The solemn silence in heaven which follows the opening of the seventh seal is succeeded by a vision of seven angels. “And I saw seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets” (Rev. 8:22And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. (Revelation 8:2)). The sound of a trumpet is a familiar figure in Scripture. It was the loud sound of a trumpet that accompanied the thunderings, and lightnings, and the thick cloud at the giving of the law, when “mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because Jehovah descended upon it in fire” (Ex. 19:1818And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. (Exodus 19:18)). No more fitting symbol, then, could herald the dreadful judgments that are now to follow.
But before these begin a new form appears. “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer: and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into [or unto] the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake” (Rev. 8:3-53And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. 5And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. (Revelation 8:3‑5)).
Who is this angel? It should be noted that during the trumpet judgments, “the Lamb” is never named. This section of the book is distinguished by the exclusive action of angels. Now in dealing with Israel God not unfrequently presents Himself in angelic form, Thus in the burning bush it is sometimes Jehovah that is said to be seen, and sometimes His angel. So in Isaiah it is said, “In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them” (Isa. 63:99In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. (Isaiah 63:9)). In Malachi Christ’s coming is similarly described: “The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger [or angel] of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith Jehovah of hosts. But who shall abide the day of His coining? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap” (Mal. 3:1, 21Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. 2But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: (Malachi 3:1‑2)). It is then in this character, as the angel of the covenant, that He will be looked for by the faithful remnant during the time of the great tribulation. It is a form characteristic of His relationship with Israel, especially at that period, when, though again mindful of His covenant with them, He has not yet manifested Himself as their Savior and Messiah. But it is not a form in which He ever has to do with the Church. In the passage before us it is probable that the angel is Christ, who, though not yet publicly entering into relationship with His people, still, by His work of intercession on their behalf, saves and sustains them in the midst of their sorrows.
They are, indeed, in sore distress. The sealed remnant of Israel, named in the last chapter, are now about to be cast into the sevenfold heated furnace of the great tribulation. Already the cry is ascending from many a heart, “How long wilt Thou forget me, O Jehovah? forever? how long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?” (Psa. 13:11<<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.>> How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? (Psalm 13:1)). Already a remnant of Israel are praying, “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for Thy name’s sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let Him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of Thy servants which is shed” (Psa. 79:9-109Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake. 10Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed. (Psalm 79:9‑10)). The time of their deliverance is not yet come, but their groans and cries for judgment on their adversaries are heard.
Their prayers are presented before God by the angel, probably Christ Himself, with “much incense.” The incense burnt on the golden altar at the time of prayer (Luke 1:1010And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. (Luke 1:10)) symbolized the perfect acceptance of Christ giving efficacy to the people’s petitions. So in this figurative scene. The altar stands before the throne, not here the mercy-seat, but the throne of judgment; and from this golden altar of incense, the prayers of the remnant for deliverance and judgment rise to God, perfumed with all the fragrance of Christ, and draw down a speedy answer.
Burning coals from the altar — not now the golden altar of intercession, but the brazen altar of judgment, where the consuming fire of God’s righteousness continually burns — are put into the censer, and cast down upon the earth. How unsuited to God’s present ways of grace! How suited to the coming day of judgment, and the then circumstances of His oppressed and suffering saints! From the very censer in which the prayers of the saints are offered, and, therefore, harmonizing in character with them, the fire of God’s righteous judgment is hurled down upon the earth, and at the same time “voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake” mark His indignation. Voices, and thunderings, and lightnings had issued from the throne before, but the earthquake is an additional feature, inaugurating the most disastrous scenes in that overturning which will go on till He come whose right it is to take the diadem and reign. Then follow the trumpets. “And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound” (Rev. 8:66And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. (Revelation 8:6)).
“The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: [and the third part of the earth was burnt up] and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.” This is, of course, figurative. The judgments, restrained in the last chapter, are now let loose, and the earth, the sea, and the trees, are all visited with the pent-up tempests of wrath that are poured out upon them. Hail is used elsewhere as a symbol of sweeping desolation: “Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand” (Isa. 28:22Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. (Isaiah 28:2)). And of this very time it is written, “The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies” (Rev. 8:17). Fire is another well-known symbol of judgment. In the plagues of Egypt, from which many of these figures are borrowed, the two are combined: “And the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground” (Ex. 9:2323And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. (Exodus 9:23)). Here the hail and fire are “mingled with blood,” showing that the judgments symbolized are destructive of life.
The consequences are terrible. “The third part of the earth was burnt up” — for this is in the best manuscripts — shows destructive judgment over a third part of the ordered, civilized nations of the world. “The third part of trees” signifies, as already shown, the great ones of the earth. The burning up of “all green grass” may refer to the withering of the means of support; or, if grass is here used as a figure of man in his frailty, it indicates a destruction of the choicest and most vigorous portion of the human race, such as the wholesale slaughter of young men called out to serve in war.
“And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.”Here again Scripture itself furnishes the key to this vivid symbolism: “Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith Jehovah, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out Mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain” (Jer. 51:2525Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. (Jeremiah 51:25)). Such was the doom pronounced upon the city and empire of Babylon. The “great mountain burning with fire” then is some powerful state, which, becoming itself ablaze with revolutionary passions, falls, as it were, like a conflagration among the mass of the peoples represented by the sea, causing frightful wars, immense loss of life, and wide-spread ruin of commerce, all strikingly pictured by the sea turned into blood, the living creatures killed, and the ships destroyed. The scene may be illustrated by the great French Revolution, when the powerful kingdom of the Bourbons became a living crater of anarchical frenzy, kindling the whole of Europe into flame, and belching forth for a quarter of a century bloodshed, misery, and ruin over every quarter of the globe.
Third Trumpet (Verses 10, 11)
“And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp [or torch], and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.” This figure signifies some person in high, though subordinate, authority, who, falling from his place, corrupts and poisons the very springs of life. It appears not to be so much a political as a spiritual apostacy, diffusing some deadly falsehood, which works like a poison in the heart and conscience, producing moral rather than physical death. Such is the figure used by Moses to describe the bitter fruits of idolatry among the Israelites, who are warned, “lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from Jehovah our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood” (Deut. 29:1818Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; (Deuteronomy 29:18)). We may illustrate the state of things from history by referring to the fearful spread of infidelity that accompanied the revolutionary outbreak already named.
Fourth Trumpet (Verses 12, 13)
“And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.” The sun symbolizes supreme, the moon derived, and the stars subordinate, authority. Thus in Joseph’s dream Jacob, the head of the family, his wife, and his eleven sons, all heads of families, but still subordinate to their father, are represented by “the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars” (Gen. 37:99And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. (Genesis 37:9)). What is foreshadowed here therefore is a general collapse of government over a third part of the earth, all authority, high and low, supreme and subordinate, being, as it were, obscured throughout this region. A somewhat similar figure is used to express the abasing of all other powers during the millennial reign: “Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when Jehovah of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously” (Isa. 24:2323Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. (Isaiah 24:23)). In this passage, however, it is the paling of earthly authorities before the brightness of Jehovah’s kingdom, while in the Revelation it is their prostration before the hurricane of judgment then sweeping over the earth.
It will be observed that in all the first four trumpets the judgment falls on a “third part” of the earth, the sea, or whatever else is its subject. It is said of the dragon that “his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth” (Rev. 12:44And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. (Revelation 12:4)). Now the chief seat of the dragon’s rule, as we shall see, is the revived Roman Empire, to whose last head he gives “his power, and his throne, and great authority” (Rev. 13:22And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. (Revelation 13:2)). This has led some to think that the third part of the earth named in the trumpet scenes is the re-established Roman Empire; but whatever the fraction may mean, it is probable that the judgments here portrayed do fall, at least to a great extent, on this part of the world. There it is that the light of the gospel has shone with the clearest luster, and been quenched in the deepest night. There it is that the great apostacy figured by Babylon has had its seat. There it will be that, after the true Church is taken, men will be given up to “strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess. 2:11, 1211And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:11‑12)). There too it will be that the last head of the Gentile powers will raise himself in impious rebellion against “the King of kings,” and gather his armies for “the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” Nothing is more likely therefore, morally speaking, than that the heaviest blows of judgment will fall on this part of the world, and more especially that deadly delusion symbolized in the plague of the bitter waters.
The trumpets are clearly divided into two classes. The first four, which we have already looked at, have a somewhat common character; the other three are of an entirely different kind, and are distinguished as “woe trumpets.” They are preceded by a proclamation foretelling their solemn and dreadful burden: “And I beheld, and heard an eagle [not an angel] flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to sound” (Rev. 8:1313And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! (Revelation 8:13)). The phrases “inhabiters of the earth,” and “they that dwell upon the earth,” which are only different translations of the same words, occur several times in this book. They seem to regard the earth as the scene, not only of man’s residence, but of his hopes and affections; and thus to imply a moral character, like that which Paul bewails among professing believers, “whose glory is in their shame; who mind earthly things.” On these “inhabiters of the earth” judgment is about to fall, the eagle by which the woes are announced probably signifying the swiftness with which the blows will descend; for “when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh.” When God begins in judgment, it is “a short work” that He “will make upon the earth.”
Fifth Trumpet (Rev. 9:1-121And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 2And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 3And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 5And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 6And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. 7And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 8And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 9And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. 10And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 11And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. 12One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. (Revelation 9:1‑12))
“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit” (Rev. 9:1, 21And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 2And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. (Revelation 9:1‑2)). This and the next woe are marked by their manifestly Satanic character. The fall of a star is, as before, the apostacy of some great, but subordinate, power, only here it is plainly not an earthly power, but one of the principalities and powers who rule the darkness of this world, one of the wicked spirits in heavenly places. To this baleful star is given permission to let loose infernal darkness and torment on the earth. He has “the key of the pit of the abyss,” the unfathomable or bottomless pit, in which evil is restrained before receiving its final doom. It is here that “the spirits in prison” are confined (1 Peter 3:1919By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; (1 Peter 3:19)); here that Satan will be shut up for a thousand years before his last rebellion and everlasting punishment (Rev. 20:1-31And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. (Revelation 20:1‑3)); here that the angels who sinned are “delivered into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment” (2 Peter 2:44For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; (2 Peter 2:4)). It is to this abode that the demons dreaded they would be sent when they besought Jesus, “that He would not command them to go out into the abyss,” or deep. (Luke 8:3131And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. (Luke 8:31)). And now from this gloomy prison-house rolls forth a dense volume of smoke, blinding the heart to God’s light, and polluting all healthy influences, as figured by the darkening of “the sun and the air.”
But this is not all. Direct demoniacal power is let loose. “And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them” (Rev. 9:3-63And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 5And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 6And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. (Revelation 9:3‑6)). The figure of locusts is probably taken from the prophecy of Joel, where they are called the Lord’s “great army,” and where their ravages are magnificently described. They are a scourge equally known and dreaded in eastern lands. The air is darkened by their vast numbers as they approach, and no green thing escapes their voracity. Their overwhelming hosts and man’s utter helplessness before them seem to be the features here specially alluded to, for their action is quite different from real locusts, which inflict no torment on man, and destroy the grass and foliage which these creatures are forbidden to touch.
While resembling locusts in their overwhelming numbers and power, they have stings like scorpions, and so dreadful is their torment that men desire death. Death however “shall flee from them,” for this is not a plague of slaughter and ravage, but only of intense suffering. The persons injured are “only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.” Since, then, the sealing was not for the Gentiles, but merely for a select number from the twelve tribes, we may infer that it is only the reprobate portion of Israel who are subjected to the fearful, though not fatal, anguish inflicted by this army of tormentors from the bottomless pit.
The nature of these locusts is then described: “And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings; and in their tails was their power to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon” (Rev. 9:7-117And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 8And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 9And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. 10And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 11And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. (Revelation 9:7‑11)). It may be admitted that historically this foreshadows the swarms who overran the East under the diabolical inspiration of Mahomet, and much ingenuity has been shown in tracing minute points of resemblance between the Arab hordes and these mystical locusts. But that this is only a secondary and far from complete fulfillment of the prophecy is clear, from the fact that while the Mahometan conquests were carried on with great bloodshed, these locusts are expressly stated not to inflict death. The main application is, therefore, to something quite different, and still future. When the event occurs the coincidences between the fact and the prediction will be evident to the eye of faith, not microscopic resemblances, which can only be detected by minute antiquarian research.
In the description of the locusts certain moral features are probably delineated. Resistless fury and show of power would seem to be indicated in the war-horses and crowns; the appearance of boldness and independence, with real weakness and subjection, in the faces of men with the hair of women; destructive violence in the teeth of lions, and a conscience steeled against pity and remorse in the breastplates of iron; while their progress causes a mighty commotion like war-chariots hastening to battle. The injury they inflict is with their tails, alluding probably to the words of Isaiah, “The prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail” (Chapter 9:15). Such explanations of the symbols are suggested; but without professing to unravel all the details of this mystical prophecy, we may discern its general character. It is not a material, but a moral plague, that the followers of Apollyon, “the destroyer,” inflict. The locusts leave behind them a spiritual desert, the scorpions inflict their torment on the heart and conscience, but there is no destruction of physical life. The ravages of the infernal host are confined to the unbelieving Israelites, and are limited in duration, as indicated by the term of five months.
Such, then, is the first of the three “woe trumpets.” Proclamation is made, “One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter” [or after these]. (Rev. 9:1212One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. (Revelation 9:12)).
Sixth Trumpet (Rev. 9:13-2113And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 15And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. 16And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 17And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 18By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. 19For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. 20And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 21Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (Revelation 9:13‑21))
“And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates” (Rev. 9:13, 1413And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. (Revelation 9:13‑14)). “The golden altar” is the altar of incense or intercession, which stood, though separated by the vail, before the throne of grace or mercy-seat. In the figure it is the same place at which the angel offered up the prayers of the saints. It is from the horns of this altar, signifying that it is in answer to the prayers, that the command to loose the angels in the river Euphrates goes forth. This surely shows that the fulfillment primarily in view is future. The horsemen from the Euphrates represent, according to the historical view, the countless hordes of Turks who overran and eventually destroyed the eastern Roman Empire. But without disputing that the prophecy thus received a partial fulfillment, how could this be an answer to the prayers of saints, as shown by the voice coming from the golden altar? No saint could ever have desired such a scourge; nor, indeed, could the prayers of saints during the present dispensation ever have taken such a form. But when Christ is judging the earth, and the saints cry to God to avenge them of their adversaries, such a scourge may most consistently be let loose in answer to their requests.
The Euphrates was the boundary of Roman rule, which seems to indicate that while the first woe falls upon the unbelieving Israelites, this second woe falls on the revived Roman Empire. In accordance with this view we shall presently see that it is the head of this empire who inflicts the severest persecutions on the saints, so that it is on him and his people that the judgments might be expected chiefly to fall. The destroying host is one prepared beforehand, but restrained until this period. “And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared [not “for an hour,” but] for the hour, and day, and month, and year, for to slay the third part of men” (Rev. 9:1515And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. (Revelation 9:15)). Here again we find “the third part,” confirming the inference that this blow is directed against the resuscitated Roman Empire. Ingenious calculations have been made on the theory that in prophecy each day stands for a year, to show the length of time which this woe lasted, and to harmonize it with recorded historical events. But “the hour, and day, and month, and year,” do not signify the duration of the woe, but the time of its commencement. The outbreak of this woe had been determined even to the very hour when it was to begin.
“And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power [or rather, “the power of the horses”] is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt” (Rev. 9:16-1916And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 17And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 18By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. 19For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. (Revelation 9:16‑19)). The judgment comes with the swiftness of the horse, and has the destructive power of the lion. The countless throng of agents — two hundred million — shows its resistless force, and the complete flooding of the district under visitation. Fire and brimstone, the extreme form of judgment, the symbols of eternal punishment, and smoke, with its darkening power, are the instruments of destruction. But besides this, a direct Satanic agency is typified in the tails formed like serpents, having poisonous heads with which “they do hurt.” There is not only moral death, but physical. Vast destruction of life, besides Satanic poison infused into souls, marks this woe, the details of which will be understood by the wise when it happens, but can only be generally gathered now.
Terrible as this woe is, it produces no repentance. “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts” (Rev. 9:20, 2120And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 21Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (Revelation 9:20‑21)). We know not what form idolatry will take in the last day, though this book afterward gives us some hint. But here and in other places we learn the humbling truth that the direction towards which “the progress of the age” is ultimately drifting is the reinstitution of idolatry, in some shape or other, among the civilized nations of the earth. Doubtless it will take some specious and intellectual form, appealing to the natural religious feelings, as in its earlier manifestations it always does; but by God it is simply classed with other heathen abominations. Idolatry and moral corruption were the two great sins denounced by the old prophets, the sins which brought ruin on God’s ancient people. History repeats itself; for with all his discoveries and inventions man’s moral nature remains everywhere the same. And here in the closing days of the Gentile monarchy the same two sins, idolatry and moral corruption, again draw down the judgment of God.
How solemn a picture of the extent to which man’s heart may become hardened against God, that even this dreadful visitation produces no salutary effect. Given up to “strong delusion that they should believe a lie,” those who once despised God in His grace will at length despise Him in His government; and each successive stroke of His judgment will only render them more callous and defiant, until at last, like Pharaoh, they walk blindfold into the very flood which is to swallow them up. Such is man. How marvelous the grace that could stoop to the fallen state of creatures so degraded and undone, and purchase them for glory at so inestimable a price! “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.”
Appendix to the Sixth Trumpet (Rev. 10:1-11:141And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: 2And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, 3And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. 4And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. 5And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: 7But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. 8And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. 9And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 10And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. 11And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. 1And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. 3And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 4These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 5And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. 6These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 7And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 8And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 10And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 11And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 12And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. 13And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. (Revelation 10:1‑11:14))
There is what has been called a parenthesis or interval between the sixth and seventh trumpets as there was between the sixth and seventh seals. But there is this difference: the sixth seal had been opened, and its full effect experienced, before the events mentioned in the interval are detailed; whereas the second woe, which the sixth trumpet inaugurates, does not end until the events of the interval have been fully described. This shows that while the events of the earlier interval are preparatory to the judgments under the seventh seal, the events of the later interval are supplementary to the judgments under the sixth trumpet. This we shall see to be important, as throwing light on the part of the earth, and also on the period of time, in which this woe falls.
The interval deals with two subjects; first, the proclamation of the mighty angel, declaring that the “mystery of God” is shortly about to be finished; and second, the condition of that part of the earth on which God’s thoughts are centered, just before the event foretold by the angel takes place.
I. THE PROCLAMATION OF THE MIGHTY ANGEL (Rev. 10). “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not” (Rev. 10:1-41And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: 2And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, 3And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. 4And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. (Revelation 10:1‑4)). That Christ is elsewhere described under the figure of an angel we have already seen. He is called “the angel of the covenant,” and it is in this title that He comes for the deliverance of Israel, with whom His covenant is established. Now this, as we shall see, is just the time at which we are arriving, and nothing therefore is more appropriate than that Christ should appear in His angel character. The description of the “mighty angel” confirms this. He is clothed with a cloud, Jehovah’s dwelling-place in judgment; as it is written, “Clouds and darkness are round about Him, righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne” (Psa. 97:22Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. (Psalm 97:2)). It was from “the cloud,” or as Peter calls it, “the excellent glory,” that God testified His pleasure in Jesus on “the holy mount,” and it is “in a cloud with power and great glory” that the Son of Man will come for the deliverance of His chosen people. The angel also has a rainbow upon or over his head. This is the token of God’s everlasting covenant with the earth, and was before seen encircling His throne. The face “as it were the sun,” and the “feet as pillars of fire,” also closely resemble the figures applied to Christ in the first chapter.
There can be little doubt, then, that the angel here seen is Christ Himself. He has “in His hand a little book,” not sealed, like the former, but open. A sealed book is a book whose contents are not yet revealed; an open book is a book whose contents are revealed, if not understood. The sealed book must be opened; the open book must be eaten and digested; for though revealed by God, it needs to be learned by man. We have already beheld the opening of the sealed book, and shall presently behold the eating of the open book. The first book was sealed because it was new; for though shadows of the coming sorrow appear in the prophets and in our Lord’s own words, the orderly marshalling of the judgments under the seals and trumpets was an entirely fresh revelation. This other book, however, would appear to be the open book of prophecy, which the writer of the Revelation was now to ponder and understand.
Now the book of prophecy declares that “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein.” It also declares that God’s Anointed shall have “the nations for His inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession.” In accordance with these and countless similar prophecies, the Angel, who is Jehovah’s Anointed, sets “His right foot upon the sea, and His left foot on the earth,” thus taking possession of the whole world, the land and the sea, the people under settled government, and those still in a rude, disorganized condition. But His first work when He receives “the nations for His inheritance” will be judgment: “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” The first sound therefore when taking the dominion is “the king’s wrath,” which Solomon describes “as the roaring of a lion” (Prov. 19:1212The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favor is as dew upon the grass. (Proverbs 19:12)). Such is the terrible voice that He utters, and the roll of the seven thunders, whose solemn import still remains shrouded from our ken, betokens the going forth of His indignation.
“And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things that are therein, that there should be time no longer [or “no longer delay”]: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets” (Rev. 10:5-75And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: 7But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. (Revelation 10:5‑7)). The meaning of this is clear, and the details are instructive as showing the way in which this book reverts to Old Testament thoughts. Throughout the whole of these trumpet judgments Christ is not seen as the Lamb that was slain, but either as “the Angel of the covenant” or as the Anointed of God. He takes the earth, not in virtue of His work on the cross, which is not named, but as the One whom God, in His sovereign rights as Creator and “possessor of heaven and earth,” has resolved to set over the works of His hands. In Revelation 5, where God appeared as Judge, Christ was seen as the Lamb slain. In the fourth chapter, where God appeared as Creator, the Lamb was not seen. So here, where God is spoken of as the eternal, the One “that liveth forever and ever,” the One “who created heaven,” earth, and sea, Christ is again beheld, not in His human character, but as the “mighty angel” declaring God’s purposes. These purposes are, that there should be “no longer delay,” but that “the mystery of God” should now be brought to a close.
The real force of the words “when he shall begin to sound,” is “when he shall sound, as he is about to do” This, with the expression, “there shall be no longer delay,” fixes the time. It is just before the seventh trumpet, when “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ” (Rev. 11:1515And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)). Then “the mystery of God” will be finished.
The mystery often means the Church, but this is not its meaning here. The whole of the present epoch is a mystery; that is, a secret purpose which God had not previously revealed. “The sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow” were no mysteries; for it was of these that the prophets had spoken. But though there were passages showing that a longer or shorter time would intervene between these poles of prophecy, yet the purposes of God concerning this period were not revealed, and both its moral features and its duration were therefore a mystery. The mystery, then, which was now to be finished, is that gap, unfilled by former prophecies, which begins with Christ’s rejection, and ends with His glorious return to reign over the earth. This is the mystery which the angel swears shall now be brought to a close. We are thus clearly brought to the very verge of the millennial reign of Christ, and whatever events in the historical view may be foreshadowed by this prophecy, its main reference is manifestly to the future.
“And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before [or rather, “about “] many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (Rev. 10:8-118And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. 9And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 10And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. 11And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. (Revelation 10:8‑11)). Here, as with Ezekiel, the roll when eaten “was in my mouth as honey for sweetness” (Ezek. 3:33And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. (Ezekiel 3:3)). But however sweet to the mouth, where the contents are, as with the prophet, “lamentations, and mourning, and woe,” the inward digestion must be exceedingly bitter. So it was to John. The open book was a book of judgments, judgments, indeed, already foretold, but not yet comprehended in all their bitter import. Now John learns God’s full purposes of judgment towards the world, and sweet as was the sense of this privilege to the taste, the knowledge proved, as it must ever do, bitter to the inward parts.
Such is the double action of God’s word in judgment. Looking at God and His glory, the Psalmist says, “The judgments of Jehovah are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb” (Psa. 19:9,109The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:9‑10)). But when man is looked to, the effect is sadly otherwise. His guilt and rebellion turn the sweet into bitter, the food into poison, life into death, so that in view of these same judgments the prophet exclaims, “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jer. 9:11Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! (Jeremiah 9:1)). One sees both effects in their perfection in the blessed Lord Himself. After upbraiding “the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done because they repented not,” we read that “in that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and past revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight” (Luke 10:2121In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. (Luke 10:21)). Here He is occupied with God’s side, and finds His ways sweet as honey. But afterward He looks forward to God’s judgments in the light of man’s guilt, and then all the yearning sorrow of His heart breaks forth in tears. “And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace” (Luke 19:41, 4241And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. (Luke 19:41‑42)).
The knowledge thus obtained was to be used. Hitherto John’s prophecies had been the contents of the sealed book, whose judgments were then first unfolded by Christ. But the contents of the open book he had now eaten were to form at least a part of the prophecies he was yet to deliver. Having received divine intelligence to understand the book of prophecy, he was now to be its exponent, and “must prophesy again concerning many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”
II. This brings us to the second topic of the interval following the sixth trumpet, the condition of that part of the earth on which God’s thoughts are centered just before the event foretold by the angel takes place. (Rev. 11:1-141And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. 3And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 4These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 5And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. 6These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 7And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 8And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 10And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 11And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 12And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. 13And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. (Revelation 11:1‑14)). One most prominent subject dealt with by the ancient prophets is the conflict to be waged between the Gentile oppressor and Jehovah, who takes the part of His suffering people, executes judgment on their enemies, and sets His Anointed on His throne in Zion. This subject forms a principal feature in the rest of the Revelation, which casts fuller light on the purposes of God announced in the old prophets. It is taken up at once, and the new prophecy opens to our gaze the city and temple of Jerusalem. “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: [and the angel stood], saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months” (Rev. 11:1, 21And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. (Revelation 11:1‑2)).
We learn from other scriptures that before the great tribulation multitudes of Jews will have returned to their land, and that their temple will have been rebuilt. This is while the Gentile rule still lasts, and while the bulk of the Jewish people are yet in unbelief, aiming at national advantages by political means rather than looking for deliverance from God. Such is the state of things here disclosed. The prophet’s eye is carried back to a time preceding the great tribulation, and the course of events in connection with the temple and Jerusalem is traced down from that time to the closing moments introduced by the seventh trumpet. The temple is seen, and is called “the temple of God,” and the altar, and the inner circle of worshippers are owned. But the mass of worshippers, as typified by “the court without,”where the people prayed, are not acknowledged. Here the inner and outer enclosure of the temple are used as symbols of the real worshippers, God’s elect people, and the mass of empty unbelieving profession around them. The bulk of the nation have not yet returned to Jehovah, but are placing dependence on the Gentile power with which they are in alliance. Hence they are still defiled, and their city, though holy according to God’s counsels, is yet trodden down for forty and two months.
The reason for this term we shall consider hereafter, but at present we shall follow the course of the vision. “And I will give power [or efficacy] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God [or rather, “Lord “] of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will” (Rev. 11: 3-6). These witnesses are “olive trees,” having oil, or the anointing of the Holy Ghost. They are also lamps, shedding forth the light of the Spirit amidst the “gross darkness” in which at this time Jew and Gentile are both enveloped. Their number is significant. During the Church period, while the Holy Ghost dwelt on earth, there was full, heavenly witness, seven candlesticks sending out their light.
The sevenfold light is now transferred, as it were, to heaven, where the “seven lamps of fire burn before the throne” (Rev. 4:55And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. (Revelation 4:5)). But God will not be without a testimony on earth, and therefore two witnesses — not two persons — but the smallest number for adequate evidence according to Jewish law, are raised up even in this dark day. The meaning of the symbol is, that God gives a sufficient testimony throughout the whole of this period, “a thousand two hundred and threescore days,” or the “forty and two months,” during which the holy city is trodden under foot by the Gentiles.
What then is this testimony? The witnesses are “clothed in sack-cloth,” a familiar expression of mourning and humiliation before God. Believers in our dispensation are told to “rejoice in the Lord alway.” Rejoicing suits those who have the knowledge of accomplished redemption; sack-cloth suits those who feel and own their sin, and are crying to God for salvation. The garments of mourning will be as appropriate to the suffering Jewish remnant as the garments of praise are to the Church. These witnesses stand “before the Lord of the earth.” Now, though Christ has already the right to the earth, this is not the title which He takes during the Church dispensation. At present He is not of this world, and His redeemed people are not of this world. But when the Church is taken to the Father’s house, and this heavenly dispensation comes to an end, God will resume His plans of earthly government, of which Christ’s lordship is at once the solid foundation and the glorious headstone. The woes recorded in this book are God’s judgments preparing the way for this event, and the testimony raised up during the period of these woes is God’s witness to this event.
Hence the attitude of these witnesses to their opponents is not that of Christians, but that of Elijah, who prayed for drought, and called down fire from heaven, and of Moses, who turned water into blood, and smote the earth with plagues. This is God’s way in government, but it is quite foreign to His present long-suffering grace. Here, then, we are breathing the atmosphere so familiar in the Psalms, among a mourning, suffering remnant, holding God’s truth under persecution, sustained by His power against their adversaries, and praying, not for the conversion, but for the destruction, of their oppressors. The testimony, therefore, is not that of Christians proclaiming the gospel of God’s grace, but of the Jewish remnant, proclaiming again the gospel of the kingdom, the glorious and triumphant advent of the Messiah.
Their miraculous powers are given just so long as their testimony lasts. But God’s time for intervening on His people’s behalf is not yet fully come, and hence, after their witness is ended, they are still subject to the persecution of their adversaries. These are at present headed by one called “the beast,” of whom we shall hear much more as we go on with the book. “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our [or rather, “their”] Lord was crucified” (Rev. 11:7, 87And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 8And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. (Revelation 11:7‑8)). This makes it clear that the scene of their testimony is Jerusalem. Whatever wrong the Lord’s name may have suffered at Rome, and however truly Rome may be pointed to in the secondary or subordinate applications, it would surely be doing unpardonable violence to the text to maintain that any other city could be meant than the city where our Lord was actually put to death, that is, the city of Jerusalem. The vision of the altar and the temple in the first verse, the character of the testimony borne by the two witnesses, and the prophecies of the Old Testament, at some of which we shall presently look, are all confirmatory of this view, which, indeed, the language of the text imperatively demands.
Jerusalem is looked at in two very different lights, according to its place in God’s counsels and to its actual condition. We have both views in this chapter. In speaking of God’s purposes, and the guilt of the Gentiles in treading it down, it is called “the holy city.” But here, when looked at in its spiritual state, under the power of “the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit,” it is spoken of as in the deepest moral blackness, reeking with the filthiness of Sodom, and lying under the judgment of Egypt-the city where man’s guilt had culminated in the rejection and crucifixion of the Lord.
Here, then, we get two forces drawn up in array against each other, with Jerusalem as the arena of conflict. God has raised up an adequate testimony, not to His grace, but to His government; while “the beast” tries to crush this testimony and to destroy the witnesses. Though somewhat anticipating, it will be well to inquire what these antagonistic forces are.
And first, let us look at the witnesses. Their testimony is, as we have seen, that of a mourning remnant in Jerusalem. Now when and why do we find a remnant of Jews thus lamenting? It is in connection with the return of the Messiah. God has declared that Jerusalem shall become “a cup of trembling unto all the people round about;” that “all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces;” and that the governors of Judah shall be “like a torch of fire in a sheaf, and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left, and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.” But connected with this there is a grievous mourning: “They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son;” there shall be “a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon” (Zech. 12:2-112Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. 4In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. 5And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God. 6In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. 7The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. 8In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. 9And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 11In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. (Zechariah 12:2‑11)).
Deep mourning, therefore, among the faithful Jews precedes their national deliverance. In Luke, too, we read of the sufferings of the godly portion of the nation just before the glorious advent of the Messiah. “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:25-2825And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:25‑28)). Thus we see that on the eve of Christ’s return in power and glory, the godly remnant of the Jews will be in profound distress and misery, bewailing their guilt in rejecting the Messiah, and plunged into the extremity of suffering by the persecution they endure, and the general convulsions and judgments around.
This is the very state of things so vividly pictured in the judgments that follow the sounding of the trumpets. And besides this general correspondence of character, the time itself exactly coincides. In Luke and Zechariah, the troubles described were those immediately preceding Christ’s coming and reign. What, then, have we in the Revelation? We there see the lamp of testimony as to God’s government of the nations once more kindled at Jerusalem; we see the strong angel, who represents Christ, taking possession of the whole earth, and swearing that there shall be no longer delay; we see the promise that on the sounding of the last trumpet the mystery of God shall be finished; and we see, looking a little forward, that when the seventh trumpet is blown, “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.” These scriptures then, no less than the character of the witnesses themselves, show that the subject of the testimony they are now sending forth is the speedy return of the Messiah to judge His enemies, deliver His people, and establish His throne.
Such is one party to this great controversy. What then is the other, called “the beast”? We learn here that he “ascendeth out of the bottomless pit,” puts to death the witnesses, and exercises power in Jerusalem during the twelve hundred and sixty days of their prophecy, or the last forty-two months that the holy city is trodden under foot by the Gentiles. In Revelation 13 he is described as having seven heads and ten horns. One of his heads was “wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast.” The dragon gives “him his power, and his throne, and great authority,” and all “that dwell upon the earth worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life.” Power is “given unto him to continue forty and two months,” during which time he blasphemes God, and makes war with the saints and overcomes them. Revelation 17 speaks of him as one “that was, and is not, and shall be present;” also as coming “out of the bottomless pit;” and going into perdition, while it explains his seven heads to be “seven mountains.” In Revelation 19 he makes war with Christ, and is “cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”
Combining these descriptions, it seems that “the beast” is the head of the Gentile kingdom which rules over Jerusalem just before Christ’s glorious advent, and has its seat in the seven-hilled city, or Rome. Now the Roman empire was the last of those four great monarchies which, according to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, were to hold sway during the times of the Gentiles, and to be broken in pieces by Christ’s coming, as the stone “cut out without hands,” and setting up His own dominion over the earth. This power disappears for a while, as signified in the head wounded to death; it “was and is not.” But it “shall be present,” for the deadly wound is healed, and in this last time at which we are now looking it reappears with a specially infernal character, typified by its rising up out of the bottomless pit, and becomes Satan’s chief tool in persecuting the witnesses who are prophesying of Christ’s return and of the coming kingdom. For three and a half years, or forty-two months, the beast makes war with the saints, speaks blasphemies against God, and at length heads the confederacy against the Lord and against His anointed, in which climax of wickedness he meets his fearful doom.
A passage from Daniel further illustrates this. To him was revealed God’s governmental ways during the times of the Gentiles, or the period during which Judah is set aside and the scepter transferred to Gentile hands. Four monarchies successively arise-the Babylonian, the Persian, the Greek, and the Roman. This last is figured as a “beast dreadful and terrible... and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” Then the Ancient of days comes in judgment, and “because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake, I beheld, even till the beast was slain.” Afterward “one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven,” to whom is given “an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away” (Dan. 7:7-147After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. 8I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. 9I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. 10A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. 11I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. 12As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. 13I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:7‑14)). From the explanation we learn that “the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise.” The little horn comes up “after them, and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time,” which, as we shall presently see, means three and a half years. Then the judgment sits, the dominion of the little horn is taken away, and the kingdom “given to the people of the saints of the Most High” (Dan. 7:23-2723Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 26But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 27And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. (Daniel 7:23‑27)).
Here the statements are perfectly simple. The fourth beast is the Roman Empire. This great dominion was at length overrun by the barbarians, thus receiving a deadly wound, from which, humanly speaking, it seems impossible that it should recover. As a united political power it disappeared, being divided into independent kingdoms, which historians have reckoned at ten in number. This is the present state of things. The Roman empire is no longer in existence. It “was, and is not.” But the separate kingdoms into which it was broken, though often fluctuating in extent and number, yet remain; and out of these kingdoms, in the last days of Gentile supremacy, will arise a king, like the little horn in the vision, who subverts three of the ten independent sovereigns, and revives in some form or other the long-vanished unity and power of the old Roman Empire. This king will blaspheme the Most High, and persecute His saints, for a term of three and a half years, until judgment overtakes him, and the Son of Man receives the dominion, the kingdom being taken from the Gentiles and “given to the people of the saints of the Most High.”
Nothing can be clearer, then, than the identity between this little horn and “the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit.” Both are heads of the strangely-revived Roman Empire. Both have dominion in Jerusalem, which is yet under Gentile supremacy. Both blaspheme God and persecute the saints. Both exercise their sway during the last three and a half years of Gentile rule. Both are cut off in judgment by the coming of Christ, who restores Israel to her promised place of superiority among the nations, and establishes His own righteous kingdom over the world.
Such, then, are the times described in this chapter of the Revelation: the Jews returned to Jerusalem and the temple rebuilt; a number of true worshippers owned, but the mass of the people yet in unbelief; the city again recognized as holy according to God’s purpose, but as to its actual condition defiled, unrepentant, and still under a foreign yoke; true witnesses testifying of the coming Messianic kingdom, but the last head of the Gentile powers yet permitted to persecute them to death.
The Gentiles, and “they that dwell upon the earth,” rejoice over the suppression of this testimony, little suspecting that, in spite of the death of the witnesses, the prophecy is on the very eve of fulfillment. “And they [or some] of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth” (Rev. 11:9, 109And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 10And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. (Revelation 11:9‑10)). Here two classes are distinguished, the nations or Gentiles, and the dwellers on the earth. Of the former “some,” no doubt a vast majority, rejoice, and in their triumph will not even allow the bodies to be buried. But still louder in their exultation are the other class, “they that dwell upon the earth.” This name is, as we have seen, not a local, but a moral description, indicating earthly-minded people. To such persons, loving and living for the world, the prophecy of the witnesses, foretelling a kingdom of righteousness and judgment, is intolerable. Their joy is therefore intense when they hear that the hated witnesses are slain, and the voice of the dreaded testimony silenced.
But their triumph is brief. Only three and a half days have passed by when they are terrified by a miraculous display of God’s power, showing His acceptance of the fallen witnesses and His wrath against their exultant destroyers. “And after [the] three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they [or I] heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a [or the] cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven” (Rev. 11:11-1311And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 12And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. 13And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. (Revelation 11:11‑13)).
“The first resurrection” is for the most part already past. The blessed Lord Himself was “the first-fruits of them that slept.” “Afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” will be caught up to meet Him in the air. This coming of Christ for His saints is before the period of tribulation which these chapters detail. The Old Testament saints and the Church have their part in this first resurrection, and have been seen in heaven before the judgments we are now considering had commenced. But by a further act of quickening power two other classes have also part in the first resurrection. These are “the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and [those] which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image” (Chap. 20:4). Thus the first resurrection includes three classes; first, those who are raised before these sorrows begin, and are already seen in heaven under the figure of the four and twenty elders; second, those “beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God,” whose souls were beheld under the altar on the opening of the fifth seal; and third, those who suffer death for refusing to worship the beast and his image. To this class the slain witnesses belong.
Their resurrection is striking and public, the very malice of their enemies contributing to enhance its glory; for while the earth is ringing with rejoicings over their downfall, while their unburied corpses are decaying in the streets of the city, they are suddenly filled with fresh life, and caught up to heaven, like Christ Himself, in a cloud, or rather in the cloud, the express emblem of the divine presence. “And their enemies beheld them.” What a sight! More appalling than the hand-writing on the wall of Belshazzar’s palace, and pointing to a still more terrible doom. At the same moment an earthquake shakes the city, and seven thousand men are cut off in the midst of their exultations. The survivors, affrighted, render homage to God, glorifying Him as the God of heaven. But there is no repentance; no recognition of His claims to the earth, now about to be asserted; no submission to the truth which the raised witnesses had proclaimed. There is natural terror, and the religious awe which natural terror inspires; but no exercise of conscience, no faith, no bowing to the testimony of God’s word. And yet the trumpet announcing its fulfillment is just about to sound: “The second woe is past; behold, the third woe cometh quickly” (Rev. 11:1414The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. (Revelation 11:14)).
Seventh Trumpet (Rev. 11:15-1815And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 16And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, 17Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. 18And 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 which destroy the earth. (Revelation 11:15‑18))
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ [or “the kingdom of the world” (meaning “the world-kingdom”) “of our Lord, and of His Christ, is come”], and He shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:1515And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)). Such is the burden of this last trumpet, ushering in the reign of our Lord and of His Christ, of Jehovah and His anointed-that glorious reign in which “He shall judge the people with righteousness, and the poor with judgment;” in which “the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth;” in which “all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him” (Psa. 72). To this groaning creation it is an hour of unspeakable blessedness, of deliverance “from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:2121Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)).
Why, then, is it called a woe? To “the inhabiters of the earth” it is indeed a woe, the greatest of all woes. However creation may smile, however the tried remnant of God’s people may rejoice, however the countless multitude of the believing Gentiles may give thanks, to the earthly-minded, the persecutors of the saints, the rulers and oppressors of the world, it is a time of judgment and unsparing retribution. This causes joy and thanksgiving in heaven, especially among the saints, who now behold for the first time God’s rights over the earth fully established, and Christ occupying the place to which He is entitled, both as the Creator of all things, and as the Lamb that was slain: “And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats [or thrones], fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and vast [and art 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 which destroy the earth” (Rev 11:16-1816And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, 17Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. 18And 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 which destroy the earth. (Revelation 11:16‑18)). The details of this last woe are not here recorded, though some of them are given in later chapters. But the grand result is the end of all lawless and godless authority, and the establishment of the world-kingdom of Jehovah and His anointed.
The language and the scene both recall the second Psalm. The witnesses had proclaimed the coming kingdom, sending forth the warning, “Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little” (Rev. 11:10-1210And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 11And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 12And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. (Revelation 11:10‑12)). But instead of heeding the exhortation, “the nations rage, and the people imagine a vain thing. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against Jehovah, and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.” Thus the great powers of the earth are in confederacy to resist Christ’s dominion. How vain their efforts! “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision.” Next comes judgment, such as those preliminary woes at which we have been looking in the Revelation: “Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.”
But all this is only preparatory to His great object: “Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion.” The King now speaks, and further announces God’s purpose: “I will declare the decree: Jehovah hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.” But these are now in the hands of the kings who have been taking counsel against Him. The nations are angry, and wicked men are destroying the earth. The first work therefore must be judgment; and so the decree goes on, “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Who can fail to see the analogy between the Psalm and the Revelation, or to discern that they are both speaking of the same thing, the establishment of Christ’s world-kingdom in Zion, “the city of our God?” This kingdom is everywhere spoken of as inaugurated by solemn judgments. To follow the figure of a well-known parable, the rejected nobleman has “returned, having received the kingdom,” and His solemn sentence is, “Those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me” (Luke 19:11-2711And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. 12He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 14But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. 15And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 17And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. 18And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. 19And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 20And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: 21For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. 22And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: 23Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? 24And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. 25(And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 26For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. 27But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. (Luke 19:11‑27)).
Such is the issue of the seventh trumpet, over which the elders in heaven, representing the glorified saints, now utter their rejoicings. They give thanks to God under His Old Testament name, a name associated with His covenants as to the earth, “the Lord God Almighty.” They speak of the world-kingdom as His; for the kingdom of Christ is also the kingdom of God. When Christ reigns as man He is just as much the obedient servant, not doing His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him, as He was in the days of His suffering and humiliation. The perfection of His rule is that instead of exercising it in independence and self-will, as both Jew and Gentile had done, He exercises it in perfect subjection to the will of God. It is therefore Jehovah’s kingdom, and in the prophets and Psalms is indifferently spoken of as Jehovah’s and Christ’s. Sometimes it is said, “Jehovah reigneth,” and sometimes “the King,” as distinguished from Jehovah, is described as reigning. Both are true; for on the throne, as in His humiliation, His word holds good, “I and My Father are one.” This unity is beautifully shown in “the voices in heaven;” for after declaring that “the world-kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ is come,” they go on to say, not “and they shall reign,” but “He shall reign forever and ever.”
The effects of the reign here briefly summarized are named in the order of importance, not of time. Thus the judging of the dead, the most solemn and momentous act of the reign, is mentioned first, though in reality it does not take place until the close. But Christ “shall judge the quick and the dead;” and though the judgment of the dead is not till the end, the judgment of the quick is at the beginning. It comprehends the distribution of reward to “the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name,” and the destroying of “them which destroy the earth.”
The prophets and saints here spoken of are not those already in heaven; for the whole theme here is connected with the world-kingdom which Jehovah and His Christ are now taking, and the reward or judgment of those who are still on the earth. Of the prophets who witnessed of His kingdom some, in spite of persecution, have probably escaped. These, then, are the prophets rewarded. Besides these, however, God has also His “saints;” that is, a people sanctified and set apart for Himself, “the saints of the Most High,” against whom the ruling earthly power has directed his cruel hostility. But Christ now comes to “judge the poor of the people,” to “save the children of the needy,” and to “break in pieces the oppressor.” These Israelitish saints, snatched by His coming from the hand of their deadly foe, now receive their reward. They are placed in the position of pre-eminence lately occupied by their oppressors, and associated with Christ in the execution of judgment, with “a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance upon the Gentiles, and punishments upon the peoples; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all His saints” (Psa. 149:6-96Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; 7To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; 8To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; 9To execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord. (Psalm 149:6‑9)). Besides the prophets and saints, there are numbers of Gentiles scattered over the earth that fear God’s name. In the judgment of the nations Christ owns them as the blessed of His Father, and bids them “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Such is the reward of the believing Gentiles, of “them that fear Thy name.”
The other side of the picture is the destruction of “them which destroy the earth.” This is a mighty and dreadful work. The Lord Jesus is “revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:7, 87And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: (2 Thessalonians 1:7‑8)). The prophets of the Old Testament relate the destruction of the Assyrian, of Gog, and of other smaller foes. In Matthew we see the solemn judgment of the living nations before the tribunal of Christ; but in the Revelation the special judgments recorded are those of the beast and his confederates. He is the great power then destroying the earth and persecuting “the saints of the Most High.” It is on him therefore that the stone falls with the most crushing force, grinding him to powder beneath its overwhelming weight. And it is specially over his destruction that the elders in heaven now rejoice.
Having now reached the close of that consecutive series of judgments which precedes the establishment of Christ’s world-kingdom, it may be well to glance back and briefly retrace the path which we have thus trodden.
The second and third chapters reveal Christ’s judgment of the Church as a professing system, giving in the picture of the seven churches in Asia an outline chart of the history of Christendom from the first departure to the last phase of its existence on earth. Beginning with waning affection for Christ, it gradually becomes careless about evil, and at length stands forth either in the gross corruption of Thyatira, the hopeless deadness of Sardis, or the nauseous lukewarmness of Laodicea, a barren wilderness relieved only by the bright oasis which refreshes the eye in the weak but faithful Philadelphia.
With the end of the third chapter the Church on earth disappears. “The things which are” fade from our sight, and “the things which shall be after them” rise into view. Henceforth God is seen, not in the character He bears towards the Church, but in the character in which He reveals Himself in the Old Testament scriptures. A company appears in heaven which certainly is not angelic, and bears all the marks of representing the saints, risen and glorified, in the presence of God. The work of judgment is about to begin, and the “lightnings and thunderings and voices” issuing from the throne proclaim that it is a throne of righteousness, and not of grace, on which God is now seated. A sealed book full of judgment is in His hand, and no man is found worthy to open it until Christ, the Man of God’s counsels, appears, the One to whom, as “Son of Man,” all judgment is committed. As “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David,” He will execute God’s judgments, and carry out His government on the earth. This He does by a double title, as the slain Lamb, and as the Man of God’s choice. He first appears as the slain Lamb, and as such He opens the seals of the book which He has received from God.
The first four seals usher in judgments, which, however severe, are not out of the ordinary course of human events — conquest, bloody wars, famine, and widespread devastation and disease. The fifth shows persecution to be raging, and a prayer for judgment rises up from the souls of the martyred saints, which clearly indicates that the day of grace is over and the day of retribution begun. On the opening of the sixth seal there is, as if in answer to this prayer, a general shaking of the powers of the earth, and universal consternation at the prospect of the wrath which is thought to be immediately impending. All this corresponds with the famines and wars, persecutions and pestilences, foretold in our Lord’s discourse as “the beginning of sorrows.”
Then comes a significant pause. The judgments that follow are of a more terrible character, and a special election of God is signified, marking those who shall pass through them without suffering death. From each of twelve tribes of Israel twelve thousand are sealed in the forehead; and a countless multitude of Gentiles, though not thus sealed, are shown as passing through “the great tribulation,” and obtaining the victory, having “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Thus the line between Israel and the Gentiles, obliterated during the Church period, again appears. We find ourselves also on the confines of that “great tribulation” which, though having its center among the Jews, expands in ever-widening circles till its waves reach the furthest limits of the habitable earth.
After this brief respite the seventh seal is opened, and another series of judgments, more dreadful and more distinctly from God’s hand, falls upon the world. These are introduced by seven trumpets sounded by seven angels, and during the course of these judgments Christ is no longer seen as the Lamb slain, but as “the Messenger of the covenant,” and always in angelic character. As such He offers up the prayers of the saints, and the answer is the fire of God’s consuming judgment cast on to the earth, thus again showing that the day of Christ’s patience is over, and a totally different dispensation begun. The trumpets follow each other in rapid and dreadful succession. The first four announce wars, tumults, delusions, and anarchy spread over a third part of the world, a phrase probably signifying the Roman Empire. But the worst is still to follow, in the three last trumpets which bring “woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth.”
The first of these woes is obviously infernal in character, spiritual darkness, accompanied with torment of conscience worse than death, judicially let loose for the judgment of those Israelites who have not the seal of God in their forehead.
The second woe falls apparently on the Roman Empire, and is called for by a voice from the altar of intercession. It is a fearful scourge, having a Satanic character, and inflicting horrible slaughter and misery on the region it visits. But other purposes of God manifest themselves during the course of this woe. A strong angel, whom we recognize as Christ Himself, descends from heaven and takes possession of sea and land, swearing by God, as Creator of heaven and earth, that there shall be no longer delay, but that, when the next angel sounds, the mystery of God shall be finished. The book of prophecy is given into John’s hand, who is enabled to understand its bitter contents, and thus to prophesy again concerning nations and kings. Immediately on this we behold Jerusalem once more inhabited by Jews, with the temple rebuilt and the temple worship re-established. Among the worshippers God has His own saints, but the great body of the people are as yet defiled, and Jerusalem is still to be trodden under foot by the Gentiles forty and two months. During this time God raises up witnesses to His present work, and for twelve hundred and sixty days, that is, during the last period of Gentile domination, their testimony continues. At the close of this time, however, the head of the revived Roman Empire, which is then trampling down Jerusalem, succeeds, to the great joy of the dwellers on the earth, in putting the witnesses to death. This is scarcely done when their bodies are visibly quickened, and they are caught up to heaven in the sight of their late exulting, but now terrified, adversaries, seven thousand of whom are at the same moment overwhelmed by a violent earthquake that shatters the city.
But the term of man’s guilt is now reached, and at the peal of the last trumpet great voices in heaven proclaim that the world-kingdom of Jehovah and His Christ is come. Thus “the mystery of God” is finished, and the reign of righteousness on the earth brought in. The dead are to be judged, though this is the last act. The prophets, the saints, and those that fear God’s name, are to receive their reward; and the wicked destroyers of the earth are themselves given over to destruction.
God’s People and Their Oppressors (Rev. 11:19-13:1819And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. 1And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. 7And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10And 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. 11And 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. 12Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. 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. 13And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 1And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. 11And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (Revelation 11:19‑13:18))
“And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament [or covenant]: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail” (Rev. 11:1919And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. (Revelation 11:19)). Such is the vision introducing the new scenes which are now to pass before us. These are not a continuation of the judgments already depicted. They are another set of events, contemporaneous and connected with the former, but here expanded in much fuller detail.
The verse just quoted shows God’s present thoughts. From the Babylonish captivity the ark of the covenant was lost, and never afterward heard of. While it was in the tabernacle or temple, it was the central object, the sign of Jehovah’s presence, the pledge of Jehovah’s care. But the earthly things were only copies of the heavenly. The appearance of the ark in the heavenly temple is therefore a great event. Hitherto unseen, it now comes into view, a figure showing that the covenant with Israel, though long hidden from sight, is now again taking its former place in the thoughts and ways of God. The ark is the sign of security to His own people, but also of judgment to His enemies, as when the walls of Jericho fell flat, and the victorious Philistines were put to shame, in its presence. So here, the lightnings and voices speak of coming wrath on the Gentile oppressor.
We have already seen that numbers of Jews are, for at least three and a half years before Christ’s coming, resident in Jerusalem, where, though for the most part still in unbelief, they have rebuilt the temple, and reinstituted the old worship. Taking Jerusalem, then, as the focus towards which everything now converges, we discern there three distinct parties; first, a faithful remnant, among whom are the witnesses proclaiming the coming of the Messianic kingdom; second, the rest of the nation, who still remain in obstinate unbelief; and third, the Gentile oppressor, who treads Jerusalem under foot, and eventually puts the witnesses to death. God’s care of His own people, and His judgment of the Gentile oppressor and the head of the unbelieving Jews, are the principal subjects of this part of the book.
But there is another actor in this drama not yet brought on to the stage. Satan is no idle spectator of these scenes. Whatever is dear to God is hateful to him. When God is occupied with the Church, the Church is the object of his hostility. When God returns to Israel, Israel becomes the object of his hostility. Hence we see him here persecuting the remnant with all his fury and malignity. In the two following chapters therefore we have unfolded, first, Satan’s rage against the believing Jewish remnant; next, the character and objects of the beast, the great Gentile ruler now oppressing Jerusalem; and lastly, the craft and cruelty of the impostor who acts in concert with the beast, at the head of the unbelieving Jews.
The Woman and the Serpent (Rev. 12)
“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne” (Rev 12:1-51And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. (Revelation 12:1‑5)).
Now who is this woman? She is clothed with the sun, or supreme authority, and has the moon, the symbol of derived authority, under her feet, while she is crowned with full administrative power, indicated by the perfect number of subordinate authorities, the twelve stars, upon her head. This is just the place which promise and prophecy assign to Israel. She also brings forth the “man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.” This is obviously Christ. The woman, then, is Israel, “of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever” (Rom. 9:55Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 9:5)). It is Israel, not, of course, in her sin and shame, the byword and reproach of the Gentiles, but Israel clothed with the glory which belongs to her in the purposes of God, “to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises” (Rom. 9:44Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; (Romans 9:4)).
Opposed to Israel is a dragon or serpent, a creature full of subtlety, a liar and deceiver from the beginning, and, above all, the sworn foe of the woman’s seed. From the fall God had told him that the woman’s seed “shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:1515And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)).
The dragon is red, the imperial color, and has seven heads, each with a crown, showing that in the exercise of his imperial power he is guided by full deliberative wisdom; not divine wisdom indeed, and a wisdom which in the end proves fatal folly, but such wisdom as the creature is capable of without God. He has ten horns, or instruments of power, under his control. “His tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the ground,” which signifies that he drags in his fatal toils a third part of the subordinate powers of the world, that part, as we shall presently see, included in the revived Roman Empire.
For though Satan is “the prince of this world,” he is here seen only in connection with that portion of it which is then oppressing God’s chosen people. He is the prince of the Roman Empire who molds this state to his own image, and invests its monarch with his own authority. Hence, when the Roman Empire afterward appears, it also has seven heads and ten horns, the ten horns being crowned, and signifying ten kings, answering to the ten horns or instruments of power which Satan wields.
Satan’s great object of enmity is Christ; for the “liar from the beginning” must hate “the truth:” “the ruler of the darkness of this world” must hate “the light;” the false usurper of dominion must hate the true Anointed of God. From Christ’s birth, therefore, Satan sought to destroy Him. At Bethlehem he seemed almost to have gained his end, but God’s protecting shield was spread over the child. At the cross he did appear to be victorious; for there he wounded the heel of the woman’s seed. But here again God intervened, and the dependent, perfect Man, who had voluntarily yielded to the power of death to accomplish the glory of God, was raised again, triumphant over every foe, and “caught up unto God, and to His throne.”
A great chasm now opens in the prophecy. The Church period is sunk, as having nothing to do with the conflict between Satan and Israel. During the whole of this interval God declares Israel to be “Lo-ammi [not My people]; for ye are not My people, and I will not be your God.” But now Israel’s restoration is at hand; the ark of the covenant is again seen in heaven, and God sends His message, “Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi [My people]; and to your sisters, Ruhamah [having obtained mercy]” (Hos. 1:9; 2:19Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. (Hosea 1:9)
1Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ru-hamah. (Hosea 2:1)) All that intervenes is buried in silence. The Church, the body of Christ, is not seen, except as it is seen in Christ Himself; its rapture is not named, except as it is included in His own.
The vision leaps at once to the closing days of Israel’s rejection. “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days” (Rev. 12:66And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (Revelation 12:6)). This, though clothed in figurative language, is quite clear. Satan, balked in his efforts to destroy Christ, now directs his malice against His people. All his wiles and power are summoned for their destruction, and they are actually driven to flight. But God still watches over them; and in the wilderness He cares for them, supplies their wants, and shields them from their enemy. The period during which they are thus hidden is twelve hundred and sixty days, the same time that the witnesses testify in Jerusalem, that Daniel’s little horn is suffered to continue, and that the holy city is trodden under foot of the Gentiles before its final deliverance. This shows that the time here named is that brief period, three and a half years, preceding the overthrow of the Gentile power, the restoration of Israel, and the establishment of the Messiah’s kingdom.
This will he confirmed by other prophecies, but the vision now changes to show us quite a different scene. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Rev. 12:7-97And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:7‑9)). No careful reader of Scripture will wonder at finding Satan in heaven. Limited as our knowledge on the subject is, we read of “spiritual wickedness,” or spiritual powers of wickedness, “in heavenly places,” and we see him as the devil, or asperser, accusing the brethren, and as Satan, the adversary, opposing Joshua, the high priest, and Michael, the archangel. Probably he cannot enter “the third heaven” where God dwells, but he clearly has some place in the heavens out of which he is driven by this war.
The dragon is at this time the great enemy and persecutor of God’s people. Now Michael, his opponent, is “the great prince which standeth for the children of” God’s people. He is the only “archangel” named, and is always mentioned in connection with Israel. It is he that aids the angel sent to Daniel when withstood by “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” (Dan. 10:1313But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. (Daniel 10:13)). The same angel, going to contend with the princes of Persia and Greece, says, “There is none that holdeth with me in these things but Michael, your prince” (Dan. 12:20-21). And on the eve of Jewish deliverance Michael shall “stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people” (Dan. 12:11And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. (Daniel 12:1)). So in Jude he disputes with Satan “about the body of Moses.” It would seem therefore that there are evil principalities and powers directing the nations antagonistic to Israel, and that Israel itself is under the special guardianship of Michael, the chief of those blessed angels who are the ministers of God, doing His pleasure. It is significant therefore of God’s revived purposes towards Israel that Michael, “the great prince which standeth for” this people, is the angel who here wages war against the dragon, their relentless persecutor and traducer.
There is joy in heaven over this victory. “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength” [or “the salvation and the 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. 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” (Rev. 12:10-1110And 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. 11And 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. (Revelation 12:10‑11)). It is not said from whom this song comes, but only saints in heaven could speak of the suffering remnant on earth as “our brethren.” It is not, therefore, the song of angels, but of glorified saints represented by the elders. The expulsion of Satan from heaven was a necessary preliminary to “the salvation, and the strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ;” indeed, so necessary, that on its accomplishment these are already said to have come. All the hindrances in heaven are removed, though, as we shall see, there are yet enemies to be overcome on earth. But Satan’s power as accuser of the brethren, by which he was able to harass and distress them, is broken forever. These saints, though thus harassed and distressed, had “overcome him by the blood of the Lamb,” and had thus held their testimony against all his power, and remained steadfast even unto death.
But though Satan’s expulsion causes joy in heaven, the immediate effect is disastrous to the earth. “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to [the inhabiters of] the earth and the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Rev. 12:1212Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. 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. (Revelation 12:12)). Shorn of his power to accuse the saints in heaven, he pursues them with all his rancor on the earth. Moreover, he knows that his time is brief; for the kingdom of Christ is near, and his baleful dominion is therefore drawing to a close.
Hence his whole strength is concentrated against God’s people, represented by the woman. “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child” (Rev. 12:1313And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. (Revelation 12:13)). This is not a different persecution from that previously named. The narrative was interrupted to relate the war in heaven, and explain the intensity of the dragon’s present rage. Having shown this, it resumes the story of his persecution, and of the woman’s flight and sojourn in the wilderness.
“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. [This is the same expression translated in Daniel, “a time, and times, and the dividing of time.”] And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus [Christ]” (Rev. 12:14-1714And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:14‑17)). Thus the dragon’s persecution drives the woman, the godly remnant of Israel, into the wilderness. Her flight is swift, God giving special providential aid, as signified by the “two wings of a great eagle.”
It is to this time, shortly preceding the coming of the Son of Man from heaven, that our Lord refers in His prophetic warning: “Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt. 24:16-2116Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: 17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:16‑21)). This is often referred to the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, and somewhat similar, though far from identical, language is applied to that event in Luke. But the prophecy in Luke contains no such urgent appeals for haste; and, in fact, the advance of the Roman army left ample leisure to the Christians to quit the city, and take their goods with them. But besides this, the quotation from Daniel fixes the time. There can only be one tribulation exceeding all that have been before, and all that will come after. Now this is named in Daniel, whose words are quoted by our Lord. But as our Lord adds, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened...and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven” (Rev. 12:29, 30); so Daniel adds, “And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book” (Dan. 12:11And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. (Daniel 12:1)).
The great tribulations spoken of by our Lord and by Daniel are therefore identical, being the brief period of sorrow immediately preceding the deliverance of Israel, and the reign of the Messiah. At that time our Lord forewarns the faithful to flee with all speed from the city. We have the same period before us in the passage we are now looking at from the Revelation, and we see that the flight actually takes place, and that the believing remnant escape into the wilderness, into a hiding-place prepared by God, special aid being given them, as signified in the “eagle’s wings,” to hasten their speed.
Satan’s rage is not appeased by their exile from Jerusalem. He still pursues them with his hatred, pouring out a flood to devour them. This probably means another persecution, as David says, “The floods of ungodly men made me afraid” (Psa. 18:44The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. (Psalm 18:4)). But whatever form his malice takes, God cares for His people, and a providential door of escape is opened — the earth swallows up the flood. Thus baffled, Satan turns from the fugitive remnant, who are safe in the shelter of God’s providing, and expends his rage on any who may yet have been unable to take to flight, or the witnesses who may have remained behind to continue their prophecy, all, indeed, who “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.”
In his persecution of the woman, as in all his other ways, Satan’s malice only subserves the purposes of God. He uses this persecution of the faithful to “try them as gold is tried,” carrying them into the very place where He can meet them. Outwardly it is Satan’s rage that drives them into the wilderness, but to the eye which sees God’s ways, it is He that has drawn them there. He has now visited on His beloved, but unfaithful, earthly bride, “the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them,... and forgat me, saith the Lord.” The time is come of which it is written, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor (trouble) for a door of hope” (Hos. 2:13-1513And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord. 14Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. 15And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. (Hosea 2:13‑15)). It is here, in the wilderness, whither He has allured her, in this deep valley of tribulation, that He unfolds to them the greatness of their sin, shows them the riches of His own mercy, and leads them to true repentance and faith in Him. Hence it is that they emerge purified, and fitted for Jehovah’s blessing.
The Gentile Oppressor (Rev. 13:1-101And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. (Revelation 13:1‑10))
We now see the dragon in direct antagonism with the woman. But he works behind the scenes, through his agents, for Satan always seeks to work by craft, and himself to remain unobserved. Though at this time nearing the end of his deadly sway, he is still “the god of this world,” and he uses his few remaining moments with fearful energy to finish his masterpiece of deception and wickedness. God has a people whom He purposes to set above all the nations of the world. Satan will have such a people too. God has an anointed Ruler of the world, whom He will invest with His own authority. Satan will have such a ruler too. God has His Christ, the Lamb, whom He will bring forth as the deliverer of Israel. Satan will have his Antichrist, his false Lamb, who pretends to be the deliverer of Israel too. The workings of Satan are a hideous parody, so to speak, of the ways of God. This is what now comes before us.
“ And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat [or throne], and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast” (Chapter 13:1-3).
Every one must be struck with the resemblance between this vision and that of Daniel, who saw “the four winds of the heaven strive upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion;...a second, like to a bear;...another like a leopard....After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly;...and it had ten horns” (Dan. 7:2-72Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 3And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 4The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. 5And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. 6After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. 7After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. (Daniel 7:2‑7)). In both cases the beasts came up out of the sea, the struggling, unformed mass of nations, not yet molded into coherent political societies, out of which both the Roman and the other Gentile monarchies originally arose. The beast in the Revelation combines in himself the lion, the bear, the leopard, and the last beast of Daniel’s vision, while resembling the dragon in his seven heads and ten horns. It has the swiftness of the Macedonian, the voracity of the Persian, the ferocity of the Babylonian, and the mighty strength of the Roman Empire, all inspired by Satanic principles and energy.
But though heir to the whole Gentile succession, and having certain moral affinities with each of the four monarchies, it is the immediate lineal descendant of the last. We have already seen that this beast is, like the little horn of Daniel, that revived form of the Roman Empire which surprises the world shortly before Christ comes to establish His kingdom. We read that “there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition” (Rev. 17:10, 1110And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. (Revelation 17:10‑11)). The kings in this passage mean heads or forms of government. Of these the Roman government had passed through several, here reckoned as five. The sixth or imperial form then existed, and a seventh was to arise and continue for a short space. The final form of the empire will be that embodied in the beast, who “is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.”
The head “wounded to death,” then, would seem to be the seventh; that is the last form which the empire took before its overthrow. From that time till now it disappears from view. But the wound is healed, and all the world wonders. The long-vanished empire revives, the lineal heir of the varied forms of Roman dominion, and becomes the theme of universal amazement, its head being endowed by Satan with all the power and dignity and authority which as god of this world he is able to bestow. Thus we learn the deeply solemn fact that the last form of Gentile dominion will rise from the bottomless pit, will bear the dragon’s form, and will sit upon the dragon’s throne. It will have a Satanic origin, possess a Satanic character, and exercise Satanic power.
But the terrific energy of evil during these last days of “woe to the earth”, is shown also in another form. Satan and his human tool become the objects of religious worship. “And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” (Rev. 13:44And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? (Revelation 13:4)). What a ghastly commentary on this age of progress and cultivation to read the words of the living God telling us where it is all to end. Man’s energy and self-will only make him Satan’s tool. He fancies himself free, and, in throwing off God’s yoke, dreams that he has escaped from bondage, whereas he has only rendered himself the slave of sin. Christ came to deliver from the power of darkness; but if men love darkness rather than light, they still remain under the dreadful yoke. The result is that God gives them up, and Satan becomes their absolute lord. “Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools,” and the terrible end, as here shown, is nothing less than putting Satan in God’s place, prostrating themselves before the deceiver and destroyer of souls, and “worshipping and serving the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever.”
As long as the Holy Ghost is in the world, there is a restraint laid upon the power of evil, so that, though the mystery of iniquity already works, it cannot break through the barriers with which God has hedged it round. But when the Church is caught up to be with Christ, the Holy Ghost no longer makes His abode on earth, and then the “letting,” or hindering, power is “taken out of the way” (2 Thess. 2:77For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. (2 Thessalonians 2:7)). Thus man’s self-will is no longer restrained by the Holy Ghost, while Satan’s malice is aroused to twofold energy by the knowledge “that he hath but a short time.” No wonder then that human presumption and rebellion against God become a resistless torrent, sweeping away all obstacles in its headlong course.
How long God’s grace has pleaded with man! How earnest the invitations, how solemn the warnings, how tender the appeals, which have come as it were from the heart of God to a perishing world! But all has been in vain. And “he, that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” God gives man over at last to taste the bitter fruits of his own wickedness and folly. Iniquity is allowed for a time to have its own disastrous way. “And there was given unto him [that is, the beast] a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue [or work] forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:5-85And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:5‑8)).
At present we often see God practically ignored, the fool pursuing his career of sin and folly, saying “in his heart, There is no God.” But in this passage there is an advance in wickedness. The time is coming, and we know not how soon it may be here, when the only god acknowledged by the great ruler of the world will be the dragon, and when God, the Creator of heaven and earth, will be derided and blasphemed. Heaven, and all in it, will be the object of scorn and hatred to “the man of the earth” (Psa. 10:1818To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress. (Psalm 10:18)), whose heart has become the willing echo of all Satan’s delusions and lies. Exaltation of self, blasphemy of God, such is the miserable folly of this vain instrument of Satan, little dreaming, in his fancied security and power, of the awful doom that speedily awaits him. During a brief period of “forty and two months” his rule will be allowed to continue, for so long is Israel to be tested, so long is Satan to have his own way, so long is man to show what he is when left to the workings of his own heart. During this time God is choosing His own people “in the furnace of affliction” (Isa. 48:1010Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. (Isaiah 48:10)). He lets the scorching rays of the beast’s fury fall upon them that he may purge away all their dross. Hence the war against them is successful, and the beast’s triumph seemingly complete. All worship him save God’s elect — those whose names have, from the foundation of the world, been written in the book of life of the slain Lamb.
Here again we observe the resemblance between this beast and the little horn of Daniel. The little horn “made war with the saints, and prevailed against them” (Dan. 7:2121I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; (Daniel 7:21)). The beast has “given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them” (Rev. 13:77And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. (Revelation 13:7)). The little horn “speaks great words against the Most High” (Dan. 7:2525And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. (Daniel 7:25)). The beast “opens his mouth in blasphemy against God” (Rev. 13:66And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. (Revelation 13:6)). The little horn’s power lasts “a time, and times, and the dividing of time” (Dan. 7:2525And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. (Daniel 7:25)). The beast’s power continues “forty and two months” (Rev. 13:55And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. (Revelation 13:5)), which is only another way of expressing the same period.
Meanwhile the prayers of the persecuted saints are rising: “O God, the Gentiles are come into Thine inheritance; Thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps. The dead bodies of Thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of Thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them. We are become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us. How long, Lord? wilt Thou be angry forever? shall Thy jealousy burn like fire? Pour out Thy wrath upon the Gentiles that have not known Thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon Thy name.... Let the sighing of the prisoner come before Thee; according to the greatness of Thy power preserve Thou those that are appointed to die; and render unto our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached Thee, O Lord. So we Thy people and sheep of Thy pasture will give Thee thanks forever: we will show forth Thy praise to all generations” (Psa. 79).
Such, as we learn from the Psalms, is the language of God’s saints in this terrible crisis, when the wicked man is puffing at his enemies, and saying “in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.... God hath forgotten: He hideth His face; He will never see it” (Psa. 10:5-115His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. 6He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity. 7His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. 8He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. 9He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. 10He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones. 11He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it. (Psalm 10:5‑11)). But a word of comfort for the groaning saints is dropped in the midst of this dreadful scene: “If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints” (Rev. 13:9, 109If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. (Revelation 13:9‑10)). To anybody who can distinguish between God’s ways in government and God’s ways in grace, it will be obvious how such words agree with the former, and differ from the latter. Stephen had to do with God’s ways in grace. What comfort would it have been to him, when praying for his persecutors, to tell him that they would be stoned? In this passage, however, we are in another dispensation, connected with God’s ways in government; and then the promise given to His saints is, that their persecutor shall soon be destroyed; that the one who is leading them into captivity shall himself be taken captive; that the one who is killing them with the sword shall himself perish by the sword. This it was that during the short intervening time of sorrow and persecution was to uphold “the patience and the faith of the saints.”
The Antichrist (Rev. 13:11-1811And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (Revelation 13:11‑18))
We have now seen the first half of Satan’s terrible work. Civil government is received directly from the dragon, and allegiance and worship rendered to him and his instrument. But there is another part of the work of delusion and blasphemy yet to be accomplished, and at this we must now look. “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon” (Rev. 13:1111And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. (Revelation 13:11)). This beast does not, like the first, “rise up out of the sea,” the troubled, agitated condition of society, but “out of the earth,” a state of ordered and settled government. When we look at his character and pretensions we find that, bad as the other beast was, there is here something yet more dreadful. Looking like a lamb, he bears the external appearance of the Messiah, but to those who know the voice of the true Messiah there is an awful difference. They recognize it as the voice of a dragon, a Satanic voice.
We have only to reflect on the position of the Jewish people at this crisis in order to see the fearful craft of the imposture. Just when the witnesses are proclaiming the reign of the coming Christ, and the overthrow of the Gentile power, Satan raises up a false Christ, with all the outward semblance of the true, as if in answer to their prophecy. No wonder that people without moral discernment are deceived.
Our Lord said, “I am come in My Father’s name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (John 5:4343I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (John 5:43)). This prophecy now obtains a dreadful fulfillment. Of course Christ’s sheep “know His voice; and a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers” (John 10:4-54And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 5And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. (John 10:4‑5)). This dragon voice has no attraction for their ears. They recognize not the voice for which their hearts are longing, but the stranger from whom they must flee. Thus the real Israel, God’s true saints, are delivered from Satan’s wiles. But alas for the bulk of the people, ever ready to turn from God, ever ready to turn to man! They have rejected the true Shepherd, and now they greedily devour the pretensions of the “idol shepherd.” They have refused “the Lamb of God,” and now they willingly receive the wolf in sheep’s clothing. The god of this world has found them a Messiah suited to their taste, one who calls for no repentance, one who flatters their vanity instead of rebuking their sin, one who promises them the deceitful desires of their own hearts instead of the rest that remaineth for the people of God; and to him they listen.
But it may be asked why, since Jerusalem is not named in this vision, it should be supposed that this second beast is at Jerusalem, or exercises his power among the Jews? The answer is, that the whole of this part of the book, and the whole interest of the time concerning which this prophecy is spoken, are connected with Jerusalem. In Revelation 7 we see a remnant of Israel sealed, in marked distinction from the Gentile multitude. In Revelation 10 Christ, asserting His rights to the earth, declares that God’s purposes should be speedily accomplished on the sounding of the seventh trumpet. Now when the seventh trumpet sounds “the world-kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, or Jehovah and His anointed, comes,” and of this world-kingdom the metropolis is mount Zion, “the city of the great King.” Accordingly, we find the state of things in Jerusalem, during the brief period before Christ’s return, set forth in Revelation 11. It is there the witnesses prophecy; there the beast exercises his power; there the Gentiles trample the city under foot. Vast as is the beast’s empire, the interest centers in Jerusalem, and its other parts are not even named. In the next chapter it is Israel that appears as the great object of Satan’s fury; it is between Israel’s foe and Israel’s “great prince,” the archangel Michael, that the war in heaven is waged; it is against the remnant of Israel that the dragon’s wrath is directed when he is cast down to the earth. In this chapter, again, the beast, as Satan’s tool, persecutes the saints against whom Satan’s rage is turned, that is, the Jewish remnant. Everything, therefore, shows that God is now coming back to Israel, that the time is the brief period of Gentile oppression preceding Israel’s deliverance, and that Jerusalem is the center round which the events here symbolized cluster.
Jerusalem, then, is the stage on which the tragedy now passing before us is enacted. We shall presently see other reasons, from a comparison with various prophecies, for connecting this second beast with that city; but for the time those we have already given will amply suffice. What then is the state of Jerusalem at this moment? We learn from many scriptures that Jerusalem will before its deliverance be in terrible straits from a foreign foe, who will in that day take the place of the ancient Assyrian, both in the loftiness of his pretensions and the ambitious designs he has against Palestine. This northern power, as we shall presently see, is threatening Jerusalem during the period spoken of in the Revelation. The unbelieving mass of the people, instead of looking to the Lord for deliverance, seek shelter, as in ancient times, in worldly alliances; and this false Christ enters into league, on behalf of the Jewish people, with the head of the revived Roman Empire. It is this alliance that Isaiah foretells, “Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.... For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, his strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act” (Isa. 28:15-2115Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: 16Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. 17Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 18And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. 19From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. 20For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. 21For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. (Isaiah 28:15‑21)).
Here, then, we have the period before the Lord rises up in His power for the deliverance of His people. Their condition in that time is set forth. A mighty confederacy is rolling like a flood against the land, and threatening to overwhelm it. The true refuge is God Himself, who has laid in Zion a sure foundation-stone. The faithful ones can rest on this foundation, and awaiting their deliverance from the Messiah, “do not make haste.” The rest of the people however, terrified and unbelieving, listen to the lies of the antichrist, and under his guidance seek refuge in a covenant with death and an agreement with hell, an alliance with the wicked head of the Gentile powers, the vice-regent of the dragon upon earth. It avails them not. The scourge still overflows, their refuge of lies fails, their covenant with death is dissolved, and the Lord rises up in His power for the deliverance of His faithful people, and the judgment of all His enemies.
Now this prophecy in Isaiah exactly corresponds with what we find in the Revelation. There the false Christ becomes a sort of vassal or liege-man of the Gentile monarch. “And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live” (Rev 13:12-1412And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. (Revelation 13:12‑14)).
Here, then, we see an alliance established between the false Christ and the Roman power. Satan has before, as in Job’s case, called down fire from heaven. If his civil authority, as prince of this world, is given to the first beast, the miraculous power he is still permitted to exercise is given to the second. Thus we have the civil and ecclesiastical power both directed by Satan. The healing of the deadly wound, or the revival of the Roman Empire, is evidently regarded by the unbelieving Jews as a miraculous interposition of God on their behalf. False and diabolical as this power is, they are occupied only with their own safety; have no care for God’s truth, no trust in God’s salvation; and instead of resting on the sure foundation-stone laid in Zion, they readily acknowledge as a Savior any one who comes with promises of present deliverance. Hence this fatal refuge of lies, this ghastly covenant with death and agreement with hell.
The ancient Roman Emperors caused themselves to be worshipped as gods, and their images to be erected in the heathen temples. But there is a hideous feature about this new and debasing idolatry which at once marks Satan’s power, and explains the greedy reception of the delusion by the multitude: “And he,” that is the second beast, “had power to give breath [not life] unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark-the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six” (Rev. 13:15-1815And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (Revelation 13:15‑18)). This is what things are coming to. The chains of Satan will be riveted on everything, body and soul. The witnesses of the Messiah will be put to death, though not till their testimony is finished. The faithful ones who have not succeeded in escaping to the wilderness must suffer martyrdom; for no person can be tolerated who does not worship the beast. All must confess themselves his vassals, and receive his mark, either his name or the number of his name. The wise will at the time understand the number of the beast’s name, and the mode of reckoning it. But however the number is derived from the name, it is clear that it can only be got when the name is known. All efforts then to ascertain it before the beast is known are merely wasting time.
There is a striking resemblance between the false Christ here described and “the man of sin” named by Paul. He warns the Thessalonians against the delusion “that the day of the Lord is come” (for this is the true reading), and tells them that before its arrival there will be a falling away, “and that man of sin will be revealed, the son of perdition: who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he [as God] sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thess. 2:2-42That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:2‑4)). At present this wickedness is checked by the Holy Ghost’s presence on earth; but when the Church is caught up, the Holy Ghost will no longer be here, and all hindrance will “be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked [one] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess. 2:7-127For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:7‑12)).
The place in which this “man of sin” shows himself is Jerusalem, where “the temple of God” is; and the time of his appearance is between the Church’s removal and the day of the Lord. He lasts till Christ comes, when he is destroyed “with the spirit of His mouth.” He claims to be a god in man’s form; that is, to be what Christ alone can be; and this blasphemous pretension is supported by “power and signs and lying wonders” which he is especially inspired by Satan to perform. He thus deceives those who, having refused the truth, are now judicially given over by God to the delusions of this impostor, and so bring upon themselves righteous judgment. In place, in time, in doom, in the character of his pretensions, in the nature of his powers, and in the success of his imposture, there is an exact correspondence between the two persons described in Thessalonians and in the Revelation.
In Daniel this false Messiah is also mentioned by the name of “the king.” It is said, “The king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces... and shall divide the land for gain. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind” (Dan. 11:36-4036And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. 37Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. 38But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. 39Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. 40And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. (Daniel 11:36‑40)).
Here is a king reigning in “the land,” which when thus spoken of can only mean Palestine, the land about which Daniel was interested, and this prophecy spoken. He is “at the time of the end,” and continues “till the indignation be accomplished,” showing that he reigns in the last days of Gentile supremacy — until, God’s indignation against Israel being ended, He once more restores her to favor. He is an Israelite; for he does not regard “the God of his fathers,” an expression which in Daniel can only mean the patriarchs. Neither does he regard “the desire of women.” The great desire of all Hebrew women was to give birth to the Messiah. Thus Mary was saluted by Gabriel as “highly favored among women,” when her miraculous conception of the Savior was announced. In naming “the desire of women” between “the God of his fathers” and “any God,” the connection shows that something analogous in nature, not something entirely different, is meant. Though an Israelite, he heeds neither Jehovah, the God of the nation; nor the Messiah, the hope of the nation; nor even the false gods to which the nation had so often turned. But he honors the God of forces, referring probably to the religious homage rendered by his direction to the beast, the head of the Roman Empire, and the embodiment of worldly power. In time and place, in blasphemy and self-exaltation, in rejection of God and the introduction of a new and dreadful idolatry, this king exactly corresponds with the false Christ of the Revelation and the man of sin of the Thessalonians. “The king of the north,” too, who comes against him, shows the existence of that enemy against whom the fatal alliance with the beast is formed.