Apocalypse

The Lord had given the Apostolic Church the special gift of prophecy, by which ordinary Christians as well as the apostles were able to predict future events. Prophetical passages are found in a number of books of the New Testament, for instance, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10; 1 Timothy 4:1-3. But the prophecy of the last book of the Bible belongs to that special form of foretelling future events which is known as apocalypsis, in which the future is unveiled to the eyes of the seer in the form of visions or pictures. Thus we have here a symbolic history of the fortunes of the Church from the first century to the end of time. “In a series of vivid pictures John was shown how the Church would develop, pass through dreadful conflicts with the wicked powers of earth and hell, and ultimately gain the victory.”

Author and date

The author of the book calls himself God’s servant John, Revelation 1:1, without assuming the designation of apostle. But since he wrote to seven congregations of Asia Minor, and, moreover, writes as one having unusual authority, there is no reason to question the tradition that it was the Apostle John who received the revelation from the Lord and embodied it in this book. He was at that time an exile on the island of Patmos in the Southeastern Aegean Sea, off the coast of Asia Minor, having been banished to this mountainous, barren, and lonely spot “for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus,” Revelation 1:9. It was on the Lord’s Day, on a Sunday, that John was granted these visions, his mind, through the influence of God, being in a peculiarly detached condition, making it possible for him to visit remote places in spirit while his body was on Patmos. The banishment of John probably took place during the reign of the Emperor Domitian, and the book was written in the nineties of the first century.

Recipients

The Book of Revelation was written to the seven congregations of Asia Minor, which are named, Revelation 1:11. It was designed to meet an immediate need on the part of those to whom it was addressed, but, like the other books of the New Testament, it serves for consolation to the children of God in the manifold trials and tribulations which are the lot of the believers in Christ until the end of time. “The prophecy of the ultimate triumph of the kingdom of God over all hostile forces of earth and hell, the promise of the coming of Christ, the pictures of heaven with its glory and joys, have been a source of cheer, comfort, and courage to millions of Christians.”

Contents

Although the book may be divided in various ways, the following outline will serve for orientation. After the introduction we may distinguish seven visions. The first vision shows us Christ as the Ruler of His Church, governing the believers by means of His Word. In the second vision we see Him as King of the universe, who controls and directs even the evil for the benefit of His Church. In the third vision, Christ appears as the High Priest of His Church, permitting no false spirits to overcome its power. The fourth vision pictures Christ’s fight with the dragon, the power of the godless world, and with Antichrist. The fifth vision shows the avenging judgment of God upon the enemies up to the time that the elect strike up the song of triumph. The sixth vision shows Christ as the Master of the dragon, the latter being finally thrown into the bottomless pit. The seventh vision paints a comforting picture of the perfection of the Kingdom of Glory in the heavenly Jerusalem. The book concludes with the appealing cry: “Even so, come, Lord, Jesus!”

Prophecy

There are many kinds of prophecy in the Church. One is prophecy which interprets the writings of the prophets. Paul speaks of it in 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Corinthians 14, and in other places. This is the most necessary kind and we must have it every day, because it teaches the Word of God, lays the foundation of the Church, and defends the faith; in a word, it rules, preserves, establishes and administers the preaching-office.

Another kind foretells things to come which are not previously contained in Scripture, and this prophecy is of three sorts. The first does it in express words, without symbols and figures. So Moses, David, and more of the prophets prophesy of Christ, and Christ and the apostles prophesy of Antichrist, false teachers, etc. The second sort does this with symbols, but sets alongside them their interpretation in express words. So Joseph interprets dreams and Daniel both dreams and symbols. The third sort of prophecy does it without either words or interpretations, like this book of Revelation and like the dreams, visions and symbols that many holy people have from the Holy Spirit. So in Acts 2:17, Peter proclaims, out of Joel 2:28, “Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your youths shall see visions, and your elders dream dreams.” So long as this kind of prophecy remains without explanation and gets no sure interpretation, it is a concealed and dumb prophecy, and has not yet come to the profit and fruit which it is to give to Christendom.

This is the way it has been with this book heretofore. Many have tried their hands at it, but until this very day they have reached no certainty; and some have brewed into it many stupid things out of their own heads. Because its interpretation is uncertain and its meaning hidden, we, too, have let it alone hitherto, especially since some of the ancient Fathers held the opinion that it was not the work of St. John, the Apostle, as is found in the Ecclesiastical History, Book 3, Chapter 25. This question we, for our part, still leave open, so that no one may be compelled to hold it for the work of St. John, the Apostle, or of whomever else he will. Since, however, we would gladly be certain of its meaning, or interpretation, we will give other, and higher, minds something to think about, and also state our own ideas.

Since it is intended as a revelation of things that are to happen in the future, and especially of tribulations and disasters for the Church, we consider that the first and surest step toward finding its interpretation is to take from history the events and disasters that have come upon the Church before now and hold them up alongside of these pictures and so compare them with the words. If, then, the two were to fit and agree with each other, we could build on that, as a sure, or at least an unobjectionable interpretation.

Chapters 1-3

Accordingly we hold — as, indeed, the text itself says, — that the first three chapters, which speak of the seven congregations in Asia and their angels, have no other purpose than simply to show how these congregations arose at the time, and how they are exhorted to abide and increase, or reform. We learn, besides, that the word “angel” is to be understood later on, in other pictures or visions, to mean bishops and teachers in the Church, — some good, like the holy Fathers and bishops; some bad, like the heretics and false bishops; and in this book there are more of the latter than of the former.

Chapters 4-5

In chapters 4 and 5, there is a picture of the whole Church that is to suffer these future tribulations and plagues. There are four and twenty elders before God (that is, all the bishops and teachers in harmony); they are crowned with faith, and praise Christ, the Lamb of God, with harps (i.e. they preach) and worship Him with censers (i.e. practice themselves in prayer). All this is for the comfort of Christians, that they may know that the Church is to abide, in the plagues that are to come.

Chapter 6

In Revelation 6:1, the future tribulations begin. First come the bodily tribulations, such as persecution by the temporal, government, which is the rider with the bow, upon the white horse; then war and bloodshed, which is the rider with the sword, on the red horse; then scarcity and famine, which is the rider with the scales, on the black horse; then pestilence and the plague, who is the rider like death, upon the pale horse. For these four tribulations always surely follow the ungrateful and the despisers of God’s Word, together with others, such as the overthrow and the changing of governments, all the way down to the Last Day; as is shown in Revelation 6:10; and the souls of the martyrs also work for this, with their crying.

Chapters 7-8

In Revelation 7:2 and 8, begins the revelation of the spiritual tribulations, i.e. all kinds of heresies. This is preceded again by a comforting picture, wherein the angel seals the Christians and keeps off the four bad angels; so that once more it is certain that, even under heretics, the Church will have good angels and the pure Word, as the angel shows with his censer, i.e. with prayer. These good angels are the holy Fathers, like Spiridion, Athanasius, Hilary, the Nicene Council, etc.

The first bad angel is Tatian, with his Enchratites, who forbade marriage and wanted to become righteous by their works, like the Jews.

For the doctrine of works righteousness had to be the first doctrine against the Gospel, and it also remains the last, except that it is always getting new teachers and new names, such as the Pelagians, etc.

The second is Marcion, with his Cataphrygians, Manichaeans, Montanists, etc., who boast their spirits above all the Scriptures and move, like this burning mountain, between heaven and earth, as do, in our day, Munzer and the fanatics.

The third is Origen, who embittered and corrupted the Scriptures with philosophy and reason, as the universities have hitherto done among us.

The fourth is Novatus, with his Cathari, who denied penance, and wanted to be purer than others. Of this sort, too, were, afterwards, the Donatists. Our clergy, however, are all four at once. The scholars, who know history, will know how to reckon this out; for it would take too long to tell it all and prove it.

Chapters 9-10

In chapters 9 and 10 the real misery begins, for these earlier bodily and spiritual tribulations are almost a jest compared with the plagues that are to come. At the end of Revelation 8:13, the angel himself announces that three woes are to come, and these woes are to be inflicted by the other three angels — the fifth, sixth, and seventh — and then the world is to end.

Here both kinds of persecution, the bodily and the spiritual come together, and there are to be three of them — the first great, the second greater, the third the greatest of all.

Now the first woe, the fifth angel, is Arius, the great heretic, and his companions, who plagued the Church so terribly everywhere that the text here says that righteous people would rather have died than see such things; but they had to see them and not die. Indeed, he says that the angel from hell, called the Destroyer, is their king; as if to say that the devil himself rides them. For they persecuted the true Christians, not only spiritually, but physically, with the sword. Read the history of the Arians, and you will understand this figure and these words.

The second woe is the sixth angel, the shameful Mohammed, with his companions, the Saracens, who inflicted a great plague on the Church, with their doctrines and with the sword. Along with this angel, in order that this woe may be all the greater, comes the strong angel with the rainbow: and the bitter book, that is the holy papacy, with its great spiritual show, the masses. They lay hold upon the temple with their laws, throw out the choir and start a sham church, or outward holy place.

Chapters 11-12

In chapters 11 and 12, two comforting pictures are put between these evil woes and plagues; one the picture of the two preachers and the other of the pregnant woman, who bears a man-child, despite the dragon. They indicate that some pious teachers and Christians are to continue, under the first two woes and under the third, which is yet to come. And now the last two woes run together, and make a last combined attack upon the Church, and so, at last, the devil knocks the bottom out of the cask.

Chapter 13

Then comes, in chapter 13 (in answer to the trumpets of the last of the seven angels, who sounds at the beginning of chapter 12), this seventh angel’s work, the third woe, viz., the papal empire and the imperial papacy.

Here the papacy gets the temporal sword also into its power, and rules not only with the book, in the second woe, but also with the sword, in the third woe; for they boast that the pope has both the spiritual and the temporal sword in his power.

Here, then, are the two beasts; the one is the empire, the other, with the two horns, the papacy, which has now become a temporal kingdom, yet with the reputation and name of Christ. For the pope restored the fallen Roman Empire and conveyed from the Greek to the Germans, and it is an image of the Roman Empire rather than the body of the empire, as it once was. Nevertheless, he puts spirit and life into this image, so that it has its classes and laws and members and offices, and actually operates to some extent. This is the image that was wounded and did live.

The abominations, woes, and injuries which this imperial papacy has wrought, cannot now be told. For, in the first place, by means of his book, the world has been filled with all kinds of idolatry — monasteries, foundations, saints, pilgrimages, purgatory, indulgence, celibacy and innumerable other creations of human doctrine and works. In the second place, who can tell how much bloodshed, slaughter, war, and misery the popes have wrought, both by fighting themselves and stirring up the emperors, kings and princes against one another.

Here, now, the devil’s final wrath gets to work; there, in the East, the second woe, Mohammed and the Saracens; here, in the West, papacy and empire, with the third woe. To these is added, for good measure, the Turk, Gog and Magog, as will follow in chapter 20. Thus the Church is plagued most terribly and miserably, everywhere and on all sides, with false doctrines and with wars, with book and sword. That is the dregs, the final plague; after it come almost nothing else than pictures of comfort, telling of the end of all these woes and abominations.

Chapter 14

In chapter 14, Christ first begins to slay His Antichrist with the breath of His mouth, as Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, and the angel with the Gospel comes against the bitter book of the strong angel. The saints and virgins stand again about the Lamb, and preach the truth. Upon this Gospel follows the second angel’s voice, saying that the city of Babylon shall fall and the spiritual papacy be destroyed.

It follows, farther, that the harvest shall come, and those who cleave to the papacy against the Gospel shall be cast outside the city of Christ, into the wine-press of God’s wrath; i.e., by the Gospel they are separated from the Church and condemned to God’s wrath. They are many, and the winepress yields much blood. Or, perhaps, this may be a just punishment and judgment upon our sins, which are beyond measure and overripe.

Chapters 15-16

After this, in chapters 15 and 16, come the seven angels with the seven bowls. The Gospel increases, and attacks the papacy on all sides by means of many learned and pious preachers, and the throne of the beast, the pope’s power, becomes dark and wretched and despised. But they grow wroth and confidently defend themselves; for three frogs, three unclean spirits go forth from the mouth of the beast and stir up kings and princes against the Gospel. But it does not help; the battle takes place at Armageddon. The frogs are the sophists, like Faber and Eck and Eraser. They croak much against the Gospel, but accomplish nothing, and continue to be frogs.

Chapter 17

In chapter 17, the imperial papacy and papal empire is included, from beginning to end, in a single picture, and it is shown, as in a summing up, how it is nothing, — for the ancient Roman Empire is long since gone; and yet exists, — for some of its lands, and the city of Rome besides, are still here. This picture is presented here as one presents a malefactor publicly before a court, so that he may be condemned. It is to be known that this beast, too, is shortly to be damned, and “brought to naught by the manifestation of the Lord’s coming,” as St. Paul says, in 2 Thessalonians 2:8.

Chapter 18

In chapter 18, this destruction begins and the glorious great splendor comes to naught, and the courtesans, who rob the endowments and steal the livings, cease to be; for even Rome must be plundered and stormed by its own protector at the beginning of the final destruction.

Chapter 19

Yet they do not leave off; they seek around, they encourage and arm and defend themselves. As he says here, in chapter 19, when they can do nothing more with the Scriptures and with books, and the frogs have croaked their last, they take hold in earnest, try to win by force, and gather kings and princes for battle. But they are disappointed; the one on the white horse wins, until both beast and prophet are seized and cast into hell.

Chapter 20

While all this is happening, there comes, in Revelation 20:7, the stirrup cup Gog and Magog, the Turks, the red Jews, whom Satan, who has been bound for a thousand years and, after the thousand years, is loose again, brings up; but they are soon to go with him into the lake of fire. For it is our opinion that this picture, which is separate from the preceding, has been put in because of the Turks, and that the thousand years are to begin at the time when this book was written, and that at that time the devil was bound; though the reckoning need not hold out to the very minute. After the Turks, the Last Judgment follows quickly, at the end of this chapter, as Daniel 7:7 also shows.

Chapters 21-22

At last, in chapter 21, the final comfort is depicted. The holy city is completely ready and is led as a bride to the eternal marriage; Christ alone is Lord and all the godless are damned and go, with the devil, into hell.

With this interpretation we can profit by this book and make good use of it. First, for our comfort! We can know that neither force nor lies, neither wisdom nor holiness, neither tribulation nor suffering shall suppress the Church, but it will gain the victory and overcome at last.

Second, for our warning against the great and perilous and manifold offense that is to come upon the Church; for because these mighty and imposing powers are to fight against the Church, and it is to be deprived of outward shape and covered up under so many tribulations and heresies and other faults, it is impossible for the natural reason to recognize the Church. On the contrary, it falls away and takes offense, and calls that the Christian Church which is really the Christian Church’s worst enemy. On the other hand it calls them damned heretics who are really the true Christian Church. This has happened before now under the papacy, and Mohammed, and all other heretics. Thus they lose the article of the Creed, “I believe one holy, Christian Church.”

Some of the wiseacres are doing just that now; they see heresy and dissension and short-comings of many kinds, they see that there are many false, many ill-living Christians; and so they decide off-hand that there are no Christians. They have heard that Christians are to be a holy, peaceful, united, kindly, virtuous folk. Accordingly, they think that there should be among them no offenses, no heresy, no short-comings, but only peace and virtue. They ought to read this book and learn to look upon the Church with other eyes than those of reason.

For this book, I think, shows enough of terrible and monstrous beasts, horrible and vindictive angels, wild and awful plagues. I shall not speak of the other great faults and weaknesses that have always been in the Church and among the Christians, so that the reason has had to lose the Church among such things. Here we see clearly what cruel offenses and shortcomings there have been before our times, and one might think that the Church was now at its best, and that our time is a golden age compared with those that have gone before. Do you not think that the heathen also took offense at these things and held the Christians for self-willed, loose, contentious people?

This article, “I believe one holy, Christian Church,” is an article of faith, as well as the rest. The reason, therefore, cannot recognize it, though it puts all its glasses on. The devil can cover it over with offenses and tumults, so that you have to take offense at it. God, too, can hide it with faults and short- comings of all kinds, so that you become a fool and pass such judgment on it. It will not be known by sight, but by faith, and faith concerns the things we do not see; (Hebrews 11:1); and the Church joins with her Lord in the song, “Blessed is he that takes no offense in me.” (Matthew 11:6). A Christian, too, is hidden from himself; he does not see his holiness and virtue, but sees in himself only lack of virtue and of holiness; and you, dull wise man, would behold the Church with your blind reason and your unclean eyes!

In a word, our holiness is in heaven, and not in the world, before men’s eyes, like goods in the market. Therefore, let there be offenses and tumults and heresy and faults, and let them do what they can! If only the word of the Gospel remains pure among us, and we love and cherish it, we are not to doubt that Christ is with us, even when things are at their worst; for we see, in this book, that, through and above all plagues and beasts and bad angels, Christ is with His saints, and wins the victory at last.

Verses 1-20

The mystery of the seven stars and the seven candlesticks

The superscription:

From the beginning the author claims for his book divine authorship: The apocalypse of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him, to show His servants what is bound to happen soon; and He sent and signified it through His angel to His servant John. Ordinarily the future is hidden from the eyes of men; the knowledge of events that are yet to transpire is a matter of God’s foreknowledge. But as He did in other cases, so He here made a revelation, a disclosure; He drew aside the veil which hides the mysteries of the future from the eyes of the believers. It was a revelation on the part of Jesus Christ, which had been communicated to the Son by the Father, the only-begotten Son of God thus again acting as a messenger and prophet in making known to men the truth of God. This message was directed to the servants of the Lord, to the Christians, and its contents consisted in the relation of certain events which were bound to happen soon according to the will and knowledge of God, happenings of great importance in the history of the Church. In thus uncovering the future, the Lord sent His message through an angel, one of the spirits whose work consists in serving Him, in carrying out His commands. He signified, or revealed, it to John in visions, not in express words and exact language, but in pictures, whose significance is, to some extent, explained.

In this manner the message was to be brought to men: Who bore witness of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, what he saw. John was the instrument or means in spreading the message which he had received. The content of his testimony was the Word of God, the Word which came from God and spoke of God, and the witness of Jesus Christ the Savior. The entire apostolic doctrine is this message of God and of His Son Jesus Christ, in whom He revealed Himself. But in this book John embodied those special truths of the Gospel which he saw in the visions which were vouchsafed to him in such a miraculous manner.

Of the readers he says in a very general manner: Blessed he that reads and they that hear the word of the prophecy and hold firmly to that which is written in it; for the time is near. This is the first of the seven beatitudes in the Book of Revelation, and is purposely set at the head of the book as a whole. Not all the Christians of those days were able to read, since many of them were slaves. Therefore both he that read the words of this message to others and they that listened to, and heeded, its contents are called blessed. For it is not enough to read and hear the prophecy, the Word of the Lord, in a mere mechanical manner, for it is not mere prediction that we are concerned with in these pages, but religious truth and instruction in the way of salvation. It requires a careful and firm keeping, an observing of its injunctions, a relying upon its comforting promises in steadfast faith, Luke 11:28. This attitude is required all the more strongly since “the time” is near, we are living in God’s last hour of the world. As Luther says, this is no time for being slothful and sleeping. Prayerful vigilance must characterize the Christians in these last days of sore distress.

The prolog:

This paragraph strikes the keynote of the entire book, its sentences moving forward with majestic grandeur. This is evident even in the salutation: John to the seven congregations that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him that is and that was and that is coming, and from the seven Spirits that are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the First-born of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. The effect of this greeting is overwhelming in its stateliness and beauty. John is addressing the seven congregations in the province of Asia, the seven principal stations where the Word of God had taken hold, congregations whose conditions permit us to form a picture of the circumstances of the Church of Christ until the end of time. The greeting comprises the summary of the Gospel: grace, the free favor and love which the sinner has in the message of redemption, through the mercy of the Father, through the atonement of the Son, through the sanctification of the Spirit; peace, the effect of grace, which follows the reconciliation of the sinner with God, Romans 5:1, the peace of God which passes all understanding. This is the blessing of Jehovah, of Him that is from everlasting to everlasting, that was before the mountains were brought forth, that is coming soon to judge the world in righteousness, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. When Christ comes for the final redemption of His own, to sit in judgment upon His enemies, He will reveal Himself as the One that was from the beginning, the same throughout the eternities. The great spiritual blessings are also from the seven Spirits before the throne of grace, from the sevenfold Spirit: the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of wisdom and of knowledge, of grace and prayer, of strength and of power, of sanctification and the fear of God, Isaiah 11:2. The blessings are transmitted through the office of Jesus Christ, who is a faithful Witness, a Witness to the truth of the Gospel, John 3:32; 1 Peter 2:22. He sealed His message with His blood and death, but He also conquered death and rose as the First-born from the dead, 1 Corinthians 15:23. And now that He is exalted to the right hand of the divine power, He is the Prince of the rulers of the earth, the Lord of lords and the King of kings, Psalm 2.

To this exalted Christ John now addresses a doxology: To Him that loved us and loosed us from our sins with His blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to God and His Father, to Him be glory and power forever and ever, Amen. The eternal love which Christ had in His heart for us has been shown by the most indubitable proof: He delivered, or loosed, us from our sins at the cost of His own life, by giving His blood as a ransom for us. Thereby He has brought us into a relationship with Him which includes glorious privileges. He has constituted us His kingdom, we are kings before Him, Exodus 19:6. At the same time we are priests to God and His Father: we have the privilege of intimate access to God as the result of Christ’s sacrificial death. We are a royal priesthood, a chosen generation, a peculiar people, 1 Peter 2:9. All our enemies are conquered before us, and we are heirs of the everlasting kingdom of heaven. For this we give eternal praise, glory, and power to Him alone; that is our true priestly sacrifice.

The apostle now takes up the thought which was interrupted by the doxology: Behold, He is coming on the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those that pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will howl over Him. Yea, Amen. The mind of the prophet is here carried forward to the great day when the majesty of the Lord will appear, the great Day of Judgment. With or on the clouds He will appear, Matthew 26:64; Daniel 7:13. The eyes of all men will see Him as He comes to Judgment, and those that pierced His hands and feet and sides with nails and the lance, all the godless men of the whole earth to whom this sin is imputed by virtue of their unbelief, will behold Him returning as their Judge, for then it will be too late for repentance. All that the unbelievers can do and will do on that day will be to weep and howl because of Him, gibbering in helpless terror in anticipation of the horrible fate which they see before their eyes. That is the solemn, dreadful truth.

Now the Lord Himself is introduced as speaking: I am Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, He that is and was and is coming, the Almighty. Alpha and Omega, as the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, are designations of the beginning and the end, and are fitly used of Him and by Him who is true God with the Father from eternity, Isaiah 41:4; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 48:12. Like the Father, Christ is from everlasting to everlasting, and He is the almighty God. No enemy is too mighty for Him, not even the hosts of Satan; all things are placed under His feet. That is the great comfort of the believers, the certain foundation upon which their faith rests.

John’s commission to write:

For the third time John, writing with solemn emphasis, mentions his name: I, John, your brother and companion in the tribulation and in the kingdom and in the patience in Jesus Christ, found myself on the island which is called Patmos on account of the Word of God and on account of the testimony of Jesus. John knows nothing of hierarchical aspirations; he does not even mention his special office. It is with a show of calm satisfaction that he calls himself the brother of the believers to whom he is writing, and their companion in every form of Christian experience. Cp. Philippians 1:7. All believers are partakers of the tribulations which came upon Christ; they know that they can expect nothing else in this world. But at the same time John and all believers are partakers in the kingdom of Christ, at once the most miserable in the sight of men and the most blessed in the sight of God. And therefore we share also in the patience of Christ, for tribulation, endured for the sake of Christ, works patience, Romans 15:5; Philippians 1:29; Hebrews 12:1. Thus we are enabled to persevere, to be steadfast in the midst of all the misery and distress and afflictions of this life. — John says that he found himself, that he was, on the island called Patmos, banished from Ephesus by an imperial decree. But it was not as a criminal that he was suffering the due punishment of any crime. He was there for the sake of the Word of God, which he had preached so fearlessly, because of his testimony of Jesus Christ, whom he confessed so willingly. It was a form of martyrdom which John suffered in his exile.

John now describes the manner in which he first received the revelation of the Lord: I found myself in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, What thou seest write into a book, and send it to the seven congregations: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. It was on the Lord’s day, on a Sunday, that this revelation was vouchsafed to John, probably while he was busy with his special Sunday devotions. The entire book, as one commentator remarks, makes the impression that it belongs to Sunday; there is something of a holiday, something festive about it. John found himself in the spirit, in that peculiar ecstasy which detached the mind from the body, as it commonly attended special prophetic revelation, Ezekiel 37:1; Daniel 10; 2 Corinthians 12:1-7 ^■962 . While he was in this state, it seemed to him that the sound of a great trumpet came from behind him, the voice in the sound commissioning him to put the description of the visions which he would see down on paper and send the book to the seven principal congregations of proconsular Asia. Ephesus was the most important city of this district, on the Caystrian Gulf, in Lydia. Smyrna was about forty miles north of Ephesus, on the Smyrnean Gulf; it has grown in importance steadily and is now the largest city on the eastern shore of the Aegean Sea. Pergamos, or Pergamum, about sixty miles northeast of Smyrna, in Mysia, was the capital of a former small, but wealthy kingdom, noted for its splendid library. Thyatira was a city in Lydia, on the road from Pergamos to Sardis, a prosperous manufacturing town. Sardis, thirty miles south of Thyatira, was the ancient capital of Croesus, the wealthy king of Lydia, whose empire was overthrown by Cyrus the Great. Philadelphia, about twenty-five miles southeast of Sardis, also in Lydia, was the center of a rich farming region. Laodicea, finally, the capital of Phrygia, some fifty miles from Philadelphia, was noted for its prosperity, a fact which caused it to be very independent. Note that the order of the names is that of a circuit, such as one would make in starting from Ephesus and traveling clockwise ^■963 .

The vision of the Son of Man:

John records, first of all, what impression the voice made upon him: And I turned around to see the voice which spoke with me. Not from mere curiosity, but compelled by the power from above, which is apparent throughout the visions, John turned around to see whose was the voice that spoke to him. The expression is purposely given in an odd form, to concentrate the attention upon the voice, the word of Christ.

John now describes what he saw: And having turned around, I saw seven golden lamp-stands, and in the midst of the lamp-stands one similar to a Son of Man clothed in a long robe and girded across his breast with a golden belt. The prophet saw, not a single candlestick with seven lamps, Exodus 25:37; Zechariah 4:2,10, but seven individual cressets, or lamp-stands. The time of the Jewish Church was past, and therefore its symbol was no longer in use. Seven lamps, representing seven congregations, are mentioned, since these do not comprise the Church, but the entire Church is reflected in them. In the midst of the cressets stood He that was like a Son of Man, Daniel 7:13. The congregations are inseparable from their Head and Center Jesus, who abides and moves among the cressets of His temple with the dignity and authority of a high priest. This is indicated by the long robe reaching to the feet, which was a mark of dignity in the Orient, cp. Isaiah 6:1, as well as by the golden girdle about the breast, which showed the flowing garment to the best advantage and added to the majesty of the wearer. Note that Christ is described as being similar to a man; He possesses a true human nature, but with this is combined the majesty of His eternal Godhead, which elevates Him far above a mere human being. He is both our High Priest and our King.

The description continues: His head and hair were white as wool, white as snow, and His eyes were like a flame of fire, and His feet were like burnished bronze glowing in a furnace, and His voice was like the voice of many waters. Cp. Daniel 7:9. Just as in the Old Testament prophecy the Ancient of Days, the Father, is pictured with white hair, so Christ here, by the same token, is shown to be the everlasting God, Isaiah 9:6. The eyes like flaming fire signify the combination of burning zeal and of holy omniscience in one whose essence abhors sinfulness and impurity in every form. The word which is translated “brass” designates an alloy of metals which seems to have been very much like our bronze. His feet were like this metal as it glowed and melted in the intense heat of the furnace. Where He goes, He spreads terror in the ways of those that have rejected Him; He is like a consuming fire to the unbelievers. His voice was like the mighty rushing of many waters, Daniel 10:6, which threatens the enemies of the Church and hinders them in their designs against the saints of the Lord.

The apostle finally writes: And having in His right hand seven stars, and a two-edged sharp sword projecting out of His mouth, and His appearance as the sun shines in his strength. The seven stars are the angels, or ministers, of the seven congregations, Revelation 1:20. These He holds in His right hand, to indicate that they belong to Him, that He holds and protects them by His almighty power, John 10:28. The sharp, two-edged sword going forth from the mouth of the Lord is His Word, the breath of His mouth, Hebrews 4:12, powerful to overcome all the godless and adversaries, Isaiah 49:2; Isaiah 11:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:8. His entire appearance, the impression which John received from the whole vision, was that of a form surrounded with rays of the strongest sun-light, emanating a splendor greater than that of the sun at midday, penetrating through fog and clouds. The believers receive light and power from Him, but the unbelievers shrink and shrivel and wither before the power of His holy gaze.

Christ commands John to write:

The first and immediate effect of the vision upon John: And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet like dead, and He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Fear not, I am the First and the Last and the Living One; and I was dead, and, behold, I am alive forever and ever, and have the keys of death and of hell. That is the first effect of the majestic appearance of the Lord: deadly terror and fear. Sinful man cannot endure the splendor and the purity of the holy God, Genesis 16:7-14 ^■964 ; Isaiah 6:5. But at the same time there is wonderful comfort in the appearance of the Lord in this vision, since it is impossible for His enemies to stand in His sight. For that reason the Lord laid His hand upon John with an assurance of wonderful consolation. The precious Gospel-call “Fear not” was intended to take all the fear out of his heart and to fill him with trust and confidence. What is true of the Lord Jehovah, Isaiah 44:6, is true also of Christ: He is the First and the Last, He is from everlasting to everlasting, the Refuge and the Strength of all believers until the end of time. He is the Living One, John 5:21,26. He is the Resurrection and the Life; he that believes in Him, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and he that lives and believes in Him shall never die, John 11:25-26. Christ was dead, He did truly lay down His life in death for the guilt of mankind, but His last cry on the cross, with which He commended His spirit into the hands of His heavenly Father, was a cry of victory, John 10:18; Romans 6:9-10. By His victory over death and hell Christ is the Living One from eternity to eternity, also according to His human nature. And He has the keys of death and hell, unlimited power to save and to condemn. Those that accept Him in true faith as the Savior of the world will receive at His hands eternal life with all the unspeakable bliss that this implies; those that reject His atonement will receive the sentence of everlasting death and damnation. Sublime majesty and power is evident in every word spoken by the Lord.

Clothed with this authority, He now commands: Write what thou sawest, and what is and what is destined to happen after this, the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest on My right hand, and the seven golden lamp-stands. The contents of the entire series of visions concerning both the present and the future John was to embody in a book. The matters of the present time were especially those which were spoken of in the seven letters to the Asiatic churches. The Lord wanted to explain to John what He meant by the seven stars, Revelation 1:16, and by the seven lamp-stands, or cressets, Revelation 1:12; He had a message for His Christians at that time and for all subsequent ages. He Himself explains: The seven stars are angels of the seven congregations, and the seven lamp-stands are the seven congregations. The angels are the ministers of the Lord, the pastors of the congregations, called stars on account of their proclamation of the heavenly doctrine, Malachi 2:7; Daniel 12:3. And the congregations are golden cressets, or lamp-stands, through Christ, who gives them the true value and ornament, and through His Gospel, which is the light in them. This light should shine forth from the individual Christians as well as from the entire congregations, both in Christian confession and in Christian conduct, these two being the chief glory of the Church on earth.

Summary

The prophet introduces the book of his visions with a superscription, a prolog, and with an account of his commission to write, as given him by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, as the great High Priest of the New Testament.

Verses 1-29

The pastoral letters to the congregations at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, and Thyatira

The letter to the congregation at Ephesus:

The seven open pastoral letters which are included in the Book of Revelation all have the same outline: the command to write, supported by some description of the person and office of Christ; the body of the letter with a testimony concerning the state of the congregation, an admonition to repentance or steadfastness, and a prophecy of the future; a promise to the conquering believers.

The congregation at Ephesus had been founded by the Apostle Paul, Acts 18:19, who worked there for three years, and very successfully, in spite of many difficulties, Acts 20:31; 1 Corinthians 15:32; 1 Corinthians 16:9. Subsequently Aquila and Priscilla, Apollos, and Timothy, were active in the congregation at Ephesus, Acts 18:18,24; 1 Timothy 1:2-3. Since the death of Paul, and probably also that of Timothy, St. John had resided at Ephesus, if the historical account in this case may be relied upon. What Paul had foretold in regard to this congregation, Acts 20:17-29, had come to pass. Therefore the Lord of the Church Himself dictated this letter to John: To the angel of the congregation in Ephesus write: These things says He that holds the seven stars in His right hand, that walks about in the midst of the seven golden lamp-stands. The letter is addressed to the pastor of the congregation, for he has the first responsibility for the souls in his pastoral care; he is to watch over both doctrine and life. It is the Lord of the Church that is speaking, He that holds the pastors of the seven congregations in His protecting hand, He that not only stands in the midst of the cressets, but walks about among them. He is ever watchful, continually active in behalf of every Christian congregation. He wants the Christian congregations to shine as lights in this world of sinful darkness, but He knows also that they require constant replenishing and care, and He is willing to be of assistance to them, lest their light flicker and fade.

The Lord’s first remarks are words of commendation: I know thy works and hard labor and thy endurance, and that thou canst not bear wicked men, and hast put to a test those that claim to be apostles and are not, and hast found them liars, and hast endurance and hast borne up for My name’s sake, and hast not grown weary. Nothing escapes the notice of the omniscient Lord, nothing is hidden from His interested search. He knew the works of faith that were performed in the midst of the Ephesine congregation, the hard labor done by those that were active in the ministry and in the many works of charity, the enduring patience toward the weak brethren within and the perils from without. Cp. 1 Timothy 3:1; 1 Timothy 5:17. There was also careful vigilance in the congregation at Ephesus, a holy zeal for the truth which would not permit obviously wicked men to remain members. Men that claimed to be apostles and to be the bearers of new revelations were put to a severe test and their deceit and falsehood exposed. The Christians of Ephesus were noted for the fact that they suffered and bore and persevered in the midst of the severest afflictions, taking up their cross and following after the Lord without complaint. They showed true Christian endurance and hopeful patience. All the disgrace heaped upon them, all the persecution on the part of the world, was not able to take away the courage of their faith. For the sake of the name of Christ which they bore they remained faithful; they did not grow faint and weary. Mark: True Christian conduct, faithfulness in the service of the Lord, proper brotherly discipline, firm adherence to the pure doctrine, patience and perseverance in the midst of enmity and tribulation: all these should be distinctive signs of every Christian congregation.

A rebuke and a warning: But I have against thee that thou hast left the first love. It is a sad “but” that introduces such a reprimand. In spite of the many praiseworthy factors in the congregation at Ephesus this sad state of affairs existed, that they had left the first fire and zeal for the Truth, for the Word of the Gospel, for the honor of the Lord which had been so prominent in the early days of the church. They were no longer filled with that bliss which is the essence of the believer’s first experience of the love of God; the eyelids of their spirit had grown heavy, they were in danger of falling asleep, Matthew 25:5. It was the same experience which has been undergone innumerable times since where congregations have been established for two or more generations. The Lord, therefore, calls out: Remember, then, whence thou hast fallen, and repent, and do the first works; but if not, I am coming to thee, and I shall remove thy lamp-stand from its place, if thou dost not repent. The congregation at Ephesus should have remained on the heights of the first love and grown ever stronger in their affection for the Lord of salvation, Song of Solomon 8:6-7. Since, now, it had fallen from this perfection, from this ideal state, there was only one way of restoring the relation between the Lord and His church, namely, by sincere repentance, by a return to the first works as they were surcharged with love for the Lord, as they were pleasing to God through Jesus Christ. Should they refuse to hear this faithful admonition, then the Lord would find Himself obliged to deal harshly with the Christians of Ephesus, by taking away the light of His Gospel from their midst. That has been the result of indifference in scores of cases, as the history of the Christian Church shows; and this warning is rendered none the less severe by the added condition that repentance is essential where the first love is no longer found in the Christian congregations.

At the same time the Lord does not withhold from the congregation at Ephesus the praise it deserved: Still, this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. The Nicolaitans, named after a certain Nicolaus, whom some identify with the deacon of that name, Acts 6:5, were a sect whose members turned Christian liberty into license, practising religious sensuality and immorality, and trying to introduce many heathen customs into the Christian Church. The hatred which the congregation of Ephesus as such showed for the ways of these libertines proved that the ways of the world had not yet gained the upper hand in their midst. In this they had the emphatic approval of the Lord, who wants this hatred for heathen abominations continued by all means, since He is a jealous God and cannot bear impurity in the Church which He ransomed by His blood.

The promise of the Lord: He that has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the congregations: To him that conquers I shall grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Here is a powerful appeal for close attention, addressed primarily to the Christians of Ephesus, but also to believers everywhere and at all times. Every one that has ears to hear should yield them in careful application of mind and heart to this promise of the Lord. It is the Spirit of Christ that is speaking, and the words are the words of the Holy Ghost, 1 Corinthians 2:13. To every one that conquers or overcomes the many enemies and perils that obstruct his path in this life, to every one who through the power of faith passes successfully through life’s temptations, the Lord will grant, out of free favor and love, to eat of the fruit of the tree of life. Adam and Eve, by their transgression of God’s command, lost the earthly paradise with its tree of life, Genesis 3:24. But we Christians look forward to the heavenly paradise, in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ, our Savior, in which we shall have fulness of joy and bliss unspeakable at His right hand forevermore. Christ’s relation to God guarantees His promise of such privilege, for Christ’s gift is God’s gift, Romans 6:23.

The letter to the congregation at Smyrna:

In the case of Ephesus it was internal decay that caused the pastoral letter to be written, in the case of Smyrna it was enmity and persecution from without. There is a solemn introduction also in this case: And to the angel of the congregation in Smyrna write: This says the First and the Last, who was dead and became alive. The entire message was to be transmitted to the congregation by its pastor, who is here addressed as the responsible officer. The Lord again calls Himself the First, having been before the beginning of the world, from eternity, and the Last, since He is the everlasting God. He was dead, not only in appearance, but in fact; He laid down His life for His friends and the whole world; we are reconciled to God through the death of His Son, Romans 5:10. But He did not remain in death; He became alive, by His own almighty power He restored His soul to His body. Thus He is the Source of life in those that believe in Him; by faith in Him they can scoff at death, which has lost its sting through Christ’s atoning work.

The Lord addresses words of encouragement to the Smyrnean Christians: I know thy tribulation and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the blasphemy on the part of those that claim to be Jews and are not, rather the synagog of Satan. That was the cross which the congregation at Smyrna had to bear, the enmity of the Jews. This opposition on the part of the Jews did not stop with little acts of meanness and with evil speaking and slandering; it was also due to their machinations that the Christians lost their earthly goods, money and property. On various trumped-up charges the believers were robbed of all they possessed in this world; they endured the confiscation of all that their earthly labor had brought them. And yet, as the Lord tells them, they were rich, for they still had the grace of their Lord Jesus Christ; they still clung to the love of their heavenly Father; they had the riches of the divine mercy in the Gospel, 2 Corinthians 6:10. So far as the enemies of the Christians are concerned, the judgment of the Lord designates them as the synagog of Satan, for Satan is the liar from the beginning, and in his school the blasphemers are trained.

Still more encouragement is contained in the next words: Fear nothing what thou art destined to suffer. The Lord does not promise them relief or surcease from suffering. His words rather imply that further persecutions are imminent, and history shows that the next decades brought trials of various kinds to the Christians in this part of Asia Minor. And yet the Lord tells them to fear nothing, not to have the slightest apprehension as to their safety. Without His will or permission not a hair of their head could be harmed. They should be filled with the power of faith, which rests secure in the hands of the Father, no matter what the vicissitudes of life may be, Psalm 46:2-3. And this in spite of the fact that they are told: Behold, the devil will succeed in throwing some of you into prison that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. That was one form of persecution, which came from the government, but, as the Lord says, at the instigation of the devil, who hates the Word of the Gospel and makes use of the same methods to this day in order to hinder the spread of the Church. The very statement that this tribulation and test would be for only a definite time shows that the Lord will not permit them that are His to be tried beyond that they are able to endure, 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Therefore He calls out to them the golden words: Be thou faithful to death, and I shall give thee the crown of life. The very persecutions that were designed to make the Christians give up their faith served to strengthen them. The dross is burned away in the furnace of the assayer, but the gold remains. Thus the faith of the Christian is proved in the school of persecutions; for it is at such times that he has an opportunity to prove his faithfulness to his Lord. Nor will the Lord permit this faithfulness to go unrewarded. The crown of life, eternal life itself, is the reward of grace assigned to the triumph of faith, to the loyalty of the believer. Like kings and priests we shall be given wreaths, in an everlasting festival we shall live before and with our Lord in the heavenly mansions, James 1:12. This thought is repeated in a second promise: He that has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the congregations: He that conquers will not suffer injury from the second death. The Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Truth, says this to all congregations, to all believers. Every one that does overcome, that does prove himself a conqueror in the power of God, may feel the pangs of temporal death in his body, the weakness of his old sinful nature may cause him to wince and complain in sickness and to shrink back at the specter of death. But he that confesses Christ to the end, clinging to Him in true faith, will not see the second death, will not come into judgment and condemnation, but will pass through death into life. Temporal death will be to him an entrance into the everlasting homes of joy.

The letter to the congregation at Pergamos:

As in the case of the other letters, the Lord here introduces Himself by mentioning a special characteristic: And to the angel of the congregation in Pergamum write, These things says He that has the sword, two-edged, sharp. That is the way the Lord had appeared to John, Revelation 1:16, to signify the penetrating power of His Word, Hebrews 4:12. The Word of power was intended to assist the pastor of the congregation in Pergamum in his apparently difficult position. His testimony, under the circumstances, was not to lack in sharpness and penetrating strength. All pastors are to preach the Word as it is written, regardless of the fact that their proclamation is to the one a savor of life unto life and to the other a savor of death unto death, 2 Corinthians 2:16.

The Lord describes the situation as it existed in Pergamum: I know thy works and where thou dwellest, where is the throne of Satan; and thou adherest to My name, and thou hast not denied faith in Me in the days when Antipas, My witness, faithful to Me, was put to death in your midst, where Satan lives. The statements that Satan sat enthroned, had his abode, in the city of Pergamum, is probably made with reference to the idolatry practised in that city and district. For not only was Pergamum a center of emperor-worship in Asia Minor, where the Roman emperor was given divine honor, but the worship of the heathen god Aesculapius, the god of doctors, and of Zeus Soter, the chief god of Greek mythology, was practised there. All this was particularly repulsive to the Christian religion, which condemned all idols and their cult with absolute emphasis as inventions of Satan. Thus the Christian congregation at Pergamum was in a difficult position. The Lord, therefore, acknowledges the faithfulness of the believers in adhering to His name, to the confession of their Christian faith, under very trying conditions. Even when Antipas, or Antipater, who is said to have been the bishop of Pergamum toward the close of the century, suffered martyrdom, thus becoming the first prominent victim in the local church, they did not flinch, they did not deny or renounce the truth which they had accepted. For this stand the Lord commends them highly.

But there was cause for a severe reprimand also here: But I have a few things against thee, that thou hast there such as adhere to the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat meat sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication; likewise thou hast also such as adhere to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Though the Lord had given the congregation of Pergamum high praise, the rebuke here administered had become necessary. A minority of the church had become contaminated with dangerous transgressions, and the fault of the majority was indifference. Sensualism and carnal sins were being tolerated. The Lord refers to Balaam, who, after having been thwarted in his attempt to curse the children of Israel, Numbers 22-25; Numbers 31:8-16, caused Balak, the king of the Moabites, to place a pitfall before the children of Israel by having the Moabite women seduce them to heathen worship and its attendant shameful orgies and sexual vices. It seems that certain members of the congregation at Pergamum had grown so lax that they deliberately took part in all the obscene practises of idol worship, and that they considered sexual excesses a harmless indulgence, the Nicolaitans holding this doctrine openly. Cp. Revelation 2:6. These errorists were seducing the local Christians in the same way as Balaam succeeded in getting the Israelites enticed to ruin.

The Lord’s warning call: Repent; but if not, I am coming to thee quickly and shall battle with them with the sword of My mouth. Although only a few members of the congregation were actually involved in this sinning, yet the entire church, by its tolerant attitude, had become guilty before the Lord. Not to remove the cancerous growth and not to apply remedial measures was equivalent to abetting the guilty ones. So the Lord demanded repentance of the whole congregation for the sin of laxity in Christian discipline. And should the church delay in this change of attitude, then the Lord Himself will visit them. Not with the power of the government, but with the sword of His Word He intends to battle against the evildoers. He has ways and means of awakening strong witnesses for the truth and of showing all that profess the Christian truth that He will not be mocked. Laxity in Christian discipline is always a great peril for a congregation, for not only does the entire body become guilty of the transgressions committed by a few, but the evil, if unchecked, is bound to spread, for “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”

The Lord closes this letter with a glorious promise: He that has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the congregations: To him that conquers I shall give to eat of the hidden manna, and I shall give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, which no man knows except the receiver. It is again the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Power, that makes this promise, not only to the Christians of Pergamum, but to those of all times and in every place. To him that conquers and overcomes all the tribulations and perils that beset his path the Lord will give heavenly food, hidden manna, John 6:31-35, Christ Himself being that true spiritual food which meets every need of the soul. As we truly receive Christ and all His blessings through the means of grace here in time, so we shall afterward, in heaven, on the eternal Sabbath, enjoy His glory in its very fulness. There the believers shall also receive a fine white precious stone, which is a testimony of the Holy Ghost to their faith. As their names were written in the hands of God by virtue of His eternal love, so they are here inscribed on the precious stones of eternity as belonging to the heavenly Jerusalem, where they will see and enjoy their sonship of the Father through the love of Christ, world without end.

Praise and reprimand for the congregation at Thyatira:

This is the longest of the seven pastoral letters, and it shows peculiar conditions in the little city of Thyatira, the home of the pious Lydia, Acts 16:14-15. This letter also opens with a characteristic description of the author: And to the angel of the congregation in Thyatira write: These things says the Son of God, He that has His eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like burnished bronze. Cp. Revelation 1:15. It is as a judge full of holy wrath, as a consuming fire, that Jesus, the Son of God, is here introduced, as one from whom His enemies may expect certain and terrible punishment.

As in the case of the other congregations the Lord opens with a commendation: I know thy works and thy love and thy faith and thy service and thy patient endurance, and thy last works more than the first. That is high praise for a Christian congregation and speaks well for the Christian zeal of Lydia, who is generally supposed to have founded this church. The congregation of Thyatira as such was noted for its diligence in works and service of love, of brotherly love. These were the natural fruits of the faith which was still held by the great majority of the brethren. Another fruit of this faith was patient endurance amidst the persecutions which were instigated on the part of the enemies. They are even given the testimony that they had made steady progress in the works of Christianity, that their profiting had been apparent to all, Galatians 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1; 1 Timothy 4:15.

At the same time, however, conditions were existing that caused the Lord more than apprehension: But I have against thee that thou permittest that woman Jezebel, who alleges herself to be a prophetess and teaches and seduces My servants to commit fornication and to eat meats sacrificed to idols; and I have given her time that she should repent, and she will not repent from her fornication. Apparently the conditions of Pergamum were here intensified. In the Old Testament there had been a Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, who had seduced the children of Israel to idolatry, to the service of Baal with its obscene cult, to many abominations and lewd deeds. The name Jezebel, therefore, was a fitting name for the false prophetess in Thyatira, whose chief allurement seems to have consisted in the doctrine that Christians should overcome carnal desires by yielding to the lusts of the flesh to satiety and weariness, and that they should join in all the abominations of the heathen in order to gain influence over them. The result was that many servants of the Lord, many true Christians, had been seduced to a life of idolatry, of dissipation, of immorality and sexual vices. They had been plunged into a veritable abyss of wickedness, where the most abominable works of darkness were committed with the plea that this was Christianity in an advanced state. The Lord had already sent a warning to this immoral prophetess and had given her time to repent, but she obstinately persisted in her lewd course and despised the forbearance of God. And all this the congregation permitted; knowing the pool of unspeakable filth which was in their midst, the members had done nothing to remove the stain, the blot, from the congregation.

Therefore the Lord rebukes the congregation, incidentally adding the threat: Behold, I shall cast her upon a couch (of sickness), and the adulterers with her into great misery, if they do not repent of her works; and her children I shall utterly slay, and all congregations shall know that I am He who searches reins and hearts, and I shall give to you, to every one, according to your works. Almost the Lord’s patient forbearance is exhausted, and He will then show Himself the terrible Judge. The false prophetess herself He intended to visit with sickness, with pestilence, and all those that followed her immoral teaching and became guilty of lewdness in any form He would plunge into such an abyss of misery as to make them feel the power of His wrath. Note: In the very midst of this terrible threat the Lord holds out full amnesty to the sinners if they but repent. Physical distress and illness were not to come upon the men and women only that imitated the prophetess in her licentiousness, but her sin was to be visited also upon her children, whom the Lord threatened to exterminate. Thus by this one example of righteous wrath and punishment the Lord wanted to issue an emphatic and solemn warning to all the congregations in the entire district or province, to all congregations to the end of time, in fact, to show that He searches the inmost mind and heart, that no transgression is hidden before His eyes, and that He will punish the evil-doers according to their works. He may not always strike so openly, but it is true, nevertheless, that no man can escape His avenging justice.

An admonition and a warning to the congregation at Thyatira:

These words are addressed to the faithful believers in Thyatira: But to you I say, the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not hold this doctrine, that did not know the depths of Satan, as they say: I do not cast upon you another burden. Some there were that had not been seduced by the immoral teachings of the false prophetess, that had kept themselves uncontaminated by her licentiousness. Even if the libertines claimed that this was the height of perfection, that they could fathom the very abysses of Satan, plunge into the very depths of immoral knowledge and practises and yet remain immune in body and mind, the true Christians knew that this was a mere pretext for indulgence in carnal excesses, and so they preserved a severe and uncompromising aloofness. Upon these people the Lord did not want to impose a further burden. He was willing to look upon their defection in the matter of dealing with the evil in their midst as a weakness, as lack of proper knowledge.

At the same time, however, He admonishes: Only hold what you have until I come. They should adhere firmly to their Christian faith and its confession, to their love, service, and patience, to their refusal to join the libertines in their terrible sins. He says that His visit, His coming, may be expected soon; He wants them to be faithful and true, to overcome wickedness and evil in every form.

To the faithful Christians the Lord also promises: And he that conquers and he that keeps My works to the end, I shall give him power over the heathen; and he shall rule them with an iron rod, like the jars of a potter he shall shatter them, as I have received from My Father, and I shall give him the morning-star. That surely is a glorious goal to hold out before the eyes of the Christians. Every one that overcomes the many attacks of Satan, the world, and his own evil flesh, and clings firmly to Christ’s Word and works by which Christ performs and perfects His sanctification in them, shall become partaker of the triumph of Christ. For as it was prophesied of Him, Psalm 2:8-9, that He would have dominion over the heathen, over the nations, that He would be given unlimited authority over them, so He will make those that believe in Him to the end partakers of this glory and power. The believers shall and will judge the world at the side of their great Lord and Savior. There, as the glory of eternity dawns, the brightness of everlasting life will shine on them after the dark afflictions of this vale of tears and misery. And lest the Christians forget the urgent admonition and the glorious promise of the Lord, He closes with the powerful call: He that has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the congregations.

Summary

The Lord dictates to His servant John pastoral letters addressed to the congregations at Ephesus, at Smyrna, at Pergamos, and at Thyatira, in all of which He commends the Christians for their condition and progress, but also rebukes them for any defects in doctrine and life that were to be found in their midst.

Verses 1-22

Pastoral letters to the congregations at Sardis, at Philadelphia, and at Laodicea

The letter to the congregation at Sardis:

Here is a picture of spiritual decay and ruin which belongs to the saddest in the entire New Testament. The Lord again introduces Himself in His usual solemn manner: And to the angel of the congregation at Sardis write: These things says He that has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. Cp. Revelation 1:4; Revelation 1:16; Revelation 1:20. The pastor of this church had an unusually heavy responsibility resting upon him, and would have to render an account of the conditions in the parish entrusted to him with a very severe reckoning. The Lord places due emphasis upon the fact that the sevenfold Spirit of God is His, Isaiah 61:1-6, that the various gifts and spiritual blessings of the Spirit come upon the believers by virtue of the atoning work of Christ. The Lord also has the seven stars, the seven ministers of these congregations, in His hand. He is the Lord of His Church and of every single congregation; He protects and shields His ministers, but He also demands that they render an account to Him according to the strictest reckoning.

The first word of the Lord is one of sharp reprimand: I know thy works, for thou hast the name that thou livest, and thou art dead. Doings of life, of true spiritual power, the Lord expected from His congregation, and instead of that He found only evidences of death. Before men the congregation still had the name, the reputation, of being spiritually alive and active. Other Christians, impressed probably by the great number of those that professed Christianity in Sardis, considered it a wide-awake church. But the Lord saw and knew the actual state, and He sets it down in two words: Thou (art) dead. Cp. Matthew 23:27. Mark: It is not the size of the church nor the number of heads that makes a congregation, but the actual number of those that sincerely believe in Jesus Christ, and give evidence of this faith in their entire life.

The Lord, therefore, utters a powerful admonition: Wake up, and strengthen the rest that is on the point of dying. The Lord is addressing Himself to the few who have not entirely lapsed from their first vitality, but who are responsible for the state of the congregation along with the rest. They should throw off the sluggishness that had benumbed them; they should return to full wakefulness and vigilance; they should remember that dead formalism never made a live church. And the best way of showing that they had actually rubbed all the spiritual sleep out of their eyes consisted in their rallying and strengthening the rest, the other brethren that were on the point of yielding to the spiritual coma which would certainly result in death. For this conduct they had every reason: For not have I found any works of thine perfect before My God. There was still a formal observance of Christian worship in Sardis, a definite time of worship, preaching, singing, praying, but all these doings lacked that element which would make them perfect in the sight of God. The living, powerful faith was no longer in evidence in their midst, and therefore truly good works were quite unknown.

The Lord backs up His first admonition with a second: Remember now how thou hast received and heard, and hold to that and repent. He reminds them of the days of their first love, when they were so eager to receive, to hear, the Gospel. Cp. Galatians 4:15. To that eagerness, to that zeal, to that love they should return with all speed; they should cling to it, turning away from their present sleepiness in true repentance. The Lord reenforces this call with a warning: If now thou wilt not wake up, I shall come upon thee like a thief, and thou wilt not know at what hour I shall come upon thee. Where repentance will not follow after such an impressive warning, there judgment will come upon those that lie in spiritual coma, in the sleep that is the precursor of spiritual death. Suddenly the Lord will come, like a thief, Matthew 24:42-43. Terror will go before Him, striking the hearts of the unbelievers numb with fear; and His punishment will bring them everlasting destruction. Cp. Psalm 73:19-20.

Once more the Lord brings a charge against the congregation at Sardis, although in a somewhat mitigated form: Still, a few names thou hast in Sardis that have not polluted their garments, and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. Out of the great number of professed Christians only a few that were really worthy of the name, only a few that had not polluted themselves with sins, only a few that had not become the slaves of sin. But their names were precious in the sight of God; they were well known to Him, they were graven upon the palms of His hands, Isaiah 49:16. To these, therefore, the Lord wanted to give the white raiment of perfect innocence and holiness imputed to them by virtue of the atoning work of Christ. Thus clothed and adorned they should walk with Him in His Father’s kingdom, enjoying the bliss of eternity in His presence.

The Lord concludes with a stirring summons: He that conquers shall thus be clothed in white garments, and I shall not erase his name out of the Book of Life, and I shall confess his name before My Father and before His angels. Every Christian that conquers, that overcomes all the deceitful attacks of the devil, all the weakness and weariness of the flesh, will be given these great blessings as a reward of the grace of Christ. They will stand clothed in the garment of the perfect righteousness of the Savior, white and spotless, with all the stains of their sins washed away. Their names, which were entered in the Book of Life as a result of their having accepted Christ by faith, will not be erased. And at the time of the Judgment, when the wrath of God strikes the unbelievers, they will be beyond all condemnation, for their Savior will confess them as His own before the Father and before all the holy angels. Cp. Matthew 10:32; Matthew 25:34. The importance of this fact is such as to engage the careful attention of all Christians: He that has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the congregations.

The letter to the congregation at Philadelphia:

With even greater solemnity and impressiveness than in the case of the preceding letters, the Lord here addresses the Christians at Philadelphia: And to the angel of the congregation at Philadelphia write: These things says the Holy One, the True One, He that has the key of David. He that opens and no one shall shut, and shuts and no one shall open. The pastor of this congregation was to transmit to his charge a message with a very serious import. This is shown even by the name which the Lord applies to Himself. He calls Himself the Holy, the True One, or the truly Holy One. Christ is the Holy One of God, free from all weakness and imperfection of the creatures, true God with the Father from eternity, perfect in His essential holiness. He has the key of David; as a true descendant of David according to the flesh, as the Son of Man, He has established His kingdom, His Church, here on earth. To this mansion of His grace He has the key, in it He rules and governs; He opens and He shuts its doors, He unlocks and He locks the treasures of His mercy to whom He will. This description prepares for the wonderful promises which the Lord now makes to this congregation.

The first word of the Lord is one of cordial commendation: I know thy works; behold, I have given before thee a door opened, which no one can close, because thou hast a little strength, and thou hast kept My Word, and not hast thou denied My name. The omniscient Lord is fully acquainted with all the circumstances of the congregation; He knows in just what manner His people have been doing the work which was entrusted to them, the work which consisted in bringing others to the blessed knowledge of their Savior. In this work they were being aided by the fact that the Son of David had opened a door before them, a door through which many might still enter into the kingdom of Christ. The Lord had given to this congregation unusual opportunities and facilities for preaching and advancing the faith among outsiders, the best chance for extending the Gospel-message. The entrance of unbelievers of every class, the conversion of the heathen, is the work of the Lord, and of Him alone. The reason why the Lord chose this congregation for this work is indicated by Him when He says that they had a little strength. Without riches, power, and influence before men, these Christians still possessed sources of might such as no man may have by his own reason, learning, and ability, namely, the Word of Christ, to which they had clung in spite of all enmity; the Lord Himself, whom they had not denied, in spite of all attempts of their enemies, renewed their strength day after day. It is He who gives power to the proclamation of His Word and causes it to bring forth much fruit.

An encouraging promise regarding the enemies: Behold, I give out of the synagog of Satan, of those that claim for themselves that they are Jews, and are not, but lie, — behold, I shall make them come and fall down at thy feet and know that I loved thee. There were men among the enemies of the church of Philadelphia who were full of hatred and full of deceit, men who belonged to the synagog of Satan, who had been apt pupils of the devil himself, especially in the art of malignant persecution, men who styled themselves Jews, but did not belong to the true Israelites in whom there is no guile, to the men that accepted the Messiah in simple faith. From the midst of these very bitter enemies of Christ and His Church the Lord intended, by His grace, to gain some souls for eternal salvation. This the Lord would give, this the Lord would bring to pass, for it is He that converts the hearts and fills them with the joy of their redemption. They would come, overcome by the power of the Word, and they would do homage before the Church which they formerly persecuted, fully convinced at last that the love of God was with His Church, and that only he that accepts this love in faith could be truly happy.

To this promise the Lord adds a second: Because thou hast kept the Word of My patience, I also shall keep thee from the hour of temptation which is bound to come upon the whole world, to test those that live upon the earth. The Word of Christ’s patience is the Word of the Gospel, since it teaches us how patiently Christ suffered for us, how readily He showed all forbearance toward His enemies, 1 Timothy 1:16; 2 Peter 3:15. This Word the congregation at Philadelphia had kept; to this message, by the grace of God, it had clung; through its power the members had borne all tribulations patiently. In return the Lord, out of His great mercy, promises to keep them that are His from the great temptations of the last days of the world, when false Christs and false prophets, not to speak of Antichrist himself, would arise and fight against the army of Christ, Matthew 24:23-26. That last hour would be a fierce and evil period, a time of proving, of testing out the true believers in the fires of many tribulations and distresses. But in the midst of these trials the Lord promises to keep them that are His; no man can pluck them out of His hand, John 10:28–29.

Incidentally, however, He calls out: I am coming very soon; hold firmly what thou hast, lest some one take thy crown. Through His Word the Lord gains and keeps the souls. Therefore the congregation, in view of the fact that His return to Judgment is at hand, is urged to cling to the Gospel and its blessings. Their crown, the message of their salvation, in which the individual spiritual gifts are like costly jewels, must be held with all the power at their command. Through unfaithfulness this crown, which includes the blessing of everlasting life, is lost. If Christians listen to the voice of the deceivers, if they permit themselves to be seduced into misbelief, despair, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, then the enemies will triumph, then they will capture the crown of life which is held out before the faithful. These words are not to be taken as a condition under which the Christians merit everlasting life, but as an admonition through which the Lord strengthens them in faithfulness. Thus we are kept, by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation.

To the faithful, moreover, the Lord holds out a wonderful final blessing: He that conquers, I shall make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall nevermore go forth, and I shall write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, of the New Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My own new name. Here the reward of steadfastness in the Kingdom of Glory is described, as it is given to those who overcome all the attacks of the enemies and all the weakness of their own flesh. There will be no outwardly visible temple in the new Jerusalem, Revelation 21:22, but the building of that wonderful spiritual edifice of the Church will there be completed, the faithful Christians themselves being the pillars, adorned with glory and majesty. “My God” Christ calls His heavenly Father, Ephesians 1:17, to indicate that He who was His Judge in the great Passion has now become in truth His God and our God, our true Father, reconciled to us through His bloody atonement, John 20:17. A threefold name the faithful believer will then bear, that of God the heavenly Father, of the heavenly Jerusalem, and of Christ the Redeemer Himself. Every Christian is the child of God by faith in Christ Jesus; having put on Christ in Baptism, He is in God’s hands throughout eternity. The name of the New Jerusalem, of the city above, he bears, to indicate that he has his citizenship above, where there will be joy at His right hand forevermore. Even in the new name of Jesus Christ we shall share, in that name above every name which has been given Him by virtue of His entering into the glory of heaven through His vicarious redemption. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. All those, therefore, that confessed the name of Jesus Christ unto the end will govern and triumph with Christ world without end. Truly, the prize is worth the most constant effort, and we shall do well to heed the call of the Lord: He that has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the congregations.

The letter to the congregation at Laodicea:

The congregation had been in existence at the time when Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians, for he stated that he had a great conflict also for the Christians at Laodicea, Colossians 2:1; Colossians 4:15-17. Apparently there was even greater reason for apprehension at this time, to judge from the general tone of this letter. The very introduction places the faithful and true Christ in strong opposition to the unstable and vacillating Christians of this Phrygian town: And to the angel of the congregation at Laodicea write: These things says Amen, the Witness faithful and true, the Beginning of God’s creation. It was a sad, almost disagreeable task which devolved upon the pastor of the Laodicean congregation, especially since the blame for the conditions in that city fell upon him. It was Amen that was speaking, a word which He Himself explains by stating that He is the true and faithful Witness, that every word which He utters is the eternal truth, that He does not recede from His position or change His mind like a vacillating weakling. He Himself is the Beginning of God’s creation, the active Source of God’s universe, the Creator of all things, almighty as well as omniscient, John 1:3.

It is a sentence of divine disgust over lukewarm religion which the Lord utters: I know thy works, that neither cold thou art nor hot; — would that cold thou wert or hot; so, because thou art tepid, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit thee out of My mouth. The omniscient Lord, familiar with all their hearts and minds, knew also all their doings, their attitude toward the Christian faith and all their customs and habits. They were not cold, they were not outspoken unbelievers, they did not range themselves on the side of the enemies of the Cross and of the Gospel, they were not of the party of the blasphemers. But, unfortunately, neither were they warm or hot; they did not possess that energetic warmth of religious life, of fervent faith and love, they had none of the warm zeal which breaks forth in holy wrath over the ungodly attitude of their day and age. Even a frank enmity against the Christian religion is more promising in a person than the lukewarmness and spiritual indifference which these people showed. It would have been better for them never to have come to the knowledge of the divine doctrine than to have come to this knowledge and not to be filled with spiritual zeal, 2 Peter 2:21. Their attitude fills the Lord with supreme disgust, with unspeakable loathing; it acts upon Him literally as an emetic, He is constrained to vomit them out of His mouth. That is the judgment of the Lord upon all such as are not seriously concerned about their Christianity, that still profess to be Christians, usually from some ulterior motive, and yet will not oppose the godless ways of the world. They want to mediate between Jehovah and Baal, between God and the world, between Christ and Belial, between light and darkness, between faith and unbelief, between righteousness and unrighteousness. Such people the Lord cannot bear, and unless they change their tactics very decidedly, His disgusted attitude will result in their punishment, in their being excluded from the blessings of the Kingdom.

The Lord adds a further characterization of lukewarm behavior in the Christian Church: Thou sayest, Rich I am, and abundance I possess, and of nothing I stand in need, and thou knowest not that thou art miserable and pitiful and poor and blind and naked. Self-sufficiency, self-satisfaction, is an attribute of lukewarm Christians. They are convinced of the perfection of their own Christianity and are careful to let every one else know of the good opinion which they hold of themselves. They imagine that they are rich in all spiritual truth and knowledge; they claim that they are filled to satiety with the old Gospel-doctrine, and that no one can teach them anything. Cp. Hosea 12:8 ^■965 . The talk which is heard from Christians of this type in our day often agrees word for word with what is here recorded. People are turning up their noses in disgust at the old Gospel-truth; the doctrines of the Catechism are beneath their dignity. But they deceive themselves. They are afflicted with blindness, and do not know it; they are in need of sympathy, and do not feel it; rich they claim to be, but in reality are poor beyond conception; they think their eyes have been opened, whereas in reality they have returned to the spiritual blindness of their state before conversion; they are proud of their dress of self-righteousness, and do not know that in the sight of God they are bare and naked.

Warningly, therefore, the Lord calls out to them: I advise thee earnestly to buy from Me gold tried by fire that thou mayest be rich, and white garments to clothe thee, lest the shame of thy nakedness appear, and salve to anoint thine eyes that thou mayest see. Here the earnest love of the Savior even for those that do not realize their own defects appears. He, in whom is the Spirit of counsel and of understanding, is so concerned about their soul’s salvation that He earnestly and urgently advises them to buy from Him wares tried and true. The gold which has been tried by fire is true, sound faith, 1 Peter 1:7, such faith as stands the test of persecutions and tribulations as well as that of peace and quietness. The white garments that will cover the nakedness of men is that of Christ’s righteousness, which is imputed to every one that believes. And the salve is the illumination of the Holy Ghost, which is needed above all to bring men to the knowledge of their real spiritual condition. These wonderful gifts are not obtained by any man by his own reason or strength; the price which man pays for them is not one of his own merit. The buying of which the Lord speaks is that which He brings out in that wonderful passage: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” It is all free, wonderful love and mercy on the part of God.

The Lord follows up His warning with a powerful appeal: As for Me, as many as I love I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, then, and repent. Here Christ places His own person and work into the foreground and emphasizes His disinterested love for even such as have proved themselves unworthy of His love. It is this love which causes the Lord to be instant in reprimanding, and even in inflicting painful punishments, His object being to restore the lukewarm to the former loyalty. They should return to the habit of a true zeal for Him and for His work; they should repent at once and once for all of their indifference and inconsistency. In this way the Lord at all times lets the congregation feel the warmth and the eagerness of His love, in order that at least some Christians be kindled to new spiritual life.

The Lord now adds a very general invitation: Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one will hear My voice and open the door, I shall enter in to him and hold the feast with him and he with Me. The time of mercy is still at hand, the Gospel is still being preached. The coming of the Lord is near, however. Many events, many happenings in Church and State are intended to remind us of the fact and of the nearness of His return. Upon us devolves the supreme necessity of hearing His voice, of heeding the Word of His Gospel and of His will that all men come to the knowledge of the truth. If we thus heed His knocking and obey His voice, then He will enter into our hearts and make His abode with us, hold the feast of His everlasting grace with us, feed us with the heavenly manna of His body, and let us drink of the river of heavenly pleasures forevermore.

He repeats this thought for the sake of emphasis: He that conquers, I shall give him to sit with Me on My throne, just as I conquered and sat with My Father on His throne. He that has conquered and overcome, every one who here in time renounced all those things which are opposed to Christ, will in yonder world take part in the glory and triumph of Christ, will rule and govern with Him with divine honor, glory, and bliss, world without end. That is what happened to Christ in His exaltation, and that is the reward which awaits those that are faithful to the end, to share the throne of God, the heavenly Father, and of the Lamb which was slain for them. They will enjoy the most intimate, the most blessed fellowship with God and with Christ to all eternity. And again the call of the Lord, inviting, appealing, sounds forth: He that has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the congregations! ^■966

Summary

The Lord addresses letters to the congregations at Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, commending them wherein they were faithful, but reprimanding all defilement and all lukewarmness in the strongest terms.

Verses 1-11

The vision of God’s throne of majesty and glory

The throne and the seat of the elders:

The first vision of John was full of comfort for all believers, since it showed how faithfully the Lord watches over His Church, and that His concern for her will not cease until the great day of the revelation of His glory. But in the second vision the Lord dispenses comfort just as bountifully. John relates: After this I saw, and, behold, a door opened in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard like a trumpet speaking with me, saying. It seems that after the transport and ecstasy of the first vision there was a slight pause, signifying that a new revelation was now forthcoming. John was again given the privilege to see some of the mysteries of God and of the future, and to transmit them to us. He did not open the door in heaven himself, but it was opened to him, because to him the Lord intended to vouchsafe this grace of revealing the future to him and of showing him the glory of the divine majesty. The voice like the sound of a trumpet which he had heard at the beginning of the first vision, Revelation 1:10, was again in evidence, speaking to John and directing his actions: Come up here, and I shall show thee what is hound to happen after this. What John the seer saw and what he afterward described was not the outcome of his own speculation and inquiry, but the result of revelation only. He was called by God to approach and to be a witness, but not to enter.

The beginning of the vision: At once I was in the spirit; and, behold, a throne was placed in heaven, and One was sitting on the throne, and He that was sitting was in appearance like a jasper and sardius, and a rainbow encircling the throne in appearance like an emerald. The ecstasy which was worked by God, which, as it were, separated the mind from the body for the time being, took hold of John again and transported his spirit to the open door in heaven. The imagery of the vision, although expressed in the figures of speech which will best describe the marvelous atmospheric coloring of a gorgeous sunset sky, nevertheless merely indicates the greater glory which no human words can adequately portray. The first object that struck John was a magnificent throne placed in heaven. The name of Him that sat upon the throne is not mentioned, for His majesty transcends human conception and human language. It was the everlasting, almighty Lord, who has prepared His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom ruleth over all, Psalm 103:19. His appearance was such as to make Him resemble the precious stones jasper and sardius, the jasper being clear as crystal, to indicate the sublime beauty of God, and the sardius being a semi-transparent, ruddy gem, to picture the unsearchable depths of His love. A rainbow, the symbol of God’s covenant with man, a reminder of His kindness and benevolence, encircled the throne. The peculiarity of this rainbow was this, that it was like an emerald, thus making the green stand out among the prismatic colors, as a symbol of God’s kindness and as a token of hope. Altogether, the majesty of this appearance is not one to terrify us, but to remind us of the covenant of grace which He made with us in Christ Jesus, which is shining before us as a beacon light unto eternal hope.

Although the Lord was the central figure in the picture, He had chosen others to share His glory: And round about the throne twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones twenty-four elders seated, clothed in white garments, and on their heads golden crowns. On the great day of the final revelation of God’s glory He shall select witnesses and partakers of this glory. As in the Old Testament twenty-four orders of priests had charge of the Temple-service, 1 Chronicles 25:5,7, so the twenty-four elders in this picture are a type, they represent the royal priesthood of the believers. The Church of all times has its place with God, with the Father, in His immediate vicinity, in the most intimate fellowship with Him. The believers, as here represented by the twenty-four elders, are cleansed with the blood of Christ and clothed with the white garment of His righteousness. And as the reward of grace God has promised to them, and will eventually give them, golden crowns upon their heads, the immortal and unfading glory of heaven. This crown of glory will complete the accession of every believer to the kingship to which he has been an heir by faith.

The impression of awe, which is secondary in the entire description, is now stressed: And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and voices and thunders; and seven torches of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. It is the loving and merciful God that sits upon the throne of glory, but also the just and holy Lord. This is brought out by the description of the noises that John heard, like those of a fierce and terrifying thunderstorm. Flashes of lightning went out from the throne, and the shrieks and the loud blasts of the roaring storm and the peals and mutterings of thunder, all of which proclaimed aloud wrath and judgment and destruction, the almighty power of God in carrying out His sentences. At the same time, however, the lamps, or torches, of the sevenfold Spirit of God were quietly burning before the throne. The Spirit of God, working through the Gospel of the love of God in Christ, comes to us with His illuminating power, and gives us, and sustains in us, the light and the warmth of true spiritual life. Though God is terrible in His justice, yet the Pentecostal fire of His grace and love is a source of light and life to all that receive Christ Jesus as their Savior.

The sea of glass, the beasts, and the hymn of praise:

This description further enhances the majesty of the picture: And before the throne there is like a glassy sea resembling crystal; and in the middle of the throne and round about the throne four living beings full of eyes, before and behind. There was not really a sea in the throne-room of God, but the appearance of the air was so clear and calm, so shimmering and motionless, as to remind the seer of purest crystal. The reflection of this crystal-like surface served all the more to bring out the beauty of the Lord’s glory. To complete the picture, John now describes the four living beings, the four cherubs of Ezekiel 1:5,18, who stood in the middle of either side of the throne, as it is said of the Lord that He dwells between the cherubim, 1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 6:2; Psalm 80:1 ^■967 ; Isaiah 37:16. Full of eyes they were toward the outside and toward the inside; they were able to look out in all directions, and yet some of their eyes were also fixed upon the Lord, lest any of His words and actions escape them.

The four living beings, or cherubs, are now described: And the first living being was like a lion, and the second living being like an ox, and the third living being had his face like that of a man, and the fourth living being was like a flying eagle; and the four living beings, each of them having six wings, are full of eyes round their bodies and on the inside. The form of the four living beings, or cherubs, is the same as that in the vision in Ezekiel 1:4-11. In their appearance is symbolized, first of all, the power and the regal majesty of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, whose Word and Spirit and power makes the believers kings before Him. They typify, furthermore, the power of the sacrifice of the New Testament, Hebrews 9:13,19, which cleanses the consciences from dead works. In the human face the kindness and benevolence of the Son of Man is revealed, as He assumed a true human nature in order to gain a complete salvation for us. And the flying eagle, ascending to the very heavens in wonderful power, signifies the new strength which comes to the believers through the message of the Gospel, Isaiah 40:31. From olden times the Church has seen in these cherubs the types of the four evangelists: Matthew, who emphasizes the human descent of Christ, being the man-cherub; Mark, who stresses the victorious power of Christ, being the lion-cherub; Luke, who pictures the sacrificial act of Christ in giving His own body for the sins of the world, being the ox-cherub; and John, who emphasizes the divine origin of Christ and His return to God, being the eagle-cherub. Every one of these cherubs had six wings covering his entire body, like the seraphim which Isaiah saw, Isaiah 6:2. They were full of eyes, not only all around their bodies, but even underneath their wings; they could see the Lord continually and yet watch all that transpired in all parts of the heaven and on the earth.

The work of the living beings: And they have no rest by day and by night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is coming. That is the constant occupation of these cherubs before the throne of God; without ceasing, by day and by night, their chant sounds forth in praise of the Triune God. They strike up a great Tersanctus, they sing a threefold Holy in praise of the Trinity, in honor of Him who alone is holy, whose name may be hallowed only by such as have learned to know the holiness and perfection of Him who is separate from sinners and higher than the heavens. He is God, the one God; He is Jehovah the Lord, He is the Almighty; He it is that is to-day, the unchanging, the everlasting Lord; He it is that was from eternity, the same faithful and true God; He it is that is coming, whose return for the last great Judgment is imminent. His glory has filled heaven and earth, and His praise should rise in an endless hymn of glorification.

The hymn of the Church: And whenever the living beings give glory and honor and praise to Him that sits upon the throne, to Him that lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him that sits upon the throne, and they worship Him that lives forever and ever, and they cast their golden crowns before the throne, saying: Worthy art Thou, Lord, our God, to receive glory and honor and power, because Thou hast created all things, and through Thy will they existed and were created. The hymn of the cherubs was an unending anthem of praise; they gave praise to God by extolling His holy majesty, honor by worshiping Him in holy fear, and thanksgiving through the proclamation of His grace and mercy. All their praise is offered to the almighty Ruler of the universe, to the eternal King of Glory. As this overpowering testimony goes forth from the mouths of the cherubs, it is impossible for the Church, through the twenty-four elders that represent her, to hold her peace. With a spontaneous impulse of worship they fall down before the great King of the universe, before the everlasting Lord, and their prayer rings out in an endless hymn of praise. At the same time they cast down their golden crowns at the feet of the Lord, in token of their total dependence upon Him and upon the mercy which was shown them in Christ. All that the believers have they hold by His mercy and power; this they openly confess by their act. But no less is this confession contained in their words, in this preliminary anthem of praise. By virtue of the creation, as a proof of God’s power and of His providence in upholding all things by the Word of His power, He is worthy of this hymn, in which glory and honor and power is given to Him alone. Neither Satan, who presumed to strive after the glory of God, nor any mere human being can aspire to the praise which is God’s alone, Isaiah 42:8. All things exist because He created them, because He brought them into being by His almighty power; and they have their being to the present day and hour because of the benevolent will which He had toward them. He sent forth His Spirit, they were created; and He renewed the face of the earth. If He hides His face, all creatures are troubled; if He takes away their breath, they die, and return to their dust, Psalm 104:29-30. All Christians, therefore, will join in this hymn of ceaseless praise in honor of the almighty Creator and King of the universe, thereby acknowledging their unending indebtedness to His benevolent power. To God all praise and glory!

Summary

The prophet, at the beginning of His second vision, describes the throne of the Lord, the elders and the seats of the elders, the cherubs and their proclamation of God’s glory, to which the elders respond with a wonderful hymn of praise.

Verses 1-14

Christ, the Lion and the Lamb, praised with a new song

The book sealed with seven seals:

This is a continuation of the second vision and again presents the majesty of God together with His eternal love. A new incident is introduced: And I saw on the right hand of Him that was sitting on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Not in the clenched hand, but on the open hand of the Lord there lay a scroll, the form in which books were then produced, a long roll of parchment or of sheets of papyrus fastened together. The writing on this scroll covered not only the front, but also the reverse side. But the scroll was not open to be unrolled by any one that chose to do so, but it was sealed, and not only with one seal pressed upon the cord that was passed around the roll, but with seven distinct seals, secure against prying hands and eyes. This book contained the thoughts and works of God as they were to be executed among men, the divine course and counsel in the latter days.

The prophet now relates: And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals? All the good angels are powerful spirits, they excel in strength, Psalm 103:20. But here it is specifically stated that it was one of the mighty ones of Jehovah that stepped forth with his challenging cry, which was intended to penetrate through the universe and to reach every created being. He wanted to know which man on earth was able to unroll the scroll in the hand of the Lord, after breaking its seals. Only echo answered him: And no one in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth was able to open the scroll or have a look at it. No angel from the realms of heaven, no man nor any animal in all the wide world, none of the spirits of darkness, whose abode is commonly placed in the regions beneath the earth, was able to find out and to tell what God had planned in His secret counsels concerning events in the last days of the world. Satan is a mighty spirit and is able to perform many wicked deeds, but only if God permits it. There is no creature familiar with the counsels of the Lord, nor can any man uncover them. John misunderstood the meaning of this fact for a moment: And I wept abundantly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to take a look at it. He supposed that prophecy and revelation had ceased forever, that the Lord would never again make known His counsels to men. It was not disappointed curiosity, nor was it weakness of faith which caused the tears of the seer, but only his fervent love for the Church of Christ, which is often obliged to walk through so many dark valleys, with no light from the hills to show the way or to promise help. To this day it is not the weeping Christian that is objectionable to the Lord, but the indifferent church-member.

The Lamb that was slain:

The flood of tears which John’s love for the Church had caused him to weep was soon stopped: And one of the elders says to me, Do not weep; behold, the Lion out of the tribe of Judah has conquered, the Root of David, to open the scroll and its seven seals. One of the twenty-four elders that sat on twenty-four thrones about the central throne of the Lord comforted John with a wonderful word of consolation, bidding him not to weep. The Church at all times has the best, the most reliable comfort for all situations in life, from the Word of God’s grace. Lifting up his finger with impressive solemnity, the elder pointed out the true Comforter, who in His humiliation resembled a lamb, was the Lamb of God, but now, in His exaltation, is the victorious Lion. Jesus Christ, the Lion out of the tribe of Judah, Genesis 49:9-10, set out to conquer all the enemies of mankind, and He, the God-man, did overcome and vanquish them all. He, the Root of David, Isaiah 11:1,10, that grew up as a root out of dry ground, a shoot of a stem that had practically died, He had prevailed, He had gained the victory. And so the result was that He could loose the seals and unroll the scroll of the counsels of God. The only-begotten Son of God has revealed the Father to us, and He is still making known to us what we need to know for this short life, until we leave its trials and problems behind us and enter into the presence where all that we must know shall be revealed to us in glory. Note: In the great work of redemption and government of the Church the Lord, our heavenly Father, does not deal with us directly, but through His Son, Jesus Christ. Just as Christ wrought a complete vicarious redemption for us, so He is active as our Prophet to this day, making known to us the gracious and good will of the Father.

John having dashed away the tears of his weeping was gladdened by a wonderful sight: And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living beings and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent into all the earth. The description is such as to concentrate the entire attention of the reader upon that wonderful Lamb: Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, is the center of all contemplation in the New Testament. The Lamb was in the very midst of elders and cherubs, it occupied the very throne of God. He bore the marks of having been slain, it was still to be noticed that He had been the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, and yet He stood forth in triumphant power. For He possessed seven horns and seven eyes, which the prophet himself explains as signifying the sevenfold Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom and of knowledge, who searches all things, even the deep things of God. In Christ all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. The powers of Christ’s Holy Spirit go forth into the world and gain one victory after the other for the Lamb that was slain, as He wills it.

That Christ, He who was slain for the sins of the world, but has now been exalted to the right hand of the power of God, is immeasurably supreme over all creatures is shown by the action which is ascribed to Him: And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne. That was Christ, the patient Lamb of God, but also Christ, the conquering Lion out of the tribe of Judah. He was worthy and fit, He had the right and the power to go to His heavenly Father and receive from Him the counsels concerning the Church. He alone is the proper interpreter of the divine counsel, for He Himself is the Ruler, to whom the Father has entrusted the Kingdom. As the eternal God, co-ordinated with the Father in majesty and power, also according to His human nature, Jesus is the Head of the congregation, over all, which is His body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all, Ephesians 1:23. Thus Jesus Christ is on the throne of the Father, but also in the midst of His Church, and therefore the fortunes of the believers are safe in His hands.

The song of the elders:

Jesus the Savior is here the sole center of interest; everything revolves about Him: And when He had taken the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, every one having a harp and golden bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints. The taking of the scroll by the Lamb was a signal for a general demonstration of adoration. The strange and wonderful living beings, the four cherubs which John had described in Revelation 4:7, united with the elders, as the representatives of the Church of Christ, in bringing homage to the Lamb. They fell down in an attitude of submission and worship; they presented their bowls of incense, the prayers of the saints on earth, of all faithful believers everywhere; they made ready their harps for a striking hymn of praise. The bowls of gold were truly types of the believing hearts in whom the daily burnt offering of the New Testament is burning without ceasing, a sweet savor unto the Lord. Note that no distinction is observed between the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant; for these two are in reality one, and it is the same spirit in which they together bring praise and honor to Christ.

Now their hymn is recorded: And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy art Thou to receive the scroll and to open its seals, because Thou wast slain and didst redeem us to God by Thy blood from every tribe and language and people and nation, and Thou hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign upon the earth. In the first part of the vision the hymn had been addressed to God the Creator, but here it is directed to the Lamb as Redeemer, for the cost and scope and result of His redemption. It is a new song, which will never grow old, which will never be omitted in the Church, neither here in time nor hereafter in eternity. Every new revelation of the glory of the Lamb renews the beauty of the first mercy, by which He became our Savior. All the elders join in this song, since it is the hymn of the whole Church. They praise the Lamb as worthy of the greatest honor in the kingdom of God, of being the intimate of the Father in the secrets of His eternal counsel, of knowing the things which are written in the scroll of God’s decrees. This worthiness is enhanced by the fact that the Lamb was sacrificed for us, that His body, His blood became the true expiatory sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. To God we have been redeemed by the holy, innocent blood of His only-begotten Son. It is a salvation which was earned for all men, regardless of tribe and language and people and nation: to all men the free grace of God in Christ Jesus is offered. The believers, then, those that are enjoying the fruit, of this glorious redemption, are not only called into His fellowship, to receive from Him, of His fulness, daily, and grace for grace, but the Lord has even constituted them a kingdom, a royal priesthood, Revelation 1:6; 1 Peter 2:9, He has appointed them to rule with Him on earth. Although we are now despised and rejected of men, we are in reality partakers in Christ’s rule of the world, and the time will come when this power will be revealed to the astonished unbelievers, to their eternal discomfiture.

The choruses of praise:

The hymn of praise is here taken up by a larger circle of blessed spirits and creatures, in a sacred concert with such magnificent antiphonal singing as pertains to the halls of heaven alone: And I saw, and I heard as the voice of many angels round about the throne and the living beings and the elders, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. The very angels go into ecstasies over the work of redemption as performed by the Lamb that was slain. With eyes and ears that were held open by the inexpressible wonder of it all John took notice of the countless celestial beings as they circled round the throne and the cherubs and the elders, their voices rising in such anthems of glory as pertain to the realms of eternal joy.

Their song is practically a repetition of that of the elders: Saying with a mighty voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. Although this outer circle of angels does not address its praise directly to Christ, yet the angels laud and magnify the work of redemption by which mankind has been redeemed from everlasting ruin; for the angels themselves have a desire to look into the depths of God’s love shown in the salvation of the world. They declare the Lamb that was sacrificed for the sins of the world to be worthy of all the great gifts and blessings which came upon Him, were given to Him, at the time of His exaltation to the right hand of God. “Honor and glory and praise are due to Him whose victorious death has won Him the power of bestowing incalculable riches on His people, and of lifting the veil of the future, where He finds this in the interest of His Church.” ^■654 .

And still wider are drawn the circles of adoring praise: And every creature in heaven and on the earth and beneath the earth and on the sea and all that are in them I heard saying, To Him that sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and might forever and ever. Here the fulfilment of St. Paul’s words, Philippians 2:10-11, is recorded and described, that in the name of Christ every knee should bow, of things in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that all tongues should confess that Jesus is the Lord. Cp. Psalm 103:22; Psalm 145:10. Whether willingly or unwillingly, every creature is obliged to acknowledge the deity, the divine godhead, of Christ, the exalted Son of Man, to praise, magnify, and bless Him, to yield itself to His dominion, to confess that to Him all the strength and wealth and wisdom of life rightly belong. And thus God is glorified, also in the glorification of His Son. The praise of God the Creator and the praise of Christ the Redeemer are blended in one final song which will continue to be chanted throughout eternity. To this great song of praise the antiphonal Amen of the cherubs answered: And the four living beings said, Amen; and the elders fell down and worshiped. Verily it shall be so: all the earth shall be full of His glory. All the earth shall fear the Lord, and all the inhabitants of the world shall stand in awe of Him, Psalm 33:8.

Summary

The prophet sees the book of the counsels of God, whose seals could be broken only by Christ, the Lamb that was slain, a fact which caused the elders to break forth in a hymn of praise which was afterwards taken up not only by myriads of angels, but by the chorus of all creatures.

Verses 1-17

The opening of six seals of the scroll

The opening of the first three seals:

Here begins the narration of some of the happenings which would strike the Christian Church, the Church Militant, beginning with the time at which John wrote, and ending with the great Day of Judgment. Whenever a seal of the scroll was opened, the special event with which it was connected came forth from the roll and was presented to the seer in a picture or symbol. Of the first seal he relates: And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living beings saying as the voice of thunder, Come and see. The Lamb, Christ, alone was worthy and able to open the seals of the scroll on God’s hand, and He opened them one by one. With the voice of thunder John was here called to be a witness of future things, for the lion-faced cherub, one, or the first, of the four living beings, Revelation 4:7, shouted to him to come and see. His attention having thus been arrested, John writes: And I saw, and, behold, a white horse, and him that sat upon him having a bow, and there was given to him a crown, and he went forth conquering and that he might conquer. Since the prophet does not explain the meaning of this symbol, nothing definite may be said about it. Some Lutheran commentators believe the hero to be Christ, who goes forth in triumph to overcome with the power of His Gospel. Others believe that the passage refers to the government, which may, under circumstances, become tyrannical and afflict the Christians with persecutions and other tribulations.

The opening of the second seal: And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living being saying, Come. Here it was the ox-faced cherub that invited John to be a witness of the things that should come to pass. This picture is one of terrible aspect: And there went forth another red horse, and to him that sat upon him there was given to take peace from the earth and that men might slay one another, and to him was given a great sword. In this picture everything points to war and bloodshed, the red color of the horse, the fact that men received power to slay one another after peace was taken away from the earth, the fact that this rider was given a merciless weapon. The history of the world, also in the so-called Christian era, is an account of wars and rumors of wars, and the Church of Christ has also suffered the tribulation which come upon men through war and the shedding of blood.

The opening of the third seal: And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living being saying, Come and see. Here it was the man-faced cherub that called upon John to be a witness of the things which were to come upon men in the future. The outlook in this case is still more fearsome: And I saw, and, behold, a black horse, and him that sat upon him holding a pair of scales in his hand; and I heard like a voice in the midst of the four living beings saying, A measure of wheat for a denarion, and three measures of barley for a denarion; but the oil and the wine do not harm. A denarion, the day’s wages for a laboring man, Matthew 20:2, was equal to about seventeen cents in normal times; and a measure was a little more than two pints. The description points to a state of famine, when provisions become cruelly expensive, when times are black and dark. At such times, which, as the prophecy shows, were sure to come, it would be a matter of careful measuring and planning to make the small daily income cover all expenses. In such days a man may well be obliged to dispense with the more costly wheat and to be satisfied with the cheaper barley. Only one fact tends to relieve the dreary outlook, namely, this, that some articles of food at least are excepted from the soaring prices. Thus the Church has also been made a sufferer on account of famine and extremely high prices, when the Lord laid His chastening hand upon the world.

The opening of the fourth and fifth seals:

The prophetical types of the coming tribulations became more and more of a nature to strike terror into the heart of man: And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living being saying, Come and see. In this case the eagle-faced cherub called to John to be a careful witness of the action of the Lamb and of its results. The prophet gives this description: And I saw, and, behold, a livid horse; and he that sat upon him, his name was Death, and Hell followed after him, and to them was given power over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword and with hunger and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth. Here is a gruesome picture, the horse of a pale green, livid color, and his rider Death, with Hell at his heels, with pestilence and mortality, death in all its various forms, as their instruments of punishment. Everything that will bring death upon mankind in extraordinary and unusual forms is here mentioned. Truly, these words and their type have been fulfilled in the many devastating wars and famines and pestilences of which history tells, of which the majority of people living today have been witnesses. But hell, although it accompanies death and threatens to devour all men that die, has no power over those that are in God’s hands. It is true, on the one hand, that in the midst of life we are in death; but it is also true, on the other, that in the midst of death we are in life, for we are in the hands of our Redeemer.

The opening of the fifth seal: And when He opened the fifth seal, I beheld beneath the altar the souls of those that were slain on account of the Word of God and on account of the testimony which they bore. The scene is here transferred from earth to heaven, the latter being conceived of as a splendid temple with its altar of burnt offering. When the Lamb opened the fifth seal of the scroll, there were disclosed before the eyes of John all the souls of those that had been martyred on account of their confession of the Word of God, of the Gospel of their salvation, on account of the testimony which they bore to their Redeemer. Since the time of Stephen, who was murdered for his confession of Christ, the number of martyrs for the cause of Christ has steadily increased, until their number is beyond calculation. But their souls are in a safe place, in the care of God, where no plague or anguish can touch them.

The martyred souls are represented as being conscious: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Sovereign holy and true, wilt Thou delay in charging and avenging our blood upon those that dwell upon the earth? The martyred souls are here shown in the act of crying to God for vengeance, for a vindication of His holiness and truth. The enemies of Christ and the Gospel, who have shed the blood of the Christians as water, not only in the great persecutions of the early Church, but also in the Inquisition of the Middle Ages and since, will be found by the righteousness and the avenging justice of God, for the blood of their victims cries to the Lord from the earth. God’s patience seems to delay unduly in punishing the crimes against His children, but in due time He will vindicate His holiness and truth.

This is indicated even in the manner in which the martyred souls were treated: And there was given to them, to every one, a white robe, and it was told them that they should remain quiet yet a little while, until there were added to them also their fellow-servants and their brethren that were sure to be killed as they were. White garments, the symbol of sanctity, purity, righteousness, and innocence, were given to the perfected saints in token of the righteousness of Christ which had been imputed to them by faith, by virtue of which all their sin was covered. The number of martyrs was not yet complete; as the enmity of the heathen increased, others would surely be added, just as history has shown and is showing this to us. But only a little while it would last, as God’s time is reckoned, and then God’s day of wrath would surprise the enemies of His Word, then God’s holiness and justice would be vindicated in all eternity. Patience, therefore, is one of the greatest Christian virtues, patience and a certain trust in the government of God.

The opening of the sixth seal:

There is an obvious agreement here with Matthew 24, where the Lord speaks of the signs and wonders which would precede the Judgment and the end of the world. For although not all the scenes of Judgment are here included, yet the most important ones stand out plainly: And I saw when He opened the sixth seal, and a great earthquake happened, and the sun became black as sackcloth, and the full moon became like blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig-tree casts her figs when shaken by a mighty wind. With the opening of the sixth seal by the Lamb the special signs which should usher in the last day were enacted before the eyes of John. There was a great and terrible earthquake, Luke 21:11; the sun and the moon were darkened, Joel 2:31; Matthew 24:29; the stars fell down from the firmament, Matthew 24:29; all nature was in an uproar, the universe was disintegrating. And still more: And the heaven was removed like a rolled-up scroll, and every mountain and island was displaced from its location. The firmament of the heavens, apparently secure for eternity, will not escape in the last great disturbances of the universe. Just as a roll of parchment is rolled up and laid aside, so the firmament will be removed. And at the same time the solid mountains that have withstood the storms of centuries, and the islands that have defied the billows of untold hurricanes, will be displaced, set aside, as no longer needed.

What effect this would have on the people of the world is also shown: And the kings of the earth and the mighty ones and the generals and the wealthy and the strong ones and every slave and freeman hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and the rocks, Fall upon us and hide us from the face of Him that sits upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to stand? Here the terror and despair of the enemies of the Lord, of which He Himself has prophesied, is delineated. On the last great day the defiant authority of the proud rulers of the world, of kings and mighty ones and generals, will sink into the dust, and they will seek respite and deliverance like the lowest of their subjects. Then all the wealth of the earth will not buy salvation, and the strength of a thousand oxen will not effect escape. Then the slaves and the freemen will be on the same level, and no man will think of social distinctions. And they all, filled with unspeakable dread, will cower in abject terror and fly to the crags and caves of the mountains, vainly hoping to find a spot where the angry glances of the holy God will not strike them, where the wrath of the Lamb, whose sacrifice they rejected in their unbelief, will not find them. That is what the breaking of the sixth seal uncovered: the terrors of the godless world on the day of the Judgment of God. Only the Christians, certain of the atonement of Christ which they have accepted by faith, will rejoice on that day, knowing that their redemption is nigh.

Summary

As the Lamb opens six of the seven seals on the scroll in the hand of God, some of the tribulations and persecutions of the last days of the world are exhibited, culminating in the terrors of the last day, but also the deliverance of the martyrs, with the promise that God would vindicate his holiness.

Verses 1-17

The comfort of the church in spiritual afflictions

The sealing of God’s servants:

The seventh chapter contains the description of a vision, by which the prophet was to be prepared for the events which were to follow the opening of the seventh seal. It shows in what way the Lord protects those whom He has chosen in the midst of the spiritual tribulations of the latter times. As in many other pictures, we are able to follow only the general trend of the thought and cannot, in the absence of prophetical explanation, make specific application to certain historical events. The seer writes: And after this I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, lest the wind blow upon the earth or upon the sea or upon any tree. Four angels are named according to the four cardinal points of the compass, thus signifying that the destruction which should be wrought upon the earth would be universal. Their intention seems to have been to destroy earth and sea and all that they contained, not only the unbelievers and godless, but also the believers, the elect of God. They were evil angels, and by withholding the winds from the earth they wanted to work harm for all creatures. The prince of this world has the purpose of hindering the growth and the course of the Gospel, and therefore he inspires false teachers to hold back the breath and the power of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel.

But God promptly intervened: And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun having the seal of the living God, and he called with a mighty voice to the four angels to whom permission had been given to injure the earth and the sea, saying, Do not injure the earth nor the sea nor the trees until we shall seal the servants of our God on their foreheads. Here is comfort and encouragement for the believers of all times. From the east, from the source of light and life, a fifth angel appears, a servant of the most high God, perhaps the Messenger of the Covenant Himself, Malachi 3:1. He bore the seal of the living God, which gave Him authority to carry out God’s commands without hindrance. His word, therefore, as He called out to the four evil angels not to injure the earth and the sea and all they contained until they should be given further leave, was at once obeyed. With God’s permission the evil angels are often enabled to work harm in the world, thus incidentally carrying out God’s decrees of punishment; but they must stay their hands at the first word from Him. In this case God intended first of all to have His servants, His believers, His elect, to be sealed upon their foreheads, to bear in this conspicuous place the names of God and of the Lamb, Revelation 14:1; Revelation 22:4, to serve for their protection amid the spiritual afflictions of the last days, Matthew 24:24. No man can pluck them out of His hand, John 10:28-29.

The total number of the sealed:

Note that the tribe of Judah is mentioned first, since the fourth son of Jacob became the bearer of the Messianic promise and the forefather of the Messiah. After an interval, during which the sealing is supposed to have taken place, the total number of those that were sealed with the protective mark of God is announced. John did not do the counting himself, but only heard the number, for only the Lord knows them that are His. It is evidently a collective, stereotyped number, intended to include all those that belong to the true Israel, to the congregation of the believers, of all tongues and nations. The enumeration of the tribes is also made simply to get the number twelve, in accordance with the ancient way of figuring. It is for this reason that Joseph is substituted for Ephraim, and that Dan is omitted; Levi is mentioned with the rest, because in the Church of Christ there is no distinctive priesthood, but all belong to the royal priesthood. The seal of the Lord was placed upon the definite number of those whom He had chosen unto eternal life.

The doxology of the countless multitude:

Here is a scene of victory and triumph: After this I saw, and, behold, a great multitude which no man was able to count, out of every nation and from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white garments and palms in their hands. Here is the antitype of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Christian Church in the vestments of victory, ready to celebrate the joyous festival of the final entrance into glory. When the end of all tribulation will be at hand and the Kingdom of Glory will be revealed, then the innumerable multitude of the blessed, from every nation and tribe and people and language will be assembled before the throne of God. There they will stand, erect, confident, triumphant. For they will not appear in the garments of their own righteousness, but in the white vestments of the righteousness of Christ imputed to them by faith, Isaiah 61:10. In their hands they will hold palms, tokens of joy and of victory, all in honor of the Lord and of the Lamb, Psalm 16:11.

John heard also their hymn of praise: And they shouted with a mighty voice, saying, Salvation to our God, that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb. Here is the great chorus of the saints in bliss, not that of a quiet anthem, but that of a mighty shout, breaking forth from innumerable hearts that are filled with emotion. They ascribe their salvation, the bliss which they enjoyed, altogether and alone to God the Father, whose counsel of love prepared the salvation of the world, and to the Lamb, whose vicarious suffering earned salvation for the world. It is the eternal “All Glory Be to God on High” that here is brought out, the hymn of praise which will rise with unabated power, world without end.

When the praise of God is sung, the angels cannot remain silent: And all the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living beings, and fell down before the throne upon their faces and worshiped God, saying, Amen, praise and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever, Amen. As in Revelation 5:11, the angels are pictured as surrounding the throne and the elders and the cherubs, a great cloud of witnesses of the heavenly bliss. When the doxology of the perfected saints had come to an end, these blessed spirits took up the refrain and, with irrepressible ecstasy, enlarged upon it. With their Amen they agreed to the song of the elect, for it is one Spirit that lives in the congregation of Christ and in the hosts of the heavenly halls. As they praised the Lord before the opening of the seals, so their voices are raised in glorious harmony now that the fate of mankind has been unfolded. The divine wisdom was shown in the means devised by the Triune God to redeem fallen mankind; the divine power and might brought about the deliverance of mankind through the instrumentality of the Savior; and so thanksgiving, praise, and glory must be given to Him by the multitude of the perfected believers in bliss, by the hosts of heaven, throughout all eternity. This is most certainly true.

The bliss of the saints in white robes:

An interesting conversation is now reported by John: And there answered one of the elders, saying to me, These that are clothed in white robes, who are they and whence came they? Undoubtedly the elder saw the interest and the curiosity of John depicted on his face, and intended to stimulate this interest and direct it into the right channels. Therefore he pointed to the great multitude of the white-robed saints, asking, not concerning their number, but regarding their origin and character.

John’s answer showed the eagerness of his heart: And I said to him, Sir, thou knowest. It was the respectful address of the inferior to one whom he regarded as his superior. Cp. Ezekiel 37:3. He received the information which he sought: And he said to me, These are they that have come out of the great distress, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The great distress was the period of persecution and martyrdom to which reference had been made in Revelation 6:11. These people had overcome, they had conquered, they had been faithful unto death, and therefore the Lord had rescued them, had brought them to the haven of eternal safety. There was no merit on their part in this transaction, for all their righteousness were as filthy rags in the sight of God, Isaiah 64:6. But all the filth of their own garments had been washed away in the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, which cleanses us from all sins, Isaiah 1:16; 1 John 1:7. The white robes are the righteousness of Jesus Christ which they received through the means of grace, to which they clung unto the end.

The blessed state of the elect saints is further described: For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple, and He that sits upon the throne shall overshadow them. For this reason, not for any merit on their part, but because they accepted the righteousness of Jesus Christ and the white garment of His perfect merit, the perfected saints occupy that place of glory and honor before the throne of God. They are not only new creatures, but they are priests before God, performing the work of their worship before Him in all eternity, without ceasing, since the difference between day and night will then be eliminated. And just as the Shechinah, the cloud of the covenant, hovered over the Tabernacle and over the mercy-seat in the Old Testament with intimate care, thus the presence of God will overshadow the elect in heaven, in order to be united with them in intimate fellowship and to satisfy them with the rich gifts of His house, Psalm 36:9; Isaiah 49:10.

And still more will pertain to the bliss of heaven: They shall no more hunger or thirst, nor shall there strike them the sun or any heat, for the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, will be their Shepherd and will direct their way to fountains of living waters; and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. These assertions are made with the greatest emphasis. For those that are gathered before the throne of the Lamb hunger and thirst, the time of distress and affliction, are past forever, Isaiah 49:10. He that has mercy on them shall lead them; even by the springs of water shall He guide them. Never again will the burning rays of the sun, never again will the scorching heat of affliction make their spirits weary. For Jehovah Himself, the Lamb that occupies with the Father the very midst of the heavenly throne, will be the Shepherd that will guide them to the rich pastures of the heavenly blessings; He Himself will lead them beside the still waters of eternal life. He Himself is the bread, the manna, and the water of life, John 4:14-15; John 6:35; John 7:38. He it is that satisfies all hunger and thirst forever. What they have received here on earth in the means of grace, Isaiah 55:1, they now obtain in richest, endless measure as they see God face to face, as they are partakers of the glory which the Savior gained for them by His redeeming work. Never again will there be a cause for tears in the heavenly home. The last tear that may have remained on their eyelashes, due to the pains of death or martyrdom, will be wiped away, without a trace to show their former misery, Isaiah 25:8. That is the wonderful, the certain future that awaits the persecuted Church of God when the doors of eternity open. Oh, that this glorious comfort were living in the heart of every believer!

Summary

In the sealing of the servants of God, whose typical number is given, in the scene presenting the countless multitude praising the Lord, in the chorus of the angels, and in the description of the bliss of the saints in heaven the prophet offers the best and most lasting comfort to all believers in all afflictions of this life.

Verses 1-13

The third vision and the opening of the seventh seal

The preparation for the sounding of the trumpets:

The narrative at this point, with all its simplicity, is full of dramatic intensity: And when He opened the seventh seal, silence reigned in heaven for about a half-hour. It was a silence of strained expectation, of breathless suspense. The plagues that were about to be shown in symbols were the greatest, the most horrible of all, the tribulations which would strike the Church would be awe-inspiring in their intensity. It was an ominous period of direst portent.

After the half-hour had elapsed, an activity ensued which prepared for the coming events: And I saw the seven angels that stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. The use of trumpets is always associated in Scriptures with important announcements intended for great multitudes. Here the seven angels are mentioned, the spirits that were in the immediate service of the Lord, just as Gabriel calls himself one of those that stand in the presence of the Lord, Luke 1:19. They were His servants, to carry out His commands, and the trumpets were given to them in order that they might be the Lord’s heralds. They now stood ready, with their trumpets at their mouths, waiting for the signal to proclaim doom.

The idea that heaven is a vast temple now again comes to the foreground: And another angel came and stood next to the altar, having a golden censer, and to him was given incense in abundance, that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne. Here again everything points to the solemnity of the occasion. There is no hurry, no confusion: the act of worship is performed with all the impressiveness of holy dignity. Many commentators identify this angel with the one great High Priest of the New Testament, Jesus Christ Himself. Just as the high priest of the Old Testament took a golden censer to sacrifice incense in the Most Holy Place, so the prayers of the saints, a great mass of them, are here pictured as being offered up to God. This was acceptable to the Lord: And the smoke of the incense arose with the prayers of the saints out of the hand of the angel before God. The straight ascent of the smoke of a sacrifice signified that God looked upon it graciously, that the prayers of the saints met with His approval, as they are sure to do if made according to His will, for the sake of the precious merit and the powerful intercession of the great High Priest and Mediator Jesus Christ.

The last action of the angel was also significant: And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there occurred thunderings and voices and lightnings and an earthquake. The fire from the altar is a manifestation of the sevenfold Spirit in the Word. The proclamation of this Word is like thunder in shaking hard hearts, like a mighty voice in penetrating the minds, like lightning in revealing the innermost recesses of the heart and in working knowledge of divine things, like an earthquake in working mighty changes, not only in the heart and mind of the hearers, but in their entire life. These preliminary acts having taken place, everything was ready for the sounding of the trumpets: And the seven angels that had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to trumpet.

The sounding of the first and second trumpets:

The first four trumpets set in motion forces of ruin whose destruction is directed against natural objects, the disasters calling to mind the Egyptian plagues. The first plague concerned the earth: And the first one sounded the trumpet; and there occurred hail and fire mingled with blood and fell on the earth, and the third part of the trees was consumed, and all green grass was consumed. Here we have the picture of a terrible storm of lightning and hail, leaving death and destruction in its wake, with the added horror of a shower of blood instead of rain. Thus it is when a hurricane of false doctrines, especially of those of the righteousness of works, strikes the Church of God. Then the green pastures of His Word are sadly burned, and the tender shoots of the young Christians wither away.

The second plague struck the sea: And the second angel sounded his trumpet, and what resembled a huge mountain burning with fire fell into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood, and the third part of the creatures that were in the sea died, the living animals, and the third part of the ships were destroyed. Here we have a picture of a peculiar volcanic disturbance which includes the explosion of the volcano itself, the turning of the water into blood, the destruction of many marine animals, and the working of havoc among the shipping. Thus it is when heretical fanaticism enters the Christian Church, when false teachers arise and show forth apparently great signs and wonders, puffing themselves up in glittering greatness before men. Alas, only too many Christians have been led astray by such men, leaving the solid foundation of God’s eternal Word and perishing in their own foolishness.

The sounding of the third and fourth trumpets:

The third plague struck the waters of the earth: And the third angel sounded his trumpet; and there fell from heaven a huge star like a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the springs of water; and the name of the star is called Wormwood; and the third part of the waters turned to wormwood, and many among men died of the waters, because they had been made bitter. Here is the picture of an immense meteor shooting down out of the sky, filled with a bitter drug said to be a mortal poison which it was able to impart to all waters and springs with which it came in contact. Thus it has happened more than once that men who considered themselves shining lights and bright stars in the firmament of the Church have been found filled with the poison of false doctrine, which they all too often imparted to the sermons and books that were spread broadcast by them. By such men the Water of Life, the pure Gospel of the Savior, is made bitter and poisonous, and all men that drink of this poisoned water fall victims to spiritual death. The description fits especially well in the case of the great rationalistic teachers, who poisoned the fountains of the pure inspired Word.

The fourth plague struck the firmament of the sky: And the fourth angel sounded his trumpet; and the third part of the sun was smitten and the third part of the moon and the third part of the stars, the result being that the third part of them was darkened, and that the day had no light for its third part and the night likewise. Here is a picture of an unusual disturbance in the sky, by which all the bodies of light in the firmament were affected in such a manner as to take away a third part of their power both by day and by night. This is what happens in the Church when men that call themselves ministers of the Gospel darken the light of Scriptures with their own opinions, substituting arbitrariness and uncertainty for the infallible basis of the truth of God. Just as soon as speculations concerning the divine Word are introduced into the pulpit, just so soon the light of God is dimmed. It is a pity that, as the text notes throughout, the third part of the creatures were destroyed by these plagues, that a large part of the Church has always been struck by the various heresies. But there is still this comfort, that the third part is not the whole. The entire Church will not give way to error; God will keep His chosen ones in His Word and faith. The portals of hell shall not prevail against His Church.

The narrative now again shows an interval in the action: And I saw, and I heard an eagle (or: angel) flying in mid-heaven with a loud cry, Woe, woe, woe, to those that dwell upon the earth, for the rest of the trumpet-voices of the three angels that are about to sound their trumpets! In the midst of the sky, in the zenith, directly over the heads of men, the eagle was flying, and his screaming cry was a warning against security, a call to repentance, before the remaining trumpets should sound and bring still greater woes and distresses to the inhabitants of the earth. It is absolutely necessary that all Christians heed the warning words of their pastors in these last days of the world, lest they be overwhelmed by the woes which are coming upon the Church.

Summary

The prophet, at the beginning of the third vision, sees the opening of the seventh seal and witnesses the blowing of the trumpets by four angels, the consequence being that plagues visited the earth, the sea, the waters, and the sky.

Verses 1-21

The sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets

The falling of the star:

Here is a picture which presents extraordinary convulsions in nature in order to teach the coming of great upheavals in the Church: And the fifth angel sounded his trumpet; and I saw a star fallen out of heaven to the earth, and to him was given the key of the pit of the abyss. John saw this star, not in the course of falling, but as having fallen, as ready to begin his fearful work of destruction. He was given the key to a fearsome cavity, to the pit of the abyss, the abode of the devil and his angels; he received the power to bring men into this abode of darkness and damnation.

John now relates that the fallen angel made use of his power: And he opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun was darkened, and the air, from the smoke of the pit. The pernicious activity of the wicked fallen star is here shown, by which dark and poisonous vapors from the abyss of hell were unloosed. It was not a small and temporary phenomenon, but one which brought forth such a dense cloud of hellish smoke as to obscure the sun himself and to render the entire air murky. This evil was afterward made still worse: And out of the smoke there came forth locusts upon the earth, and to them was granted power as the power which the scorpions of the earth wield; and it was told them that they must not injure the grass of the earth nor any green thing nor any tree, but only those men that do not bear the seal of God upon their foreheads. So the dense and poisonous vapor resolved itself into a swarm of infernal spirits in the form of locusts, which were rendered more dangerous by the additional power of stinging like scorpions. The enemies of the believers, of the Church of Christ, are often compared to locusts, both on account of their great number and because of their destructiveness, Jeremiah 46:23; Amos 7; Joel 1. However, their power was not unlimited, since they were expressly told that they must not injure the vegetation which the Lord had still permitted to stand, and since they were not allowed to harm the elect of the Lord, who bear the seal of the heavenly Father and of the Lamb on their foreheads, Revelation 7:3.

The plague of the locusts:

Here the devastating spirits are described in detail. It is said of them, first of all: And it was granted to them that they should not kill them, but should torture them five months; and their torture is as the torture of a scorpion when it strikes a man. The scorpion signified a vicious and dangerous opponent, whose attacks were always attended with excruciating pain, and might prove mortal. For a long time, for five months, but incidentally a definite time, fixed by the Lord, beyond which they did not dare to go, the evil hordes were to vex Christendom. The torture was almost unspeakably severe: And in those days men will seek death and will not find it, and they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. The very withholding of death, under this refinement of torture, would result in intensifying its power; the tortured people crave in vain for some surcease of the torment, desiring death itself in preference to this torture. But this boon would be denied them.

The impression of the destructive activity of the hordes is heightened by their appearance: And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads what resembled crowns like gold, and their faces like faces of men, and they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like those of lions; and they had scaly plates like iron coats of mail, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many chariots rushing to battle; and they had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails was their power to injure men five months. This description is partly fanciful, partly realistic, the former being true of the crowns gleaming like gold and of the antennae waving like a girl’s long hair; the latter, of the shape of the head, of the segmented, scaly body, of their omnivorous appetite, and of the whirring noise made by them when in flight. The description is completed by the naming of their leader: They had over them as king the angel of the abyss, whose name is in Hebrew Abaddon, but in Greek he has as his name Apollyon. Surely a fitting name for the ruler and leader of the devastating hordes, for it means Destroyer.

The interpretation of this entire picture, Revelation 9:1-11, in the absence of authentic explanation by the Lord Himself, presents the same difficulties as most of the other pictures in this book of vision and prophecy. So much seems to be certain that the fallen star is an exceptionally great teacher, but one that has fallen away from the pure truth. His doctrine is one that savors of hell and destruction, and the result of its promulgation is that the pure saving knowledge of God is darkened on the earth. Moreover, he will gain many adherents, whose heresy would act as a spiritual plague in the midst of Christendom. For where the precious Word of God is despised and not accepted in true faith, there God will finally take this Word away and permit false and soul-destroying doctrine to be taught. And finally, the fact that the leader of the false believers bore the name Destroyer and had the power to torture apostate Christendom for five months, indicates that he was a mighty ruler and great warrior, whose destructive activity would vex also the true children of God.

This description may be applied to at least two historical movements of great extent. Luther writes: “The first woe, the fifth angel, is the great heretic Arius and his companions, who tormented Christendom so terribly in all the world that the text well says the pious people would rather have died than to have witnessed all of it; and yet they had to see it all, and could not die. He even says that an angel out of hell, called the Destroyer, is their king. … For not only in a spiritual manner, but also bodily, with the sword, they persecuted the true Christians.” ^■968 . Arius was a presbyter of the congregation at Alexandria in Egypt at the beginning of the fourth century, who introduced the terrible doctrine that Christ was not true God with the Father, but a mere creature. In spite of all efforts of faithful teachers to have this doctrine put out of the Church, since it overthrows the very foundations of Christianity, Arianism persisted for several centuries, being spread very rapidly by various Germanic nations that had accepted it, during the so-called migration of nations. It was a truly terrible visitation upon such Christians as were members of the Church in name only, but proved a torture also for the faithful few that clung to the doctrine of Scriptures. — Other commentators find in this fallen star and in the hordes that followed him, led by the angel from the abyss, the Pope and his entire hierarchy. And it is true that every detail of the picture as here drawn may well be applied to this antichristian system in all its ramifications, to this day the greatest enemy of the Church of Christ in the whole world. Would that all true Christians had their eyes opened to see and understand this fact and to comport themselves accordingly!

The sounding of the sixth trumpet:

The apostle here inserts a remark which has a deep significance: The first woe has passed; behold, there come still two woes after this. There will never be a time of complete peace and rest for the true Church of God until the end of the world, and all dreams of the Chiliasts, or Millennialists, will come to naught. As disciples of Christ, we must bear His cross, both individually and collectively, until the great day of the revelation of His glory.

The apostle still has the picture of the heavenly temple before him as he describes the sixth trumpet blast: And the sixth angel sounded his trumpet; and I heard a single voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel that had the trumpet, Loosen the four angels that are bound on the great river Euphrates. The Euphrates, at one time the eastern boundary of the Jewish territory and of the people of God, was to be the starting-point of this new woe. It was the single voice of the Lord that sounded forth from the midst of the four horns of the altar of gold. He, to whom all power is given in heaven and in earth, is able to restrain the angels that are about to work destruction, but He is also able to give them leave, if men will not accept the Gospel, and to send terrible woes upon the heretics and their followers.

This quartet of angels brought ruin immeasurable: And there were loosed the four angels that were prepared for that hour and day and month and year to kill the third part of men; and the number of their troops of cavalry was two hundred millions; I heard their number. The four angels of destruction had been kept for just this time, and such was their power that they were able to kill, to bring spiritual death, upon the third part of men. By means of an almost innumerable horde of horsemen the angels worked the ruin of which the seer speaks. This picture is so definite that few believing commentators hesitate about identifying the movement with that of Mohammedanism at the beginning of the seventh century. “The second woe is the sixth angel, the infamous Mohammed with his companions, the Saracens, who with doctrines and with the sword laid great plagues upon Christendom.” ^■968 . This false prophet, a descendant of Ishmael, set himself the task of finding a system of doctrines that would please all men. From the Jews he accepted circumcision and many other ceremonies; to the heathen he catered with his carnal license and polygamy; from the Arians he learned the little he knows about Christ; from other heretics he borrowed the doctrine of works by which men would merit heaven in the sight of God. At first the progress of this false prophet was slow, but after he had once gotten a foothold, his followers, in hordes of fanatics numbering countless thousands, overran large parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe.

The further description of the seer confirms this interpretation:

The description of the great masses of horsemen enhances the general effect of the passage, to emphasize the terror and destruction of this great plague: And thus I saw the horses in the vision and those that sat upon them, having coats of mail, of fire and jacinth and brimstone; and the heads of the horses resembled heads of lions, and out of their mouth there went forth fire and smoke and sulfur. Here a host of attacking horsemen is described, with their armor gleaming red, dark-blue, and yellow. They were the instruments of divine wrath. No power on earth alone could stop the robbing and the murdering and the burning of these fiends. The heads of lions which the heads of their horses resembled showed the terrible power, the horrible anger which filled the hearts of the Mohammedan hordes, fire and smoke and sulfur issuing out of their mouths: By these three plagues were killed the third part of men, by the fire and the smoke and the sulfur which went forth out of their mouths. It was and is a murderous fanaticism with which the followers of Mohammed wage war, all the abominations of the abyss of hell being employed by them in their attempt to spread their false doctrine.

It is as St. John writes: For the power of the horses lies in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails resemble serpents, having heads, and with them they do injury. That is the secret of the power of this false prophet, the false, alluring doctrine which comes forth from his mouth. The tongues of his teachers are truly inflamed of hell with a disastrous fire, a veritable mystery of iniquity. The old serpent, Satan himself, is their inspiration, and wherever they lift their heads, injury and destruction follows.

And now John makes an almost incredible statement: And the rest of men, that were not killed in these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, not to worship demons and idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they repented not of their murders nor of their magic arts nor of their fornications nor of their thefts. Even as Pharaoh hardened his heart in spite of the many evidences of God’s power performed in his sight, even as the children of Israel in the wilderness refused again and again to turn to the Lord in true repentance, in spite of the many miracles by which He sought to influence them, thus it has ever been in the history of the world. The Lord may send ever so many plagues, wars, pestilences, famines, and yet, as soon as He withdraws His chastening hand, men harden their hearts once more and refuse to repent of the works of their hands, of their idolatry, of their abuse of the name of God, of their murders and adulteries and robberies, both great and small. Truly, this is a description of the abyss of human depravity, such a picture as we see but rarely in its entirety, although glimpses are seen often enough in these last days before the coming of the Lord in glory.

Summary

The prophet, in the description of the falling star and of the hordes of locusts swarming up from the pit of hell, draws a picture of some of the chief false teachers that have ever vexed Christianity; and, in a similar manner, in the countless horsemen coming from the Euphrates, foretells the rise of Mohammedanism with its false doctrines and all its attendant horrors.

Verses 1-11

The seer eats a book

The angel with the book:

Just as there had been, after the opening of the sixth seal, a passage full of comfort for the true believers, so we have, in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth chapters, incidents that prepare for the last great woe. There are many details in these scenes which cannot be interpreted with certainty by any one but a prophet; however, the general trend of the narrative is clear. In the first scene we find: And I saw another strong angel descending out of heaven, clad in a cloud, and a rainbow on his head and his face like the sun and his feet like columns of fire. One angel had been spoken of in Revelation 5:2. Here was another angel, strong and mighty, with all the characteristics which pointed to a creature that either belonged to the angels of the Lord, or resembled them to such an extent as to deceive men. He comes in a cloud, just as the Lord descended upon the Tabernacle and upon the Temple in the Old Testament. He has a rainbow, the emblem of peace, on his head. The radiance of his face resembles that of the sun. His feet resemble pillars of fire, just as those of Christ, the great Victor over all enemies.

Of this majestic creature the seer writes: And having in his hand a small book opened; and he placed his right foot upon the sea, but the left upon the earth, and called with a great shout like a lion roaring; and when he had called, the seven thunders spoke their thunders. In Revelation 5:1 he had referred to a larger, closed book; here it is only a booklet which he sees in the hand of the angel. The colossal figure of the majestic creature bestrode land and sea, since he was possessed of great power and wanted to have his message heeded in all the wide world. For this reason also he shouted with a lion’s roaring to have his voice penetrate to the end of the world, and like a mighty echo the seven thunders rolled forth their voices in an articulate bellow like the sevenfold voices of the Lord in thunder, Psalm 29.

The message of the angel:

Here is a strange interlude: And when the seven thunders had spoken, I intended to write, and I heard a voice out of heaven saying, Seal what the seven thunders have spoken, and do not write that. The message which the thunders reechoed must have been articulate, since John had evidently understood the words. And hardly had the sound rolled away, when he was ready to put the message to paper. But a voice from heaven interfered, bidding him seal or shut up the vision, keep it secret from mankind, at least for the time being. It is not necessary for men to know all the mysteries and secrets of the future. Note that John here emphasizes his prophetic authority.

Meanwhile the angel also had gotten ready for another exhibition of power and wisdom: And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the earth lifted up his right hand to heaven, and swore by Him that lives forever and ever, who created the heaven and what is in it, and the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it that there should be no further delay, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he would sound his trumpet, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, as He had proclaimed the good news to His servants, the prophets. Here the extraordinary wisdom and power of the angel again appears. With great solemnity he swears by the living God, by the almighty Creator of the universe. He knows that the last woe is about to be revealed, that there will be no further delay. God’s activity in creation and providence would culminate in judgment; all is ripe for the end, just as the promise had been given to the prophets of the Lord. This is good news to the servants of God, to the believers; it shows them that their deliverance is near.

John swallows the little book:

This is another interlude with a strange cast: And the voice which I had heard out of heaven I (once more heard) speaking to me and saying, Go take the opened booklet out of the hand of the angel that stands on the sea and on the earth. This vision resembles that related in Ezekiel 3:1-3, and it has much the same meaning. The voice from heaven is again distinguished from that of the angel, as it bids John take the open booklet from the angel.

The scene grows in strangeness: And I went to the angel, saying to him, Give me the booklet; and he said to me, Take and swallow it, and it will make thy stomach bitter, but in thy mouth it will be sweet as honey. Surely a most peculiar situation which has the angel voice such a command, that the seer devour the small scroll, which, though it would taste sweet, would be bitter to digest. But John obeyed: And I took the booklet out of the hand of the angel and swallowed it, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was bitter. As he had been told, he eagerly devoured the scroll, and the effects were just as the angel had foretold, a sweet taste in the mouth, but a feeling of great bitterness in the stomach.

John now receives a last command: And he said to me, It is necessary that thou prophesy again of peoples and nations and tongues and many kings. The revelation had been made, and John was commissioned to make known the visions. The message which he should proclaim concerned all men of all nations and of all tongues, rulers and subjects alike. Thus we again have evidence that the seer wrote at the command and by the inspiration of the Lord, that we have, in this book, eternal truth.

It now remains to see what this vision, as a whole, signifies. The force of the entire picture seems to point to a preparation for the last woe, and in this sense it was understood by most Lutheran commentators. The entire appearance of the angel symbolizes the essence and the character of the last woe. He came with great spiritual show, as one that personified Christ Himself, as one that represented Christ’s work, Christ’s truth, Christ’s kingdom. His threatening voice demanded acknowledgement of his person and of his doctrine, of his decrees, as they were contained in the booklet, in the small scroll. As John found, these decrees and doctrines were indeed sweet to the taste and pleasant to the flesh, but he was later convinced that they were dangerous for heart and conscience, that they destroyed faith. Thus this angel, under the guise of the highest sanctity, represents the power of hell, which appeared with great spiritual show and under the name and the mask of Christ, but whose intention was through doctrines of men, which pleased the perverted flesh, to destroy both faith and conscience. This description, as we shall see, fits the Pope of Rome as the true Antichrist.

Summary

The seer beholds an angel with a booklet coming down from heaven, bearing a threatening message; he swallows the little scroll and experiences a sweet taste in the mouth, followed by a bitter feeling in the stomach.

Verses 1-19

Of the two witnesses and the sounding of the seventh trumpet

Measuring the temple of God:

This is an interlude which is full of comfort for all Christians, and prepares them for the coming of the last woe. Only the first thought is one that still belongs to the preceding vision in its contents: And there was given to me a reed like a rod, with the words, Up, and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those that worship there; and the outer court of the temple exclude and do not measure it, because it has been given over to the Gentiles, and they will trample upon the Holy City forty-two months. The Temple of Jerusalem, of which the temple here described is a picture, or type, had a number of sections, the Court of the Gentiles, the Court of the Women, the Court of Israel, and the Court of the Priests. The outer court, in this case, is described as being given over to the heathen, to the enemies of the Lord. The inner Temple, the Temple proper, then, is the true Church, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; while the outer Temple seems to represent the so-called visible Church, which has often been torn apart and trampled upon by heretics and antichrists. Forty-two months, three and one-half years, or 1,260 days: that is the symbolical length of the period in which the last woe would exert its power upon men. It is a long time, and yet it is limited by the power of the Lord. None of the powers of evil are permitted to go beyond the time permitted them by the Lord; His Christians may not be tempted beyond that they are able.

To this fact there is added another assurance: And I shall grant to My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed with sackcloth; these are the two olive-trees and the two lamp-stands that are standing before the Lord of the earth. In the midst of the general apostasy the Lord still has His witnesses, faithful preachers and teachers, who during the reign of Antichrist would lift up their voices and testify of the Savior and of the true Gospel. Their garments, indeed, would be made of black hair-cloth, the appropriate dress of humiliation, for there would be reason enough for repentance, also in the midst of the Church. The reference seems to be to men who, like Moses and Elijah, would lift up their voice in warning to stem the tide of antichristian doctrine and practise which threatened to engulf the Church. Two olive-trees or two lamp-stands these two faithful witnesses were, providing the oil for the light of God’s grace and Spirit in the Church. Through their witness and through their suffering the servants of the Lord become lights in the world and of the world.

The fate of the two witnesses:

The first part of this description again reminds us of Moses and Elijah, Exodus 7-10; 1 Kings 17:1; 2 Kings 1: And if any one wants to injure them, fire issues out of their mouth and consumes their enemies; and if any should want to injure them, in this manner must he be killed. These have power to shut up the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophecy, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with all manner of plagues as often as they choose. To prevent rain from falling was a punishment for iniquity as was the turning of water into blood. The entire description points to a divine power in the witness of the two prophets. All those that despise the true preachers of the Gospel and reject their message are doomed to eternal death, which is in a manner foreshadowed by the temporal plagues that occur on the earth from time to time, such as war, pestilence, and famine.

The temporary triumph of Antichrist’s power: And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the abyss will wage war with them, and will conquer them, and will kill them. When they have finished their testimony, when they have done their work as commanded them by the Lord, and not before, will Antichrist succeed in carrying out the purpose of his hatred. For the beast out of the abyss is no one but the man of sin, the abomination of desolation, the false Messiah, the Roman Antichrist, personified in the Pope of the Roman Church. God’s witnesses having performed their work, the enemy is given permission to slay them. With the power of hell Antichrist makes war upon the faithful servants of God, overcomes them, and finally puts them to death. That was the experience of all the teachers who, in the darkness of the Middle Ages, when the temporal and ecclesiastical power of popery was at its height, dared to bear witness to the truth.

All this caused great rejoicing in the kingdom of darkness: And their corpses will lie on the streets of the great city, which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified; and men of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will see their corpses three days and one half, and will not permit their corpses to be placed into sepulchers; and they that dwell upon the earth will rejoice over them and be very glad, and will send one another presents, because these two prophets tormented those that lived upon the earth. Sodom, to the Jews, was the essence of abominations, and Egypt was the country where their fathers had been kept in shameful slavery; both names therefore stood for the lowest and meanest on earth. The great city to which these names are applied is none other than the Church of Antichrist, a Sodom, on account of the sins that are committed under the mantle of holiness, and an Egypt on account of the suppression of the pure Gospel that is practised in its midst. No political criminals were ever treated with such cruelty as the confessors of the Gospel that suffered martyrdom in the Church of Antichrist. Even after the true witnesses had been slain, they were often not permitted to rest in their graves, their very bones being made the object of fanatical attacks, as in the case of Wyclif. And whenever a faithful servant of Christ had been put to death, it was a cause for great rejoicing in the ranks of Christ’s enemies, who congratulated one another and even went to the extent of having medals struck to commemorate the event, as in the case of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew.

The passing of the second woe:

The enemies of the Lord, as in many cases since, rejoiced too soon: And after the three and one-half days the Spirit of Life from God came into them, and they stood upon their feet, and a great fear fell upon those that saw them. That has always been the experience of the Church under the guidance of God: the blood of the martyrs was its seed; Huss was burned at Constance, but Luther took his place in Germany. And by the grace of God such events always have a good effect, at least to some extent; they impress at least some of the souls that have been held in captivity by Antichrist, and cause them to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Other miracles attended this remarkable event: And they heard a great voice out of heaven saying to them, Ascend hither; and they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them; and in that hour there happened a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand souls, and the rest became terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. Many of those very witnesses for Christ whom the minions of Antichrist slew are now properly reckoned with the saints whom the Lord has taken up to heaven. The enemies themselves, in many cases, were obliged to acknowledge their excellence. The Reformation finally shook the Church like a great earthquake, and many that held to the old, antichristian order of things were swept down to eternal destruction in the ruin which threatened the very foundations of Antichrist’s kingdom. And as for the rest, great numbers were gained for the truth, while others were at least terrified to the extent that they insisted upon, and finally effected, at least a partial external removal of the many abuses that had openly been tolerated in the Church. Having this vision, the seer calls out: The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is coming quickly. Everything that had been described till now was only of a preparatory nature before the last great and terrible woe.

The sounding of the seventh trumpet:

Now comes the beginning of the destruction which would take away all power from the destroyer. The announcement is made in a solemn manner: And the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there occurred loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the earth has become that of our Lord and His Christ, and He will be King forever and ever. It is an exultant song of praise in honor of God and Christ, sung by all the angels and saints in heaven. When the end comes, Christ will not only reign in the midst of His enemies, but, being exalted above all heavens, He will deliver all kingdoms and rules and authorities and powers to God, even the Father, and He, being one with the Father, will rule with Him forever and ever, throughout all eternity.

This hymn is taken up and enlarged upon by the circle about the throne: And the twenty-four elders that were before God, that sat upon their seats, fell upon their faces and worshiped God, saying, We praise Thee, Lord God the Almighty, who is and who was, because Thou hast received Thy great power and hast reigned, and the heathen were enraged, and Thine anger was come and the time for the dead to be judged, and to give a reward to Thy servants, the prophets, and to the saints and to those that fear Thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy the destroyers of the earth. Here the Church, represented by the twenty-four elders, praises and worships Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, the exalted Son of Man. They praise the revelation of the wonderful power of Jehovah, which formerly was considered weakness and foolishness by the world. The form of the servant, in which Christ chose to appear while performing His work in the world is now no longer in evidence. He not only possesses almighty power, but uses this power in ruling heaven and earth. The heathen, including all the antichristian powers, were filled with rage, but it avails them nothing. For now, after so long a time of patience and mercy, the Lord’s wrath is poured out upon the earth. All the dead had to appear before the Lord for judgment, and the righteous anger of the Lord struck the destroyers of the earth, in whatever guise they were found, while those that had been faithful to the end, the prophets, the saints, those that feared His name, received a wonderful reward of mercy, everlasting life with all its bliss. Thus this vision of the end of time serves for the comfort of all Christians, especially in view of the fact that the last woe is yet to be described.

And another source of comfort for all believers is this: And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and there was seen the Ark of His covenant in the temple, and there occurred lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and great hail. That is the revelation of the Kingdom of Glory as it will appear to us on the last day. The Ark of the Jewish people was taken to Babylon and never returned to its accustomed place in the second and third Temple, but the covenant of the New Testament is an eternal covenant, namely, the promise that we are His people, His children by faith in Christ Jesus, and shall live and reign with Him forever and ever, in the temple of heaven. God is faithful; He can and will keep that which we have committed to Him against that day. Meanwhile His enlightening and powerfully sounding voice goes forth in the earth in spite of Mohammed and Antichrist, to deliver those that are His from all floods of tribulation, but to visit His enemies with His judgments, as earthquakes and hail-storms devastate the land.

Summary

The seer records a vision full of comfort to the believers, showing that the Word of God was proclaimed by at least a few faithful witnesses in the midst of antichristian heresy, and that their witness, even after their death, did not remain without fruit; he records a scene from the end of time to show that the Lord will finally deliver those that are His from every evil work and translate them into His heavenly kingdom.

Verses 1-17

The battle of Michael with the dragon

The woman clothed with the sun:

In spite of the awe which this picture and the entire vision arouses in our hearts, it contains a message of great comfort and cheer: And a great sign was seen in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon beneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and being pregnant, she cried in the pains of birth and was in torment to give birth. This woman symbolizes the Daughter of Zion, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, Isaiah 54:5-6. She is clothed with the sun; for to her the Sun of Righteousness has appeared, thus giving to her the brightness of the true day in Christ Jesus. The moon, the queen of night, is under her feet, for she has overcome all change and conquered all darkness. She has a crown of twelve stars, for the doctrine of the apostles and prophets is her greatest ornament, her precious jewels. It is the function of the Church always, till the end of time, to bring forth spiritual children, Isaiah 54; Psalm 45:17; Galatians 4:26-27; Psalm 110:3. These children are indeed brought forth with travail; to bring them to faith and to keep them in faith is a work which God alone can perform through the Gospel, and the operations of His Spirit conflict with all the natural desires of man.

In glaring contrast with this picture is that of the dragon: And there was seen another sign in heaven; and, behold, a huge red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems, and his tail dragged the third part of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth; and the dragon stood before the woman that was about to give birth, that, when she had born, he might devour the child. The dragon, as often in Scriptures, represents Satan, the old evil serpent, Ezekiel 29:3; Isaiah 27:1; Isaiah 51:9, here with particular reference to the work which he does through his chief tool and instrument, the Church of Antichrist. There he shows all his craft and power, and his seven heads and ten horns, kings and rulers and heretical teachers in the Church, stand him in good stead, aid him in his design to destroy Christ and all His Christians utterly. For with every new believer Christ is born, Galatians 4:19, and therefore the devil intends to devour, to annihilate, Christ in His Church by turning the Christians away from Him, by corrupting the Church.

The dragon’s fierceness is now indicated: And she gave birth to a man-child, who was intended to rule all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne; and the woman fled into the wilderness, where a place has been prepared for her by God, that they should nourish her there twelve hundred and sixty days. The believers, born in Christ and with Christ, through the Word, through Baptism, would indeed be in great danger from Satan and his henchmen, were it not for the fact that, with Christ and in Christ, their souls are even now safe at the throne of God, in the hands of the Lord. The devil may indeed destroy our body and take our life, but he cannot rob us of our eternal salvation. The desert, or wilderness, into which the Church was obliged to flee is practically identical with this whole earth; for it has happened time and again that the confessors of Christ were forced to conceal themselves in the most secret and unlikely places in order that the enemies of the Gospel might not find them. But in spite of all such tribulation, which was especially great during the rule of Antichrist, the Church was nourished. Even as the Lord reserved for Himself, at the time of Elijah, seven thousand that had not bowed their knees to Baal, so He protects His Church, the poor small crew, in the midst of the most trying vicissitudes of temptation and persecution. That is glorious comfort for all Christians.

The dragon cast out of heaven:

Here a strange scene is depicted: And there occurred a battle in heaven, Michael and his angels battling with the dragon; and the dragon battled and his angels, and were not able to prevail, neither was their place found any more in heaven; and there was thrown out the huge dragon, the old serpent, who is called devil and Satan, who seduces the whole world; he was thrown to the earth, and his angels were thrown with him. It seems that the dragon did not give up his attempts to destroy the believers as personified in the child that was caught up to heaven, but attempted to storm heaven itself. Even in the Old Testament the devil is pictured as being among the sons of God, the angels, as they came for their daily ministry, Job 1:6-12. But his attack proved a failure; for Michael, the archangel, Daniel 10:13,21; Daniel 12:1, summoned the hosts of heaven and gave battle so successfully that the dragon, or Satan, — called the old serpent with reference to the fall of man, and the devil because his constant endeavor is to bring ignominy and shame upon all men, — was cast out of heaven with his host. The devil, with the entire kingdom of Antichrist on his side, is not able to prevail against Christ. All his carnal, all his hellish weapons may, indeed, inflict wounds upon the believers, but the spiritual armor of the Christians, Ephesians 6, is so strong as to overcome all the attacks which Satan may launch. We tremble not, we fear no ill, they shall not overpower us; this world’s prince may still scowl fierce as he will; he can harm us none; he’s judged, the deed is done; one little word can fell him.

And so the voice of victory is heard: And I heard a great voice in heaven saying, Now has come salvation and power and the kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ, for the accuser of our brethren is thrown down, he that accuses them before God day and night. Here is a further explanation of the manner in which the devil and his angels attacked the believers, namely, by accusing them before God day and night, by carefully keeping an account of every failing and of every transgression that may be charged to their account, and then dinning this in the ears of the Lord continually. But here the anthem of victory arises, giving all honor to God the Father, the Author of our salvation, and to His Son, Jesus Christ, who wrought a complete salvation for us. His kingdom is established forever, and all the subjects of this kingdom, all true believers, are safe in His power. All the accusations of the devil, true and weighty as they would be in themselves, have lost their strength in view of the fact that the atonement of Christ has covered all these sins and their guilt, that the redemption which He effected has brought a full reconciliation with God.

Therefore the hymn of victory continues: And they conquered him through the blood of the Lamb, and through the word of their witness, and they did not love their soul unto death. For this reason rejoice, heavens, and those that dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has come down to you having a great rage, knowing that he has little time. And they, the believers themselves, won the victory over Satan; they are always winners in the fight against him, through the power of Christ, through the fact that His blood was shed for their redemption, and through the fact that they bear witness of this salvation and thus conquer the enemies with the Gospel. In the Gospel, in the testimony of salvation, there is a mighty, a world-conquering power, for the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit is present in it. Therefore not only the believers on earth are filled with the exultation of triumph, but the dwellers in the heavens are also called upon to rejoice with the Church in its victory; even the angels take part in the triumph over the powers of darkness. Outwardly it may seem as though the Christians were forced to submit; in reality, however, the martyrs who had to die for their faith, but did not cling to life, are the victors, and their victory will be revealed before the eyes of all men on the last day. Fearful times, indeed, we may expect after the fruitless attempt of Satan to storm heaven, for he is now enraged more than ever, and he means to make the most of the short time still remaining to him before the last day comes. Let him storm and rage; we Christians are safe in the protecting hands of the Lamb.

The dragon’s hatred for the woman:

The narrative is here continued with a description of the manner in which the dragon carried out the persecution of the woman that was mentioned in Revelation 12:6: And when the dragon saw that he was thrown to the earth, he persecuted the woman that had given birth to the man-child; and there were given to the woman two wings of a huge eagle that she might flee to the wilderness, to the place set apart for her, where she was nourished a time and times and a half time away from the face of the serpent. The hatred against Christ and against all that believe in Him gives Satan no rest. Through his instruments, the children of unbelief, he persecutes the Church. But the Lord holds His protecting hand over them that are His, for the Church continues to exist in spite of all hatred, even though it be only in secret places and hidden from the eyes of men. All this happened while the power of Antichrist’s kingdom was at its height, for three and one half times, and all the rage of the devil did not succeed in exterminating the believers.

But the rage of the devil continued unabated: And the serpent poured out of his mouth, after the woman, water like a river in order to sweep her away with the flood. But the earth assisted the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. This is a picture of the floods of tribulation which Satan time and again poured forth against the Church. We need but think of the times of great persecutions against the true Church, of the period of the Inquisition, to note in what manner the devil makes fanatics of men against the preaching of the truth. In many a case the rulers of the earth, though otherwise indifferent to the pure doctrine, were the instruments for stemming the tide of persecution and bringing times of comparative peace to the Church and her work.

And still the devil’s fury gives him no rest: And the dragon was enraged against the woman and went off to wage war on the rest of her offspring that keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus. As long as this earth stands, the devil will not change. Whenever he has the opportunity and whenever he can create the opportunity, he will continue his hellish warfare against the Christians that continue in the Word of their Lord, that cling to the Gospel of salvation through the redemption of Jesus. But the Church of God cannot be destroyed, though all the portals of hell be arrayed against her; God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, and that right early. That is our comfort.

Summary

The seer pictures the Church as a woman whose children and offspring the dragon, Satan, tries to devour; but, owing to the resistance of Michael and the heavenly host, through the power of Christ, all the attempts of the devil are foiled, and the Church is kept safely in the hands of God.

Verses 1-18

The seven-headed beast of blasphemy and the two-horned beast of deceit

The description of the first beast:

Luther writes of this whole chapter: “There comes, then, in the thirteenth chapter, after the trumpeting of the last of the seven angels, who sounds his trumpet at the beginning of the twelfth chapter, the business of that seventh angel, the third woe, namely, papal imperialism and imperial popery. Here the papacy gains the power also of the worldly sword, and now rules not only with the booklet in the second woe, but also with the sword in the third woe. Just as they boast that the Pope has both the spiritual and also the temporal sword in his power. Here, then, are the two beasts; the one is imperial power and dignity; the other, with the two horns, is the papacy, which has now also become a worldly kingdom, though with a bold show of the name of Christ.” ^■969 .

The explanation is certainly plausible, as a closer examination of the text shows: And I stood on the shore of the sea, and saw ascending out of the sea a beast having ten horns and seven heads, and on the horns ten diadems, and on his heads names of blasphemy; and the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet resembled those of a bear, and his mouth resembled the mouth of a lion. If we compare this picture with those found in the prophecies of Daniel, there can be little doubt that this beast is the Roman Empire. It arose out of the ocean of nations, gradually, but surely, until it had power over practically the entire world. Seven heads the beast had; for the city of Rome, the capital of this great empire, is built on seven hills; and ten horns were seen by John, which refers to the ten provinces of the old empire. Names of blasphemy the beast had on his heads; for blasphemous idolatry and heathenism was practised in the city and empire, and enmity against Christ and the Christian religion has always been rampant in its capital. That the entire appearance of the beast, finally, was like a leopard, but with the feet of a bear and with the mouth of a lion, indicates that the Roman Empire combined in itself all the qualities of the former world empires as they are described in Daniel 7.

We are told still more concerning this beast: And to him the dragon gave his own power and his throne and great authority. This shows that Satan would rule and exert his power on earth especially through the Roman Empire, and that its emperors, princes, and governors would act as his representatives in carrying out his designs against the Church of Christ. The result was all that the devil might have desired: And one of his heads appeared to have been wounded to death, but his deadly wound was healed; and all the earth marveled after the beast and worshiped the dragon, because he gave authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like to the beast, and who can battle with him? The great empire and power which the beast represents received a temporary setback, a wound which looked like a deadly wound. This may refer to the end of the Roman Empire as such, which came to an end in the year 476. But Rome retained its power in spite of all that, for the worldly authority of the Pope dates from about that time. Satan is still wielding his power through Antichrist, and it is a sad fact, but a fact nevertheless, that practically all the world, both civil and ecclesiastical authorities, have been giving honor to the Pope, many of them stating openly that the power of the papacy is such as to make this attitude the best policy.

The power of the first beast:

From these words it is plain that the old heathen Roman Empire is continuing in the form of the papacy, for the description is so clear and unmistakable: And there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and there was given to him power to do so forty-two months; and he opened his mouth for blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name and His dwelling, those that dwell in heaven; and there was given to him to wage war with the saints and to conquer them, and there was given to him power over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. Here the rise of Antichrist’s kingdom is depicted in a few masterful strokes. For it is characteristic of him that he speaks great and vaunting blasphemies, not only with regard to his own position in the Church, but also in the doctrines which place him in the temple of God as a god, and give him power over the Godhead Himself, as in the Mass, where the priest is said to have power to create the person of Christ by his blessing of the bread. By God’s permission, Antichrist had only a limited time for the unrestricted indulgence in this behavior, but he made the most of this time. The blasphemies which are contained in the official declarations of the Roman Church, especially as to the power of the Pope, are such as to make a Bible Christian shudder. There can incidentally be no greater folly than to underestimate the power which Antichrist possessed in the past and which he wields to-day. Not only does he wage war against the saints, the believers, but he also had overcome untold thousands, getting them into his power and poisoning their souls with his idolatrous poison. Not only over a single city, state, or nation does his authority extend, but his officials are found in all tribes and peoples and tongues and nations. The power of Antichrist is a scourge of God visited upon the nations, and many a person that did not want to accept the simple doctrine of the atonement of Christ, of the justification of a poor sinner without the deeds of the Law, by grace alone, has been enmeshed in the net of Rome and in the blasphemous doctrine of salvation by works.

For that reason St. John continues: And there will worship him all those that dwell upon the earth, every one whose name is not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. The power of Antichrist is not confined to those that actually are members of His Church. There are thousands and millions outside of his kingdom that secretly or openly worship him, because they admire the wonderful perfection of the system which he has built up in the last fifteen centuries, or because they fear his power. But by the grace of God such worshipers are only those whose names are not written in God’s Book of Life, that is, in that of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, whose death for all sinners was a fact established by the counsel of God from the foundation of the world. In the very first prophecies and types Christ was revealed as the Savior of the world, Genesis 3:15,21; Exodus 12:6; 1 Corinthians 5:7. This is such an important thought and it must be kept in mind so continually by all Christians that the seer calls out: If any one has ears, let him hear. And he adds the warning: If any one leads into captivity (or: is destined for captivity), he leads into captivity (or: into captivity he goes); if any one kills with the sword, by the sword he must be killed; here is the patience and the faith of the saints. These words contain a warning for the enemies and a consolation for the believers. The latter must expect martyrdom: that is inevitable where enemies of Christ come into power. But the wrath of God will find these and will give them the punishment which their transgression merits. But he who loses liberty and life for the sake of Christ will at the same time gain eternal liberty and life. It is here that the patience and the faith of the saints, of the true believers, come into their own; for they will inherit the promise through the grace of God, Hebrews 6:12.

The second beast:

That there is a close connection between the two beasts of this chapter is here again evident: And I saw another beast ascending out of the earth, and it had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon, and the full authority of the first beast he exerts before him; and he causes the earth and those that dwell on it that they worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. It would be foolish to attempt an interpretation of all the details of this picture, but the general trend seems to be clear. This beast is also a great kingdom or power exerted like that of a king or emperor, although with a lamblike aspect. This beast is the successor of the first beast and takes his place in every respect, differing from him only in form. He succeeds above all in making men worship the first beast, to overlook the wound which had really struck a vital spot, which had laid open the real nature of the first beast.

To this end the second beast shows great activity: And he performs great signs, so that he also causes fire to come down from heaven to the earth before men; and he seduces those that dwell upon the earth through the signs which were granted to him to perform before the beast, saying to them that dwell upon the earth to make images to the beast which has the wound from the sword and still lived. In this beast is fulfilled what St. Paul had prophesied, namely, that his coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10. It would be foolish to ascribe all the so-called miracles that are performed by antichristian prophets to superstition; for the devil knows how to use the forces of nature to his ends if God gives him permission. So great was the influence of this beast that he even succeeded in making men set up the first beast as an idol, as a god in the midst of God’s true temple, and to give him divine worship.

The mark of the second beast:

There is a remarkable show of authority which is here described: And there was granted him to give spirit to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should die; and he obliges all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, that they impress upon them a mark upon their right hand or upon their foreheads, that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name. So far the power of the beast goes by God’s permission, to this extent he is God’s scourge upon those that will not accept the salvation through Christ. Even the image, the copy of the first beast, this second beast caused to have the ability to speak and to exert great might in the world. He does not confine himself to any special class of people: powerful or without influence, rich or poor, free or in slavery, the beast will try to get them all into his power and to control them according to both body and soul. To do this, he sees to it that his mark is impressed, either upon their right hands or upon their foreheads. The word here used by John originally designated the imperial stamp on documents and merchandise, a red seal with the emperor’s name or effigy ^■970 . The mark on the hand was to indicate that the wearer would faithfully conform all his acts to the will of his master; and that on the forehead indicated that the wearer openly proclaimed himself a servant of the beast. So far did the power of the beast go at certain times that the very commerce of states and nations was controlled by it, and men could buy and sell commodities only with his permission.

So far as the explanation of this picture is concerned, the seer writes: Here is wisdom: he that has understanding, let him compute the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his name is six hundred sixty-six. Here indeed the gift of interpretation is needed if one would make absolute assertions. A great many commentators have tried to make the characteristics here given fit some individual historical person, Nero, who probably served as a type, Napoleon, and others. But if we take the features of the picture as a whole, the most probable conclusion is the following. As the first beast pictured the Roman Empire, continued in the kingdom of Antichrist as he showed himself mainly before the Reformation, so the second beast represents him as he has appeared since that time. Before the Reformation he exerted his power in an open and unrestricted manner; since that time he has assumed a lamblike aspect, which has deceived thousands of people. The image of the first beast is still there, the detailed hierarchical organization modeled after that of the Roman Empire, as it has been strengthened by the Jesuits. There is a Pope, there are cardinals, there are archbishops and bishops and priests and deacons and subdeacons and a great many other officials, all fitting in with the system. There is the matter of the Inquisition, which developed its greatest power since the Reformation. There are the signs and wonders, which make such a great impression upon men. There are the two swords, the temporal and the spiritual, which the Pope still claims for himself. There are the many cases of interdict, or spiritual boycott, when congregations, cities, and states were suspended from the means of grace. There are the cases of indulgences, when the forgiveness of sins was made a matter of traffic and bargaining. There are the cases of special commercial privileges granted to individuals and to communities by papal dispensation or permission. There are many other features which apply with peculiar force to Antichrist and his kingdom.

Luther writes about this chapter and the preceding one: “What abominations, woe, and damage this imperial papacy has committed cannot be related now. For in the first place, the world through his book has been filled with idolatry, with monasteries, institutions, saints, pilgrimages, purgatory, indulgences, lack of marriage, and innumerable other specimens of human doctrine and works. In the second place, who is able to tell how much bloodshed, murder, war, and misery the Popes have been the cause of, both with their own wars and by provoking emperors, kings, and princes?” ^■971 .

Summary

In the pictures of two beasts the prophet pictures the kingdom of Antichrist in its two phases, before and after the Reformation, showing its great power both in gaining worshipers and in bringing misery and death upon those that refused to accept Antichrist’s doctrines.

Verses 1-20

Of the Church of the Reformation and the fall of spiritual Babylon

The Lamb and His followers:

After the picture of abomination in the preceding chapter we have here visions full of comfort and strength and consolation for all believers. The Lamb now again becomes the center of interest: And I saw, and, behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred forty-four thousand having His name, the name of the Father, written upon their foreheads. In the midst of the last great woe the Lord has ways and means of keeping and saving His Church. Mount Zion is often used figuratively for the Church of Christ and for the place where it is established. The Lamb is our Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. The number given here, one hundred and forty-four thousand, is the symbolical figure representing the total number of the elect. Cp. Revelation 7:4-8. These elect of God did not bear the mark of the beast upon their forehead, but the name of their Savior, Jesus Christ, and of the Father in heaven, by whose power and through whose will salvation was given them.

John now tells what he heard in that vision: And I heard a voice out of heaven as the voice of many waters and as the rumbling of great thunder; and the voice which I heard resembled that of harpists playing on their harps; and they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living beings and the elders; and no one can learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand that have been redeemed from the earth. Cp. Revelation 5:8. It was a wonderfully strange and beautiful music which John heard, now as the rushing of mighty waters, then again as the rumbling of loud thunder, then resembling the delicate playing of many harpists attuned in perfect harmony. The glory and power and beauty of the Lord were praised in this incomparable hymn, in this hymn which is sung only in the heavenly presence, before the throne of God, before the four cherubim, before the elders that represent the Church of God on earth. Only those that are among the elect of God are able to learn this wonderful hymn; for hypocrites and Christians in name only it is too difficult. It is like the confession of Peter; flesh and blood cannot comprehend it, but only they to whom the Spirit of God has revealed it.

The faithful believers, the elect of God, are now described more fully: These are they that have not been defiled with women, for virgins they are; these have been redeemed from men as the first-fruits to God and to the Lamb, and in their mouth there is found no lie; for they are blameless. That is a characteristic of the elect of God in the midst of the abominations of this last period of the world: they take no part in the idolatry of the Pope wherewith so many people are now defiling themselves; they are pure in this respect. They have been redeemed from among men by the blood of Christ, which was indeed shed for them all, but which the great majority reject and therefore do not become partakers of its wonderful benefits. They are therefore the first-fruits of the spiritual harvest of the world, offered to God as a living sacrifice on the great Passover festival of heaven. They now belong to God, their heavenly Father, and to the Lamb, their Savior, whose cross they cheerfully bear after Him. They do not join in the hypocrisy which sings the praises of the Lamb and does the works of the dragon, but they are free from the lying and the falsehood of Antichrist. Altogether, they are pure, blameless, without stain, not on their own account, but by virtue of the blood of Christ, which cleanses them from all sins.

The angel in mid-heaven:

Here is a scene full of majesty and power: And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal Gospel to proclaim to those that live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people, saying with a powerful voice, Fear God and give Him glory; for the hour of His Judgment has come; and worship Him that made the heaven and the earth and the sea and the springs of water. This passage has been understood by Lutheran commentators, and undoubtedly correctly, to apply to Doctor Martin Luther and the Reformation. For he, as the angel of the Lord, different from the other angels spoken of in the previous chapters, brought back and preached the eternal Gospel of the justification of a poor sinner through the merits of Jesus Christ alone, by faith. In the very midst of the kingdom of Antichrist he preached this Gospel, and with such divine zeal and power that many thousands of captives were filled with joy over the deliverance here proclaimed. To fear God alone, that was the message which Luther brought back once more, and not to quail before the power of him that usurped the throne of God; to give honor to the Lord only, and not to him that has taken His place with idolatrous ambition. To worship God in Christ alone, that was the content of the proclamation of Luther, to address Him in spirit and in truth, through the merits of Jesus Christ. For, truly, the time was come when the Lord’s hour of Judgment upon the world had appeared, when He wanted to make a selection and distinction between those that belonged to Antichrist and those whom He wanted for Himself. And therefore the true believers should adore, give divine honor, only to the almighty Creator of the world and of all it contains. The very words of the seer contain one of the mottoes of the Reformation: To God alone all glory! Thus Luther, called by God through His Word in a most singular manner, preached publicly, cheerfully, and loudly, in the midst of the dark kingdom of Antichrist, the pure, unadulterated Gospel of the Lord. With great power he testified that the faith of the Christians could and should rest, not on the word of the Pope or of any man, not on the resolutions of church assemblies and councils, but solely and alone on the Word of Christ as it is written in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. With great power he testified that a man is justified and saved in no way and in no part by his own work and merit, but wholly and only through the work of Christ, which is imputed to the believer by faith. And with great power he testified that the works of the Christians that please the Lord are not such as they choose for themselves, but such as are performed by justified children of God, by faith, through the Holy Ghost, for love of God and their neighbor, and to the honor of the Lord. This Gospel, as preached by Luther, was propagated as though the angels themselves were carrying it forth from the little town of Wittenberg to all tongues and peoples; and the Church of the Reformation is still continuing its victorious course through the countries.

Of this effect and result of the Reformation and of the fall of spiritual Babylon the next angels made announcement:

The voice of the second angel is like a resonance or echo of that of the first: And a second angel followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is great Babylon, who of the wine of the wrath of her fornication made all nations drink. That was the effect of the Reformation: it brought about the exposure and the fall of spiritual Babylon, of Rome, the seat of Antichrist. And this judgment came upon the Roman Church because she had introduced such abominations of idolatry into the temple of God, the Pope cult and the saint cult and the cult of good works and other methods by which God’s honor was taken from Him. Wherever the missionaries of the Roman Church had come, they had spread this adulterous idolatry, by which men left the love of Jesus Christ as the only Savior and trusted in the intercession of various saints. In many cases the very idols of the heathen nations were Christianized by giving them the names of saints, while the old idolatry proceeded as before.

The third angel pronounced the sentence of God upon the kingdom of Antichrist: And the third angel followed them, saying with a powerful voice, If any one worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark upon his forehead or upon his hand, he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out unmixed into the cup of His anger, and he shall be tortured with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb. This is the curse and the punishment of God upon those that deliberately, wilfully, maliciously, worship Antichrist and his hierarchical system, and willingly yield to having his impress or sign fastened upon them. He is not speaking of those that have been deluded by the outward pomp of the Roman Church and are members there, although in their hearts they cling to Jesus, their Savior. He is speaking of the willing servants of Antichrist. These shall feel the full wrath of God at the idolatry with which they have identified themselves; they shall be made to drink the cup of God’s anger, like strong, unmixed wine. And their end will be the torments of hell, to be tortured with fire and brimstone in the very presence of the holy angels and of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. That fact will increase their torture a thousandfold, that they will be able to see the bliss of heaven, but will not be able to share it, Luke 16:23.

The torture of hell will be an eternal torment: And the smoke of their torment will arise forever and ever, and they will not have relief day and night that have worshiped the beast and his image, and if any one has received the mark of his name. This simple statement overthrows all the false dreams of sectarians that are trying to lull men to sleep by preaching a final dissolution. The torment of hell will be a physical torment; but, the bodies of the damned having been rendered immortal, their torture will never have an end; the horrible pain will never cease, the fire will burn forever, and yet will never consume. Such is the fate of those that have sold themselves to Antichrist as his servants and thus have become partakers of his sin and of his damnation. All the more impressive, then, is the word which is added: Here is the patience of the saints, that keep the precepts of God and the faith of Jesus. In this way the patient steadfastness of the saints is manifested, namely, that they, in spite of all the blandishments of Antichrist, adhere simply to the will of God, whose highest commandment is this, that we believe in His Son Jesus Christ and have salvation in Him.

The bliss of the saints and the reaping of the earth:

The fate of Antichrist’s servants, of all those that reject the salvation of Christ, has just been pictured. The prospect of the loyal Christians is all the more glorious by contrast: And I heard a voice out of heaven saying, Write: Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth; yes, says the Spirit, that they rest from their labors; for their works follow after them. Here the curtain of heaven and of eternity is lifted for a moment to show the faithful believers, all who die in the faith, what a wonderful reward of mercy awaits them above. Those that die in the Lord are those that remain steadfast in His Word and faith unto the end, whether this end be that of a quiet death or that of martyrdom. With their death they enter immediately into the bliss which is prepared for them; there is no purgatory, no soul-sleep, in the sense of the term as used by modern false teachers: the soul is in the happiness of heaven, and the body will there be reunited with it on the last day. And so great is the Lord’s mercy that He calls this rest in heaven a reward of labor, making the good works of the believers the proof of their faith and graciously calling eternity’s unspeakable joy a recompense, although it is a matter of grace alone. This verse is like a peaceful interlude in the rushing of a mighty storm.

The next picture brings out the other side of the Judgment again: And I saw, and, behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud One sitting like a Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown and in His hand a sharp sickle; and another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Send forth Thy sickle and reap, because there has come the hour to reap; for the harvest of the earth has matured. And He that sat upon the cloud threw His sickle on the earth, and the earth was harvested. The Son of Man, Jesus Christ, will return from heaven on the last day, riding on the clouds of heaven, with great power and glory. The white cloud is like a garment of light, and He bears on His head the crown of glory. He is the Lord of the harvest, and at His command the souls of all men are harvested. The fields are white for harvest, the total number of elect has been reached. There must be no delay, the sheaves must be garnered in.

The wine-press of God’s wrath:

Cp. Isaiah 63:4-6. This picture carries the same idea as the previous one, but instead of the harvest of grain we have here the harvest of grapes: And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle; and still another angel came out of the altar, having power over the fire, and he shouted with a loud voice to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Send forth thy sharp sickle and cull the grape-clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes have matured. Here the fire of God’s wrath, of God’s Judgment, is in evidence. The final Judgment will not be a partial judgment, but will strike fruit, branches, stem, and roots. Not only the grapes are gathered, but all the shoots and branches are cut off. The fruit of sin and unbelief has reached its full maturity, the patience of the Lord is exhausted.

The result is pictured in a scene which is almost ghastly in its vividness: And the angel cast his sickle on the earth and harvested the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God; and the winepress was trodden outside of the city, and there came out blood from the wine-press up to the bridles of the horses, a space of a thousand six hundred stadia. This is the second death. Outside of the city of God, the Church of Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem, is the place of wrath. There the grapes that have grown in the soil of the spiritual Sodom and Gomorrah are pressed out. The battle is won. The blood of the enemies flows forth in a stream like an immense flood, measuring, since a stadium is between 600 and 625 feet, almost two hundred miles in width, with a depth of about five feet. The victory of the Lord is complete, His righteous wrath is punishing the unbelievers and scoffers with an eternal punishment.

Summary

In a series of pictures the seer shows the bliss of the perfected saints, the work of the Reformation, and the final harvest of the wrath of God upon the unbelievers.

Verses 1-8

The angels with the seven vials and the opening of the temple

The sea of glass and the song of praise:

The general woes which were to strike the earth and especially the Church, directly or indirectly, were pictured in previous visions. But in the fifth vision, which opens here, the plagues, or the revelation of the wrath of God over the enemies of the Church, are depicted, the present chapter serving as an introduction for the series. The prophet writes: And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is completed the wrath of God. And I saw what resembled a glassy sea mixed with fire, and those that had come away conquerors from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name standing at the glassy sea, having harps of God. This was a portent as great as any of the preceding ones, and it was full of marvels. That the tables have now been turned, and that the kingdom of Antichrist and all the enemies of Christ shall now be visited with plagues, is a great and marvelous fact, but a fact that should fill the believers with comfort and courage. The seven last plagues the seven angels had, including the plague of the final Judgment; for the wrath of God was to find its completion, its final fulfilment, in these plagues. The crystal sea which was mentioned in Revelation 4:6 is here again included in the vision, mixed with fire, as a symbol of divine majesty. On its shores all the faithful believers, all the Christians that had refused to be blinded by any antichristian pomp and doctrine, were assembled, with harps in their hands, ready to sing a hymn of praise to the God of their salvation.

This song is now described: And they sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and wonderful are Thy works, Lord God the Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, King of the nations. Who shall not fear Thee, Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou alone art holy; for all nations shall come and worship before Thee, because Thy righteous judgments are revealed. As Moses, the prophet and servant of God, sang a hymn of praise after the final deliverance from the host of Pharaoh, Exodus 15, so the saints in heaven sing a song in honor of Him that delivered them out of all the dangers and tribulations of the last days. There is no mention of their own works nor even of their own sufferings; their only thought is the exaltation of God and of the Lamb. They extol Him for the greatness and marvelousness of His works in dealing with them in His mercy, for the justice and truth of His ways in dealing with all nations. For the final result of the Lord’s doing will be that all nations, all men, will be obliged to acknowledge His sovereignty and to give honor to Him as the holy Judge of the nations. The judgments of the Lord, as they were about to be revealed in this vision, would impress all men so that they would finally, in the midst of their obstinate hatred of Him, and in spite of themselves, have to admit that they were right and true. Separate from sinners, pure and holy, beyond all fault-finding, He reigns as the King Supreme.

The seven angels with the seven vials:

The hymn of the perfected saints served as a prolog to the revelation whose preparatory incidents are now shown. It was a marvelous sight which met the eyes of John: And after these things I saw, and there was opened the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven. This was the very innermost shrine and sanctuary, the most holy place of the heavenly temple. The temple is here called the tabernacle of witness, since it symbolizes the presence and revelation of God’s justice, and its opening indicated that the most holy God was now ready to speak and to act through His representatives, or messengers. This the prophet describes: And there came out of the sanctuary the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in white, shining linen, and girded about their breasts with a golden girdle. The fact that these angels were clothed in gold and light gives an indication of, their origin, while the linen denotes their sacred office as priests of the Lord. These seven angels were the bearers of the seven last plagues against the enemies of the Lord.

And another fact is related in the preliminary incidents: And one of the four living beings gave to the seven angels seven golden vials filled with the wrath of God, Him that lives forever and ever, and the sanctuary was filled with the smoke of the glory of God and of His power, and no one is able to enter into the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels are completed. One of the four cherubs that stood around the throne, acting at God’s command, delivered to the seven angels bowls, or vials, filled with the wrath of the everlasting God. And the seven angels were not to hold back with this wrath, but were to pour it out upon the enemies of the Lord. This revelation of God’s justice was attended with praise and honor for Himself, as the smoke indicates which filled the sanctuary. Cp. Isaiah 6:4. Till the plagues are over, the presence of God is unendurable and His majesty unapproachable.

The meaning of this picture seems fairly evident. From the sanctuary of God, from the midst of the Christian Church, men should arise as witnesses and soldiers of Christ to attack and overcome the kingdom of Antichrist and all antichristian teaching. Clothed in linen they were and with golden girdles, in the garments of the exalted Christ. For they were sure from the very start that their testimony and their battle would be victorious, since they were dealing with enemies that had really been overcome through the victory of Christ. Thus these angels, witnesses of God and for the Lord, were to be instruments of the wrath of God to convey to all enemies of the Church God’s condemnation. With the smoke of the glory and power of God arising and following them, what enemy will be able to withstand them?

Summary

In two preliminary, or introductory, pictures, that of the perfected saints praising the Lord, and that of the seven angels receiving the vials of God’s wrath, the seven last plagues upon the enemies of the Lord are ushered in.

Verses 1-21

The seven vials of wrath are poured out

The emptying of the first three vials:

Here the spiritual fate of the Lord’s enemies is shown: And I heard a loud voice out of the sanctuary saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the seven vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. It is the voice of God which is heard, for it is He that has the avenging plagues in His hand. The seven angels, the seven messengers of God, were to pour out the bowls containing the wrath of the Lord upon the earth, the home of the obstinate and hostile men; for the time of grace had now come to an end for them, and the time of punishment had come.

The command of the Lord is now carried out: And there went the first one and poured out his vial upon the earth, and there came a bad and grievous ulcer on the men that had the mark of the beast and those that had worshiped his image. That was the punishment which struck the servants of the beast, of Antichrist, and those that were misled by the show of his power to give him honor which he should not have received. But this was only the beginning of the plagues: And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing died that was in the sea. This was like the first Egyptian plague, coagulated blood, fatal to all animal life. These plagues are plainly seen in history. As for the first one, the members of the Roman hierarchy themselves have confessed that the Roman Church was suffering with a severe disease in head and members, with an ulcerous infection that would eventually prove fatal. And so far as the second plague is concerned, the world, since the time of the Reformation, has been filled with wars that were due to the baffled fury of Antichrist. This is not due to the gracious message of the Gospel which the faithful servants of the Lord have proclaimed, but to the fact that the obstinate heart of the enemies takes occasion to battle against the Gospel and to hinder its growth in every possible manner. What St. Paul wrote is true to this day: “We are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish: to the one we are the savor of death unto death and to the other the savor of life unto life,” 2 Corinthians 2:15-16.

The same fact is apparent in the third plague: And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and the springs of waters, and they became blood; and I heard the angel of the waters saying, Just art Thou, that is and that was, the Holy One, because Thou hast passed these sentences; for they shed the blood of saints and prophets, and blood Thou hast given them to drink, for they deserve it. Here the waters are not considered as a symbol of all nations, as in the preceding picture, but as the sources of drinking water. The city of God, the Church of Christ, has pure water, the water of the Gospel, in abundance. But the Church of Antichrist has principally the traditions of the Church, the resolutions of councils, and the decrees of Popes, all of which are filled with bloodthirstiness, as the Inquisition shows. Blood the Jesuits wanted, and blood the retribution of the Lord gave them, for that is the result of God’s supreme holiness and majesty. This fact is emphasized by the angel of the waters in his hymn of praise. It was right and just for the Lord to give these enemies blood to drink, since they delighted in shedding the same; the punishment was thus made to fit the transgression. Therefore this statement is echoed in heaven itself: And I heard the altar say, Even so, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are Thy sentences. This seems to be the voice of the souls under the altar, Revelation 6:9, the voice of all the martyrs since the time of Abel. They all see the hand of the almighty and just God in these sentences of punishment and doom which are striking the servants of Antichrist as a consequence of the preaching of the Gospel, not because the power of destruction lies in the Gospel, but because the enmity of men is aroused by this comforting message and they are enraged and confirmed in their self-chosen destruction. May God keep all true Christians from antichristian heresies!

The emptying of the fourth, fifth, and sixth vials:

Every new plague seems to be more deadly than the preceding one: And the fourth poured out his vial upon the sun, and to him was given to scorch men with fire; and men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, who has the power over these plagues, and did not repent to give Him glory. Here we see that, by reason of the testimony of the Lord’s witnesses, the kingdom of Antichrist is plagued with unbearable heat. As Luther and his coworkers, and their pupils after them, proclaimed the message of salvation, of justification by grace, in all its simplicity and power, the rays of this pure doctrine proved too glaring and too scorching for the Roman hierarchy. Instead of letting these rays sink into their hearts and work true conversion in them, they deliberately resisted the Holy Ghost, continued in the kingdom of Antichrist, and blasphemed the name of God in uncontrollable rage. But still the Word of Grace is proclaimed, still the plague is increasing their obstinacy, still they persist in hardening their hearts.

And the end is not yet: And the fifth poured out his vial upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became covered with darkness, and men gnawed their tongues in anguish, and blasphemed the God of heaven for their pains and for their ulcers, and did not repent of their works. The Antichrist, whose seat is at Rome, had boastfully flattered himself that his doctrine would be the sun, the light to illumine the whole world. But he found his plans going awry on account of the free proclamation of the Gospel of liberty, which has, to a large extent, eclipsed his false doctrines. The result was that he and his minions bit and gnawed their tongues in anguish, that they were consumed with a pain which they thought unbearable. But so deeply has the Pope, and his followers with him, become immersed and submerged in his errors against the fundamental doctrines of Christianity that they blame God for their condition, for their pains and for their ulcers, that they blaspheme Him and harden their hearts against repentance: they persist in their antichristian works.

Nor is the situation changed by the sixth plague: And the sixth poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared. The kingdom of Antichrist is here compared to the ancient kingdom of Babylon, whose capital was situated on the river Euphrates. This city was taken by Cyrus by the simple device of giving to the water of the river a new bed and entering the city through the path thus laid open. In the same way the power and glory of antichristian Rome was dried up through the preaching of the Gospel and the way thus opened both to penetrate into the city and level its bulwarks and to open the way to freedom for many peoples and nations. It certainly seemed for a while as though the power of Antichrist had been broken forever.

But the papacy would not yield without a struggle:

Satan himself here hastens to the assistance of Antichrist: And I saw out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons performing miracles, which go forth upon the kings of the whole earth to assemble them to battle of that great day of Almighty God. These three are here combined in a union of iniquity: the dragon, Satan, the beast, the Antichrist, and the false prophet, whatever Pope may just be occupying the throne at Rome. The spirits of demons speak out of their mouths, clammy and ugly as frogs. And dangerous they are, for they have Satan’s power to perform miracles on earth. They go forth and influence the kings and the mighty ones of the whole earth for the last great and decisive battle, whose end will be only on the last great day of the world, when the Lord Himself will terminate it by His appearance for Judgment.

In the very midst of this gloomy picture the Lord inserts a warning to those that are His: Behold, I come like a thief; blessed he that watches and clings to his garments, lest he go naked and men see his shame. The reference is probably to the fact that the priests and Levites who were on duty in the Temple at night were not permitted to go to sleep, lest the officer, in making his rounds, set fire to their priestly garments and strip them naked, sending them away in disgrace. These words are addressed to all Christians. The hour of midnight, the hour of the Lord’s return, is at hand, and He is coming like a thief, having revealed the exact minute of His final revelation to no one. To watch and to pray, to be ready for His coming all the time and at every moment, that is the duty which rests upon every believer.

After this digression the prophet continues: And he assembled them in a place which is called in Hebrew Armageddon. The almighty God, with whom the dragon and his allies intend to battle, has the victory in His hands before the first attack is made. And it is a source of great comfort to us believers to know that He will gather the nations before Him, to pass judgment upon them. There can be but one end when the Lord goes forth to assemble the nations, for the name of the battle-field is given: Armageddon, Destruction of Their Army. The triumph of the Lord of our salvation is assured.

The emptying of the seventh vial:

This is the climax, the final Judgment, the end. Antichrist will be destroyed with the brightness of the Lord’s coming, 2 Thessalonians 2:8. Of this the seer writes: And the seventh poured out his vial upon the air; and there came a loud voice out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It is done! The Lord Himself declares that with the coming of this last plague all is over. It begins in the air, and it ends in the abyss burning with fire. The triumph of the Lord is assured in advance.

The voice announcing the victory in heaven is echoed on earth, among the creatures: And there occurred lightnings and voices and thunders, and there occurred a great earthquake, the like of which did not occur since man came on the earth, an earthquake of such magnitude. Here is a picture of the disintegration, dissolution, of the world: flashes of lightning, loud blasts, peals of thunder, a terrible, unexampled earthquake. The result of this storm is described: And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the heathen fell; and Babylon the Great was brought to remembrance before God to give her the cup of wine of the wrath of His anger; and every island fled, and mountains were no longer found. Shattered into three parts, the city of Antichrist sinks into ruins, followed by the cities of the heathen. And spiritual Babylon, Rome, the seat of Antichrist, must now drink the cup of God’s rage to the very dregs, Isaiah 51:22. The islands are removed, and the mountains sink from sight, for the final Judgment has come, and the end of all things is at hand. This is indicated also in the last verse: And great hail, resembling a talent in size, fell down from heaven upon men, and men blasphemed God for the plague of the hail, for the plague of it is very great. This is the punishment which will destroy all the enemies of the Lord, a hail of God’s wrath which falls from heaven upon the blasphemers and casts them into the lowest hell. And yet the enemies, in the midst of their destruction, blaspheme the Lord, just as they will blaspheme Him throughout eternity, as they are consumed by the torments of hell.

Summary

In the picture of seven plagues, culminating in the final Judgment, the effect of the Gospel proclamation since the Reformation upon the kingdom of Antichrist and upon his adherents and worshipers is depicted.

Verses 1-18

The kingdom of Antichrist symbolized by the great harlot

The vision of the great harlot:

Although this chapter makes the impression of an independent vision, it is very closely connected with the foregoing chapter and with the plagues of the seven angels, as the introduction shows: And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven vials, and spoke with me, saying, Come, I shall show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sits upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and those that inhabit the earth have become drunk with the wine of her fornication. One of the special messengers of the Lord that had poured out the vials of His wrath upon the kingdom of Antichrist and upon all his servants took John along to show him the doom, the execution of the sentence upon the antichristian harlot. With emphasis she is called the great harlot, for her impudence and shamelessness have become a proverb and a byword among the nations. It was a powerful harlot, for she exerted her authority over many waters, over many peoples; and it was a wily harlot, for she had induced the kings and princes of the earth to commit fornication with her, she had gained such power over them by her trickery that they willingly carried out her desires, and she had made all nations drunk with the wine of her fornication, with the glamour and pomp of her false doctrines, causing them to forget the love which they should bear to Jesus Christ alone.

John himself saw this harlot: And he took me away into a desert in the spirit. The prophet’s soul and mind were dissociated from his body for a short while, in order that he might see this picture: And I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast covered with names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns; and the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and wore ornaments of gold and precious stone and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand filled with the abominations and the filthiness of her fornication, and on her forehead a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of the harlots and the abominations of the earth. The impression of the whole picture is one of abhorrence mingled with surprise that the great harlot should have succeeded so well with her designs against the earth and its inhabitants. Everywhere there is a lavish display of barbarous splendor, together with a repulsive show of the traffic in blood and in filth. The beast on which she is sitting is scarlet-colored and covered with blasphemous titles to take away the honor from the Lord of heaven, and its seven heads and ten horns make a strange and fearful combination. The woman herself, clothed with the garments of kings and bedecked with jewels which represent the riches of the world, all of which she had gathered in the course of her unspeakable traffic, had a cup of gold in her hand, the most dangerous feature in the picture, for it was filled with all the abominations and the filth of her fornication, of her adulterous life, with the doctrines of Satan, who tries to deceive the whole world. But on the forehead of the harlot John saw names which she had not inscribed there, for it explained to all men that would read just who and what this woman was. It was a name of mystery that was written there, as the Coptic version of the New Testament has it ^■972 , and it told all men that this was Babylon the Great, the personification of the kingdom of Antichrist. And as she herself had left the Lord of her youth, so she had now become the mother of all other adulterous and idolatrous people in the world and the mother of all the greatest abominations on the earth.

The disgusting impression of the picture is heightened by the last part of the description: And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and I wondered, when I saw her, with a great wonder (a great amount of wondering). The kingdom of Antichrist is the devil’s harlot, and since he is a murderer from the beginning, she has joined him in shedding the blood of saints and of witnesses of Christ, until she is in a continual state of inebriation as a result of the great amount of blood which she has consumed. No wonder that John stood fascinated by the very horror of the woman’s aspect. Cp. Isaiah 1:21.

The mystery of the woman:

The angel noticed the look of horrified wonder on the face of John, and hastened to enlighten him: And the angel said unto me, For what reason didst thou wonder? I shall tell thee the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her that has the seven heads and the ten horns. The angel himself undertakes to explain to the seer what he could not have guessed or explained, to reveal the mystery of the great harlot and of the beast that served as beast of burden for her shameless self and the abominations of her filth.

The angel now first explains the meaning of the beast: The beast that thou sawest was and is not, and will ascend out of the abyss and go into perdition; and they that live on the earth will marvel, whose name is not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that it was and is not, and yet is present. Here is the first step in the solution of the mystery which causes the harlot, the kingdom of Antichrist, to be connected with the beast, the Roman Empire. For it is the Roman Empire upon which the Church of Antichrist is sitting, in itself a continuation of the ancient Roman world empire. For the latter was before the kingdom of Antichrist; then it came to an end in 476, when the Germanic hordes conquered Rome; then, to the great surprise of all those that have its mark on their foreheads, it arose out of the abyss once more; it was revealed in all its hideousness by the Reformation and has lost its unlimited influence; and yet it is present to this day, being destined to eternal perdition on the last day.

The explanation of the heads, the beasts, and the horns:

As the angel tells John, it is not an easy matter to understand the mystery here revealed: Here is the mind that has wisdom. Here is work for the discerning mind, to be able to tell what the meaning of the various features in the picture is. He explains: The seven heads are seven mountains, where the woman sits on them. The city of seven hills Rome is called, and so this reference to the Church of Antichrist, to the Church of Rome, is clear; for Rome was the seat of the Pope from the beginning, and all the adherents of papacy recognize Rome as the capital of their empire.

But there is another interpretation: And there are seven kings; five have fallen, one now is in existence, the other is not yet come, and when he comes, he is destined to remain but a short while. The Roman Empire is here conceived of as the continuation of the ancient world empires, of which five had fallen, the Egyptian, the Assyrian, the Babylonian, the Persian, and the Greek-Macedonian. At the time when John wrote, the Roman Empire was in power. And as for the seventh ruler and empire, that is undoubtedly to be found in the Christianized Roman Empire, in the kingdom of Antichrist. The papal state, indeed, was not of great extent, but the dominion of the Pope, during the thousand years of his kingdom, reached far beyond the boundaries of his province, and his influence and authority are still evident in the life of the nations. This fact is shown also in the next verse: And the beast that was and is not is itself the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition. So it is the so-called spiritual power of popery which is here alluded to, whose temporal empire is now a negligible factor, and which still wants to be recognized as an empire.

In just what manner the papacy exerts its power is next indicated: And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, such as have not yet received a kingdom; but they will receive power as kings for one hour with the beast. These are of one mind, and they give their strength and their power to the beast. Here there is a reference to the ten great provinces into which the Roman Empire was divided. At the time of John’s vision these provinces were not yet independent, but they later became autonomous and had their own rulers. Their heirs and successors may be found in practically the entire world to-day. And of the great majority of rulers and states it is true that they have directly or indirectly furthered the cause of the beast, of Antichrist. No matter how dissimilar they may be otherwise, in their admiration for the papacy they are all alike, and they place themselves, more or less directly, into the power of Antichrist, to be used as the tool of the Pope.

The climax is reached in the next verse: These will wage war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for the Lord of lords He is and the King of kings, and with Him are the called and the elect and the faithful. It is not only a defensive alliance which the rulers of the world have made with Antichrist, but also a coalition for offensive tactics. Again and again not only Roman princes and rulers, but also such as professed the Protestant faith have become the instruments of Rome in attempting to suppress the true Gospel-preaching with all the means at their disposal. But what will their puny attempts avail in the end? In waging war with the Lamb, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, their inevitable end is destruction. And in overthrowing these enemies, the Lamb incidentally protects them that are His, those whom He has called, those whom He has chosen, those that are faithful to Him to the end.

The conclusion of the explanation:

The angel here takes up his interpretation anew, in order to give the explanation of certain features of the picture shown above: And he says to me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot is sitting, peoples and multitudes they are, and nations and tongues. The angel fittingly describes the Church of the Pope as the great harlot sitting on many waters, that is, as one occupying a proud throne over many peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues, ruling them by her power and seducing them into the fornication of her idolatry.

And now a peculiar fact is noted: And the ten horns which thou sawest and the beast, these will hate the harlot, and they will lay her waste and strip her naked; and they will eat her flesh, and they will burn her with fire; for God has given into their hearts to carry out His intention, and to execute their single purpose, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. It is a strange fact, but one borne out sufficiently well by many pages of history, that the very rulers and princes who received power and authority with the beast, at certain times turned against the rule of Antichrist, especially as to his meddling in temporal affairs. Even before the Reformation, for more than a century, complaints were lodged against the usurpation of the Roman hierarchy, and a number of councils attempted to adjust matters. And since the Reformation many of the rulers of the world, in spite of their outward adherence to the Church of Rome, have plundered her institutions, stripped her of her worldly power and goods, and left her comparatively destitute and helpless. Even the Pope’s own temporal kingdom, a strip of land in Italy, has been taken from him, and he now sits in his immense palace, the Vatican, calling himself a prisoner. That was one phase of God’s judgment upon the antichristian beast; these rulers carried out the intention and purpose which He put into their hearts.

But the power of Antichrist is by no means exhausted: And the woman which thou sawest is the great city which has regal authority over the kingdoms of the earth. So the final Judgment has not yet come upon the Church of Rome, upon the kingdom of Antichrist. Rome still is a very powerful empire, which must be reckoned with; she still has kingly authority over many rulers of the world; she is still able to bedeck herself with the ornaments of her idolatrous and adulterous traffic, and many thousands there are that are impressed by this pomp and yield to her entreaties. May God mercifully hold His sheltering hand over all true Christians!

Summary

The Church of Antichrist is described in full in the picture of a great harlot, combining temporal and spiritual power in an authority extending even over the rulers of the world, in spite of the fact that these vassals have repeatedly stripped her of power and wealth.

Verses 1-24

The fall and destruction of Antichrist’s kingdom

The angel’s announcement:

This entire paragraph reminds one of Revelation 14:6-7, where an angel was pictured as flying in mid-heaven: After these things I saw another angel descending out of heaven having great power, and the earth was lit up by his glory. The reference is undoubtedly to Luther and his coworkers in the great work of the Reformation. The Gospel which they once more proclaimed was not their own, but was the message of God from heaven, and therefore was full of power. Nor was this movement one that was done in secret, but the preaching and the writing of these men of God was done before the whole world, and gave true spiritual light to all men that accepted the pure doctrine of salvation.

The specific message of the angel on this occasion is recorded by the prophet: And He cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great, and has become the habitation of demons and a hold of every unclean spirit and a hold of every unclean and loathsome bird; for of the wine of the wrath of her fornication all nations have drunk, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich through the power of her luxury. That was the effect of the preaching of the pure Gospel upon the kingdom of Antichrist, especially on the Pope and his hierarchy. Spiritually the empire of the Pope has been cast down; his show of spirituality has been taken from him, his magic is no longer as effective as formerly. To all believers that do not wilfully close their eyes the true nature of the Roman Church as such has been revealed. Since the Church of the Pope has officially rejected the preaching of the pure Gospel and declared her unwavering devotion to the fundamental errors that crept into the Church in the Middle Ages, since that time the Church of the Pope as such has hardened her heart, has become obdurate against all true reform. It has become the habitation of devils, of unclean spirits, and of loathsome birds, as the prophets describe the condition of all antichristian bodies, Isaiah 13:21-22; Isaiah 34:14; Jeremiah 50:39; Jeremiah 51:8,38. And that is a just punishment of God upon the kingdom of Antichrist, for the deliberate guilt of this Church as such is such as cannot be adequately expressed. She has done more to spread the antichristian doctrine of works than any other organization in the world, trying especially to obtain influence with the great and powerful in the world, to lead them into the ways of idolatry and to make them her willing servants. And so far as the merchants of the earth are concerned, including many of her own high officials, the luxury and pomp of this Church have brought them untold wealth. The very name of God, which the Church of the Pope piously used, was and is made a bait for the unwary, and the wrath of the zealous God is aroused to the utmost pitch.

The warning voice from heaven:

This passage is strongly reminiscent of the so-called psalms of vengeance, where the wrath of God is poured out upon His enemies in fearful measure. The voice of the Lord follows the voice of the angel: And I heard another voice out of heaven saying, Come out from her, My people, lest ye become guilty of her sins, and lest ye receive of her plagues; for her sins are heaped up unto heaven, and the Lord has called to remembrance her misdeeds. Reward her as she rewarded you, and make the retribution double, twofold, according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed mix to her double. This is a terrifying arraignment, the proper understanding of which ought to open the eyes of many people. Rome has added sin upon sin, in a heap which now reaches to heaven; she has become guilty of so many deeds of unrighteousness that it is impossible for the Lord to ignore the situation. His warning call, therefore, goes out to all such as may be outwardly affiliated with this Church, but do not realize the depth of depravity which their organization represents, that they should leave her organization; for to remain in their connection with her will expose them to the same punishment as will strike her, since their association with her will make them guilty of her sins. God will judge and punish her with a fearful double punishment; and woe to all that are found in her company! The Lord wants no false sympathy with the Church of Antichrist, such as many are inclined to give in our days; He wants the testimony against the great harlot to double in force, in order that men everywhere may realize what the cup of abominations in her hand really is, namely, the sum total of all the idolatrous practises that have ever been invented against the holiness of the Lord.

This is brought out also in the next verses: As she glorified herself and lived a wanton life, to that extent give to her torment and sorrow; for in her heart she says, I sit a queen and am no widow and know no sorrow. For this reason her plagues shall come in one day, death and sorrow and famine, and she will be burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God that judges her. Here it appears that the punishment, although carried out, to some extent, by men as God’s instruments, is all divine, and includes no personal revenge on the part of men. There is not a suspicion of repentance in the great harlot; she still vaunts herself, she continues her luxurious, wanton life, her show of pomp and power is as great as ever. Her boast is even to-day that she is the queen of the world, and that she, the Church of Rome, is the only-saving Church. Her very existence is a blasphemy of Jesus Christ, for she is the Church of Antichrist. But the day and hour of her final judgment is even now fixed in the counsel of the Lord; on one day, the day of God’s vengeance, all the plagues will strike her, death, sorrow, famine, and fire; the mighty power of the Lord will be revealed in His judgment.

The description of the desolation:

So the judgment of the Lord, which was spoken of in Revelation 17:16-17, has already gone forth, as is here pictured with intense dramatic power: And there will cry and wail over her the kings of the earth that have committed fornication with her and lived a wanton life, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, Woe and alas, the great city, Babylon the mighty city! For in one hour thy doom has come. So the same rulers and kings that have been the instruments of God in bringing about the punishment of Antichrist’s kingdom were also the companions of the great harlot in her sins. They themselves have kindled the fire of Rome’s destruction, but when they see the smoke of her burning, they are terrified and prefer to remain at a safe distance, since their conscience tells them of their guilt. Time and again the lament of the mighty of the earth has arisen in the last four hundred years when the power of Antichrist had received a severe setback. The great and mighty city that has bidden defiance to all enemies has been conquered, her real power being broken forever. The doom of one mightier than she has fallen upon her, and she will never regain her original prestige.

But the doom of the papal power strikes another class of men still worse: And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because their merchandise no one buys any more, the merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls; and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet goods, and all kinds of citron wood and all manner of ivory vessels and all manner of vessels of most costly wood and of brass and of iron and of marble, and cinnamon and balsam and spices and myrrh and frankincense, and wine and oil and the finest flour and wheat, and cattle and sheep, and some horses and wagons and slaves, and the souls of men; and the fruit of thy soul’s desire has gone away from thee, and all the luxurious and splendid things have been lost from thee, and men shall find them no more. There is a deliberate irony in the long enumeration of things which have delighted the heart of the great Roman harlot, which she has made the object of her desires, which her merchants, her vassals, the men that trafficked in these things to their own enrichment, now bewail as lost forever. For the possession of many of these things is in itself not wrong; it has become a sin only in the case of the Church of Antichrist on account of the sinful uses to which these things have been put. The pomp, the lavish display of glory which Rome affects wherever she gains a foothold, requires such costly and luxurious things; whenever, therefore, this power is taken from her, it means a loss to the scheming members of the hierarchy and other sycophants that grow rich and live in luxury under the fostering care of their spiritual mother, the Church of Rome. But the climax is reached in the traffic in souls which is carried on in that Church, in taking away the simple doctrine of faith in Christ’s salvation and supplanting it with man-made doctrines, especially that of salvation by works, and in the delusion which places thousands of young men and women into monasteries and nunneries every year, all in the vain hope that they will thereby merit heaven and its glory.

These features are so prominent that they are treated in another paragraph:

Just as the kings and rulers before them, so here the merchants bewail the fall of the antichristian kingdom, which has always offered them such a lucrative trade: The traders in these things, that have grown rich from her, stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe and alas, the great city, that was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet goods, and ornamented with gold and precious stones and pearls! For in one hour has been made desolate such great wealth. All this is not due to mere outward sympathy, but they are included in the bankruptcy of the great harlot. They furnished the goods for her sinful and godless traffic and are therefore bound to be included in the damage that results to her. At the same time their selfishness causes them to keep their distance, lest some one identify them with her whose desolation has become so apparent.

They are finally joined in their wailing by another class of people that has grown rich from the traffic of Rome: And every shipmaster and all sea-faring people and sailors, and all whose business takes them on the sea, stood at a distance and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, Who is like to the great city? And they threw dust on their heads, and they cried, weeping and lamenting, saying, Woe and alas, the great city, in which grew rich all that have ships on the sea from her expensive habits! For in one hour she has become desolate. This scene reminds one strongly of the destruction of the great commercial city Tyre, Ezekiel 27:32, since antichristian Rome is also pictured as sitting upon great waters and doing a big business in all parts of the world. No wonder that shipmasters and sailors, and all whose business is on the sea, feel the loss of business very keenly when the power of Rome declines, that they give way to the utmost protestations of grief and lament the fall of her whose luxurious tendencies and expensive habits were a source of great gain to them.

In sharp contrast to these selfish wailings and lamentings is the triumphant cry which is here inserted: Rejoice over her, O heaven and saints and apostles and prophets, for God has judged her with your judgment. The victory always rests with the Lord and with all those that are faithful to Him, and so heaven celebrates the triumph over the great harlot, over the kingdom of Antichrist. And not only God and all the host of heaven are here called upon to rejoice, but also the apostles and prophets, since their earnest teaching and warning was directed against all antichristian doctrine and activity as it finally came to a head in the empire of Antichrist. By the fall of Rome they have been avenged, they have been vindicated, they have been given justice by God’s vengeance upon the great harlot.

The punishment completed:

Here the seer pictures inevitable doom, total and terrible desolation: And there lifted up one mighty angel a stone like a millstone, and threw it into the sea, saying, Thus with force shall be thrown down Babylon, the great city, and shall no more be found; and the voice of harpists and minstrels and flutists and trumpeters no more shall be heard in thee, and all craftsmen of every craft shall no more be found in thee, and the sound of the millstone shall no more be heard in thee, and the light of a lamp shall no more shine in thee, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall no more be heard in thee, because thy merchants were the magnates of the earth, because by thy incantations were deceived all nations, and in her was found the blood of prophets and saints and of all those that had been slain on the earth. That is the sentence of doom, given in the form of a rhythmic song, and introduced by a symbolic action resembling that of Jeremiah 51:63-64. The judgment of the great city, of spiritual Babylon, the kingdom of Antichrist, is sealed; the blow given her by the Reformation was so strong as to lay her low forever. No matter what efforts the papacy makes to regain her former absolute reign in the world, all such attempts are bound to result in failure. The glory which she formerly held is departed from her forever. The sins of spiritual adultery, of idolatry, and of the magic spells with which Rome managed to seduce the mighty ones of the earth, the blood which she has shed during the thousand years and more which she has been in existence, call down upon her the curse of the Lord, His eternal damnation.

Verses 1-21

The triumph of the elect in heaven

The hymn of the host in heaven:

The idea which had merely been suggested in Revelation 18:20, is here carried out at length, in a scene which presents the final triumph of the forces of light and righteousness: After these things I heard what resembled the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power are our God’s; for true and righteous are His judgments, since He has judged the great harlot, who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand. The glory of the last day is here anticipated. As the people of a nation go forth with shouts of victory to meet the returning conquerors, so the multitudes of the perfected saints break forth in hymns of triumph at the return of the victorious Lord of hosts. The salvation of the saints was in His hands, and He wrought it by the mighty manifestation of His grace. And so all glory and power belong to our Lord alone throughout all eternity. His judgments, His sentences, are true; they have been rendered in accordance with His promises; and they are just, for the rulers of the kingdom of Antichrist had every opportunity to see the errors of their way and to return to the truth, but they deliberately refused and thus invited the wrath of the Lord. For the countless souls which the great Roman harlot corrupted with her idolatry, and for the lives of other thousands whose blood she shed, she will have to answer with a sharp reckoning on the last day.

The song of triumph is echoed by the singers and the elders: And for the second time they said, Hallelujah! And her smoke ascends forever and ever. And the twenty-four elders and the four living beings fell down, and they worshiped God that is seated upon the throne, saying, Amen, Hallelujah! The great harlot is cast into the abyss of fire and brimstone, to be burned with fire throughout eternity, Revelation 18:8. And this fact causes both the elders representing the Church of God and the four cherubs that acted as His servants and messengers to fall down before the throne of God in the act of worshipful adoration, and to repeat, in endless refrain, their hymn of praise, Amen, Hallelujah; to God alone all praise and glory, through all eternity!

The voice out of the throne:

The chorus of praise at the destruction of the great harlot is given in the form of antiphonal singing: And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Extol our God, all His servants, those that fear Him, both small and great. That was the one strophe addressed to the servants of the Lord, to those that are not merely members in His community, but whose special devotion to His interests, to His service and worship, has given them the closest fellowship with Him. That is their glorious privilege throughout eternity, to praise and extol the Lord of their salvation. Therefore they, in an antiphonal chant, respond to the urgent invitation: And I heard what resembled the voice of a great multitude and the rushing of many waters and the muttering of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God, the Almighty, is King. Like the shouting of uncounted masses of people, like the irresistible rushing of mighty streams, like the grumblings and mutterings of a strong thunder, the song of the elect breaks forth at the Lord’s word, giving all praise to Him, the Lord, the almighty God, the King of the ages. The omnipotent God has conquered the portals of all His enemies, and revealed Himself as King over all.

To this fact there is added another cause for rejoicing: Let us be glad and exult, and give glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready; and to her was given to be clothed in shining white fine linen (for the fine linen was the righteous deeds of the saints). What had been foretold by the prophets and spoken of time and again by Christ and the apostles is here represented as being consummated in heaven. The bride of Christ, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the whole number of those that have come to faith and remained faithful to the Lord unto the end, is celebrating her marriage with the Lamb, with the Savior, with Christ. That, indeed, is a reason for the greatest rejoicing, for the highest exultation, to know that all the hopes of the centuries have now been realized, that all the believers are now united with their Savior throughout eternity. The bride, moreover, is clothed in the most gorgeous wedding-garment, all pure white and shining with brilliancy. It is a pure, precious dress of honor, the dress of salvation. For whereas without Christ all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, in Him, through faith, even our smallest works, all the acts of our every-day life, are acceptable to the heavenly Father. Thus we shall be ornamented in heaven with the garment which the heavenly Bridegroom has merited through His perfect obedience to the commandment of God, through the shedding of His blood, through His death and resurrection.

The importance of this incident is heightened through an additional factor which is here recorded: And he says to me, Write, Blessed are they that are called to the marriage-feast of the Lamb. And he says to me, These are true words of God. So the Bride, the perfected saints, the believers that have been faithful to the end, are also invited to the marriage-feast of the Lamb, the union which He had planned before the beginning of the world. Truly, those people are blessed with a happiness which transcends all human conception, and there cannot be the slightest doubt as to their being heirs of all these joys, because He who is the Faithful, the True One, has given the promise, and He makes no mistake. The scene which John had witnessed so overwhelmed him that he relates: And I fell before his feet to worship him. He was ready to give divine honor to this messenger from heaven that unfolded the final triumph to him in such a singular manner. But the angel interposed: And he says to me, Not that; thy fellow-servant I am and one of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus; worship God (for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy). The testimony of Jesus, to which the angel referred, is that Spirit of Prophecy by whose power all the prophets and apostles, including John himself, had testified of Jesus and of His kingdom. Although the angels are heavenly spirits, powerful and blessed, yet they are but servants and witnesses of Christ, and should therefore not be given divine honor; for that belongs to God alone.

The vision of the exalted Christ:

Here the last door is opened, and the great Victor appears in person: And I saw heaven opened, and, behold, a white horse, and He that sat upon Him was called Faithful and True, and in justice He judges and wages war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head He had many diadems, having a name written which no one knows but Himself, and clothed with a garment bespattered with blood, and His name is called “The Word of God.” Every Bible-reader recognizes this man at a glance; for every feature of this picture is depicted and repeated again and again. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself appears here upon a white horse as the Victor, as the triumphant King. In that bloody battle for the souls of men He has proved Himself the stronger, He has conquered all the enemies of mankind, forcing them to acknowledge His power forever. Faithful He is, for He has kept His promise, as it was given even in the Garden of Eden after the Fall; true He is, to be trusted at all times implicitly, for He is a Rock upon whom our confidence may rest without wavering. He has brought about a decision in the just cause which He represented; He has overcome in the war which the enemies themselves began. The zeal of justice and of judgment shines from His eyes, and He has the power over all the diadems and crowns of the world, all kings and rulers being but clay in His hands. All the languages of the world cannot possibly express the unspeakable majesty of the name of the Lord, Matthew 11:27. His garment is bespattered with the blood which He shed for the salvation of the world, Genesis 49:11; Isaiah 63:2-3. Like the wounds in His hands and feet and in His side His blood-spattered garment is a witness of His triumph. One of the names which He proudly bears is “The Word of God,” John 1:1. As the almighty Word of the Father He has revealed Himself in this war by the victory which He has won, by which world, death, and Satan are overcome and vanquished forever.

The Lord and His companions are further described: And the troops in heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in white, clean, fine linen; and out of His mouth there proceeds a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations, and Himself will rule them with an iron rod, and Himself will tread the wine-press of the anger of the wrath of God Almighty; and He has upon His garment and upon His thigh a name written, “King of kings and Lord of lords.” The great army of heaven, consisting of the troops of all the elect, takes part in the triumph of the Champion. With white, clean, silklike linen the saints are clothed, as the Lord had promised them, Revelation 3:5; for their garment is the perfect righteousness of their Savior. They can trust their Lord all the more implicitly since the sharp, two-edged sword of the Word proceeds out of His mouth. This is the Word with which the Lord will kill His enemies, Isaiah 66:16, and overcome all antichrists and adversaries, Isaiah 11:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:8. Against them it is the Word of His wrath, with which He will rule as with an iron scepter, Psalm 2:9. He it is that treads the wine-press of the wrath of God, of which the seer had spoken, Revelation 14:19-20. Thus, in the final destruction of His enemies, the exalted Christ will reveal Himself as the King of kings and the Lord of lords, having divine power and glory from everlasting to everlasting.

The destruction of the antichristian forces:

This scene is introduced with a terrible and terrifying announcement: And I saw a single angel standing in the sun, and he called with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, Come, gather yourselves to the great feast of God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of generals and the flesh of mighty ones and the flesh of horses, and of those that sit upon them, and the flesh of all free as well as of slaves, both small and great. This is a ghastly announcement, all the more so because of its finality. In a most commanding and conspicuous position the angel with this command is placed, in order that all hearers should realize and appreciate its importance. This surely is a contrast to the joyful marriage-feast of the Lamb; for not only will the corpses of the enemies of the Lord lie unburied, in itself one of the worst misfortunes which men knew of, but their bodies should become the prey, the food, of the birds, mainly the vultures that fly in the sky above the heads of men. The destruction of Antichrist and of his host is thus assured from the beginning; they will be given to the evil spirits, to the devil and his angels, to be destroyed and tormented forever.

This announcement served as a sign to the forces of evil to assemble for a last great and desperate, but futile effort to storm heaven: And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their hordes gathered to wage war against Him that sits upon the horse and against His army. And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet that performed the miracles before him, by which he deceived those that had accepted the mark of the beast and those that worshiped his image; while still alive, these two were thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. This is the final overthrow of the beast, the kingdom of Antichrist, of his false prophet, the Popes, and of all those that had become the servants of the beast by receiving his mark on their forehead or in their hand, that had worshiped his image by hailing the hierarchical system of the Church of Rome as an organization from God. And the leaders of the antichristian kingdom, the seducers of the world, the avowed and implacable enemies of the Lord and of His Gospel, were punished with eternal damnation in the lake burning with fire and brimstone. Hell itself will devour them, and they will receive the punishment which their works merited. Their lot is shared by their followers: And the rest were killed by the sword of Him that sits upon the horse, that proceeds out of His mouth, and all the birds were glutted with their flesh. A gruesome picture, well calculated to call men to repentance. For the sword of the Lord is the word: “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,” Matthew 25:41. As the vultures make a meal of the carcasses to which their attention is directed, so will Satan and his angels forever feed on the souls and bodies of those that dared to oppose the almighty Lord and to take the part of Antichrist. That is the end of the Church of Rome, of the kingdom of Antichrist.

Summary

The triumph of the exalted Christ and of the elect in heaven is shown in a series of pictures giving the hymn of victory, showing the army of the Lord arrayed against the hordes of Antichrist, and the complete overthrow and final punishment of the Lord’s enemies.

Verses 1-15

Of the dragon bound and loosed, of Gog and Magog, and of the last judgment

Satan’s binding for one thousand years:

The Book of Revelation is not a history of events given in chronological order, but a series of visions dealing with the chief dangers and the principal blessings which would come upon the Church of Christ. The visions thus supplement one another and dovetail into one another in a composite picture. Only by keeping this fact in mind are we able to understand the present vision. The seer writes: And I saw an angel descending out of heaven having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. The angel here spoken of was either one of God’s spirits specially delegated for this work, or it was the great Angel of Jehovah, the Son of God Himself; for it is He that has the keys of death and of hell, Revelation 1:18; it is He that has the power to bind all enemies, whether material or spiritual. It was the exalted power and majesty of Christ that here appeared with the implements necessary to put an enemy under restraint.

This the angel proceeds to do: And he overpowered the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him thousand years, and threw him into the abyss, and shut and sealed it above him, lest he seduce the heathen yet also, until thousand years should be fulfilled. After these he is bound to be loosed for a short time. So the devil, who is fitly called a dragon, a ferocious monster, the old serpent, who has been deceiving men since the time of Adam and Eve, was deprived of his power for a definite space of time; not that he and his hordes would be absent from the world entirely, but that they would not be able, during this time, to seduce also the heathen and make them their allies. It would thus be a season of comparative quiet for the Church of Christ; for Satan would be rendered harmless to the extent of being bound in the pit, which was sealed over him. While the heathen were in his power, were his servants, the spell of Satan’s authority would no longer hold them with the chains of absolute tyranny. With the message of Satan’s defeat, which went out in the Gospel of the resurrection of Jesus, the devil’s hold was broken. The length of time for which this condition should obtain was definitely determined with God, though probably not in terms of time as we use it. And when the last hour of these thousand years are at an end, then Satan will be loosed for a short while, then the Gospel’s phenomenal and victorious march through the nations will be at an end. It is not that the Day of Judgment will then come, for God has determined that the time of the New Testament should include the thousand years of the Gospel’s victorious spreading through the nations, plus the little season of Satan’s being loose. “Satan shall be loosed, not for his own sake, neither for the sake of those who during the period of his binding have disregarded the sweet Gospel-call; Satan is loosed for the sake of the dear children of God. This loosing of Satan is for a fiery trial of God’s children; and that it is at the same time a judgment upon the unbelievers is their own fault. In this fiery trial God intends to purify the faith of His children from all dross and make it strong. … Thus Revelation 20:1-3 tell us that John saw Jesus, the mighty Conqueror, bind Satan, so that, through the greater part of the New Testament time, he should not prevent the preaching of the Gospel and the winning of the nations for Christ, and that for a little season immediately preceding, and ushering in, the day of final Judgment Satan should be loosed.” ^■973 .

Result of Gospel-preaching in the New Testament era:

Here the fate of a part of the Church of God during the thousand years is described: And I saw thrones and those that sat upon them, and judgment was given to them; and the souls of those that had been put to death because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the Word of God, and as many as did not worship the beast nor his image, and did not receive his mark on their forehead nor upon their hand; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The people whose happiness is here described were the martyrs that were put to death even while the Gospel was victoriously marching forward on earth. They suffered martyrdom on account of their confession of Jesus and of the Gospel. Among these was not a single one of those that worshiped the beast, the kingdom of Antichrist, or his image, the hierarchical structure of the Roman Church. The fact that one actually accepts the doctrines of popery in all their idolatrous scope, thus bearing the mark of the beast on the forehead or in the hand, excludes one from the bliss of heaven. Only those that sealed their faith with their blood and life are included in the perfected salvation in heaven. For this living and reigning is not, as the Chiliasts would have it, a visible reign here on earth before the last day. It is a life of the departed children of God in heaven, according to the soul. Though the Christians die here on earth, yet they are alive, according to the soul, with Christ in heaven, experiencing the joy and appreciating the blessedness of their life in heaven. That they are now delivered from all suffering and are sharing in the eternal joys of heaven, that is their reigning with Christ; in this sense they are the assessors of Christ, sitting on thrones in His presence. This took place during the time determined by God for the binding of Satan, to take away his absolute power over the nations.

The prophet adds: But the rest of the dead did not live until the thousand years had come to an end; this is the first resurrection. Those that died in Christ, in the confession of their Lord, were blessed from the moment when they closed their eyes to this world; their souls were taken into the presence of God and Christ, to become partakers at once of the bliss of eternity. The rest of the dead, however, those to whom physical death comes while they are in the state of spiritual death, will not share in this happiness, but are doomed to everlasting death. The slaves of idolatry, the servants of Antichrist, have no part in the first resurrection, by which the faithful are immediately taken into the realms of bliss, according to their souls. Of this the prophet writes: Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection; upon these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him thousand years. That, surely, is joy and bliss in richest measure, to have the soul released from its earthly habitation and to be taken up into the home of everlasting happiness. Upon those that have died thus, experiencing only the physical death, the second death, eternal damnation, has no power. Clothed in the white garments of an eternal priesthood, they will serve God and Christ, world without end, for the thousand years are but the preliminary stage of the time when soul and body will be reunited in the second resurrection.

The release of Satan and the coming of Gog and Magog:

According to this description, the final period of the earth’s history and of that of the Church on earth will be one in which the faithfulness of the saints will be sorely tried: And when the thousand years will have come to an end, Satan will be released from his prison, and will go forth to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to muster them for the battle, whose number was like the sand of the sea. That is the last act in the world’s drama: Satan loosed from his confinement of a thousand years and going forth with rage and bloodthirstiness to wage war against the army of the Lord, against the Christian Church. To this end he musters Gog and Magog, the innumerable host of all the enemies of the people of God, no matter under what name they may appear in the world. Satan marshals all the antichristian forces — and their number is beyond calculation — for a last terrible onslaught.

This combat and its outcome are next pictured: And they went up on the broad places of the earth, and they surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And there fell down fire from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where also the beast and the false prophet are; and they were tormented day and night forever and ever. From all sides the enemies of the Lord and of His believers come, equipped with every form of weapon to take the beloved city of God, to overcome the Church of Jesus Christ. But even this last supreme effort is futile against the power of the Lord, who sends down fire from heaven to destroy them, since He Himself is a devouring fire, Psalm 18:8; Ezekiel 15:7; Hebrews 12:29. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, and that right early, Psalm 46:5. It was the end also for Satan, for he was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, to join those whom he had inspired before, the beast and the false prophet, Antichrist and his representative, the Pope. In this place of torment they shall forever remain. There will be no more loosing and delivering. Satan will be bound forever at the return of Christ on the last day.

The last judgment:

In a few bold strokes the prophet sketches the picture of the last Judgment: And I saw a great white throne and Him that sat upon it, from whose presence there fled the earth and the heaven, and a place was not found for them. This is the throne of Christ, to whom the Father committed the Judgment. It is a white and pure throne of everlasting innocence, holiness, and justice. He is, however, no longer the poor Son of Man in His state of humiliation, but the exalted King and almighty Judge, before the aspect of whose face the very earth and heaven itself turned away and fled, because they could not endure those flaming eyes with their awful portent of judgment. The heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, 2 Peter 3:12.

The Judge being present, the last great trial may open; all men must appear before His judgment-seat: And I saw the dead, the great as well as the small, standing before the throne; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which was that of life. And the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hell gave up the dead that were in them; and they were judged, every one according to their works. No matter where men may have found death, whether on sea or on land; no matter where their souls may be on that day, whether in hell or in heaven, they must be reunited with their bodies to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. And then the record-books will be brought out and opened, the books of guilt and damnation, where the names of those are recorded that remained in unbelief and enmity until the end, as well as the Book of Life with the lists of those that were faithful unto death. Not one name will be omitted; every man’s name will be found in either the one or the other group. As their faith or their unbelief manifested itself in their works, so will the Lord render His sentence. And from that sentence there will be no appeal, that will decide the eternal fate of every person that ever lived in this world. It is the inevitable doom.

The bliss of the believers having been indicated above and a description following in the next chapter, the doom of the enemies of God is very briefly indicated: And death and hell were thrown into the lake of fire. These two great enemies of mankind, that have dogged its footsteps ever since the first sin, will be disposed of forever in a punishment which fits their crime: This is the second death, the lake of fire. From this death all children of God are free, since they are partakers of the first resurrection, since the second death, eternal damnation, has no power over them. But as for the unbelievers: And if any one was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. In the Book of Life are recorded the names of all those that are in Christ Jesus. These not even death can separate from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The absence of any one’s name from this book, however, means that he is condemned forever to the place where their worm will not die, neither will their fire be quenched, and they will be an abhorrence to all flesh.

Summary

The seer describes the era of comparative quiet, during which the Church of Christ will be propagated, followed by the loosing of Satan, his subsequent attempt, with the aid of all antichristian forces, to overthrow the Church, and his condemnation to everlasting torment; the chapter closes with a brief description of the lest Judgment.

Related Kretzmann Article

Verses 1-27

The seventh vision: Of the heavenly Jerusalem

The prelude:

The eyes of the believers are here turned to the coming, complete salvation. Here we may look and lift up our eyes, for our salvation is near: And I saw the new heaven and the new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and the sea is no more. John sees the fulfilment of all the prophecies relating to the glory at the end, Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:12-13. The believers inherit the Kingdom which was prepared for them since the beginning of the world, Matthew 25:34. The new heaven and the new earth they are called, because they are altogether different from this present world, steeped in sin as it is. Everything that has any connection with sin will be removed altogether. Therefore the sea also, from which the dragon came forth, will be no more.

But the center of the picture was the most glorious: And the holy city, New Jerusalem, I saw coming down from heaven from God, all ready like a bride arrayed for her husband. All was ready for the marriage of the Lamb, and so the New Jerusalem, the holy city of God, the Church of Jesus Christ, consisting of the sum total of all those that were faithful to the end, came down from heaven, where the great majority of its members had gone, according to the soul, arrayed in all the gifts of her Husband’s grace and mercy. So the entry of the blessed congregation of God into the eternal habitation prepared for her is here described. Of this we read further: And I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying, Behold, the dwelling-place of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and themselves will be His people, and Himself, God, will be with them. And He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death will no more be, nor sorrow nor lamenting nor pain will any more be; for the first things are passed away. The divine voice itself explains the picture, thus doing away with all types. When the children of Israel journeyed through the wilderness, the Tabernacle of the Lord was also in their midst, and God dwelled in the Most Holy Place. But that was a temporal, earthly, imperfect type, pointing forward to the blessed perfection of heaven. It is evident from the whole description that it is impossible, in words of a human tongue, to convey even a distant idea of the glories of heaven. But the unspeakable beauties of eternal bliss are at least suggested. There God will live in our midst, as our own God, our supreme good and highest source of joy and satisfaction. And we shall be His people, His own, purchased with the blood of the Lamb, and now the treasures of His house. Every tear that was caused in this world, by its misery, its sorrow, its sin, its suffering, shall be wiped from our eyes; and there shall be no more occasion for weeping, no death, no sorrow, no lamenting, no pain. All these things were characteristic of this world, and they have all passed away when the last day brings us the consummation of our salvation.

God the Father Himself made the announcement of this joy and bliss: And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, new I make all things. All creatures, heaven and earth, we ourselves, will be new. Sin and all the consequences of sin will be removed entirely from our bodies, and we shall be filled with a new eternal life. Beyond conception everything will be more glorious than even creation was at the end of the six days, when the Lord saw that everything was very good. Again the voice of God sounded forth: And He said, Write, for these words are faithful and true. Our faith and our hope are not based upon our own opinions and ideas, but upon the infallible Word of God, which will remain when heaven and earth shall pass away.

With solemn emphasis another announcement rings out from the throne: And He said unto me, It is done: I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. I shall give to him that thirsts of the fountain of the water of life without price. He that conquers will inherit these things; and I shall be to him God and he shall be to Me a son. As Christ, when He hung on the cross, called out: It is finished, thus announcing to the world the completion of the work of redemption, so God the Father here states that it is done. All waiting and hoping is over; He who is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, who is from eternity and has all things in His hand, will turn over to them that are His children the full enjoyment of heavenly bliss, of the inheritance which He prepared before the foundation of the world for those that love Him. Salvation is the work of God alone, and every person in the wide world that thirsts after this salvation, that desires the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, may have this wonderful water of life without money and without price, Isaiah 55:1-2. He will be God’s son, God’s daughter; and God will be his Father throughout eternity.

The very opposite lot is reserved for the unbelievers, for the malicious enemies of Christ: But as for the craven and the unbelievers and the abominable and the murderers and the adulterers and the sorcerers and the idolaters and all the liars, their lot will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. So all the people in the world that rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ: those that feared the devil and his power more than God; those that refused to believe; those that indulged in abominations of every kind; those that persecuted the people of the Lord; those that lived lives of utmost immorality; those that made use of sorcery in any manner; those that worshiped the antichristian beast and his image; those that did not want to accept the love of the truth, but proved themselves true children of the devil, the liar from the beginning: all these will find out to their great sorrow that God is not mocked. They will have their reward, with the dragon and with the beast and with the false prophet, in the abyss of hell, in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. That is the second death, everlasting destruction, everlasting damnation.

The vision of the heavenly Jerusalem:

Although the entire description is given in figures, in type and allegory, yet we are able to form conclusions as to the glory of the marriage in heaven from the glory of the bride, the Church of Christ: And there came one of the seven angels that have the seven vials filled with the seven last plagues, and he spoke with me, saying, Come, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. Here is a contrast to the great harlot, the servant of the devil, as she had been pictured in the previous chapters: the holy, immaculate bride of the Lamb, the Church of Christ, cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

It is an impressive scene and a wonderful description: And he took me in the spirit upon a mountain great and high; and he showed me the great city Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God; her splendor resembled that of a very precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal, having a great and high wall, having twelve gates, and upon the gates twelve angels, and names inscribed, which are the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: on the east three gates and on the north three gates and on the south three gates and on the west three gates; and the wall of the city having twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. So John’s mind and spirit was again dissociated, for the time being, from his body, as the angel took him along to give him a full view of the Church’s glory in her state of triumph. The glory of God shone round about her, not from angels, as on the fields of Bethlehem, but from the throne of the Lord itself. This glory will pervade and permeate the Church in eternal life, giving to her a splendor which can be described only by comparing it with the most dazzling of precious stones. The heavenly Jerusalem is safe against all enemies, for her walls are great and high, and her twelve gates are guarded by strong angels. The twelve tribes are mentioned because the Church of Christ is the spiritual Israel in its perfection. And the city is built with a firmness, with a solid foundation which cannot be equaled anywhere else, for it is erected upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief Corner-stone, Ephesians 2:20. Every one that has based his faith in Jesus Christ, and in Him alone, is built here in time upon the foundation of the Church, and will, in the great beyond, belong to the perfected communion of saints.

The measurements and the ornaments of the city:

This is a picture which, both as a whole, by the impression which it makes in its entirety and in all its various traits and parts, transcends all imagination. It all stands out so absolutely beyond all human conception: And he that was speaking with me had as a measuring-rod a golden wand, in order to measure the city and its gates and its wall. And the city lies four-square, and its length is the same as its width. And he measured the city with the wand, twelve thousand stadia [at six hundred to six hundred and twenty-five feet], its length and its width and its height are the same; and he measured its wall, one hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. All of this is intended to show that the Church of the perfected saints, the Church Triumphant in eternal life, will have that perfection which God has planned for her in every respect, 1 Corinthians 13:10. There will no longer be any inequality or unevenness, but all believers without exception will know God perfectly, will bear the perfect image of God in their own bodies, will be perfectly happy and blessed, will enjoy all the gifts and blessings of eternity in the fulness of perfection.

But the description has only begun: And the material of its wall was jasper, and the city is pure gold resembling transparent glass; the foundations of the wall of the city are decorated with every kind of precious stone: the first foundation, jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, onyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each individual gate made of a single pearl. And the streets of the city are of pure gold, transparent as crystal. To the idea of perfection and immensity conveyed in the first part of the description there is added here that of a splendor past all human understanding. One thing stands out beyond the slightest doubt: there will be such glory, such beauty, such splendor as cannot be reached even by the fondest and most daring imagination of man. Everything will be light, clear, full of ineffable glory. All the ways of God will be manifest before our eyes, and one miracle after the other will be revealed to us.

The wonderful glory of the city:

A few features of the picture, at least, give us an inkling of the ineffable bliss that awaits us in our heavenly home: And a temple I did not see in her; for the Lord God, the Almighty, is her temple, and the Lamb. When we reach the consummation of our hopes in eternal life, we shall no longer be obliged to have any means of grace, the Word and the Sacraments; for we shall see God face to face and shall know Him even as we are known, 1 Corinthians 13:12. The same thought is repeated in the next verse: And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon to give light to her; for the glory of God illumines her, and her lamp is the Lamb. As we, here on earth, receive the physical light which we need from the sun by day and from the moon by night, but only inasmuch as the sun and the moon are bearers of the light, so we receive our spiritual light through the Gospel and not by the direct revelation of the unclouded glory of God. But in heaven we shall need neither sun nor light nor the Gospel, for there the open glory of God and of our Savior will serve for our eternal enlightenment.

It is a blessed light which will surround us at that time, as John writes: And the nations shall walk by her light, and the kings of the earth will bear their glory to her, and her gates they will not close by day, for night will not be there; and they will bear the glory and the honor of the nations to her. Cp. Isaiah 60:3. The elect instruments of God in the Church Militant, the patriarchs and prophets and apostles and martyrs and all others that were leaders of God’s Church here on earth, together with those who were mighty ones here on earth, will bring the glory which was given them through their salvation to the holy city of God. There will be a great, happy, eternal communion of saints, of those that accepted the salvation of Christ. The city is secure in the light from the throne and from the Lamb, and the Lord Himself will hold the gates open to those that are bought with the price of the Lamb’s blood and have accepted His merits. Thus will all the glory and honor of all the world and of all the nations be assembled in the city of God, to the praise of the Savior.

Only one class of people is excluded: And there shall not enter into her anything profane and he that commits abomination and lie, but only those that are inscribed in the Book of Life of the Lamb. Those that are not permitted to enter into the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem are such as have excluded themselves by their unbelief and their consequent life of abominations and lies, which was a proof of their unbelief. But those that are written in the book of the Lamb, the true children, the elect of God, will enter the heavenly city, where they will have complete and perfect salvation. Then shall the righteous shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!

Summary

The seer is shown the heavenly Jerusalem, the Church Triumphant, as it descends from God out of heaven, and gives a description of the glory of perfection, as well as that can be done in words of human tongue.

Verses 1-21

Of the certain bliss of eternal life

The river of water and the tree of life:

The prophet, in the attempt to give a concrete description of the glories of the Church of Christ in her final perfection, gives still further details of the picture which he began in the foregoing chapter: And he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, coming forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. Just as a great stream or river watered the Garden of Eden, so here the heavenly Paradise receives its water from a healing stream of perennial waters issuing from the throne of God and of the Lamb Himself. This feature would be sure to make the city prosperous and secure, and would insure to all inhabitants of the city an abundance of refreshing, healing water throughout eternity.

A very prominent feature or landmark is now described: In the midst of her streets and along the river on either side the tree of life bringing forth twelve fruits, each month yielding its own fruit; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. So the river of the waters of life, which flowed through the streets of the city, was lined on either bank with the trees of life, much as there was a single tree of life in the earthly Paradise, Genesis 2:9. Just as the waters of the living stream were open to all the inhabitants, so also the fruits of these trees of life were accessible to all those that lived in the heavenly city. There would never be a lack of fruit, some of it always being in season on account of the fact that a new crop ripened every month. The very leaves of these wonderful trees would have their value; for they would serve for the healing of the nations assembled in the heavenly city, to keep them forever happy and contented in true heavenly bliss. This indicates that we shall be nourished spiritually in the home above, that our heavenly life and our salvation will be sustained and increased by the very richest of gifts of God’s grace. We shall have an abundance of heavenly blessings and yet desire ever more of the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That, truly, will be life in the word’s fullest and truest sense.

This heavenly bliss is further outlined: And every accursed thing will be absent; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in her, and His servants will minister to Him; and they will see His face, and His name will be upon their foreheads. The bliss of heaven will not be spoiled by the presence of any person that has made himself liable to the curse of God by a life of unbelief and sin; for all such cursed will then be in the place of the damned. In the heavenly city, our eternal home, we shall have the throne of God and of the Lamb, our Redeemer, before us, in our presence, all the time. We all shall have the pleasure, the holy joy, of an unfettered and unspoiled, worshipful devotion to our God and to Christ. For the very summit of our heavenly bliss will be reached in our seeing the face of God and of our Savior all the time, world without end, even as we shall wear His name on our foreheads as His own, purchased and won by Him with His precious blood. It will be the most intimate and happy fellowship and confidence which can possibly obtain; it will make us partakers of the supreme perfection of happiness which is God’s from eternity and to eternity.

Still another feature is added: And night will no more be, and they will not have need of the light of a lamp or of the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine upon them, and they will reign forever and ever. This thought is the same as that of Revelation 21:25. As perfected saints we shall dwell in eternal light. The dark night of sin, of ignorance, of error, of sorrow, of death, will then have passed away, and the bright day of justice, of knowledge, of righteousness, of truth, of salvation, of life, will be upon us without end. The light of Christ’s countenance will surround us always, making every other light to which we have been accustomed in this world altogether superfluous. We shall live with Christ, and not only that, we shall reign with Christ in eternal power, glory, and happiness.

John and the angel:

The visions proper have now come to an end; there is only the conclusion to consider. The first words are, as it were, the seal of God upon the entire book: And he said to me, These words are faithful and true, for the Lord God of the spirits of the prophets has sent His angel to show His servants what is bound to happen shortly; and, behold, I come very soon; blessed is he that keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. These words may have been spoken by the angel who was the guide of John in his vision of the Holy City above, but their content seems to make it more plausible that they were spoken by the Lord Himself. He declares here that the words of prophecy which have been transmitted to John are reliable and true, for it was His intention thereby to reveal the future to His servants, to His believers. At the same time He announces that He intends to return very soon for the final Judgment, for the end of the world. Blessed, eternally happy, therefore, would be every person that would hear, heed, and keep these words, just as they were given to John to write. It is true of this book of prophecy, as well as of all the other words of the Lord: Blessed is he that hears the Word of God and keeps it. All Christians should receive strength and comfort to stand firm in the midst of the perils of the last day by the contemplation of God’s promises as contained in this book.

John now relates an incident almost identical with that of Revelation 19:10: And I, John, was he who saw and heard these things; and when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that had shown me these things. And he says to me, Not that; thy fellow-servant I am and of thy brethren, the prophets, and of those that keep the words of this book; worship God. John was overcome by the wonder of all the things that he had seen and heard in the various visions that had been presented to him; he felt the utter insignificance of man in the face of such mighty revelations. And so, in the ecstasy of feeling that possessed him, he fell down at the feet of his guide, with the intention of worshiping him. But the angel promptly interfered, bidding John worship God alone, since he was but a fellow-creature and a fellow-servant. Angels are great and mighty spirits, and they hold a relation of peculiar intimacy to God; but for all that they must not be given divine honor.

Christ’s announcement as to sharing in the blessings of heaven:

Here the Lord Himself lifts up His voice in words of admonition and warning: And He says to me, Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is near. In the case of Daniel the opposite command was given, namely, to seal up his prophecy. But the revelations that had been made to John were to be fulfilled very soon, and the believers would be able to recognize their fulfilment within a short time. Cp. Revelation 1:3. It is true, of course, that men abuse this book, and therefore the Lord adds at once: Let the wicked still be wicked, and let the filthy still be filthy, and let the righteous still practise righteousness, and let the holy still be holy. There has been warning enough given to the unbelievers, to all the enemies of Christ, to all the wicked and filthy. If they persist in their course, then their course will finally lead them into eternal damnation; the more they harden their hearts, the smaller will be their chances of salvation, and their latter end will be a matter of weeping and of gnashing of teeth. But those that are righteous and holy through their acceptance of the righteousness of Christ shall not permit themselves to be led aside from this path of holiness in the power of God. It is the Lord that will strengthen them and bring them to the goal, to the salvation of their souls.

The Lord now repeats His solemn call: Behold, I am coming very soon, and My reward is with Me, to pay out to every one as his work is. I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. It is the last hour of this world, and the return of the Lord to judgment may be expected at any time. He is the just and righteous Judge, who can and will reward every one according to the works that he has done in this life, as these works indicate a state of faith or a state of unbelief. He is the almighty, eternal God, who has the world and all that is in it in the hollow of His hand; He is a source of unfailing comfort to the believers, but one of terror to all those that have rejected His salvation.

Like an antiphonal chant the voice of the angel here chimed in: Blessed are they that wash their garments, that they may have a right to the tree of life and to enter through the gates into the city; without are the dogs and the sorcerers and the adulterers and the murderers and the idolaters, and every one that practises and loves falsehood. That is the glorious privilege of the believers, to wash their sin-stained garments in the blood of the Lamb, and thus to appear before the throne of God in the pure white garments of the righteousness of Christ. These are the ones that have a right to eat of the fruit of the tree of life; they are the ones whom God invites to enter into the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem. There eternal joy will rest upon them, and pain and sighing will be a thing of the past. But of the unbelievers and the deliberate transgressors of God’s commandments, of the false teachers and blasphemers, of those that beguile men of their faith, of those that delight in spiritual adultery, of those that indulge in hatred and persecution against the Church of God, of those that practise idolatry in any form, in short, of all those that love falsehood and practise it in any form, it is said that they are outside of the heavenly Jerusalem and shall not enter. They have chosen their lot, and they shall be given their preference, in the abyss that burns with fire and brimstone.

A final call to come:

The Lord Himself signs the Book of Revelation with His name: I, Jesus, sent My angel to testify to you these things concerning the churches; I am the Root and the Generation of David, the bright Star of the morning. It is a solemn and impressive declaration that is here recorded by Him who inspired John to write, as His angel testified to him concerning the churches of Asia Minor and the Church as a whole until the end of time. He has the right, the authority, to do so; for He, Jesus, is both the Scion and the Offspring of David, the relation of these two being like dawn and sunrise, both David’s Lord and David’s Son; and He is the bright Star of the morning, the Day-spring from on high, Luke 1:78, of whom the prophets have spoken; He is the eternal God.

It is the tenderest and most gracious invitation that He sends forth in this book and in the entire Gospel: And the Spirit and the bride say, Come; and he that hears it should say, Come; and let the thirsty come, let him that desires it, take the water of life without price. Here is certainly sufficient proof of the sincerity of God’s call to repentance and faith. What the Spirit says in so many passages of Scriptures, what the Church has preached for so many centuries, that should be echoed by every one that hears the gracious invitation to partake of the joys of eternal salvation. He that hungers and thirsts for the righteousness of the Lord as revealed in His Word is freely invited to partake of it in full measure, without money and without price. With this gracious call and invitation ringing in their ears, the believers should continue their march onward and upward, until their battle-cry will be changed into the eternal shout of triumph.

Now John adds his own personal testimony as to the divine truth of his statements. For I testify to every one that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, If any one adds to them, God will add to Him the plagues that are written in this book, and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the Holy City, as described in this book. John has described the visions and revelations which he had; he has written down the prophecies which he received. He himself has not added thereto, nor taken therefrom. But he earnestly advises others also not to meddle with the prophecies as recorded by him. To do so would expose a person to a loss of all the bliss which is held out to those that are faithful unto death, and to all the terrible plagues that are described in the entire book as descending upon the enemies of God.

Once more John hears the voice of the Lord: He that testifies these things says, Yes, I am coming soon. This fact must never be forgotten by the Christians; the coming of the Lord may be expected at any time. And we, all believers, answer the Lord in joyful cry: Amen, come, Lord Jesus! And with this in mind, we accept and welcome the apostolic blessing with which John closes his book: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. He that has forgiveness of sins has also life and salvation. That is our comfort throughout this life, until we open our eyes in eternity to see and enjoy what we here hoped and believed.

Summary

The seer finishes his picture of the glories of heaven and describes the longing of Christ for His believers and their eager call for Him to come.