocalypse, like the
voices of prophecy and the parables and teachings of our Lord, had their
immediate occasion and purpose, yet this becomes in turn the ground and
instrument of a wider and permanent divine message to all mankind, and
that this is the message which is our chief concern.
2 The Opening of the Second Seal, Ch. 6:3, 4
At the call of the second living creature, “Come”, a red horse and his
rider appear, to whom is given a great sword, and power to take peace from
the earth: the symbol of war, and of consequent trial to the church. The
blood‐red horse with his armed rider betokens the carnage of battle, and
suggests all the horrors of bloodshed with its accompanying train of
suffering. It is a prediction not of any particular war or wars, but of
war in general, as the “wars and rumors of wars” in our Saviour’s
discourse (Mt. 24:6). And it was only as it was “given unto him” (v. 4),
we are told, that the rider could accomplish his mission, thereby
indicating the divine authority, limitation, and restraint. The sword is
the same as the sacrificial knife, and the term used for slaying in the
passage is the Greek term for killing the sacrificial victim, which may be
intended to imply that the slaughter of the saints is to be included with
others.(394) The contents of this seal were realized to some extent in the
Jewish war connected with the fall of Jerusalem, and in the subsequent
wars of the Roman Empire which entailed great suffering upon the church as
well as upon the world. The form of the prophecy, however, does not
preclude reference to the then past as well as to present and to future
events; it points to the experience of God’s children in every age, to the
Jewish as well as the Christian church, though doubtless with the future
specially in view. These sorrows have been repeated again and again in the
numberless wars of history, and may be repeated afresh in the future, for
war is a constant trial of the church throughout the centuries. The symbol
of the armed rider on the blood‐red horse presents a vivid picture of the
horrors of war. It was a figure which spoke to the imaginative Eastern
mind with a power superior to words, especially to those who had known in
their own experience the destructive ravages of war; but the details were
left to be supplied by individual thought.
3 The Opening of the Third Seal, Ch. 6:5, 6
At the call of the third living creature, “Come”, a black horse and his
rider appear, weighing out grain with a balance: the symbol of famine,
want, and consequent suffering by the church. This expressive figure of
the black horse and his rider with a balance foretold in a form that
surpassed the power of language to describe, the prevailing gloom and
distress of famine. Grain is sold by weight instead of measure, thereby
indicating its scarcity (Ezek. 4:16), and the price is from eight to
twelve times its usual cost, the food of a working man requiring his
entire wages, and leaving those dependent on him without support.(395) The
famine indicated is not, however, any special season of want, but
recurrent famine as a condition of trial, and is limited in its extent, as
indicated by preserving the oil and the wine which may be regarded as
typical articles of food, or the best of the things of common life(396)—a
famine affecting the poor rather than the rich, the multitude rather than
the few. The contents of this seal were realized in prevailing famines
such as that under Claudius, that at the siege of Jerusalem, and many
other seasons of want which have occurred at different times throughout
the ages, but especially in the ancient world and in the Far East. The
emaciation and terror produced by hunger and want was a form of suffering
too well known among the inhabitants of those lands to need any further
emphasis—it spoke a language of its own to all those who had felt its
power.
4 The Opening of the Fourth Seal, Ch. 6:7, 8
At the call of the fourth living creature, “Come”, a pale, ashen colored,
or green horse, and his rider Death appear, with Hades following after, i.
e. the world of departed spirits accompanying death as his after‐part to
swallow up his victims, both personified, and with power given them to
kill with the sword and with famine and with death in all its forms: the
symbol of mortality in the church, destroying the forces of the kingdom.
The pale green or livid horse, the color of a corpse, reflects the
ghastliness of a dead body bordering on dissolution, and points to the
ruin wrought by death. Death is here considered as in itself a trial, and
some of the more terrible and widespread agencies by which it is brought
about are mentioned in order to make its ravages more impressive. Among
other forms death by sword and famine are included, evils already
introduced under the two former seals as the occasion of suffering, but
here regarded as leading to death and constituting a separate trial. The
trial of this seal is also limited, and affects only one fourth of men, i.
e. a fractional part, not an actual fourth, the fourth being perhaps
suggested by the four horsemen. The contents of this seal were realized in
the fearful mortality of Roman times by means of the fourfold scourge of
sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts, the crown of all sorrows to
the Jewish mind; but they have also been realized in a similar way, though
different form, through the many dread visitations of death in later days.
It will be noticed that almost every part of the symbolism in these
visions has a meaning of its own. The horse in motion seems to indicate
the swift progress and triumphal march through the earth of the things
represented in the first four seals, viz. of Christianity the conquering
religion, and also of war, famine, and death, the widespread terrors which
are impersonated by the riders as treading the path of the centuries. The
color of the different horses, too, is not without significance; white is
the sign of victory (white horses were not uncommonly ridden by Roman
conquerors)(397) and it is also the symbol of purity, while red is the
symbol of bloodshed, black of want, and pale or ashen green of death, each
of the latter betokening something of the nature of the scourge which they
bring to men. The whole content of the seals presents a bare outline of
various forms of suffering, and is intended to typify a multitude of
sorrows that are unnamed. It should be noted, too, that at the close of
the fourth seal a division of the seals is apparent into two groups with
four and three in each. The first four relate to the sphere of the natural
world, as the number four indicates, and the fact also that they are
ushered in by the four living creatures who represent creation. These
seals are chiefly designed to show that during the period in which Christ
is carrying forward his conquest unto victory, both trial and suffering in
this world form part of the divine purpose of discipline for his people
which cannot be escaped from but should be endured with patience and hope.
The last three seals relate to the things of the spiritual life, of which
three is the symbol, and point forward to the future and great reward in
the world to come which is about to be realized by those who are faithful.
The same division into four and three, pertaining to the natural and the
spiritual, though with a distinctive application, is found in the visions
of the trumpets and vials (see App’x. D).
5 The Opening of the Fifth Seal, Ch. 6:9‐11
At the opening of the fifth seal a vision of the souls of the martyrs
appears, viz. of those “that had been slain for the word of God, and for
the testimony which they held” (cf. ch. 19:10), who are now seen
underneath the altar (i. e. the equivalent of the great brazen altar of
sacrifice in the Jewish service, at the foot of which the blood of the
sacrificial victims was poured) as the sign of their having sacrificed
their lives for the truth. The altar is in the heavenly temple, which to
the Jewish mind was the archetype of the earthly, where they are found
crying to God as their master(398) to judge and avenge them, i. e. calling
for vindication, not for vengeance in the earthly sense; and they receive
each a white robe, the recognized symbol of purity and victory, and are
bidden to rest until the roll of martyrs is complete:(399) the symbol of
martyrdom so often experienced by the church throughout the ages. These
saints of God have not been delivered from death, but they have been
delivered through death. The limit of this trial is the “little time” of
the church’s further conflict, a period looked upon as relatively short in
the whole course of the centuries, though not in itself necessarily short
or definitely limited, for the “little time” is practically the whole
period of this and the preceding seals. The contents of this seal were
partly realized in the ten persecutions of the early church, especially
those under Nero, and under Domitian, belonging to the period of the
Apocalypse; but they have also been realized in every subsequent
persecution that has followed the planting of the gospel in heathen lands.
The martyrs belong to all ages and all nations, and include every man who
has given his life as a testimony for the truth; and this seal looks along
the whole line and comprehends every martyr of every age.
6 The Opening of the Sixth Seal, Ch. 6:12‐17
At the opening of the sixth seal a vision of an earthquake appears, in
which the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, the whole moon as blood,
and the stars of heaven fell, while even the heaven itself was removed as
a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved
out of their places, for we are told that the day, the great day, of
divine wrath is come: the symbol of judgment and retribution, especially
of the last judgment, and of the destruction of the world. The terrors of
the judgment thus described are sevenfold, affecting the earth, the sun,
the moon, the stars, the heavens, the mountains, and the islands; and
seven classes of men are mentioned, who call to the rocks and the
mountains to fall upon them and to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb,
viz. the kings of the earth, the princes, the chief captains, the rich,
the strong, and every bondman, and every freeman,—additional signs of
universality and completeness. The contents of this seal have been
realized in one way in the crises of history and the fall of empires,
which we may regard as described here after the analogy of Jewish
Apocalyptic, under the form of a great catastrophe of nature bringing to
an end the existing order of things—the fortunes of the people of God,
though not their fate, being conceived of as inseparably interwoven with
the world of nature; but this is only a temporary and passing fulfilment
which foreshadows and points to the final day of wrath (called in Greek
(v. 17), “the day, the great [day] of their wrath”, i. e. of the wrath of
God and of the Lamb), or the day of the Lord,(400) and the end of the
world. The End is a constant element in all Apocalyptic writings, as it is
the recurrent point of interest with John in the Apocalypse; and it was
undoubtedly due to the influence of Jewish Apocalyptic conceptions that an
expectation commonly prevailed in the primitive church that the End was
close at hand, and that it would come not through development but through
crises of judgment.(401) The important part which the End has in the
Apocalypse may be regarded as owing in some degree to the place it must
necessarily occupy in any exhaustive scheme of the course of the world;
but it is perhaps more largely due to the peculiar view‐point of
Apocalyptic, which exalted the End out of proportion to the present in
order to impress more deeply its lessons.(402)
All the visions of the six seals had a particular application and an
undoubted though partial fulfilment in the first age in which they were
given; but they have a wider and more perfect fulfilment in all subsequent
time, and perhaps will have an especially complete fulfilment in the last
time, such as we know that the sixth seal will surely have. To seek
constantly, however, for a merely literal fulfilment is surely to
emphasize the least important part of their meaning, and to limit them
narrowly to a definite historical event is to rob them of their larger
purpose, for they are wide‐flung types that speak as with a thousand
tongues to the open ear and ready mind.
[In the order of the Revelation the connection is at this point
interrupted and the climax suspended by introducing the Episode of the
Sealed Ones (ch. 7:1‐17), which will be found under IIb. The episodes are
given separately in this outline, and outside of their proper position in
the text, for the sake of clearness and emphasis].
7 The Opening of the Seventh Seal, Ch. 8:1
At the opening of the seventh seal a vision of heaven wrapped in perfect
silence appears: the symbol of mystery, the unrevealed, the unspoken, the
ineffable bliss of heaven which cannot be told in human words or portrayed
in physical form, the great sabbath of the church’s history,—a significant
sign of the deep, unbroken rest from conflict and toil into which the
people of God shall enter at the end of the earthly trial, and of the
fulness of joy to be realized in the future life of the redeemed when the
conflict and judgment of this world are over, all of which now lies beyond
the power of words or vision to describe or display. The form of the
vision is remarkably suggestive; the silence indicates that which cannot
be spoken; it gives time for thought that is beyond expression, deepens
“the sense of trembling suspense”, and serves to quicken anticipation of
the revelation to follow.(403) The contents of this seal are to be
realized in the future life of the redeemed after the conflict and
judgment of this world are over, and they cannot now be revealed except in
symbol; they lie beyond the sphere of earthly thought. The half‐hour is a
broken, fractional number, implying a limited period, and is here the sign
of the relatively brief time during which John beheld the vision,—for the
period covered by the thought of the vision is the whole period of
eternity, the future endless life with God, and only a glimpse of it is
given at this point in order to reassure the hearts of God’s children in
the midst of conflict,—thus affording an impressive break between the
seals and the trumpets, which, though short in itself, must have seemed
relatively long to the beholder in the midst of such stirring scenes. The
silence may have been suggested to John’s mind by that which the people
kept during the time when the priest offered incense in the temple, for we
find that the offering of incense by an angel immediately follows (v.
2‐5),(404) and the solemnity of that time in John’s own experience of the
ritual worship may well have left its impress upon his mind. In closing
the series it remains to be said that the last seal, notwithstanding that
its contents are incompletely developed, yet joins with the first, and
serves to mark out the whole course of the church’s history through all
the dread and storm of the other seals, as ever advancing from opening
conquest to final peace, all the trials of the seals leading on to deep
quiet in the end, the symbol of the great and enduring peace of God.
It may be well for us before entering upon the episode of consolation in
the seventh chapter, to review rapidly the steps by which the prime
purpose of the Apocalypse has been thus far wrought out in the vision of
the seven seals, viz. to encourage the hearts of weak and suffering
Christians and to fortify their patience on the upward way in the midst of
trial and distress by pointing out the path of faith and hope alike to the
certainty of victory in the future days of the church upon earth, and to
the fulness of joy reserved for the redeemed in the far and fadeless glory
beyond. The deeper lesson of the first four seals is one of absolute trust
in God when the way, as then, was dark and the hearts of men terror‐
stricken. God has not in any sense forsaken his people, the vision
proclaims, though his path and purpose lie hidden in the night. Amid all
the trials of the earthly life his plan is working out unseen through the
way to final victory. His people must learn the lesson of discipline in
the path by which he leads, and strive to trust and be patient and obey,
while he with unerring wisdom rules and works and wins. The closing three
seals contain a more direct revelation of hope and comfort. Under the
fifth seal the peace of the future life and the guarantee of recompense to
the saints is reassured; the vision of the sixth leads to the episode of
consolation which portrays the safe gathering of the redeemed on God’s
right hand at last, while the contents of the seal itself point to the
surety and justice of divine judgment that shall inevitably fall upon sin
and sinners; and the seventh reveals the endless and unbroken peace and
glory of the future life with God. Thus, contrary to all appearances in
the world of men, the perplexing trials of the Christian life are seen in
the apocalyptic vision to be not in vain; the painful discipleship of
Jesus has its abundant reward hereafter; the certain and unfailing victory
of the righteous lies at the very heart of the eternal purpose of God; and
this triumphant hope is presented as an abiding consolation for the
Christian mind in the midst of prevailing trial and distress.
IIb The Episode of the Sealed Ones (A Vision of Salvation Assured). Ch.
7:1‐17
The episode of the sealed ones is a vision of consolation, that is
introduced as a digression between the sixth and seventh seals,
elaborating the idea of redemption inwrought with judgment, and showing
the safety, even in the midst of tribulation, of God’s people who are
divinely sealed, as also the certainty of their final reward. It is given
for the encouragement of tried and suffering Christians who cannot
understand why they suffer, and as an answer to the question in ch. 6:17,
“who shall be able to stand?” i. e. in the midst of such judgment as is
depicted under the sixth seal. There is, of course, a manifest element of
consolation for the saints in the contents of the seals themselves, as
indicated above, viz. the certainty of victory under the first, the divine
limitation and control signified in the second, third, and fourth, the
promise of peace and reward in the fifth, of vindication and judgment in
the sixth, and of the heavenly rest in the seventh; but this word of
comfort receives such a distinct reinforcement and emphasis in the episode
interposed as to indicate clearly its purpose. The blessed consolation for
God’s people in all ages given in the book of Revelation has not, perhaps,
been sufficiently emphasized in the past,(405) yet this has always made it
a cherished message for those in affliction. The episode is found to
consist of two parts, corresponding in some degree to the two
dispensations, the Old and the New, the first setting forth the surety of
salvation in the divine choice out of Israel (v. 1‐8), and the second the
fulness of salvation in the restoration to the divine presence of the
entire body of the redeemed out of all nations (v. 9‐17), the two together
manifesting the consoling thought that redemption triumphs in the midst of
judgment.
A The Sealed of Israel, Ch. 7:1‐8
The first part of the episode shows Israel’s share in the sure and
unfailing results of God’s elective and redemptive purpose, and through
this the wider truth that God seals and keeps all his own (cf. Ezek.
9:1‐6).(406)
1 The Angels Holding the Winds, Ch. 7:1‐3
At the bidding of another angel who ascends from the sunrising as the sign
that he brings light and hope, and who bears the seal of the living God as
the token of his authority, “the four angels to whom it was given to hurt
the earth and the sea” restrain the winds, which are apparently those of
destruction and judgment, until the act of sealing has been accomplished:
the symbol of the delay of God’s final judgment upon the world until all
his chosen ones are sealed, i. e. are marked as the subjects of
redemption, or until his redemptive purpose is complete—the choice
beginning with Israel. Four, the earth number, is the number of the
angels, corners, and winds in the vision, indicating the world‐wide
character of the judgment; and the sealing is upon earth, though
apparently not to be thought of as occurring in any particular point of
time, and not therefore to be placed, as by some, just preceding the final
judgment, for in a wider sense the sealing stands as a symbol of
redemption as a whole, viewed in effect as a process concurrent with the
trials of the seals, and illustrated by its operation in Israel.(407) The
time of holding back the winds is the entire period of divine grace, and
the sealing shows the brighter side of the former picture of trial and
suffering—God is ever doing what he did in Israel.
2 The Number of the Sealed, Ch. 7:4‐8
The redeemed are sealed upon the forehead, the sign of the visible and
personal ownership of Christ, but the act of sealing is not revealed; as
the act of God it is hidden, and only the number of the sealed is given, a
hundred and forty‐four thousand, i. e. the square of twelve, the national
number, multiplied by a thousand, the cube of ten, the number of
completeness,—twelve thousand from each tribe, or twelve, the number of
the tribes of Israel, multiplied by a thousand, the number of heavenly
completeness: the symbol of a vast, complete, but indefinite number chosen
from the people of Israel and kept unto eternal life as the first‐fruits
unto God and the Lamb, the true or ideal people of Israel, who are in a
sense representative of all the redeemed. Other interpreters, accepting
the apocalyptic‐traditional view of late writers, regard the first section
of the episode (v. 1‐8) as a reproduction in form or substance from a
Jewish apocalypse, while the second section (v. 9‐17), where there is so
manifest an expansion of the horizon, is the Christian development of the
same idea, showing how the older vision may be understood in our
time.(408) Such views evidently have strong attraction for the modern
mind, but it may well be doubted whether such a view solves as many
difficulties as it creates, for it assumes the existence of documents that
have no evidence on which to rest except the theory which assumes them.
B The Redeemed Out of All Nations, Ch. 7:9‐17
In this section is presented a view of all the glorified in heaven,
showing the world‐wide results of redemption, and the ultimate felicity of
the redeemed, a scene of triumph in vivid contrast with the trials and
sufferings of the church upon earth, and a striking illustration of the
difference which Christ has brought about through his atoning work.(409)
1 The Innumerable Multitude, Ch. 7:9
With the opening of the second part of the episode there is a sudden
expansion of the horizon; every barrier of race and nation has
disappeared, and a triumphant multitude of the saved from all peoples, a
company which no man could number, far surpassing that of Israel, is seen
standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes,
the symbol of purity,(410) and having palms in their hands, the token of
joy as well as victory (cf. _I Macc._ 13.51), and perhaps, also, as a sign
of triumphant homage to the Lamb. The use of palms in the Feast of
Tabernacles may have been foremost in thought here, but we need not
confine the significance of the figure to the Jewish symbolism of joy. It
probably includes all the ideas connected with palms that were familiar to
the thought of the time, without regard to their origin; for it is not
justifiable to assume that the Apocalypse contains no ideas borrowed from
heathen antiquity, but moves exclusively within the circle of sacred, that
is, Jewish imagery and symbols.(411) This represents an opinion which in
the light of later studies in Apocalyptic cannot be maintained, though
manifestly everything has been assimilated by the Jewish conception, from
whatever source it may have been derived. The phase of the vision
presented in the ninth verse, affords a view of the redeemed church in its
fulness, the multitude of the saved from both covenants now joined in one
body in which no distinction of race or nation exists, a view much wider
in its scope than the former one of the sealing.(412)
Many commentators, it must be recognized, view this passage differently
(v. 4‐9), and maintain the full identity of the hundred and forty‐four
thousand and the great multitude by a somewhat strained exegesis, making
the hundred and forty‐four thousand the symbol of the Christian
church.(413) In the interpretation of such symbols, however, we must
always allow a latitude of view, for different interpretations appeal with
varying force to different minds; and it should be remembered in holding
the view accepted in this work, that while the symbol is taken from the
case of Israel, and is therefore correctly interpreted as applying
primarily to the people of Israel, yet it is not Jews as distinguished
from Gentiles that are meant, but the saints of the Old Testament as
distinguished from those of the New, the few in contrast with the many;
and that in a wider sense the figure symbolizes salvation as a whole,
represented here by a part in which it is shown to be effective, the main
idea being salvation made certain and efficient by the divine act of
sealing, while in the great multitude the symbol is that of salvation
become world‐wide in its results. The question of the identity of the two
groups is therefore subordinate, and cannot be regarded as of any special
importance.
It may be well at this point, in view of the great and radiant multitude
of the redeemed, the innumerable company out of all nations and tribes and
peoples and tongues, who stand before the throne and join in the cry of
“Salvation unto our God ... and unto the Lamb” (v. 10), for us to
emphasize the wide‐spread and triumphant effect of the gospel in the world
of men which is here foreshown. It has been too often asserted by modern
critics that the outlook of the Revelation is narrow and Jewish, and its
view limited and discouraging. As against this it is well to remember the
lesson of these verses, as well as that of many other similar passages
throughout the book (cf. chs. 5:9; 21:24; 22:7, _et al._). We should also
clearly see that the Revelation from its nature and purpose deals chiefly
with the plan of God for the ages, and with the causes and events which
lead on to the end of the world, and that therefore its essential message
is not addressed to evangelistic effort or to missionary enterprise, but
to faith in God when days are dark and storms fill the sky, and to
preparation for meeting him in a fairer world when earthly days are done.
Yet the book just as clearly shows that the divine plan both includes and
prepares for the essentially world‐wide and universal mission of
Christianity; and the message of the gospel to every creature is repeated
and emphasized throughout in such a way as to make plain that the great
work and chief purpose of the Kingdom of God in the earth is to redeem and
to save the lost. And surely this important truth should never be left out
of view in our perusal of the book.
2 The Cry of the Church Triumphant, Ch. 7:10‐12
The whole body of the redeemed, the saved out of both covenants, the
united company which no man could number, that includes both Jews and
Gentiles, is heard unitedly to cry with a loud voice, “Salvation unto our
God ... and unto the Lamb”, i. e. salvation is attributed unto God and the
Lamb(414) (the Salvation Chorus), while all the heavenly court join them
in a seven‐fold symphony of praise. This is the last in a series of
growing doxologies. In ch. 1:6 the praise ascribed is twofold, in ch. 4:11
it is threefold, in ch. 5:13 it is fourfold, and now in ch. 7:12 it is
sevenfold—“Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor,
and power, and might, _be_ unto our God forever and ever”. It should also
be noted that in the Salvation Chorus, for the first of three times in the
book, salvation is ascribed by a voice from heaven to God, or to God and
to Christ, viz. in chs. 7:10; 12:10; and 19:1.
3 The Redeemed Before the Throne, Ch. 7:13‐17
John’s attention is at this point specially directed to the triumphant
company that is before the throne of God by one of the elders (v.
13f.)(415) in order to emphasize that they of that company have come
victorious out of the great tribulation of the earthly life, and
_therefore_ they are ever before the throne serving God day and night in
his temple, i. e. in the ναὸς, the shrine of the temple in heaven, and
sharing in the exceeding blessedness of the divine presence as their great
reward. “And he that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle
over them ... and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.”(416) It
is not likely that by the great tribulation in v. 14 is meant a special
period of trial such as is implied in ch. 3:10, and by the words of our
Lord in Mat. 24:21, but rather the world‐tribulation that belongs to the
earthly life of the Christian throughout all time, “the tribulation of
Jesus” (ch. 1:9) in which John felt that he had a share. Some, however,
think that it is the same period of trial referred to before as preceding
the end of the world.(417) Thus with a prophetic view of the redeemed
before the throne the episode closes, and the seventh seal is opened (ch.
8:1).
III The Vision of the Seven Trumpets (A Vision of Threatening). Ch.
8:2‐9:21, and 11:14‐19
The vision of the seven trumpets sets forth in pictorial form a divine
proclamation of the judgments of God upon the sinful world, especially
those to be experienced throughout the prospective history of mankind
until the final consummation of all things. It consists of another group
of seven that are parallel in a certain sense to the vision of the seals,
covering like them the path of the ages, but that form a separate series
complete in themselves and that are issued for a different purpose, the
seals specially manifesting God’s care of his people in the midst of
trial, while the trumpets reveal the divine punishment visited upon the
sinful. These two lines of judgment are conceived of as occurring mainly
in the same period, but looked at from another point of view: or, perhaps,
it might better be said, that we have here another group of seven which
follow the whole course of history and develop a new line of divinely
ordered occurrences that neither follow nor precede, but are quite
independent of any time‐relation to the preceding series of the seals. The
number of the trumpets, like that of the seals, is intended to indicate
the completeness of the series, for seven is the number of completeness.
They are general indications of God’s judgments, and though particular
events may be partial fulfilments, the complete fulfilment is in all
time.(418)
A The Preparation for the Trumpets, Ch. 8:2‐6
In a short intervening section preparatory to the trumpets, we are shown
that the prayers of the saints lead to the manifestation of divine wrath
against sin. These verses, it may be said, form a transition from the
vision of the seals to that of the trumpets, and are in fact included by
some under the seventh seal, though not properly belonging to it. The
former vision reaches a fitting close in the period of eternal rest which
is looked upon under the seventh seal, and we wait in the quiet that it
brings, expecting the end to be announced at once. But instead of that a
further vision is revealed to the seer, and we again traverse the course
of history by a different path to its ending. In another series of seven
under the trumpets the punishment of the ungodly is reviewed, and divine
wrath is seen to fall upon the heads of the sinful. This succeeding series
of trumpet visions is introduced by verses two to six in the eighth
chapter.
1 An Angel Offers Incense upon the Golden Altar, Ch. 8:3‐5
The incense is added unto the prayers of all the saints which are thus
typically purified, and they are straightway presented before the throne
of God in heaven. Incense was the symbol of prayer under the Old
Testament, but it becomes here, by a further development of the symbol,
the vehicle for bearing the prayers to the throne, and the action
apparently follows the form of the Jewish ritual worship. An angel
standing over the brazen altar of sacrifice, takes fire from it in a
golden censer or fire‐pan, and much incense is then given him to add unto
the prayers of all the saints, evidently for their purification and that
he may offer them at the golden altar of incense which is before the
throne of God. Completing this action, the angel returns again to the
brazen altar to take fire from it that he may cast it as the symbol of
judgment upon the earth (cf. Ezek. 10:2f). Others, however, think that
only one altar, that of incense, is referred to in the action.(419) In
either case the worship of the Old Testament is the basis of the figure,
though the scene is laid in heaven. “And there followed thunders, and
voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake”, the tokens of God’s presence
and of the approaching divine judgment.
2 The Seven Angels Prepare to Sound, Ch. 8:2, 6
To the seven angels are given seven trumpets with charge of the series of
impending woes; and the angels put the trumpets to their lips ready to
sound, mention of which is made in order to emphasize the importance to be
attached to their action as angels who stand before God. Their position
implies special service, and their number doubtless indicates the
perfection of their ministry.(420) The trumpet, which was the common
instrument for public announcement, and often connected with the idea of
judgment,(421) may be here intended to recall its use at the fall of
Jericho (Josh. 6:4f). The seven angels may also be taken to represent the
whole body of angel ministrants who serve before God, just as the seven
churches symbolize the whole church.
B The Trumpets Sounded, Ch. 8:7‐9:21; and 11:14‐19
The sounding of the trumpets represents the proclamation of signal and
destructive judgments upon the ungodly world. The form of these judgments
in the vision was adapted to current conceptions of great calamities, and
may be regarded as symbolizing all the terrible woes in store for all the
wicked in all the ages—wide world‐pictures of the divine purpose of
punishment. The latter half of the first century was marked by many
terrible visitations, such as earthquakes, famines, and plagues, and it
should not be thought strange to find these events reflected in such a
book as the Apocalypse at a time when they were fresh in the public mind.
That they had some such source is evident, for the graphic descriptions of
appalling disaster by earthquake in Martinique (1901), and in Messina
(1908), have served to illumine many passages in the Revelation, as have
also other similar occurrences previously known. These judgments in the
visions constitute not only the divine means of punishment, but become the
divine test of character, revealing the essential nature of evil men; for
the effect of the judgments, unlike that of the seals, falls mainly upon
the evil.
1 The Sounding of the First Trumpet, Ch. 8:7
The sounding of the first trumpet is followed by hail and fire mingled in
blood cast upon the earth: the symbol of disaster visited upon the land,
and men punished by such means as in the days of Pharaoh,—for fire is a
symbol of the divine presence and wrath, and the blood indicates the
destructive effects about to be wrought upon both the animate and
inanimate creation for the chastisement of man. The resemblance of the
first four judgments of the trumpets and also of the vials to the plagues
of Egypt, is too manifest to escape the attention of any careful reader of
Scripture, and affords a ready proof of their representative character.
These well‐known historic incidents of judgment, belonging to the birth‐
period of the Hebrew nation, which are so deeply inwrought in the Old
Testament story, and whose significance was so well understood, become the
ready types of other judgments that are sent with a similar purpose and
that belong to the divine order, but the intimate nature of which it was
not the divine purpose to disclose. They are widely suggestive of God’s
power over things the most permanent and stable. The destruction of but a
third part of the objects affected as the result of the trumpet series,
represents a limited judgment, not an actual third but a fractional
portion destroyed, a great but not the greater part. The earth, the sea,
the rivers, and the heavenly bodies, on which the first four judgments
fall, are parts of a fourfold division of the universe which is common in
this book, and are intended to designate the entire created world, both
here and in the vision of the vials.(422) In this comprehensive
designation the earth, or the land, was thought of as the nourishing
mother and the dwelling‐place of man; the sea as the agent and arena of
commerce; the rivers as the seat of cities, the centres of population, the
arteries of trade, and the source of water supply; and the heavenly bodies
as the source of light, and as the rulers of destiny—together representing
in common thought the great things of life to the world of men. Disaster
to these, the sources of wealth and well‐being, has always been among
Oriental nations the type of all that is most terrible.
2 The Sounding of the Second Trumpet, Ch. 8:8‐9
The sounding of the second trumpet is followed by, as it were, a great
mountain burning with fire cast into the sea, thereby working widespread
ruin: the symbol of disaster visited upon the sea, one part of creation
which is used as God’s agent for punishing mankind. To move a mountain was
a token of divine power, and it was blazing with fire as a sign of the
divine presence and wrath—another Sinai in effect flung into the sea. This
striking figure of a mountain of fire was perhaps suggested to John’s mind
by a volcano, with which he must have become familiar while resident in
Asia; but attention is directed more particularly in these visions,
especially the first four, to the effect produced rather than to the means
used, whether hail and fire, or a mountain, or a star, or the smiting of
the planets.(423) The effect produced is one of great terror, though the
way in which it applies to men is left to be inferred, and is not
attempted to be described. Such an incident was well adapted to the
thought of the first century, and could not but strike terror in the mind
of the beholder because of the complete helplessness of men in the
presence of such a disaster. It presents a wide field for thought, the
limits of which are not defined. It is in fact one way of saying that God
will make all nature to strive against man because of sin.
3 The Sounding of the Third Trumpet, Ch. 8:10‐11
The sounding of the third trumpet is followed by the falling of a great
star from heaven, called Wormwood, upon the waters, burning as a torch and
making them bitter: the symbol of disaster visited upon the rivers and
fountains of waters, still another part of creation, as an act of divine
judgment upon sinful men who dwell by the waters. As under the former
trumpets only a third part was affected: “And many men died of the waters,
because they were made bitter.” The falling of a star was regarded as a
sign of some great disaster about to happen, and is here apparently
intended to be typical of judgment sent from heaven, while the name
Wormwood signifies the bitterness of the trouble which it entails upon
men. But beyond this all is indefinite, a quality characteristic of
Apocalyptic which often heightens rather than lessens the general effect.
The bitter waters expressed the moral bitterness that men must taste
because of their sin: the wide result is thus covered by an unspoken
appeal to thought through a significant symbol.
4 The Sounding of the Fourth Trumpet, Ch. 8:12
The sounding of the fourth trumpet is followed by the smiting of the sun,
moon, and stars: the symbol of disaster visited upon the heavenly bodies,
not only destroying their light but inflicting a punishment peculiarly
terrifying to the Oriental mind because of the occult influence which
these bodies were supposed to exert upon the future destinies of men. We
need not necessarily regard John as personally sharing in this opinion,
but only as using the language and appealing to the thought of his time,
as in the preceding reference to the falling star. He seems to look upon
these strange occurrences mainly as signs of the divine purpose, as
“wonders in the heavens and in the earth” (Joel 2:30) through which God
wrought in manifesting his will. The evils resulting from this visitation
in the vision, as in the former judgments, are suggested rather than
named; but they lie before the mind in a haunting way to be filled in by a
vivid imagination with scenes of terror and wrath.
(1) The Eagle and Its Message, Ch. 8:13
At this point an eagle (not an angel, as in the Authorized Version), the
symbol of carnage, appears flying high in mid‐heaven, crying, “Woe! Woe!
Woe!” and indicating by its rapid flight and thrice repeated call of
terror the swiftness of the three coming woes of the remaining
trumpets.(424) Also three, the number of the spiritual in contrast with
the material, serves to indicate the sphere to which these judgments
belong. These three, the fifth, sixth, and seventh, are often called the
“woe‐trumpets”, and their effects are visited directly upon men, not
indirectly through natural objects as under the preceding four of the
series.
5 The Sounding of the Fifth Trumpet, Ch. 9:1‐12
The sounding of the fifth trumpet is followed by a vision of a star from
heaven, fallen unto earth, the symbolic representation of Satan cast out
of heaven for his sin, and by smoke as of a great furnace enveloping a
swarm of locusts that ascend from the pit of the abyss, the present
dwelling‐place of Satan and the familiar haunt of demons: the symbol of
disaster to men through Satan and his multitudinous host, “the spiritual
hosts of wickedness” (Eph. 6:12), the demons from the pit. These are
permitted to torment men, producing bitter anguish for five months, the
usual life of the locust, and the symbol of an incomplete or limited
period of time, which may here refer to the time of man’s existence upon
the earth. Five, the half of ten the complete number, is a symbol of
incompleteness or indefiniteness. The invading army of locusts is a well‐
known figure of widespread disaster, as in the prophecy of Joel (ch.
2:1‐11). In accordance with general apocalyptic usage the pit of the abyss
is regarded as the present abode of the Devil and his angels, and is
conceived of as a vast subterranean depth connecting with the surface of
the earth by a great shaft or well which can be opened or closed from
above, and the entrance to which may be locked or unlocked by a key.(425)
That which at first seems to be a cloud of smoke proves to be teeming with
forms of life, an evident token of the hidden nature of the source of
evil. The power of the locusts is directed immediately against the wicked,
such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads, while their sting
seems to be the type of the poison of sin which they infuse into the veins
of men, and the torment which they inflict to refer to the visitation of
sins that bring terrible punishment upon the offenders so that men prefer
death rather than life. The description of the locusts as “like unto
horses prepared for war etc.”, is a realistic touch intended to heighten
the sense of terror, but not to identify them with any objects in human
experience. Also the statement that “their faces were as men’s faces”,
implies only that they were like men in appearance, though some think this
points to human agents. The star is here used in a quite different sense
from that under the third trumpet,—for to insist that all objects must
have a single symbolism, and that the star must mean the same in every
case, i. e. a person, there as well as here, is to neglect one of the
clearest lessons of Apocalyptic. Here it is a personification or symbol of
Satan (Isa. 14:12), the angel of the abyss, who is named Apollyon,(426) i.
e. one who causes perdition to mankind, or in Hebrew, Abaddon, i. e. the
destroyer, a sufficient identification for the reader of the Old
Testament. The awful woe that the world of evil men suffers at the hands
of Satan and his legions is the ideal content of this trumpet; and we
notice that the severity of the judgments seems to increase as they
progress toward the end. The first woe is now declared to be past (v. 12),
but two others are foretold as yet to come.
6 The Sounding of the Sixth Trumpet, Ch. 9:13‐21, and 11:14
The sounding of the sixth trumpet is followed by the loosing of four
angels from the bed of the Euphrates (which is done at the bidding of a
voice from the four horns(427) of the golden altar of incense that is
before God, and underneath which are the souls of them that had been slain
for the Word of God—evidently a divine command) who had been prepared for
an appointed time, even “for the hour and day and month and year, that
they should kill the third part of men” from the earth, and by the coming
of a vast invading army of horsemen, the double square of a myriad, or two
hundred millions in all, the largest number used in the Apocalypse, the
type of an innumerable multitude, which apparently act under direction of
the four angels, and destroy a third part of men from the earth:(428) the
symbol of disaster to men through the world‐forces of heathenism, which
are under direction of the world‐rulers of the darkness (Eph. 6:12). The
unbinding of the angels is the symbol of evil let loose among men, for the
angels are evil as is indicated by their being bound, by their number, and
by the place of their imprisonment, i. e. the binding is the symbol of
divine restraint until the appointed time; their number is four, the earth
number, indicating that they belong to this world which is usually thought
of as evil; and the Euphrates, the place where they are bound, is the old
seat of the world‐power, and the representative of heathenism with its
multitudinous host. The evils inflicted by the heathen nations upon
mankind, especially the evils of war with their concomitant results, are
here indicated by this forceful figure; yet these, though deep and
terrible, entirely fail to turn the rest of men, who escape death, from
idol worship and its attendant impurities—a marvelous forecast of the path
of history, for the heathen powers have time and again become the agents
of woe to mankind, yet the people have not awakened to the true source of
their sorrow in idolatry. The description of the horses and of their
riders in the vision is purely an ideal one, intended to make them the
objects of greatest terror, a true Oriental touch, appealing to the vivid
Eastern imagination as such figures do with us to the minds of children.
The woes of men at the hands of heathen nations is the evident content of
this trumpet, as is clearly indicated in the twentieth verse of the
chapter. At this point the second woe is declared to be past, and the
third to be about to come quickly (ch. 11:14); but between them intervenes
a vision of divine help, and of the value of the church’s witness (ch.
10:1‐11:13).
This view of the fifth and sixth trumpets seems to meet more fully the
statements of the text than other views, and to conform best to the
general character of the whole series; for notwithstanding the recognized
obscurity of the trumpet visions, we can surely discern divine judgments
for wrongdoing in the first four, under forms of physical evil visited
upon the natural creation, and in the remaining three, manifestations of
moral evil visited upon men for their sin. That the pit or abyss points to
demoniacal forces, and the Euphrates to human agencies, is sufficiently
evident without discussion.(429) The application of the incidents of the
fifth and sixth trumpets to Mohammedans and Turks by some of the
historical school, who have even interpreted the tails of the horses as a
prophetic reference to these well‐known symbols of authority used by
Turkish Pashas, is a curious example of capricious fancy. The fact that
the events predicted under the sixth trumpet find a wide exemplification
in the incursions of Turk and Mohammedan, Goth and Vandal, is only a
clearer proof of their ideal character. And it is surely better to leave
these highly wrought imaginative symbols of the trumpets, with their deep
suggestiveness of appalling forms of coming evil, in the vague
indefiniteness in which we find them, rather than to mar their beauty by
weak and narrow interpretations.
[The Episode IIIb, which in this work is given after the seventh trumpet,
occurs at the present point in the vision covering chs. 10:1 to 11:13. The
connection is resumed in ch. 11:14, for the second woe found in that verse
belongs in order of thought at the close of the sixth trumpet, the
intervening part being parenthetical—see the Scripture text as paragraphed
in this volume].
7 The Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet, Ch. 11:15‐19
The sounding of the seventh trumpet is followed by great voices in heaven,
declaring that the kingdom of the world is now become _the kingdom_ of our
Lord and of his Christ;(430) by the elders praising God that the time of
judgment and reward has come (the Victory Chorus); by the ark of the
covenant, the token of God’s abiding presence, being revealed in the
opened temple in heaven—a traditional sign in the later Judaism of the
coming of the Messiah;(431) and by lightnings, voices, thunders, and an
earthquake with great hail, the necessary accompaniments in Jewish thought
of the great and final day of wrath: the multiple symbol of the final
judgment, and of the glorious triumph of God’s kingdom. The contents of
the seventh trumpet are not fully developed, perhaps because they are too
great for description, but in it we reach the climax and issue of the
whole process of judgment that is exhibited in the series, the full and
final establishment of the kingdom. The result is viewed in its entirety,
and the millennial period of victory is not brought separately into view.
The unveiling of the ark of covenant mercy and the ushering in of the
kingdom close the vision, and constitute an informal transition to the
vision of conflict through which the triumph has been effected.