We have now looked at “the things which are.” The fourth chapter begins thus: “After this [or rather, “after these things;” that is, “the things which are “] I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter [or “the things which must be after these “]” (Rev. 4:11After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. (Revelation 4:1)). The new things we now come to divide themselves into two portions-the judgments preparatory to Christ’s coming and kingdom, and the coming and kingdom themselves. It is the first portion with which we are now concerned.
What then are these events? If “the things which are” only apply to the seven churches in Asia, “the things which must be after these” may begin from any time later than this book; and there is doubtless a certain correspondence between the outlines here given and some great events in subsequent history. But many prophecies have, first a general and partial fulfillment, and afterward a far more exact and complete one; and if “the things which are” be understood in their wider scope, as embracing the whole cycle of Church history, “the things which must be after these” will, of course, begin only when Church history ends.
Admitting a general truth in the first mode of interpretation, it seems probable, for reasons already given, that “the things which are,” in their principal application, take in the entire duration of the Church on earth, and therefore that the prophecy of “the things which must be after these” has its more complete and precise fulfillment after the Church has ceased to exist down here. Nothing answering to the Church is seen on earth during the judgments which follow, a fact quite inexplicable if these judgments occurred while the Church was still in the world. The names and titles in which God reveals Himself are also very different from those used in speaking of His relationship with the Church. So, too, Christ is here seen in quite another character from that in which He presented Himself to the seven churches in Asia; and, indeed, the whole scheme of the book from this point agrees far more with God’s ways concerning the establishment of the Messianic kingdom than with His mode of acting during the present dispensation. The proofs of this will appear as we advance.
It may perhaps help to simplify this subject to those unacquainted with God’s ways if we briefly sketch the order of coming events as taught in other portions of Scripture. Two great events are spoken of as before the Church and the world. These are the coming of the Lord for His saints, and the coming of the Lord with His saints. It is most important that the distinction, both of time and character, between these events should be carefully borne in mind.
The coming of the Lord for His saints is the present hope of the Church. When this happens, as it may at any time, all living and dead believers, from the foundation of the world, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The Church, as the body of Christ, consisting only of true believers, will then cease to exist on earth.
After the coming of the Lord for His saints, and before the coming with His saints, God will not be occupied, as now, in gathering out a people to be united with Christ in heaven, but in preparing the way for the establishment of Christ’s earthly kingdom, and in making ready a people who shall receive Him as their earthly sovereign. These objects are both accomplished by means of sore judgments inflicted on the earth, judgments by which His enemies are punished and His people purified. “The hour of temptation,” already spoken of, is the period during which these judgments are poured forth.
The coming of the Lord with His saints will take place at the end of this “hour of temptation,” after the preliminary judgments have been brought to a close. It is the event described as “the coming of the Son of Man,” the coming of the day of the Lord, and the appearing of Christ. At this coming Christ will execute judgment on His enemies, deliver His chosen earthly people, and establish His dominion in righteousness over the world.
The interval between the coming of the Lord for His saints, and the coming of the Lord with His saints, or, in other words, between the taking away of the Church and the establishment of the kingdom, is, as already stated, a period of heavy judgments. During this time God and Christ are not acting in the same manner, or revealing themselves in the same character, as during the present dispensation. We shall see how, in the prophecies now to come before us, God’s ways and titles harmonize with the character of this interval, and how completely they differ from the character of the present or Church dispensation.
The preliminary judgments detailed in this part of the book form several distinct groups, but before these are related the scene in heaven is opened to our gaze. There we are permitted to see things from God’s point of view, to see the character in which He is acting, the purposes which He is bringing to accomplishment, and the secret springs which regulate the judgments hanging over the world. In these two chapters God is set forth, first in His rights and titles as Creator, dealing with the world which He has made; and next, in His sovereign prerogatives as Judge, committing all judgment to “the Man of His right hand, the Son of Man whom He has made strong for Himself.”