Page images
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and bell delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

[New heaven and earth.

written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (M)

CHAP. XXI.

ND I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

2 And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a

15 And whosoever was not found bride adorned for her husband.

EXPOSITION-Chap. XX. Continued.

(M) Ver. 11-15. The general resurrection and final judgment.—There is something peculiarly sublime in the scene now before us-" a great white throne❞— that is, a throne, not of ivory, nor of silver, but of white and pure light. Of him that fills the throne there is no description; but his presence is of such awful majesty, that heaven recedes before him, and the earth vanishes. Nothing is great enough, or pure enough, to be visible when he appears so the glow-worm becomes invisible as the sun rises.

But the dead, "small and great," that is, of every rank and class, must appear before him as their judge. It is ob servable that we have here no description of the process of the resurrection-such as poets and painters have sometimes injudiciously attempted. The Judge appears, and the dead-just and unjust-stand instantaneously before his bar. The books are opened, and the dead are judged out of the things written in those books, ac. cording to their works. The record of their actions is written by the pen of omniscience and eternal justice; and who dare object? But here is mention of another book, of which we often read in the sacred Scriptures-it is "the book of life the book of life of the Lamb slain," that is, as we humbly conceive (in allusion to human affairs), the Lamb's own book, in which he enters the objects of his love and grace. The records of justice would certainly condemn us all; but this is a

register of mercy, in which, as good Be Beveridge expresses it, “the black lines of our sins are crossed out by the red lines of our Saviour's blood." All whose names are not written there are without hope, though their names may be written on earth is marble or in gold.

But what is the meaning of being judged according to our works? Applied to mankind in general, it implies a judgment proportioned to their sins, and to the cir cumstances under which they are placed Applied to believers, though in no case can any degree of merit be admitted, yet does it furnish the scale of measurement, if we may so speak, by which their rewards will be adjusted, as respects their diligence and fidelity. "To them who, by patient com tinuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and honour, and immortality, [he will give] eternal life." (Rom. ii. 7.)

That death and the grave (or invisible world) gave up their dead we can easily understand; but what is meant by "death and hell," or the grave, or invisible world being "cast into the lake of fire," is not so clear. We apprehend, with Mr. Lowman, that it is designed to intimate that there will be in future no intermediate state, no death, no grave the whole human race will in future be found in heaven or hell, in eternal life or everlast ing misery!-Awful thought! how import aut is it to secure a place for our names in the Lamb's book of life!

[ocr errors]

Ver. 13. And hell.-Marg. “ the grave.”

NOTES.

CHAP. XXI. Ver. 1. A new heaven, &c.-Compare Isa. Ixv. and 1xvi. and Exposition. No more sea. This may metaphorically intend, that whereas

the beasts, both of Daniel and St. John, rose out el that state of trouble and commotion which is represented by the sea, the cause shall be now done away for ever. If taken literally, it may intend, that the whole globe will be rendered habitable.

The tabernacle]

CHAP. XXI.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed

away.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

[of God with mėn.

6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (N)

9¶ And there came unto me one of

CHAP. XXI.

EXPOSITION.

(N) Ver. 1-8. The new heaven and earth, and who shall be excluded therefrom. -Before we enter upon this chapter, it will be necessary to revert to some passages in the second Epistle of Peter, and other Scriptures, which we have already briefly noticed. St. Peter tells us, that "The heavens and earth which are now, are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men;-that the day of the Lord [here spoken of] will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." Let us now contemplate the fulfilment of this Scripture; but previous to our surveying the new heaven and earth, let us pause a moment, and admire the astounding scene, of

....

"A God in glory, and a world on fire!"

Dr. Thos. Burnett, whose " theory of the earth" is too philosophical, or rather too fanciful, to be adopted in our pages, has some contemplations that have been admired for their beauty and sublimity, and well deserve to be read for their practical effect. From these we shall give one

short extract on the scene before us. Dr. B. supposes the conflagration now universal and complete; and seated, as it were, upon a vagrant cloud, he looks down and asks, "Where are now the great empires of the world, and their great imperial cities?-their pillars, trophies, and monuments of glory? Show me where they stood!" And then turning his eye, as it were, to look for a spot of peculiar interest, he exclaims-"Rome itself, eternal Rome, the great city, the empress of the world, whose domination and superstition, ancient and modern, make a great part of the history of this earth-what is become of her now? She laid her foundations deep, and her palaces were strong and sumptuous. She glorified herself, and lived deliciously, and said in her heart, I sit a queen, and shall see no sorrow! But her hour is come; she is wiped away from the face of the earth-buried in perpetual oblivion. But they are not cities only, and works of men's hands, but the everlasting hills, the mountains and rocks of the earth, are melted as wax before the sun, and their place is no where found."

"The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherits shall dissolve,
And like the baseless fabric of a vision,
Leave not a wreck behind."

Shakspeare.

NOTES.

Ver. 7. Shall inherit all things.-Marg. "These things." So the Alexandrian MS., Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic versions.

Ver. 8. The fearful, and unbelieving.-Woodh. "The cowardly, and the faithless." Lowman," The cowardly and distrustful."

[blocks in formation]

the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

14 And the wall of the city had

[New Jerusalem.

twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

16 And the city lieth four-square, and the length is as large as the breadth and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first

EXPOSITION-Chap. XXI. Continued.

But let us turn our attention to the new heavens and the new earth now before us. We have already mentioned, that many divines, those in particular who expect the personal reign of Christ in the Millennium, consider this chapter as retrospective, and designed to give a more full account of the events of that period, and particularly the restoration of the Jews. But, upon a most attentive consideration of the subject, we confess ourselves compelled to reject that idea, and chiefly for this reason, that sin, and sorrow, and death, are now for ever done away; which caunot be the case in the Millennium, because that will end with the insurrection of Gog and Magog. But no enemy now remains: not only the beast and the false prophet, but Satan himself,

is cast into the bottomless pit, to be libe rated no more for ever. God and redeemed sinners are completely and for ever re conciled, therefore will he dwell for ever with them, and be their God. But he that is now shut out of this celestial state, must be shut out for ever. "The fearful and unbelieving"-by whom we do not understand timid and weak believers, but co ardly apostates, and impenitent transgressors" the abominable, and mor derers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death." On the contrary, he that has been "faithful unto death," and overcome the world, with its temptations and its

NOTES-Chap. XXI. Con.

Ver. 14. Twelve foundations.-The ancients built their walls with alternate layers of brick and stone, here improperly (perhaps) rendered foundations. But instead of this wall being built with alternate layers of brick and common stone, it is built with layers of various precious stones, which rendered even the foundations inconceivably beautiful and splendid.-Orient. Customs, No. 1400.

Ver. 16. The city lieth four-square.-Woodhouse, "quadrangular" i. e. having four equal sides.Twelve thousand furlongs-1. e. says Mr. Lowman, 1500 miles in compass, each side being 375 miles long. The length, and the breadth, and the

height equal.-Mr. Lowman explains this, not as forming an exact cube, but as having all the parts in a due proportion; or as being of a uniform height.

Ver. 19. Garnished with all manner of precious stones. Compare Isa. liv. 11, 12; on which Bishop Lowth pertinently observes, "These seem to be general images, to express beauty, magnificence, pority, strength, and solidity, agreeably to the ideas of eastern nations; and to have never been intended to be strictly scrutinized, or minutely and partieslarly explained, as if each of them had some moral and precise meaning."

CHAP. XXI.

Its splendour] foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine

[and glory.

in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day for there shall be no night there.

26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. (0)

EXPOSITION.

snares, " he shall inherit all things;" or, as the margin explains it, "all these things," great and blessed as they are, which God has provided and reserved for them that love him.

(0) Ver. 9-27. The New Jerusalem described, with the privileges of its inhabitants. The quadrangular was the favourite form of the ancients, in building both their cities and their houses. And though, as Mr. Lowman suggests, there may be no necessity for supposing the height of the walls equal to the dimensions of the city; yet as the foundations were twelve layers deep, so the walls were, doubtless, furnished with lofty turrets, which would make the whole appear very considerable; and high walls and towers were thought not only an ornament, but a protection to a city. Wherefore the Psalmist says"Walk about Zion, and count the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks; consider her palaces." (Ps. xlviii. 12, 13.) And if the proud sons of Babel (Gen. xiv.) were ambitious to build their tower to the skies; and if it is said of the cities of Ca

[ocr errors]

naan, that they were "walled up to heaveu (Deut. i. 28), it could not be an unwarrantable hyperbole to say of the New Jerusalem, that its height was equal to its breadth. The ideas meant to be conveyed, were certainly grandeur and security.

To view this city, St. John was conducted to an exceedingly high mountain, from whence he saw the New Jerusalem, or perhaps a model of it, gradually descending from the throne of God in heaven. She is spoken of as the bride, the Lamb's wife, and is said to be "adorned as a bride for her husband," which accounts for the gold and jewels with which she (the city) is so richly embellished. Her foundations being of precious stones, and inscribed with the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, plainly indicates the precious truths which they delivered in his name. (See 1 Pet. ii. 4, 7.) Her gates are pearls, on which are engraved the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; intimating, that none but Israelites indeed are admitted within these walls. When it is said, the street, or open part of the city, is "pure gold, transparent as glass," we may understand, that the ma

NOTES.

Ver. 21. The street of the city." This seems well understood by Grotius (says Mr. Lowman), of the Forum, or place of public assembly, which is described as paved either with squares of gold and chrystals, or with chrystal squares set in gold borders; than which imagination can conceive nothing more rich and magnificent."

Ver. 23. The glory of God did lighten it-Not only Mr. Fleming, and other Millenarians, explain this of the shechinah, or cloud of glory, which led the Israelites through the red sea, and in their subsequent journies (Exod. xiv. 20, 24, &c. &c.); but

even Lowman and Dr. Doddridge give this explication: and let no philosopher sneer at it, since Dr. Herschell thinks that he has discovered our sun to be an opaque body, enlightened by a phosphoric atmosphere!

Ver. 24. The kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it--That is, says Doddridge, If you were to conceive all the monarchs upon earth uniting all their treasures to adorn one single place, they would produce nothing comparable to what I then saw. Compare Isa, Ix.3.

The river of life]

CHAP. XXII.

REVELATION.

AND he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

[and paradise of God.

3 And there shall be no more curse? but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

4 And they shall see his face; und his name shall be in their foreheads. 5 And there shall be no night there: and they need no candle, neither lig of the sun; for the Lord God give them light and they shall reign ever and ever. (P)

6¶ And he said unto me, These say ings are faithful and true: and the

EXPOSITION.

terials of which the city is composed are distinguished both by splendor and intrinsic value. "There being no temple, nor sun, nor moon (says Mr. Fuller), denotes that there will be no need of those means of grace which we now attend upon: what we now receive mediately, we shall then receive immediately. Finally, the nations of the saved walking in the light of it, may allude to the interest which surrounding nations take in a metropolitan city; and denotes that the saved, who have been gathered from all nations, will rejoice in the honour which God will have bestowed upon his church.”

The city before us is represented as of immense size, namely, 12,000 furlongs (or 1500 miles) in length and breadth; yet there is no surrounding country mentioned, though much seems to be implied, by its gates remaining always open; and by kings bringing into it their "glory and honour," as is customary in royal cities. But we understand "nations walking in the light of it," in a manner somewhat different from Mr. Fuller, as above quoted. Many divines have supposed, that this New Jerusalem will be enlightened by a divine shechinah, a glory so brilliant and so ele vated, as that all the nations of the redeemed may be illumined by it. nothing defiling or defiled can enter into this heavenly world.

But

One thing, perhaps, has not been Szficiently considered, namely, that there "was no more sea." It is well know), that the ocean covers by far the larger pat of our present globe, and if all the par covered by seas and lakes, and marshes, and barren rocks and arid sands, were clothed with vegetable food, as was para dise at the creation, it would not, perhaps be too much to suppose that the earth con maintain many times its present number inhabitants: not to say, from the enlarg scale on which every thing in this world is represented, it seems highly p bable that the new earth may be very c siderably enlarged, and even perhaps & communication allowed with other wars of pure and happy beings. But this is of fered only as conjectural.

CHAP. XXII.

(P) Ver. 1-5. The river and tree f life, and the glory of this New Jerusaha. -Our Lord assures us, that the childre of the resurrection "neither marry are given in marriage," it not being the design of God farther to increase the spe cies. It has been hence also generally is ferred, that they will neither cat nordrink: and it may be so; yet our Lord ate eve animal food after his resurrection (Luke xxiv. 42, 43); and here is described ap radise of fruits, resembling that given to

NOTES.

CHAP. XXII Ver. 1. A pure river of water of life.-Compare Ezek. xlvii. 12, and Exposition. Compare also Gen. ii. 9, 10.

Ver. 2. For the healing of the nations.-This seems to imply, that the inhabitants will be still subject to disease, which, we apprehend, was not intended. The original word signifies to serve, as well as to heal; and the writer begs leave to suggest, that the passage might be rendered, for the service of the nations, without restraining it to heal

ing; or, as Mr. Wesley explains it, "for the ca nuing of their health, not the restoring it, fer sickness is there."

Ver. 5. And they need no candle.-Doddridge, "Jamp."

Ver. 6. And he said.-Doubtless, the angels had been instructing St. John in the preced sions. These sayings.-Compare chap. xix.!; xxi. 5.

« PreviousContinue »