REVELATION

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ontinues the detail of the sixth seal, and h God withheld his determination to destroy f Josiah, as before stated; and, accordingly, Iding the four winds (armies) of the earth, er angel commanding them to continue to reants of God were sealed on their foreheads; ; e tribes of the children of Israel were sealed. er that aided Josiah in mourning for sin, and in

ch. vii. ver. 9.

nd serve him day

of their fathers (ch. vii. ver. 4); and with them frode of all nations, which no man could number, › Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in were those who had the seal on their foreheads Therefore were they before the and night in his temple, and he e throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunther thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on neat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the ed them, and shall lead them to fountains of living od shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.—ch. vii.

DIVE

I TRUMPET Sounded (ch. 9, ver. 14); and John heard the four horns of the golden altar (a voice correspondent of disobedience in Josiah, who, in opposition to the word nt out to fight Nechoh), commanding the angel who had et to loose the four angels, WHO WERE PREPARED FOR R, AND DAY, AND MONTH, AND YEAR, for to slay the third nen (Israel was entitled the third part of men by Isaiah, er. 24). Accordingly they loosed the Chaldees, Syrians, Mond Ammonites, who, under the command of Nebuchadnezzar, NINTH YEAR of his reign, in the TENTH MONTH, on the I DAY of the month, conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the temking the king and principal persons prisoners, as stated in the sixth - Nebuchadnezzar having been excited to undertake this expedition he conquests of Nechoh king of Egypt, it would appear that the er was the instrument of the angel who received the command to se those who were bound on the Euphrates. The number of these ople is stated as innumerable; for indeed they were composed of all ations. Yet, notwithstanding this destruction, "they repented not of heir sins."-ch. ix. ver. 2. Thus concludes the declaration of the sixth trumpet; and here the announcement "The second woe is past" should follow (as that of the first succeeded the destruction of Israel,

fifth seal). But, before this was uttered, a mighty angel, having the gospel in his hand, came down from heaven (ch. x. ver. 1), and, restraining sin and flesh (x. 5), solemnly announced "that there should be time no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall BEGIN to sound."-ver. 7. The voice from heaven now told John to take the gospel from the angel, and eat it up. He found it sweet in his mouth, because it tasted of eternal life; but, when he had swallowed it, his belly was embittered by the feeling that it contained the sufferings of Christ.-ver. 9, 10. Thus charged with prophecy he was desired to prophesy AGAIN, and a rod was given to him (ch. xi. ver. 1), with which he was directed to limit the altar and those worshipping thereat, but to leave the space without the temple unlimited; thus showing that the Jews should be circumscribed, but that the Gentiles in all the world should receive the benefit of the covenant. In order to assure him of this, the Two WITNESSES are described by a statement of their authority, and such a detail of their temporal sufferings and ultimate triumph as confirmed their identity in Jesus the Redeemer and John the Baptist. This having been done, the conclusion of the sixth trumpet was announced:-"The second woe is passed, and behold another cometh in consequence of these things" (ver. 14),-still showing that even in the gospel dispensation the dregs of the evils entailed by Manasseh would continue, till the third woe-the awful day of judgment. This communication having been made to John at the period of time when this seal was opened, and immediately before the announcement of the last verse of the sixth trumpet, proves that John was translated in the Spirit to a POINT OF TIME which, 584 years before Christ, closed the destruction of Jerusalem, and that this was the POINT OF SIGHT from which he took a retrospective and prospective view of the vision.

When the Lamb opened THE SEVENTH SEAL, there was silence in heaven for the space of half an hour. THE SEVENTH TRUMPET announced the advent. Here the BEASTS, or KINGS who formerly took the lead of the ceremonial worship, discontinued this office; and, as the trumpet sounded, the twenty-four elders fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying, "We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who art, and wast, and art about to come, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them that destroy the flesh.

And the Jesus of God was discovered in heaven; and there was seen in his Jesus the ark of his testament: and there were glories, and praises, and honours, and powers, and great chastening."-xi. 17—19.

"The silence in heaven for half an hour" was accompanied by a general peace all over the world at the time of Christ's birth, when a multitude of the heavenly host proclaimed "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men."-Luke ii. 14.

When I reflect on the subject-matter of the six seals and trumpets, demonstrating the watchfulness of our heavenly Father and the mighty works he did for the welfare of his people, and find that with reference to the seventh seal the seventh trumpet announces that there was silence in heaven for half an hour, I cannot help observing the harmony of Scripture, on recalling to mind that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it.

OBSERVATIONS.

This book is by the translators of the received edition considered to be a prediction of future events, which is only true of the latter part, where circumstances are more clearly and beautifully explained relative to the resurrection and future state than we could have conceived from the contents of the other books of Scripture. The opinion of the futurity of the whole arose from that blindness which God no doubt designed in order that the churches of this day should, by the second vision (ch. iv. 2), obtain a review of his pure truth, as did the seven churches of Asia by the first vision.—i. 10.

The first line of the Apocalypse in the received translation, and also in mine, is "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God GAVE unto him." This implies a past action; and to suppose that still more was to be given than he taught while on earth is irreconcilable with the words of our blessed Saviour uttered in fervent prayer, " I have glori"I

people to a sense of their duty to God was not of long duration; for Josiah, having gone forth at the expiration of thirteen years to fight against Nechoh, contrary to the word of the Lord, he was slain, and only saw the commencement of the destruction which the Lord had prepared for Judah. Thus the king for whose sake the Lord restrained his wrath, having lived but a short time in promoting this revival, the fruit of his labour was yet green, and "fell to the earth as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken by a mighty wind, and heaven departed in like manner as the rolled-up book" (ver. 13, 14), that is, in like manner as God had rolled up the covenant by his declaration that he would remove Judah out of his sight because of the sins of Manasseh, which the Lord would not pardon.---2 Kings xxiv. 2-4. Nechoh turned upon Jerusalem and conquered it, and it would appear that he was the instrument of the messenger sent to loose "the four angels, bound on the great river Euphrates" (as will be seen in the trumpet); for his success excited the alarm of the Chaldeans, and Nebuchadnezzar marched against him, and gained a complete victory over him at Carchemish, a city on the Euphrates, and pursuing his victory rendered himself master of Canaan and a part of Phenice, and attacked Jerusalem with bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon [those whom the four angels restrained]. And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night, by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden, and the king went the way toward the plain.-2 Kings xxiv. 1-4. Thus "the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and rocks of the mountains.”—Rev. vi. 15. And that the mountains and islands (or kings, rulers, and chiefs) were moved out of their places, is explained by Nebuchadnezzar's having captured the fugitives, bound them with fetters, and carried them to Babylon (2 Kings xxiv. 1-4), after having totally destroyed the temple and the walls of the city. The few who were left, as vine-dressers and husbandmen, subsequently fled to Egypt, afraid lest the Chaldees should revenge on them the murder of Gedaliah.-2 Kings xxv. 22, 25, 26. And thus THE POOR as well as THE RICH hid themselves," and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb (God had decreed this, and the Lamb had opened the seal): for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?"—(ch. vi. ver. 16, 17.)

The seventh chapter continues the detail of the sixth seal, and shows the manner in which God withheld his determination to destroy Jerusalem, for the sake of Josiah, as before stated; and, accordingly, John saw four angels holding the four winds (armies) of the earth, and he also saw another angel commanding them to continue to restrain them till the servants of God were sealed on their foreheads; and 124,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed. These were the number that aided Josiah in mourning for sin, and in worshipping the God of their fathers (ch. vii. ver. 4); and with them was a great multitude of all nations, which no man could number, standing before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, which were those who had the seal on their foreheads prior to this period.―ch. vii. ver. 9. Therefore were they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them to fountains of living waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.—ch. vii. ver. 15-17.

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THE SIXTH TRUMPET sounded (ch. 9, ver. 14); and John heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar (a voice correspondent with the act of disobedience in Josiah, who, in opposition to the word of God, went out to fight Nechoh), commanding the angel who had this trumpet to loose the four angels, WHO WERE PREPARED for THE HOUR, AND DAY, AND MONTH, AND YEAR, for to slay the third part of men (Israel was entitled the third part of men by Isaiah, ch. 19, ver. 24). Accordingly they loosed the Chaldees, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites, who, under the command of Nebuchadnezzar, in the NINTH YEAR of his reign, in the TENTH MONTH, on the TENTH DAY of the month, conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the temple, taking the king and principal persons prisoners, as stated in the sixth seal. Nebuchadnezzar having been excited to undertake this expedition by the conquests of Nechoh king of Egypt, it would appear that the latter was the instrument of the angel who received the command to loose those who were bound on the Euphrates. The number of these people is stated as innumerable; for indeed they were composed of all nations. Yet, notwithstanding this destruction, "they repented not of their sins."-ch. ix. ver. 2. Thus concludes the declaration of the sixth trumpet; and here the announcement "The second woe is past" should follow (as that of the first succeeded the destruction of Israel,