and comprehends within itself the whole of the events signified by the trumpets; and in this inference I have the support of some of the most distinguished writers on the Apocalypse.* Now, seeing that the first six seals contain an epitome of the state of the church, down to that final consummation of all things on this earth, when "the saints of the Most "High shall take the kingdom and possess the king"dom for ever;" and that the trumpets cannot extend beyond this final consummation, it follows that the seventh seal, and seven trumpets, must relate to events which are contemporaneous with the first six seals, or at least with the last part of them. And in considering these trumpets we shall discover reasons for the conclusion, that as the seals give us an epitome of the history of the church, so the trumpets contain an account of the great political and ecclesiastical revolutions which shall successively affect the Roman empire, or fourth kingdom of Daniel, until it is destroyed to make way for the kingdom of the Son of Man.‡

* Vide Bishop Newton in loco, also Mede on the Apocalypse. + Dan. vii. 18.

Ib. vii. 11-13. The learned Vitringa makes some introductory observations on the trumpets, which are well worthy of our attention. I shall in this note give the substance of them in an abridged form, as my limits will not permit me to insert the whole passage.

He supposes that, in the trumpets, there is an allusion to the manner in which the city of Jericho was delivered into the hands of the children of Israel. They had the promise of the land of Canaan for their inheritance. But that proud and strong city opposed itself to their entrance into the promised land. The priests were therefore commanded by the Lord, to compass the city with seven ram's horns, and the ark of the Lord, once every day for six successive days: but on the seventh day they were to march round it seven times, and at the end of the seventh time the people were commanded to shout

"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 ascended, with the prayers of the

saints, from the hand of the angel before God. "And the angel took the censer and filled it with "the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth; "and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.”*

Incense is a symbol of the prayers of true Christians. Thus in Malachi it is predicted, in reference to the times of the gospel: "From the rising of "the sun unto the going down of the same, my "Name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my Name, and a pure offering: for my Name shall be

great among the heathen, saith the Lord of "Hosts." And in the Apocalypse we are expressly told, that the vials full of incense, held by the twenty-four elders, are the prayers of saints.‡ aloud, at which instant the walls fell flat down, the city was taken, and all within it put to the sword, Josh. vi.—In a similar manner, says Vitringa, the inheritance of the world is promised to the church, (Dan. vii. 18. 22. 27.) but the city and empire of Rome oppose themselves to the reign and kingdom of Christ, and between them there is to be an obstinate contest carried on through many ages. But that city and empire, founded in blood, idolatry, and superstition, are destined to be destroyed by various steps, and with peculiar demonstrations of divine justice and severity, after the example of Jericho. This (says Vitringa) is declared in the trumpets.—And the seven vials are to be referred to the seventh trumpet, and answer to the seventh day of the encompassing of Jericho, when the priests went round it with the trumpets seven times.

* Rev. viii. 3--5.

+ Mal. i. 11.

+ Rev. v. §.

In the passage we are now considering, the incense which is offered by the angel, with the prayers of all saints, seems to signify, that their prayers are such as to find acceptance with God, and that they are to receive an answer. The answer to them appears to be contained in the action performed by the angel in the following verse. Filling the censer with fire from the altar, he casts it upon the earth, and there follow "voices, and thunderings, and "lightnings, and an earthquake." Fire is a symbol of various significations. When it descends upon the servants of God it denotes the purifying and life-giving influence of the Holy Ghost. Thus John the Baptist assured the Jews, that there came one after him who should baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire.* On the other hand, when fire comes down on the enemies of God, it is a symbol of his destroying wrath. "Whose fan is in his "hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and "will gather the wheat into his garner; but the "chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable."+

It seems to be in the last of these senses that the symbol of fire is used in the passage now under consideration, as we may infer from the context, and also the effects which follow. The fire is cast upon the earth, which is, throughout this mystical book, used to denote the world, as opposed to the cause and kingdom of Christ; and since the fourth kingdom of Daniel, or the Roman empire, is in an especial manner the scene of the prophecies of the Apocalypse, we may conclude, that the fire which is cast upon the earth by the angel in this place, *Luke iii. 17. Comp. Is. vi. 6, 7.

+ Luke 17.

signifies the wrath of God coming down upon the Roman empire, in answer to the prayers which had been offered in the preceding verse. The effects of the descent of this fire are voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. We have already seen, in considering the sixth seal, that an earthquake, in the language of symbols, denotes a revolution. Voices, thunderings, and lightnings, in the natural world, happen, as we know, in the atmosphere, or region of the air. When these words are used symbolically, they must therefore signify such convulsions as affect the political atmosphere, or region of the government, and the civil and religious constitution of the empire, which is the subject of the prophecy. We thus arrive at the conclusion, that the voices, thunderings, and lightnings, and the earthquake, mentioned in this passage, denote a political convulsion in the government of the Roman empire, attended with a revolution:

1

These events occur before the sounding of any of the seven trumpets. But it is generally admitted by our ablest interpreters, that the first four of these trumpets refer to the overthrow of the western empire by the Goths and Vandals; and I shall afterwards give my reasons for concurring in this commonly received interpretation. The political convulsion and revolution now under consideration must, therefore, have occurred previously to the fall of the western empire. Now history informs us of only one such event, which happened in the Roman empire between the period when the Apocalypse was published, and the fall of the western empire;

and that was the revolution in the time of Constantine, when paganism ceased to be the established religion of the empire, and Christianity was embraced by the imperial family. This revolution was so important in its consequences, that the great body of interpreters have, as we have seen, applied. to it the dreadful convulsions of the sixth seal. In this application they appear to have erred, but yet the revolution under Constantine was of sufficient magnitude to render it probable that some mention should be made of it in the Apocalypse, and it seems to find its place in the passage we are now considering.

In this passage we behold the prayers of all saints ascending up with acceptance before God; by which prayers may be signified the cries of the servants of God under the cruel and long-continued persecutions of the heathen Roman empire. An answer to these prayers is sent. Fire, an emblem of the wrath of God, is cast upon that empire; and there follow political convulsions, voices, thunderings, and lightnings, and a revolution or earthquake, whereby paganism is cast down to the ground, and Christianity occupies its place as the religion of the government. The heathen persecutions are thus brought to a period.

The above interpretation is entirely new, as I have not met with it in any writer whom I have consulted on the Apocalypse: I shall therefore offer another argument, which seems to me to strengthen it. The principle of homogeneity requires us to understand the symbol of an earthquake in the same sense, wherever it occurs in the prophecies of this