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CHAPTER XXI.-(Continued.)

VISION OF THE BRIDE,

THE LAMB'S WIFE. THE HOLY JERUSALEM.

Vs. 9, 10. And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of

heaven from God.

Καὶ ἦλθεν εἷς ἐκ τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλων τῶν ἐχόντων τὰς ἑπτὰ φιάλας τὰς γεμοίσας τῶν ἑπτὰ πληγῶν τῶν ἐσχάτων, καὶ ἐλάλησε μετ ̓ ἐμοῦ, λέγων· δεῦρο, δείξω σοι τὴν νύμ φην, τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ ἀρνίου. Καὶ ἀπή νεγκέ με ἐν πνεύματι ἐπ ̓ ὄρος μέγα καὶ ὑψηλόν, καὶ ἔδειξέ μοι τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἁγίαν Ἱερουσαλήμ, καταβαίνουσαν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρα

νοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ,

$ 481. AND there came unto me one of the seven angels,' &c.; or, the first of the seven angels, (§ 353.) This first angel, as we suppose, showed the apostle the judgment of the harlot; the same messenger now shows the glory of the bride. All of the angels having the vials of wrath came out of the temple, (Rev. xv. 6,) the developments with which they were charged being peculiarly directed to a purification of the temple service, ($356.) The effusion of the first vial brought forth the noisome sore, indicating the impurity of any worship resulting from the motive of self-service or self-glorification, ($ 98.) The exhibition of the harlot, or great commercial city, carried out this development, more especially by a representation of the mercenary feature of this selfishness, (§ 412.) The instrument of revelation employed in showing the disease on both these occasions is now engaged in pointing out the remedy. As if the first and great commandment, requiring a perfect love of God, brought home to the conscience, detected the absence of this love in the human heart; and thence directed the mind to the necessity, in the nature of the case, of some arrangement by which such a principle of grateful affection could be created.

'And talked [spake] with me, saying, Come,' &c.-These words so closely correspond with those employed by the angel on the former occasion, (Rev. xvii. 1,) that we may suppose them intended to bring our minds to a comparison of the circumstances peculiar to both invitations; showing the harlot and the bride, or Babylon and the New Jerusalem to be, as we have considered them, symbolical opposites. The first representing a mer

cenary system of mixed principles peculiar to the reign or kingdom of the beast; the last a system or plan of unmixed principles of grateful love as peculiar to the reign or kingdom of the Lamb. Of the first, we have been furnished with a very full development, and have learned its history even to its end; we are now about to be made acquainted with the character or peculiar features of the last, of the history of which there is no end. We do not enlarge upon the terms bride, or wife, or woman, here, because they have already, in some degree, engaged our attention, (§§ 426, 466.)

§ 482. And he carried me away in the spirit,' &c.-The apostle is to be understood as in spirit witnessing the day of the Lord throughout the whole of this book of Revelation, (§ 24;) but he reminds us from time to time, parenthetically, that what is said to occur to him in spirit is nothing in a literal or ordinary sense. Thus, he tells us it was in spirit he was taken up into heaven; in spirit, too, he was taken into the wilderness to see the judgment of the harlot; such a spiritual position being indispensable for his seeing the harlot system in its full power, ($ 383.) In a wilderness the disciple looks around him in vain for some sufficient refuge or protection, and here, for want of any thing better, he may resort to the first object appearing to furnish the security desired. For the same reason, the position, as on the summit of a high mountain, is peculiar to a contemplation of the true means of salvation.

It was on Mount Zion that the Lamb appeared in glory, (§ 326 ;) and it was upon a high mountain that Moses and Elias appeared ministering to Jesus; as the law and the prophets may be seen in this apocalyptic mountain to minister to the economy of salvation. It was (in spirit) in an exceeding high mountain, that Jesus was shown by the accuser all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; but a still higher mountain exhibits his own kingdom and its glory; for in the last days, it is said, "the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established upon the tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills," (Is. ii. 2.) So, the revelation of the true shelter or economy of grace, of which the new Jerusalem furnishes a representation, appears to be alluded to, Ezek. xvii. 22-24: "Thus saith the Lord God, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a high mountain, and eminent in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing, in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell: and all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, and have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken, and have done it."

And he showed me that great* city, the holy Jerusalem,' &c.; or, 'he showed me the city, the holy Jerusalem,' &c.-The apostle was taken to see a bride, a woman, and he was shown a city; and this city, it is implied, is the bride, the Lamb's wife. So it was in the case of the harlot ; the woman seen in the wilderness, sustained by the beast, bore upon her forehead the name Babylon, and was expressly declared at the close of the chapter, (Rev. xvii. 18,) to be that great city; and, thenceforth, the whole account of the judgment upon her consists in a description of the desolations of a great city. There can be no question in any mind as to the entire identity of the woman and the city in both of these illustrations. What the city represents the woman represents, and vice versa; different figures representing the same thing. So, as the bride or wife is the opposite of the harlot, the new Jerusalem must be the opposite of Babylon, and the holy city the opposite of the self-styled great city.

We do not suppose the term holy to be applied here to Jerusalem merely in contradistinction to Babylon or to other cities. Two Jerusalems appear to be contemplated, both in the Apocalypse and in the prophecies—one heavenly, the other earthly; one free, the other in bondage, (Gal. iv. 26 ;) one holy or set apart, the other not holy; or if once holy, subsequently so perverted or abused, as to be no longer considered such.

The holy Jerusalem here contemplated, is described as descending out of heaven from God; identifying her with the new Jerusalem described in the second verse of the chapter. She is, besides, in both passages represented as the bride, the Lamb's wife; the new Jerusalem is therefore the holy, and that which is not holy, must be the old Jerusalem.

The new vision of peace is set apart, destined to endure for ever, being essential to a just representation of the worship or service of God; the first vision was not intended to endure like an old garment, it is now to be laid aside. Babylon (the system of confusion) was sitting on many waters— resting on many mountains-sustained by a power seen to have arisen from the sea or abyss. The holy city (the true plan of safety) comes immediately from God out of heaven. The old vision of peace was represented by an earthly city, repeatedly made captive; her beauty marred, and finally destroyed, while yet in bondage. The new vision is represented as coming

* Some editions of the Greek, according to our common English version, attach the epithet μyáin (great) to the holy city; other Greek editions, as that from which we copy, omit it, and apparently with good reason. Babylon, we may presume, was particularly designated the great city, as great in her pretensions, or as great in the estimation of men; but it appears more in keeping with the style of the Apocalypse, to avoid applying any epithet to the holy city which might seem to assimilate her with the other.

pure and unmixed from the divine source of her being, and destined to remain for ever free.

Vs. 11-13 Having the glory of God: and her light (was) like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; and had a wall great and high, (and) had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are (the names) of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. On the east, three gates; on the north, three gates; on the south, three gates; and on the west, three gates.

ἔχουσαν τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ. ὁ φωστήρ αὐτῆς ὅμοιος λίθῳ τιμιωτάτῳ, ὡς λίθῳ ιάσπιδι κρυσταλλίζοντι. Ἔχουσα τεῖχος μέγα καὶ ὑψηλόν, ἔχουσα πυλῶνας δώδεκα, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς πυλῶσιν ἀγγέλους δώδεκα, καὶ ὀνόματα ἐπιγεγραμμένα, ἃ ἐστι τῶν δώδεκα φυλῶν τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ. ̓Απὸ ἀνατολῆς πυλῶνες τρεῖς, καὶ ἀπὸ βοῤῥᾶ πυλῶνες τρεῖς,

483. Having the glory of God,' &c.-In its proper place in the preceding narrative, a description was given of the descent of the new Jerusalem, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. It was not expedient then, as we have observed, (§ 480,) to enlarge upon this bridal appearance; further particulars were postponed, in order that the end, the important end of the whole narration might be reached, as it were, with as little delay as possible. This being completed, we are now, by way of episode, indulged with a precise description of the preparation and ornaments of the bride— her dress and her garniture; the figure only being changed, the array is that of a city instead of that of a bride. The preparation consists of walls, and gates, and foundations, instead of robes and garments; and the ornament or adorning is the glory of God, compared to the light of a most precious stone, clear as crystal, instead of being symbolized by the jewels of a bridal trousseau. As a bride, the preparation of the economy of grace still consists in a robe of righteousness, and in garments of salvation; but, as a city, her walls are salvation, and her gates are praise. In both cases, the preparation and the adorning are immediately from the same source of divine sovereignty, without any intermixture of human merit, or any glory or praise of human fabrication. The glory of the new Jerusalem is not her own glory; it is the glory of God. As it is said of the disciple, (1 Cor. i. 31,) "let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord."

And her light (was) like unto a stone most precious;' or, rather, the light of it, (ó qworne avis;)—the pronoun avrns relating to the feminine noun doğa, glory, and not to the city, ( nós :) the city has neither light nor glory of her own, but she appears resplendent with the light of the glory of God. The word was is supplied unnecessarily in our common version, and the conjunction zai (and) is not found in all editions of the Greek. The reading apparently should be, Having the glory of God, the light of it like to a stone most precious, to a jasper stone (crystallizonti) shining like crystal; the comparison of the light of this glory to a jasper stone or diamond, as we should call it, indicating particularly the qualities of pureness and

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clearness. The light of the glory of God is unmixed with the rays of any other glory. The light of the glory with which the city is arrayed, thus corresponds with the fine linen of the bride, shining clean, (λaμño̟òv xaðαgóv.) As it corresponds also with the raiment "white as the light, in which Jesus appeared on the mount of transfiguration."

Babylon is described, Rev. xviii. 7, as having vainly glorified herself, boasting of her own perfection: a mixed system exhibiting no glory but that derived from man's pretensions to righteousness. The economy of grace, on the contrary, holds forth no glory but that to be derived from the imputed merit of divine perfection. The light of this glory is compared to that of an exceedingly precious stone; and such, in a certain sense, it may be considered; for it is the light of the glory of Him who is declared to be the corner stone, elect, precious; a light exhibited by the Son of God in his own person when manifest in the flesh. As it is said, (Matt. iv. 16,) "The people which sat in darkness saw a great light, and to them which sat in the region of the shadow of death, light is sprung up ;" and a light which he now exhibits, in its most spiritual sense, in this unveiling of himself figuratively, through the medium of his wife or bride.

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§ 484. And had a wall great and high.'-We may presume the city to have now found its site, as its wall, gates, and foundations of the wall are described; and this site may be supposed to be upon the mountain, or range of mountains, to the summit of which the apostle was conveyed. We are not to imagine the position of the favoured spectator to be merely the peak of an eminence. In eastern language, and indeed in Scripture phraseology, a mountain may be the appellation of a large tract of country; the whole of the high land, as distinguished from the low country, going by the name of a single mountain. Mount Lebanon, or Libanus, for example, is said to be one hundred leagues in circumference, (Calmet.) The holy city rests upon the mountain-the Rock of our salvation (Christ)—as the bride is dependent upon the bridegroom, or the wife upon her husband; and as her opposite, the harlot, rested upon the beast. The city may be contemplated as the crown of the mountain, (Prov. iv. 9, xii. 4,) while the mount is the sure foundation of the city; at the same time, no one can be on the top of the mount without being in the city, or can be an inhabitant of the city without being a dweller upon the mount. Mount Zion, and the holy city, are thus sometimes used in Scripture as convertible terms. not suppose the apostle to have been taken to a great and high mountain, merely to see a city coming down from heaven; a sight with which he might have been equally favoured upon the open plain; he was taken to the top of the mountain, no doubt, because the city to be revealed was there located. As it is said, Is. xxv. 6, "And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things;" the same rich provision

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