The fifth seal]

9¶ And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the

[opened.

word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

10 And they cried with a loud voice,

gospel during this period was truly wonderful. Paul himself preached it, as he says, "From Jerusalem round about unto Illyricum," and "God always caused them to triumph in every place."—" The Cæsars (says Mr. Fuller) set themselves against it; yet, in spite of all their efforts, there were saints in Cæsar's household." This excellent expositor adds—“The Epistles of Pliny and Tiberianus, Governors of Asia Minor and Syria, to Trajau the Emperor, within ten or twelve years after the banishment of John to the Isle of Patmos, furnish a striking and unexceptionable proof of the progress of the gospel in those times. By the amazing number of persons who avowed themselves Christians, and so exposed themselves to death, they were moved with compassion, and wrote to know what they were to do with them. 'The number is so great (says Pliny), as to call for the most serious deliberation. Informations are pouring in against multitudes, of every age, of all orders, and of both sexes: and more will be impeached; for the contagion of this superstition [meaning Christianity] hath spread, not only through cities, but villages, and hath even reached the farm-houses.' He also speaks of the temples as having been almost desolate the sacred solemnities [of idolatry] as having been intermitted, and the sacrificial victims as finding but few purchasers. I am quite wearied (says Tiberianus) with punishing and destroying the Galileans.""

Thus numerous were the Christians at the beginning of the second century, and Christianity continued to spread, notwithstanding the violence of Jewish and Gentile persecution, and the insidious arts of Pagan philosophers and heretics, throughout the far greater part of the three first centuries.

The second seal is opened, and " a red horse" appears, as the emblem of war and bloodshed; and to make this the more clear, to him that sat thereon was given

a great sword," as emblematical of his power to take peace from the earth :" and if there ever was a war to which this prediction was more especially applicable,

it was that between the Jews and the Romans. On Matt. xxiv. we have cited the testimony of Josephus, that full a million of Jews perished in Jerusalem, beside 250,000 in the provinces; 97,000 were sold, or carried away captive, and many others perished miserably by pestilence or famine. These, like the events of the preceding seal, are retrospective; but they were the sufferings of the Jews only, and even to them a part only of their sorrows. Of the loss sustained by the Romans in this contest, we have no estimate, but certainly the carnage was in a great measure mutual: they destroyed one another; and so extensive was the destruction, that thereby peace was banished from the earth.

But though we include these events under this seal, we do not confine it to them. About forty or fifty years after this event, the Jews in Egypt and in Cyprus made an insurrection, and slew 460,000 men yet the Jews being everywhere subdued, a greater number must have been slain among themselves. Not long after this, during the first half of the second century, the Jews in Palestine were drawn into a new rebellion by Barchocab, one of their false Messiahs, and are said to have lost 580,000 men, with the destruction of a thousand of their towns and fortresses. But what, it may be asked, has this to do with the history of the church, which is the great subject of the prophetic Scriptures? We reply, "Much, every way."

1. We have an express and most remark. able fulfilment of our Lord's predictions, relative to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jews, as above-mentioned. 2. We have a striking example of the manner in which the God of Providence corrects and punishes one nation by means of another. Thus the Romans were punished by the Jews for their idolatry; and the Jews by the Romans, for their infidelity and rejec tion of the true Messiah, and the persecution of his followers. 3. We see how vain and how dangerous it is for mortals to oppose the designs of Providence, especially when they persecute the church of God. The Jews were the bitterest persecutors the church ever had, and all their enmity was

The souls]

levelled against the Son of God himself: they would "not have this man to reign over them." And what was the consequence? He ruled them, as had been predicted, with a rod (or sceptre) of iron;" and with that sceptre he "dashed them in pieces as a potter's vessel," and scattered them to the four winds of heaven. The Pagan Romans opposed Christianity, and were in like manner dashed to pieces by the barbarians around them.

Our readers will perceive, that we do not think it necessary to place these seals in absolute succession to each other. Though the events prefigured did not commence nor close together, yet in some points, probably, most, or all of them, were contemporary. The success of the gospel went on during all the varied calamities of the Jews, and misfortunes of the Romans; yea, and during all the persecutions of both nothing could stop the march of the gospel, till it attained the full extent predicted.

The opening of the third and fourth seals will require but little enlargement. The rider on the black horse carries a pair of balances in his hand, and proclaims such a state of scarcity, that a man with the labours of his hands should be able only to procure the scanty daily provision of corn allowed to a slave, without any surplus for his family. Mr. Lowman interprets this of the scarcity which prevailed in the time of the Antonines, from about A. D. 138 to 193; arising, no doubt, from unfavourable seasons and bad management; but more, perhaps, from the horrible devastations of war, which spares not even the fruits of the earth.

The imagery of the fourth seal is still inore terrible-it is "Death upon the pale horse!" and followed by hell, or the terrors of the invisible world-by famine, pestilence, and wild beasts;-the "four sore judgments" of God mentioned by Ezekiel, chap. xiv. 21.

Here then, it should seem, the first four seals (at least) must have been contempo rary; for the gospel continued to advance with triumph, amidst all the horrors of war, and famine, and pestilence, and death. In the third century all these evils were combined. Mr. Lowman says, that now "The state of the empire was very much disturbed with foreign wars and in

testine troubles; very few of the Emperors but met with a violent death; so that, besides thirty persons who all pretended to the empire at once, there were twenty ar knowledged Emperors in the space of sixty years, from A. D. 211 to 270. These intestine divisions gave great heart and strength to the enemies of the Roman em pire, and great advantages to the Persians and the Northern armies against it...... St. Cyprian, in his apology for the Christians to Demetrius, Proconsul of Africa. takes notice of the more frequent wars and famines of those times, that they were falsely charged upon the Christians... [and] expressly declares, that these great calamities were according to former predictions; and brought upon the world, st because the Christians rejected idolatres Roman worship, but because the Romans rejected the worship of the true God." Mr. Lowman adds, from Zosimus, and other authorities, that, in the middle of the third century, a plague infested the provinces, || which, beginning in Ethiopia, spread itself almost through the whole East and West, destroyed the inhabitants of many cities, and continued for fifteen years:.... [which produced] so great a destruction of men, as had not hitherto ever hap pened."

The writer is well aware, that in referring these predictions to temporal events, he may incur the censure of some modera expositors of great name and merit, whe would confine these prophecies principally (if not wholly) to the "fates and fortunes of the Christian church;" but he begs it to be considered, 1. That while the church is in the world, it must be deeply impli cated in its "fates and fortunes, Christ ians, as such, have no exemptions from the wars, and famines, and plagues, which visit others, though it is certain they have peculiar supports, and, finally, an abund ant compensation.-2. It is admitted that the Old Testament prophets, and particu Jarly Daniel, describe largely "the fates and fortunes" of the world, as well as of the church. And, 3. that as it was neces sary for Daniel to describe the rise and fall of the four monarchies, in order to introduce the kingdom of Messiah; so the "fates and fortunes" of the Roman empire, both Pagan and Papal, must be decided, prior to the final triumphs of Christ. ianity in the Millennium.

11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

14 And the heaven departed as a

[opened.

scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (K)

(K) Ver. 9-17. The opening of the fifth and sixth seals, bringing us to the fall of Paganism, and establishment of Christianity. The 5th seal opens a scene of persecution, and gives us a view of it very different from the representation of worldly historiaus and politicians. They think that the great and the mighty have a right to think and to judge for all others: so that, if subjects be ever so virtuous, they deserve even to die if they presume to think differently from their Sovereign. So the enlightened Pliny was clearly of opinion, that no punishment could be too great for those who dared to resist, in any case, the Emperor's demands. (See Pliny's Epistles, book x. lett. 97, 98.)

The scene before us, like several others in this book, is evidently borrowed from the Jewish temple. It presents us with the altar of burnt-offerings, which stood just within the entrance to the court. But instead of the appointed sacrifices, behold it streams with human blood! and instead of the bones of those legal victims, behold the souls of the martyrs who had been sacrificed-not, indeed, to God, but for his

cause-victims to Jewish and Pagan cruelty, lie under the altar, as it were, crying to heaven for vengeance!

"The souls under the altar (says Mr. Fuller), are the departed spirits of those Christians who had fallen in the arduous contest, which are supposed to cry aloud for retribution...... The answer to their appeal, in which they are encouraged to expect a retribution, after a little season, when the number of their fellow-servants and brethren, who should be killed as they were, by the hands of Paganism, should be fulfilled, determines the period to which the vision refers." Mr. Fuller supposes that they had now suffered under nine of the ten persecutions (so called), and were to wait for the completion of their number under the tenth; and that being accomplished, God would take vengeance on their persecutors for all their cruelty. The opening of this seal, therefore, may be referred to about A.D. 275, when the ninth persecution (which was but short) was ended, and the tenth, under Dioclesian and Maximilian, was drawing near. This persecution, which began in or about 303,

Ver. 11. A little season.-Doddridge," while." Woodhouse," yet a time."

Ver. 12. A great earthquake, &c.-Rather, says Bishop Newton, a great concussion, comprehending heaven as well as earth. See Haggai ii. 6, 21. By such metaphors, as Sir I. Newton has observed, the prophets are accustomed to describe great revolutions among the empires of the world; and in very similar language our Lord himself predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, as well as the final renovation of the earth itself. See Isa. xxxiv. 4, and

was both more sanguinary and more extensive than any of the preceding; its avowed object being nothing short of the utter extirpation of Christianity. The places of Christian worship were every where demolished, Bibles destroyed, and au immense number of Christiaus martyred. "It were endless and almost incredible (says Mr. Echard) to enumerate the variety of sufferers and torments: they were scourged to death, had their flesh torn off with pincers, and mangled with broken pots; were cast to lions, tygers, and other wild beasts; were burnt, be headed, crucified, thrown into the sea, torn in pieces by the distorted boughs of trees, roasted by gentle fires, and holes made in their bodies for melted lead to be poured into their bowels. This persecution, in one part or other of the empire, is reckoned to have continued eight or ten years under Dioclesian and some of his

successors.

The number of Christians

who suffered during this period led their enemies to flatter themselves that they had extirpated Christianity: and a pillar is stated to have been erected in Spain to the honour of Dioclesian, with an inscription to this effect, that he had every where abolished the superstition of Christ, and extended the worship of the gods. Another pillar in the same country is said to have borne a similar inscription; and a medal in honour of the same tyrant still exists with this motto-"the name of Christians being extinguished." (Milner's Ch. Hist. vol. ii. p. 7.) But, alas, how weak and vain is man! Paganism was now at the point of dissolution, and Christianity on the eve of triumph, as we shall see under the following seal,

The opening of the sixth seal appears to threaten nothing less than a dissolution of the whole system of nature. The pillars of the earth are shaken, and the globe trembles to its centre. The great luminaries of heaven expire in darkness, and the lesser ones appear to drop from the

skies, like untimely figs when shaken in a tempest. The aerial heavens are rolled together like a parchment scroll, and "every mountain and island are removed from their places."

Now are the haughty monarchs and mighty spirits of the earth," and indeed all classes of mankind thrown inte the utmost consternation. The ruin is so tremendous, that the highest orders of society cannot resist it; and so universal, that the meanest hope not to escape it And those who but recently boasted of having annihilated Christianity, now call for mercy to the rocks and mountains; and gladly would they hide themselves in the fissures of the one, or the caverns of the other. "Who shall bide us from Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb ?"-"The wrath of the Lamb" is a peculiar expression. Had it been the wrath of the lion, it would have been more natural, but not so terrible. By how much the patience of God has been exercised and abused, so much the more is his righteous anger to be dreaded, now the great day of his wrath is come." Now the number of martyrs to Paganism is complete the prayers of the souls under the altar are heard-and, to their murderers, the day of judgment is arrived.

On the fall of Paganism, Mr. Lowman quotes, from a former commentator, the following condensed view of the events which then occurred. "From this account it appears (says Mr. Daubuz) that the Pagan Roman emperors were deprived of their government, and came to miserable ends-that the Pagan Cæsars fell in battle or were put to death :—that the religion of the idolaters received a mortal wound; all the colleges of pontifices, augers, vestals; in a word, all the Pagan priests and religious officers throughout the empire, being brought under the power and dominion of a Christian prince :that many of the Pagan officers, civil and military, were displaced, and Christians put in their room: that there was a thorough change in the government, and

CHAP. VII. Ver. 1. The four winds of the earth. -See Jer. xlix. 36, 37. The four corners here men

tioned, answer to the four cardinal points-the four winds.

Ver. 2. From the east-Greek, "From the rising of the sun"-i. e. from the divine presence. Woodh. Ver. 3. Hurt not the earth-i. e. the inhabitants of it, in its various classes.

Ver. 4. An hundred and forty and four thousand That is, the twelve patriarchs multiplied by the twelve apostles, and both by 1000. Lowman.

Ver. 8. Of the tribe of Joseph.-It is remarkable, that the names of Dan and Ephraim are omitted in this list, and those of Levi and Joseph inserted in

their stead, which, it is supposed, was occasioned by both those tribes being particularly addicted to idolatry.

Ver. 11. The four beasts-Rather, "living creatures," as before, chap. iv. and v.

Ver. 14. Out of great tribulation.-Woodh. " out of the great tribulation."

Ver. 15, Day and night—i. e. continually, as the Jewish worship was continued—in his temple.Compare chap. xxi. 3, 4; xxii. 1, &c,