The Revelation Explained Part 22

24. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Following the moral fall of Babylon and the call of G.o.d's people out of her, a mighty angel predicts her eternal doom. "With violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and _shall be found no more at all_."

This doubtless has reference to the entire city of Babylon in all her divisions brought to view in this series of prophecy and shows her final destruction at the coming of Christ, when she shall suddenly be thrown with terrific force, like a great millstone descending into the sea, and "shall be found no more at all." According to the symbols here given she will be like a city completely destroyed, not one inhabitant or living creature remaining. Thus her eternal doom is pictured and remains to be yet fulfilled.

"And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." We have already shown that Protestantism, as well as her mother Romanism, has been guilty of shedding innocent blood; and as the term Babylon includes both these divisions, when the great city is thrown down with violence, Romanism and Protestantism will sink together, and then this awful treasure--the blood of prophets and of saints--shall be brought to light in that last great day of G.o.d Almighty.

CHAPTER XIX.

And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our G.o.d:

2. For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great wh.o.r.e, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

3. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.

4. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and wors.h.i.+pped G.o.d that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.

5. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our G.o.d, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.

6. And I heard as it were the voice of a great mult.i.tude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord G.o.d omnipotent reigneth.

7. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

8. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

9. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of G.o.d.

10. And I fell at his feet to wors.h.i.+p him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: wors.h.i.+p G.o.d: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The scene of this vision is laid in heaven. John heard a great voice of much people saying, "Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our G.o.d." This great song of praise doubtless came from the lips of the angelic throng; for immediately the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders reechoed the same shout of praise, saying, "Amen; Alleluia." Then came a voice from the throne calling upon the servants of G.o.d, both small and great, to unite on this occasion in one grand and sacred song of praise; and this sublime chorus fell upon the ear of the enraptured apostle "as it were the voice of a great mult.i.tude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord G.o.d omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife [or bride] hath made herself ready." Was not here a hearty response to that call, "Rejoice over her thou heaven"? While this scene shows the interest all heaven takes in these wondrous scenes of earth, it is doubtless intended especially to represent the joy and thanksgiving of G.o.d's people who have "gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name."

The marriage of the Lamb which was about to take place was a special theme of joy on this occasion. In the Scripture the term _marriage_ is frequently used to represent a special union between Christ and his people. Thus, the early church was represented as being free because of the death of the law, that they "should be _married_ to another, even to him who is raised from the dead." Rom. 7:4. So, also, the eternal union of Christ with his people is here described under the figure of marriage. In one sense they have been married to Christ all through this dispensation; in another sense they have not. The church has had the promise of this eternal union, hence she has been betrothed to Christ; but left in the world, she has been driven into the wilderness, while a corrupt and drunken prost.i.tute and her harlot daughters have been in the public view. Now, however, the judgments of G.o.d have descended upon Babylon, and the bride of Christ appears in all her beauty again, "arrayed in fine linen, clean and white"; and the next great event is her public marriage to Christ when he comes to claim her as his own.

The marriage scene is one of the most joyful that we witness on earth, and among Eastern nations especially was celebrated with great pomp and magnificence, the joy and splendor of the occasion being enhanced according to the rank and wealth of the parties. But earth has never witnessed such an event as this special _marriage of the Lamb_. Well may the inhabitants of heaven and earth, in view of this sublime spectacle, swell the song of praise--"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." The special preparations that the bride is making represents the glorious holiness reformation that is now sweeping over the world, gathering G.o.d's people together for the splendid event.

"Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."

"These are the true sayings of G.o.d." They are almost too glorious to be believed; still, they are no idle dreams of fancy: they are true, yea "the true sayings of G.o.d." In the contemplation of such a wonderful event, the beloved apostle was carried away, as it were, with holy enthusiasm, and he fell at the feet of the angel to wors.h.i.+p. We do not know just what the motives or impressions were that caused him to do this. But his soul was full, full to overflowing, and he could not but adore and wors.h.i.+p. The angel, however, refused the homage thus offered, by the declaration that he himself, also, was the servant of Christ and one of the brethren that had the testimony of Jesus; "for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." The idea is: "I am a fellowservant with you, and we both have his testimony. You bear witness to him now in this present generation; I bear witness to those who are to come. You witness now of his death and resurrection; I tell of his future glory and triumphs. We are both, therefore, engaged in the same good work. The testimony of Jesus and the spirit of prophecy are the same. To G.o.d, therefore, we must both bow." See remarks on chap. 1:1.

11. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

12. His eyes were as a flame _of_ fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

13. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of G.o.d.

14. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

15. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty G.o.d.

16. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

That the person described in this vision is Christ is questioned by no one. He is the same one who appeared to John in the beginning. Then he stood in the midst of the seven golden candle-sticks, the sure defense of the churches, holding the seven stars in his right hand. Now, however, he appears from the opened heavens on a white horse, his mission "to judge and make war." The description of his person, his names, and his attributes, unmistakably proclaim him the Son of G.o.d. He is the "faithful and true," the name by which he made himself known to the churches of Philadelphia and Laodicea. "His eyes as a flame of fire"

denotes omniscience; and as a searcher of all hearts he made himself known to the church of Thyatira. "Many crowns" are a symbol of supreme sovereignty and doubtless signify his many victories. "And he had a name written which no man knew but he himself." He had names by which he might be known to mortals; but he had one name that no created intelligence could understand: it was known only to him. What that name was, of course, is not given; it could not be. If the human mind could not conceive it, human language could not convey it. We can know him as the Faithful and true Witness, as the Word of G.o.d, and as King of kings and Lord of lords; but there is one name that we can not know. His "vesture dipped in blood" refers, not to the blood of atonement, but to the blood of his enemies sprinkled upon his raiment in treading the winepress of G.o.d's wrath, and denotes that he was going forth to the dread work of vengeance. To this I shall refer more fully hereafter. His name is also called "the Word of G.o.d," which, when used as a personal appellation in the Scriptures, always signifies Jesus Christ.

Before considering his mission further and the armies that accompanied him, I wish to call special attention to the nature and the chronology of this event. If the present series of prophetic symbols (which begin with chap. 17) is a narrative of continuous events reaching to the end, then the vision before us is a description of the second coming of Christ, the event which was just previously announced and for which the bride had made herself ready. The usual interpretation given it is, that it is a sublime description of the servants of Christ going forth under his direction to spread the truth everywhere among the nations--in short, that it is the triumph of gospel truth over error under the _providential_ government of Christ. That such a meaning can be derived from the vision by taking it in a _figurative_ sense there can be no doubt, and this is what commentators generally do. They make the whole a figurative description of the triumph of the gospel, Christ being present only by his superintending providence. It is made simply a highly poetic description of the victory of truth and righteousness. In this case, however, the principles of symbolic language are clearly abandoned and a mere ordinary figurative meaning given. If we follow strictly the laws of symbolic language, as we manifestly ought, we shall be compelled to take another view of it.

In the first place, if this does not describe the actual coming of Christ, then his second coming is nowhere described in the Revelation.

That so great an event should merely be alluded to in a few places and nowhere symbolically described seems incredible. At the judgment scene brought to view in the following chapter the presence of Christ is _a.s.sumed_, but it is not stated. Again, there are no victories of love and mercy described at all in the vision before us; but, on the contrary, it is a scene of fearful judgment--a terrible treading of "the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty G.o.d," the complete overthrow of every opposing power; while the beast and the false prophet are represented as taken and cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. Surely, this is not the work of the church of G.o.d. But let it be remembered especially that this last event takes place under the _seventh_ plague, which is the "filling up" of the wrath of G.o.d, and that Christ previously announced under the sixth vial, "Behold, _I come_ as a thief." Christ comes in reality when this seventh plague occurs. To represent the glorious triumphs of Christianity by the mission of the church, the gospel and the Holy Spirit, under the symbol of Christ, going forth to judge, to make war, and to tread the winepress of G.o.d's wrath, is at war with every principle of symbolic language.

But can this vision of Christ upon a white horse denote a mere providential superintendence, such as Christ constantly exercises over the church and its spiritual affairs on earth? Certainly not by any principle of symbolic language. Throughout the whole prophecy thus far we have seen that whenever any symbolic agent is brought upon the panorama, whether horseman, or beasts, or locusts, or harlot, or whatever else, it always denotes some corresponding agents appearing on earth and beginning their appropriate work. The symbolic agent is real.

But here is a symbolic appearance of Christ. By what law could such a symbolic appearance represent merely a providential superintendence? And if his appearance was necessary in this case, why was it not necessary in every event, to show that it was done under his direction? Again, if this symbolic appearance of Christ is not his real appearance, how can we tell that there is any reality in the appearance of the hors.e.m.e.n of the first four seals, the ten-horned beast, or the harlot woman? What right have we to remove one agent from the panorama as an actual agent there any more than another? And if this is not his real appearance, upon what principle of interpretation can we ever establish the fact of his second coming? It is evident to all that, if we can turn this agent into a mere providential one, we can do the same with another, and thus set aside his second coming altogether. Then, what shall we say in the next chapter when some one steals our weapons and declares that the great white throne before which all the dead, small and great, stand is nothing but that providential government of G.o.d under which all sinners pa.s.s condemnation upon themselves and their sins find them out? If we can deal thus with symbols, we can do anything with them and can make out any meaning we please.

The laws of symbolic language require us to take the appearance of Christ in this vision just as we do the appearance of any other agent, as a real event. We can not consistently give it any other meaning. His _symbolic_ appearance must represent his _real_ appearance; otherwise, it can never be represented by anything. Jesus appears in his own name and person because there is no other that can represent his infinite dignity and majesty. And the symbols connected with him denote the object of his mission and the work which he performs. His white horse shows him now a glorious conqueror; his crowns denote his supreme dominion; the sword of his mouth and his vesture dipped in blood denote the dread work of vengeance upon his enemies; while the army following him doubtless denotes the "ten thousands of his saints" that accompany him when he comes. Jude 14. The bride has already prepared herself for his coming, and now the eternal union takes place. "Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."

17. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great G.o.d;

18. That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses; and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

19. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

20. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that wors.h.i.+pped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

21. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

The foregoing explanation so nearly covers this ground that little remains to be said. The symbol is that of vast slaughter on a battle-field, which gathers all the birds of heaven and the beasts of the forest to the prey. The enemies gathered for this battle were "the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies," together with the false prophet. This is the grand confederacy of wickedness formed under the mission of the three unclean spirits that went forth, not only unto the kings of the earth, but also into the whole world. This is not a literal collecting of armies, hence not a literal slaughter upon a battlefield, nor a literal a.s.sembling of carrion birds; but it is a symbolic representation of the final and eternal destruction of the allied powers of sin. As will be further described in the following chapter, they were gathered together for the purpose of overthrowing the church of G.o.d and antic.i.p.ated a complete victory in the battle of Armageddon; but the sudden appearance of Jesus Christ to rescue his bride results in their complete overthrow. The special theme of this series of prophecy has been the history of apostate Christendom; hence the beast and the false prophet are represented as being taken and thrown into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. "The remnant" that were slain refers to the other powers of wickedness not embraced in Catholicism and Protestantism This series being now traced to its close, the narrative returns to take up another important theme of prophetic truth.

CHAPTER XX.

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.

3. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

It is commonly supposed that the events here described are to occur at the second advent; but by considering carefully the different things enumerated in this chapter--the binding of the dragon; then a thousand years; after that the Armageddon battle; and last of all the judgment scene, in which all the dead, both small and great, are rewarded, and all the powers of wickedness cast into the lake of fire--it will be seen at once that this is not a continuation of the series of prophecy immediately preceding, but an entirely new theme, running partly parallel with that series, and both ending at the same point--the second coming of Christ and the general judgment, in which the lake of fire is the final doom of the combined powers of wickedness. In that series the beast and the false prophet--Romanism and Protestantism--were the chief powers of evil under consideration; in this series the dragon feature predominates. If this be not true, then there will be two judgment scenes and the wicked cast into the lake of fire twice. Positive proof of the position here taken will be given as we proceed.

The power here referred to as "the Devil and Satan" is also denominated "the dragon." This use of the definite article shows clearly that a particular character is designated--_the_ dragon--and implies that the object has already been introduced. In his first appearance upon the symbolic panorama (chap. 12:3) he is simply styled _a_ dragon, but in every subsequent instance he is called _the_ dragon, which proves that the same character is meant. In addition to the former remarks on chapter 12:9 relative to the terms applied to this antichristian power, the following quotation from the People's Cyclopaedia will throw some light on the subject: "In the mythical history and legendary poetry of almost every nation, the dragon appears as the emblem of the destructive and anarchistic principle.... Like the serpent, the dragon is always a minister of evil ... the object of which is to fight order, harmony, and progress. In Christian art, the dragon is the emblem of sin.... It is often represented as crushed under the feet of saints and martyrs....

Sometimes its prostrate att.i.tude signifies the triumph of Christianity over Paganism." Art. Dragon. Considering this usage of these terms for ages, it is not strange that they were applied also to that great antichristian, persecuting system of Paganism, which stood before Christianity as its greatest barrier to "order, harmony, and progress."

The angel that overthrew this public system of Pagan infidelity symbolizes the primitive host of Christians, the ministers in particular. Some have supposed that he represented Christ; but, as already shown conclusively, Christ can not be symbolized by an inferior intelligence, hence always appears upon the scene in his own character, proclaiming his own eternal name. The fact that this angel possessed the key of the bottomless pit is no proof that he is Christ, even though in chapter 1:18 Jesus is said to have certain keys; for in chapter 9:1 we find that a _fallen star_--the symbol of Mohammed--is said to have "the key of the bottomless pit" also. At the most, this expression is only a symbol of power and authority, be it good or bad. In the gospel the same figure is applied to G.o.d's ministers, where they are given authority to bind the powers of wickedness on earth. Mat. 16:19; 18:18. The chain is a symbol of the power to bind.

When Christianity first commenced its warfare with this huge system of error, almost the entire then-known world was under its deceptive influence; but by a long conflict, in which thousands of the n.o.ble followers of the Lamb were slaughtered, this antichristian public system of Pagan infidelity was at last completely overthrown, and the final result was, that the civilized world became as completely Christian (nominally at least) as it ever had been Pagan. This great transformation could never have been effected without the undying heroism and whole-hearted consecration of the first disciples of Christ.