2 The Book Delivered to John, Ch. 10:8-11 (continued 2)

The Scarlet Beast on which the Woman is seated, the color of the Dragon (ch. 12:3) and the sign of the blood which it has shed, is referred to as the one that “was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss” (v. 8), a description showing it to be the same as the First Beast which received the deadly wound that was healed (ch. 13:3), i. e. the world-power, and apparently designed to place it in marked antithesis with the divine designation, “who is and who was and who is to come,” in the first chapter of the book (v. 4 and 8). The enigmatical phrase “was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition”, may also refer to a lull in the persecution by the world-power, subsequently to be renewed and leading to its final destruction as a power, though its wider reference is perhaps to the persistence and reappearance of the world-power after any one of its forms has been overthrown, together with the certainty of its final ruin. Most preterists interpret the Beast that “was, and is not; and is about to come”, as a reference to Nero whose return was generally expected (a superstitious phantasy of a Nero redivivus), by a change of figure, the emperor previously referred to as the fifth head of the Beast becoming the Beast itself—a questionable interpretation, apparently wrought out by a keen fancy to fit the words of the prophecy, but lacking efficient support in the text. The Beast in the vision carries the Harlot, i. e. the world-city rests upon and is upheld by the world-power, an unhallowed union in striking contrast with that of the Lamb and the Bride. This symbolism indicates the near relation existing between the world-city and the world-power exemplified in history, the world in its social and irreligious form allying itself with and relying upon the persecuting world-power.

It should be noted here that the symbolism used in the chapter before us is shown to be very wide in its application. The seven heads of the Beast have first of all their proper symbolic meaning of full or universal dominion, i. e. dominion over this present evil world; but they are further interpreted to have other and different significance. We are told in verse nine that they are “seven mountains”, evidently in the primary meaning [pg 199] those of the city of Rome, which was seated on seven hills; but symbolizing besides this all mountains and hills which are the seat of world-cities, in accordance with the common apocalyptic usage of seven (cf. II Esdr. 2.19; and Bk of Enoch 18.6). The seven heads are also in a sense identified with the “many waters” on which the Woman sitteth (v. 15), which we are told, are “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues”, the many dwellers in world-cities—for she spreads her power over all mountains and all waters.518 They are also “seven kings” (v. 10), the king representing the throne and all it stands for, i. e. seven kingdoms, a complete number, the totality of kind, all the kingdoms of the world throughout history, though probably, like the seven churches, conceived of as individual kingdoms which are taken as representative of all.519 Perhaps in John's thought they were Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, and Greece, the five known to him that were already fallen and Rome, the one then existing—the nations connected with Israel's past. The past was history, but the future was seen only in outline, and John groups it all under one great world-power, completing the number seven, which was yet to appear. This last “must continue a little while”, i. e. during the remaining time of the world's existence, the usual sense of “a little while” in the Revelation, a period short in comparison with eternity. The Beast is also “an eighth”, we are told, i. e. when it is regarded apart from the seven heads,520 for the world-power may be conceived of as in itself a unit, comprising all its different manifestations, and yet separate from them and giving rise to them. The remark is, however, parenthetic and incidental, and ought not to be regarded as creating any special difficulty, for no reference is anywhere else made to an eighth, and it is probably introduced here simply because eight is the symbol of culmination [pg 200] (see App'x E). We are further told that the Beast is “of the seven” (v. 11), i. e. he is formed—Gr. ἐκ—“out of seven”, or in other words the Beast is the seven kingdoms regarded as a unit, the world-power as it exists in all ages.521 Also the ten horns (v. 12) which symbolize complete earthly power, ten symbolizing completeness and usually applying to the earthly, are representative of various subdivisions of the world-power, minor kingdoms with their kings, which are added to the seven heads as an additional symbol of world-wide empire. These are evidently thought of as yet to rise after John's day, for they are denominated “kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority as kings with the Beast for one hour”, i. e. each one for an hour, or for a time that is relatively short,522 an indefinite period, the ten kingdoms reaching in this case, apparently, to the end of the world—not definitely ten kingdoms or kings any more than one hour is a definite time limit, but rather ten, the number of completeness of all the parts, representing all kings and kingdoms yet to rise throughout succeeding time. “It seems probable,” as has been well said, “that John foresees that the hostile world-power will not be always preëminently wielded by one nation as in his time; but will be divided into many parts, here represented by the number ten which is a complete number and not necessarily implying only ten in all. This indeed exactly describes what has really been the case since St. John's time, and what, humanly speaking, seems likely to continue to the end of the world.”523 It may, also, be pointed out that the ruin of the world-city described by John has been the fate of every such city known to history. Thus the ten horns would seem to be identical with the seventh king or kingdom which is apparently the last, the world-power divided into many parts and continuing to the end of time. These divisions of the world-power, [pg 201] though originally hostile to Christ (v. 14), shall yet under divine direction eventually destroy the world-city in all lands and make her desolate (v. 16 and 17), i. e. the corrupt society, centered in cities, which opposes Christ and his kingdom. “And the Lamb shall overcome them; for he is Lord of lords and King of kings”, i. e. while God is seen to work through the multiple world-power, the ten horns or kingdoms, and eventually to destroy the Harlot, corrupt society in the world, he yet finally overcomes the kingdoms of this world that war against him, and makes them his own; he triumphs on the earth in the fulness of time, for the kingdoms of the world, we are told, shall “become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign forever and ever” (ch. 11:15). “And they also shall overcome that are with him, called and chosen and faithful” (v. 14)—the promise of success for the believing. In the preterist-historical view the overthrow of the great city, or the Harlot, by the ten subordinate rulers or kings, the ten horns, is commonly interpreted as a reference to the current expectation that Eastern nations, especially the Parthians, were likely to march against the city of Rome and overthrow it, an application of the prophecy quite possible in the minds of the generation which first received it, but not reaching its deeper and essential meaning, and failing of any actual realization. At this point it may be not inapt to remark that the wide latitude with which the symbolism of the seven heads is interpreted by the angel in this chapter, is a valuable guide to the general method of the Apocalypse, and should put us on our guard against limiting the significance of the symbols strictly to a single thought, where more than one may properly be intended. At the same time this does not give us the liberty of unlimited freedom, but prevents our being too positive in many cases as to the exact limits of the symbolism.

Other interpretations make the Beast the Roman Empire, and the seven heads seven different forms of Roman government known to history, or seven individual kings, and the ten horns the various parts, subdivisions, or subordinate rulers of the Empire. The current interpretation of the preterist school accepts unqualifiedly the seven heads as seven kings of the Roman Empire and identifies Nero with the fifth head or king [pg 202] who is now “fallen”, i. e. is now dead, but is about to be restored again, according to a wide-spread expectation of that time, and to become the eighth head or king. This view, though supported by many eminent authorities, especially those of the later critical school, involves serious difficulties. It is dependent upon the earlier date of the Apocalypse, or at least this portion of it, i. e. just after the death of Nero, the only time fitting such a prophecy—a matter by no means assured; and the prophecy, if it had this meaning, was falsified by subsequent events within a generation, a contingency which would necessarily have discredited the book before the church, and would make its acceptance as a genuine prophetic writing extremely difficult, if not impossible, to account for. These considerations serve to nullify the surety and positiveness with which this interpretation is generally urged by its advocates, and late writers indicate a healthful reaction against the view.524

Another similar view makes the emperors who are intended by the heads of the Beast to be (1) Augustus, (2) Tiberius, (3) Caligula, (4) Claudius, (5) Nero (now “fallen”, or dead—Galba, Otho, and Vitellius who succeeded Nero for short periods being omitted as pretenders), (6) Vespasian (the one who now “is”, i. e. now is on the throne), (7) Titus (who “must continue a little while”, i. e. have a short reign), and (8) Domitian (a second Nero—“an eighth” who “is of the seven”). This interpretation, though quite possible from one point of view, necessarily limits the vision to a narrow horizon; and while, like the former view, it tends to bring the teaching of the book into closer harmony with Jewish Apocalyptic, yet it obscures to some extent at least the wider and universal teaching which seems to the average Christian mind to belong essentially to the prophetic insight. It should be remembered, too, that the seven heads and ten horns belong originally to the Dragon or Satan, as symbols of his world-wide power, and are here transferred to the Beast as Satan's representative; and therefore it is more likely that they have a universal reference than that they apply to a single empire, for Satan's sphere of influence is confessedly world-wide (cf. ch. 13:1, note). Besides it is fruitless [pg 203] to attempt to interpret with any positiveness the heads and horns as individual nations and kings, as the diverse results have shown, each interpreter having his own application, and no one interpretation being generally accepted.525 But even if we cannot be so positive as to the primary meaning, we should not allow the larger and more important meaning to escape us, the meaning for us and for all time. This is the fundamental principle of interpretation according to the symbolical school, which should be kept in mind throughout; and it is remarkable how often the general meaning is plain when the original reference, as in this case, is obscure. For even if John had primarily in mind certain phases of the Roman Empire, we must not lose sight of his idealization of the symbolism. The numbers seven and ten are not to be interpreted literally but symbolically as elsewhere throughout the book. Whatever kings and kingdoms are in the first instance intended, they are introduced as the type of all kings and kingdoms of this world throughout all time, in accordance with the prevalent use of numbers in the Apocalypse; so that in any case the chief thought established is essentially the same, viz. that the anti-christian world-power attains its fulness and completeness under the numbers seven and ten, and then wanes and is eventually destroyed. If we interpret of Rome, then the ruin of the one empire with its rulers and parts foreshadows that of every other earth-power that opposes the rule of Christ among men, and the overthrow of the one city with its social and civic forces allied with evil, prefigures that of the entire anti-christian social and civic power throughout the world.

2 The Fall of the City Proclaimed, Ch. 18:1-24

The mystery of the Harlot and of the Beast having been revealed, another angel now declares the doom which awaits them. The downfall of the city and the destruction of her wealth is set forth as the type of the overthrow of corrupt society with all pertaining to it, in order that the fulness of Christ's kingdom may be ushered in among men. In the vision of the prophet the ruin is viewed as already complete; attention is centered so fully upon the result attained that the method [pg 204] by which it is accomplished is left quite out of view. But the closing verses of the preceding chapter serve to indicate the source of her destruction, viz. in the ten horns, or subdivisions of the world-kingdom, which rise against the Harlot and overthrow her (ch. 17:16-17),—the historic fate of world-empires and world-cities in revolution and ruin. It is here worthy of note how clearly we find in this chapter reverberating echoes from Isaiah's Doom of Babylon and of Tyre (Isa. ch. 13:23, 47), and from Jeremiah's Doom of Babylon (Jer. chs. 50 and 51), as well as from Ezekiel's Doom of Tyre (Ezek. chs. 26-28).526 Though the fall of the heathen city of Rome was doubtless foremost in John's mind, let us not forget that it only formed the basis of the wider thought of the ultimate fate and fall of the great godless world which it so clearly foreshadowed, the foresight of which was a part of the prophetic vision.527

(1) The Announcement of Her Overthrow, Ch. 18:1-3

An angel—called here “another angel” in distinction from the one designated as “one of the seven angels” in chapter seventeen (v. 1)—is seen coming down out of heaven, having great authority, and crying with a mighty voice, “Fallen! fallen is Babylon the great!” and recounting the story of her crimes as the abundant cause of her ruin.

(2) The Warning to God's People, Ch. 18:4-8

Yet another voice from heaven bids the people of God come out of her before the final retribution, that they be not made partakers of her sins and receive not of her plagues, for her sins have reached even unto heaven; and urges the executors of her judgment to reward her double, i. e. to exact full legal retribution for her sins (Ex. 22:4-7). And she shall be utterly destroyed, shall be “burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judged her”.

[pg 205]

(3) The Lament of the Kings of the Earth over Her Doom, Ch. 18:9-10

The rulers of the world-powers who have shared in her sin are seen standing afar off for fear of her torment, witnessing her fall; and their cry is heard, “Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour [i. e. in a short time or suddenly] is thy judgment come”,—mourning over her ruin which is sudden and complete.

(4) The Lament of the Merchants, Ch. 18:11-17a

The merchants of the earth also weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise or cargo any more. The articles of merchandise enumerated are many, indicating her wealth, and seem to be arranged in a progressive order of importance, and to fall naturally into six classes, (Babylon's number, the symbol of evil—ch. 13:18), which may be divided as follows, viz. (1) those of personal adornment; (2) of furniture; (3) of sensual gratification; (4) of food; (5) of animate forms; and (6) of souls (i. e. persons) of men.528 All have perished; and the merchants cry aloud, “Woe, woe, the great city! ... for in one hour so great riches is made desolate.”

(5) The Lament of the Seamen, Ch. 18. 17b-19

All those who gained their living by the sea, ship-masters, mariners, and every one that saileth any whither, stood afar off and cried, “What city is like the great city?” And they cast dust upon their heads, weeping and mourning, the sign of their deep though worldly sorrow, saying, “Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.” In this triple mourning of the kings of the earth, of the merchants, and of the seamen, is shown the wide relations of Babylon, too wide in fact for any single city. The darkly shadowed terms of poetic description used throughout the chapter, set forth the completeness of her destruction, and are an echo from the Fall of Tyre in Ezekiel's prophecy (chs. 26-28).

[pg 206]

(6) A Call to Heaven and to the Church to Rejoice, Ch. 18:20

By a voice, evidently from above, the holy are bidden to rejoice, i. e. heaven with its inhabitants, and the saints or the church, and her two highest orders of ministers in the past, the apostles and the prophets, are called upon to rejoice because God hath judged Babylon with the judgment which is her due for her treatment of the saints. This invitation to the “saints, the apostles, and the prophets”, to rejoice over the judgment of Babylon, which to that age doubtless meant Rome, is regarded by some as a possible allusion to the martyrdom of the Apostles Peter and Paul who met death under Nero.529

(7) The Symbol of Her Irretrievable Ruin, Ch. 18:21-24

A strong or mighty angel, taking up a stone like a great millstone, casts it into the sea as the sign of her total extinction, and rehearses the fate of the city in the ominous words of ancient prophecy, which are here enlarged and made more terrible (cf. Jer. 51:61-64). The symbolism used throughout this chapter, it will be noted, is largely drawn from the Old Testament prophecies concerning the ancient cities of Babylon and Tyre. “And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth.” Thus in terms that are as wide as the earth and as far-reaching as history, is set forth the sin of the godless and unbelieving world in all ages, which concludes the pronouncement of the judgment upon Babylon; and the judgment seems to belong properly in seven parts as a sign of its completeness.

B The Triumph of the Redeemed, Ch. 19:1-10

A hymn of praise (the Hallelujah Chorus), such as follows each crisis in the Apocalypse, and forms a relief to the sombreness of the visions, is sung in heaven by a great voice of a great multitude as the sequel to the fall of the city and the lament of the world—the seventh and last great chorus in the Revelation (see App'x C): and then the marriage supper of the Lamb is announced for the delight of the redeemed in heaven. The final triumph, it will be seen, is here viewed as a [pg 207] whole, without distinction of parts such as are found in the succeeding section which treats of the last things.

1 The Choral Song of Hallelujahs, Ch. 19:1-8

In response to the heavenly summons to rejoice (ch. 18:20), a thrice repeated note of victory, the Hebrew “Hallelujah”, Praise ye Jehovah! is heard in heaven; first from the voice of a great multitude, who say a second time, “Hallelujah”, and then from the four and twenty elders, the representatives of the redeemed church, together with the four living creatures, the representatives of all created life, who reply, “Amen; Hallelujah.” After this again, in response to a message from the throne (v. 5), another “Hallelujah” is heard from the voice of another multitude (v. 6-8), as the sound of many waters, the voice of those who are praising God in full and joyful chorus because he has avenged the blood of his servants, and who are now rejoicing with exceeding gladness (v. 7) because “the marriage of the Lamb is come”, i. e. the complete and final union of Christ with the redeemed church, for his wife, the church, hath made herself ready. The word “Hallelujah” occurs four times in this passage, and is not found elsewhere in the New Testament: it should be noted, too, that it is used here, as it is chiefly used in the Old Testament,530 in connection with the punishment of the wicked. The first voice in this chorus of hallelujahs (v. 1f) is apparently that of the great multitude of the angelic host in heaven, which is responded to by the four and twenty elders, and the four living creatures; while the second voice (v. 6f) is that of the multitude of the universal church who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. The description of the pure array of the Bride (v. 8), which is the symbol of her righteousness and is in such marked contrast with the clothing of the Harlot, may be an explanation added by the Apostle, as indicated in the text of the Revelation given in the preceding part of this book by including the verse in a parenthesis, though it was apparently regarded by the American Revisers as part of the words of the redeemed church.

[pg 208]

2 The Blessedness of the Marriage Supper, Ch. 19:9

John is directed by the angel to record a blessing upon those who are bidden to the marriage supper, i. e. who are invited to share in the nearer fellowship of the redeemed with Christ, and to partake of the rich and abundant spiritual food that awaits them in the new relations of the heavenly life—a further symbol of the spiritual union of the church with Christ added to that of the bride and the marriage, setting forth the joys of the heavenly life under the familiar figure of a marriage feast, the great social event of the East, and the popular type of the highest enjoyment, as well as the public acknowledgement of the consummation of the union. The marriage of the Lamb is put in vivid contrast with the fornication of the Harlot, in the usual method of the Apocalypse.

3 Worship Refused by the Angel, Ch. 19:10

The Apostle is so overwhelmed by the impression of the vision that he falls at the feet of the angel to worship him—probably the interpreting angel of the opening verse of the book, though some think identical with the vial-angel of chapter seventeen; but the worship is refused,531 because, as the angel declares, he is only a fellow-servant with John, and shares in “the testimony of Jesus” which “is the spirit of prophecy”. This significant phrase is characteristic of the Revelation,532 and we find in it a key to the general interpretation, a principle to be applied throughout, viz. that the mysteries of the Old Dispensation find their only proper solution and fulfilment in the clearer teaching of the New. “The testimony of Jesus” is the witness for the truth borne by Christ in the world, which gathers up into one and gives expression to the essential and animating thought of all prophecy. Others interpret the passage as applying to the witness borne for Christ and the truth by his disciples in the world; and it is possible that both meanings are included, for if broadly interpreted they both merge into one.533

[pg 209]

C The Last Things, Ch. 19:11-20:15

A new phase of the vision of victory now opens, which presents the final culmination and crisis of judgment and redemption, a rapid preview of the closing events of human history, a forecast of the triumph and completion of the gospel age. These events form a series of climaxes that are progressive and catastrophic, and usher in the final consummation of God's world-plan of the ages, a feature that is prominent in all apocalyptic writings.

It is important for us to note afresh at this point, what should be apparent to our minds in the study of the book throughout, viz. that the element of climax, which enters so largely into the thought of the Revelation, belongs essentially to the mood and temper of Apocalyptic; and we should avoid emphasizing too much that which pertains chiefly to literary form and spiritual mood, as though it were intended to set forth the intimate nature of the divine method. Upon careful reflection it must become more and more apparent that the emphasis here laid upon the climactic side of the divine way of working, was only intended to be in proportion to the apparent hopelessness of the historical outlook without such manifest and repeated divine interpositions for human help, and was not intended to indicate that the chief effects to be wrought out will be accomplished by other than the method displayed in history, viz. by long periods of quiet progress and patient waiting, broken now and then by short and decisive periods of crisis. The apocalyptic writers followed the general mode of conception prevalent in the Old Testament, according to which “the final condition of men and the world is regarded less as the perfect issue of a gradual ethical advancement ... than as the result of an interposition or chain of interpositions on the part of God”,534 which is only one side of the truth—a view growing out of their idea of God as the immediate author of all movements in nature and history, and fitting in well with the increased emphasis laid upon climax in Apocalyptic. There is also a distinct foreshortening of the future which is very evident throughout [pg 210] this section, and this is a well known and characteristic feature of all prophecy. The extreme brevity with which are described and grouped together so many great events of the far future that so deeply affect the Christian hope, serves to indicate that the chief aim of the Revelation does not consist in fully manifesting these events which lie hidden in the hand of God, but in preparing the church for what precedes them, both of trial and of conflict. “Like a flash of lightning in the darkness the vision lights up the whole line of God's purposes to the end”; but how much of the actual form and manner of the events it was the divine purpose to disclose through this ideal and scenic presentation must continue to be, pending the manifestation of the events themselves, to some extent at least, a matter of diverse opinion.

1 The End of the Holy War, Ch. 19:11-21

This part of the vision sets forth the final victory over all the powers of this world which is eventually to be attained by the supreme power of “The Word of God”, the ever conquering Christ, who is here described by this transcendental name for our Lord which is a distinctive title with the Apostle John.535 Beginning with a view of the triumphant Word going forth to conquer as under the first seal (ch. 6:2), Christ appears in the opened heaven riding on a white horse; he is called “Faithful and True”, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes are a flame of fire, the type of purity and judgment; upon his head are many diadems, the crowns of conquered nations; he hath a name written which no man knoweth but himself,—evidently the “new name” of chapter three (v. 12) which John cannot interpret; and he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood, the token of his redemptive work. The armies of heaven, which apparently include the redeemed, such as have already entered there, follow him [pg 211] on white horses,536 clothed in fine linen white and pure; out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations,537 for he shall rule them then with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the winepress of the wine of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty, thereby bringing punishment upon the evil. His divine right is clearly seen, for he hath on his garment and on his thigh (i. e. both on the garment and on the thigh, or else on the garment covering the thigh), a name written, “King of Kings, and Lord of Lords”. And the Beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, are gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse and against his army, i. e. against Christ and his kingdom to attempt to overcome them. Thus with sublime imagery the vision leads up and on to the close of the great battle with the world-forces, which was briefly described before in chapter sixteen as occurring at Har-Magedon; the war is the same, the battle between the sinful world and the hosts of God which is ever going on through the ages to final victory in the end. Now, by a further view, the Beast, and the False Prophet (or Second Beast) who misguides the people in spiritual things, are seen to be taken, and they twain are cast alive into the lake of fire, while all their followers are slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of his mouth (v. 15); and all the birds that fly in mid-heaven are called by an angel standing in the sun to feed upon their flesh, as in Ezekiel's prophecy of the Judgment of Gog (ch. 39:17-22), a judgment exceedingly repulsive to the Hebrew mind. The lake of fire is only a more fully developed form of the Jewish conception of Gehenna as a furnace of fire (Mat. 13:42, and 50). The symbolism here used may have been suggested to John's mind by the appearance of a sea or lake during the eruption of a volcano, a view not unfamiliar to those resident in Asia.538 This lake in the Revelation is the place of final punishment of the wicked, and is clearly distinguished from the pit of the abyss, the abode of Satan during the present world-period. Thus [pg 212] is signified the triumphant overthrow of the World-Power and of the World-Religion as manifested in history. These together with the World-City are now broken and destroyed, while only the World-Lord, or Satan, remains to carry on the conflict, and the way is thereby prepared for the great millennial victory.

This section is considered by many to refer to Christ's second coming, the Parousia, and, if that view were established, it would serve to support the opinion of those who hold that the second advent will be premillennial; but such an interpretation is beset with many difficulties and cannot be sustained by what is said in these verses. The description does not correspond with the account of Christ's coming again which is given in the Synoptic Gospels and the Epistles, nor with the passing foregleams of it in the preceding chapters, but rather with the delineation of Christ's conflict with the world as it is set forth in this book, which is depicted in its beginnings under the first seal where Christ goes forth conquering and to conquer, and which is now seen to pass through the thick of battle to the crowning of victory. For while the second coming is manifestly the one great objective event ever retained in the background of the visions, overshadowing and interpenetrating every part of the Apocalypse, yet it is at no time definitely introduced or particularly described; and the most accurate and impartial interpretation throughout is that which regards both the time of its occurrence and the position it occupies in relation to other events of the last days as nowhere revealed in the Apocalyptic vision. With the present author this view has grown through time from that of a possible solution of a much vexed question into a settled conviction of its correctness.539 And it should be seen, that with this section (ch. 19:11-21) in grave doubt, to say the least, concerning its application to the advent, if indeed it should not be regarded as entirely inapplicable, there is nothing definitely taught in the Revelation in regard to the time of Christ's second coming; for whatever opinion we may entertain concerning the time of that glorious event so dear to the Christian heart, we cannot regard this [pg 213] passage as decisive in the matter unless we interpolate into it a meaning which it does not necessarily contain.

2 Satan Bound, Ch. 20:1-3a

The temporary destruction of Satan's power is here indicated by his being bound for a season; and this marks another advance in the triumphal march of events. An angel coming down from heaven with the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand, lays hold upon the Dragon, the Old Serpent, Satan, and binds him for a thousand years, and then shuts him up in the abyss, his present dwelling-place, from which he can now emerge at will during the period of conflict, and seals it over him that his power may be restrained until the end of that time. The binding of Satan indicates the limiting of his authority over the nations, with the subsequent ushering in of the triumph of the gospel among men, when, according to the announcement of the seventh trumpet, “The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ” (ch. 11:15), a promise partially fulfilled at this stage, but awaiting its complete fulfilment in the final consummation. The limiting of Satan's power is a preparatory stage to the events that follow, and precedes the first resurrection, as it also precedes the millennium.

3 The First Resurrection, Ch. 20:4-6

The resurrection, which is the effective redemption of the body from death, that is necessary for complete victory over sin and for the full consummation of man's life in eternity,540 is at this point begun,541 and is marked in the Revelation by two successive stages, the first accompanying the triumph of the messianic kingdom, and the second preparatory to the final judgment. These two parts of the resurrection are separated in the vision by the whole millennial period. The first resurrection is special and compensative (scil. “the resurrection out of the dead”—Gr. ἐκ νεκρῶν—Phil. 3:11), consisting of certain [pg 214] of the saints and martyrs who by reason of their enduring resistance of the forces of evil in their lives and deaths are adjudged worthy to attain unto this resurrection, viz. “of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the Beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand.” The first resurrection which is evidently limited to this particular class, and is compensative in character for evils endured, precedes the second or general resurrection by a thousand years, or the whole duration of the millennium, which is not a definite, numerical thousand years, but in accordance with the general use of numbers in the Apocalypse is a period of vast but indefinite length. The cry of the martyrs (ch. 6:9) has been heard, and they who have part in this resurrection shall live and reign with Christ throughout the whole millennial era, i. e. shall share in his presence and glory as a reward for their superior faithfulness, shall be with him where he is, evidently in heaven, for nothing is said of any new or different relation of Christ or of the saints to those who dwell upon the earth as now begun, or as entered upon at any time during this period. We are simply told that the redeemed saints shall live and reign with Christ, i. e. they shall enter upon the new and fuller life with Christ which follows the resurrection of the body, and they shall share in the triumphant rulership of Christ in heaven. The main thought in the phrase “with Christ”, it will be seen, is not so much that of location, as of association with him in messianic rule.542 The statement here made that “they shall be priests of God and of Christ” (v. 6) evidently does not mean that they are to exercise the function of mediators for the rest of mankind during that intermediate period,—for no such service in heaven is anywhere taught in Scripture—but only that they are granted familiar access to and fellowship with God and Christ such as the priests had who drew near under the old covenant; they stand in his presence as the priests of old stood in the temple and waited and served and worshipped.

[pg 215]

4 The Millennium, Ch. 20.: 2b, 3b, 4b, 5a, 6b and 7a

The millennium is the Latin equivalent of the Greek phrase χίλια ἔιη or a thousand years, which has now attained a permanent place in Christian thought. In the prophetic view of the apocalyptic vision this is the crowning period of the church upon earth so long looked for and foretold, the triumphant realization of messianic prophecy, the dénouement of redemptive history in the world, a time of rest and victory when evil shall be restrained though not extinguished, and righteousness shall rule among men. The millennial reign of the saints with Christ, while Satan is limited in his sphere, as is indicated by his being bound with a great chain, is evidently intended to represent the period of the church's triumph. The length of time implied by the millennium is a period of multiple completeness which is represented by a thousand, the cube of ten, the symbol of a duration that is of great but indefinite extent, covering a long period of time, stretching to untold generations, during which the rule of Christ shall be triumphantly established upon the earth.543 The chief thought in the thousand years is doubtless that of great and enduring victory. This period, as has been effectively said, “may well be of such an indefinite length as to lead to the salvation of unnumbered multitudes—multitudes so vast and countless that all the lost of all the ages will be but an infinitesimal fraction in comparison.”544 Such a view serves to lighten in a measure the dark places of Scripture and history with a vision of blessing and hope, though it cannot be said to disperse to any great extent that impenetrable shadow which hangs over God's purpose in the world's long deep night of sin and death.

No other passage in the New Testament has taken a deeper or more permanent hold upon the minds of believing men than this pregnant prophecy of a millennium, in which the thousand years is six times named in as many verses. Unfortunately interpreters have not been agreed concerning the meaning of the passage; in fact no part of the Word of God has, perhaps, been so much in dispute as these verses in the Revelation. It may [pg 216] be worth while, therefore, to say that in the interpretation we should clearly recognize upon the one hand that the promise of a millennium was intended to create in the minds of men a pervasive hope of ultimate divine triumph in the world; while upon the other hand we should avoid making this glorious promise the groundwork of purely human fancy. The blessings of the millennial period here set forth evidently pertain both to the saints in glory and to the kingdom of God in this world. The particular nature of the reign of the saints with Christ during the thousand years is not revealed; but we know assuredly that Christ and his kingdom have prevailed upon the earth. The millennium manifestly presents a natural and complete antithesis to the long period in which the church suffered oppression under domination of the world-powers. The part allotted to the saints in the triumph of the kingdom in which they live and reign with Christ, is set forth in terms of long prevailing and deeply cherished Jewish ideals. To occupy “thrones of judgment” was part of the recognized hope of Israel (Ps. 122:5), and is clearly a human way of conceiving of superhuman relations. That this hope is to be realized in the final spiritual supremacy of God's children, specially promised to the twelve of the inner circle (Mat. 19:28; and Lu. 22:30), and evidently to be shared in a particular degree by all those who have part in the first resurrection, though ultimately in some measure also by all the redeemed, does not admit of serious doubt, but the exact form in which it will be realized is not made plain.

According to the usual premillennial view the first resurrection is interpreted as consisting of all believers who have died previous to that time, and not of those only who share in it by reason of special service and testimony; and the millennial reign of those who rise from their graves in this resurrection is held to be upon the earth, and is to be ushered in by the second coming of Christ who will establish a new dispensation in which he will be personally manifest, and will rule in the world, either from an earthly capital as Jerusalem, or from heaven in close communication with the saints.545 This view, it will be seen, rests upon Jewish conceptions, and derives its support from a sternly literal interpretation [pg 217] of Old Testament prophecies. But, notwithstanding its natural attractiveness to the minds of men, it fails of adequate confirmation in the text. Upon the other hand most of the symbolical school interpret the first resurrection figuratively, as a resurrection to spiritual life, and regard the millennium as now in progress. The prevalence of this view seems to be largely due to the early influence of Augustine,546 who identified the millennium with the period of the Christian church on earth, and held that for those who belong to the true church the first resurrection is past already, making it the equivalent of the resurrection to spiritual life spoken of in John's Gospel (Jn. 5:25),—a passage which, though showing that a spiritual resurrection is a distinct Johannine conception, does not serve to break the natural force of these words in their present connection. The usual interpretation of the thousand years given by the symbolical school cannot be considered as satisfactory,547 viz. that the phrase expresses a quality, i. e. completeness, and not a period of time; and that the meaning of the phrase “bound him for a thousand years” is that Satan was completely bound. The symbolical use of the number one thousand is evident, but that does not deprive it of all quantitative value, it only affects its literal significance; and the denial that the word “years” has any reference to time is without proper exegetical support and must be rejected.548 According to the current symbolical interpretation the entire passage (ch. 20:1-10) is regarded as an episode which is descriptive of the complete safety and spiritual deliverance of Christ's people throughout the whole period of the age-long conflict;549 and thus the millennium as a period of triumph and blessedness for the saints on earth, preceding and distinct from the final blessedness of the world to come, fades away into a figure of speech, while the triumph of the gospel is obscured. But this view cannot be sustained except by a sacrifice of the [pg 218] natural, if we may not certainly say the correct exegesis; for the paragraph will not fit a purely figurative interpretation.550 This view would dispose of the question of a pre- or post-millennial coming by denying that there is any millennium, in the historic sense of the term, taught in the Revelation. But the expedient is a fallacious one, if John spoke as a prophet by the inspiration of the Spirit, for his words incorporated the thought of his time in which the millennium had a definite meaning; and that he foresaw and described it as such is fairly evident, though he manifestly modified its extravagances. The idea of a triumphal period of the Messiah's reign is too deeply inwrought in the Apocalyptic literature which preceded the present Apocalypse to be put aside lightly as a symbol of completeness.551 The duration of this time was a frequent and favorite subject of Jewish speculation;552 and according to the general laws of language, the phrase used in the text, “a thousand years”, necessarily carries with it the conception of a period of time, but in accordance with the usage of the author, it loses its definite numerical significance and indicates a period of long but unmeasured duration; it becomes the symbol of a period that is complete.

It will be recognized by the attentive student of the Word of God that this passage and its connections form the crux interpretum of the whole book of Revelation; and it is well, perhaps, not to speak with too much positiveness on a subject so differently understood by many of the most eminent scholars and interpreters. The view presented above seems to be the most natural meaning that can be given to the words of the vision, and seems also to accord more fully than any other with the many promises of God concerning the outcome of all that great and progressive movement among men which we call the Kingdom of Heaven in the earth. For without such a period of victory, the whole evolutionary movement in human life and history, which so manifestly [pg 219] marks the purpose of God and the plan of redemption, would somehow seem to fail of any proper consummation; while in this view the millennium, marking the triumph of the gospel, would vindicate the present method of history and redemption, just as the premillennial view would abandon it and introduce a different order. Indeed, it may be well here to say, what should be clearly seen by every student of the Revelation, that the premillennial view introduces practically three dispensations into the plan of redemption, viz. the first, that of Moses which measurably failed; the second, that of Christ which is also to fail of complete success; and the third, that of the Holy Spirit which shall absolutely triumph. Whether, indeed, such a view is justified by what the Gospels teach and the Epistles indicate, is a question that each interpreter of Scripture must determine for himself; though it must be said that the large majority of Christians in all ages have not so understood the message of the Word. And it would certainly be remarkable if Christ, who was so wonderful a teacher, had intended to predict a premillennial coming to his own, and yet left it in such an indefinite form that the majority of earnest Christians would forever fail to apprehend it. But, in any case, to give up the expectation of the final supremacy of the gospel in the world, whether we look for it to be attained before or after the coming of the Lord, through the method of history or contrary to it, is to empty of its richest content the Christian hope for the world of men, and to contradict the deepest longing of the pious heart.553

5 Satan Loosed Again and Overthrown, Ch. 20:3c, and 7-10

A renewal of Satan's activity is permitted by divine authority, as is indicated by his being loosed again out of his prison, and seems to be of the nature of a reaction in favor of evil, a sequence for which we are scarcely prepared at this juncture, after the millennial period of Christian ascendancy. We find described in these verses a recrudescence of organized opposition to Christ and his kingdom, indicated by Satan coming forth again out of the abyss, according to the prevailing [pg 220] method of the Apocalypse by which evil comes in periodic onsets. In the elucidation of the passage most interpreters, who regard the millennium as representing the triumphal period of Christ's kingdom upon earth, consider this incident, together with Satan's previous binding without the complete destruction of his power until the end when he is cast into the lake of fire, as showing conclusively that opposition to Christ has only been subdued during the millennial period but not extinguished, so that like a smouldering fire it bursts forth into flame again before the end.554 It can scarcely be denied that such is the underlying assumption of the passage, as is generally conceded, though the usual symbolist view, relying upon this, minimizes the character of the millennial triumph, and regards the opposition to Christ as being subdued only so far as believers are concerned, toward whom Satan is then completely bound, the millennium and the conflict going on simultaneously—a view that is not adequately sustained by the text. On the other hand the futurist view magnifies the nature of the millennial triumph, and leaves no reasonable room for this final outburst of sin; for the millennium with Christ dwelling among his people upon earth is heaven already begun, and the Scriptures nowhere teach either the continuance of evil after Christ's second coming, or the existence of an interval between Christ's coming and the judgment. The interpretation here given is accepted by many modern scholars and follows a median line, regarding the millennium as a period of relative triumph followed by a fresh outbreak of sin, as seems to be indicated in this passage. If we compare these verses with that strange apocalyptic passage in Paul's Second Epistle to the Thessalonians (II Thess. 2:3f.), we find that he there predicts a falling away from the faith and the coming of the Man of Sin before the advent, which seems to refer in the figurative language of Apocalyptic to this same period of final struggle preceding the end. And the Man of Sin there foretold may perhaps be regarded as an ideal personification of the sin of man then prevailing, “whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth”. This last struggle is, however, only for a little time (v. 3), [pg 221] i. e. for a season that is short in comparison with the millennial period, and is apparently permitted in order to bring about the triumphal termination of the conflict that Satan may be completely and forever overthrown and flung into the lake of fire (v. 10), the final place of punishment, together with the Beast and the False Prophet whose destruction has been already described.

Though the general idea of the paragraph is relatively plain, the particular meaning of the prediction is involved in much obscurity, viz. that of a war in which Satan deceives the nations of the earth, Gog and Magog,555 whose number is as the sand of the sea, and who go up under his leadership to compass the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but who are destroyed by divine intervention through fire from heaven. The description is evidently symbolic, and Gog and Magog were doubtless not intended to be identified as particular nations; nor can the fulfilment be literally understood. Like many of the prophecies of the past it is surrounded by a haze of indefiniteness that prevents its full interpretation until its meaning is revealed by the course of events. The source of the symbolism is found in the Old Testament invasion of Gog, a passage in Ezekiel (ch. 38-39), a prophetic scene of war, which becomes here the formal type of the last struggle between the hosts of sin and those of righteousness, and seems to refer to some new, national, and world-wide form of opposition to Christ and his kingdom in which all the earth-forces of evil are gathered together for their extinction—a final stage of the conflict necessary for the completeness of the victory, which is to be postmillennial, and in which all the powers of evil shall be speedily and finally overthrown.556 It may also be that the view of battle here given is intended to be partly retrospective [pg 222] in its purpose, and to link this struggle with the age-long conflict which culminates when the Beast and the False Prophet are taken, giving another view of Har-Magedon in which now, after a period of quiescence, Satan's overthrow forms the final part.

6 The Second Resurrection, Ch. 20:11-12a, and 13a

This is the final and complete resurrection which occurs at the end of the world, and comprises all those, whether believers or not, who failed to participate in the first resurrection. The completeness of this resurrection is specially emphasized. Even the sea gave up the bodies of the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the souls of the dead that were in them (v. 13a), in preparation for the judgment. The description here given of the second or general resurrection, it will be seen, presents the ordinary view of Scripture, while that of the first resurrection introduces a new and different conception, viz. that of a special resurrection. The main distinction between the two resurrections may be regarded as chiefly one of order rather than time, though the precedence of the first in point of time is also included. In each case a resurrection of the body is meant, but the first is partial in extent, consisting of a particular class, while the second is universal, comprising all classes.557 The paragraph, when thus interpreted, affords a clearer view of the resurrection as a whole, showing its proper order or sequence, and separating into two main parts that which is mostly regarded in the New Testament in its entirety as a single event occurring at the last day. In fact the doctrine of two resurrections taught in this passage, and the clearness with which the resurrection of the wicked for judgment is set forth, together constitute the most notable contribution of the Apocalypse to the eschatology of the New Testament;558 for “whatever may be the difficulties involved, and however they may be solved, we must recognize that John here predicts an anticipative and limited resurrection of the same character [pg 223] as the general resurrection which is to follow.”559 This was undoubtedly the thought presented to John's mind in the vision, whether we attach any didactive significance to it or not, and it ought not to be overlooked in our interpretation.

At this point it may be not amiss to say, what must be apparent to every careful student of Scripture, that it was not the divine purpose in the book of Revelation to reveal the intimate nature or detail of the great events which lie at the close of man's history on the earth; but rather to give a general outline of the divine order, which would serve to invigorate our faith and stimulate our hope in the onward path of Christian duty. And while it is for the most part fruitless to inquire particularly concerning that which is not clearly revealed, at the same time the general bearing of this passage should not be allowed to escape our attention, for it is one of the most significant in the book of Revelation, and we may well pause a moment to consider its proper meaning. We have here, apparently,—if one may offer an opinion on so obscure a subject,—a hint that the resurrection which has just been described as occurring in two periods, first and second, is to be regarded as a process rather than as an event that is single and separate in itself, one which in its entirety covers a long period of time, and is to be accomplished in progressive stages in which the righteous share first according to their relative worth—a process which is apparently marked by two principal periods that are specially in mind in the description before us. In the light of this view it may be well to recall some of the events in the Scripture record which seem to support it. The translation of Enoch and Elijah in the Old Testament, the equivalent of an immediate resurrection, which anticipated the victory of Christ over death, would otherwise be an unexplained anomaly. But according to this interpretation it forms a part of the divine order; their resurrection was not anomalous; it was only one step in the ever progressive plan of the ages. The mysterious hiding, too, of Moses' grave [pg 224] in the valley of the land of Moab, finds an adequate explanation if he was subsequently translated when the divine purpose in his burial was accomplished—the burial vindicating the divine honor, while his resurrection was immediate and triumphant. The record, also, in the closing chapter of Daniel (Dan. 12:1-3) though obscure, points to a stage in the resurrection in which not all but many shall rise, and includes as well those who rise to shame and everlasting contempt, though no indication of the time when this will occur is given by the prophet. But more particularly in Matthew's account of the crucifixion of our Lord (Mat. 27:52-3), we find that his death was followed not only by the rending of the veil in the temple, indicating the departure of the divine glory, but that “the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints which had fallen asleep were raised, and coming forth out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared unto many.” It is a weak exegesis that interprets their resurrection as merely spectral, or as only temporary and transient, even though it were for the purpose of witnessing to the divinity of our Lord. The natural meaning is that they arose as a part of the victory of Christ, and were ready to enter with him into the rest that remaineth for the people of God. These passages all seem to point to a progressive resurrection that is to be accomplished in successive stages, and they cannot well be otherwise interpreted except by indirection. It is true that the subject is only incidentally touched upon in the New Testament, yet it seems to be here clearly implied that precedence in resurrection is divinely accorded to those who are prepared for it, as a part of the reward of righteousness, and that this belongs to the divine order.560 Beyond this we cannot safely go, for it is not well to be too confident in maintaining any view that depends so largely upon the interpretation of single passages, even though the inference, as in this case, seems to be natural and conclusive.

7 The Last Judgment, Ch. 20:11-15

The final divine inquiry into the sum and fruitage of each and every life, which is retributive in its [pg 225] purpose, is entered into at the end of the world when all the dead, small and great, stand before God to be judged, after the resurrection is complete.561 The great judgment throne in the vision is white, the symbol of purity, and he that sat upon it is not named, but throughout the book the judge is the Father as distinguished from the Son. The two principles of the judgment given in this graphic account, which is a reflection of the Vision of Judgment in the prophecy of Daniel (Dan. 7 and 12), are first “according to their works” which are written in the books of record that are now open; and second according to the divine purpose which is “written in the book of life”. The “book of life” was originally the name used for the roll of Jewish citizens kept from at least the ninth century before Christ (cf. Ezr. 2:62; Neh. 7:5, 64; and 12:22, 23) from which the names of the dead were erased, that is now applied to the Lamb's book of life (ch. 21:27), the roll of living citizens of the New Jerusalem.562 Those not found in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire together with death and Hades, both of which are now merged into this final and fitting retribution for sin, i. e. physical death as experienced by men in this world, and Hades the abode of the dead during the intermediate state, are both abolished as temporary conditions in preparation for the new heaven and the new earth of the righteous, and are succeeded by the lake of fire for the sinful. This is the last event of time, the issue of the earthly life, the End563 foretold by prophecy, the crisis that marks the transition to eternity, the closing scene in the great drama of human history. The view now passes at once from this scene of terror and judgment to the sublime vision of joy and triumph in the far and fadeless glory beyond.

[pg 226]

VII The Vision of the New Jerusalem (A Vision of Triumph). Ch. 21:1-22:5

The vision of the New Jerusalem is a crowning picture of redemption consummated, a vision of triumph and peace after the conflict is over and the victory won, portraying the eternal bliss of the redeemed in the immediate presence of God, whose glory is realized in the intimate fellowship and ultimate well-being of his creatures that have been finally recovered from sin and fully confirmed in righteousness. In this closing vision of the Revelation we reach the goal of Christian hope in the future life with God. Some future-historical interpreters have, however, regarded this section as describing the millennial glory upon earth, preceding the final consummation of all things; but the view is involved in so many difficulties that relatively few have accepted it. On the contrary the Christian mind of all ages has instinctively found in the vision a perspective view of the heavenly glory, an opinion that it may be confidently said is not a mistaken one.564 The New Jerusalem presents the resultant condition of victory following the long struggle against sin, “the world to come” already ushered in, which lies beyond the millennium and the resurrection. At this point it may be well to call attention to the fact that the millennium in Hebrew thought is the culmination of “the age to come”, i. e. the age which is the triumphing period of the Messiah upon earth; whereas the New Jerusalem is the realization of “the world to come”, i. e. of the world that is future and eternal. These ideas were quite distinct in Jewish thought, and they ought also to be distinct with us. The wonderful account of the new heaven and the new earth speaks of other conditions than those of the present time; and the view of the glorious city in this closing vision (ch. 21:2-22:5) is aptly divisible into eight parts, the symbol of culmination, or of a new life or period begun, the division indicated in the comments that follow.

1 The New Heaven and the New Earth, Ch. 21:1

In this verse we are presented with a view of the [pg 227] new creation which environs the New Jerusalem, the sign of the changed and exalted conditions of future existence which await those that are Christ's, the creation redeemed as well as the creature, “for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away”, and all things have become new.565 This idea, which coincides with that of Paul in the Epistle to the Romans (ch. 8:19-23), is not, however, further developed, but the view turns at once to the heavenly city, for the vision has its proper center in the city, and is designed to present a view of redeemed humanity in the presence of God to which that of the redeemed creation is merely incidental.

2 The Holy City, Ch. 21:2-22:5

Heaven, its joys and its inhabitants, is described under the type of a city, the New Jerusalem, the counterpart of the Old whose warfare has been accomplished, a civic and social dwelling-place that is new, holy, and glorious, an ideally perfect city in the midst of an ideally perfect world;566 the symbol of the glorious conditions of the redeemed and purified church in the midst of the new life of eternity, and the antithesis of Babylon, the type of the old sinful and polluted world. The description is full of echoes from the Isaian rhapsody of Zion Redeemed (Isa. 54, 60, and 65), and Ezekiel's vision of Jerusalem Restored (Ezek. 40 and 48).567

(1) The Tabernacle of God with Men, Ch. 21:3-4

The city in its entirety becomes the antitype of the tabernacle of Israel, especially of the inner sanctuary or holy of holies, where God forever dwells with men, and they shall be his peoples,568 and sorrow, pain, and death shall be no more, for the former things are passed away. [pg 228] This is authoritatively declared by a voice out of the throne, a divine message, possibly given by one of the Angels of the Presence, as a comforting and assuring promise of the divine nearness and guardianship in the future life of God's people.

(2) The Bride, the Lamb's Wife, Ch. 21:2, 9-10

The city, the dwelling-place of the redeemed, and the symbol of the new conditions of the glorified church in the midst of eternity, becomes now by metonymy the symbol of the redeemed church herself, the Bride of Christ, the inhabitants being thought of to the exclusion of all else. The great city, the holy Jerusalem, is seen coming down out of heaven from God,569 as a bride adorned for her husband on her marriage day,—a figure of the intimate and tender relation of Christ with his people in the final state of the blessed. The city in these verses (9-10) is manifestly the symbol of the church that dwells within it; but the view that makes the New Jerusalem the symbol solely of the redeemed church, not only here but throughout the entire passage,570 fails to realize the flexibility of prophetic usage. The idea of place and local surroundings in the general description of the city undoubtedly stands first in the Apocalyptist's thought, and would seldom be questioned by the ordinary reader, though it includes also the inhabitants as well, and may be used for the inhabitants alone, as is done in this part of the passage, without invalidating the general meaning. In the ninth verse, with the announcement of the angel, “Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb”, the account in verse second is resumed, and is wrought out in detail. One of the vial-angels carries John away in the Spirit into a mountain great and high that he may see the vision more fully, an indication of its importance.

(3) The City of New Things, Ch. 21:5-8

All things are declared new and changed, and to be the inheritance of those that shall overcome,571 to whom [pg 229] also the fulness of divine sonship is awarded; but the craven and unbelieving, the sinful and impure, shall be cast into the lake of fire which is the second death. These words of authority, promise, and threatening, are spoken by him who sitteth on the throne, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, who now himself, when all is fulfilled, speaks openly instead of through those mysterious voices that have hitherto issued from out the throne and temple, another token of the nearer communion of the saints with God in the new heaven and the new earth.572 And John is again commanded to write, for the words spoken are “faithful and true”, and “they are come to pass”, i. e. all God's promises and threatenings have been fulfilled, even the things of the new creation have already come into being, and the mystery of God is ended, according to the prediction of the angel with the book (ch. 10:7), i. e. the mystery of the divine purpose in the great work of creation and redemption has now been fully made known.

(4) The City of Glory573, Ch. 21:11-21

“Having the glory of God”, i. e. the glory of his abiding presence, which is reflected in the glory of gate and wall and street, yet the city is described for our better understanding in terms of the earthly creation. Its light is like unto a stone most precious, and the materials of its structure are most costly; the building of the wall is of jasper, the city and the street of pure gold, and the foundations of the wall adorned with all manner of precious stones,574 while the several gates are each of a single pearl,—the mingled symbols of brilliancy, glory, costliness, and beauty. The city lies foursquare, a perfect figure, the distinctive number of the earthly creation still, though new, with twelve foundations, gates, and angels, the church number, reflecting the number of the tribes of Israel and of the apostles of the [pg 230] Lamb, and with walls one hundred and forty-four cubits high, the square of the church number, and twelve thousand furlongs in length on each of the four sides,575 the church number multiplied by a thousand, and the number of the sealed in each tribe (ch. 7:5f.),—pertinent symbols, all of these, of the perfect home of the redeemed, as well as of the symmetry of the perfect church. The city is further described as a perfect cube like the holy of holies in the sanctuary, the length and breadth and the height of it being equal (v. 16) which perhaps means that in the height is included the eminence on which it stands, though others think that there is an intentional absence of all verisimilitude.576 The symbolical meaning of the cubical dimensions is evidently that of a symmetrical and ideal perfection which is proportional in all its parts, and like to the holy of holies in the earthly temple.577 The circuit of the walls is forty-eight thousand stadia, i. e. four times twelve thousand furlongs or stadia, and seems to be a designed reference to the city of Babylon, the greatest city of the ancient world, the circuit of which was four hundred and eighty stadia, i. e. four times one hundred and twenty furlongs or stadia, while that of the New Jerusalem is greater a hundredfold, which is evidently the language of symbolism.578 The city which is first seen from afar, coming down out of heaven (v. 11-14), is afterward measured, and its glories pointed out by the angel (see the divisions indicated by paragraphs in the text of the Revelation given in the first part of the volume).

(5) The City of Many Nations, Ch. 21:24, and 26

The nations walk amidst the light thereof, and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it, a description which seems to reflect the thought of a new earth that will be peopled as well as the holy city, as implied in the first verse of the chapter, and perhaps designed to show the cosmopolitan character of the New Jerusalem.

[pg 231]

(6) The City of Exclusions, Ch. 21:1, 4, 22, 23, 25, 27; and 22:3, 5

The city has no more sea, i. e. the old, earthly, turbulent sea of conflict and unrest (v. 1); no more death, neither mourning, crying, nor pain any more (v. 4); no separate temple or inner sanctuary of partial access to God, for the city is all temple, and God forever dwells among his people (v. 22); no sun, nor moon, nor night, for the Lamb is the light thereof, his spiritual light superseding the physical (v. 23, 25, and ch. 22:5); no shut gates of defence or hindrance, for there is no longer either night or enemy abroad (v. 25); and no more curse, nor any unholy to renew the conflict, nor anything unclean or that maketh an abomination and a lie, for Christ is throned as victor (v. 27, and ch. 22:3). In this final view of heaven not only has the temple disappeared, but also the elders, and the four living creatures, and all that accessory symbolism of the earlier visions which was appropriate to the church-historic period. These are no longer needed, for the conditions which they served to symbolize have passed away. Even the angels are no longer seen within, for this is a vision of redeemed men who look upon the face of their Redeemer.

(7) The City of Life, Ch. 22:1-2

As the antidote of death the eternal city is seen to possess a “river of water of life” that flows out from the throne of God and of the Lamb in the midst of the street thereof, the source of enduring life to all the holy (Ps. 46:4-5). The city is, also, seen to have the “tree of life”,579 the seal of God's first covenant in Eden (Gen. 2:9; 3:22), bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month, and with leaves for the healing of the nations, which has at last wrought its beneficent results and forever removed the curse. The word tree is in the singular, but the context shows that it is to be understood generically, i. e. a tree of life which is found on this side of the river and on that, or trees of life growing by the river-side.580 We notice, also, that the river, [pg 232] which in the earthly Paradise was parted and became four heads when traced to its source, is now replaced by a single river of water of life in the heavenly; and the Scripture story of man, viewed from its beginning to its close, is seen to finally lead up from the lost Paradise of creation to the Paradise regained by redemption. And in that city forever dwell only those “that are written in the Lamb's book of life”.

(8) The City of God, Ch. 22:3-5

The crowning glory of the holy city is the abiding presence of Jehovah, for the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein, and the redeemed shall see his face581 in the beatific vision, and his name shall be upon their foreheads, and they shall reign for ever and ever. Then and there man redeemed, who has so long been separated from the face of God by the ruinous results of sin, shall be at last restored to the fulness of the divine presence to abide throughout eternity.582 Whether, indeed, God in his essential being can ever be directly apprehended by the finite spirit, is a question that with our present light we cannot definitely determine. It may well be in eternity as in time, there as well as here, that for us to see the Son is to see the Father, and that the beatific vision for which men have so often longed and hoped and prayed in the past, is to be realized in a way quite different from the common thought, by the blessed vision of the glorified and exalted Christ in the fadeless life of the perfected kingdom of God in heaven. The name which shall be upon the foreheads of the redeemed is evidently the “new name” of chapter three (v. 12) which sums up in itself all the fulness of the future revelation of God to the glorified, the transcendental and ineffable name to men upon earth “which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it”, i. e. in the future life of the heavenly kingdom.

It is surely worthy of our attention here to note in closing, how all God's revelations of himself have not only tended to grow in intensity and clearness, but also to center in the name by which he is made known. Beginning with the announcement of his sacred name [pg 233] Jehovah, as distinct from his former name Elohim, in connection with the great events of Israel's redemptive history, there is a manifest movement in the historical self-revelation of God to men that is marked by progressive steps which lead on through all the promise and mystery of the incarnate Christ to this final revelation of himself, lying beyond history, that shall be made to the redeemed under the “new name” when redemption is complete. He who was first promised to men, to be born “of the seed of the woman”, and “of the seed of Abraham”, and was afterward more clearly revealed to Israel as “the son of David”, “the servant of Jehovah”, “Immanuel”, “the Son of Man”, and “the Messiah”, and who was made known to men in his incarnation as “Jesus”, “the Christ”, and “our Lord”, was finally recognized by the church under his full redemptive title as “the Lord Jesus Christ”, by which name he shall be known throughout all the centuries to the end of time. But the vision of the city of God reaches far beyond this, and tells of his name to be then written upon the foreheads of the redeemed, manifestly his “own new name” (ch. 3:12) that is to be revealed to the glorified when redemption is complete, which stands for the full, final, and complete revelation of God in Christ in the new relations of the great future life in heaven.

Thus, with the redeemed enthroned in power, and dwelling in the unveiled presence of God revealed, there is completely fulfilled the ultimate divine purpose of man's creation and redemption. This, in John's view, is the consummation of all things, that

“One far-off divine event,

To which the whole creation moves.”

The transition to the closing part of the book is now made, but it is not very definitely marked, and in the division into chapters it was overlooked entirely, for the twenty-second chapter should begin at this point. Some would make the break at the close of verse seven, but it more properly belongs at the close of verse five, where the description of the New Jerusalem ends.