the Apocalypse. In ten of them it designates adoration paid to ALMIGHTY GOD: in nine others it describes the adoration claimed for the Beast and his image and thus it shows, that he exacts what is due to GOD, and, as the Angel warns St. John, not due to Angels, but to God alone *.

Observe, next, the votaries of the Beast say, Who is like unto the Beast? This is a challenge to God Himself. Lord, says the Psalmist †, Who is like unto Thee? and again ‡, O God, Who is like unto Thee? and, Among the gods, there is none like unto Thee, O Lord; there is none can do as Thou doest §.

It is, also, a parody of the name of the Angel Prince, the conqueror of Satan and his angels, Michael, which means Who is as God?

Remember, too, that this expression, Who is like unto the Beast? the watchword of the worshippers of the Beast, affords a striking contrast to the words emblazoned on the standard of the Maccabees, those courageous soldiers against Antiochus Epiphanes, the type of Antichrist,- Who among the gods is like unto Jehovah ?—from which badge the Maccabees derived their name |.

Recollect, now, that Babylon is a type of Rome;

*Rev. xix. 10. xxii. 9.

Psalm lxxi. 17. Psalm cxiii. 5.

§ Psalm lxxxvi. 8.

+ Psalm xxxv. 10.

It was derived from the Hebrew words, Exod. xv. 11. See Grot. Præf. in 1 Macc. Buxtorf de Abbrev. Prideaux Connect. part ii. bk. iii. ad ann. 166.

and it is said to the King of Babylon, How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my Throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the Mount of the congregation; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shall be brought down to hell*.

In this passage, the Mount of the congregation means the TEMPLE of GOD t.

Let it be remembered also that the Woman sitting on the Beast is called the Mother of abominations ‡.

The word abomination §, Bdéλvyua, in Scripture, designates an object of idolatrous adoration; and the prophecy of Daniel, predicting the pollution of God's Temple by the setting up in it of the abomination of desolation, was fulfilled in the first instance (B.c. 168) by the Antichristian King, Antiochus Epiphanes, who placed an idol upon the altar of God in the Temple at Jerusalem; or, as the Book of Maccabees expresses it, set up the abomination of desolation on the ALTAR **: thus defiling God's House, and making

* Isaiah xiv. 12—15.

†The original signifies the Mount of God's presence; the Sanctuary of His Temple. See Bp. Lowth ad loc.

Rev. xvii. 4, 5.

Spy res abominanda. Dan. ix. 31. xii. 11. See Vitring. Anacr. p. 607. 759.

|| βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως. Dan. xi. 31.

** 1 Maccabees i. 54.

it desolate; that is, banishing from it God's true worship, and his worshippers *.

This prophecy was to have a second fulfilment in Christian times.

When ye shall see, says our Lord, the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, stand in the HOLY PLACE; whoso readeth let him understand †.

This prediction of our Lord had, no doubt, a partial fulfilment at the destruction of Jerusalem; but it had a deeper and more general meaning; as is suggested by the solemn words, let him that readeth, understand.

And this opinion is confirmed by the prophecy of St. Paul, concerning the Mystery of Iniquity. Then, says the Apostle, shall the Man of sin, or that Lawless One, o avoμoç, be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or is worshipped, so that he, as God, sitteth in the TEMPLE of GOD, showing himself that he is God.

The words here rendered, so that he sitteth in the Temple of God, are κalioaι eiç vaóv,—a very remarkable expression. Naòc, it is well known, is the holier part of the Temple,-the Sanctuary, where the ALTAR is; and κalioa siç vaòv, words involving motion, signify to be conveyed or to convey himself and take a

* Cf. Prideaux's Connection, Part ii. Books ii. and iii. especially from B. c. 175, when Antiochus Epiphanes succeeded his brother, to B. c. 164, in which year Antiochus died.

seat in the Holy Place of the Temple of God, or the Christian Church *.

us.

Let us now pause, and review the evidence before

The abomination of desolation, as we have seen, was the placing of an IDOL upon the ALTAR in God's TEMPLE; and Our Lord speaks of this abomination of desolation, as still to be expected; and St.

* Those persons who infer from this passage, that the Temple of Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and that Antichrist will sit therein, may be desired to observe, that there are about twentyfive passages in the Acts of the Apostles where the Jewish Temple is called iɛpòv, but not a single one where it is called vaòs, nor is there one, in any of the Apostolic Epistles, where it bears this name. The vaòs Tou ɛou, in the mouth of an Apostle speaking to Gentile Christians concerning the future, cannot mean the Jewish Temple, and can only mean the Christian Church. Compare Macknight's note on this passage (2 Thess. ii. 2, 3). To those who argue, that if Rome is the Temple of God, it cannot be Babylon, I would respectfully commend a careful study of the Third Book of Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, especially chapters i. and ii.; and to the allegation that the Man of Sin must be a single person, I would say, that neither the Woman treading on the Moon, (Rev. xii. 1) nor the Woman sitting on the Beast, (Rev. xiii. 3) is an individual Person, nor is supposed to be so by any Expositor. Lastly, they who argue that the falling away (ǹ àñoOraoia, 2 Thess. ii. 3) can only apply to an infidel Power, may be reminded of the LXX version of Deut. xxxii. 15. Jer. ii. 5. 19. iii. 14. Esa. xxx. 1. lix. 13, 14. Dan. ix. 9, where ȧoioraμai and its derivatives are used to describe the backsliding and disobedience of God's ancient Church; and the word

rebellis fuit, is translated by ápéorηKEY, cf. Josh. xxii. 22. Num. xiv. 9. Neh. ix. 26.

It is remarkable, that Pope Gregory I., speaking of the title

Paul predicted the appearance of a Power, which he calls Mystery, claiming adoration in God's Temple,— taking his seat in the Sanctuary of the Church of God *, showing himself that he is God.

Let us also remember that Daniel's word abomination †, which describes an object of idolatrous worship, is adopted by the Apocalypse; and that, in like manner, St. Paul's word Mystery is appropriated by it; and that both these words are combined in the Apocalypse, in the name of the Woman, whose attire is described minutely by St. John, and whose name on her forehead, he says, is "Mystery, Babylon the great, Mother of abominations of the Earth."

Let us now enquire, whether this description is

"Universal Bishop," says, "hanc elationem primus Apostata invenit." Ep. vir. 27. p. 873.

Is the Church of Rome Babylon of the Apocalypse? This is a distinct question from-Is Popery the ȧrooraσía described by St. Paul?

But, if Rome be Babylon, then St. Paul's word, àñoσraoía, is not too strong for Popery.

* ναὸν Θεοῦ (says Theodoret ad loc.) τὰς ἐκκλησίας ὠνόμασεν, iv aic poεdpiar àpráce. In templo, id est in Ecclesiá Dei, says Bp. Andrewes adv. Bellarmin. cap. ix. p. 225, 226. It is very surprising, that the doctrine maintained by the most learned Prelate of the English Church, should now be censured by some as puritanical! The ninth chapter of the Bishop's work (which is specially commended to Students in Theology by Bishop Jeremy Taylor, in his very interesting and valuable letter lately discovered by Dr. Todd,) is entitled "Ex secundo capite secundæ ad Thessal. probabiliter colligi Romanum Pontificem esse Antichristum." See Appendix I.

† βδέλυγμα.