II THE MAIN APOCALYPSE, Ch. 4:1-22:5

The Revelation Proper, which occupies the chief portion of the book, is a symbolic view of the great spiritual conflict of the ages, reviewing the whole course and outcome of the far-reaching struggle between the church and the world, with the multiple and diverse forces that are engaged in it, and setting forth the absolute decisiveness of the final issue. It consists of a series of seven visions which undertake to solve the apparent anomalies of God's present rule among men by affording recurrent glimpses of the working out of a great, comprehensive, underlying plan,—a providential and moral order in the world that is divine and sovereign, interpenetrated with a concurrent redemptive purpose that is gracious and elective,—which leads on through progressive stages of trial and warfare, of threatening and judgment, to the complete and final overthrow and punishment of all the wicked and to the full and glorious vindication and triumph of all the holy. The seven visions, when carefully examined, will be seen to be progressive in their revelation; for while they do not follow any line of temporal succession, they yet show a progress of thought and movement throughout. Beginning with the vision of God on the throne, a vision of sovereignty, they advance in manifest order through the vision of the seven seals, a vision of trial, and the vision of the seven trumpets, a vision of threatening, to the vision of conflict, a vision of warfare, which is central to all and furnishes a key to the general interpretation of the book. Then by a scale of descending climax they pass on to the vision of the seven vials, a vision of judgment, followed by the vision of victory, a vision of vindication, and this again by the vision of the New Jerusalem, a vision of triumph, which reveals the final goal of Christian hope in the immediate presence of God.365 The purpose of the Apocalypse is thus disclosed to be interpretative of God's plan of the ages, an unfolding of the drama of destiny, in which, notwithstanding all apparent contradictions and present reverses, he is yet ever leading on to full and final victory in the end—through all the conflict he is winning, even against appearances, and will triumph at last,—a view full of encouragement for tried and disheartened Christians of the first and each succeeding century. Why God permitted [pg 113] this struggle to be begun and then let it continue throughout the centuries, why he ever allowed sin to find a place among his moral creatures, is a topic nowhere entered upon or discussed throughout the book. It is evidently recognized as belonging to the unrevealed mysteries of God which lie outside the sphere of the present Revelation. But that he overrules all the apparently inapt and sinful conditions of this world for the ultimate good of his kingdom, and that he will victoriously triumph at last, is the assuring witness of the whole series of visions. The Apocalyptic form, we find, becomes more marked and definite in this main portion of the book, and the difficulties of interpretation are correspondingly increased; for they are no longer chiefly those of grammatical exegesis and historical allusion, but rather the elucidation of a body of mysterious symbols. The purpose and limits of the present volume forbid the discussion of many of the exegetical difficulties, and serve to confine attention mainly to the meaning of the symbolism as the chief subject concerning which there is wide difference of opinion. Questions of grammatical, or grammatico-historical, exegesis will be found more fully considered in the various commentaries to which the reader is referred in the footnotes. The visions and episodes into which the main part of the book is properly divisible, are given separately in the following analysis, i. e. the seven seals, trumpets, and vials are each considered in order consecutively, and the episodes which intervene are taken up after each sevenfold vision is complete, in order that they may be better understood. This preserves the connection of the seven in the series, and emphasizes by itself the lesson of the episodes which are interjected into the natural order.

I The Vision of God on the Throne (A Vision of Sovereignty). Ch. 4:1-5:14

The opening vision of the seven chief visions in the Revelation is a Theophany, revealing the majesty of the divine glory and the might of the sovereign rule of God as the abiding source of the church's confidence in the midst of trial and distress, and as the unfailing ground of faith in the fulfilment of the revelation that follows. This vision of the fifth and sixth chapters is preparatory to those that deal with the present and future prospects of the church upon earth, and with this in view it sets forth [pg 114] the causal and higher relations upon which the history of the church depends, viz. God's sovereignty in creation and in redemption; for it is only in relation to these two great abiding facts of the divine activity that the passing events of time have their true meaning. We look first upon the stability of the eternal throne, and upon the person of the divine atoning Lamb, and then we are better prepared to understand the drama of history, and to view with equanimity the dread scenes of crisis and conflict which belong to the lot of the church upon earth. The scene described in the fourth and fifth chapters, of the eternal throne with those who are attendant upon it, and of the Lamb in the midst of it, constitutes a proem to the succeeding visions, and may be thought of as continuing throughout and forming the background for all that follows, in the light of which it must be viewed and its meaning interpreted. In the fifth chapter the action proper to the Revelation begins with the taking of the sealed book, though some regard the action as beginning with the sixth chapter in the opening of the seals. The present vision is introduced with the phrase “after these things” (v. 1), which does not indicate an interval of time but rather a succession of events, and always marks a break in the connection and a new phase of the revelation.

1 The Throne and the King, Ch. 4:1-3, 5a, and 6a

A door is opened in heaven that the seer may look in, and the trumpet voice of ch. 1:10 is heard again, saying, “Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter”, the further announcement of a prophetic vision, the sign not only that eternal verities are to be revealed, but that earthly things are to be seen from the heavenly point of view. And we are told that straightway John “was in the Spirit”, i. e. he became conscious of an additional impulse of divine rapture, for he was already in the Spirit (ch. 1:10); and then the throne of God, the seat of the divine government, is seen in the eternal splendor of repose, the reflection of the divine sovereignty, surrounded by a rainbow of emerald green arching above it, the emblem of God's covenant mercy (Gen. 9:13), and sending forth lightnings, thunders, and voices, the tokens of divine power, majesty, and judgment. The divine Person is presented as enthroned, but is not named, and is described only by comparison, [pg 115] a touch of reverent reserve as consonant with religion as it is true to art. His appearance is glorious like jasper and sardius, the last and first of the precious stones on the breastplate of the highpriest, and part of the foundation stones of the heavenly city.366 The pure jasper and the red sardius are the apparent symbols of purity and justice (cf. Ezek. 1:26, and 10:1; Dan. 7:9; Bk of Enoch 14:18f.). Before the throne, we are told, there is “as it were, a sea of glass367 like unto crystal”, the symbol of the calm and fulness of life in God's completed kingdom in contrast with the stormy sea of earthly nations, the calm of the heavenly life in antithesis with the turmoil of the earthly. This seems to be the more natural interpretation of the passage, yet the symbolism of the sea in the Revelation has been interpreted with a good deal of freedom, and there is wide difference of opinion concerning its meaning. It is regarded by many as the symbol of purification the antitype of the laver before the tabernacle, while others find in it a type of the eternal fulness of joy in the presence of God. Some think the sea is placed before the throne as a symbol of the former trial and conflict of the earthly life through which the saints have passed to reach the presence of God, and that it has now become a perpetual memorial of victory, for the sea is glassy and quiet as the sign that the conflict is over.368 Other late writers connect the sea with early Hebrew ideas of the waters before the firmament (Gen. 1:7), traces of which continue to appear in Apocalyptic literature, and hold that this conception underlies the symbolism of the molten sea in Solomon's temple and forms the basis of the present description.369 With figures so flexible as these it is quite possible that different thoughts have been included, for the sea was closely interwoven with the early stage of Israel's history, and may have become a symbol covering a wide range of correlative ideas. But however we may interpret the meaning of the symbolism, the presence of the sea in the vision undoubtedly serves to enhance the [pg 116] majesty and splendor of the scene, and may have been introduced partly for that purpose, though the sea undoubtedly had a permanent place in Hebrew thought.

2 The Four and Twenty Elders, Ch. 4:4, 10 and 11

The vision presents the worship of heaven in the forms of earth for our apprehension. The elders (Gr. “presbyters”) are the ideal representatives of the redeemed church,370 who are clothed in white raiment and placed round about the throne wearing golden crowns and sitting on lesser thrones reigning with Christ, the fitting tokens of royal dignity and authority, and of their triumphant victory through him who is their Saviour. They are ever active in service, casting their crowns before the throne and him that sitteth thereon as they worship, and joining in every chorus of adoration.371 Their number is that of the twelve patriarchs and apostles combined, indicating that they represent the church of both dispensations, the saints of the Old and New Testaments. They are not, however, the twelve patriarchs and apostles themselves enthroned, as suggested by some, but ideal beings who have a representative character. Their number, twice twelve, i. e. twice the national number of Israel, aptly symbolizes the glorified church of all the ages.372 Some find in these elders a group of angelic beings who are attendants of the divine glory and whose presence in the heavenly temple was a part of ancient Jewish tradition, as in the Judgment of Peter, where it is said, “For there are four and twenty elders, twelve upon the right hand and twelve upon the left.”373 There is no reason to infer, however, that the Greek term “presbyters”, or “elders”, with its definite meaning in the New Testament church, is otherwise used in the Apocalypse, even though the elders are here the representatives of a class. It is quite possible that the earlier use of the four and twenty elders in Apocalyptic literature may have been the occasion of their introduction here, but there was nothing in the usage of the past to prevent its modified application in a Christian sense so natural as this in the first century; on the contrary it is quite in accord with the [pg 117] gradually progressive method of Apocalyptic thought that they should be introduced here to represent the church enlarged by New Testament accessions. It is certainly quite beside the mark to affirm that this idea of the church as a combination of the Old and New Testament saints is “medieval”;374 when it is found so clearly in the Epistles of Paul.

3 The Seven Lamps of Fire (or Torches), Ch. 4:5b

These lamps are seen burning before the throne which they serve to illumine, recalling the seven-branched candlestick in the tabernacle, and they are seven in number, doubtless, to indicate their fulness or completeness. We are told that the lamps “are [i. e. are the symbol of] the seven Spirits of God”; they are, therefore, evidently designed to represent the Holy Spirit throughout the Revelation, the seven Spirits that are before the throne (ch. 1:4) and that serve to denote the fulness of the Spirit's operation, his manifold energy in contradistinction to the unity of his person. The fitness of fire, or a flaming torch, to symbolize the illuminative influence of the Spirit is quite evident, throwing light upon the throne and revealing God to men, but the use of seven torches, like that of seven Spirits, is peculiar to the Revelation, and is introduced, one is constrained to think, for a special purpose. That the Holy Spirit is indicated by this symbol throughout is shown by the context (cf. chs. 1:4 and 3:1), but it is evidently used here to set forth the Spirit from a particular point of view, i. e. to represent in a concrete form the divine perfection of the Spirit as displayed in his multiple activities. It seems to be an echo from the vision of Zechariah (ch. 3:9, and 4:10) where the divine pervasive insight is represented by the “seven eyes of the Lord”, (cf. also Rev. 5:6, “the seven eyes of the Lamb”).

4 The Four Living Creatures, Ch. 4. 6b-9

The four living creatures (cf. Ezek. 1:5f.),—which are not to be thought of as “beasts” even in a good sense, as in the Authorized Version, but rather as in the Greek, “the living ones”, which gives a better idea,—are seen “in the midst of the throne and round about the throne”, evidently indicating their function in the heavenly court, to wait upon the divine Person, though their exact arrangement [pg 118] in the vision is not so clear.375 These are composite creature-forms that are manifestly to be identified with the cherubim of the Old Testament. Each creature consists of four representative forms of animal life combined in one, viz. that of the lion, the ox, the eagle, and man, together producing a strange, anomalous figure which is generally thought to personify wild animals, domestic animals, birds, and man, as possessing a common physical life, or created life in its entirety represented by its higher and more notable forms. In the Revelation each has a different face, according to the animal form which is made prominent, and not four faces as in Ezekiel (Ezek. 1:5-14), the individual life being thereby made more manifest. These living ones are ideal symbols of the physical creation, especially of all created life, and represent in the vision the entire earthly creation as sharing in the benefits of redemption,376 manifesting the divine glory, and waiting upon God. They are used in the Old Testament as impressive symbols of the divine presence, and Jehovah is known as “he that dwelleth between the cherubim”, (Am. R. V. “sitteth above”—marg. “is enthroned”, i. e. upon the cherubim),377 a reflection of the thought embodied in the arrangement of the ark of the covenant, where the mercy seat with the shekinah flame was placed between the cherubim. In John's vision the living creatures are seen in closest proximity to the throne, and they lead the heavenly choir in an unceasing song of praise (the Creation Chorus, v. 8-11), the closing verse of the song indicating their function in the heavenly court to glorify God, as also the part they subsequently have in the song of the redeemed (the Redemption Chorus, ch. 5:13) reflects the nature of their worship. They are full of eyes, the sign of their all-seeing watchfulness; they have three pairs of wings, the symbol of their spiritual ministry, for three is the sign of the spiritual as the wings are of activity; and they are four in number while each is fourfold to indicate their relation to the organic world, for four is always the earth number. Also, they rest not day and night, showing the characteristic of life in its fullest energy and ceaseless activity, [pg 119] saying “Holy, holy, holy,” i. e. “holy” thrice repeated,—three a symbol of the divine,—corresponding to the Trisagion of Isaiah's prophecy (ch. 6:3), declaring the holiness of God, the All-Ruler, as especially revealed in creation, all created beings ministering to the manifestation of the divine glory. The identity of the living creatures with the cherubim of the Old Testament is generally recognized, but the origin of the idea of the cherubim in connection with the worship of Jehovah is as obscure as the actual form is indefinite, though probably derived from a primitive stage of religious thought among the Semitic people, and early incorporated as a symbol in the religion of Israel. Apparently the form and conception varied somewhat through time, as will be seen by comparing Ezekiel's description with that which is given here, though the general idea remained the same. Some think the cherubim to have been originally the storm-clouds personified, regarded as supporting the divine throne and surrounding the divine Person, while the seraphim represented the lightning-flash revealing God to men. Others regard them as unidentified nature-forces idealized in forms of life, and traditionally associated with the throne of God. But whatever their origin, their meaning in Scripture is plain, viz. the physical creation waiting upon God.378

5 The Sealed Book (or Scroll), Ch. 5:1-5

A new phase of the vision now begins with chapter five, indicated by the words “And I saw”, setting forth the glory and honor of the exalted Redeemer, and indicating the divine purpose through him to throw light upon the plan of God for the ages. A sealed book or scroll, the sign that its contents are hidden, and written within and without, i. e. upon both sides, or within and also on the back,—filled to its very margins like the roll in Ezekiel (ch. 2:9-10),—indicating the exceeding fulness of its contents and the completeness of the divine plan, is seen lying “in [or upon] the right hand of him that sat on the throne”. This book, which at first no one can be found to [pg 120] open, apparently contains God's multitudinous and unrevealed purposes concerning the future course of the church in the world,—as is afterward more fully indicated by the nature of the things portrayed when the seals are broken,—for it evidently pertains to the mysteries of the kingdom of God on earth, part of which are about to be disclosed to John.379 The book is closed by seven seals, a perfect number, the symbol implying that it is perfectly sealed or fully closed,380 a roll apparently sealed in sections, perhaps with the end of the parchment fastened down by the seals to its staff so that it cannot be opened except by one having authority to break the seals.381 The book itself, it should be noted, is never read at any period of the vision, showing that what it contains is not fully disclosed, but as the seals are broken the general nature of the contents of each section is symbolically portrayed in the form set forth in the succeeding vision of the seals.

6 The Lamb, Ch. 5:6-8a

At this point in the vision the divine Redeemer, Jesus Christ, appears in order to open the seals, portrayed as the Lamb of God, the recognized atoner for sin, a symbol of striking power to every one familiar with the Old Testament system of sacrifices. The importance of opening the seals had been already indicated in the vision (ch. 5:2f.) by the appearance of a strong or mighty angel, the sign of high rank and great power, proclaiming with a great voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof?” And when no one was found “in the heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth”, i. e. in the place of the spirits of the dead—a phrase equivalent to saying that no one could be found in all the universe—the prophet wept much, showing his deep interest and bitter disappointment when his expectation seemed [pg 121] about to fail. But one of the elders, a representative of the redeemed church, points out to John him who is able to open the book because he “hath overcome”, indicating the glorified Redeemer as the source of help.382 He is described by the elder as “the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah” (Gen. 49:9), and “the Root of David” (Isa. 11:1), indicating his kingly383 and prophetic relations to Israel; but when he appears to John's wondering view it is in sacrificial form as the Lamb of God,384 the sign of his priestly relation to his people, bearing marks as though he had been slain, but now standing in living power in the midst of the throne, the center of all attention and the glorified object of all worship, alike the agent of redemption and the consummation of sacrifice. The words “in the midst of the throne” may mean in the center of the throne and encircled by it, or between the throne and those surrounding it. Some regard the throne as a semi-circle in the open side of which the Lamb stands, and within which are placed two of the living creatures, with the other two at the back, while the elders surround the throne, and the many angels form the outer circle,385 a view that is helpful to those who wish detail in such matters, for the chief thought in the symbolism is sufficiently plain. It may also be worth while to note how clearly this symbolism implies that the redeemed church, represented by the elders, stands nearer to the throne of God than even the angels.386 The seven horns of the Lamb symbolize the fulness of his power, for the horn is the Hebrew emblem of power as seven is of fulness or completeness of quality; and his seven eyes represent the perfection of his vision and knowledge, seeing with the omniscient eyes of the Holy Spirit (Zech. 4:10) who proceedeth alike from the Father [pg 122] and the Son.387 He takes the book out of the right hand of God as a token of his rightful authority, an act full of meaning, for he alone has prevailed and has power to open the book and to reveal God's purposes because he has redeemed the church and himself directs the path of her history. In this sublime vision of the Lamb in the midst of the throne we may be truly said to have reached “the point of highest dramatic interest in the whole book”.

7 The Heavenly Worship, Ch. 5:8b-14

The taking of the book is followed by an act of profound worship; the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fall down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, the instrument of praise, and a golden bowl full of incense, representing the prayers of the saints, which they offer before God. Then they voice their thought in a new song, the song of the redeemed (the Redemption Chorus), which is rendered unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, declaring him worthy that hath been slain to take the book and to open the seals, and “to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing”,—a sevenfold or complete ascription of praise—who hath redeemed his people with his blood out “of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation”,—a fourfold or world-wide redemption for all peoples388—“and madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon the earth”, even now in the midst of trials, in a spiritual sense which though imperfect foreshadows and assures their complete spiritual reign in the new world wherein dwelleth righteousness. This song is sung by the four living creatures as the representatives of the whole creation who unitedly rejoice in the work of redemption together with man, and by the four and twenty elders who represent [pg 123] the church of all time, the personal subjects of redemption; and it is chorused by an innumerable company of angels, God's sinless creation, who are described as consisting of “ten thousand times ten thousand”, i. e. the square of a myriad, a hundred millions in number (or, as the words may mean, “myriads of myriads” i. e. hundreds of millions), and in addition “thousand of thousands”, i. e. millions more,—a symbolical expression for a numberless host; and it is echoed by “every created thing which is in the heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea”, i. e. it is re-echoed from every created being throughout the universe. Thus the Chorus of Creation, wonderful as it was, is surpassed by the Chorus of Redemption: and the four living creatures who represent creation said in full accord, “Amen”, while the four and twenty elders “fell down and worshipped” him that liveth forever and ever. The opening of the seals then follows, and because of its widely different bearing from that which precedes, is usually considered as forming a separate vision, though the transition is not otherwise marked than by a change of action and progress of thought.

II The Vision of the Seven Seals (A Vision of Trial). Ch. 6:1-17, and 8:1

The vision of the seven seals is a prophetic delineation of the trials and triumphs of the church of Christ throughout all her history, especially from the days of John to the end of the world, depicted in the symbols of Apocalyptic. These trials fall upon all men in common, and from another point of view are also judgments upon the sinful world, but they are regarded here chiefly as involving the church in suffering, and as preparing the way for the triumph of the kingdom of God, the coming of our Lord, and the final consummation of all things. The opening of the seals by Christ indicates his purpose of revealing the hidden contents of the book which he had taken from the right hand of God (ch. 5:7), and the number of the seals (seven) shows the completeness of the series. The order of the seals is progressive, but they have no definite or categorical time-relation; they regard only the ceaseless swing of the ages ever sweeping on toward the final consummation. The underlying divine purpose of testing men by moral struggle is apparent [pg 124] throughout; the trials set forth are disciplinary to those who believe, but punitive to those who resist. The form of trials in the vision is that of an illustrative symbolism which should not be limited in interpretation to the few particular kinds of trouble that are described, but should be taken as representative of the whole round of sorrows endured by God's people throughout all time, a prophetic forecast which, though receiving an immediate fulfilment in the experience of the early church, has yet had and will have a further and wider fulfilment throughout the course of the ages. The subordinate element of judgment upon the wicked in the vision is implied rather than stated, except under the sixth seal; nevertheless upon further reflection it may be clearly seen, for the advancing conquest of Christ includes the overthrow of the wicked, while the sorrows of war, famine, and death fall upon them without any consolation like the recompense of the righteous, the avenging of the martyrs is foretold as eventually to be visited upon them, and amidst the terrors of the final judgment they find no availing refuge, but cry to the mountains and to the rocks to fall upon them to hide them from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. This bearing of the trials of the seals, revealing judgment upon the world, should not be overlooked in our interpretation, though we should not lay special stress upon it, for it is not the foremost thought in mind.

In entering upon the more obscure portions of the book it may be well to remind the reader that the interpretation will be much simplified, and many of the difficulties will disappear, if we regard all the mysterious action in these visions as in the broadest sense symbolical, and not requiring detailed application. And although an effort may well be made to recover what has been called the “ground-view” of the Apostle, i. e. the natural application of the prophecy that lay in the immediate horizon of history and belonged to the conditions of his time, yet this cannot be regarded as absolutely essential to the correct interpretation for us and for all ages. We should not forget that we are dealing with what is really a great creative poem in prose, containing idealized conceptions of widely pervasive principles, and therefore its true interpretation lies in facts of universal experience rather than in the special circumstances which helped [pg 125] to give it form in the mind of the writer, but beyond which he passed with poetic freedom to grasp the larger ideal—for to deny that John had any such ideal in mind is to do injustice both to his prophetic and poetic insight. And if in our anxiety to reproduce the author's native horizon, we allow the basis of historical fact to become the chief matter of concern, we are sure to lose in literary insight in the interpretation of the book far more than we gain through clearness of local perspective. For it is always to be reckoned “amongst the impediments to the study of literature ... that the personality of the author, and the circumstances of actual life, are forever being allowed to interpose between a creative poem and the mind of the reader”,389 to the constant hindrance of any free following of the author's constructive idealization. And it is only by avoiding this narrowing influence of realism that we are at all likely to reach the heart of the Apocalypse.

1 The Opening of the First Seal, Ch. 6:1, 2

The Lamb as the ruler and revealer of destiny opens the seals. At the call of one of the four living creatures, “come”,390 a white horse and his rider, who bears a bow, the sign of warfare, and receives a crown, the token of victory, appear in view, representing Christ going forth conquering and to conquer,391 a vision depicting the beginning and trend of the gospel age: the symbol of the victory of Christ's cause attained through conflict, Christianity triumphing in the earth,—for the progress of the life of the church is viewed like that of the national life of Israel as marked by constant conflict. The assurance of victory is made to precede the revelation of trial as a ground of comfort and confidence throughout the succeeding seals. We may properly regard the contents of this seal as a present view of the onward course of the [pg 126] church, the details of which are to be imagined rather than described, a suggestive picture which stamps itself upon the mind, for the figure of the crowned and conquering Christ once distinctly seen can never be effaced but marks all our after-thought of him. This vision was realized in some measure in the splendid growth of the church in the first and following centuries, but the full realization of its promise lies in the fulness of the ages (ch. 19:11-21)—Christ is ever moving on through the years to final victory.

Many historical interpreters find in this rider the symbol of conquest, especially of judgment on the Roman Empire by the Parthians, indicated by the bow, their usual weapon, and premonitory of the end.392 In that case the first seal, like the succeeding ones, would indicate a form of trial to the church. Others see in the rider the sign of Roman conquest, and in the subsequent seals precursors of the destruction of Jerusalem, assuming the earlier date of the book. These views, however, fail to recognize the close similarity and apparent identity of the rider in this vision with the one on the white horse in chapter nineteen (v. 11) who is evidently divine;393 nor do they agree with the above view as to the scope of the seals, but limit them to the first century, while in the interpretation given in this work they reach forward throughout the history of the church to the end of time. We must be duly careful, according to the symbolic view, not to limit the prophecy to too narrow a scope in its complete fulfilment, and especially not to exclude the world-wide and universal reference, even though it be regarded as the secondary meaning, since to many minds this is the essential and larger thought in the vision. For we should not forget that while the visions of the Apocalypse, like the voices of prophecy and the parables and teachings of our Lord, had their immediate occasion and purpose, yet this becomes in turn the ground and instrument of a wider and permanent divine message to all mankind, and that this is the message which is our chief concern.

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2 The Opening of the Second Seal, Ch. 6:3, 4

At the call of the second living creature, “Come”, a red horse and his rider appear, to whom is given a great sword, and power to take peace from the earth: the symbol of war, and of consequent trial to the church. The blood-red horse with his armed rider betokens the carnage of battle, and suggests all the horrors of bloodshed with its accompanying train of suffering. It is a prediction not of any particular war or wars, but of war in general, as the “wars and rumors of wars” in our Saviour's discourse (Mt. 24:6). And it was only as it was “given unto him” (v. 4), we are told, that the rider could accomplish his mission, thereby indicating the divine authority, limitation, and restraint. The sword is the same as the sacrificial knife, and the term used for slaying in the passage is the Greek term for killing the sacrificial victim, which may be intended to imply that the slaughter of the saints is to be included with others.394 The contents of this seal were realized to some extent in the Jewish war connected with the fall of Jerusalem, and in the subsequent wars of the Roman Empire which entailed great suffering upon the church as well as upon the world. The form of the prophecy, however, does not preclude reference to the then past as well as to present and to future events; it points to the experience of God's children in every age, to the Jewish as well as the Christian church, though doubtless with the future specially in view. These sorrows have been repeated again and again in the numberless wars of history, and may be repeated afresh in the future, for war is a constant trial of the church throughout the centuries. The symbol of the armed rider on the blood-red horse presents a vivid picture of the horrors of war. It was a figure which spoke to the imaginative Eastern mind with a power superior to words, especially to those who had known in their own experience the destructive ravages of war; but the details were left to be supplied by individual thought.

3 The Opening of the Third Seal, Ch. 6:5, 6

At the call of the third living creature, “Come”, a black horse and his rider appear, weighing out grain with a balance: the symbol of famine, want, and consequent [pg 128] suffering by the church. This expressive figure of the black horse and his rider with a balance foretold in a form that surpassed the power of language to describe, the prevailing gloom and distress of famine. Grain is sold by weight instead of measure, thereby indicating its scarcity (Ezek. 4:16), and the price is from eight to twelve times its usual cost, the food of a working man requiring his entire wages, and leaving those dependent on him without support.395 The famine indicated is not, however, any special season of want, but recurrent famine as a condition of trial, and is limited in its extent, as indicated by preserving the oil and the wine which may be regarded as typical articles of food, or the best of the things of common life396—a famine affecting the poor rather than the rich, the multitude rather than the few. The contents of this seal were realized in prevailing famines such as that under Claudius, that at the siege of Jerusalem, and many other seasons of want which have occurred at different times throughout the ages, but especially in the ancient world and in the Far East. The emaciation and terror produced by hunger and want was a form of suffering too well known among the inhabitants of those lands to need any further emphasis—it spoke a language of its own to all those who had felt its power.

4 The Opening of the Fourth Seal, Ch. 6:7, 8

At the call of the fourth living creature, “Come”, a pale, ashen colored, or green horse, and his rider Death appear, with Hades following after, i. e. the world of departed spirits accompanying death as his after-part to swallow up his victims, both personified, and with power given them to kill with the sword and with famine and with death in all its forms: the symbol of mortality in the church, destroying the forces of the kingdom. The pale green or livid horse, the color of a corpse, reflects the ghastliness of a dead body bordering on dissolution, and points to the ruin wrought by death. Death is here considered as in itself a trial, and some of the more terrible [pg 129] and widespread agencies by which it is brought about are mentioned in order to make its ravages more impressive. Among other forms death by sword and famine are included, evils already introduced under the two former seals as the occasion of suffering, but here regarded as leading to death and constituting a separate trial. The trial of this seal is also limited, and affects only one fourth of men, i. e. a fractional part, not an actual fourth, the fourth being perhaps suggested by the four horsemen. The contents of this seal were realized in the fearful mortality of Roman times by means of the fourfold scourge of sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts, the crown of all sorrows to the Jewish mind; but they have also been realized in a similar way, though different form, through the many dread visitations of death in later days.

It will be noticed that almost every part of the symbolism in these visions has a meaning of its own. The horse in motion seems to indicate the swift progress and triumphal march through the earth of the things represented in the first four seals, viz. of Christianity the conquering religion, and also of war, famine, and death, the widespread terrors which are impersonated by the riders as treading the path of the centuries. The color of the different horses, too, is not without significance; white is the sign of victory (white horses were not uncommonly ridden by Roman conquerors)397 and it is also the symbol of purity, while red is the symbol of bloodshed, black of want, and pale or ashen green of death, each of the latter betokening something of the nature of the scourge which they bring to men. The whole content of the seals presents a bare outline of various forms of suffering, and is intended to typify a multitude of sorrows that are unnamed. It should be noted, too, that at the close of the fourth seal a division of the seals is apparent into two groups with four and three in each. The first four relate to the sphere of the natural world, as the number four indicates, and the fact also that they are ushered in by the four living creatures who represent creation. These seals are chiefly designed to show that during the period in which Christ is carrying forward his conquest unto [pg 130] victory, both trial and suffering in this world form part of the divine purpose of discipline for his people which cannot be escaped from but should be endured with patience and hope. The last three seals relate to the things of the spiritual life, of which three is the symbol, and point forward to the future and great reward in the world to come which is about to be realized by those who are faithful. The same division into four and three, pertaining to the natural and the spiritual, though with a distinctive application, is found in the visions of the trumpets and vials (see App'x. D).

5 The Opening of the Fifth Seal, Ch. 6:9-11

At the opening of the fifth seal a vision of the souls of the martyrs appears, viz. of those “that had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held” (cf. ch. 19:10), who are now seen underneath the altar (i. e. the equivalent of the great brazen altar of sacrifice in the Jewish service, at the foot of which the blood of the sacrificial victims was poured) as the sign of their having sacrificed their lives for the truth. The altar is in the heavenly temple, which to the Jewish mind was the archetype of the earthly, where they are found crying to God as their master398 to judge and avenge them, i. e. calling for vindication, not for vengeance in the earthly sense; and they receive each a white robe, the recognized symbol of purity and victory, and are bidden to rest until the roll of martyrs is complete:399 the symbol of martyrdom so often experienced by the church throughout the ages. These saints of God have not been delivered from death, but they have been delivered through death. The limit of this trial is the “little time” of the church's further conflict, a period looked upon as relatively short in the whole course of the centuries, though not in itself necessarily short or definitely limited, for the “little time” is practically the whole period of this and the preceding seals. The contents of this seal [pg 131] were partly realized in the ten persecutions of the early church, especially those under Nero, and under Domitian, belonging to the period of the Apocalypse; but they have also been realized in every subsequent persecution that has followed the planting of the gospel in heathen lands. The martyrs belong to all ages and all nations, and include every man who has given his life as a testimony for the truth; and this seal looks along the whole line and comprehends every martyr of every age.

6 The Opening of the Sixth Seal, Ch. 6:12-17

At the opening of the sixth seal a vision of an earthquake appears, in which the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, the whole moon as blood, and the stars of heaven fell, while even the heaven itself was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places, for we are told that the day, the great day, of divine wrath is come: the symbol of judgment and retribution, especially of the last judgment, and of the destruction of the world. The terrors of the judgment thus described are sevenfold, affecting the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, the heavens, the mountains, and the islands; and seven classes of men are mentioned, who call to the rocks and the mountains to fall upon them and to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb, viz. the kings of the earth, the princes, the chief captains, the rich, the strong, and every bondman, and every freeman,—additional signs of universality and completeness. The contents of this seal have been realized in one way in the crises of history and the fall of empires, which we may regard as described here after the analogy of Jewish Apocalyptic, under the form of a great catastrophe of nature bringing to an end the existing order of things—the fortunes of the people of God, though not their fate, being conceived of as inseparably interwoven with the world of nature; but this is only a temporary and passing fulfilment which foreshadows and points to the final day of wrath (called in Greek (v. 17), “the day, the great [day] of their wrath”, i. e. of the wrath of God and of the Lamb), or the day of the Lord,400 [pg 132] and the end of the world. The End is a constant element in all Apocalyptic writings, as it is the recurrent point of interest with John in the Apocalypse; and it was undoubtedly due to the influence of Jewish Apocalyptic conceptions that an expectation commonly prevailed in the primitive church that the End was close at hand, and that it would come not through development but through crises of judgment.401 The important part which the End has in the Apocalypse may be regarded as owing in some degree to the place it must necessarily occupy in any exhaustive scheme of the course of the world; but it is perhaps more largely due to the peculiar view-point of Apocalyptic, which exalted the End out of proportion to the present in order to impress more deeply its lessons.402

All the visions of the six seals had a particular application and an undoubted though partial fulfilment in the first age in which they were given; but they have a wider and more perfect fulfilment in all subsequent time, and perhaps will have an especially complete fulfilment in the last time, such as we know that the sixth seal will surely have. To seek constantly, however, for a merely literal fulfilment is surely to emphasize the least important part of their meaning, and to limit them narrowly to a definite historical event is to rob them of their larger purpose, for they are wide-flung types that speak as with a thousand tongues to the open ear and ready mind.

[In the order of the Revelation the connection is at this point interrupted and the climax suspended by introducing the Episode of the Sealed Ones (ch. 7:1-17), which will be found under IIb. The episodes are given separately in this outline, and outside of their proper position in the text, for the sake of clearness and emphasis].

7 The Opening of the Seventh Seal, Ch. 8:1

At the opening of the seventh seal a vision of heaven wrapped in perfect silence appears: the symbol of mystery, the unrevealed, the unspoken, the ineffable bliss of heaven which cannot be told in human words or portrayed in physical form, the great sabbath of the church's history,—a significant sign of the deep, unbroken rest [pg 133] from conflict and toil into which the people of God shall enter at the end of the earthly trial, and of the fulness of joy to be realized in the future life of the redeemed when the conflict and judgment of this world are over, all of which now lies beyond the power of words or vision to describe or display. The form of the vision is remarkably suggestive; the silence indicates that which cannot be spoken; it gives time for thought that is beyond expression, deepens “the sense of trembling suspense”, and serves to quicken anticipation of the revelation to follow.403 The contents of this seal are to be realized in the future life of the redeemed after the conflict and judgment of this world are over, and they cannot now be revealed except in symbol; they lie beyond the sphere of earthly thought. The half-hour is a broken, fractional number, implying a limited period, and is here the sign of the relatively brief time during which John beheld the vision,—for the period covered by the thought of the vision is the whole period of eternity, the future endless life with God, and only a glimpse of it is given at this point in order to reassure the hearts of God's children in the midst of conflict,—thus affording an impressive break between the seals and the trumpets, which, though short in itself, must have seemed relatively long to the beholder in the midst of such stirring scenes. The silence may have been suggested to John's mind by that which the people kept during the time when the priest offered incense in the temple, for we find that the offering of incense by an angel immediately follows (v. 2-5),404 and the solemnity of that time in John's own experience of the ritual worship may well have left its impress upon his mind. In closing the series it remains to be said that the last seal, notwithstanding that its contents are incompletely developed, yet joins with the first, and serves to mark out the whole course of the church's history through all the dread and storm of the other seals, as ever advancing from opening conquest to final peace, all the trials of the seals leading on to deep quiet in the end, the symbol of the great and enduring peace of God.

[pg 134]

It may be well for us before entering upon the episode of consolation in the seventh chapter, to review rapidly the steps by which the prime purpose of the Apocalypse has been thus far wrought out in the vision of the seven seals, viz. to encourage the hearts of weak and suffering Christians and to fortify their patience on the upward way in the midst of trial and distress by pointing out the path of faith and hope alike to the certainty of victory in the future days of the church upon earth, and to the fulness of joy reserved for the redeemed in the far and fadeless glory beyond. The deeper lesson of the first four seals is one of absolute trust in God when the way, as then, was dark and the hearts of men terror-stricken. God has not in any sense forsaken his people, the vision proclaims, though his path and purpose lie hidden in the night. Amid all the trials of the earthly life his plan is working out unseen through the way to final victory. His people must learn the lesson of discipline in the path by which he leads, and strive to trust and be patient and obey, while he with unerring wisdom rules and works and wins. The closing three seals contain a more direct revelation of hope and comfort. Under the fifth seal the peace of the future life and the guarantee of recompense to the saints is reassured; the vision of the sixth leads to the episode of consolation which portrays the safe gathering of the redeemed on God's right hand at last, while the contents of the seal itself point to the surety and justice of divine judgment that shall inevitably fall upon sin and sinners; and the seventh reveals the endless and unbroken peace and glory of the future life with God. Thus, contrary to all appearances in the world of men, the perplexing trials of the Christian life are seen in the apocalyptic vision to be not in vain; the painful discipleship of Jesus has its abundant reward hereafter; the certain and unfailing victory of the righteous lies at the very heart of the eternal purpose of God; and this triumphant hope is presented as an abiding consolation for the Christian mind in the midst of prevailing trial and distress.

IIb The Episode of the Sealed Ones (A Vision of Salvation Assured). Ch. 7:1-17

The episode of the sealed ones is a vision of consolation, that is introduced as a digression between the sixth [pg 135] and seventh seals, elaborating the idea of redemption inwrought with judgment, and showing the safety, even in the midst of tribulation, of God's people who are divinely sealed, as also the certainty of their final reward. It is given for the encouragement of tried and suffering Christians who cannot understand why they suffer, and as an answer to the question in ch. 6:17, “who shall be able to stand?” i. e. in the midst of such judgment as is depicted under the sixth seal. There is, of course, a manifest element of consolation for the saints in the contents of the seals themselves, as indicated above, viz. the certainty of victory under the first, the divine limitation and control signified in the second, third, and fourth, the promise of peace and reward in the fifth, of vindication and judgment in the sixth, and of the heavenly rest in the seventh; but this word of comfort receives such a distinct reinforcement and emphasis in the episode interposed as to indicate clearly its purpose. The blessed consolation for God's people in all ages given in the book of Revelation has not, perhaps, been sufficiently emphasized in the past,405 yet this has always made it a cherished message for those in affliction. The episode is found to consist of two parts, corresponding in some degree to the two dispensations, the Old and the New, the first setting forth the surety of salvation in the divine choice out of Israel (v. 1-8), and the second the fulness of salvation in the restoration to the divine presence of the entire body of the redeemed out of all nations (v. 9-17), the two together manifesting the consoling thought that redemption triumphs in the midst of judgment.

A The Sealed of Israel, Ch. 7:1-8

The first part of the episode shows Israel's share in the sure and unfailing results of God's elective and redemptive purpose, and through this the wider truth that God seals and keeps all his own (cf. Ezek. 9:1-6).406

1 The Angels Holding the Winds, Ch. 7:1-3

At the bidding of another angel who ascends from the sunrising as the sign that he brings light and hope, [pg 136] and who bears the seal of the living God as the token of his authority, “the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea” restrain the winds, which are apparently those of destruction and judgment, until the act of sealing has been accomplished: the symbol of the delay of God's final judgment upon the world until all his chosen ones are sealed, i. e. are marked as the subjects of redemption, or until his redemptive purpose is complete—the choice beginning with Israel. Four, the earth number, is the number of the angels, corners, and winds in the vision, indicating the world-wide character of the judgment; and the sealing is upon earth, though apparently not to be thought of as occurring in any particular point of time, and not therefore to be placed, as by some, just preceding the final judgment, for in a wider sense the sealing stands as a symbol of redemption as a whole, viewed in effect as a process concurrent with the trials of the seals, and illustrated by its operation in Israel.407 The time of holding back the winds is the entire period of divine grace, and the sealing shows the brighter side of the former picture of trial and suffering—God is ever doing what he did in Israel.

2 The Number of the Sealed, Ch. 7:4-8

The redeemed are sealed upon the forehead, the sign of the visible and personal ownership of Christ, but the act of sealing is not revealed; as the act of God it is hidden, and only the number of the sealed is given, a hundred and forty-four thousand, i. e. the square of twelve, the national number, multiplied by a thousand, the cube of ten, the number of completeness,—twelve thousand from each tribe, or twelve, the number of the tribes of Israel, multiplied by a thousand, the number of heavenly completeness: the symbol of a vast, complete, but indefinite number chosen from the people of Israel and kept unto eternal life as the first-fruits unto God and the Lamb, the true or ideal people of Israel, who are in a sense representative of all the redeemed. Other interpreters, accepting the apocalyptic-traditional view of late writers, regard the first section of the episode (v. [pg 137] 1-8) as a reproduction in form or substance from a Jewish apocalypse, while the second section (v. 9-17), where there is so manifest an expansion of the horizon, is the Christian development of the same idea, showing how the older vision may be understood in our time.408 Such views evidently have strong attraction for the modern mind, but it may well be doubted whether such a view solves as many difficulties as it creates, for it assumes the existence of documents that have no evidence on which to rest except the theory which assumes them.

B The Redeemed Out of All Nations, Ch. 7:9-17

In this section is presented a view of all the glorified in heaven, showing the world-wide results of redemption, and the ultimate felicity of the redeemed, a scene of triumph in vivid contrast with the trials and sufferings of the church upon earth, and a striking illustration of the difference which Christ has brought about through his atoning work.409

1 The Innumerable Multitude, Ch. 7:9

With the opening of the second part of the episode there is a sudden expansion of the horizon; every barrier of race and nation has disappeared, and a triumphant multitude of the saved from all peoples, a company which no man could number, far surpassing that of Israel, is seen standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, the symbol of purity,410 and having palms in their hands, the token of joy as well as victory (cf. I Macc. 13.51), and perhaps, also, as a sign of triumphant homage to the Lamb. The use of palms in the Feast of Tabernacles may have been foremost in thought here, but we need not confine the significance of the figure to the Jewish symbolism of joy. It probably includes all the ideas connected with palms that were familiar to the thought of the time, without regard to their origin; for it is not justifiable to assume that the Apocalypse contains no ideas borrowed from heathen antiquity, but moves exclusively within the circle of sacred, that is, Jewish imagery and symbols.411 This represents an opinion [pg 138] which in the light of later studies in Apocalyptic cannot be maintained, though manifestly everything has been assimilated by the Jewish conception, from whatever source it may have been derived. The phase of the vision presented in the ninth verse, affords a view of the redeemed church in its fulness, the multitude of the saved from both covenants now joined in one body in which no distinction of race or nation exists, a view much wider in its scope than the former one of the sealing.412

Many commentators, it must be recognized, view this passage differently (v. 4-9), and maintain the full identity of the hundred and forty-four thousand and the great multitude by a somewhat strained exegesis, making the hundred and forty-four thousand the symbol of the Christian church.413 In the interpretation of such symbols, however, we must always allow a latitude of view, for different interpretations appeal with varying force to different minds; and it should be remembered in holding the view accepted in this work, that while the symbol is taken from the case of Israel, and is therefore correctly interpreted as applying primarily to the people of Israel, yet it is not Jews as distinguished from Gentiles that are meant, but the saints of the Old Testament as distinguished from those of the New, the few in contrast with the many; and that in a wider sense the figure symbolizes salvation as a whole, represented here by a part in which it is shown to be effective, the main idea being salvation made certain and efficient by the divine act of sealing, while in the great multitude the symbol is that of salvation become world-wide in its results. The question of the identity of the two groups is therefore subordinate, and cannot be regarded as of any special importance.

It may be well at this point, in view of the great and radiant multitude of the redeemed, the innumerable company out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, who stand before the throne and join in the cry of “Salvation unto our God ... and unto the Lamb” (v. 10), for us to emphasize the wide-spread and triumphant effect of the gospel in the world of men which is here [pg 139] foreshown. It has been too often asserted by modern critics that the outlook of the Revelation is narrow and Jewish, and its view limited and discouraging. As against this it is well to remember the lesson of these verses, as well as that of many other similar passages throughout the book (cf. chs. 5:9; 21:24; 22:7, et al.). We should also clearly see that the Revelation from its nature and purpose deals chiefly with the plan of God for the ages, and with the causes and events which lead on to the end of the world, and that therefore its essential message is not addressed to evangelistic effort or to missionary enterprise, but to faith in God when days are dark and storms fill the sky, and to preparation for meeting him in a fairer world when earthly days are done. Yet the book just as clearly shows that the divine plan both includes and prepares for the essentially world-wide and universal mission of Christianity; and the message of the gospel to every creature is repeated and emphasized throughout in such a way as to make plain that the great work and chief purpose of the Kingdom of God in the earth is to redeem and to save the lost. And surely this important truth should never be left out of view in our perusal of the book.

2 The Cry of the Church Triumphant, Ch. 7:10-12

The whole body of the redeemed, the saved out of both covenants, the united company which no man could number, that includes both Jews and Gentiles, is heard unitedly to cry with a loud voice, “Salvation unto our God ... and unto the Lamb”, i. e. salvation is attributed unto God and the Lamb414 (the Salvation Chorus), while all the heavenly court join them in a seven-fold symphony of praise. This is the last in a series of growing doxologies. In ch. 1:6 the praise ascribed is twofold, in ch. 4:11 it is threefold, in ch. 5:13 it is fourfold, and now in ch. 7:12 it is sevenfold—“Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever”. It should also be noted that in the Salvation Chorus, for the first of three times in the book, salvation is ascribed by a voice from heaven to God, or to God and to Christ, viz. in chs. 7:10; 12:10; and 19:1.

[pg 140]

3 The Redeemed Before the Throne, Ch. 7:13-17

John's attention is at this point specially directed to the triumphant company that is before the throne of God by one of the elders (v. 13f.)415 in order to emphasize that they of that company have come victorious out of the great tribulation of the earthly life, and therefore they are ever before the throne serving God day and night in his temple, i. e. in the ναὸς, the shrine of the temple in heaven, and sharing in the exceeding blessedness of the divine presence as their great reward. “And he that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them ... and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.”416 It is not likely that by the great tribulation in v. 14 is meant a special period of trial such as is implied in ch. 3:10, and by the words of our Lord in Mat. 24:21, but rather the world-tribulation that belongs to the earthly life of the Christian throughout all time, “the tribulation of Jesus” (ch. 1:9) in which John felt that he had a share. Some, however, think that it is the same period of trial referred to before as preceding the end of the world.417 Thus with a prophetic view of the redeemed before the throne the episode closes, and the seventh seal is opened (ch. 8:1).

III The Vision of the Seven Trumpets (A Vision of Threatening). Ch. 8:2-9:21, and 11:14-19

The vision of the seven trumpets sets forth in pictorial form a divine proclamation of the judgments of God upon the sinful world, especially those to be experienced throughout the prospective history of mankind until the final consummation of all things. It consists of another group of seven that are parallel in a certain sense to the vision of the seals, covering like them the path of the ages, but that form a separate series complete in themselves and that are issued for a different purpose, the seals specially manifesting God's care of his people in the midst of trial, while the trumpets reveal the divine punishment visited upon the sinful. These two lines of judgment are conceived of as occurring mainly [pg 141] in the same period, but looked at from another point of view: or, perhaps, it might better be said, that we have here another group of seven which follow the whole course of history and develop a new line of divinely ordered occurrences that neither follow nor precede, but are quite independent of any time-relation to the preceding series of the seals. The number of the trumpets, like that of the seals, is intended to indicate the completeness of the series, for seven is the number of completeness. They are general indications of God's judgments, and though particular events may be partial fulfilments, the complete fulfilment is in all time.418

A The Preparation for the Trumpets, Ch. 8:2-6

In a short intervening section preparatory to the trumpets, we are shown that the prayers of the saints lead to the manifestation of divine wrath against sin. These verses, it may be said, form a transition from the vision of the seals to that of the trumpets, and are in fact included by some under the seventh seal, though not properly belonging to it. The former vision reaches a fitting close in the period of eternal rest which is looked upon under the seventh seal, and we wait in the quiet that it brings, expecting the end to be announced at once. But instead of that a further vision is revealed to the seer, and we again traverse the course of history by a different path to its ending. In another series of seven under the trumpets the punishment of the ungodly is reviewed, and divine wrath is seen to fall upon the heads of the sinful. This succeeding series of trumpet visions is introduced by verses two to six in the eighth chapter.

1 An Angel Offers Incense upon the Golden Altar, Ch. 8:3-5

The incense is added unto the prayers of all the saints which are thus typically purified, and they are straightway presented before the throne of God in heaven. Incense was the symbol of prayer under the Old Testament, but it becomes here, by a further development of the symbol, the vehicle for bearing the prayers to the throne, and the action apparently follows the form of the Jewish ritual worship. An angel standing over the brazen altar of sacrifice, takes fire from it in [pg 142] a golden censer or fire-pan, and much incense is then given him to add unto the prayers of all the saints, evidently for their purification and that he may offer them at the golden altar of incense which is before the throne of God. Completing this action, the angel returns again to the brazen altar to take fire from it that he may cast it as the symbol of judgment upon the earth (cf. Ezek. 10:2f). Others, however, think that only one altar, that of incense, is referred to in the action.419 In either case the worship of the Old Testament is the basis of the figure, though the scene is laid in heaven. “And there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake”, the tokens of God's presence and of the approaching divine judgment.

2 The Seven Angels Prepare to Sound, Ch. 8:2, 6

To the seven angels are given seven trumpets with charge of the series of impending woes; and the angels put the trumpets to their lips ready to sound, mention of which is made in order to emphasize the importance to be attached to their action as angels who stand before God. Their position implies special service, and their number doubtless indicates the perfection of their ministry.420 The trumpet, which was the common instrument for public announcement, and often connected with the idea of judgment,421 may be here intended to recall its use at the fall of Jericho (Josh. 6:4f). The seven angels may also be taken to represent the whole body of angel ministrants who serve before God, just as the seven churches symbolize the whole church.

B The Trumpets Sounded, Ch. 8:7-9:21; and 11:14-19

The sounding of the trumpets represents the proclamation of signal and destructive judgments upon the ungodly world. The form of these judgments in the vision was adapted to current conceptions of great calamities, and may be regarded as symbolizing all the [pg 143] terrible woes in store for all the wicked in all the ages—wide world-pictures of the divine purpose of punishment. The latter half of the first century was marked by many terrible visitations, such as earthquakes, famines, and plagues, and it should not be thought strange to find these events reflected in such a book as the Apocalypse at a time when they were fresh in the public mind. That they had some such source is evident, for the graphic descriptions of appalling disaster by earthquake in Martinique (1901), and in Messina (1908), have served to illumine many passages in the Revelation, as have also other similar occurrences previously known. These judgments in the visions constitute not only the divine means of punishment, but become the divine test of character, revealing the essential nature of evil men; for the effect of the judgments, unlike that of the seals, falls mainly upon the evil.

1 The Sounding of the First Trumpet, Ch. 8:7

The sounding of the first trumpet is followed by hail and fire mingled in blood cast upon the earth: the symbol of disaster visited upon the land, and men punished by such means as in the days of Pharaoh,—for fire is a symbol of the divine presence and wrath, and the blood indicates the destructive effects about to be wrought upon both the animate and inanimate creation for the chastisement of man. The resemblance of the first four judgments of the trumpets and also of the vials to the plagues of Egypt, is too manifest to escape the attention of any careful reader of Scripture, and affords a ready proof of their representative character. These well-known historic incidents of judgment, belonging to the birth-period of the Hebrew nation, which are so deeply inwrought in the Old Testament story, and whose significance was so well understood, become the ready types of other judgments that are sent with a similar purpose and that belong to the divine order, but the intimate nature of which it was not the divine purpose to disclose. They are widely suggestive of God's power over things the most permanent and stable. The destruction of but a third part of the objects affected as the result of the trumpet series, represents a limited judgment, not an actual third but a fractional portion destroyed, a great but not the greater part. The earth, the sea, the rivers, and the heavenly bodies, on which the [pg 144] first four judgments fall, are parts of a fourfold division of the universe which is common in this book, and are intended to designate the entire created world, both here and in the vision of the vials.422 In this comprehensive designation the earth, or the land, was thought of as the nourishing mother and the dwelling-place of man; the sea as the agent and arena of commerce; the rivers as the seat of cities, the centres of population, the arteries of trade, and the source of water supply; and the heavenly bodies as the source of light, and as the rulers of destiny—together representing in common thought the great things of life to the world of men. Disaster to these, the sources of wealth and well-being, has always been among Oriental nations the type of all that is most terrible.

2 The Sounding of the Second Trumpet, Ch. 8:8-9

The sounding of the second trumpet is followed by, as it were, a great mountain burning with fire cast into the sea, thereby working widespread ruin: the symbol of disaster visited upon the sea, one part of creation which is used as God's agent for punishing mankind. To move a mountain was a token of divine power, and it was blazing with fire as a sign of the divine presence and wrath—another Sinai in effect flung into the sea. This striking figure of a mountain of fire was perhaps suggested to John's mind by a volcano, with which he must have become familiar while resident in Asia; but attention is directed more particularly in these visions, especially the first four, to the effect produced rather than to the means used, whether hail and fire, or a mountain, or a star, or the smiting of the planets.423 The effect produced is one of great terror, though the way in which it applies to men is left to be inferred, and is not attempted to be described. Such an incident was well adapted to the thought of the first century, and could not but strike terror in the mind of the beholder because of the complete helplessness of men in the presence of such a disaster. It presents a wide field for thought, the limits of which are not defined. It is in fact one way of saying that God will make all nature to strive against man because of sin.

[pg 145]

3 The Sounding of the Third Trumpet, Ch. 8:10-11

The sounding of the third trumpet is followed by the falling of a great star from heaven, called Wormwood, upon the waters, burning as a torch and making them bitter: the symbol of disaster visited upon the rivers and fountains of waters, still another part of creation, as an act of divine judgment upon sinful men who dwell by the waters. As under the former trumpets only a third part was affected: “And many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.” The falling of a star was regarded as a sign of some great disaster about to happen, and is here apparently intended to be typical of judgment sent from heaven, while the name Wormwood signifies the bitterness of the trouble which it entails upon men. But beyond this all is indefinite, a quality characteristic of Apocalyptic which often heightens rather than lessens the general effect. The bitter waters expressed the moral bitterness that men must taste because of their sin: the wide result is thus covered by an unspoken appeal to thought through a significant symbol.

4 The Sounding of the Fourth Trumpet, Ch. 8:12

The sounding of the fourth trumpet is followed by the smiting of the sun, moon, and stars: the symbol of disaster visited upon the heavenly bodies, not only destroying their light but inflicting a punishment peculiarly terrifying to the Oriental mind because of the occult influence which these bodies were supposed to exert upon the future destinies of men. We need not necessarily regard John as personally sharing in this opinion, but only as using the language and appealing to the thought of his time, as in the preceding reference to the falling star. He seems to look upon these strange occurrences mainly as signs of the divine purpose, as “wonders in the heavens and in the earth” (Joel 2:30) through which God wrought in manifesting his will. The evils resulting from this visitation in the vision, as in the former judgments, are suggested rather than named; but they lie before the mind in a haunting way to be filled in by a vivid imagination with scenes of terror and wrath.

(1) The Eagle and Its Message, Ch. 8:13

At this point an eagle (not an angel, as in the Authorized Version), the symbol of carnage, appears flying [pg 146] high in mid-heaven, crying, “Woe! Woe! Woe!” and indicating by its rapid flight and thrice repeated call of terror the swiftness of the three coming woes of the remaining trumpets.424 Also three, the number of the spiritual in contrast with the material, serves to indicate the sphere to which these judgments belong. These three, the fifth, sixth, and seventh, are often called the “woe-trumpets”, and their effects are visited directly upon men, not indirectly through natural objects as under the preceding four of the series.

5 The Sounding of the Fifth Trumpet, Ch. 9:1-12

The sounding of the fifth trumpet is followed by a vision of a star from heaven, fallen unto earth, the symbolic representation of Satan cast out of heaven for his sin, and by smoke as of a great furnace enveloping a swarm of locusts that ascend from the pit of the abyss, the present dwelling-place of Satan and the familiar haunt of demons: the symbol of disaster to men through Satan and his multitudinous host, “the spiritual hosts of wickedness” (Eph. 6:12), the demons from the pit. These are permitted to torment men, producing bitter anguish for five months, the usual life of the locust, and the symbol of an incomplete or limited period of time, which may here refer to the time of man's existence upon the earth. Five, the half of ten the complete number, is a symbol of incompleteness or indefiniteness. The invading army of locusts is a well-known figure of widespread disaster, as in the prophecy of Joel (ch. 2:1-11). In accordance with general apocalyptic usage the pit of the abyss is regarded as the present abode of the Devil and his angels, and is conceived of as a vast subterranean depth connecting with the surface of the earth by a great shaft or well which can be opened or closed from above, and the entrance to which may be locked or unlocked by a key.425 That which at first seems to be a cloud of smoke proves to be teeming with forms of life, an evident token of the hidden nature of the source of evil. The power of the locusts is directed immediately against the wicked, such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads, while their sting seems to be the type of the poison of sin which they infuse into [pg 147] the veins of men, and the torment which they inflict to refer to the visitation of sins that bring terrible punishment upon the offenders so that men prefer death rather than life. The description of the locusts as “like unto horses prepared for war etc.”, is a realistic touch intended to heighten the sense of terror, but not to identify them with any objects in human experience. Also the statement that “their faces were as men's faces”, implies only that they were like men in appearance, though some think this points to human agents. The star is here used in a quite different sense from that under the third trumpet,—for to insist that all objects must have a single symbolism, and that the star must mean the same in every case, i. e. a person, there as well as here, is to neglect one of the clearest lessons of Apocalyptic. Here it is a personification or symbol of Satan (Isa. 14:12), the angel of the abyss, who is named Apollyon,426 i. e. one who causes perdition to mankind, or in Hebrew, Abaddon, i. e. the destroyer, a sufficient identification for the reader of the Old Testament. The awful woe that the world of evil men suffers at the hands of Satan and his legions is the ideal content of this trumpet; and we notice that the severity of the judgments seems to increase as they progress toward the end. The first woe is now declared to be past (v. 12), but two others are foretold as yet to come.

6 The Sounding of the Sixth Trumpet, Ch. 9:13-21, and 11:14

The sounding of the sixth trumpet is followed by the loosing of four angels from the bed of the Euphrates (which is done at the bidding of a voice from the four horns427 of the golden altar of incense that is before God, and underneath which are the souls of them that had been slain for the Word of God—evidently a divine command) who had been prepared for an appointed time, even “for the hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men” from the earth, and by the coming of a vast invading army of horsemen, the double square of a myriad, or two hundred millions [pg 148] in all, the largest number used in the Apocalypse, the type of an innumerable multitude, which apparently act under direction of the four angels, and destroy a third part of men from the earth:428 the symbol of disaster to men through the world-forces of heathenism, which are under direction of the world-rulers of the darkness (Eph. 6:12). The unbinding of the angels is the symbol of evil let loose among men, for the angels are evil as is indicated by their being bound, by their number, and by the place of their imprisonment, i. e. the binding is the symbol of divine restraint until the appointed time; their number is four, the earth number, indicating that they belong to this world which is usually thought of as evil; and the Euphrates, the place where they are bound, is the old seat of the world-power, and the representative of heathenism with its multitudinous host. The evils inflicted by the heathen nations upon mankind, especially the evils of war with their concomitant results, are here indicated by this forceful figure; yet these, though deep and terrible, entirely fail to turn the rest of men, who escape death, from idol worship and its attendant impurities—a marvelous forecast of the path of history, for the heathen powers have time and again become the agents of woe to mankind, yet the people have not awakened to the true source of their sorrow in idolatry. The description of the horses and of their riders in the vision is purely an ideal one, intended to make them the objects of greatest terror, a true Oriental touch, appealing to the vivid Eastern imagination as such figures do with us to the minds of children. The woes of men at the hands of heathen nations is the evident content of this trumpet, as is clearly indicated in the twentieth verse of the chapter. At this point the second woe is declared to be past, and the third to be about to come quickly (ch. 11:14); but between them intervenes a vision of divine help, and of the value of the church's witness (ch. 10:1-11:13).

This view of the fifth and sixth trumpets seems to meet more fully the statements of the text than other views, and to conform best to the general character of the [pg 149] whole series; for notwithstanding the recognized obscurity of the trumpet visions, we can surely discern divine judgments for wrongdoing in the first four, under forms of physical evil visited upon the natural creation, and in the remaining three, manifestations of moral evil visited upon men for their sin. That the pit or abyss points to demoniacal forces, and the Euphrates to human agencies, is sufficiently evident without discussion.429 The application of the incidents of the fifth and sixth trumpets to Mohammedans and Turks by some of the historical school, who have even interpreted the tails of the horses as a prophetic reference to these well-known symbols of authority used by Turkish Pashas, is a curious example of capricious fancy. The fact that the events predicted under the sixth trumpet find a wide exemplification in the incursions of Turk and Mohammedan, Goth and Vandal, is only a clearer proof of their ideal character. And it is surely better to leave these highly wrought imaginative symbols of the trumpets, with their deep suggestiveness of appalling forms of coming evil, in the vague indefiniteness in which we find them, rather than to mar their beauty by weak and narrow interpretations.

[The Episode IIIb, which in this work is given after the seventh trumpet, occurs at the present point in the vision covering chs. 10:1 to 11:13. The connection is resumed in ch. 11:14, for the second woe found in that verse belongs in order of thought at the close of the sixth trumpet, the intervening part being parenthetical—see the Scripture text as paragraphed in this volume].

7 The Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet, Ch. 11:15-19

The sounding of the seventh trumpet is followed by great voices in heaven, declaring that the kingdom of the world is now become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ;430 by the elders praising God that the time of judgment and reward has come (the Victory Chorus); by the ark of the covenant, the token of God's abiding presence, being revealed in the opened temple in heaven—a traditional sign in the later Judaism of [pg 150] the coming of the Messiah;431 and by lightnings, voices, thunders, and an earthquake with great hail, the necessary accompaniments in Jewish thought of the great and final day of wrath: the multiple symbol of the final judgment, and of the glorious triumph of God's kingdom. The contents of the seventh trumpet are not fully developed, perhaps because they are too great for description, but in it we reach the climax and issue of the whole process of judgment that is exhibited in the series, the full and final establishment of the kingdom. The result is viewed in its entirety, and the millennial period of victory is not brought separately into view. The unveiling of the ark of covenant mercy and the ushering in of the kingdom close the vision, and constitute an informal transition to the vision of conflict through which the triumph has been effected.

If we now rapidly recall the whole course of the seven trumpets, we can see how with progressive movement they increase in severity as they go forward; the judgments they prefigure fall first upon the land, and then consecutively upon the sea, upon the fountains of water, and upon the heavenly bodies, as signs of God's judgment upon the physical universe, and thus upon men who in their earthly lives form part of the natural world; then with the fifth trumpet the judgments take a wider trend, and point to and include the setting free of numberless demonic forces of evil from the pit of the abyss to prey upon men, and under the sixth trumpet the loosing of the multitudinous world-forces of heathenism from the banks of the Euphrates to bring world-wide judgments upon the race, thus preparing the way for the blowing of the seventh trumpet which ushers in the day of cumulative wrath upon sin, and the final triumph of God's kingdom. This onward progress of the plan of the ages is only broken by a passing view of the possibility of recovery for men in the episode of the angel and the book, and of the two witnesses, which follows. The whole sweep of the judgments of the trumpets, in the view of Apocalyptic perspective, is toward the end of the present world and the triumph of righteousness in the final judgment. There the redeemed are left with God in his glorious kingdom; the after life is not attempted to be described; its blessings are evidently [pg 151] too great for our present comprehension. But the triumph would not be so definite, without the vision of conflict which follows, for it presents the path to victory through prevailing trial and opposition as ever leading on to complete and final triumph in the end, that is to be realized in the glorious presence of the Lamb who is revealed as standing upon Mount Zion in the midst of the redeemed.

IIIb The Episode of the Angel with the Book; and of the Two Witnesses (A Vision of Divine Help). Ch. 10:1-11:13

This twofold vision forms a digression between the sixth and seventh trumpets, similar to the episode between the sixth and seventh seals, setting forth the opportunities which God has afforded men of escaping his wrath, showing the divine method of help through the institutions of religion, and affirming the permanent value of the church's witness,—a paragraph that notwithstanding its acknowledged difficulty, is manifestly interposed for the comfort of the church as well as to prepare the way for the last woe of the remaining trumpet.432 The restraint of wrath indicated by the destruction of only the third part under the trumpets, is now further developed by showing the divine offer of escape; and also man's common neglect of that offer, which leads at length to final doom under the seventh trumpet. The episode, it will be seen, differs in theme from the one under the seals, the former setting forth the divine side of redemption, and the surety of its accomplishment through the act of sealing, the latter showing the human side of redemption as it is made known to men through the institutions of religion, and the failure of its universal operation through unbelief, leaving the world without excuse to bear the weight of judgment—the one throwing light upon God's relation to the church, and the other upon his relation to the world, in accordance with the general theme of the seals and the trumpets. Though many are unable to agree that John had such a comprehensive view in mind, or that it is to be looked for in a writing of this class, yet when we consider the various marks of elaborate structure in [pg 152] the book, exhibited in the relation of its different parts, and the deep prophetic insight and poetic intuition manifested by the author in his idealization of the course of the church, we need not be surprised to find a broad and perspicuous view of redemption such as this, especially since the plan of salvation had already been so fully elaborated in an earlier period by the great Apostle to the Gentiles.

A The Angel with the Little Open Book, Ch. 10:1-11

The first part of the episode exhibits the revelation of God's will and purpose as a source of help. The little book in the vision is evidently the Apocalypse, though in a broader sense it doubtless represents as well the general purpose and beneficent effects of all God's revelations to men; and the book is found open to indicate that its contents are made known to the world. Some regard the little book to be the remaining part of the Apocalypse, beginning with the succeeding chapter;433 by others its contents are considered to begin with chapter twelve, the first break in continuity after the episode; but it seems more likely that the whole book is intended. In any case it is clear that the prophetic form in which the writer's ministry is to be realized (viz. “thou must prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings”, v. 11) serves to link the center of the book (ch. 10:11) with both the beginning (ch. 1:3) and the end (ch. 22:19),434 and thereby furnishes an incidental proof of its unity of design.

1 The Angel Foretells the End, Ch. 10:1-7

A mighty angel, the representative of Christ and bearing his insignia,435 having a book in his hand, and standing both upon sea and land as a sign of his world-wide mission, declares the coming end under the seventh trumpet, when the mystery of God's method and purpose in human life and redemption shall be fully revealed and finally manifested in the establishment of his universal kingdom. The manner of the angel is scenic and impressive, and the message is one of undoubted power.

[pg 153]

(1) The Thunder Voices, Ch. 10:3b and 4

Seven thunders utter their voices436 in token of the approaching judgment, but John is directed by a voice from heaven to seal them up and is forbidden to record them, probably indicating that the terrors of God's voice in judgment are for the present hidden from men; though some regard the voices as introduced only to emphasize the element of mystery with which the Apocalyptic form always delighted to clothe its thought. The voice, declared to be from heaven in verse four, is apparently not intended to indicate by whom the words were spoken, but only the source from which they came; some, however, attribute them to Christ.