few. In the North, the Swedes sacrificed their king Olaus to their idol Thor A. D. 900, for refusing to support idolatry. During the reigns of Bogoris and Borzivojus, the Pagans often made insurrections against the introduction of Christianity; which were suppressed by Bogoris, but Borzivojus was compelled to fly, and his widow persecuted the Christians cruelly until A. D. 919. She also induced Boleslaus A. D. 938, to murder his own brother, because he had embraced the Christian faith. Adalbertus and Brumus, those eminent missionaries, obtained the crown of martyrdom among the Prussians; the first 997, the second 1008. In Hungary, the Heathens opposed the Gospel from the time of Stephen A. D. 997, with great violence, until they were subdued by Bela A. D. 1062. In short, the Pagans perpetually committed acts of violence upon the Christians, by murdering those among them, and by incursions into their territory abroad.

Verse 9. And the great dragon was cast out. This whole region was cleared of Paganism, of idol-gods and idolatrous priests. Satan, the prince of this world, who ruled by Paganism, lost his power and authority in these kingdoms, when the princes and rulers of them embraced the Gospel of Christ, and abolished the worship of idols. This important event took place previous to, or about A. D. 1073; when within the limits of that region here called heaven, all visible Pagan power and authority ceased for ever.

He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. The arch-enemy is here described by different names. He is called the great Dragon, in reference to his garb of Paganism in the Pagan Roman empire; that old serpent, which seduced our firct parents in paradise; the Devil, an accuser, a forger of calumnies, Tit. II, 3. who accuses God to men, and men to God, Job. 1, 9. and one man to the other, Eph. IV, 27; Satan, an enemy to God, to Christ, and to his Church; which

1

deceiveth the whole world. He deceived the whole world in our first parents, all mankind before the flood, every heathen generation since by Paganism, the whole Christian world by image-worship and superstition, Luke 11, 1. and before the end of the world he will again deceive Gog and Magog, chap. xx, 3. 10. He was cast out into the earth. When heaven signifies a particular Church, as in this place, then the earth in opposition to heaven denote Pagan countries and temporal governments on the continent of the ancient Roman empire; and may here particularly refer to countries in the interior of Asia and Europe, where he now commenced the third wo.

Verse 10. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony: and they loved not their lives unto the death.

12. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.

Here heaven occurs in opposition to the Church, the earth, and the sea, and must therefore be the Church triumphant. The loud voice which arrested St. John's attention was not the voice of angels, but of a numerous company of saints in glory; for they call those who had overcome on earth, their brethren, which title the angels nowhere assume, chap. xIx, 10. They shout in triumph for the victory of Michael over the Dragon, and the downfall of Paganism in Europe; which produced consequences of immense value to those nations. The salvation here celebrated, is the deliverance from Satan, Pagan idolatry, barbarous ignorance, and superstition. Strength, refers to the physical and spiritual power now acquired, and displayed by the Church in those countries; which promised her invincibility and perpetual succession. The king

dom of God was come, when the Church of Christ obtained her full establishment among these nations, and all power and authority had been placed in the hands of Christian princes. The power of his Christ, was marvellously displayed by the instrumentality of Michael and his angels, in the total overthrow of the dragon and all his hosts, both in the visible and invisible world at the same time. It is worthy of remark, that the kingdom is here ascribed as yet only to God, and to Christ the pow er of having accomplished this great enterprise. But when the beast from the bottomless pit is done away, then it will also become the kingdom of Christ, chap. xix, 16. XX, 4. What a great change will then take place on earth! What majesty will Christ our Lord then assume .

But this heavenly company continues its song of praise! The accuser of our brethren is cast down. The word zarnyogos is found both in the Greek and Hebrew languages. It is derived from ayoga forum, and signifies a public accuser before the magistrates, or a false accuser at large. Satan is represented as an accuser of the brethren to God, Job. 1, 8. 9. 10. 11. Zech. III, 1. and before princes by his instruments Esth. III, 8. But the Greek expression εLOV TOU BEOV, may also be rendered, in the presence of God, so as to refer to such Pagan countries, in .which the Gospel had already acquired an establishment and where God was present in his Church and represented by the civil authority. Thus Satan accused the primative Christians to the Heathen magistrates, of the most hideous crimes, by the instrumentality of the Pagans and Jews; and he here resumed the same trade again, in order to oppose the Gospel, but failed in his aim at last. The saints rejoice, that all civil authorities in this region had now become Christian, and Satan could accuse their brethren no more.

Verse 11. And they overcame him. The saints in hea ven bear testimony to the triumph of their brethren of

earth. May the Lord induce us to use those means, by which they have so well succeeded! They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb which cleansed the brethren from sin and ransomed them from the power of Satan; by the word of their testimony, the Gospel of Christ, which they believed, professed and preached with the most devoted and persevering efforts; and because they loved not their lives unto the death. As the apostle Paul Acts xx, 24. they did not count their lives dear to themselves, that they might finish their course with joy, and the ministry which they had received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God. Luke XIV, 26. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them, i. e. all the mansions of God above, John XIV, 2.

THE THIRD WO,

From A. D. 1073-1850.

Verse 12. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

This verse proclaims the commencement of the third wo. The first wo was mentioned twice, the second thrice, and the third is here expressed the fourth time. chap. VIII, 13. XI, 14. The first was caused by the locusts, the second by that great army of horsemen, under the four angels bound in the river Euphrates; and the third is occasioned by Satan himself, as we see here and in chap. XIII. 2. No attentive reader can doubt, that its actual commencement is here asserted. And to have the devil among us, the author of all evil, is a wo indeed! It cannot refer to a fourth wo, for there are only three; and it is nowhere said, that the third wo is past, as was the case after the

first and second wo. These words therefore: woe to the earth and the sea! are an express indication of the commencement of the third wo, at this point in the general system of this prophecy.

This wo has a larger circumference than the preceding woes, for it comprises the whole earth and the sea. Earth and sea, when expressed together in this prophecy, signify the whole Roman empire according to its ancient limits in Europe and Asia ; but were these terms are to be specified, the earth denotes the interior continent of this empire, sometimes more especially in Asia, and the sea, the countries adjacent to the Mediterranean. Here Satan now commenced a new train of portentous achievments, which are termed the third wo. It is a remark of importance in this place, that Satan is said to be first cast out into the earth v, 9; and then afterwards verse 12, the saints in heaven proclaim the third wo both to the earth and to the sea. The earth is mentioned first, in order to point out its place of beginning. The apostle thereby asserts its commencement in Pagan countries on the continent of Asia, by the instrumentality of civil authorities, a considerable time before its oppressive influence as a wo, was felt in Europe. There the Devil in the garb of Paganism, recommences his accusations against the disciples of Jesus, from the same motives, and with the same design as during the first centuries of the Christian era, and as in that region, from which he was just now expelled. But this wo is also distinguished from the preceding woes, by being ascribed to Satan himself personally, and by his being represented, as proceeding in it with great wrath; from which we may infer its peculiar degree of infernal art, malignity and oppression to those who fell under its influence.

He knoweth that he hath but a short time. This translation of the original, ειδώς οτι ολιγον καιρον εχει is defective. The apostle uses the word 2.705, which is a nu