We have now reached the point where the thrilling interest of this book

commences. With the opening of the seals of the book of God's purposes

we have the prophecies of the future, the unfolding of the events to be,

described under appropriate symbols. The contents of six seals are

contained in this and the following chapter, while the seventh occupies

the remainder of the volume.

A word relative to the plan of the prophecies will be appropriate at

this time. I will again state what will be made very clear

hereafter--that the events are narrated by series, and not by centuries.

A particular theme is taken up and carried through to its completion,

then the narrative returns and another subject is traced to its end.

Thus, the entire book consists of a number of distinct parallel series

covering the same ground.

Upon the opening of the first seal, John is summoned as with a voice of

thunder by one of the living creatures to draw near; and the object that

meets his vision is a white horse with its rider. The symbol is that of

a victorious warrior, being drawn from the civil and military life of

the Romans. The symbol is one of dignity. It does not consist of some

inanimate object such as a mountain, a sea, or a river, neither is it a

wild ferocious beast; but it is that of a living, active, intelligent

being, and he, as denoted by various insignia, a conqueror. He rides a

white horse, such as victors used in triumphal procession; his bow and

crown are also symbols of victory. He goes forth conquering and to

conquer, or to make conquests.

This symbol is a faithful representation of the early triumphs of

Christianity in its aggressive conflict with the huge systems of error

with which it had to contend. Some have supposed that the rider

represented Jesus Christ; but this can not be, for many reasons, two of

which I will give. First. Christ always appears on the symbolic stage in

his own character, unrepresented by another, for the reason, as before

stated, that there is no creature that can analagously represent Him who

claims equality with God. Not one name or attribute peculiar to him is

mentioned in the description. Second. There are four horsemen brought to

view in this chapter, and the symbols all being drawn from the same

department, must have the same general application. If the first

horseman symbolizes _a definite personage_, so do the remaining three;

but we should have great difficulty in identifying the last three,

giving them an individual application.

Others make the first horseman a symbol of the gospel itself, but the

gospel is not a living, active, intelligent agent, such as the symbol

evidently is, but is only a system of the revealed truth. All congruity

and appropriateness in the comparison is lacking.

But let us give this symbol further consideration. It is not enough that

its interpretation alone be given, but the reader is justly entitled to

a knowledge of the process by which we arrive at the truth. In the first

place, we have a symbol of great dignity and excellence, and we must

look for an object of corresponding character. The symbol is that of a

living agent, and consequently, we must look for its fulfillment in an

active, intelligent agent. The purity, or whiteness, of the horse on

which the rider was seated would indicate an agency of mild, beneficent

character. Finally, the symbol is drawn, as before stated, from the

civil and military life of the Romans. Now, according to the laws of

symbolic language, a symbol never represents an object like itself, but

an analagous one in another department. A wild beast does not represent

a wild beast, but something of analagous character. Seven fat and seven

lean kine do not represent kine like themselves, but something

analagous--seven years of plenty and as many of famine. There are only

two great series of events described in the Revelation--the history of

ecclesiastical events and the political history of certain nations. The

present symbol is drawn from one of these departments--the political or

the civil life of the Romans; and leaving the latter department to find

its signification in another department, we have no place to go except

into the department of ecclesiastical affairs. Entering, therefore, the

spiritual realm, and looking about us for an object that perfectly meets

every requirement of the symbol, we find it in _the humble ministers of

Christ_, who boldly went forth in obedience to the divine command to

extend the peaceful triumphs of the cross and to carry the gospel of the

kingdom of God "into all the world." Mark 16:15-18; Mat. 28:19, 20. This

succession of faithful, holy, devoted men is worthy of a place in

Apocalyptic vision. They went forth "conquering and to conquer"; and the

victories they gained were such as the world never witnessed before.

Worthy are they to wear a victor's crown, for they have "fought a good

fight."

Because of its connection with events following, it is necessary for us

to consider the divine position of these first ministers of the church.

Their _equality_ is clearly taught in the New Testament. Christ gave

them the express command, "Be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your

Master, even Christ; and all ye are _brethren_." Mat. 23:8. When two of

the disciples manifested a desire to gain preeminence over their

brethren and their aspirations displeased the ten, Christ said to them

all, "Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over

them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it

_shall not be so among you_." Mat. 20:25, 26. Thus a perfect standard of

equality in the ministry is lifted up. The beloved apostle, the writer

of the Revelation, when addressing the elders of the seven churches of

Asia in particular, humbly and affectionately represented himself as

their "_brother_ and companion in tribulation." Rev. 1:9.

I will now adduce the testimony of several creditable historians, who

are compelled to admit the humble equality of the New Testament

ministry, notwithstanding the fact that some of them belonged to

churches containing a very _unequal_ ministry.

Mosheim says: "The rulers of the church were called their presbyters or

bishops, which two titles are, in the New Testament, undoubtedly applied

to the same order of men.... Let no one confound the bishops of this

primitive and golden period of the church, with those of whom we read in

the following ages. For, though they were both distinguished by the same

name, yet they differed extremely, and that in many respects." Vol. I,

p. 99.

This fact is now admitted by nearly all denominations, even

Episcopalians. In the work entitled "Episcopacy Tested by Scripture,"

published by the Protestant Episcopal Tract Society, New York, the

author, one of their able advocates, makes the following admission

concerning the title _bishop_ in the New Testament, "that the name is

there given to the middle order or presbyters; and _all_ that we read in

the New Testament concerning _bishops_, including of course the words

_overseer_ and _oversight_, which have the same derivation, is to be

regarded as pertaining to that middle grade"--the presbyters or elders.

Page 12.

The noted historian Waddington, also an Episcopalian, makes the same

admission in the following words: "It is also true that in the earliest

government of the first Christian society, that of Jerusalem, not the

elders only, but the 'whole church' were associated with the apostles;

and it is even _certain_ that the terms _bishop_ and _elder_ or

_presbyter_ were, in the first instances, and for a short period,

sometimes used synomously, and indiscriminately applied to the _same

order_ in the ministry." Church History, Part I, p. 41. The italicizing

is mine.

The well-known historian Milman, also an Episcopalian, in his History of

Christianity, says, "The earliest Christian communities appear to have

been ruled and represented, in the absence of the apostle who was their

first founder, by their elders, who are likewise called bishops, or

overseers of the church." Page 194.

Kurtz, in his Church History, says: "To aid them in their work, or to

supply their places in their absence (Acts 14:23), the apostles ordained

rulers in every church, who bore the common name of _elders_ from their

dignity, and of _bishops_ from the nature of their office. That

originally the elders were the same as the bishops, we gather with

absolute certainty from the statements of the New Testament and of

Clement of Rome, a disciple of the apostles. (See his first epistle to

the Corinthians, Chaps. 42, 44:52.) 1. The presbyters are expressly

called bishops--compare [the Greek especially] Acts 20:17 with verse 28,

and Titus 1:5 with verse 7. 2. The office of presbyter is described as

next to and highest after that of apostle (Acts 15:6, 22). Similarly,

the elders are represented as those to whom alone the rule, the teaching

and the care of the church is entrusted (1 Tim. 5:17; 1 Pet. 5:1,

etc.).... In [several] passages of the New Testament and of Clement we

read of many bishops in one and the same church. In the face of such

indubitable evidence, it is difficult to account for the pertinacity

with which Romish and Anglican theologians insist that these two offices

had from the first been different in name and functions.... Even Jerome,

Augustine, Urban II. (1091) and Petrus Lombardus admit that originally

the two had been identical. It was reserved for the Council of Trent to

convert this truth into a heresy." Pages 67, 68. Chrysostom, Theodoret,

and others also admitted the same.

Many similar historical testimonies now lying before me to the humble

equality of the New Testament ministry could be added; but lest the

reader become weary, I will conclude with the following beautiful

description from D'Aubigne in his noted History of the Reformation: "The

church was in the beginning a community of brethren, guided by a few of

the _brethren_." Again, "All Christians were priests of the living God,

with _humble pastors_ as their guides." Vol. I, pp. 35, 50.

With this description of the early ministers of Christ, who went forth

under the symbol of the first horseman to disciple all nations, we have

the events pertaining to the early history of the church, laid before

us; until the opening of the second seal brings us to another important

phase of its history.

3. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second

beast say, Come and see.

4. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was

given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and

that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him

a great sword.

The symbol of this seal is that of a rider going forth on a red horse

armed with a great sword with which to take peace from the earth and to

kill. It is drawn from the same source as that of the preceding one, but

differing greatly in the character of the horseman and the object of his

mission. The symbol is one of great dignity--a living, intelligent

agent--drawn from civil and military life. For the same reason as given

before, we must go out of the department of civil life into the history

of religious affairs to find its fulfilment.

Notice, also, the peculiar characteristics of this horseman and wherein

he differs from that of the first seal. The color of the horse is red,

denoting something very different from the peace, purity, and benignity

of the white. Instead of gaining glorious spiritual conquests and

triumphs, like him of the first seal, he was to take peace from the

earth. In the place of a victor's crown, he possesses "a great sword"

with which to kill, denoting an agent of great destruction.

Where shall we look in the history of religious affairs to find the

object that meets the requirements of this symbol? Who were the active,

intelligent agents that appeared as the great opposers of the

establishment of Christianity by the rider of the white horse? We find

the answer undoubtedly in the propagators of the _Pagan religions_. As

soon as Christianity began to gain a foothold in the Roman Empire, the

priests and supporters of Paganism were exasperated to the last degree,

and they determined to crush out the Christian religion. An example of

Pagan opposition is found in the nineteenth chapter of Acts, where it is

recorded that the preaching of the gospel so stirred the people of

Ephesus that they were filled with wrath and for the space of about two

hours cried out, saying, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" This great

conflict between Christianity and Paganism will be more fully described

under other symbols in a subsequent chapter, therefore I will make this

description brief.

The destruction of life brought about by this rider of the red horse

doubtless signifies the great slaughter of the Christians at the hands

of the Pagans. During ten seasons of severe persecution, which occurred

under the reigns of the emperors Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Marcus

Aurelius, Septimus Severus, Maximus, Decius, Gallus, Valerian, and

Diocletian, the Christians suffered every indignity that their

relentless persecutors could heap upon them. They had their eyes burned

out with red-hot irons; they were dragged about with ropes until life

was extinct; they were beheaded, stoned to death, crucified, thrown to

wild beasts, burned at the stake; yet "they overcame by the blood of the

Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives

unto the death." Chap. 12:11.

It may appear at first that taking the rider of the horse as a symbolic

agent but the killing which he effected as literal, is an inconsistency

and a variation from the laws of symbolic language; but such is not

necessarily the case. One principle laid down in the beginning was, that

the description of an object or event must necessarily be literal when

no symbolic object could be found to analagously represent it. The

destruction of human life could not well be represented symbolically,

there being no destruction analagous to it whose meaning would be

obvious; hence it must appear as a literal description. This is proved

by many texts in the Revelation that will admit of no other application;

such as verses 9-11 of this chapter; chapter 13:10; 17:6; etc.

But the literal destruction of life may be chosen as a symbol to

represent a destruction to which it is plainly analagous; such as the

destruction of spiritual life, the overthrow of the civil or

ecclesiastical institutions of society, etc. That it is sometimes

employed thus as a symbol will be shown clearly in subsequent chapters.

Hence, in every instance where killing men is the work of a symbolic

agent, the context, or general series of events with which it is

connected, must determine whether the literal or symbolical

signification is intended. In the present prophecy under consideration

it is much more consistent to give it the literal application; for the

devotees of Paganism did not destroy the spiritual life of the church,

which would be an analagous killing; neither did they succeed in

overthrowing the structure of Christianity.

5. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third

beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and

he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

6. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A

measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a

penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

This symbol is also that of a horseman, differing from the preceding

ones only in his characteristics. He is seated upon a black horse,

denoting something dark or appalling in its nature, the very opposite of

that of the first seal. He possesses no bow nor crown, but instead he

has a pair of balances in his hand for weighing food. This he deals out

only at exorbitant prices--"a measure of wheat for a penny, and three

measures of barley for a penny." The penny, or denarius, is equal to

about fifteen cents of our money, and was the ordinary wages of a day

laborer. In the parable of our Lord recorded in Mat. 20, the householder

is represented as hiring laborers for a penny a day to labor in his

vineyard. The measure, or _choenix_, of wheat was the usual daily

allowance of food for a man. So according to the rate given, it would

require a day's labor to supply food sufficient for one man, which shows

an enormous price placed upon these necessaries of life. In ordinary

times the penny would procure about twenty measures of wheat instead of

one, and fifty or sixty measures of barley instead of three. Surely this

represents famine prices.

The expression "see thou hurt not the oil and the wine" seems to have

some direct connection with the exorbitant schedule of food rates. The

following facts of history, as recorded by Lord, will serve to make the

matter clear: "The taxes required in the Roman empire, to sustain the

court and civil service, the army and desolating wars, and the hungry

brood of office-holders, as well as to provide largesses to the

soldiers, were excessive in the extreme, so as to prove an almost

insupportable burden to the people. The ordinary and economical expenses

of the government were great; but when we take into view that during a

period of seventy-two years previous to Diocletian, there were

twenty-six individuals who held the imperial crown, besides a great

number of unsuccessful aspirants, and that each of these must secure the

favor of the army and the people by large donations of money, we may

well conceive that the taxes and exactions laid to raise the needed

amount must have proved a crushing burden. They were so great as

sometimes to strip men of their wealth and reduce them to poverty. These

were laid upon everything that could be brought into service. Nothing

was too insignificant to escape.... The taxes might be paid in money, or

in produce, grain, fruit, oil, or whatever else it might be;... The

exactions were so excessive that the people were led to avoid them in

every possible mode, as men always will under such circumstances." Once

in fifteen years, a Roman indiction, an assessor would go round to levy

upon the products of the soil, and the assessment was made according to

the amount of the yield. One method adopted to secure a lower assessment

at this time was that of mutilating their fruit trees and vines. We find

among the Roman laws severe enactments against such as "feign poverty,

or cut a vine, or stint the fruit of a tree" in order to avoid a fair

valuation, and the penalty attached was the death of the offender and

the confiscation of all his property. The fact that this law existed

shows that the offense was committed and also that the exactions of the

government must have been of the most oppressive kind.

With these facts before us it is easy to discern the nature of the

symbol, being that of a Roman magistrate prepared to enforce his severe

exactions upon the people at the exorbitant rate of three measures of

wheat for a penny and three measures of barley for a penny, accompanied

by the solemn injunction, "See thou hurt not the oil and the wine," that

is, the olive-trees and the vines.

It is evident that we must, as before, go out of the department of civil

and military life into the realm of ecclesiastical history to find the

true fulfilment of this symbol. The black color of the horse would

denote something directly opposite to that of the first seal; and since

the symbol of the first seal represented the establishment of the pure

gospel of Jesus Christ, this symbol must represent the great apostasy

and spiritual darkness that covered the world at a later period. And if

the horseman of the first seal represented the chosen ministry who went

forth in a glorious mission to win trophies of grace, the horseman of

this seal must represent _an apostate ministry_, possessing power and

authority to enforce the severest exactions upon the bread of life, thus

producing a desolating spiritual famine.

This marvelous change from the humble apostolic ministry to an apostate

one did not occur suddenly, but by degrees; and as it has a great

bearing upon other lines of truth to be brought out in subsequent

chapters, it will be profitable to consider the most important steps by

which this transformation was effected.

When the desire for precedence or superiority first manifested itself

among the disciples, Christ repressed it (Mat. 20:25, 26), and it

appeared no more in their midst; but before the close of the first

century it is evident that a thirst for preeminence existed in the

hearts of some who had been the servants of the church. An example of

this is to be found in Diotrephes, who exalted himself above his

ministerial associates. The Apostle John says concerning him: "I wrote

unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence

among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore if I come, I will remember his

deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not

content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and

forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church." 3 John

9, 10.

In the historical extracts given in the explanation of the first

horseman, it is clear that the first ministers were all equal; but a

time came about the close of the first century when the most influential

among the clergy grasped the power and exalted themselves to a position

of authority over the rest. The manner in which this transformation was

effected is explained by the learned Gieseler as follows: "After the

death of the apostles, and the pupils of the apostles, to whom the

general direction of the churches had always been conceded, some one

amongst the presbyters of each church was suffered gradually to take the

lead in its affairs. In the same irregular way the title of _bishop_ was

appropriated to the first presbyter." Eccl. Hist., Vol. I, p. 65. In the

days when the apostles were active in the affairs of the church there

were but two classes in the ministry--elders, or bishops, and deacons;

but when one of the presbyters was exalted to a higher position than the

rest and assumed to himself the exclusive use of the word bishop, there

were three classes. To quote the words of Geo. P. Fisher: "After we

cross the limit of the first century we find that with each board of

elders there is a person to whom the name of bishop is specially

applied, although, for a long time, he is likewise often called a

presbyter. In other words, in the room of a two-fold, we have a

three-fold ministry." Hist. of the Christian Church, p. 51.

The height to which the single bishop of authority in a church had been

exalted is well illustrated in the Ignatian Epistles. Ignatius was

bishop of Antioch and was condemned by the emperor Trajan to suffer

death by being thrown to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre in Rome.

His execution in this manner took place Dec. 20, A.D. 107. He wrote a

number of epistles, a few extracts from which I will give. "Wherefore it

is fitting that ye should run together in accordance with the will of

your bishop, which thing also ye do. For your justly renowned

presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted as exactly to the bishop as the

strings are to the harp." To the Ephesians, Chap. 4. "See that ye all

follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father.... Let no man

do anything connected with the church without the bishop." To the

Smyrnaean's, Chap. 8. "It is not lawful without the bishop either to

baptize or to celebrate a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve

of, that is also pleasing to God." Smyrnaean's, Chap. 8. "It is well to

reverence both God and the bishop. He who honors the bishop has been

honored of God; but he who does anything without the knowledge of the

bishop, does [in reality] serve the devil." Smyrnaean's, Chap. 9.

The power of these bishops advanced steadily during the second century.

The churches of the cities where they were located extended themselves

into the surrounding country and smaller towns, and the presbyters or

elders of these inferior churches were presided over by the bishop of

their mother church, and in this manner the great system of diocesan

episcopacy was developed.[3]

[Footnote 3: The ancient signification of the term _diocese_ must not be

confounded with the modern usage of the term. It then designated a

territory or district, usually containing a number of minor churches,

presided over by one bishop.]

In the latter part of the second century when the disputes concerning

Easter and Montanism arose, the custom of diocesan bishops consulting

with each other on important doctrines began, and this developed in the

third century into regular provincial synods, or councils. On account of

the ecclesiastical or political importance of the cities in which they

were located, certain bishops had a special deference given them, and

they were not slow to take advantage of the opportunity to exalt

themselves to the presidency of these councils; and in a very short time

they possessed immense power and constituted entirely a separate order,

designated by the term metropolitan.

The manner in which this important step in the great apostasy was taken

and the effects produced thereby is well described in the words of the

historian Mosheim (referring to events of the third century), from whom

I quote: "In process of time, all the Christian churches of a province

were formed into one large ecclesiastical body, which, like confederate

states, assembled at certain times, in order to deliberate about the

common interests of the whole.... These councils ... _changed the whole

face of the church_, and gave it a new form; for by them the ancient

privileges of the people were considerably diminished, and the power and

authority of the bishops greatly augmented.... At their first appearance

in these general councils, they acknowledged that they were no more than

the delegates of their respective churches, and that they acted in the

name, and by the appointment of their people. But they soon changed this

humble tone, imperceptibly extended the limits of their authority,

turned their influence into dominion, and their councils into laws; and

openly asserted, at length, that Christ had empowered them to prescribe

to his people, _authoritative rules of faith and manners_.... The order

and decency of these assemblies required that some one of the provincial

bishops met in council, should be invested with a _superior_ degree of

power and authority; and hence the rights of _metropolitans_ derive

their origin."--Church History, Cent. II, Part 2.

When a usurping clergy grasps the power to prescribe "authoritative

rules of faith and manners," to employ the words of Mosheim, we may well

conceive that the true amount of pure spiritual food was exceedingly

small and could be procured only at starvation rates. He who reads the

ecclesiastical events of the third century will find it only too true

that many of the cardinal virtues of apostolic Christianity were almost

lost sight of and that a great spiritual famine existed in the earth

over which this dark horseman of the third seal careered. Instead of

salvation through the Spirit of God being carefully taught, baptismal

regeneration was exalted, and the people were instructed in the saving

virtues of the eucharist. The Platonic idea concerning sin having its

seat in the flesh was adopted, and therefore perfect victory or

sanctification was made to consist in the mortification of the natural

appetites and desires of the body, with the result that a life of

fasting, celibacy, or self-inflicted torture was looked upon as the

surest means of obtaining the favor of Heaven. The writings of such

eminent church Fathers as Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian and others now

lying before me, contain the surest evidences of the woeful extent to

which this dark cloud of superstition and error had settled down over

the world during the period of which I write.

7. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of

the fourth beast say, Come and see.

8. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat

on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was

given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with

sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of

the earth.

The usual interpretation given this horse and its rider is to apply it

to the desolating wars and famines that occurred in the Roman Empire.

This view is embodied in the celebrated painting "Death on the Pale

Horse," in which death is represented as going forth with war,

pestilence, famine, and wild beasts, to ravage the Roman empire. We are

informed by historians that dreadful pestilences and famines did prevail

and in some places nearly depopulated the country, and that the

remaining inhabitants could not make head against the beasts that

multiplied in the land. But the fact that such events occurred is not

sufficient proof that this symbol has reference to such. Famines and

pestilences may have occurred many times without forming a part of the

Apocalyptic vision.

The greatest objection to giving this part of the vision such a literal

interpretation is, that it fails to bring out its symbolic character. To

what, then, does it refer? We have, as before, a horseman, indicating

that the agent is one of the same general character, differing mainly in

his features and mission. This horse was of a livid, cadaverous hue,

denoting an agent of ghastly, terrible nature. The living rider bore the

awful name of "Death," or as in the original, "The Death," by way of

emphasis. Death literally was not the agent--it is not so stated--but

the rider was termed The Death, or The Destroyer, because of his

terrible mission; and Hell followed with him.

Applying the laws of symbolic language as heretofore, it is evident that

this symbol represents a great persecuting ecclesiastical power. And

with this thought before us, we can scarcely fail to recognize it as a

true description of _the Papacy_. The great apostasy, described under

the preceding seal, prepared the way for the final and complete

establishment of the "man of sin"; but during the period there brought

to view the ministers of religion, power-seeking and apostate as they

were, were unable to enforce their claims by the power of persecution.

Under the present seal, however, is represented a later stage of their

corruption, when a great hierarchal system, sustained and upheld by the

arm of civil power, was able to bear tyrannical rule over a great

portion of the earth. During this period clerical ambition and

usurpation reached its greatest height.

After speaking of the power possessed by the metropolitans, Mosheim

says: "The universal church had now the appearance of one vast republic,

formed by a combination of a great number of little states. This

occasioned the creation of a new order of ecclesiastics, who were

appointed in different parts of the world, as _heads_ of the church, and

whose office it was to preserve the consistence and union of that

immense body, whose members were so widely dispersed throughout the

nations. Such was the nature and office of the Patriarchs." Church

History, Cent. II, part 2.

Thus, the bishops, or metropolitans, of certain of the most important

cities were exalted to a still higher position as special _heads_ of the

church. They were termed _Exarchs_ at first, after the title of the

provincial governors, but afterwards received the more ecclesiastical

appellation _Patriarchs_. The term Patriarch had been in use for a long

time in the church signifying merely a bishop, irrespective of the

dignity he possessed, but it was finally limited to this higher class of

the clergy, in which sense I now employ it. The cities that first

enjoyed this chief distinction were Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch. The

general council of Nice (A.D. 325) in its sixth canon recognized the

superior authority already possessed by these cities. See D'Aubigne's

Hist, of Reformation, Vol. I, p. 41. The general council of

Constantinople in its third canon placed the bishop of Constantinople in

the same rank with the other three Patriarchs; and the general council

of Calcedon exalted the See of Jerusalem to a similar dignity, doubtless

because of its ancient importance as the birthplace of Christianity.

Thus, Patriarchs were established in the five political capitals of the

Roman empire; and they were considered the "_heads of the church_,"

having spiritual authority over the whole empire. These were the only

Patriarchates of importance. Certain ecclesiastics of the Church of Rome

even at the present time bear the honorary title Patriarch; but, to

quote the words of the Encyclopædia Britannica, "In a strictly technical

sense, however, that church recognizes only five Patriarchates, those of

Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Rome." Art.

Patriarch. In the years 637 to 640 Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch

fell into the hands of the Saracen followers of Mohammed, which

terminated their importance, and later the Greek schism separated the

Patriarch of Constantinople from Rome; and thus the Patriarch of Rome

was left in undisputed possession of the field and was soon recognized

as universal head of the church. So under the symbol of this dread rider

on a pale horse is portrayed the great hierarchal system by which the

Papacy was fully developed in the West.

It is fitting that we notice particularly the agents of destruction

employed by this rider. He possesses a sword with which to kill--the

same instrument wielded by the rider of the red horse--but it is evident

that he uses it with more terrific energy, by reason of which he

receives the name Death, or The Destroyer. It is possible, also, that in

this case a sword, wielded by the hand of an ecclesiastical power, may

be used as a symbol of a spiritual cutting off, or excommunication. The

sword of excommunication has been the most terrible ever wielded by

human hand. When this pale horseman was careering over the world in the

zenith of his power, excommunication and interdiction were the terror of

individuals and the scourge of nations. At his word the rights of an

individual as king, ruler, husband or father, nay, even as a _man_, were

forfeited, and he was shunned like one infected with the leprosy. At his

command the offices of religion were suspended in a nation, and its dead

lay unburied, until its proud ruler humbled himself at the feet of the

ecclesiastical tyrant who bore rule over the "fourth part of the

earth."[4]

[Footnote 4: This tyranny of the Popes is well illustrated by the

quarrel that took place between Hildebrand (Pope Gregory VII.) and Henry

IV. of Germany. Gregory attempted to make certain reforms, but Henry

refused to recognize those innovations. Gregory excommunicated the

emperor, with the result that he was "shunned as a man accursed by

Heaven." His authority lost and his kingdom on the point of going to

pieces, Henry had but one thing to do--seek the pardon of the Pope. He

found the Pontiff at Canoosa, but Gregory refused to admit the penitent

to his presence. "It was winter, and for three successive days the king,

clothed in sackcloth, stood with bare feet in the snow of the court-yard

of the palace, waiting for permission to kneel at the feet of the

Pontiff and to receive forgiveness." On the fourth day he was granted

admittance to the presence of the Pope.

During the Pontificate of Innocent III. Philip Augustus, king of France,

put away his wife. Innocent commanded him to take her back and forced

submission by means of an interdict. This submission of a brave, firm,

and victorious prince shows the tremendous power wielded by the Popes in

that period.

The manner, also, in which Innocent III. humbled King John of England

affords another illustration of the power of the Popes. John caused the

vacant See of Canterbury to be filled, in accordance with the regular

manner of election, by one of his favorites. Innocent declared the

appointment void, as he desired that the place should be filled by one

of his friends. John refused to allow the Pope's archbishop to enter

England as Primate. Innocent then excommunicated John, laid all England

under an interdict, and incited Philip, king of France, to war, offering

him John's kingdom upon the very liberal condition that he go over and

take it. The outcome of the matter was that John was compelled to yield

to the power of the Pope. He even gave him England as a perpetual fief,

and agreed to pay the Papal See the annual sum of one thousand marks.]

The loss of life by spiritual famine was extreme. The Word of God, which

is spirit and life to God's people (Jno. 6:63), was laid under interdict

and the common people deprived of its benefits. At the time the black

horse appeared, a little food could be obtained at famine prices; but

when the fourth arrived, he was empowered to kill "with hunger." Also,

one of his agents of destruction was death, or pestilence, a fit symbol

of false and blasphemous doctrines breathed forth like a deadly

pestilence blasting everything within its reach. Invocation of saints,

worship of images, relics, celibacy, works of supererogation,

indulgences, and purgatory--these were the enforced principles of

religion, and like a pest they settled down upon the people everywhere.

This rider also brought into operation "the beasts of the earth" to aid

him in his destructive work. To kill with sword or hunger shows that

such work of destruction is performed solely by him who has it in his

power; but to kill with beasts indicates that _they_ perform the deadly

work according _to their own natures_. Nothing is clearer than the fact

that wild beasts stand as a symbol of persecuting tyrannical

governments; hence we are to understand that this rider was to employ

also the arm of civil power to aid him in the deadly work. How

strikingly this represents the historical facts of the case! In all

truly Roman Catholic countries the civil governments were only a cipher

or tool in the hands of the church, and the ecclesiastics were the real

rulers of the kingdom. But whenever any dark work of persecution was to

be performed, the wild beast was let loose to accomplish the result.

When charged, however, with the bloody work, the Catholics always

answer, "Oh, we _never persecute_--don't you see, it is the wild beasts

that are covered with gore--our hands are clean," yet they themselves

held the chain that bound the savage monsters. We shall have occasion in

a subsequent chapter to trace further the pathway of this dread rider as

he reels onward in the career of ages, "drunken with the blood of the

saints."

This work of destruction performed by the dread rider on the pale horse

is considered by many as a literal description of the persecutions of

the Papacy. While Catholics usually charge the civil powers with this

bloody work, it is an undeniable fact of history that the Popes often

ordered or sanctioned crusades against the Waldenses, Albigenses, and

other peoples (see remarks on verses 9-11, chap. 17:6), in which the

sword, starvation, and every other means of cruelty imaginable were

brought into use to exterminate the so-called heresy. And in view of the

fact explained in the comments on verses 3 and 4 of this chapter, that

_killing_ is sometimes to be understood in a literal sense on account of

there being nothing to analagously represent such destruction of life,

it is not a violation of the laws of symbolic language thus to interpret

it. It might be consistent in this case to give it a twofold

application; the agreeing facts of history regarding the Papacy strongly

suggest it. Thus, the _sword_ could signify a literal destruction of

life, as in verse 4, and also, in the present case, an ecclesiastical

cutting off by the Papacy, or excommunication; and _hunger_ could

signify literal death by starvation, and also, as in verses 5 and 6, a

destruction of spiritual life, etc.

Where, let me ask, in the whole compass of human writings can be found a

series of events of such thrilling interest, so great in magnitude, as

is contained in these eight verses? Who but the Omnipotent could have

conceived such a wonderful development of the power of iniquity and with

such master-strokes of power compressed them into so small a scene of

symbolic imagery? The impress of divinity is here speaking from every

line.

9. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar

the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for

the testimony which they held:

10. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord,

holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them

that dwell on the earth?

11. And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it

was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little

season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that

should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Upon the opening of this seal the scene changes entirely. No more

horsemen appear, but instead the souls of the martyrs are seen at the

altar crying for vindication of their blood upon the cruel oppressors of

earth. The question arises, Are these souls symbols of something else,

or are they what they are here stated to be, "the souls of them that

were slain"? Evidently, the latter, appearing under their own name and

character, because they can not properly be symbolized. They were

disembodied spirits, and where is there anything of analagous character

to represent such? Angels can not; for whenever they are employed as

symbols, it is to designate distinguished agencies among men. They

therefore appear under their own appropriate title as "the _souls_ of

them that were slain."

These souls appeared "under the altar," that is, _at the foot of the

altar_, being the same as that described in chap. 8:3--"And another

angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was

given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of

all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne." Thus, the

heavenly world, as opened up before John, appeared symbolized after the

sanctuary of the temple in which stood the golden altar, or altar of

incense. Some have supposed that the brazen altar was the one referred

to, signifying the living sacrifice these souls made of themselves to

God. But there is no altar mentioned in the symbols except the golden

altar. Besides, these were not sacrificial victims; for Christ was made

a complete sacrifice for sin, while these only suffered martyrdom

because of their faithfulness to the cause of Christ. It is much more

reasonable to suppose that their interceding cries went up from the

golden altar, where the "prayers of all saints" ascended with much

incense.

Their prayers to God for the avenging of their blood shows the

expectation on their part that the judgments of Heaven would descend

upon the cruel and haughty persecutors and oppressors of earth, and

their surprise was that the day of retribution had been so long delayed.

The history of the church as developed under the preceding seals gives

particular force to this cry of the martyrs. For nearly three centuries

the civil power of Pagan Rome had been employed to crush the cause of

God. During ten terrible seasons of persecution they had been crucified,

slain with the sword, sawn asunder, devoured by beasts in the arena, and

given to the flames. When Constantine, a nominal Christian emperor,

ascended the throne and protected religion by law, it was believed that

persecutions must cease; but soon the discovery was made that the sword

had only changed hands, there having risen an ecclesiastical hierarchy

destined to "glut itself upon the blood of which heathen Rome had only

tasted." The world was now made the arena for the terrible coursings of

the pale horseman, and the "beasts of the earth" were let loose to fall

with savage fury upon their helpless victims, until millions lost their

lives at the instigation of the apostate Church of Rome. Is it any

wonder that the souls of these martyrs should cry unto God for the

vindication of their righteous blood?

It is said that "white robes were given unto every one of them." By

referring to chap. 3:4; 7:9, 13, 14, it will be seen that "white

garments" and "white robes" are sometimes used as a symbol to describe a

part of the heavenly inheritance. The martyr-spirits, although impatient

at the delay of avenging judgment, received a righteous reward. But the

period of tribulation to the church was not yet over. The cup of

iniquity in the hands of her enemies was not yet full, and they were

told to "rest for a little season, until their fellowservants also, and

their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be

fulfilled." The account given seems to indicate an important epoch, a

period in which the martyrs had reason to expect the vindication of

their righteous blood, but which, instead, was to be followed by another

great period of persecution. Considering the time of the events already

described in this series of prophecy, we have no difficulty in fixing

the chronology of this event at the dividing-point between the era of

Papal supremacy and the age of Protestantism--or at the Reformation of

the Sixteenth Century. Did severe slaughter and persecution follow the

Reformation? Witness the reign of Mary Tudor, frequently styled "Bloody

Mary." During three years of her reign, 1555 to 1558, two hundred and

eighty-eight were _burnt alive_ in England! Think of the inhuman

massacre of the innocent Waldenses of southern France by the violent

bigot Oppede (1545), who slew eight hundred men in one town, and thrust

the women into a barn filled with straw and reduced the whole to

ashes--only a sample of his barbarity; or of their oppression in

southern Italy by Pope Pius IV. (1560), at whose command they were slain

by thousands, the throats of eighty-eight men being cut on one occasion

by a single executioner! Witness the horrible massacre of St.

Bartholomew in Paris (Aug. 21, 1572), when the Queen dowager, the

infamous Catherine de Medici, lured immense numbers of the innocent

Hugenots into the city under the pretext of witnessing a marriage

between the Hugenot Henry, king of Navarre, and the sister of Charles

IX., king of France--when the gates were closed and the work of

wholesale slaughter began at a given signal and raged for three days,

during which time from six to ten thousand were butchered in Paris

alone! Think of the rivers of blood in the Netherlands, where the Duke

of Alva boasted that in the short space of six weeks he had put eighteen

thousand to death! Witness the dragoonading methods and other inhuman

persecutions to "wear out the saints of the Most High," that followed

the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) by Louis XIV., king of

France, during whose reign three hundred thousand were brutally

butchered--while Pope Innocent XI. extolled the king by special letter

as follows: "The Catholic church shall most assuredly record in her

sacred annals a _work of such devotion toward her_, and CELEBRATE YOUR

NAME WITH NEVER-DYING PRAISES ... for _this most excellent

undertaking_"!! My heart sickens with horror in the contemplation of

such events. Eternal God! can thy righteous eye behold such

heart-rending scenes of earth, and thy hand of power not be extended to

humble to the dust these cruel, haughty oppressors of thy people?

12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo,

there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as

sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

13. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a

fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a

mighty wind.

14. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled

together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their

places.

15. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich

men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every

bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in

the rocks of the mountains;

16. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us

from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the

wrath of the Lamb;

17. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be

able to stand?

Upon the opening of this seal the scene changes again. The symbols are

all drawn from an entirely different source. We are taken out of the

department of civil life into the scenes of nature, which is a clear

evidence that the history of the church is no longer under

consideration. Had God intended to here continue her history, he would

no doubt have employed symbols derived from the same source as those

preceding, so as to prevent our being led astray. No more horsemen or

living characters appear, but we behold the most terrific convulsions of

nature--a mighty earthquake, the darkening of the sun and the moon, the

falling of the stars, and finally the dissolution of the heavens,

together with the mountains and the islands being removed. If the

history of the church is no longer under consideration, this great

change of symbols directs us with absolute certainty into the political

and civil world for their fulfilment. Of course, we are not to suppose

that this is a literal description.

In this manner the dignity and the excellence in the use and the

interpretation of symbols is preserved. To describe the religious

history of the church, noble symbols chosen from the department of human

life are selected; while symbols drawn from an inferior department--that

of nature--are chosen to represent political affairs. This point will

appear very clear as we proceed in the interpretation of the Apocalypse.

It is just what we might naturally expect.

The question may be asked, If these symbols from nature represent

political affairs, where in the events of civil history shall we look

for their fulfilment? Every one will readily perceive the analogy

between an earthquake and a political revolution, when all society is in

a state of agitation as when the solid earth trembles. It is also

evident that the sun, moon, and stars bear the same analagous

relationship to the earth that kings, rulers, and princes do to the body

politic; while the firmament of heaven is analagous to the entire fabric

of civil government, the symbolic heaven in which the symbolic orbs are

set to give light.

The symbols, then, point us to the most terrible revolutions--when

society is in a state of agitation, when kingdoms are overthrown and

their rulers and princes thrown from their positions or made objects of

the most gloomy terror; yea, when the entire fabric of civil government

is finally overthrown and all the institutions and organizations of

society are swept away as with a tornado. This is the time of

consternation to the great men of earth, when they shall hide

"themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains," and say to

the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him

that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the

great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" This is

the time that the martyrs looked forward to when they cried, "How long,

O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them

that dwell on the earth?" A large portion of the Apocalypse is occupied

with the history of these persecuting powers, civil and ecclesiastical.

It is their dominacy that constitutes the long period of tribulation to

the church, when the witnesses prophesy in sackcloth and the faithful

are ground into the dust by the feet of these proud oppressors as they

stand in the high places of the earth. But the cries of the slaughtered

saints have ascended to the throne as incense; God speaks; the judgments

of Heaven descend upon these lofty ones; and a voice from heaven

declares, "They have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and _thou

hast given them blood to drink_; for they are worthy."

This is surely a striking combination of symbols, and the way they are

arranged would indicate that their fulfilment occupied a considerable

period of time. First we have a great earthquake, afterwards the

darkening of the sun and the moon, with the falling of the stars, and

finally the dissolution of the heavens themselves, with the sweeping

away of mountains and islands. This description covers the same period

as that described under the seven last plagues, beginning with certain

fearful revolutions in which the nations that had slaughtered the

millions of God's people were given "blood to drink," and ending finally

in "the great day of his wrath" that shall sweep them from their

positions eternally. The full explanation of these events can not at

present be appreciated by the reader, therefore I reserve it for the

future, to be more fully developed under other symbols.

In these six seals we have a vivid outline of mighty events, political

and ecclesiastical, extending from the earliest stage of Christianity to

the end of time. This description in advance was no mere human

production. No human foresight would have detected, and no mortal mind

would have conceived, events so wonderful and so farreaching in their

character. Any other history would sooner have been imagined. It takes

divine wisdom to understand the true position of the church in the

present, and she can scarcely read her past history by natural wisdom

alone, much less outline the future. First the establishment of

Christianity is symbolized, then the violence of the Pagan party, the

apostasy, and final establishment of the "man of sin," until the

millions of earth are crushed by the spiritual tyranny or by the arm of

civil power, and the cry of the martyrs goes up "How long, O Lord?" But

they are told to rest "a little season," when they shall witness the

hand of God laid upon these persecuting nations of earth, convulsing

them in the most fearful revolutions, and ending finally in their

complete overthrow in that last "great day of God Almighty."

CHAPTER VII.

And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four

corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that

the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on

any tree.

2. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the

seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the

four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea.

3. Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees,

till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

4. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there

were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the

tribes of the children of Israel.

5. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the

tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad

were sealed twelve thousand.

6. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the

tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of

Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.

7. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the

tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of

Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.

8. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the

tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of

Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

A clear understanding of the two visions in the chapter before us can be

obtained only by considering the plan of the prophecy already referred

to. The events are narrated by series. A particular theme is taken up

and followed through to its completion; then the narrative returns and

another theme is introduced. But this is not all. Whenever the history

of abounding error or iniquity is set forth, we have in immediate

connection and in perfect contrast therewith a history of the true

people of God; thus, the contemporaneous history of righteousness and

iniquity, truth and error, a true church and a false one. The visions of

this chapter cover the same period of time as the events described in

the preceding chapter, but form the most perfect contrast. The student

of Revelation who unfolds the dark history of apostasy and iniquity

contained in the preceding seals might naturally be led to ask, Is this

the melancholy end of God's church? Does it deteriorate rapidly and turn

out so badly, after all? As an answer to these questions, God gives us

next a history of his own people, showing that he preserved his own

church complete, although Antichrist reigned in power.

The principal points in the vision before us are the tempestuous winds

about to descend upon the earth, and the sealing of God's servants. The

first of these, being drawn from nature, would lead us to look for its

fulfilment in political events; while the latter, derived from human

life, directs us into the affairs of the church. The "four winds of the

earth" from the "four corners of the earth" signify all the winds from

every direction--the cardinal points of the compass; while the four

angels signify all the agencies that have control of these winds, which

for the present are held in restraint in order to give opportunity for

the sealing of the Lord's servants. _Angels_ in the Scripture is

frequently used to denote evil agencies as well as good, the context

determining which is meant. See Chap. 12:7. The design of the winds was

to "hurt the earth, the sea, and the trees."

What, let me ask, in the political world is analagous to tempestuous

storms sweeping over the earth? What but huge masses of men, excited by

fierce passions, precipitating themselves upon the inhabitants of an

empire, sweeping everything before them in the fury of their march and

spreading desolation on every side? In the symbols of the next chapter

we find that just such hordes of men--barbarians--under their angels, or

leaders, precipitated themselves upon the Roman empire; and the fearful

effects upon the earth, the sea, and the green trees produced thereby,

is particularly detailed. For the present, however, they are held under

restraint until the sealing of the servants of God should be

accomplished, then they were to go forward in their work of destruction.

The sealing of the servants is not making them the people of God, but

rather marking or designating them as such, just as later we find the

devotees of a corrupt apostate church specified as having the "mark of

the beast." Considerable light can be thrown upon the subject of the

sealing of God's servants and of the mark of the beast by consulting

Roman history for the origin of such expressions. The many conquests of

the Roman arms furnished so many prisoners that they became a drug in

the slave-markets of the world, and were so numerous that in many places

they outnumbered the Roman citizens ten to one. In the first century

before Christ it is said that some Sicilian estates were worked by as

many as twenty thousand slaves. "That each owner might know his own, the

poor creatures were _branded like cattle_." The "mark of the beast"

possessed by the followers of a false communion will be found to consist

of an Antichristian spirit by which they are filled with "doctrines of

devils." So, also, "the seal of the living God" consists of the giving

of the Holy Spirit, by which his people are led into all truth. See John

14:26. While Sabbatarians vainly try to prove that keeping the seventh

day is the seal of God in this dispensation, yet there is not one text

of Scripture that hints such a thing, but, on the contrary, the

Scriptures are against them. "Grieve not the _Holy Spirit_ of God

whereby _ye are sealed_ unto the day of redemption." Eph. 4:30. Again,

the Word of God says, "Now he which stablished us with you in Christ,

and hath anointed us is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the

earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." 2 Cor. 1:21, 22. The time this

sealing of the people of God takes place is thus described: "_After_

that ye believed, ye were _sealed_ with that Holy Spirit of promise."

Eph. 1:13. The winds of heaven were restrained until the work of _full

salvation_ could be firmly established in the earth. When Christ

appeared, the Roman empire was in a state of comparative quiet, and the

immense hosts of foreign invaders did not appear until the firm

establishment of Christianity, being held back by the power of God until

his work should be accomplished.

In the description of the sealing given, twelve thousand were selected

from each of the twelve tribes. Some have supposed this to have

reference solely to salvation work among the Jewish nation; but that

would be adopting the literal mode of interpretation, thus destroying

its symbolic character. The twelve tribes are chosen from the proper

department to represent the church or "Israel of God" in this

dispensation, irrespective of nationality. The twelve gates in the wall

of the heavenly city are named after the twelve tribes of the children

of Israel (chap. 21:12), showing that it is only through "Israel" that

any one can enter the New Jerusalem. Since the gospel is given to all

nations, this can not signify literal Israel. "The children of the

promise are counted for the seed." Rom. 9:8. "If ye be Christ's, then

are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal. 3:29.

Since the vision is symbolical, we are to consider the numbers given as

symbolical also, the definite number of twelve thousand from each of the

tribes showing that the church of God was _complete and perfect_, no

part being omitted.

9. After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man

could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and

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

with white robes, and palms in their hands;

10. And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God

which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

11. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about

the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on

their faces, and worshipped God,

12. Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and

thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God

for ever and ever. Amen.

13. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are

these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

14. And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me,

These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have

washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the

Lamb.

15. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him

day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne

shall dwell among them.

16. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither

shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

17. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed

them, and shall lead them unto living mountains of waters: and

God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

In this scene the vision is carried forward to the close of the long

period of tribulation and persecution to the church of God, when all her

enemies are finally overthrown; and here are the glorious results, the

harvest gathered: a great multitude whom no man can number, gathered out

of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, standing before

the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in

their hands, the symbols of their victory. The scene is laid in heaven,

and refers undoubtedly to the end of time when the heavenly world will

be opened up to all the faithful who have suffered for Christ amid the

trials and the oppositions through which his church is called to pass in

this present world. We are expressly informed by one of the elders who

these are in white robes and whence they came, so there can be no

question respecting them. This is the glorious company of the redeemed

of all ages who "came out of great tribulation, and have washed their

robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are

before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and

he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger

no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them,

nor any heat." What a contrast with the scenes of earth, when oppressed

by famine, and cold, and nakedness, and peril, and sword, they were

killed all the day long! But their sufferings are over; "for the Lamb

which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them

unto living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from

their eyes."

This redeemed company is represented as uniting in a song of praise and

thanksgiving to God for bringing them through their long period of

trial, "saying Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and

unto the Lamb"; while heaven resounds with universal praise as the

angels and all the redeemed host take up the chorus and swell the mighty

anthem "saying, Amen; blessing, and glory, and wisdom and thanksgiving,

and honor, and power, and might be unto our God forever and ever. Amen."

It is clear that, in this chapter and the one preceding, we have two

grand parallel and comprehensive histories--in one, the process of

corruption in the so-called church and the final judgments that overtook

these cruel persecutors of the Lord's people; in the other, the setting

apart and sealing of God's servants, their preservation from the

contaminations of an apostate church, and the final glorious triumph of

all who endure unto the end.

This vision has often been applied in a figurative manner to the

spiritual reign of God's people on earth before the end of time--that

they are overcomers through the blood of Christ, that God dwells with

them in his church, that their spiritual needs are all supplied so they

hunger and thirst no more--but a careful study of the plan of the

prophecy will show that its real signification is the heavenly state at

the end. As the sixth seal describes the final overthrow of all the

antichristian powers that have oppressed God's people on earth; so this

vision describes the great white-robed company gathered out of every

nation, kindred, tongue, and people, who have been preserved faithful

through all these trials and tribulations, and who receive at last the

crown of everlasting life. This last vision will be more fully described

under certain symbols contained in the last two chapters of this book;

while the earthquake, the falling of the stars, etc., of the sixth seal

will be more perfectly detailed in chapters 15 and 16.

CHAPTER VIII.

And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in

heaven about the space of half an hour.

2. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to

them were given seven trumpets.

3. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a

golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that

he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the

golden altar which was before the throne.

4. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of

the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

5. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the

altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and

thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

The remainder of the book is embraced in the contents of the seventh

seal. This may appear a little singular at first, being so much larger

than the preceding ones. But it is easily understood when we consider

the six as being a synopsis of the whole book, containing a history of

the church apostate to the final consummation, and also the

contemporaneous history of the truth church of God; while the seventh

gives in detail the account of these great persecuting powers, civil and

ecclesiastical, and the trials and triumphs of the saints in the New

Jerusalem--developing more fully the events described under the six.

Upon the opening of the seventh seal, "there was silence in heaven about

the space of half an hour." Whether this interval of silence is intended

to be symbolical of any event on earth I do not know; neither have I

seen any solution of the matter that is consistent or satisfactory. Some

have supposed that it denoted a cessation of persecution among the

Christians of earth. But if that were the case, then its opposite,

"voices in heaven," would indicate seasons of persecution. There were

several seasons of rest from persecution enjoyed by the early saints,

and why should one period be singled out more than the rest and be thus

described? Besides, "a half hour," according to prophetic time would

signify only about one week, a period too short certainly to take

account of. Others have supposed that it signified the end of the world,

and that heaven would then be deserted for a short time while the

judgment was taking place. But the events following show that the end of

the world is not here described, therefore it can not have reference to

such. Moreover, it is extremely doubtful whether silence in heaven would

be a proper symbol of such an event. I do not perceive the analogy. In

fact, such an interpretation of _silence_ would be literal and not

symbolic.

Its explanation would seem to be found in connection with certain facts

stated respecting the opening of the preceding seals--that voices

followed them. When the first four seals were opened, John heard the

voices of the four beasts, "as it were a voice of thunder"; and on the

opening of the fifth, he heard the souls of the martyrs crying unto God;

but when the seventh was opened, there was silence for a time. The

contrast is noticeable; but whether it has any special signification, I

am unable to say; perhaps not.

Before the sounding of the seven trumpets, the acceptableness of the

prayers of the saints is represented by an angel offering incense "upon

the golden altar which was before the throne." This scene was doubtless

introduced to lend encouragement to God's children--that, although

iniquity abounded on every side and the judgments of God were poured out

upon the people, still the prayers of the faithful few were acceptable

in his sight, ascending before the throne like sweet incense from off

the golden altar.

After offering up the incense with the prayers of all saints, the same

angel took his censer and filled it with fire from off the altar and

cast it (the fire) upon the earth--a token of God's avenging

judgments--"and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and

an earthquake." These, of course, were on earth, and symbolized the

revolutions and convulsions now about to take place in the empire.

6. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared

themselves to sound.

7. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire

mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the

third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt

up.

We here enter upon a series of prophecies developing fully the

successive steps in the decline of the Western Roman empire, by which it

finally tottered to its fall. It was necessary that this persecuting,

tyrannical government should be subverted in order to give opportunity

for the establishment of apostate Christianity in the form of the

Papacy, as it constituted the "let" or hindrance to the full development

of the "man of sin" mentioned by the apostle in 2 Thes. 2. That

persecuting, Pagan Rome was a serious obstacle confronting the

development of apostasy was recognized even by the early Christians.

Thus, Tertullian, in his notable Apology, chapter 32, says: "Christians

are under a particular necessity of praying for the emperors, and for

the continued state of the empire; because we know that dreadful power

which hangs over the world, and _the conclusion of the age, which

threatens the most horrible evils, is restrained by the continuance of

the time appointed for the Roman empire_. This is what we would not

experience; and while we pray that it may be deferred, we hereby show

our good-will to the perpetuity of the Roman state." In a subsequent

chapter it will be seen that Pagan Rome, broken up into minor divisions

and no longer able to maintain her position in the political world,

resigns her power and authority into the hands of the rising Papacy.

Therefore it is not surprising that the means by which this great change

is effected should be made the subject of prophetic revelation. Besides,

we have other things to guide us in the interpretation. We can readily

identify the symbols under the fifth trumpet with the curse of

Mohammedanism in the Eastern empire, and we would naturally suppose that

the first four precede those. Again, the symbols are all drawn from the

natural world, which leads us assuredly into the political affairs of

the empire for their fulfilment. They are also of the most destructive

nature, therefore we look for objects of a corresponding desolating

character. Finally, the vision of the preceding chapter represents

fierce, destructive winds as about to descend upon the earth, being

temporarily held in check to give opportunity for the primitive

establishment of Christianity, implying that they would afterwards be

let loose to burst like a tornado upon the empire. It is said positively

that power was given "to hurt the earth and the sea" (chap. 7:2), and in

the vision before us the effects produced upon the earth and the trees

are particularly detailed.

"The earth" signifies the Roman empire, or that portion of the earth

made the subject of apocalyptic vision. That this application of the

word _earth_ is correct, is shown by various Scriptures. "And it came to

pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus

that _all the world_ should be taxed." Luke 2:1. "The queen of the South

... came from the _uttermost parts of the earth_ [southern Arabia] to

hear the wisdom of Solomon." Mat. 12:42. "Ye shall be witnesses ... unto

the _uttermost part of the earth_." Acts 1:8. The apostles carried the

gospel personally, only throughout the territory of the then-known

civilized world--the Roman empire. Upon this earth there descended in

the vision before us a fierce storm of hail and fire, mingled with

blood. Its being mingled with blood would indicate its destructive

effects. One characteristic of this symbol particularly is worthy of

notice. Hail and fire cast upon the earth would become absorbed speedily

or pass into new combinations with the surrounding elements, thus not

remaining in any permanent form except in its effects. In this

particular it is wholly unlike the symbol of the next trumpet, which is

that of a burning mountain cast into the sea, for such a body would

naturally remain permanently where it fell; whereas a storm of hail and

fire would soon disappear. Also, the statement that this storm was cast

upon the earth would indicate that it was a calamity descending from

without upon the empire.

Where, now, do we find the object that fully meets the requirements of

this symbol--destructive agents descending upon the Roman empire like a

furious storm of hail and fire, accomplishing the first important step

toward the subverting of the empire? We find it in the irruption of the

fierce Gothic tribes of the North, who, under Alaric, burst like a

tornado upon the empire about the beginning of the fifth century,

spreading destruction and desolation upon every side.

The following quotations and facts from the highest authority on the

subject, Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Vol. III, pp.

190-294), will give the reader an idea of the awful effects produced by

the invasions of these barbarous tribes. The great Theodosius, emperor

of the Western Roman empire, "had supported the frail and mouldering

edifice of the republic," but upon his death he was succeeded by the

weak Honorious. In a few months the Gothic barbarians were in arms. "The

barriers of the Danube were thrown down, the savage warriors of Scythia

issued from their forests ... and the various tribes of barbarians, who

glory in the Gothic name, were irregularly spread over the woody shores

of Dalmatia to the walls of Constantinople." They were "directed by the

bold and artful genius of Alaric," who soon concluded that the conquest

of Constantinople was an impracticable enterprise. He "disdained to

trample any longer on the prostrate and ruined countries of Thrace and

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

a province which had hitherto escaped the ravages of war.... The troops

which had been posted to defend the straits of Thermopylæ retired ...

without attempting to disturb the secure and rapid passage of Alaric;

and the fertile fields of Phocis and Bæotia were instantly covered by a

deluge of barbarians, who massacred the males of an age to bear arms,

and drove away the beautiful females, with the spoil and cattle of the

flaming villages. The travelers who visited Greece several years

afterwards, could easily discover the deep and bloody traces of the

march of the Goths.... The whole territory of Attica, from the

promontory of Sunium to the town of Megara, was blasted by his baleful

presence; and, if we may use the comparison of a contemporary

philosopher, Athens itself resembled the bleeding and empty skin of a

slaughtered victim.... Corinth, Argos, Sparta, yielded without

resistance to the arms of the Goths; and the most fortunate of the

inhabitants were saved, by death, from beholding the slavery of their

families and the conflagration of their cities."

Arcadius, the emperor of the East, wishing to dissuade Alaric from

further conquests and such wholesale massacres, promoted him to the rank

of Master-general of the eastern Illyricum, but it had an opposite

effect. "The birth of Alaric, the glory of his past exploits, and the

confidence in his future designs, insensibly united the body of the

[Gothic] nation under his victorious standard; and, with the unanimous

consent of the barbarian chieftains, the Master-general of Illyricum was

elevated, according to the ancient custom, on a shield, and solemnly

proclaimed king of the Visigoths. Armed with this double power, situated

on the verge of the two empires, he alternately sold his deceitful

promises to the courts of Arcadius and Honorious; until he declared and

executed his resolution of _invading the dominions of the West_.... He

was tempted by the fame, the beauty, the wealth of Italy, which he had

twice visited; and he secretly aspired to plant the Gothic standard on

the walls of Rome, and to enrich his army with the accumulated spoils of

three hundred triumphs." He marched into Italy, and the emperor fled

before him. A temporary respite was finally procured by the promise of a

payment of four thousand pounds of gold.

Alaric soon appeared, however, before the very walls of Rome, and that

splendid city, surrounded by hordes of barbarians, was soon reduced to a

wretched condition by famine. Two representatives of the Romans waited

upon Alaric for terms of peace, stating that if such could not be

arranged the inhabitants of the city, animated by despair, would fight

to the bitter end. To this the haughty conqueror made this famous reply:

"The thicker the grass, the easier it is mowed." With an insulting

laugh, he named the ransom required--all the gold and silver contained

in the city, all the rich and precious movables, together with all the

slaves. Then the ministers humbly asked, "What do you intend to leave

us?" "Your lives," the haughty king replied, and retired. He finally

relaxed a little and fixed other terms, which included the immediate

payment of the enormous sum of five thousand pounds of gold, thirty

thousand pounds of silver, besides other treasure. "The victorious

leader, who united the daring spirit of a barbarian with the art and

discipline of a Roman general, was at the head of a hundred thousand

fighting men; and Italy pronounced, with terror and respect, the

formidable name of Alaric."

A second time Rome was besieged by Alaric and taken. Honorious was

deposed and Attalus made emperor; but Honorious was afterwards restored.

In A.D. 410 he again marched upon the city, captured and entered it.

"Eleven hundred and sixty-three years after the foundation of Rome, the

imperial city, which had subdued and civilized so considerable a part of

mankind, was delivered to the licentious fury of the tribes of Germania

and Scythia." For six days the city was sacked by the barbarous

soldiery, and the horrible scenes of robbery, murder, and rapine that

ensued can not be described. It has been said that "civilized warfare is

sufficiently terrible," but that would be almost a blessing compared

with such scenes as these. For a space of four years Alaric ravaged

Italy almost without opposition.

The slaughter and devastation that followed this storm of "hail and

fire" is thus described: "The banks of the Rhine were crowned like those

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

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

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

suddenly changed into a desert, and the prospect of the smoking ruins

could alone distinguish the solitude of nature from the desolation of

man. The flourishing city of Mentz was surprised and destroyed, and many

thousand Christians inhumanly massacred in the church. Wurms perished

after a long and obstinate siege. Strasburg, Spires, Rheims, Tournay,

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

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

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

extensive country, as far as the ocean, the Alps and the Pyrenees, was

delivered to the barbarians, who drove before them, in a promiscuous

crowd, the bishop, the senator and the virgin, laden with the spoils of

their houses and altars."

Another historian describing the same, a few years after the event,

says: "The barbarians meeting with little resistance, indulged in the

utmost cruelty. The cities which they captured, they so utterly

destroyed that no traces of them now remain, except in Thrace and

Greece, except here and there a tower or a gate. All the men who opposed

them they slew, young and old, and indeed spared not women, nor even

children. Whence there is still but a sparse population in Italy. The

plunder which they seized in every part of Europe was immense, and

especially at Rome, where they left nothing, either public or private."

In this latter description reference is also made to some later

invasions, but they were all of the same desolating character.

These historical facts show how the green grass, or the feebler portion

of society--the tender sex, the young, and the aged--were consumed

before this fearful storm of hail and fire; and also how the trees, or

the stronger portion--those better able to make resistance--suffered

greatly.

It is also a fact to be observed that these fierce tribes which overran

Italy, harassed or captured Rome repeatedly, and threatened the

overthrow of the empire, made no permanent settlement in that territory.

"Under Alaric the Goths make no lasting settlement. In the long tale of

intrigue and warfare between the Goths and the two Imperial courts which

fills up this whole time, cessions of territory are offered to the

Goths, provinces are occupied by them, but as yet they do not take root

anywhere; no Western land as yet becomes Gothia,"--Encyclopædia

Britannica, Art. Goths. After the death of Alaric (A.D. 412), however,

they settled in the southern part of Spain and Gaul[5]--part of the

territory of the West--but they no longer threatened the life of the

empire; but, on the contrary, they became allies of the Romans in

opposing the dreadful incursions of the Huns and other barbarians. Thus

their invasion of the West was at first terribly destructive--like a

storm of hail and fire--but their ravages soon ceased, except in their

disastrous and weakening effects.

[Footnote 5: This division of the Gothic tribes is commonly called the

Visigoths (Western Goths), as distinguished from the Ostrogoths, or

Eastern Goths.]

8. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain

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

the sea became blood;

9. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea,

and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were

destroyed.

The symbol of this trumpet is that of a volcanic mountain cast into the

sea, whence it sends forth its streams of lava in every direction until

a third of the creatures in the sea are destroyed, thus spreading

desolation on every side. It would naturally remain where it fell, a

permanent instrument of destruction.

We have here a description of the next step of importance in the

downfall of the Western empire. The second great invasion was that of

"the terrible Genseric" with his Vandal hordes, who pushed southward

through Gaul and Spain, conquered the Carthaginian territory of northern

Africa, and there formed a permanent independent government in A.D. 439.

From this fixed place, he continued for years to make incursions upon

the bordering cities and islands, burning the cities, murdering the

inhabitants, and intercepting the commerce of the Mediterranean. During

his military career, 429-468, he became the terror of the inhabitants of

the empire, insomuch that historians designate him "the terrible

Genseric." The depredations committed by his followers were but a

repetition of such scenes of barbarity as have already been described in

the invasions of Alaric under the first trumpet, therefore I will not

devote much space to the historical facts in the case. Their deeds,

however, were such that the very term _Vandal_ has come to be used as a

designation of any man of ferocious character. Concerning the important

part that this chieftain acted in the downfall of the Western empire,

Gibbon uses this significant language: "Genseric, a name which, in the

destruction of the Roman empire, has deserved an equal rank with the

names of Alaric and Attila." Vol. III, p. 370.

In the year 454 the empress Eudoxia wished to be revenged on Maximus,

who had murdered her husband Valentinian and had grasped the throne, and

she secretly invited Genseric to attack Rome. That fierce general, who

is described by the Encyclopædia Britannica as "cruel to

blood-thirstiness, cunning, unscrupulous, and grasping," was glad to

undertake the task, and he soon landed an army of Vandals and African

Moors at the gates of the city. It was soon taken and for fifteen days

given over to be sacked by the barbarous soldiery. When they had glutted

their savage instincts with the horrible deeds of murder and rapine,

loaded with the spoils of the imperial city, they returned to Africa,

taking with them an immense number of captives, including Eudoxia and

her two daughters. This desolating incursion left the empire weak and

tottering to its fall. Genseric "became the tyrant of the sea; the

coasts of Italy, Greece, and Asia, were again exposed to his revenge and

avarice. Tripoli and Sardinia returned to his obedience; he added Sicily

to the number of his provinces; and before he died, in the fulness of

years and glory, he beheld the FINAL EXTINCTION of the empire of the

West." Gibbon, Vol. III, pp. 497, 498.

By "the sea" into which this burning mountain was cast is meant, not the

Mediterranean nor any other literal sea, but the heart of the empire,

and that in a state of agitation. The empire was in a state of

comparative quiet when Alaric appeared; therefore the storm of hail and

fire is represented as falling upon "the earth," as a result of which

society was thrown into a state of great agitation, and moved to its

depths, like an ocean in a storm. This was its condition when Genseric,

from his fixed position in Africa, began his desolating incursions;

therefore the next symbol is that of a mountain cast into "the sea." By

the sea becoming blood is doubtless meant the destruction of life in the

empire, and "the third part" denotes the vast extent of the destruction.

I must speak with hesitation on what is signified by "the creatures

which were in the sea" and the "ships." By analogy I would be led to

refer the former to the rulers and the dignitaries in the empire, they

bearing an analagous position to the empire that fishes do to the waters

of the sea; while the latter may refer to public monuments and

structures.

10. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star

from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the

third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

11. And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third

part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the

waters, because they were made bitter.

The description given of this star is similar to that of a large burning

meteor, such as we frequently see shooting athwart the heavens. It fell

rapidly to earth, as such meteors often do, and struck the

fountain-heads of the rivers, imparting to them such a poisonous quality

as caused the death of those who drank the waters.

This symbol is also drawn from the natural world, and hence we must look

for its fulfilment in political events. The rapidity of its fall and

disappearance in the waters would direct us to an agent who would appear

suddenly and soon disappear, and whose career would leave bitter

results. The direct effects of this meteor were experienced by the

rivers and the fountains of waters, which bear an analagous relation to

the sea that bordering tribes and nations do to an empire. The heart of

the empire, or "the sea," was directly affected by the burning mountain,

under the preceding trumpet; while the tributaries of the sea, or the

bordering tribes, are made the subject of direct attack under this

symbol and the poisonous qualities of their waters carried to far

distant points.

Under this striking symbol we have a description of the third important

step in the downward course of Rome--the short but eventful career of

Attila, with his terrible Scythians, or Huns. Singularly, Attila was

said to "possess the iron sword of the war-god _Mars_," and he claimed

for himself the designation or title "The Scourge of God"; while his

followers were even more cruel and barbarous, if possible, than the

Goths and the Vandals.

Coming from the remote solitudes of Asia under the leadership of their

fierce king, they poured like a tornado, first upon the inhabitants of

the Eastern empire (in 442, 445) and then turned their attention

westward. Attila ruled over "nearly all the tribes north of the Danube

and the Black sea," and under his banner fought Ostrogoths, Gepidæ,

Alani, Heruli, and many other Teutonic peoples. Says Gibbon: "The whole

breadth of Europe, as it extends above five hundred miles from the

Euxine to the Adriatic, was at once invaded, and occupied, and desolated

by the myriads of barbarians whom Attila led into the field." It was the

boast of Attila that the grass never grew on the spot which his horse

had trod. In 451 he led his forces, seven hundred thousand strong,

through the center of Germany into the heart of Gaul, where he was met

at Chalons by the combined forces of the Visigoths, Alans, Franks and

Romans, and was defeated, with the loss of one hundred and seventy

thousand of his men. This was one of the most gigantic as well as one of

the most important battles of history. A rivulet flowing through the

field of battle is said to have been colored and swollen by the blood of

the slain. The next year, however, with a greater force at his command,

he fell with headlong fury upon northern Italy; but he did not attack

Rome. Suddenly and seemingly without cause, he withdrew his army; and

this peculiar action of his has been the wonder of historians ever

since. Says the Encyclopædia Britannica: "Attila at once withdrew from

Italy, but the motive which led him to act thus is not known." According

to the prophecy, he was to fall upon the "rivers and fountains of

waters" only. A short time later, in 453, he died, and "the vast empire

over which he had ruled broke up _immediately_ after his death, no one

chief being powerful enough to seize the supremacy." Thus his short but

wonderful career of about twelve years ended suddenly, like a meteor

falling into a river.

But the effects of this invasion were farreaching. Rome in her declining

strength, being unable to cope with these immense hordes of barbarians,

was forced to call to her assistance the half-civilized tribes of Gothic

barbarians against a more dreaded foe. The success that attended these

conflicts of the combined forces were the means of giving greater

political importance to these Gothic tribes and securing their

independence. But while they rose, Rome fell. By the very act of

employing such weapons in defense, Rome robbed herself of the little

political strength remaining, and she was obliged to accept the bitter

consequences.

Under each of these first three trumpets the extent of destruction is

indicated by the expression "the third part." Since the successive steps

in the downfall of the empire is the subject under consideration, this

expression as here applied doubtless has particular reference to the

loss of political power and life, rather than referring directly to the

loss of human life sustained. With this thought in view, it is evident

that the political importance of the empire was entirely destroyed by

these desolating incursions. Of the truth of this fact all historians

agree. Nothing of Rome remained, except the semblance of a government,

when the time arrived for the sounding of the next trumpet.

12. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun

was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part

of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the

day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

The symbol of this trumpet is that of an eclipse of sun, moon, and

stars, so that they shone not for a third part of the day and night.

Under the sixth seal we showed that these luminaries of heaven are taken

as symbols of rulers and princes; for the latter bear an analagous

relation to the empire that the former do to the earth. In the

darkening, then, of the sun, moon, and stars, we are to look for some

disastrous change or overthrow in the imperial government. Such an event

occurred only a few years after the events described under the preceding

trumpets. With her political strength and resources exhausted, Rome

could no longer maintain a separate existence, and Odoacer, king of the

Heruli, overthrew Momyllus Augustulus, the last of the Roman line of

emperors, and caused himself to be proclaimed king of Italy in A.D. 476.

This terminated the Western empire; and thus was the Roman sun eclipsed

in darkness. In a subsequent chapter, however, we will find the eclipse

lifted at a later period and _New Rome_ enjoying all the power and

authority lost in her predecessors of the old Augustin line.

Odoacer continued in possession of his kingdom seventeen years. Then he

was defeated and slain by Theodoric, and by him the kingdom of the

Ostrogoths was established in Italy. Sixty years later this kingdom was

subverted by Belisarius, the general of Justinian, emperor of the East,

to whom it became a tributary province. In each of the principal cities

of Italy Justinian appointed a governor with the title of Duke, in

subordination to another with the title of Exarch, whose residence was

at Ravenna. "Thus, at last, was Rome, once the proud mistress of the

world, reduced to a poor dukedom, made tributary to the Exarch of

Ravenna, and he holding his authority at the will of the emperor of

Constantinople, the seat of the Eastern empire."

Thus, under the symbols of these four trumpets we have developed the

wondrous history of the downfall of imperial Rome, in order to give

opportunity for the scenes of the drama yet to follow. The "man of sin"

could not be fully revealed in all his terrible features until this

hindrance was removed out of the way. Imperial Rome for three centuries

stood as the great opposer of God's people and slaughtered thousands,

perhaps millions, of the Lord's innocent servants, and the hand of

retributive Justice was finally extended to humble her to the dust.

Singularly, the persons whom God made choice of to effect her downfall

have either regarded themselves as special instruments whose mission it

was to punish the world or else have received such designations by

historians because of their awful work. Contemporary historians

distinguish Alaric by the epithets "The Scourge of God," "The Destroyer

of Nations"; while the great Vandal leader is designated "The Terrible

Genseric." Attila claimed the title "The Scourge of God."

13. And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of

heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the

inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the

trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

The later editions of the Greek New Testament give the word _eagle_

instead of _angel_--denoting a messenger or angel flying with the

swiftness of an eagle. This messenger doubtless is not intended to be

symbolic; for it is not one of the seven angels, but a messenger

possessing a warning, and that warning is given "to the inhabitants of

the earth," as if they were addressed directly. It simply announces that

the three trumpets yet to sound will possess greater calamities to the

people of earth than those that have preceded, by reason of which they

are called woes. The manner, also, in which the woe trumpets are spoken

of afterwards confirm the statement that the announcement is literal and

not symbolical. "One woe is past, and, behold, there come two more woes

hereafter." Chap. 9:12. "The second woe it past: and, behold, the third

woe cometh quickly." Chap. 11:14. These announcements are evidently

literal, and serve to explain the passage before us. Accordingly, the

last three trumpets are generally referred to as the woe trumpets.

CHAPTER IX.

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven

unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless

pit.

2. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out

of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the

air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

3. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and

unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have

power.

4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass

of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but

only those men which have not the seal of God in their

foreheads.

5. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but

that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was

as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

6. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find

it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

7. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared

unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like

gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were

as the teeth of lions.

9. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron;

and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of

many horses running to battle.

10. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were

stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five

months.

11. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the

bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but

in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

The symbols of this trumpet are of a very peculiar character and

peculiarly combined. They are not drawn entirely from the natural world,

showing that we are not to look for their fulfilment in political events

alone; neither are they drawn from human life in any such way as to

indicate events in the religious history of the church. The leading

characters in it, however, are living, active agents of such a

destructive nature as to entitle them to the designation of a woe.

The first object presented in the vision is a "star" fallen to the

earth. Our translation conveys the idea that this star was in the act of

falling; but in the original it is different, being there represented as

having fallen, its dejection from heaven to earth being complete. The

only place that it appeared in view was on the earth, and there it is

described as fallen. A star is a symbol either of a civil ruler or of a

religious teacher, the symbols in connection deciding whether it is set

in the political or the ecclesiastical firmament. But this was not such

a star as He who walketh in the midst of the golden candle-sticks

holdeth in his right hand, but it was a _fallen_ star, indicating that

it was the propagator of a false faith.

To this star was given a key. In the Gospels the same figure is

employed, where the ministers of Christ are represented as possessing

the keys of the kingdom of heaven, showing that they acted in his name

and by his authority. How appropriate, then, is this symbol as applied

to a false teacher, who possesses, not the keys of the kingdom of

heaven, but, instead, "the key of the bottomless pit"! Thus, under the

symbol of the star and the key, we have the teacher and his authority

set forth. Armed with this authority, this false teacher "opened the

bottomless pit; and there rose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a

great furnace; and the sun and air were darkened by reason of the smoke

of the pit." In the Scriptures Jesus is represented as the Sun of

righteousness, while "the light of the _glorious gospel_ of Christ"

illuminates the world. But here we have something of the opposite

character--a dense smoke eclipsing the sun and darkening the heavens.

Have we not here a fit representation of a delusive faith proceeding

from its true source, "the bottomless pit"? And is not a fallen star an

appropriate symbol of its propagator?

In representing a system of religion by these objects from nature we

depart from the general rule first laid down--that objects of nature

symbolize political affairs, while the department of human and angelic

life is chosen to represent religious affairs. But the reader should

bear in mind one important exception to this rule--that things

prominently connected with the history of the people of God in former

ages are frequently employed (regardless of the department to which they

belong) to represent spiritual things, their interpretation being easily

seen; such as candle-sticks, altar, temple, incense, etc. When the

plague of "thick darkness" covered the land of Egypt for three days,

"the children of Israel had light in their dwellings." In the exodus the

Lord went before them "by night in a pillar of fire, to give them

light." After the erection of the tabernacle the holy place was

constantly illuminated. This natural light in the Jewish age constitutes

a beautiful type of the spiritual "light of the glorious gospel of

Christ" that has "shined in our hearts" in the Christian dispensation.

This spiritual light comes from Christ, the "Sun of righteousness," the

"true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world"; and

proceeds, also, from his people, who "shine as lights in the world." But

it is the "light of the _gospel_." This light proceeds in a special

sense from God's ministers, who are represented as "stars" (chap. 1:20)

and who possess "the keys of the kingdom of heaven." Mat. 16:19; 18:18.

How appropriate, then, that a _fallen_ "star," possessing "the key of

the bottomless pit," should be a symbol of a religious impostor, and

that the smoke which darkened the heavens, eclipsing the sun, the source

of light, should represent a prominent delusive faith! I have already

mentioned the fact that the symbols of this vision lead to a series of

events entirely separate in their nature from the spiritual history of

the church as developed under other symbols. We find its fulfilment in

Mohammed and the delusive system he promulgated. In the year 606 Mahomet

retired to a cave in Hera, near Mecca, and there received his pretended

revelations, although it was not until six years later that he began to

teach his doctrines publicly and to gain followers outside of the circle

of his own family and personal friends. Gibbon, Vol. V., p. 121.

The next object in the vision is the locusts that came out of the smoke,

to which was given power like scorpions, or power to inflict a deadly

sting like scorpions. To what living agents, then, did the delusion of

Mohammedanism give birth--agents of a destructive nature like scorpion

locust? Evidently, the Saracens,[6] those warrior followers of Mohammed

who flocked to his standard. These locusts received the express command

that "they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green

thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of

God in their foreheads." The successor of Mohammed, Abubeker, gave the

Saracens a command that they should "destroy no palm-trees, nor burn any

fields of grain; cut down no fruit-trees, nor do any mischief to cattle,

only such as you kill to eat." This command was singular, yet it

doubtless is not the fulfilment of the command to the locusts; for that

would be adopting a literal meaning instead of a symbolic one, and to

complete the picture we should have had literal Saracens instead of

locusts. We can not consistently make a part literal and the remainder

symbolical. In the explanation of the first trumpet (chap. 8:6, 7), we

showed that grass and trees symbolized the inhabitants of a kingdom,

grass representing the feebler and trees the stronger portions of

society. The fact, then, that these locusts were not to destroy the

green grass and trees show that they were not sent as a scourge upon the

political empire only, as was the storm of hail and fire under the first

trumpet. Had their mission been like that of natural locusts, to destroy

every green thing, we should then conclude that they were sent as a

scourge upon the empire alone, having nothing whatever to do with a

system of religion. These locusts, however, were commanded not to do

what natural locusts always do--eat green grass and trees--and were

commissioned to do what locusts never do--"hurt men," but only those who

have not the seal of God in their foreheads; that is, the worshipers of

a false, idolatrous church, who are not known unto God as his true

people. This is positive proof that the design of this vision is to set

forth some awful religious imposture; for the "men" that they were to

hurt are found in the department which by analogy represents religious

events.

[Footnote 6: "In earlier times the name of Saraceni was applied by

Greeks and Romans to the troublesome Nomad Arabs of the Syro-Arabian

desert."--_Encyclopædia Britannica_. In the Middle Ages, however,

Europeans began to call all their Moslem enemies Saracens. It is in the

limited sense that it is here applied, designating the first followers

of Mohammed before the rise of the Ottoman empire.]

The fact that their commission was to torment those "men which have not

the seal of God in their foreheads," is a proof also of the wide-spread

apostasies that had already taken place. This was the time when the pale

horseman was careering over the world carrying desolation everywhere by

his instruments of oppression--sword, pestilences, famine, and the wild

beasts of the earth. "The churches both in the Western and Eastern

empire were in the most deplorable condition, being corrupted with the

grossest ignorance and idolatry; the virgin Mary, the saints, and

miserable relics of every description being worshiped in the place of

Jehovah, and superstition reigning with sovereign power over all minds."

The Saracen warriors of Mohammed were sent as a scourge upon apostate

Christendom, overrunning the very territory where the gospel was first

preached, and were commissioned to "torment" the false professors of

Christianity.

In regard to the kind and the extent of the injury they were to inflict,

it is said that "to them it was given that they should not kill them,

but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as

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

shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die,

and death shall flee from them." The Saracens, as here described under

the symbol of the locusts, sustained a two-fold relation, and the

careful and perfect manner in which the symbols are selected to set it

forth is worthy of particular notice. In the first place, the Saracens

were a political body. As such, locusts would fitly represent them. But

they were also a religious body, and how could that fact be symbolically

combined with the other? It is done by the locusts' being forbidden to

act out their own nature in eating grass and trees, and their being

commanded instead to "hurt men," thus changing the field of their

operations into the department of human life--the department that is

chosen to symbolically set forth religious events. Thus the

politico-religious system of the Saracens is accurately set forth. This,

also, is nearly as clear as a demonstration that the position already

taken concerning the nature and the use of symbolic language is correct.

It was given that they should "not kill" men. We have already shown that

killing men when used symbolically signifies the destruction of the

political or ecclesiastical organizations and institutions of society.

We could not consistently interpret it as literal slaughter, but as some

analagous destruction. Now, the Saracen power was, as already stated, a

politico-religious system, and its warriors were an infatuated set of

religious fanatics, described by historians as "carrying the sword in

one hand, and the Koran in the other." Thus, they had it in their power

to kill either religiously or politically--destroy either the church or

the empire--but they did neither, for their mission was not to kill, but

to "torment." "They made extensive conquests and gained immense numbers

of converts. But they did not overthrow the Eastern empire, although

they repeatedly attacked and besieged Constantinople, suffering,

however, uniform defeat in the attempt. Neither did they destroy the

church, corrupt and apostate as it was. To idolators and infidels they

put the alternative of the Koran or death; but allowed the Christians to

retain their church organization, laying them, however, under severe

contributions, and treating them to the ignominious appellation of

Christian dogs." Concerning the character of Mohammed, Gibbon informs us

that "he seldom trampled on a prostrate enemy, and he seems to promise,

that on the payment of a tribute, the least guilty of his unbelieving

subjects might be indulged in their worship, or at least in their

imperfect faith" (Vol. V, p. 129), and this, of course, would be the

natural tendency of his followers. The Armenian and the Greek churches

survived, and still exist in that portion of the world, but they have

indeed been greviously tormented. "The proud Moslem, glorying in his

prophet and religion, has heaped every possible insult and injury upon

the Christians," yet he suffered them to live, but live only for him to

torment. Surely the oppressions thus experienced are appropriately

described by the words, "as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh

a man." Under such torments the professed Christians might court death,

but such is not granted; and still they survive, but only to be

"tormented." The Moslem had "the Christian dog" completely under his

foot.

We now turn our attention to the period of time during which these

Saracen locusts were to continue their ravages. It is given as "five

months," or one hundred and fifty days. As this description is entirely

symbolic, we must consider the time symbolic also, for time certainly

can be symbolized as well as anything else. It is very appropriate for

days to symbolize years, for they are analagous periods of time; the

diurnal revolution of the earth being taken to represent the earth's

annual movement. Such a system of reckoning time was known centuries

ago. When Jacob complained to Laban because he had been given Leah

instead of Rachel, "Laban said, It must not be so done in our country,

to give the younger before the first-born. Fulfil her _week_, and we

will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve me yet

_seven other years_. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week ... seven

other years." Gen. 29:26-30. In this case it will be seen that a day was

used to represent a year, since seven days, or one week, represented

seven years. When the law was given, Moses recognized the week of seven

natural days, the last day of which was constituted a Sabbath of rest

for Israel; but he also instituted a week of seven years, the last year

of which was a sabbatical year of rest unto the land. This last fact

will explain such expressions as "forty days, _each day for a year_"

(Num. 14:34), and "I have appointed thee each day for a year." Ezek.

4:6.

This period, then, of "five months," or one hundred and fifty days,

would represent symbolically one hundred and fifty years. As before

stated, it was in the year A.D. 612 that Mohammed began to expound his

doctrines publicly and to gather adherents around his standard, from

which point the locusts commenced, although the smoke had been let out

of the pit a little previously. For a period of one hundred and fifty

years from this date, they continued their ravages, until A.D. 762. Then

they "built Bagdad, which became their settled seat of empire; and

henceforth they became a settled nation, making no further conquests."

From that date their power began to decline. But during this one hundred

and fifty years they spread over the country like swarms of devouring

locusts. According to the well-known facts of history, "they overran

Arabia, Palestine, Persia, Egypt, and the northern shores of Africa,

from which they passed to the conquest of Portugal and Spain." These

were the countries that had been the most oppressed by a priest-ridden

church and where especially were to be found those "men which have not

the seal of God in their foreheads." Europe was trembling and filled

with apprehension at what her fate might be at the hands of these

fanatic warriors who fought with savage fury, under the promise of their

prophet that, if slain in battle, they should be immediately transported

to Paradise. At the zenith of their power, and confident of success,

they passed from Spain into France four hundred thousand strong. But

here they exceeded their mission. The southern provinces of France

contained many Christians who had the "seal of God" upon them, and this

country became the seat of the Waldenses and Albigenses, of which

interesting people we shall learn more hereafter. The invading host was

met at Tours by Charles, grandfather of Charlemagne, who dealt them such

a crushing blow that he was ever afterward designated by the surname

Martel--the Hammer. This battle was one of the fiercest recorded in

history. The Saracens who had scarcely ever experienced defeat fought

with the fury of despair, until, according to the accounts of that age,

three hundred and seventy-five thousand of their number lay upon the

field of battle with their general. This decisive victory saved Europe

from her threatened subjection to the Mohammedan faith.

The next point in the vision to claim our attention is the particular

description of these locusts. Some of the points mentioned might find a

literal fulfilment in the personal appearance of the Saracens--such as

the crowns signifying the turbans they wore, etc., but we must adhere

strictly to the symbolic mode of interpretation and look for their

fulfilment in Saracen character. Their being like war-horses denotes

their warlike disposition. The crowns on their heads signify their great

success and triumphs. Their faces of men and hair like women doubtless

signify their boldness on the one hand and their effeminateness on the

other. Their teeth as the teeth of lions show their ferocity of

character. Their breastplates of iron indicate their invincibility or

else their insensibility to injuries inflicted upon them. The sound of

their wings like horses and chariots running to battle denotes the

multitude and rapidity of their conquests. Their tails like scorpions,

containing stings with which to "hurt men"--operating in the religious

world--symbolize their position as propagators of a false faith. Thus

they are set forth in their two-fold character--as invincible warriors

and as the zealous professors of a delusion, whose sting was like that

of a scorpion when he strikes a man.

"And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless

pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue

hath his name Apollyon." The following fact of history will explain

this: "The Saracens had their Caliphs, the successors of Mohammed, who

united in themselves the supreme civil, military and ecclesiastical

powers. They were the high-priests of their religion, the commanders of

their armies, and the emperors of the nation." This king over them

signifies a succession of rulers, and they are well described as "the

angel of the bottomless pit," for that is the very place where the

delusion is said to have originated. Mahomet, as a fallen star, opened

the pit and let out the smoke, and his successors, who grasped his power

and authority, are fitly characterized as angels from the same place,

bearing the name Abaddon or Apollyon, which terms both signify

Destroyer.

Is not this a wonderful combination of symbols which can be carried out

with surprising accuracy? What human ingenuity could have ever contrived

such a marvelous series of events, and described them under such

appropriate symbols? Finally, let me ask, Where in the whole compass of

universal history can be found another series of events so perfectly

meeting every requirement of the symbols? In this we must acknowledge

the hand of God.

12. One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more

hereafter.

This announcement, that one woe is past, meaning that the period of one

hundred and fifty years during which the Saracens were to continue their

conquests has ended, serves an important purpose in enabling us to fix

the chronology of the events described. It proves that they succeed each

other.

13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the

four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

14. Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the

four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

15. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an

hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third

part of men.

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

thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat

on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and

brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of

lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and

brimstone.

18. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the

fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out

of their mouths.

19. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for

their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with

them they do hurt.

20. And the rest of the men which were not killed by these

plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they

should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and

brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear,

nor walk:

21. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their

sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

At the sounding of the sixth trumpet, or the second woe trumpet, a voice

is heard from the four horns (all the horns) of the golden altar. This

probably denotes that the very same altar where incense was offered up

to God with the prayers of all saints was now crying out to him for

vengeance upon an apostate church. That church had reached the summit of

apostasy and iniquity, the virgin Mary, the saints, and thousands of

idols in the form of miserable relics being worshiped more than God.

Because of these abominable idolatries, a voice is heard crying from the

golden altar for the avenging judgments of Heaven, which were the

loosing of the four angels bound in the river Euphrates. The symbols of

this vision are also of peculiar character and drawn from different

departments. We have four angels bound in the Euphrates, an immense army

of horsemen, then a large number of horses with heads as of lions, and

fire, smoke, and brimstone issuing from their mouths. The horses thus

particularly described are evidently intended to have a definite

symbolical signification, and being objects of nature, they would

indicate a political or military power. The horsemen, being objects from

human life, would point us to some religious body; while the angels

signify the leaders that have control of these agencies. Their being

commissioned "to slay the third part of men" show that they will

overthrow some of the established institutions of society. We are to

look, therefore, for some politico-religious power that should invade

and overthrow the empire. We are, of course, directed to the Eastern

empire; for the Western division was subverted under the symbols of the

first four trumpets. With these specifications before us, we shall have

no difficulty in identifying the power intended--_the Turkish, or

Ottoman, empire_. Its agreement with the symbolic representations of the

vision will be manifest from a statement of the facts of history.

"The Turks were of Tartar or Scythian origin, from the northern regions

of Asia, whence also the Huns hived upon Europe during the fourth and

fifth centuries. The latter passed to the north of the Black sea from

Russia, and swept the regions of the Danube and the Rhine. The Turks,

passing to the east of the same, fell upon the empire from that quarter.

They took possession of Armenia Major in the ninth century, where they

increased, and in the space of two hundred years became a formidable

power, being at the end of this period combined into four Sultanies, the

heads of which were at Bagdad, Damascus, Aleppo, and Iconium. The first

of these was erected A.D. 1055; the two next A.D. 1079, and the last

A.D. 1080--all of them within twenty-five years, and the three last

within two."