and night in the temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." ver. 13-17. These verses describe the circumstances of the restored tribes; or the happiness of the church in the Millennial state, "when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously," "which will be as the days of heaven upon earth." The sixth seal carries on the on the prophetic history very briefly to the coming of the Son of man to judge the nations of the earth at the commencement of the Millennium. The seventh seal includes the seven Trumpets, and the seventh Trumpet includes the seven Vials.

THE SEVENTH SEAL.

Chap. viii. This chapter commences with the opening of the seventh seal, and the scene of the vision is again in heaven, where it was at the opening of the former seals. And "there was silence about the space of half an hour," preparatory to the new scene which was about to be presented to the Apostle.

This appears a very appropriate pause before the introduction of the principal agents of the vision. "And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.' ver. 1. 2. The events which are predicted under the seven trumpets, are so important and dreadful, that previous to their commencement, all the saints must unite in prayer before God; therefore "another angel," which may with propriety be called the angel of preparation. "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. The incense ascending up before God, shows that the prayers were accepted; and when the incense was consumed, "the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth;" in order to give the saints a specimen of the future judgments which God would execute on their tyrannical oppressors. "And there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake." ver. 5. The seven Trumpets are sounded by seven angels, because they are the appointed agents of vengeance to the

wicked, as well as messengers of mercy to the righteous: a fact to which the Old and New Testaments bear ample testimony.

I consider the Trumpets as prophetic of events yet future; and that when they sound, the fulfilment will be so literal, that all that see them, and all that suffer by them, and those that only hear of them, will be able to say of a truth, 'These are the events predicted under the Trumpets,' as confidently as we say that the sufferings of Christ were the fulfilment of the liii. chapter of Isaiah.

Many renowned writers on the Apocalypse have sought in the pages of history for the fulfilment of the Seals, Trumpets, and Vials. They have appeared to me like prophetic joiners, who have with admirable dexterity, dovetailed the histories of past ages, into the prophecies; so that many have thought them clever workmen. Yet the difference of opinion among them, relative to the prophecies of the Seals, Trumpets, and Vials, and the different times in which they are said to be fulfilled, afford strong grounds of suspicion that they are all mistaken. See Table IV. p. 86. The same sentiment is admirably expressed by a writer in the Eclectic Review for Oct. 1815. 'When we reflect on the number and talents of the men, who have attempted to illustrate the visions of St. John, and the great discordance of opinions, it would seem as if there must

be something radically wrong, some fatal error, at the very foundation of ALL their systems of explanation, which is one great cause of the mistakes and confusion that What this is, appear to pervade them all. deserves to be maturely considered.' I think the year-day theory is the great error of the principal writers on the prophecies. On this foundation of sand, they have built their fanciful and diversified theories, and many of them have proved no more substantial than castles in the air; time has demolished the major part of them, and if I am not greatly mistaken, he will level them all as soon as he comes up to them. Dr. J. Robinson says, 'He who has once laid aside this prejudice of the year-day, will find out the root of the most forced interpretations: and if he knows of any inquisitive friend, will caution him against a fruitless labour, in which many have wasted the greatest part of their life-time.'*

Another great error is, the figurative interpretation of literal passages.† These two things have converted the word Revelation into Mystery, and light into darkness. I believe the title of the book which closes the sacred canon is strictly appropriate, and literally true but Mede, Faber, Cunninghame,

* Introduction to Bengelius, p. 147.

+ See my "Inquiry after Prophetic Truth." p. 25-27. 109-112.

war.

Frere, Keith, Habershon, and a host of respectable authors, have treated the book of "Revelation" as a mystery: yet in all the diversity of symbols they see nothing but wars-the seals are wars-the trumpets are wars-the vials are wars, as if there could be no judgment or plague but war; yet there is no evidence from the prophecies themselves that one fourth of them relate to Commentators do not so fully agree respecting the events which they say are the fulfilments of these prophecies, as to produce a general impression that their interpretations are correct. There can be no question but each trumpet is the sure word of prophecy, and gives "a certain sound," though writers in general have misunderstood it. If we affect to be wise above what is written, and allow ourselves to depart, without necessity, from the obvious and literal import of the language of the sacred writers, we shall unavoidably fall into errors, and add to the already overgrown mass of discordant opinions which have been advanced on the subject, by various writers.

I do not believe the trumpets have sounded or the vials been poured out. Having made this statement, the reader will not expect me to direct his attention to Alaric and the Goths, Genseric and the Vandals, Attila and the Huns, Odoacer and the Heruli, Theodoric