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the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.—We have had the ministers and members of the church represented by the living ones and the elders, and now a new class of worshipers is introduced with the name of angels. At the first occurrence of this word in this vision, it is important to note its signification. Beside designating an order of beings superior to ourselves, the term is used in the Old and New Testaments to signify any agent or instrumentality, good or bad, animate or inanimate, which God employs to accomplish his purposes. It is defined to be one who performs the office of an envoy or messenger," from a word which signifies to lead. In the Apocalypse it is used to designate those who succeeded the apostles in the care of the churches, denominated also stars. 1: 20; 2: 1. It is applied also to civil officers, as in chap. 9: 14, 15, where the four angels who were bound by the river Euphrates, mean the four leaders, or sultans of the Seljukian Turks, who in the tenth century crossed that river with an immense army, and overturned the Saracen dominion in western Asia. In the preceding chapter, the king of the locusts, i.e. the Saracens, is called the angel of the bottomless pit. This angel was Mahomet. So the seven angels with the vials of the last seven plagues, and others in other instances, mean human agents and instrumentalities by which God executes his judgments and performs his will.

The angel worshipers, in the case before us, I would consider to be civil rulers and officers of government, and their position in the rear of the elders, and encompassing them, as foreshowing the important fact, that civil rulers and governments would protect the church in the enjoyment of Christian privileges, join in its worship, and participate in its blessings. It is, in fact, a symbolic representation of what the ancient prophets so often and so rap

turously foretold, that "Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens thy nursing mothers;" "The Lord will arise upon thee, and his glory will be seen upon thee; and the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." "The abundance of the sea shall be converted to thee, and the forces of the Gentiles shall come to thee." "Their kings shall minister unto thee." In the description which John gives of the last and most perfect state of the church on earth, he says: "The kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it." The design of this introductory vision appears to be, to show what the church in this world would be; and as the worship and praise here described is that of believers in this life, it is most congruous, and most in harmony with the scope of the vision to consider the term angels as designating civil rulers and distinguished officers of government. company of the redeemed, who render devout ascription of praise, was a vast, an innumerable multitude.

This

12. Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.—They declare that Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was slain, is worthy to receive, to have and possess, or to have ascribed to him, the power to reign as king, the riches, all that is necessary for supplying the wants of his people, the wisdom to guide all the affairs of the church and the world, the strength to uphold his friends and subdue his enemies, and the honor, such as is due to him, and the glory or renown, and the blessing or praise.

13. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and

glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever.-In this ascription, according to commentators, "they were joined by all the inhabitants of heaven and earth, and the souls of those who were in the separate state, whose bodies were under the earth, or in the sea, or by all creatures in the universe, with the exception of none but the determined enemies of God." This, of course, is a literal understanding and a literal interpretation, and an assumption that these things really occurred before the eyes of the apostolic seer, all of which are erroneous. The whole is symbolic and prophetic, showing that Christ, according to the promise of the Father, and the utterances of the prophets, would, in due time, have the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession; that all enemies shall be put under his feet; that his name shall be praised from the rising to the setting sun-in a word, that he shall receive the homage of all mankind. Furthermore, these were visionary representations, divinely produced phantasms, not real transactions, and their fulfillment is to be in the church in this world.

Heaven is the symbol of government, and every creature, or as in the original, every created thing, are those who administer the government, called in a preceding verse angels. Those on earth are the mass of the people who are subject to the ruling authority. Those under the earth are those who are in a state of bondage; and those who are in the sea are those who inhabit the islands of the sea. Thus, the persons meant in this passage are people of all classes, rulers and subjects, bond and free. We find a similar classification in the fifteenth verse of the next chapter, thus: The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man hid them

selves. Also, in 19: 18. These all unite in devoutly ascribing praise, honor, glory, and power to Him who sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever. The church is to advance until it has universal dominion, and the people of all nations and conditions shall know and adore Jehovah and his Christ.

This metaphorical use of the terms heaven, and earth, and sea, is common, not only in this book, but throughout the sacred scriptures. The reference is not to the material universe, but to people in different civil and social conditions. For instance, Ps. 96: 1, Sing unto the Lord all the earth, meaning all the people of the land. Isa. 49 : 13, Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth;-civil rulers and the people were to rejoice. Isa. 65: 16, 18, The former troubles are forgotten; for behold, I create new heavens and a new earth-for I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. The last clause is explanatory, and shows clearly that a happy change was to be made in the civil, social and religious state of the people. Things were to be made new in the government and in the church, and, of course, in the condition of those who were concerned. Jer. 22: 29, 0 earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord,-which is a call made to the people. In chapter 7 : 3, the command is given: Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees,-where the people of different conditions are meant. Instances of this kind are too numerous to be cited here. They will appear in the course of our exegesis.

14. And the four beasts said, Amen.-The four liv ing creatures, representing Christ's ministers, gave a hearty response, expressive of their desire that so it may be. The elders prostrated themselves and worshiped Him who liveth forever and ever. Such is the true church, and such is its worship. Such is its love of revealed

truth-such is and ever will be its gratitude for the disclosures which Christ has made of the will and purposes of God, and such is the shadowing forth of its future triumphs and glory.

It is manifest, that Christ is joined with the Father in all these adorations of the true church. He who gave

the revelation of these things has thus sanctioned such worship. He has shown us, prospectively, that the saints will thus worship forever and ever. Does, then, this book teach the practice of idolatry, or is Christ a proper object of adoration and praise?

In these sublime ascriptions it is declared, that Christ hath redeemed us to God with his blood, which is a direct affirmation of the doctrine of the atonement. The foundation of all the excellencies, privileges, and hopes of believers is, that Christ died for them, and this will furnish the chief burden of their songs, in their earthly pilgrimage and in their eternal home.

CHAPTER VI.

The Opening of the Seals.

1. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals ; and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.-The contents of the book or the roll, are now to be made known. The first seal is broken; and the attention of the apostle is called to the disclosure by a voice like the noise of thunder, saying, Come and see. This voice was uttered by the first of the four living creatures, whose characteristics were those of a lion, showing perhaps, that the preachers of the gospel in

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