Revelation 6 commentary

Christ, the Lamb, opens the first seal: observe what appeared. A rider on a white horse. By the going forth of this white horse, a time of peace, or the early progress of the Christian religion, seems to be intended; its going forth in purity, at the time when its heavenly Founder sent his apostles to teach all nations, adding, Lo! I am with you always, even to the end of the world. The Divine religion goes out crowned, having the Divine favour resting upon it, armed spiritually against its foes, and destined to be victorious in the end. On opening the second seal, a red horse appeared; this signifies desolating judgments. The sword of war and persecution is a dreadful judgment; it takes away peace from the earth, one of the greatest blessings; and men who should love one another, and help one another, are set upon killing one another. Such scenes also followed the pure age of early Christianity, when, neglectful of charity and the bond of peace, the Christian leaders, divided among themselves, appealed to the sword, and entangled themselves in guilt. On opening the third seal, a black horse appeared; a colour denoting mourning and woe, darkness and ignorance. He that sat on it had a yoke in his hand. Attempts were made to put a yoke of superstitious observances on the disciples. As the stream of Christianity flowed further from its pure fountain, it became more and more corrupt. During the progress of this black horse, the necessaries of life should be at excessive prices, and the more costly things should not be hurt. According to prophetic language, these articles signified that food of religious knowledge, by which the souls of men are sustained unto everlasting life; such we are invited to buy, Isa 55:1. But when the dark clouds of ignorance and superstition, denoted by the black horse, spread over the Christian world, the knowledge and practice of true religion became scarce. When a people loathe their spiritual food, God may justly deprive them of their daily bread. The famine of bread is a terrible judgment; but the famine of the word is more so. Upon opening the fourth seal, another horse appeared, of a pale colour. The rider was Death, the king of terrors. The attendants, or followers of this king of terrors, hell, a state of eternal misery to all who die in their sins; and in times of general destruction, multitudes go down unprepared into the pit. The period of the fourth seal is one of great slaughter and devastation, destroying whatever may tend to make life happy, making ravages on the spiritual lives of men. Thus the mystery of iniquity was completed, and its power extended both over the lives and consciences of men. The exact times of these four seals cannot be ascertained, for the changes were gradual. God gave them power, that is, those instruments of his anger, or those judgments: all public calamities are at his command; they only go forth when God sends them, and no further than he permits.

The sight the apostle beheld at the opening the fifth seal was very affecting. He saw the souls of the martyrs under the altar; at the foot of the altar in heaven, at the feet of Christ. Persecutors can only kill the body; after that there is no more they can do; the soul lives. God has provided a good place in the better world, for those who are faithful unto death. It is not their own death, but the sacrifice of Christ, that gives them entrance into heaven. The cause in which they suffered, was for the word of God; the best any man can lay down his life for; faith in God's word, and the unshaken confession of that faith. They commit their cause to Him to whom vengeance belongs. The Lord is the comforter of his afflicted servants, and precious is their blood in his sight. As the measure of the sin of persecutors is filling up, so is the number of the persecuted, martyred servants of Christ. When this is fulfilled, God will send tribulation to those who trouble them, and unbroken happiness and rest to those that are troubled.

When the sixth seal was opened, there was a great earthquake. The foundations of churches and states would be terribly shaken. Such bold figurative descriptions of great changes abound in the prophecies of Scripture; for these events are emblems, and declare the end of the world and the day of judgment. Dread and terror would seize on all sorts of men. Neither grandeur, riches, valour, nor strength, can support men at that time. They would be glad to be no more seen; yea, to have no longer any being. Though Christ be a Lamb, he can be angry, and the wrath of the Lamb is exceedingly dreadful; for if the Redeemer himself, who appeases the wrath of God, be our enemy, where shall we find a friend to plead for us? As men have their day of opportunity, and their seasons of grace, so God has his day of righteous wrath. It seems that the overthrow of the paganism of the Roman empire is here meant. The idolaters are described as hiding themselves in their dens and secret caves, and vainly seeking to escape ruin. In such a day, when the signs of the times show those who believe in God's word, that the King of kings is approaching, Christians are called to a decided course, and to a bold confession of Christ and his truth before their fellowmen. Whatever they may have to endure, the short contempt of man is to be borne, rather than that shame which is everlasting.

CHAPTER 6

Re 6:1-17. The Opening of the First Six of the Seven Seals.

Compare Note, see on Re 5:1. Many (Mede, Fleming, Newton, &c.) hold that all these seals have been fulfilled, the sixth having been so by the overthrow of paganism and establishment of Christianity under Constantine's edict, A.D. 312. There can, however, be no doubt that at least the sixth seal is future, and is to be at the coming again of Christ. The great objection to supposing the seals to be finally and exhaustively fulfilled (though, probably, particular events may be partial fulfilments typical of the final and fullest one), is that, if so, they ought to furnish (as the destruction of Jerusalem, according to Christ's prophecy, does) a strong external evidence of Revelation. But it is clear they cannot be used for this, as hardly any two interpreters of this school are agreed on what events constitute the fulfilment of each seal. Probably not isolated facts, but classes of events preparing the way for Christ's coming kingdom, are intended by the opening of the seals. The four living creatures severally cry at the opening of the first four seals, "Come," which fact marks the division of the seven, as often occurs in this sacred number, into four and three.

1. one of the seals--The oldest manuscripts, A, B, C, Vulgate, and Syriac read, "one of the seven seals."

noise--The three oldest manuscripts read this in the nominative or dative, not the genitive, as English Version, "I heard one from among the four living creatures saying, as (it were) the voice (or, 'as with the voice') of thunder." The first living creature was like a lion (Re 4:7): his voice is in consonance. Implying the lion-like boldness with which, in the successive great revivals, the faithful have testified for Christ, and especially a little before His coming shall testify. Or, rather, their earnestness in praying for Christ's coming.

Come and see--One oldest manuscript, B, has "And see." But A, C, and Vulgate reject it. Alford rightly objects to English Version reading: "Whither was John to come? Separated as he was by the glassy sea from the throne, was he to cross it?" Contrast the form of expression, Re 10:8. It is much more likely to be the cry of the redeemed to the Redeemer, "Come" and deliver the groaning creature from the bondage of corruption. Thus, Re 6:2 is an answer to the cry, went (literally, "came") forth corresponding to "Come." "Come," says Grotius, is the living creature's address to John, calling his earnest attention. But it seems hard to see how "Come" by itself can mean this. Compare the only other places in Revelation where it is used, Re 4:1; 22:17. If the four living creatures represent the four Gospels, the "Come" will be their invitation to everyone (for it is not written that they addressed John) to accept Christ's salvation while there is time, as the opening of the seals marks a progressive step towards the end (compare Re 22:17). Judgments are foretold as accompanying the preaching of the Gospel as a witness to all nations (Re 14:6-11; Mt 24:6-14). Thus the invitation, "Come," here, is aptly parallel to Mt 24:14. The opening of the first four seals is followed by judgments preparatory for His coming. At the opening of the fifth seal, the martyrs above express the same (Re 6:9, 10; compare Zec 1:10). At the opening of the sixth seal, the Lord's coming is ushered in with terrors to the ungodly. At the seventh, the consummation is fully attained (Re 11:15).

2. Evidently Christ, whether in person, or by His angel, preparatory to His coming again, as appears from Re 19:11, 12.

bow--(Psa 45:4, 5).

crown--Greek, "stephanos," the garland or wreath of a conqueror, which is also implied by His white horse, white being the emblem of victory. In Re 19:11, 12 the last step in His victorious progress is represented; accordingly there He wears many diadems (Greek, "diademata"; not merely Greek, "stephanoi," "crowns" or "wreaths"), and is personally attended by the hosts of heaven. Compare Zec 1:7-17; 6:1-8; especially Re 6:10 below, with Zec 1:12; also compare the colors of the four horses.

and to conquer--that is, so as to gain a lasting victory. All four seals usher in judgments on the earth, as the power which opposes the reign of Himself and His Church. This, rather than the work of conversion and conviction, is primarily meant, though doubtless, secondarily, the elect will be gathered out through His word and His judgments.

3. and see--omitted in the three oldest manuscripts, A, B, C, and Vulgate.

4. red--the color of blood. The color of the horse in each case answers to the mission of the rider. Compare Mt 10:24-36, "Think not I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword." The white horse of Christ's bloodless victories is soon followed, through man's perversion of the Gospel, by the red horse of bloodshed; but this is overruled to the clearing away of the obstacles to Christ's coming kingdom. The patient ox is the emblem of the second living creature who, at the opening of this seal, saith, "Come." The saints amidst judgments on the earth in patience "endure to the end."

that they should kill--The Greek is indicative future, "that they may, as they also shall, kill one another."

5. Come and see--The two oldest manuscripts, A, C, and Vulgate omit "and see." B retains the words.

black--implying sadness and want.

had--Greek, "having."

a pair of balances--the symbol of scarcity of provisions, the bread being doled out by weight.

6. a voice--Two oldest manuscripts, A, C, read, "as it were a voice." B reads as English Version. The voice is heard "in the midst of the four living creatures" (as Jehovah in the Shekinah-cloud manifested His presence between the cherubim); because it is only for the sake of, and in connection with, His redeemed, that God mitigates His judgments on the earth.

A measure--"A choenix." While making food scarce, do not make it so much so that a choenix (about a day's provision of wheat, variously estimated at two or three pints) shall not be obtainable "for a penny" (denarius, eight and a half pence of our money, probably the day's wages of a laborer). Famine generally follows the sword. Ordinarily, from sixteen to twenty measures were given for a denarius. The sword, famine, noisome beasts, and the pestilence, are God's four judgments on the earth. A spiritual famine, too, may be included in the judgment. The "Come," in the case of this third seal, is said by the third of the four living creatures, whose likeness is a man indicative of sympathy and human compassion for the sufferers. God in it tempers judgment with mercy. Compare Mt 24:7, which indicates the very calamities foretold in these seals, nation rising against nation (the sword), famines, pestilences (Re 6:8), and earthquakes (Re 6:12).

three measures of barley for a penny--the cheaper and less nutritious grain, bought by the laborer who could not buy enough wheat for his family with his day's wages, a denarius, and, therefore, buys barley.

see thou hurt not the oil, and the wine--the luxuries of life, rather than necessaries; the oil and wine were to be spared for the refreshment of the sufferers.

7. and see--supported by B; omitted by A, C, and Vulgate. The fourth living creature, who was "like a flying eagle," introduces this seal; implying high-soaring intelligence, and judgment descending from on high fatally on the ungodly, as the king of birds on his prey.

8. pale--"livid" [Alford].

Death--personified.

Hell--Hades personified.

unto them--Death and Hades. So A, C read. But B and Vulgate read, "to him."

fourth part of the earth--answering to the first four seals; his portion as one of the four, being a fourth part.

death--pestilence; compare Eze 14:21 with the four judgments here, the sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts; the famine the consequence of the sword; pestilence, that of famine; and beasts multiplying by the consequent depopulation.

with the beasts--Greek, "by"; more direct agency. These four seals are marked off from the three last, by the four living creatures introducing them with "Come." The calamities indicated are not restricted to one time, but extend through the whole period of Church history to the coming of Christ, before which last great and terrible day of the Lord they shall reach highest aggravation. The first seal is the summary, Christ going forth conquering till all enemies are subdued under Him, with a view to which the judgments subsequently specified accompany the preaching of the Gospel for a witness to all nations.

9. The three last seals relate to the invisible, as the first four to the visible world; the fifth, to the martyrs who have died as believers; the sixth, to those who have died, or who shall be found at Christ's coming, unbelievers, namely, "the kings ... great men ... bondman ... freeman"; the seventh, to the silence in heaven. The scene changes from earth to heaven; so that interpretations which make these three last consecutive to the first four seals, are very doubtful.

I saw--in spirit. For souls are not naturally visible.

under the altar--As the blood of sacrificial victims slain on the altar was poured at the bottom of the altar, so the souls of those sacrificed for Christ's testimony are symbolically represented as under the altar, in heaven; for the life or animal soul is in the blood, and blood is often represented as crying for vengeance (Ge 4:10). The altar in heaven, antitypical to the altar of sacrifice, is Christ crucified. As it is the altar that sanctifies the gift, so it is Christ alone who makes our obedience, and even our sacrifice of life for the truth, acceptable to God. The sacrificial altar was not in the sanctuary, but outside; so Christ's literal sacrifice and the figurative sacrifice of the martyrs took place, not in the heavenly sanctuary, but outside, here on earth. The only altar in heaven is that antitypical to the temple altar of incense. The blood of the martyrs cries from the earth under Christ's cross, whereon they may be considered virtually to have been sacrificed; their souls cry from under the altar of incense, which is Christ in heaven, by whom alone the incense of praise is accepted before God. They are under Christ, in His immediate presence, shut up unto Him in joyful eager expectancy until He shall come to raise the sleeping dead. Compare the language of 2 Maccabees 7:36 as indicating Jewish opinion on the subject. Our brethren who have now suffered a short pain are dead under (Greek) God's covenant of everlasting life.

testimony which they held--that is, which they bore, as committed to them to bear. Compare Re 12:17, "Have (same Greek as here) the testimony of Jesus."

10. How long--Greek, "Until when?" As in the parable the woman (symbol of the Church) cries day and night to the unjust judge for justice against her adversary who is always oppressing her (compare below, Re 12:10); so the elect (not only on earth, but under Christ's covering, and in His presence in Paradise) cry day and night to God, who will assuredly, in His own time, avenge His and their cause, "though He bear long with them." These passages need not be restricted to some particular martyrdoms, but have been, and are receiving, and shall receive partial fulfilments, until their last exhaustive fulfilment before Christ's coming. So as to the other events foretold here. The glory even of those in Paradise will only be complete when Christ's and the Church's foes are cast out, and the earth will become Christ's kingdom at His coming to raise the sleeping saints.

Lord--Greek, "Master"; implying that He has them and their foes and all His creatures as absolutely at His disposal, as a master has his slaves; hence, in Re 6:11, "fellow servants," or fellow slaves follows.

holy--Greek, "the Holy one."

avenge--"exact vengeance for our blood."

on--Greek, "from them."

that dwell on the earth--the ungodly, of earth, earthly, as distinguished from the Church, whose home and heart are even now in heavenly places.

11. white robes--The three oldest manuscripts, A, B, C, read, "A white robe was given."

every one of--One oldest manuscript, B, omits this. A and C read, "unto them, unto each," that is, unto them severally. Though their joint cry for the riddance of the earth from the ungodly is not yet granted, it is intimated that it will be so in due time; meanwhile, individually they receive the white robe, indicative of light, joy, and triumphant victory over their foes; even as the Captain of their salvation goes forth on a white horse conquering and to conquer; also of purity and sanctity through Christ. Maimonides says that the Jews used to array priests, when approved of, in white robes; thus the sense is, they are admitted among the blessed ones, who, as spotless priests, minister unto God and the Lamb.

should--So C reads. But A and B, "shall rest."

a little season--One oldest manuscript, B, omits "little." A and C support it. Even if it be omitted, is it to be inferred that the "season" is short as compared with eternity? Bengel fancifully made a season (Greek, "chronus," the word here used) to be one thousand one hundred and eleven one-ninth years, and a time (Re 12:12, 14, Greek, "kairos") to be a fifth of a season, that is, two hundred and twenty-two two-ninths years. The only distinction in the Greek is, a season (Greek, "chronus") is a sort of aggregate of times. Greek, "kairos," a specific time, and so of short duration. As to their rest, compare Re 14:13 (the same Greek, "anapauomai"); Is 57:2; Da 12:13.

until their ... brethren ... be fulfilled--in number. Until their full number shall have been completed. The number of the elect is definitely fixed: perhaps to fill up that of the fallen angels. But this is mere conjecture. The full blessedness and glory of all the saints shall be simultaneous. The earlier shall not anticipate the later saints. A and C read, "shall have been accomplished"; B and Aleph read, "shall have accomplished (their course)."

12. As Re 6:4, 6-8, the sword, famine, and pestilence, answer to Mt 24:6, 7; Re 6:9, 10, as to martyrdoms, answer to Mt 24:9, 10; so this passage, Re 6:12, 17, answers to Mt 24:29, 30, "the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven; ... then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming"; imagery describing the portents of the immediate coming of the day of the Lord; but not the coming itself until the elect are sealed, and the judgments invoked by the martyrs descend on the earth, the sea, and the trees (Re 7:1-3).

and, lo--So A reads. But B and C omit "lo."

earthquake--Greek, "shaking" of the heavens, the sea, and the dry land; the shaking of these mutable things being the necessary preliminary to the setting up of those things which cannot be shaken. This is one of the catchwords [Wordsworth] connecting the sixth seal with the sixth trumpet (Re 11:13) and the seventh vial (Re 16:17-21); also the seventh seal (Re 8:5).

sackcloth--One kind, made of the "hair" of Cilician goats, was called "cilicium," or Cilician cloth, and was used for tents, &c. Paul, a Cilician, made such tents (Ac 18:3).

moon--A, B, C, and oldest versions read, "the whole moon"; the full moon; not merely the crescent moon.

as blood--(Joe 2:31).

13. stars ... fell ... as a fig tree casteth her ... figs--(Is 34:4; Na 3:12). The Church shall be then ripe for glorification, the Antichristian world for destruction, which shall be accompanied with mighty phenomena in nature. As to the stars falling to the earth, Scripture describes natural phenomena as they would appear to the spectator, not in the language of scientific accuracy; and yet, while thus adapting itself to ordinary men, it drops hints which show that it anticipates the discoveries of modern science.

14. departed--Greek, "was separated from" its place; "was made to depart." Not as Alford, "parted asunder"; for, on the contrary, it was rolled together as a scroll which had been open is rolled up and laid aside. There is no "asunder one from another" here in the Greek, as in Ac 15:39, which Alford copies.

mountain ... moved out of ... places--(Psa 121:1, Margin; Jr 3:23; 4:24; Na 1:5). This total disruption shall be the precursor of the new earth, just as the pre-Adamic convulsions prepared it for its present occupants.

15. kings ... hid themselves--Where was now the spirit of those whom the world has so greatly feared? [Bengel].

great men--statesmen and high civil officers.

rich men ... chief captains--The three oldest manuscripts, A, B, C, transpose thus, "chief captains ... rich men."

mighty--The three oldest manuscripts, A, B, and C read, "strong" physically (Psa 33:16).

in--literally "into"; ran into, so as to hide themselves in.

dens--"caves."

16. from the face--(Psa 34:16). On the whole verse, compare Ho 10:8; Lu 23:30.

17. Literally, "the day, the great (day)," which can only mean the last great day. After the Lord has exhausted all His ordinary judgments, the sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts, and still sinners are impenitent, the great day of the Lord itself' shall come. Mt 24:6-29 plainly forms a perfect parallelism to the six seals, not only in the events, but also in the order of their occurrence: Mt 24:3, the first seal; Mt 24:6, the second seal; Mt 24:7, the third seal; Mt 24:7, end, the fourth seal; Mt 24:9, the fifth seal, the persecutions and abounding iniquity under which, as well as consequent judgments accompanied with gospel preaching to all nations as a witness, are particularly detailed, Mt 24:9-28; Mt 24:29, the sixth seal.

to stand--to stand justified, and not condemned before the Judge. Thus the sixth seal brings us to the verge of the Lord's coming. The ungodly "tribes of the earth" tremble at the signs of His immediate approach. But before He actually inflicts the blow in person, "the elect" must be "gathered "out.

When the Lamb opened one of the seals - It is worthy of remark that the opening of the seals is not merely a declaration of what God will do, but is the exhibition of a purpose then accomplished; for whenever the seal is opened, the sentence appears to be executed. It is supposed that, from Revelation 6:1-11:19, the calamities which should fall on the enemies of Christianity, and particularly the Jews, are pointed out under various images, as well as the preservation of the Christians under those calamities.

One of the four beasts - Probably that with the face of a lion. See Rev 4:7.

Come and see - Attend to what is about to be exhibited. It is very likely that all was exhibited before his eyes as in a scene, and he saw every act represented which was to take place, and all the persons and things which were to be the chief actors.

A white horse - Supposed to represent the Gospel system, and pointing out its excellence, swiftness, and purity.

He that sat on him - Supposed to represent Jesus Christ.

A bow - The preaching of the Gospel, darting conviction into the hearts of sinners.

A crown - The emblem of the kingdom which Christ is to establish on earth.

Conquering, and to conquer - Overcoming and confounding the Jews first, and then the Gentiles; spreading more and more the doctrine and influence of the cross over the face of the earth.

The second beast - That which had the face of an ox.

Another horse - red - The emblem of war; perhaps also of severe persecution, and the martyrdom of the saints.

Him that sat thereon - Same say, Christ; others, Vespasian; others, the Roman armies; others, Artabanus, king of the Parthians, etc., etc.

Take peace from the earth - To deprive Judea of all tranquillity.

They should kill one another - This was literally the case with the Jews, while besieged by the Romans.

A great sword - Great influence and success, producing terrible carnage.

The third beast - That which had the face of a man.

A black horse - The emblem of famine. Some think that which took place under Claudius. See Mat 24:7; the same which was predicted by Agabus, Act 11:28.

A pair of balances - To show that the scarcity would be such, that every person must be put under an allowance.

A measure of wheat for a penny - The chaenix here mentioned was a measure of dry things; and although the capacity is not exactly known, yet it is generally agreed that it contained as much as one man could consume in a day; and a penny, the Roman denarius, was the ordinary pay of a laborer. So it appears that in this scarcity each might be able to obtain a bare subsistence by his daily labor; but a man could not, in such cases, provide for a family.

Three measures of barley - This seems to have been the proportion of value between the wheat and the barley. Barley was allowed to afford a poor aliment, and was given to the Roman soldiers instead of wheat, by way of punishment.

Hurt not the oil and the wine - Be sparing of these: use them not as delicacies, but for necessity; because neither the vines nor the olives will be productive.

The fourth beast - That which had the face of an eagle.

A pale horse - The symbol of death. Pallida mors, pale death, was a very usual poetic epithet; of this symbol there can be no doubt, because it is immediately said, His name that sat on him was Death.

And hell followed with him - The grave, or state of the dead, received the slain. This is a very elegant prosopopaeia, or personification.

Over the fourth part of the earth - One fourth of mankind was to feel the desolating effects of this seal.

To kill with sword - War; with hunger - Famine; with death - Pestilence; and with the beasts of the earth - lions, tigers, hyenas, etc., which would multiply in consequence of the devastations occasioned by war, famine, and pestilence.

The fifth seal - There is no animal nor any other being to introduce this seal, nor does there appear to be any new event predicted; but the whole is intended to comfort the followers of God under their persecutions, and to encourage them to bear up under their distresses.

I saw under the altar - A symbolical vision was exhibited, in which he saw an altar; and under it the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God - martyred for their attachment to Christianity, are represented as being newly slain as victims to idolatry and superstition. The altar is upon earth, not in heaven.

And they cried with a loud voice - That is, their blood, like that of Abel, cried for vengeance; for we are not to suppose that there was any thing like a vindictive spirit in those happy and holy souls who had shed their blood for the testimony of Jesus. We sometimes say Blood cries for blood; that is, in the order of Divine justice, every murderer, and every murdering persecutor, shall be punished.

O Lord - Ὁ Δεσποτης· Sovereign Lord, supreme Ruler; one having and exercising unlimited and uncontrolled authority.

Holy - In thy own nature, hating iniquity;

And true - In all thy promises and threatenings;

Dost thou not judge - The persecutors;

And avenge our blood - Inflict signal punishment;

On them that dwell on the earth? - Probably meaning the persecuting Jews; they dwelt επι της γης, upon that land, a form of speech by which Judea is often signified in the New Testament.

White robes - The emblems of purity, innocence, and triumph.

They should rest yet for a little season - This is a declaration that, when the cup of the iniquity of the Jews should be full, they should then be punished in a mass. They were determined to proceed farther, and God permits them so to do; reserving the fullness of their punishment till they had filled up the measure of their iniquity. If this book was written before the destruction of Jerusalem, as is most likely, then this destruction is that which was to fall upon the Jews; and the little time or season was that which elapsed between their martyrdom, or the date of this book, and the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, under Vespasian and his son Titus, about a.d. 70. What follows may refer to the destruction of the heathen Roman empire.

The sixth seal - This seal also is opened and introduced by Jesus Christ alone.

A great earthquake - A most stupendous change in the civil and religious constitution of the world. If it refer to Constantine the Great, the change that was made by his conversion to Christianity might be very properly represented under the emblem of an earthquake, and the other symbols mentioned in this and the following verses.

The sun - the ancient pagan government of the Roman empire, was totally darkened; and, like a black hair sackcloth, was degraded and humbled to the dust.

The moon - the ecclesiastical state of the same empire, became as blood - was totally ruined, their sacred rites abrogated, their priests and religious institutions desecrated, their altars cast down, their temples destroyed, or turned into places for Christian worship.

The stars of heaven - The gods and goddesses, demi-gods, and deified heroes, of their poetical and mythological heaven, were prostrated indiscriminately, and lay as useless as the figs or fruit of a tree shaken down before ripe by a tempestuous wind.

And the heaven departed as a scroll - The whole system of pagan and idolatrous worship, with all its spiritual, secular, and superstitious influence, was blasted, shrivelled up, and rendered null and void, as a parchment scroll when exposed to the action of a strong fire.

And every mountain - All the props, supports, and dependencies of the empire, whether regal allies, tributary kings, dependent colonies, or mercenary troops, were all moved out of their places, so as to stand no longer in the same relation to that empire, and its worship, support, and maintenance, as they formerly did.

And island - The heathen temples, with their precincts and enclosures, cut off from the common people, and into which none could come but the privileged, may be here represented by islands, for the same reasons.

The kings of the earth, etc. - All the secular powers who had endeavored to support the pagan worship by authority, influence, riches, political wisdom, and military skill; with every bondman - all slaves, who were in life and limb addicted to their masters or owners.

And every freeman - Those who had been manumitted, commonly called freedmen, and who were attached, through gratitude, to the families of their liberators. All hid themselves - were astonished at the total overthrow of the heathen empire, and the revolution which had then taken place.

Said to the mountains and rocks - Expressions which denote the strongest perturbation and alarm. They preferred any kind of death to that which they apprehended from this most awful revolution.

From the face of him that sitteth on the throne - They now saw that all these terrible judgments came from the Almighty; and that Christ, the author of Christianity, was now judging, condemning, and destroying them for their cruel persecutions of his followers.

For the great day of his wrath - The decisive and manifest time in which he will execute judgment on the oppressors of his people.

Who shall be able to stand? - No might can prevail against the might of God. All these things may literally apply to the final destruction of Jerusalem, and to the revolution which took place in the Roman empire under Constantine the Great. Some apply them to the day of judgment; but they do not seem to have that awful event in view. These two events were the greatest that have ever taken place in the world, from the flood to the eighteenth century of the Christian era; and may well justify the strong figurative language used above.

Through I do not pretend to say that my remarks on this chapter point out its true signification, yet I find others have applied it in the same way. Dr. Dodd observes that the fall of Babylon, Idumea, Judah, Egypt, and Jerusalem, has been described by the prophets in language equally pompous, figurative, and strong. See Isa 13:10; Isa 34:4, concerning Babylon and Idumea; Jer 4:23, Jer 4:24, concerning Judah; Eze 32:7, concerning Egypt; Joe 2:10, Joe 2:31, concerning Jerusalem; and our Lord himself, Mat 24:29, concerning the same city. "Now," says he, "it is certain that the fall of any of these cities or kingdoms was not of greater concern or consequence to the world, nor more deserving to be described in pompous figures, than the fall of the pagan Roman empire, when the great lights of the heathen world, the sun, moon, and stars, the powers civil and ecclesiastical, were all eclipsed and obscured, the heathen emperors and Caesars were slain, the heathen priests and augurs were extirpated, the heathen officers and magistrates were removed, the temples were demolished, and their revenues were devoted to better uses. It is customary with the prophets, after they have described a thing in the most symbolical and figurative manner, to represent the same again in plainer language; and the same method is observed here, Rev 6:15-17 : And the kings of the earth, etc. That is, Maximin, Galerius, Maxentius, Licinius, etc., with all their adherents and followers, were so routed and dispersed that they hid themselves in dens, etc.; expressions used to denote the utmost terror and confusion. This is, therefore, a triumph of Christ over his heathen enemies, and a triumph after a severe persecution; so that the time and all the circumstances, as well as the series and order of the prophecy, agree perfectly with this interpretation. Galerius, Maximin, and Licinius, made even a public confession of their guilt, recalled their decrees and edicts against the Christians, and acknowledged the just judgments of God and of Christ in their own destruction." See Newton, Lowman, etc., and Dr. Dodd on this chapter, with the works of several more recent authors.

I heard one - That is, the first. Of the living creatures - Who looks forward toward the east.

And I saw, and behold a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow - This colour, and the bow shooting arrows afar off, betoken victory, triumph, prosperity, enlargement of empire, and dominion over many people. Another horseman, indeed, and of quite another kind, appears on a white horse, Rev 19:11. But he that is spoken of under the first seal must be so understood as to bear a proportion to the horsemen in the second, third, and fourth seal. Nerva succeeded the emperor Domitian at the very time when the Revelation was written, in the year of our Lord 96. He reigned scarce a year alone; and three months before his death he named Trajan for his colleague and successor, and died in the year 98. Trajan's accession to the empire seems to be the dawning of the seven seals. And a crown was given him - This, considering his descent, Trajan could have no hope of attaining. But God gave it him by the hand of Nerva; and then the east soon felt his power. And he went forth conquering and to conquer - That is, from one victory to another. In the year 108 the already victorious Trajan went forth toward the east, to conquer not only Armenia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, but also the countries beyond the Tigris, carrying the bounds of the Roman empire to a far greater extent than ever. We find no emperor like him for making conquests. He aimed at nothing else; he lived only to conquer. Meantime, in him was eminently fulfilled what had been prophesied of the fourth empire, Dan 2:40, 7:23, that he should "devour, tread down, and break in pieces the whole earth."

And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature - Who looked toward the west. Saying, Come - At each seal it was necessary to turn toward that quarter of the world which it more immediately concerned.

There went forth another horse that was red - A colour suitable to bloodshed. And to him that sat thereon it was given to take peace from the earth - Vespasian, in the year 75, had dedicated a temple to Peace; but after a time we hear little more of peace. All is full of war and bloodshed, chiefly in the western world, where the main business of men seemed to be, to kill one another. To this horseman there was given a great sword; and he had much to do with it; for as soon as Trajan ascended the throne, peace was taken from the earth. Decebalus, king of Dacia, which lies westward from Patmos, put the Romans to no small trouble. The war lasted five years, and consumed abundance of men on both sides; yet was only a prelude to much other bloodshed, which followed for a long season. All this was signified by the great sword, which strikes those who are near, as the bow does those who are at a distance.

And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature - Toward the south. Saying, Come. And behold a black horse - A fit emblem of mourning and distress; particularly of black famine, as the ancient poets term it. And he that sat on him had a pair of scales in his hand - When there is great plenty, men scarce think it worth their while to weigh and measure everything, Gen 41:49. But when there is scarcity, they are obliged to deliver them out by measure and weight, Eze 4:16. Accordingly, these scales signify scarcity. They serve also for a token, that all the fruits of the earth, and consequently the whole heavens, with their courses and influences; that all the seasons of the year, with whatsoever they produce, in nature or states, are subject to Christ. Accordingly his hand is wonderful, not only in wars and victories, but likewise in the whole course of nature.

And I heard a voice - It seems, from God himself. Saying - To the horseman, "Hitherto shalt thou come, and no farther." Let there be a measure of wheat for a penny - The word translated measure, was a Grecian measure, nearly equal to our quart. This was the daily allowance of a slave. The Roman penny, as much as a labourer then earned in a day, was about sevenpence halfpenny English. According to this, wheat would be near twenty shillings per bushel. This must have been fulfilled while the Grecian measure and the Roman money were still in use; as also where that measure was the common measure, and this money the current coin. It was so in Egypt under Trajan. And three measures of barley for a penny - Either barley was, in common, far cheaper among the ancients than wheat, or the prophecy mentions this as something peculiar. And hurt not the oil and the wine - Let there not be a scarcity of everything. Let there he some provision left to supply the want of the rest This was also fulfilled in the reign of Trajan, especially in Egypt, which lay southward from Patmos. In this country, which used to be the granary of the empire, there was an uncommon dearth at the very beginning of his reign; so that he was obliged to supply Egypt itself with corn from other countries. The same scarcity there was in the thirteenth year of his reign, the harvest failing for want of the rising of the Nile: and that not only in Egypt, but in all those other parts of Afric, where the Nile uses to overflow.

I heard the voice of the fourth living creature - Toward the north.

And I saw, and behold a pale horse - Suitable to pale death, his rider. And hades - The representative of the state of separate souls. Followeth even with him - The four first seals concern living men. Death therefore is properly introduced. Hades is only occasionally mentioned as a companion of death. So the fourth seal reaches to the borders of things invisible, which are comprised in the three last seals. And power was given to him over the fourth part of the earth - What came single and in a lower degree before, comes now together, and much more severely. The first seal brought victory with it: in the second was "a great sword;" but here a scimitar. In the third was moderate dearth; here famine, and plague, and wild beasts beside. And it may well be, that from the time of Trajan downwards, the fourth part of men upon the earth, that is, within the Roman empire, died by sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts. "At that time," says Aurelius Victor, "the Tyber overflowed much more fatally than under Nerva, with a great destruction of houses and there was a dreadful earthquake through many provinces, and a terrible plague and famine, and many places consumed by fire." By death - That is, by pestilence wild beasts have, at several times, destroyed abundance of men; and undoubtedly there was given them, at this time, an uncommon fierceness and strength. It is observable that war brings on scarcity, and scarcity pestilence, through want of wholesome sustenance; and pestilence, by depopulating the country, leaves the few survivors an easier prey to the wild beasts. And thus these judgments make way for one another in the order wherein they are here represented. What has been already observed may be a fourfold proof that the four horsemen, as with their first entrance in the reign of Trajan, (which does by no means exhaust the contents of the four first seals,) so with all their entrances in succeeding ages, and with the whole course of the world and of visible nature, are in all ages subject to Christ, subsisting by his power, and serving his will, against the wicked, and in defence of the righteous. Herewith, likewise, a way is paved for the trumpets which regularly succeed each other; and the whole prophecy, as to what is future, is confirmed by the clear accomplishment of this part of it.

And when he opened the fifth seal - As the four former seals, so the three latter, have a close connexion with each other. These all refer to the invisible world; the fifth, to the happy dead, particularly the martyrs; the sixth, to the unhappy; the seventh, to the angels, especially those to whom the trumpets are given. And I saw - Not only the church warring under Christ, and the world warring under Satan; but also the invisible hosts, both of heaven and hell, are described in this book. And it not only describes the actions of both these armies upon earth; but their respective removals from earth, into a more happy or more miserable state, succeeding each other at several times, distinguished by various degrees, celebrated by various thanksgivings; and also the gradual increase of expectation and triumph in heaven, and of terror and misery in hell. Under the altar - That is, at the foot of it. Two altars are mentioned in the Revelation, "the golden altar" of incense, Rev 9:13; and the altar of burnt - offerings, mentioned here, and Rev 8:5, 14:18, 16:7. At this the souls of the martyrs now prostrate themselves. By and by their blood shall be avenged upon Babylon; but not yet, whence it appears that the plagues in the fourth seal do not concern Rome in particular.

And they cried - This cry did not begin now, but under the first Roman persecution. The Romans themselves had already avenged the martyrs slain by the Jews on that whole nation. How long - They knew their blood would be avenged; but not immediately, as is now shown them. O Lord - The Greek word properly signifies the master of a family: it is therefore beautifully used by these, who are peculiarly of the household of God. Thou Holy One and true - Both the holiness and truth of God require him to execute judgment and vengeance. Dost thou not judge and avenge our blood? - There is no impure affection in heaven: therefore, this desire of theirs is pure and suitable to the will of God. The martyrs are concerned for the praise of their Master, of his holiness and truth: and the praise is given him, Rev 19:2, where the prayer of the martyrs is changed into a thanksgiving: Thou holy One and true: "True and right are thy judgments." How long dost thou not judge and avenge our blood? "He hath judged the great whore, and hath avenged the blood of his servants."

And there was given to every one a white robe - An emblem of innocence, joy, and victory, in token of honour and favourable acceptance. And it was said to them - They were told how long. They were not left in that uncertainty. That they should rest - Should cease from crying. They rested from pain before. A time - This word has a peculiar meaning in this book, to denote which, we may retain the original word chronos. Here are two classes of martyrs specified, the former killed under heathen Rome, the latter, under papal Rome. The former are commanded to rest till the latter are added to them. There were many of the former in the days of John: the first fruits of the latter died in the thirteenth century. Now, a time, or chronos, is 1111 years. This chronos began A. C. 98, and continued to the year 1209; or from Trajan's persecution, to the first crusade against the Waldenses. Till - It is not said, Immediately after this time is expired, vengeance shall be executed; but only, that immediately after this time their brethren and fellowservants will come to them. This event will precede the other; and there will be some space between.

And I saw - This sixth seal seems particularly to point out God's judgment on the wicked departed. St. John saw how the end of the world was even then set before those unhappy spirits. This representation might be made to them, without anything of it being perceived upon earth. The like representation is made in heaven, Rev 11:18. And there was a great earthquake - Or shaking, not of the earth only, but the heavens. This is a farther description of the representation made to those unhappy souls.

And the stars fell to, or towards, the earth - Yea, and so they surely will, let astronomers fix their magnitude as they please. As a fig tree casteth its untimely figs, when it is shaken by a mighty wind - How sublimely is the violence of that shaking expressed by this comparison!

And the heavens departed as a book that is rolled together - When the scripture compares some very great with a little thing, the majesty and omnipotence of God, before whom great things are little, is highly exalted. Every mountain and island - What a mountain is to the land, that an island is to the sea.

And the kings of the earth - They who had been so in their day. And the great men and chief captains - The generals and nobles. Hid themselves - So far as in them lay. In the rocks of the mountains - There are also rocks on the plains; but they were rocks on high, which they besought to fall upon them.

To the mountains and the rocks - Which were tottering already, verse 12. Rev 6:12 Hide us from the face of him - Which "is against the ungodly," Psalm 34:16.

1 AND I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals , and I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying , Come and see .

Iohn's Vision continueth still; by the Lamb he means Christ, the Lamb oft mentioned, chap. 5. and by one of the Seals, one of the seven Seals mentioned chap. 5.1. that were set upon the Book which Iohn saw in the Right-hand of God the Father, given to Christ, v. 7. Christ began to discover the Counsels of God relating to that first Period of his Church.

And Iohn heard one of the four living Creatures speaking to him with a great and terrible Voice like the Noise of Thunder.

Inviting him to come near, or to attend and see.

2 And I saw, and behold, a white horse ; and he that sat on him had a bow , and a crown was given unto him , and he went forth conquering, and to conquer .

Some, by this white Horse, understand the Gospel, others, the Roman Empire.

And by him that sat thereon with a Bow, some understand Christ going forth with Power to convert the Nations▪ others (and in my Opinion more probably) the Roman Emperors armed with Power.

And having the Imperial Crown,

carrying all before them. So as that which God intended by this to reveal to St. Iohn, was, That the Roman Emperors should yet continue, and use their Power against his Church. Those that understand by the white Horse, the Gospel, or God's Dispensations to his Church under the first Period, and by the Rider, Christ, (amongst whom is our famous Mede) think, that hereby all the time is signified from Christ's Ascens[illegible: 1 letter]on, which was in the 34th year after his Incarnation, till the time that all the Apostles were dead, that is, the first 100 years after Christ (for so long Histories tell us Iohn lived. It was the Age then current, and so may make up part of the Vision of things that were to come. The History of all but 40 of those years we have in the Acts, till Paul was carried Prisoner to Rome. In this Period ruled▪ Augustus Cesar, (in whose time Christ was born, Luke 2.1.) Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero, Galba, Otho, F. Vespasianus, Titus, and Domitian, Nerva, and Trajan, 10, or 11 in all. They went on conqu[illegible: 1 letter]ring, and to conquer the World. But till Nero's time, about the year 66, they did not begin to persecure the Christians; nor did Vespasian and Titus much rage, nor Domitian, till he had reigned 8 years; so as I leave it indifferent to the Reader, whether to understand by the white Horse and its Rider, God's dispensations of Providence to his Church these first years, causing his Gospel to prevail much, and conquering many to the Profession of it, or the Roman Empire with those that Ruled it: what is said is true of both.

Marginal references: Chap. 19.11▪

3 And when he had opened the second seal , I heard the second beast say, Come, and see.

The second of those two Seals, with which the Book mentioned chap. 5.1. was Sealed.

The Beast like a [illegible: 1 letter]alf, chap. 4.7.

Inviting Iohn to attend.

4 And there went out another horse that was red : and power was given to him that sat thereon , to take peace from the earth , and that they should kill one another : and there was given unto him a great sword .

Signifying Blood and Slaughter.

Either to Christ (as some say,) or, to those that ruled the Affairs of the Roman Empire at that time, to disturb the Peace of the Church.

Either to Christ (as some say,) or, to those that ruled the Affairs of the Roman Empire at that time, to disturb the Peace of the Church.

This was a time of much Blood.

And therefore a Sword is given to him that rode upon this Horse. Some think that this Period began with Nero, 34 years before the other ended (according to what was said before,) others make it to begin with Trajan, and t[illegible: 1 letter] comprehend 80 years, until the time of Commodus; in which time Trajan and Hadrian, and the three Antoninus's successively ruled the Roman Empire; the Reign of Trajan and Hadrian took up near half the time, in which time this Prophecy was most eminently fulfilled; for in Trajan's time the Iews Rebelling, and killing many subjects of the Roman Empire, to the number of 22000 in one place, and 240000 in another place, themselves were as miserably handled by the Roman Forces sent by Trajan and Hadrian ▪ who slew of them (as Histories tell us) five hundred and fourscore thousand: Nay, the Iews themselves say, they lost double the number of those who came out of Egypt, and more than they lost by Nebuchadnezzar, or by Titus when their City was taken; on the other side the Romans lost very many. Many Christians also were put to Death during this period, during which was the third and fourth Persecution.

5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come, and see . And I beheld, and lo, a black horse , and he that sat on him had a pair of ballances in his hand .

The third Beast was he who had the Face of a Man, who also inviteth Iohn to come and see what came forth upon his opening the third seal.

He seeth a Black Horse, and a Rider upon him, with a pair of Ballances. There is a difference amongst Interpreters what should be signified by this Black-Horse; some by it understand Famine, because a scarcity of Victuals bringeth Men to a black and [illegible: 1 letter]warthy colour; some understand by it Iustice, because the Rider is said to have a pair of Ballances in his hand; others understand by it Heresies and great Sufferings of the Church by Hereticks and others.

Either to give Men their Bread by Weight (as is usual in times of great scarcity;) or to measure out every one their due.

6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny , And see thou hurt not the oil and the wine .

Interpreters are at so great a loss, here to fix the sense, that some of them think this phrase signifies Famine and Scarcity: Others think it signifies great plenty. The Greek word here used, signifieth (say some) half a Bushel; others say it signifieth so much Bread-Corn as is sufficient for 4 Loaves; others say something more than a quart; others, so much as was allowed Servants for maintenance for a day: let it be which it will▪ it signifies no great scarcity; for the word signifying a Penny, signified but as much in our Money as came to seven pence half-penny. I think therefore Mr. Mede judgeth well, that by the black-Horse was signified not a time of Famine and Scarcity, but of plenty;

and the rather, because it is added, H[illegible: 2 letters]t not the Oil and the Wi[illegible: 2 letters]. and that the Balla[illegible: 3 letters]s in the Rider's hands signified not Scales to give Men their Bread by weight (as in a time of scarcity,) but the Ballance of Justice; nor will the colour of the Horse conclude the contrary. The whole therefore of this Prophecy seemeth to foretell that this Period, from the time of Commodus the Roman Emperor, who Ruled the Empire from the year 180, to 197; and was followed by Severus, Macrinus, Caracalla, and Heliogabalus, and Alexander Se[illegible: 2 letters]r[illegible: 1 letter]us the Son of Ma[illegible: 1 letter]o[illegible: 2 letters]as who came to the Empire in 222, and reigned to 237. should be a time of great Plenty and Civil Justice. Histories tell us of no Famine in that time, but large Stories of the great Care of two of those Emperors especially, for supplying their Countreys with Corn, and for the administring of Civil-Justice. The things foretold by the opening of this Seal, our famous Mede makes to have had their accomplishment with the determination of the Reign of Alexander Severus.

Marginal references: The word Phoenix signifi [illegible: 2 letters] [illegible: 1 word] measure containing one wine quart, and the twelfth part of a quart.; Chap. 9.4.

7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come, and see.

The Beast mentioned chap. 4.7. that had the Face of a Flying Eagle, inviteth Iohn to attend to the opening of the fourth Seal, that is, the Revelation of the Counsels of God, as to what should happen to the Church (within the Roman Empire) in the fourth Period, which is conceived to have begun with Maximinus, about the year 237, and to have ended with the Reign of Dioclesian 294.

8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse , and his name that set on him was Death , and Hell followed with him : And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth , to kill with the sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth .

An Horse of the colour of his Rider.

and bringeth them into the state of the Dead, (here translated Hell) whether Heaven or Hell as they have lived.

Over a great part of the Earth.

To kill Men all manner of ways, with the Sword, Famine, Pestilence, and by throwing them to wild Beasts. Interpreters judg that here was prophesied what should happen to the Roman Empire, and the Church within it from the time when Maximinus was made Emperour, which was about 237, to the time of Aurelianus, which was about 271. Some extend it to Dioclesian's time, which ended about 294; but Mr. Mede rather reserveth that for the 5th Seal; if the former time only be taken in, there was within it the 7th, 8th, and 9th Persecutions, Dioclesian began the Tenth and greatest of all. Within this time this Prophecy was eminently fulfilled, Maximinus destroyed all the Towns in Germany, for 3 or 400 Miles. There was a Plague lasted 15 years, together in the time of Gallus, who had the Empire, Anno 255. Three hundred and twenty thousand Goths were slain by Flavius Claudius. Maximinus and Gallienus were both great Butchers both to their own Subjects that were Heathens and to Christians. Gal[illegible: 1 letter]ienus is said to have killed 3 or 4000 every day: such Warrs and Devastations could not but be followed with Famine. Besides that we are confirmed in it both by the Testimony of Eusebius and Cypri[illegible: 1 letter]n; the latter of which lived within this Period.

Marginal references: Death, which makes Men look pale,; Or, him

9 And when he had opened the fifth seal , I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held .

This and the next Seals opening, is not prefaced with any living Creatures calling to Iohn to come and see. We must conside[illegible: 1 letter], 1. The number of the Beasts was but four, who all ha[illegible: 1 letter] had their courses. 2. Some have thought that it is, because here is no mention of any new Persecution, but a consequent of the former. 3. But this Vision was so plain, it needed no Expositor.

Still he speaks in the Dialect of the Old Testament, where in the Temple was the Altar of Burn[illegible: 1 letter]-Offering, and the Altar of Incense; the allusion here is judged to be the latter.

From whence we may not conclude, that the Souls of Men and Women when they die do sleep, as some Dreamers have thought. These are said to be the Souls of them that were slain for the Word of God, &c. for preaching the Word, and their profession of the Gospel, bearing a testimony to Christ and his Truths. Mr. Mede thinks that under this Seal is comprehended the ten bloody years of Dioclesian's Persecution, which of all others was most severe; Paganism at that time (as dying things are wont) most strugg[illegible: 1 letter]ng to keep it self alive. This Tyrant is said in the beginning of his Reign within thirty days to have slain seventeen thousand, and in Egypt alone, during his Ten years, 144000. He thinks that the Souls of those which this Wretch had slain throughout all his Dominions, within his short period of ten years, were those principally which were shewed Iohn upon the opening of this Seal.

Marginal references: Chap. 8.3. and 9.13. and 14.18.; Chap. 20.4.; Chap. 1.9. Chap. 19.10.

10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true , dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ?

Their Blood cried, or their Souls cried to God.

How long O Lord, holy, and therefore that canst not abide Iniquity, and of all iniquity canst least abide innocent Blood, which is the Blood of thy Saints, whose Blood is precious in thy sight.

And who are true to thy▪ Word of threatnings against Blood-thirsty Men, and to thy Promises for the deliverance of thy People.

Dost thou not judg our cause, and avenge us who have committed Vengeance to thee, not daring to avenge our selves upon wicked Men, who dwelling upon the Earth are seen, and their practices known to, and by thee, and are under thy power, so as thou canst at pleasure do it.

Marginal references: See Zech. 1.12.

11 And white robes were given to every one of them, and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season , until their fellow-servants also and their brethren that should be killed, as they were , should be fulfilled .

White Robes of Glory; for the white Robes of Christ's Righteousness, and of an Holy Life, were by them put on before they were slain,

That they should be satisfied, and acquiesce in God's Dispensations.

For God had yet more faithful Witnesses to be martyred (though not in such Flocks as before,) who should die for the same Faith and Profession.

When the number of those his Martyrs should be compleated, he would avenge their Blood upon their Enemies.

Marginal references: Chap. 3.4, 5. & 7.9, 14.

12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal , and lo, there was a great earthquake , and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair , and the moon became as blood .

The sixth of those Seals with which the Book was sealed, mentioned chap. 5.1. this signifieth the revelation of some things which should happen in some certain period of time, but what period is the question, as to which Interpreters differ; some think the time when Ierusalem was taken; but this was a time past 26 or 27 years before Iohn was in Pa[illegible: 1 letter] mos, where he had this Vision about things that shall be, ch. 1.1. & 22.6. Some think that period of time which shall be immediately before the day of Judgment; but that guess seemeth worse, for after this there was a seventh Seal▪ to be opened. Some think the period of the Churches conflict with Antichrist; but Mr. Mede's Judgment (followed by many other famous Men) seems best, that it denotes that Period when Constantine the first Christian Emperor restored Peace to the Church, by overturning the whole Pagan State, and making Christianity the Religion of the greatest part of the World. This was about the year 311, and perfected upon his Victory over Licinius 325, in this I acquiese. Let us now see how what is said in this and the following Verses about this Period will agree to that time.

The great Question is here, what is meant by th[illegible: 1 letter]s great Earthquake, the darkning of the Sun, the Moon becoming as Blood, &c. No History recording any such Prodigies, hath made many (taking these things in the natural literal sence) to say the Period under the first Seal signifies either the time when Ierusalem was taken, or the Day of Iudgment: but there is a Metaphorical sense of these expressions, very usual in the Prophetical writings, to shew great changes in States; and in this sense it is to be taken here. Thus the Prophet describeth the great change God would make in Ierusalem, Isa. 29.6. Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of Hosts with Thunder, and with Earthquake, and great noise, with Storm and with Tempest, and the flame of devouring Fire. and Jer. 15.9. Her Sun is gone down while it is yet day. And Ezek. 32.7. the change God would work in the Ruine of Egypt, is thus exprest: When I shall put thee out, I will cover the Heavens, and make the Stars thereof dark, and the Moon shall not give her light: all the bright Lights of Heaven will I make dark over thee. So Joel. 2.10, 31. and ch. 3.15. What is an Earthquake, but the shaking of the Earth? And under this Notion God expresseth the changes he makes in States and Kingdoms, Isa. 2.19, 21. and 24.18. Hag. 2.6, 7. Thus by Earthquake here, is to be understood a great change in the Roman Empire.

The Sun signifies those that are in the highest Power.

The Moon, those that are next to them in Place and Dignity.

Marginal references: Mat. 24.29. Act. 2.20.

13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind .

This is but another Phrase signifying a great change; the whole Verse is much the same with Isa. 34.9. litterally these things were never yet fulfilled. It is a Phrase signifying the Fall of great and mighty Men.

Marginal references: Or, green figs.

14 And the heavens departed as a scrowl when it is rolled together ; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places .

Two Expressions more signifying the same thing. The first is used by the Prophet, to signifie the change God would make in the State of the Edomites, Isa. 34.4. as will appear by comparing what that Prophet saith, with what Ieremiah, Ezekiel, and Obadia[illegible: 1 letter] say, upon the same Argument, Ier. 49. from [illegible: 1 word] 7 to 22. and Ezek. 35.

All sorts of People shall be destroyed, or all the Paganish Religion shall be rooted out.

Marginal references: Chap. 16.20.

15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond-man, and evey free-man , hid themselves in the dens, and the rocks of the mountains .

A Terror shall fall upon all sorts of Men, high and low.

See Isa. 2.19. and, like Men affrighted, they shall seek for themselves hiding-places, where they can think themselves most secure. See Isa. 2.19.

16 And said to the mountains and rock[illegible: 1 letter], Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne , and from the wrath of the Lamb :

See Hosea 10.8. Luke 23.30. They shall be in a great consternation, and be ready to take any course for security

from the Wrath of God, and of

Jesus Christ.

Marginal references: Chap. 9.6.

17 For the great day of his wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand ?

For this Judgment that is upon us, is the effect of his wrath for our abusing, and persecuting his Members;

and we with all our Courage, Might, and Power, are not able to abide his Wrath. These words import, That in this great change, as the greatest Persons should be at loss what to do, so they should perish under a Conviction, that the great Vengeance of God was come upon them for their opposing the Gospel, and provoking Christ by persecuting of his Members. There are other more particular Explications of the Sun, Moon, Stars, Heavens, &c. but they all cente[illegible: 1 letter] in this General; That here is prophesied a great and universal Change of the R[illegible: 1 letter] ligion of the World, which should strike a great Terror into the Pagan Rulers, and issue in the overturning of all their Altars, and Temples, and the Ruine of the great Men, relating either to their Civil, or Ecclesiastical State; and that they as last should know tha[illegible: 1 letter] God was God, and that these Judgments came upon them for their Opposition to Christ. And (which addeth strength to this Interpretation) Mr. Dur[illegible: 1 letter]am hath observed, that no so short Period of Time hath produced so many remarkable Jugments, and extorted so many ingenuous Confessions from Enemies, that what came upon them was for their Persecutions; and a Catalogue of which may be found in Mr. Mede, and in Mr. Durham. Mr. Mede reckoneth Galerius, Maximinus, and Licinius. Galerius was eaten up of Worms, being before he died sensible of his Guilt, ceasing from his Persecution, and begging the Christians Prayers. Maximinus, another Roman Emperor (or Partner in the Empire with the former) being beaten by Licinius, fled to Tarsus, and there fell upon his Pagan Priests, who had deceived him by their lying Oracles, and made a Decree for the Christians Liberty; but God would not suffer so bloody a Wreth to die after the ordinary Death of Man; he died miserably through intolerable Pain, his Eyes dropping out of his Head. Licinius was a Christian, and joined a while with Constantine, but apostatized; was overcome in two Bat[illegible: 1 letter]el[illegible: 1 letter], taken, and by him put to death. All these three were within the space of 18 years. Mr. Durham to these adds th[illegible: 1 letter] [illegible: 1 letter]nstances of Dioclesian and Maximinian, little above 20 years before, in the heat of their Persecution making a stop, and through an Horror of Conscience▪ laying down their Imperial Dignity, and Maxentius drowned in the River Tyber; and he saies Licinius before-mentioned, before he died, revenged himself upon his idolatrous Priests that had perswaded him to forsake Constantin[illegible: 1 letter] 's God. The change was so great in the Empire, upon Constantine the Great his coming to the Throne, by the Death of some great Persons, turning others ou[illegible: 1 letter] of place, destroying the whole Frame and Practice of the Pagans Religion, that it might well be expressed by Earthquakes, the Sun turning black, the Moon as Blood, the Stars falling from Heaven to Earth, the Heavens departing lik[illegible: 1 letter] a S[illegible: 1 letter]rowl, and the removing of Islands and Mountains, and by the Consternation it would bring all the Pagan great Men into, &c. And this time, which was a Period of obout 25 or 27 years, is thought to be understood to be the time predicted upon the opening of the sixth Seal. Thus we see the Dragon's Reign at an End in about 311, or 325 years after Christ. The Empire, as Pagan, persecuting the Church of Christ, and following it with Ten successive Persecutions, quite overturned, and a Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, ruling it. But we must understand these great things were not perfected in a few Months, some Relicts of Paganism remained; for tho Constantine shut up the Pagan Temples, ye[illegible: 1 letter] all the Idols in them were not destroyed until the time of Theodosius, who began to rule in the Empire 379, and reigned 16 years. Betwixt Constantine and him, were Constantius, and Constans, Iulian the Apostate, and Iovianus, Valentinianus, Valens and Gratian: During some of whose Reigns (Iulian's especially) the Christians suffered much both from Pagans and Arrians, so that the Christians had not a full and perfect quiet till after 390.

The Opening of the Seals. (a. d. 95.)

1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. 2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

Here, 1. Christ, the Lamb, opens the first seal; he now enters upon the great work of opening and accomplishing the purposes of God towards the church and the world. 2. One of the ministers of the church calls upon the apostle, with a voice like thunder, to come near, and observe what then appeared. 3. We have the vision itself, v. 2. (1.) The Lord Jesus appears riding on a white horse. White horses are generally refused in war, because they make the rider a mark for the enemy; but our Lord Redeemer was sure of the victory and a glorious triumph, and he rides on the white horse of a pure but despised gospel, with great swiftness through the world. (2.) He had a bow in his hand. The convictions impressed by the word of God are sharp arrows, they reach at a distance; and, though the ministers of the word draw the bow at a venture, God can and will direct it to the joints of the harness. This bow, in the hand of Christ, abides in strength, and, like that of Jonathan, never returns empty. (3.) A crown was given him, importing that all who receive the gospel must receive Christ as a king, and must be his loyal and obedient subjects; he will be glorified in the success of the gospel. When Christ was going to war, one would think a helmet had been more proper than a crown; but a crown is given him as the earnest and emblem of victory. (4.) He went forth conquering, and to conquer. As long as the church continues militant Christ will be conquering; when he has conquered his enemies in one age he meets with new ones in another age; men go on opposing, and Christ goes on conquering, and his former victories are pledges of future victories. He conquers his enemies in his people; their sins are their enemies and his enemies; when Christ comes with power into their soul he begins to conquer these enemies, and he goes on conquering, in the progressive work of sanctification, till he has gained us a complete victory. And he conquers his enemies in the world, wicked men, some by bringing them to his foot, others by making them his footstool. Observe, From this seal opened, [1.] The successful progress of the gospel of Christ in the world is a glorious sight, worth beholding, the most pleasant and welcome sight that a good man can see in this world. [2.] Whatever convulsions and revolutions happen in the states and kingdoms of the world, the kingdom of Christ shall be established and enlarged in spite of all opposition. [3.] A morning of opportunity usually goes before a night of calamity; the gospel is preached before the plagues are poured forth. [4.] Christ's work is not all done at once. We are ready to think, when the gospel goes forth, it should carry all the world before it, but it often meets with opposition, and moves slowly; however, Christ will do his own work effectually, in his own time and way.

The Opening of the Seals. (a. d. 95.)

3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. 4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. 5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. 7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

The next three seals give us a sad prospect of great and desolating judgments with which God punishes those who either refuse or abuse the everlasting gospel. Though some understand them of the persecutions that befel the church of Christ, and others of the destruction of the Jews, they rather seem more generally to represent God's terrible judgments, by which he avenges the quarrel of his covenant upon those who make light of it.

I. Upon opening the second seal, to which John was called to attend, another horse appears, of a different colour from the former, a red horse, v. 4. This signifies the desolating judgment of war; he that sat upon this red horse had power to take peace from the earth, and that the inhabitants of the earth should kill one another. Who this was that sat upon the red horse, whether Christ himself, as Lord of hosts, or the instruments that he raised up to conduct the war, is not clear; but this is certain, 1. That those who will not submit to the bow of the gospel must expect to be cut in sunder by the sword of divine justice. 2. That Jesus Christ rules and commands, not only in the kingdom of grace, but of providence. And, 3. That the sword of war is a dreadful judgment; it takes away peace from the earth, one of the greatest blessings, and it puts men upon killing one another. Men, who should love one another and help one another, are, in a state of war, set upon killing one another.

II. Upon opening the third seal, which John was directed to observe, another horse appears, different from the former, a black horse, signifying famine, that terrible judgment; and he that sat on the horse had a pair of balances in his hand (v. 5), signifying that men must now eat their bread by weight, as was threatened (Lev. xxvi. 26), They shall deliver your bread to you by weight. That which follows in v. 6, of the voice that cried, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine, has made some expositors think this was not a vision of famine, but of plenty; but if we consider the quantity of their measure, and the value of their penny, at the time of this prophecy, the objection will be removed; their measure was but a single quart, and their penny was our sevenpence-halfpenny, and that is a large sum to give for a quart of wheat. However, it seems this famine, as all others, fell most severely upon the poor; whereas the oil and the wine, which were dainties of the rich, were not hurt; but if bread, the staff of life, be broken, dainties will not supply the place of it. Here observe, 1. When a people loathe their spiritual food, God may justly deprive them of their daily bread. 2. One judgment seldom comes alone; the judgment of war naturally draws after it that of famine; and those who will not humble themselves under one judgment must expect another and yet greater, for when God contends he will prevail. The famine of bread is a terrible judgment; but the famine of the word is more so, though careless sinners are not sensible of it.

III. Upon opening the fourth seal, which John is commanded to observe, there appears another horse, of a pale colour. Here observe, 1. The name of the rider—Death, the king of terrors; the pestilence, which is death in its empire, death reigning over a place or nation, death on horseback, marching about, and making fresh conquests every hour. 2. The attendants or followers of this king of terrors—hell, a state of eternal misery to all those who die in their sins; and, in times of such a general destruction, multitudes go down unprepared into the valley of destruction. It is an awful thought, and enough to make the whole world to tremble, that eternal damnation immediately follows upon the death of an impenitent sinner. Observe, (1.) There is a natural as well as judicial connection between one judgment and another: war is a wasting calamity, and draws scarcity and famine after it; and famine, not allowing men proper sustenance, and forcing them to take that which is unwholesome, often draws the pestilence after it. (2.) God's quiver is full of arrows; he is never at a loss for ways and means to punish a wicked people. (3.) In the book of God's counsels he has prepared judgments for scorners as well as mercy for returning sinners. (4.) In the book of the scriptures God has published threatenings against the wicked as well as promises to the righteous; and it is our duty to observe and believe the threatenings as well as the promises.

IV. After the opening of these seals of approaching judgments, and the distinct account of them, we have this general observation, that God gave power to them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth, v. 8. He gave them power, that is, those instruments of his anger, or those judgments themselves; he who holds the winds in his hand has all public calamities at his command, and they can only go when he sends them and no further than he permits. To the three great judgments of war, famine, and pestilence, is here added the beasts of the earth, another of God's sore judgments, mentioned Ezek. xiv. 21, and mentioned here the last, because, when a nation is depopulated by the sword, famine, and pestilence, the small remnant that continue in a waste and howling wilderness encourage the wild beasts to make head against them, and they become easy prey. Others, by the beasts of the field, understand brutish, cruel, savage men, who, having divested themselves of all humanity, delight to be the instruments of the destruction of others.

The Opening of the Seals. (a. d. 95.)

9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. 12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

In the remaining part of this chapter we have the opening of the fifth and the sixth seals.

I. The fifth seal. Here is no mention made of any one who called the apostle to make his observation, probably because the decorum of the vision was to be observed, and each of the four living creatures had discharged its duty of a monitor before, or because the events here opened lay out of the sight, and beyond the time, of the present ministers of the church; or because it does not contain a new prophecy of any future events, but rather opens a spring of support and consolation to those who had been and still were under great tribulation for the sake of Christ and the gospel. Here observe,

1. The sight this apostle saw at the opening of the fifth seal; it was a very affecting sight (v. 9): I saw under the altar the souls of those that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. He saw the souls of the martyrs. Here observe, (1.) Where he saw them—under the altar; at the foot of the altar of incense, in the most holy place; he saw them in heaven, at the foot of Christ. Hence note, [1.] Persecutors can only kill the body, and after that there is no more that they can do; their souls live. [2.] God has provided a good place in the better world for those who are faithful to death and are not allowed a place any longer on earth. [3.] Holy martyrs are very near to Christ in heaven, they have the highest place there. [4.] It is not their own death, but the sacrifice of Christ, that gives them a reception into heaven and a reward there; they do not wash their robes in their own blood, but in the blood of the Lamb. (2.) What was the cause in which they suffered—the word of God and the testimony which they held, for believing the word of God, and attesting or confessing the truth of it; this profession of their faith they held fast without wavering, even though they died for it. A noble cause, the best that any man can lay down his life for—faith in God's word and a confession of that faith.

2. The cry he heard; it was a loud cry, and contained a humble expostulation about the long delay of avenging justice against their enemies: How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on those that dwell on the earth? v. 10. Observe, (1.) Even the spirits of just men made perfect retain a proper resentment of the wrong they have sustained by their cruel enemies; and though they die in charity, praying, as Christ did, that God would forgive them, yet they are desirous that, for the honour of God, and Christ, and the gospel, and for the terror and conviction of others, God will take a just revenge upon the sin of persecution, even while he pardons and saves the persecutors. (2.) They commit their cause to him to whom vengeance belongeth, and leave it in his hand; they are not for avenging themselves, but leave all to God. (3.) There will be joy in heaven at the destruction of the implacable enemies of Christ and Christianity, as well as at the conversion of other sinners. When Babylon falls, it will be said, Rejoice over her, O thou heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her, ch. xviii. 20.

3. He observed the kind return that was made to this cry (v. 11), both what was given to them and what was said to them. (1.) What was given to them—white robes, the robes of victory and of honour; their present happiness was an abundant recompence of their past sufferings. (2.) What was said to them—that they should be satisfied, and easy in themselves, for it would not be long ere the number of their fellow-sufferers would be fulfilled. This is a language rather suited to the imperfect state of the saints in this world than to the perfection of their state in heaven; there is no impatience, no uneasiness, no need of admonition; but in this world there is great need of patience. Observe, [1.] There is a number of Christians, known to God, who are appointed as sheep for the slaughter, set apart to be God's witnesses. [2.] As the measure of the sin of persecutors is filling up, so is the number of the persecuted martyred servants of Christ. [3.] When this number is fulfilled, God will take a just and glorious revenge upon their cruel persecutors; he will recompense tribulation to those who trouble them, and to those that are troubled full and uninterrupted rest.

II. We have here the sixth seal opened, v. 12. Some refer this to the great revolutions in the empire at Constantine's time, the downfall of paganism; others, with great probability, to the destruction of Jerusalem, as an emblem of the general judgment, and destruction of the wicked, at the end of the world; and, indeed, the awful characters of this event are so much the same with those signs mentioned by our Saviour as foreboding the destruction of Jerusalem, as hardly to leave any room for doubting but that the same thing is meant in both places, though some think that event was past already. See Matt. xxiv. 29, 30. Here observe,

1. The tremendous events that were hastening; and here are several occurrences that contribute to make that day and dispensation very dreadful:—(1.) There was a great earthquake. This may be taken in a political sense; the very foundations of the Jewish church and state would be terribly shaken, though they seemed to be as stable as the earth itself. (2.) The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, either naturally, by a total eclipse, or politically, by the fall of the chief rulers and governors of the land. (3.) The moon should become as blood; the inferior officers, or their military men, should be all wallowing in their own blood. (4.) The stars of heaven shall fall to the earth (v. 13), and that as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. The stars may signify all the men of note and influence among them, though in lower spheres of activity; there should be a general desolation. (5.) The heaven should depart as a scroll when it is rolled together. This may signify that their ecclesiastical state should perish and be laid aside for ever. (6.) Every mountain and island shall be moved out of its place. The destruction of the Jewish nation should affect and affright all the nations round about, those who were highest in honour and those who seemed to be best secured; it would be a judgment that should astonish all the world. This leads to,

2. The dread and terror that would seize upon all sorts of men in that great and awful day, v. 15. No authority, nor grandeur, nor riches, nor valour, nor strength, would be able to support men at that time; yea, the very poor slaves, who, one would think, had nothing to fear, because they had nothing to lose, would be all in amazement at that day. Here observe, (1.) The degree of their terror and astonishment: it should prevail so far as to make them, like distracted desperate men, call to the mountains to fall upon them, and to the hills to cover them; they would be glad to be no more seen; yea, to have no longer any being. (2.) The cause of their terror, namely, the angry countenance of him that sits on the throne, and the wrath of the Lamb. Observe, [1.] That which is matter of displeasure to Christ is so to God; they are so entirely one that what pleases or displeases the one pleases or displeases the other. [2.] Though God be invisible, he can make the inhabitants of this world sensible of his awful frowns. [3.] Though Christ be a lamb, yet he can be angry, even to wrath, and the wrath of the Lamb is exceedingly dreadful; for if the Redeemer, that appeases the wrath of God, himself be our wrathful enemy, where shall we have a friend to plead for us? Those perish without remedy who perish by the wrath of the Redeemer. [4.] As men have their day of opportunity, and their seasons of grace, so God has his day of righteous wrath; and, when that day shall come, the most stout-hearted sinners will not be able to stand before him: all these terrors actually fell upon the sinners in Judea and Jerusalem in the day of their destruction, and they will all, in the utmost degree, fall upon impenitent sinners, at the general judgment of the last day.

CHAP. VI. Verſe 1. One of the ſeals]

THat is, The firſt of the ſeals, as Gen. 1.4. Mar. 16.2.M Cotton. Under theſe ſeven ſeals fals Rome pagan (ſaith an Interpreter) as under the ſeven trumpets Rome Chriſtian, under the ſeven vials Rome Antichriſtian. So all the judgements in the Revelation are ſtill upon Rome. Hence Mr Dent cals his Expoſition upon the Revelation, The ruine of Rome.

The noiſe of thunder] This firſt beaſt was like a Lion, Chap 47. whoſe roaring is as thunder.

Verſe 2. And behold a white horſe] The Apoſtles and Apoſtolike Preachers of the primitive times: white for their purity of doctrine, diſcipline and converſation. [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 1 span] l. 2. [illegible: 2 letters]p 3. Horſes for their n[illegible: 2 letters]ble and ſwift ſpreading the Goſpel, which ran thorow the world like a Sun-beam (as Euſebius hath it) and was carried abroad as on Eagles, or as on Angels wings. A horſe hath his name in Hebrew from devouting the ground by his ſwiftneſſe, and was therefore by the Heathens dedicated to the Sun; whoſe going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it, Pſal. 19.6.Cranz in Sax. Cranzius tels us, that the Saxon Princes, before they became Chriſtians, gave a black horſe for their arms, but being on[illegible: 2 letters] baptized, a white horſe; with reference, haply, to this text.

He that ſat on him] Chriſt, Chap. 19.11. Pſal. 45.5.

Had a bow] The doctrine of the Goſpel, whereby the people fall under him, Pſal. 45.4.Adve [illegible: 1 letter] I[illegible: 1 letter]d c. 7

Conquering and to conquer] Brit[illegible: 1 letter]nnorum inacceſſa Romanis lo[illegible: 2 letters], Chriſto [illegible: 2 letters]men patuerunt, ſaith Tertullian. Chriſt cam[illegible: 1 letter] and conquered this kingdome: which the Romans with all their power could not do. A Christo vinci, ſumma victoria eſt, vinciri ſumma libertas, ſaith another, There is no ſuch conqueſt as to be conquered by Chriſt, no ſuch liberty, as to be hound by him.

Verſe 3. Come and ſee] Johns better attention is called for. How dull and drouſie are the beſt in perceiving and receiving heavenly myſteries! A ſea-coal fire, if not ſtirred up, will die of it ſelf, ſo will our ſpark and ſpunk of light. Chriſt cals upon thoſe that had come far to hear him, ſaying, Let him that hath an ear hear, Mat. 13. See Zach. 4 1.

Verſe 4. That was red] Portending troubles and tragedies, bloudy wars and terrible perſecutions. Thoſe ten firſt were ſo cruell, that S. Hierom writes in one of his Epiſtles, that for every day in the year were murdered 5000, except the firſt day of January.

To him that ſat thereon] Chriſt, Mat. 10.34. Zach. 1.8. He ſtands over his Church as the Agonothetes. So he did at S. Stephens martyrdom, Act. 7. he moderates and over-rules the enemies cruelty.

And that they ſhould kill one another] viz. The perſecutours ſhould riſe up and deſtroy one another, as the Romans did the Jews,Tacit. and the Jews the Romans in divers provinces: And as the Emperours who got nothing (moſt of them) by their adoption or deſignation to the Empire, Niſi ut citius interficerentur, but to be cut off the ſooner. All or moſt of the perſecuting Caeſars died unnaturall deaths.

A great ſword] That of the Goſpel, Epheſ. 6.17. which takes away peace, by accident, Mat. 24.6. Chriſt threatneth the contempt of the Goſpel with wars and rumours of wars. Our late Edgehill-battle was fought in the vale of Red-horſe; as if God had meant to ſay, I have now ſent you the red horſe, to avenge the quarrel of the white.

Verſe 5. A black horſe] Famine diſcolours and denigrates, Lam. 4.7, 8.Turk Hiſt. fol. 426. It accompanies war for moſt part, and in ſieges is very extreme, as at Samaria, where an aſſes head was worth four pounds: at Rome, where this proclamation was made in the market, Pone pretium humanae carni: At Scodra, where horſes were dainty meat, yea they were glad to eat dogs, cats, rats, &c. At Antioch in Syria, Ibid 18. where many Chriſtians (in the holy war, as they called it) were glad to eat the dead bodies of their late ſlain enemies. [non-Latin text not transcribed]

Had a pair of balances] Gr. The beam of ſcales. To ſhew that bread ſhould be delivered out by meaſure, as is threatned, Ezekiel 4.6. Deut. 26. and men ſhould be ſtinted and pittanced.

Verſe 6. In the midst] The voice of the Lamb, Chap. 5.6. Who appoints and orders all: he cuts us out our ſeverall conditions, cautioning for the wine and oil, when other food fa[illegible: 1 letter]leth.

A meaſure of wheat] A quart, ſay ſome, a pottle others, [non-Latin text not transcribed] an allowance for a day. Among the Greeks (ſaith Suidas) Chaenix dictim dabatur. And that the Iſraelites in the wilderneſſe (according to Rabanus) had each of them, three Chaenices of Manna by the day, that was to be aſcribed to the divine bounty, as Junius noteth.

Verſe 7. See the Note on Verſe 3.

Verſe 8. A pale horſe] Fit for peſtilence, and pale death to ride on.

And hell followed] ſc. To them that were killed with death, Revel. 2.23. (See the Note there) that died in their ſins, which is far worſe then to die in a ditch.

Over the fourth part of the earth] That is, of the Roman Empire. This fell out in the daies of Decius: Oroſius bearing witneſſe, that the peſtilence which then raged did extend no further, Quam ad profligandas eccleſias edicta D[illegible: 2 letters]ij cucurrerunt, that is, then the proclamations of Decius came for the overthrow of the Churches.

Verſe 9. Ʋnder the altar] i. e. Under Chriſt, Heb. 13.10. under his cuſtody and ſafe-gard, Or, Ʋnder the altar, that is lying at the bottom of the altar, as beaſts newly ſlain for ſacrifice. See Phil. 2.17. & 2 Tim. 4.6.

Which they had] Gr. Which they had, [non-Latin text not transcribed] and would not be drawn by any terrours or tortures to part with. They may take away my life (ſaid one) but not my faith, my head but not my crown.

Verſe 10. And they cried] When God intends deliverance to his people, he poureth out upon them the spirit of grace and ſupplication, Zach. 12.9, 10.

How long, O Lord] Calvin had this ſpeech alwaies in his mouth; breathing out his holy deſires in the behalf of the afflicted Churches, with whoſe ſufferings he was more affected, B 22 in vita. then with any thing that befell himſelf.

That dwell on the earth] In oppoſition to the inhabitants of heaven. As names written in heaven ſtand oppoſed to thoſe that are written in the earth, Luk, 10.20. Jer. 17.13.

Verſe 11. And whiterobes] Their innocency was cleared, and their perſecutours convinced. God would ſpeak for them in the hearts of their greateſt enemies.

Ʋntill their fellow-ſervants alſo] We doubt not (ſaith a learned Interpreter here) but that the crowned Saints do in generall know the afflicted condition of the Church militant, and do wiſh them deliverance:M [illegible: 2 letters] b[illegible: 2 letters]. but our ſpeciall neceſſities and occurrences of particular perſons they cannot know. Brother Bradford (ſaid Biſhop Ridley, Act and Mon. fol 1566. a little afore he was offered up) ſo long as I ſhall underſtand thou art in thy journey, by Gods grace I ſhall call upon our heavenly Father to ſet thee ſafely home: and then, good brother, ſpeak you for the remnant that are to ſuffer for Chriſts ſake, according to that thou then ſhalt know more clearly. But this is to be taken with a grain of ſalt.

That ſhould be killed] Under Liciuius, Julian the apoſtate, and the Arrian Emperours.

Verſe 12. There was a great earthquake] Underſtand hereby thoſe horrible commotions and confuſions that fell out in the Roman Empire upon thoſe ten bloudy perſecutions, and the earneſt ſupplications of the Saints, which can work wonders in heaven and earth.Socr[illegible: 1 letter]t. l 1. c. 15 The death and deſtruction of the perſecutours, was (as it was ſaid of the death of Arrius) Precationis opus non morbi, the effect of faithfull praiers calling for full and finall vengeance.

The Sun became black] It is ordinary in Scripture to ſet forth horrible commotions of Common-wealths by ſuch figurative expreſſions as theſe, Jer. 4.23. &c. Joel 2.10, &c. Iſa. 13.10.

Verſe 13. And the ſtars] Romes dunghill Deities together with their Chemarims, or Chimney-chaplains, the Prieſts. Confer Iſa. 34.4. Dan. 8.10. Exod. 12.12. Numb. 33.4.

Verſe 14. And every mountain] See the Note on Verſe 12. Cinis quidam noxius è Viſuvio emiſſus, Romam venit (inquit D[illegible: 1 letter]o) ita ut incolae puture caeperunt omnia ſursùm deorſum ferri, ſolem que in terram cadere, ac terram in coelum conſcendere. I my ſelf ſaw, ſaith Bellarmine, a huge hill removed by an earthquake, and brought down to a Town, which was wholly covered by it, and as it were buried under it. Perhaps he meant Pleurs in Rh[illegible: 1 letter]tia, which was overcover'd ſuddenly with a mountain, ſo that 1500 perſons were buried there alive.

Verſe 15. And the Kings of the earth] Who came in to help their gods againſt the Mighty, againſt Constantine, Theodoſius, &c. that threw out their Prieſts, and pulled down their Temples. Theſe Kings and Grandees were Maximianus, Maximinus, Maxentius, Galerius, Licinius, Julianus, &c. and their complices, who were routed, ruined and driven into holes and corners by the Chriſtian Emperours: and afterwards ſo purſued by divine Juſtice, that they came to ſhamefull ends. Diocleſian poiſoned himſelf. Maximian hanged himſelf. Maximinus likewiſe and Maxentius became their own deaths-men. Galerius died of a loathſome diſeaſe. Julian had his deaths wound from heaven,Euſeb. [illegible: 1 letter]iſt. l. 9. [illegible: 1 word] 8. & 10. & lib. 8. c. 27. I[illegible: 1 letter]e[illegible: 1 letter] devita Conſt. l. 1 cap. 51, 52. and died [illegible: 1 letter]aving and blaſpheming.

Verſe 16. And ſaid to the mountains] Which yet was but a poor ſhelter: for mountains melt, and rocks rent at his preſence.

Verſe 17. Who ſhall be able to ſtand] They could not ſtand before their own miſ-giving hearts, and ſoul-condemning conſciences, how much leſſe before God that was greater then their hearts? God ſent his hornet, which drove out theſe Canaanites, Exod. 23.28. Facti ſunt à corde ſuo fugitivi, as Tertullian hath it.

And I saw. Or, I looked. He fixed his eye attentively on what was passing, as promising important disclosures. No one had been found in the universe who could open the seals but the Lamb of God, (Rev 5:2-4) and it was natural for John, therefore, to look upon the transaction with profound interest.

When the Lamb opened one of the seals. Rev 5:1, seq. This was the first or outermost of the seals, and its being broken would permit a certain portion of the volume to be unrolled and read. Rev 5:1. The representation in this place is, therefore, that of a volume with a small portion unrolled, and written on both sides of the parchment.

And I heard, as it were the noise of thunder. One of the four living creatures speaking as with a voice of thunder, or with a loud voice.

One of the four beasts. Rev 4:6, Rev 4:7. The particular one is not mentioned, though what is said in the subsequent verses leaves no doubt that it was the first in order as seen by John-the one like a lion, Rev 4:7. In the opening of the three following seals, it is expressly said that it was the second, the third, and the fourth of the living creatures that drew near, and hence the conclusion is certain that the one here referred to was the first.

If the four living creatures be understood to be emblematic of the Divine providential administration, then there was a propriety that they should be represented as summoning John to witness what was to be disclosed. These events pertained to the developments of the Divine purposes, and these emblematic beings would therefore be interested in what was occurring.

Come and see. Addressed evidently to John. He was requested to approach and see with his own eyes what was disclosed in the portion of the volume now unrolled. He had wept much (Rev 5:4) that no one was found who was worthy to open that book, but he was now called on to approach and see for himself. Some have supposed (Lord, in loc.) that the address here was not to John, but to the horse and his rider, and that the command to them was not to "come and see," but to come forth, and appear on the stage, and that the act of the Redeemer in breaking the seal, and unrolling the scroll, was nothing more than an emblem signifying that it was by his act that the Divine purposes were to be unfolded. But, in order to this interpretation, it would be necessary to omit from the received text the words καιβλεπε--"and see." This is done indeed by Hahn and Tittman, and this reading is followed by Professor Stuart, though he says that the received text has "probability" in its favour, and is followed by some of the critical editions. The most natural interpretation, however, is that the words were addressed to John. John saw the Lamb open the seal; he heard the loud voice; he looked and beheld a white horse--that is, evidently, he looked on the unfolding volume, and saw the representation of a horse and his rider. That the voice was addressed to John is the common interpretation, is the most natural, and is liable to no real objection.

(a) "seals" Rev 5:5

And I saw, and behold. A question has arisen as to the mode of representation here: whether what John saw in these visions was a series of pictures, drawn on successive portions of the volume as one seal was broken after another; or whether the description of the horses and of the events was written on the volume, so that John read it himself or heard it read by another; or whether the opening of the seal was merely the occasion of a scenic representation, in which a succession of horses was introduced, with a written statement of the events which are referred to. Nothing is indeed said by which this can be determined with certainty; but the most probable supposition would seem to be that there was some pictorial representation in form and appearance, such as he describes in the opening of the six seals. In favour of this it may be observed

(1) that, according to the interpretation of Rev 6:1, it was something in or on the volume--since he was invited to draw nearer, in order that he might contemplate it.

(2.) Each one of the things under the first five seals where John uses the word "saw," is capable of being represented by a picture or painting.

(3.) The language used is not such as would have been employed if he had merely read the description, or had heard it read.

(4.) The supposition that the pictorial representation was not in the volume, but that the opening of the seal was the occasion merely of causing a scenic representation to pass before his mind, is unnatural and forced. What would be the use of a sealed volume in that case? What the use of the writing within and without? On this supposition the representation would be that, as the successive seals were broken, nothing was disclosed in the volume but a succession of blank portions, and that the mystery or the difficulty was not in anything in the volume, but in the want of ability to summon forth these successive scenic representations. The most obvious interpretation is, undoubtedly, that what John proceeds to describe was in some way represented in the volume; and the idea of a succession of pictures or drawings better accords with the whole representation than the idea that it was a mere written description. In fact, these successive scenes could be well represented now in a pictorial form on a scroll.

And behold a white horse. In order to any definite understanding of what was denoted by these symbols, it is proper to form in our minds, in the first place, a clear conception of what the symbol properly represents, or an idea of what it would naturally convey. It may be assumed that the symbol was significant, and that there was some reason why that was used rather than another; why, for instance, a horse was employed rather than an eagle or a lion; why a white horse was employed in one case, and a red one, a black one, a pale one in the others; why in this case a bow was in the hand of the rider, and a crown was placed on his head. Each one of these particulars enters into the constitution of the symbol; and we must find something in the event which fairly corresponds with each--for the symbol is made up of all these things grouped together. It may be farther observed, that where the general symbol is the same--as in the opening of the first four seals--it may be assumed that the same object or class of objects is referred to; and the particular things denoted, or the diversity in the general application, is to be found in the variety in the representation--the colour, etc., of the horse, and the arms, apparel, etc., of the rider. The specifications under the first seal are four:

(1) the general symbol of the horse--common to the first four seals;

(2) the colour of the horse;

(3) the fact that he that sat on him had a bow; and

(4) that a crown was given him by some one as indicative of victory. The question now is, what these symbols would naturally denote.

(b) "white horse" Zech 6:3 (c) "conquering" Ps 14:3-5

And when he had opened the second seal. So as to disclose another portion of the volume. Rev 5:1.

I heard the second beast say. The second beast was like a calf or an ox. Rev 4:7. It cannot be supposed that there is any special significancy in the fact that the second beast addressed the seer on the opening of the second seal, or that, so far as the symbol was concerned, there was any reason why this living creature should approach on the opening of this seal rather than on either of the others. All that seems to be designed is, that as the living creatures are intended to be emblems of the providential government of God, it was proper to represent that government as concerned in the opening of each of these four seals indicating important events among the nations.

Come and see. Rev 6:1.

And there went out another horse. In this symbol there were, as in the others, several particulars which it is proper to explain in order that we may be able to understand its application. The particular things in the symbol are the following:

(a) The horse. Rev 6:2.

(b) The colour of the horse: another horse that was red. This symbol cannot be mistaken. As the white horse denoted prosperity, triumph, and happiness, so this would denote carnage, discord, bloodshed. This is clear, not only from the nature of the emblem, but from the explanation immediately added: "And power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another," On the colour, compare Bochart, Hieroz. P. i. lib. ii. c. vii. p. 104. See also Zech 1:8. There is no possibility of mistaking this, that a time of slaughter is denoted by this emblem.

(c) The power given to him that sat on the horse: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. This would seem to indicate that the condition immediately preceding this was a condition of tranquillity, and that this was now disturbed by some cause producing discord and bloodshed. This idea is confirmed by the original words--τηνειρηνην --"the peace;" that is, the previously existing peace. When peace in general is referred to, the word is used without the article: Mt 10:34, "Think not that I came to send peace--βαλεινειρηνην the earth." Compare Lk 1:79, 2:14, 19:38, Mk 5:34, Jn 14:27, 16:33 Acts 7:26, 9:31, et al. in the Greek. In these cases, the word peace is without the article. The characteristics of the period referred to by this, are

(a) that peace and tranquillity existed before;

(b) that such peace and tranquillity were now taken away, and were succeeded by confusion and bloodshed; and

(c) that the particular form of that confusion was civil discord, producing mutual slaughter: "that they should kill one another."

(d) The presentation of a sword: and there was given unto him a great sword. As an emblem of what he was to do, or of the period that was referred to by the opening of the seal. The sword is an emblem of war, of slaughter, of authority, (Rom 13:4) and is here used as signifying that that period would be characterized by carnage. Compare Isa 34:5 Rev 19:17-18, Lev 26:25, Gen 27:40, Mt 10:34, 26:52. It is not said by whom the sword was presented, but the fact is merely referred to, that the rider was presented with a sword as a symbol of what would occur.

In inquiring now into the period referred to by this symbol, we naturally look to that which immediately succeeded the one which was represented by the opening of the first seal; that is, the period which followed the accession of Commodus, A.D. 180. We shall find, in the events which succeeded his accession to the empire, a state of things which remarkably accords with the account given by John in this emblem--so much so, that if it were supposed that the book was written after these events had occurred, and that John had designed to represent them by this symbol, he could not have selected a more appropriate emblem. The only authority which it is necessary to refer to here is Mr. Gibbon; who, as before remarked, seems to have been raised up by a special Providence to make a record of those events which were referred to by some of the most remarkable prophecies in the Bible. As he had the highest qualifications for an historian, his statements may be relied on as accurate; and as he had no belief in the inspiration of the prophetic records, his testimony will not be charged with partiality in their favour. The following particulars, therefore, will furnish a full illustration of the opening of the second seal:

(a) The previous state of peace. This is implied in the expression, "and power was given to him to take peace from the earth." Of this we have had a full confirmation in the peaceful reign of Hadrian and the Antonines. Mr. Gibbon, speaking of the accession of Commodus to the imperial throne, says that he "had nothing to wish, and everything to enjoy. The beloved son of Marcus [Commodus] succeeded his father amidst the acclamations of the senate and armies; and when he ascended the throne, the happy youth saw around him neither competitor to remove, nor enemies to punish. In this calm elevated station, it was surely natural that he should prefer the love of mankind to their detestation; the mild glories of his five predecessors to the ignominious fate of Nero and Domitian," i. 51. So again, on the same page, he says of Commodus, "His graceful person, popular address, and undisputed virtues, attracted the public favour; the honourable peace which he had recently granted to the barbarians diffused an universal joy." No one can doubt that the accession of Commodus was preceded by a remarkable prevalence of peace and prosperity.

(b) Civil war and bloodshed: to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. Of the applicability of this to the time supposed to be represented by this seal, we have the fullest confirmation in the series of civil wars commencing with the assassination of the emperor Commodus, A.D. 193, and continued with scarcely any intervals of intermission for eighty or ninety years. So Sismondi, on the fall of the Roman empire, (i. 36,) says, "With Commodus' death commenced the third and most calamitous period. It lasted ninety-two years, from 193 to 284. During that time, thirty-two emperors, and twenty-seven pretenders to the empire, alternately hurried each other from the throne, by incessant civil warfare. Ninety-two years of almost incessant civil warfare taught the world on what a frail foundation the virtue of the Antonines had reared the felicity of the empire." The full history of this period may be seen in Gibbon, i. pp. 50--197. Of course, it is impossible in these Notes to present anything like a complete account of the characteristics of those times. Yet the briefest summary may well show the general condition of the Roman empire then, and the propriety of representing it by the symbol of a red horse, as a period when peace would be taken from the earth, and when men would kill one another. Commodus himself is represented by Mr. Gibbon in the following words: "Commodus was not, as he has been represented, a tiger borne with an insatiate thirst of human blood, and capable, from his infancy, of the most inhuman actions. Nature had formed him of a weak rather than a wicked disposition. His simplicity and timidity rendered him the slave of his attendants, who gradually corrupted his mind. His cruelty, which at first obeyed the dictates of others, degenerated into habit, and at length became the ruling passion of his soul," i. 51. During the first three years of his reign, "his hands were yet unstained with blood," (ibid.,) but he soon degenerated into a most severe and bloody tyrant, and "when Commodus had once tasted human blood, he was incapable of pity or remorse," i. 52. "The tyrant's rage," says Mr. Gibbon, (i. 62,) "after having shed the noblest blood of the senate, at length recoiled on the principal instrument of his cruelty. While Commodus was immersed in blood and luxury he devolved the detail of public business on Perennis, a servile and ambitious minister, who had obtained his post by the murder of his predecessors," etc. "Every sentiment of virtue and humanity was extinct in the mind of Commodus," i. 55. After detailing the history of his crimes, his follies, and his cruelties, Mr. Gibbon remarks of him: "His cruelty proved at last fatal to himself. He had shed with impunity the best blood of Rome: he perished as soon as he was dreaded by his own domestics. Marcia, his favourite concubine, Eclectus, his chamberlain, and Laetus, his pretorian prefect, alarmed by the fate of their companions and predecessors, resolved to prevent the destruction which every hour hung over their heads, either from the mad caprice of the tyrant, or the sudden indignation of the people. Marcia seized the occasion of presenting a draught of wine to her lover, after he had fatigued himself with hunting some wild beasts. Commodus retired to sleep; but while he was labouring with the effects of poison and drunkenness, a robust youth, by profession a wrestler, entered his chamber, and strangled him without resistance," i. 57. The immediate consequence of the assassination of Commodus was the elevation of Pertinax to the throne, and his murder eighty-six days after.--Decline and Fall, i. 60. Then followed the public setting-up of the empire to sale by the pretorian guards, and its purchase by a wealthy Roman senator, Didius Julianus, or Julian, who, "on the throne of the world, found himself without a friend and without an adherent," i. 63. "The streets and public places in Rome resounded with clamours and imprecations." "The public discontent was soon diffused from the centre to the frontiers of the empire," i. 63. In the midst of this universal indignation, Septimius Severus, who then commanded the army in the neighbourhood of the Danube, resolved to avenge the death of Pertinax, and to seize upon the imperial crown. He marched to Rome, overcame the feeble Julian, and placed himself on the throne. Julian, after having reigned sixty-six days, was beheaded in a private apartment of the baths of the palace, i. 67. "In less than four years, Severus subdued the riches of the East, and the valour of the West. He vanquished two competitors of reputation and ability, and defeated numerous armies provided with weapons and discipline equal to his own," i. 68. Mr. Gibbon then enters into a detail of "the two civil wars against Niger and Albinus"--rival competitors for the empire, (i. 68-70,) both of whom were vanquished, and both of whom were put to death "in their flight from the field of battle." Yet he says, "Although the wounds of civil war were apparently healed, its mortal poison still lurked in the vitals of the constitution," i. 71. After the death of Severus, then follows an account of the contentions between his sons, Geta and Caracalla, and of the death of the former by the instigation of the latter, (i. 77;) then of the remorse of Caracalla, in which it is said that "his disordered fancy often beheld the angry forms of his father and his brother rising into life to threaten and upbraid him," (i. 77;) then of the cruelties which Caracalla inflicted on the friends of Geta, in which "it was computed that, under the vague appellation of the friends of Get, above twenty thousand persons of both sexes suffered death," (i. 78;) then of the departure of Caracalla from the capital, and his cruelties in other parts of the empire, concerning which Mr. Gibbon remarks, (i. 78, 79;) that "Caracalla was the common enemy of mankind. Every province was by turns the scene of his rapine and cruelty. In the midst of peace and repose, upon the slightest provocation, he issued his commands at Alexandria in Egypt for a general massacre. From a secure post in the temple of Serapis, he viewed and directed the slaughter of many thousand citizens, as well as strangers, without distinguishing either the number or the crime of the sufferers," etc. Then follows the account of the assassination of Caracalla, (i. 80;) then, and in consequence of that, of the civil war which crushed Macrinus, and raised Elagabalus to the throne, (i. 83;) then of the life and follies of that wretched voluptuary, and of his massacre by the pretorian guards, (i. 86;) then, after an interval of thirteen years, of the murder of his successor, the second Severus, on the Rhine; then of the civil wars excited against his murderer and successor, Maximin, in which the two emperors of a day--the Gordians, father and son--perished in Africa, and Maximin himself, and his son, in the siege of Aquileia; then of the murder at Rome of the two joint emperors, Maximus and Balbinus; and quickly after that an account of the murder of their successor in the empire, the third and youngest Gordian, on the banks of the river Aboras; then of the slaughter of the next emperor Philip, together with his son and associate in the empire, in the battle near Verona:--and this state of things may be said to have continued until the accession of Diocletian to the empire, A. D. 284. See Decline and Fall, i. 110-197. Does any portion of the history of the world present a similar period of connected history that would be so striking a fulfilment of the symbols used here of "peace being taken from the earth," and "men killing one another?" In regard to this whole period it is sufficient, after reading Mr. Gibbon's account, to ask two questions:

(1.) If it were supposed that John lived after this period, and designed to represent this by an expressive symbol, could he have found one that would have characterized it better than this does?

(2.) And if it should be supposed that Mr. Gibbon designed to write a commentary on this "seal," and to show the exact fulfilment of the symbol, could he have selected a better portion of history to do it, or could he have better described facts that would be a complete fulfilment? It is only necessary to observe further,

(c) that this is a marked and definite period. It has such a beginning, and such a continuance and ending, as to show that this symbol was applicable to this as a period of the world. For it was not only preceded by a state of peace, as is supposed in the symbol, but no one can deny that the condition of things in the empire, from Commodus onward through many years, was such as to be appropriately designated by the symbol here used.

And when he had opened the third seal. Unfolding another portion of the volume. Rev 5:1.

I heard the third beast say, Come and see. Rev 4:7. It is not apparent why the third beast is represented as taking a particular interest in the opening of this seal, (Rev 6:3) nor is it necessary to show why it was so. The general design seems to have been, to represent each one of the four living creatures as interested in the opening of the seals, but the order in which they did this does not seem to be a matter of importance.

And I beheld, and lo, a black horse. The specifications of the symbol here are the following:

(a) As before, the horse.

(b) The colour of the horse: lo, a black horse. This would properly denote distress and calamity--for black has been regarded always as such a symbol. So Virgil speaks of fear as black: "atrumque timorem."--AEn, ix. 619. So again, Georg. iv. 468: "Caligantem nigra formidine Iucum." So, as applied to the dying Acca, AEn. xii. 823: "Tenebris nigrescunt omnia circum." Black, in the Scriptures, is the image of fear, of famine, of death. Lam 5:10: "Our skin was black like an oven, because of the terrible famine." Jer 14:2: "Because of the drought Judah mourneth, and tile gates thereof languish; they are in deep mourning [literally, black] for the land." Joell 2:6: "All faces shall gather blackness." Nah 2:10: "The knees smite together, and there is great pain in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness." Compare Rev 6:12, Eze 32:7. See also Bochart, Hieroz. P. i. lib. ii. c. vii. pp. 106, 107. From the colour of the horse here introduced, we should naturally look for some dire calamity, though the nature of the calamity would not be designated by the mere use of the word black. What the calamity was to be, must be determined by what follows in the symbol. Famine, pestilence, oppression, heavy taxation, tyranny, invasion--any of these might be denoted by the colour of the horse.

(c) The balances: and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. The original word, here rendered a pair of balances, is ζυγον. This word properly means a yoke, serving to couple anything together, as a yoke for cattle. Hence it is used to denote the beam of a balance, or of a pair of scales--and is evidently so used here. The idea is, that something was to be weighed, in order to ascertain either its quantity or its value. Scales or balances are the emblems of justice or equity, (compare Job 31:6, Ps 62:9, Prov 11:1, 16:11) and when joined with symbols that denote the sale of corn and fruit by weight, become the symbol of scarcity. Thus "bread by weight" (Lev 26:26) denotes scarcity. So in Eze 4:16, "And they shall eat bread by weight." The use of balances here as a symbol would signify that something was to be accurately and carefully weighed out. The connexion leads us to suppose that this would appertain to the necessaries of life, and that it would occur either in consequence of scarcity, or because there would be an accurate or severe exaction, as in collecting a revenue on these articles. The balance was commonly the symbol of equity and justice; but it was also, sometimes, the symbol of exaction and oppression, as in Hos 12:7: "The balance of deceit is in his hands: he loveth to oppress." If the balances stood alone, and there were no proclamation as to what was to occur, we should look, under this seal, to a time of the exact administration of justice, as scales or balances are now used as emblems of the rigid application of the laws and of the principles of justice in courts, or in public affairs. If this representation stood alone, or if the black horse and the scales constituted the whole of the symbol, we should look for some severe administration, or perhaps some heavy calamity under a rigorous administration of laws. The reference, however, to the "wheat and barley," and to the price for which they were to be weighed out, serves still further to limit and define the meaning of the symbol as having reference to the necessaries of life--to the productions of the land--to the actual capital of the country. Whether this refers to scarcity, or to taxation, or both, must be determined by the other parts of the symbol.

(d) The proclamation: And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say. That is, from the throne, Rev 4:6. The voice was not that of one of the four beasts, but it seemed to come from among them. As the rider went forth, this was the proclamation that was made in regard to him; or this is that which is symbolized in his going forth, to wit, that there would be such a state of things that a measure of wheat would be sold for a penny, etc. The proclamation consists essentially of two things--that which refers to the price or value of wheat and barley, and that which requires that care shall be taken not to injure the oil and the wine. Each of these demands explanation.

A measure of wheat for a penny. See Rev 9:4. The word rendered measure--χοινιξ, choenix--denotes an Attic measure for grain and things dry, equal to the forty-eighth part of the Attic medimnus, or the eighth part of the Roman modius, and consequently was nearly equivalent to one quart English.--Rob. Lex. The word rendered penny, δηναριον--Lat. denarius--was of the same value as the Greek δραχμη, drachme, and was equivalent to about fourteen cents of our money. This was the usual price of a day's labour, Mt 20:2,9. The choenix, or measure of grain here referred to, was the ordinary daily allowance for one man.--Odyss. xix. 27, 28. See Stuart, in loc. The common price of the Attic medimnus of wheat was five or six denarii; but here, as that contained forty-eight choenixes, or quarts, the price would be augmented to forty-eight denarii--or it would be about eight times as dear as ordinary; that is, there would be a scarcity or famine. The price of a bushel of wheat at this rate would be about four dollars and a half of our money--a price which would indicate great scarcity, and which would give rise to much distress.

And three measures of barley for a penny. It would seem from this that barley usually bore about one-third the price of wheat. It was a less valuable grain, and perhaps was produced in greater abundance. This is not far from the proportion which the price of this grain usually bears to that of wheat, and here, as in the case of the wheat, the thing which would be indicated would be scarcity. This proclamation of "a measure of wheat for a penny" was heard either as addressed to the horseman, as a rule of action for him, or as addressed by the horseman as he went forth. If the former is the meaning, it would be an appropriate address to one who was going forth to collect tribute-- with reference to the exact manner in which this tribute was to be collected, implying some sort of severity of exaction; or to one who should distribute wheat and barley out of the public granaries at an advanced price, indicating scarcity. Thus it would mean that a severe and heavy tax--represented by the scales and the scarcity--or a tax so severe as to make grain dear, was referred to. If the latter is the meaning, then the idea is that there would be a scarcity, and that grain would be dealt out by the government at a high and oppressive price. The latter idea would be as consonant with the symbol of the scales and the price mentioned as the other, if it were not for the additional injunction not to "hurt the oil and the wine"--which cannot be well applied to the idea of dealing out grain at a high price. It can, however, be connected, by a fair interpretation of that passage, with such a severity of taxation that there would be a propriety in such a command-- for, as we shall see, under the explanation of that phrase, such a law was actually promulgated as resulting from severity of taxation. The idea, then, in the passage before us would seem to be,

(a) that there would be a rigid administration of the law in regard to the matter under consideration--that pertaining to the productions of the earth--represented by the balances; and

(b) that that would be connected with general scarcity, or such an exercise of this power as to determine the price of grain, so that the price would be some three times greater than ordinary.

And see that thou hurt not the oil and the wine. There has been a great variety of interpretations proposed of this passage, and it is by no means easy to determine the true sense. The first inquiry in regard to it is, to whom is it addressed? Perhaps the most common impression on reading it would be, that it is addressed to the horseman with the balances, commanding him not to injure the oliveyards and the vineyards. But this is not probably the correct view. It does not appear that the horseman goes forth to destroy anything, or that the effect of his going forth is directly to injure anything. This, therefore, should not be understood as addressed to the horseman, but should be regarded as a general command to any and all not to injure the oliveyards and vineyards; that is, an order that nothing should be done essentially to injure them. If thus regarded as addressed to others, a fair and congruous meaning would be furnished by either of the following interpretations:--either

(a) considered as addressed to those who were disposed to be prodigal in their manner of living, or careless as to the destruction of the crop of the oil and wine, as they would now be needed; or

(b) as addressed to those who raised such productions, on the supposition that they would be taxed heavily, or that large quantities of these productions would be extorted for revenue, that they should not mutilate their fruit-trees in order to evade the taxes imposed by the government. In regard to the things specified here--oil and wine--it may be remarked, that they were hardly considered as articles of luxury in ancient times. They were almost as necessary articles as wheat and barley. They constituted a considerable part of the food and drink of the people, as well as furnished a large portion of the revenue, and it would seem to be with reference to that fact that the command here is given that they should not be injured; that is, that nothing should be done to diminish the quantity of oil and wine, or to impair the productive power of oliveyards and vineyards. The state of things thus described by this seal, as thus interpreted, would be,

(a) a rigid administration of the laws of the empire, particularly in reference to taxation, producing a scarcity among the necessary articles of living;

(b) a strong tendency, from the severity of the taxation, to mutilate such kinds of property, with a view either of concealing the real amount of property, or of diminishing the amount of taxes; and

(c) a solemn command from some authoritative quarter not to do this. A command from the ruling power not to do this would meet all that would be fairly demanded in the interpretation of the passage; and what is necessary in its application, is to find such a state of things as would correspond with these predictions; that is, such as a writer would have described by such symbols on the supposition that they were referred to.

Now, it so happens that there were important events which occurred in the Roman empire, and connected with its decline and fall, of sufficient importance to be noticed in a series of calamitous events, which corresponded with the symbol here, as above explained. They were such as these:

(a) The general severity of taxation, or the oppressive burdens laid on the people by the emperors. In the account which Mr. Gibbon gives of the operation of the Indictions, and Superindictions, though the specific laws on this subject pertained to a subsequent period, the general nature of the taxation of the empire and its oppressive character may be seem--Decline and Fall, i. 357-359. A general estimate of the amount of revenue to be exacted was made out, and the collecting of this was committed to the Pretorian prefects, and to a great number of subordinate officers. "The lands were measured by surveyors who were sent into the provinces; their nature, whether arable, or pasture, or woods, was distinctly reported; and an estimate made of their common value, from the average produce of five years. The number of slaves and of cattle constituted an essential part of the report; an oath was administered to the proprietors which bound them to disclose the true state of their affairs; and their attempts to prevaricate or elude the intention of the legislature were severely watched, and punished as a capital crime, which included the double guilt of treason and of sacrilege. According to the different nature of lands, their real produce in the various articles of wine or oil, corn or barley, wood or iron, was transported by the labour or at the expense of the provincials to the imperial magazines, from whence they were occasionally distributed for the use of the court or of tile army, and of the two capitals, Rome and Constantinople," i.p. 358. Comp. Lactant. de Mort. Persecut. c. 23.

(b) The particular order, under this oppressive system of taxation, respecting the preservation of vineyards and oliveyards, may be referred to, also, as corresponding to the command sent forth under this rider, not to "hurt the oil and the wine." That order was in the following words: "If any one shall sacrilegiously cut a vine, or stint the fruit of prolific boughs, and craftily feign poverty in order to avoid a fair assessment, he shall immediately on detection suffer death, and his property be confiscated."--Cod. Theod. 1. xiii. lib. xi. seq.; Gibbon, i. 358, note. Mr. Gibbon remarks, "Although this law is not without its studied obscurity, it is, however, clear enough to prove the minuteness of the inquisition and the disproportion of the penalty."

(c) Under this general subject of the severity of taxation--as a fact far-spreading and oppressive, and as so important as to hasten the downfall of the empire, may be noticed a distinct edict of Caracalla as occurring more directly in the period in which the rider with the balances may be supposed to have gone forth. This is stated by Mr. Gibbon, (i. 91,) as one of the important causes which contributed to the downfall of the empire. "The personal characters of the emperors, their victories, laws, and fortunes," says he, "can interest us no farther than they are connected with the general history of the decline and fall of the monarchy. Our constant attention to that object will not suffer us to overlook a most important edict of Antoninus Caracalla, which communicated to all the free inhabitants of the empire the name and privileges of Roman citizens. His unbounded liberality flowed not, however, from the sentiments of a generous mind: it was the sordid result of avarice," etc. He then proceeds, at length, to state the nature and operations of that law, by which a heavy tax, under the pretence of liberality, was in fact imposed on all the citizens of the empire--a fact which, in its ultimate results, the historian of the Decline and Fall regards as so closely connected with the termination of the empire. See Gibbon, i. pp. 91-95. After noticing the laws of Augustus, Nero, and the Antonines, and the real privileges conferred by them on those who became entitled to the rank of Roman citizens--privileges which were a compensation in the honour, dignity, and offices of that rank for the measure of taxation which it involved, he proceeds to notice the fact that the title of "Roman citizen" was conferred by Caracalla on all the free citizens of the empire, involving the subjection to all the heavy taxes usually imposed on those who sustained the rank expressed by the title, but with nothing of the compensation connected with the title when it was confined to the inhabitants of Italy. "But the favour," says he, "which implied a distinction, was lost in the prodigality of Caracalla, and the reluctant provincials were compelled to assume the vain title, and the real obligations, of Roman citizens. Nor was the rapacious son of Severus [Caracalla] contented with such a measure of taxation as had appeared sufficient to his moderate predecessors. Instead of a twentieth, he exacted a tenth of all legacies and inheritances; and during his reign he crushed alike every part of the empire under the weight of his iron sceptre," i. 95. So again, (ibid.,) speaking of the taxes which had been lightened somewhat by Alexander, Mr. Gibbon remarks, "It is impossible to conjecture the motive that engaged him to spare so trifling a remnant of the soil; but the noxious weed, which find not been totally eradicated, again sprung up with the most luxuriant growth, and in the succeeding age darkened the Roman world with its deadly shade. In the course of this history, we shall be too often summoned to explain the land-tax, the capitation, and the heavy contributions of corn, wine, oil, and meat, which were exacted of the province for the use of the court, the army, and the capital." In reference to this whole matter of taxation as being one of the things which contributed to the downfall of the empire, and which spread woe through the falling empire--a woe worthy to be illustrated by one of the seals--a confirmation may be derived from the reign of Galerius, who, as Caesar, acted under the authority of Diocletian; who excited Diocletian to the work of persecution, (Decline and Fall, i. 317, 318;) and who, on the abdication of Diocletian, assumed the title of Augustus.- Decline and Fall, i. 222. Of his administration in general, Mr. Gibbon (i. 226) remarks: "About that time, the avarice of Galerius, or perhaps the exigencies of the state, had induced him to make a very strict and rigorous inquisition into the property of his subjects for the purpose of a general taxation, both on their lands and on their persons. A very minute survey appears to have been taken of their real estates; and wherever there was the slightest concealment, torture was very freely employed to obtain a sincere declaration of their real wealth." Of the nature of this exaction under Galerius; of the cruelty with which the measure was prosecuted--particularly in its bearing on Christians, towards whom Galerius cherished a mortal enmity, (Decline and Fall, i. 317;) and of the extent and severity of the suffering among Christians and others, caused by it, the following account of Lactantius (De Mort. Persecut. c. 23) will furnish a painful but most appropriate illustration:--"Swarms of exactors sent into the provinces and cities filled them with agitation and terror, as though a conquering enemy were leading them into captivity. The fields were separately measured, the trees and vines, the flocks and herds numbered, and an examination made of the men. In the cities, the cultivated and rude were united as of the same rank. The streets were crowded with groups of families, and every one required to appear with his children and slaves. Tortures and lashes resounded on every side. Sons were gibbeted in the presence of their parents, and the most confidential servants harassed that they might make disclosures against their masters, and wives that they might testify unfavourably of their husbands. If there were a total destitution of property, they were still tortured to make acknowledgments against themselves, and, when overcome by pain, inscribed for what they did not possess. Neither age nor ill-health was admitted as an excuse for not appearing. The sick and weak were borne to the place of inscription, a reckoning made of the age of each, and years added to the young and deducted from the old, in order to subject them to a higher taxation than the law imposed. The whole scene was filled with wailing and sadness. In the mean time individuals died, and the herds and the flocks diminished, yet tribute was none the less required to be paid for the dead, so that it was no longer allowed either to live or die without a tax. Mendicants alone escaped, where nothing could be wrenched, and whom misfortune and misery had made incapable of farther oppression. These the impious wretch affecting to pity, that they might not suffer want, ordered to be assembled, borne off in vessels, and plunged into the sea." See Lord on the Apoc. pp. 128, 129. These facts in regard to the severity of taxation, and the rigid nature of the law enforcing it; to the sources of the revenue exacted in the provinces, and to the care that none of those sources should be diminished; and to the actual and undoubted bearing of all this on the decline and fall of the empire, are so strikingly applicable to the symbol here employed, that if it be supposed that it was intended to refer to them, no more natural or expressive symbol could have been used; if it were supposed that the historian meant to make a record of the fulfilment, he could not well have made a search which would more strikingly accord with the symbol. Were we now to represent these things by a symbol, we could scarcely find one that would be more expressive than that of a rider on a black horse with a pair of scales, sent forth under a proclamation which indicated that there would be a most rigid and exact administration of severe and oppressive laws, and with a special command, addressed to the people, not for the purposes of concealment, or from opposition to the government, to injure the sources of revenue.

Rev 6:5

(1) "measure" "The word chaeniv signifieth a measure containing one wine quart, and the twelfth part of a quart.

(a) "hurt not" Rev 9:4

And when he had opened the fourth seal. Rev 5:1.

I heard the voice of the fourth beast say. The flying eagle. Rev 4:7. As in the other cases, there does not appear to have been any particular reason why the fourth of the living creatures should have made this proclamation rather than either of the others. It was poetic and appropriate to represent each one in his turn as making proclamation.

Come and see. Rev 6:1.

And I looked, and behold a pale horse---ιπποςχλωρος. On the horse, as an emblem, Rev 6:2. The peculiarity of this emblem consists in the colour of the horse, the rider, and the power that was given unto him. In these there is entire harmony, and there can be comparatively little difficulty in the explanation and application. The colour of the horse was pale--χλωρος. This word properly means pale-green, yellowish-green, like the colour of the first shoots of grass and herbage; then green, verdant, like young herbage, Mk 6:39, Rev 8:7 Rev 9:4; and then pale, yellowish.--Rob. Lex. The colour here would be an appropriate one to denote the reign of Death--as one of the most striking effects of death is paleness--and, of course, of death produced by any cause, famine, pestilence, or the sword. From this portion of the symbol, if it stood with nothing to limit and define it, we should naturally look for some condition of things in which death would prevail in a remarkable manner, or in which multitudes of human beings would be swept away. And yet, perhaps, from the very nature of this part of the symbol, we should look for the prevalence of death in some such peaceful manner as by famine or disease. The red colour would more naturally denote the ravages of death in war; the black, the ravages of death by sudden calamity; the pale would more obviously suggest famine or wasting disease.

And his name that sat on him was Death. No description is given of his aspect; nor does he appear with any emblem--as sword, or spear, or bow. There is evident scope for the fancy to picture to itself the form of the Destroyer; and there is just that kind of obscurity about it which contributes to sublimity. Accordingly, there has been ample room for the exercise of the imagination in the attempts to paint "Death on the pale horse," and the opening of this seal has furnished occasion for some of the greatest triumphs of the pencil. The simple idea in this portion of the symbol is, that Death would reign or prevail under the opening of this seal--whether by sword, by famine, or by pestilence, is to be determined by other descriptions in the symbol.

And Hell followed with him. Attended him as he went forth. On the meaning of the word here rendered hell--αδης--hades, Lk 16:23; Job 10:21; Isa 14:9. It is here used to denote the abode of the dead, considered as a place where they dwell, and not in the more restricted sense in which the word is now commonly used as a place of punishment. The idea is, that the dead would be so numerous at the going forth of this horseman, that it would seem as if the pale nations of the dead had come again upon the earth. A vast retinue of the dead would accompany him; that is, it would be a time when death would prevail on the earth, or when multitudes would die.

And power was given unto them. Marg., to him. The common Greek text is αυτοις--to them. There are many MSS., however, which read αυτω--to him. So Professor Stuart reads it. The authority, however, is in favour of them as the reading; and, according to this, death and his train are regarded as grouped together, and the power is considered as given to them collectively. The sense is not materially varied.

Over the fourth part of the earth. That is, of the Roman world. It is not absolutely necessary to understand this as extending over precisely a fourth part of the world. Compare Rev 8:7-10,12, 9:15, et al. Undoubtedly we are to look in the fulfilment of this to some far-spread calamity; to some severe visitations which would sweep off great multitudes of men. The nature of that visitation is designated in the following specifications.

To kill with sword. In war and discord--and we are, therefore, to look to a period of war.

And with hunger. With famine--one of the accompaniments of war--where armies ravage a nation, trampling down the crops of grain; consuming the provisions laid up; employing in war, or cutting off the men who would be occupied in cultivating the ground; making it necessary that they should take the field at a time when the grain should be sown or the harvest collected; and shutting up the people in besieged cities to perish by hunger. Famine has been not an unfrequent accompaniment of war; and we are to look for the fulfilment of this in its extensive prevalence.

And with death. Each of the other forms--"with the sword and with hunger"--imply that death would reign; for it is said that "power was given to kill with sword and with hunger." This word, then, must refer to death in some other form--to death that seemed to reign without any such visible cause as the "sword" and "hunger." This would well denote the pestilence--not an unfrequent accompaniment of war. For nothing is better fitted to produce this than the unburied bodies of the slain; the filth of a camp; the want of food; and the crowding together of multitudes in a besieged city: and, accordingly, the pestilence, especially in Oriental countries, has been often closely connected with war. That the pestilence is referred to here, is rendered more certain by the fact that the Hebrew word pestilence, which occurs about fifty times in the Old Testament, is rendered θανατος, death, more than thirty times in the Septuagint.

And with the beasts of the earth. With wild beasts. This, too, would be one of the consequences of war, famine, and pestilence. Lands would be depopulated, and wild beasts would be multiplied. Nothing more is necessary to make them formidable than a prevalence of these things; and nothing, in the early stages of society, or in countries ravaged by war, famine, and the pestilence, is more formidable. Homer, at the very beginning of his Iliad, presents us with a representation similar to this. Compare Eze 14:21: "I send my sore four judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence," --Sept., as here, θανατον. See also 2Kgs 17:26.

In regard to the fulfilment of this there can be little difficulty, if the principles adopted in the interpretation of the first three seals are correct. We may turn to Gibbon, and, as in the other cases, we shall find that he has been an unconscious witness of the fidelity of the representation in this seal. Two general remarks may be made before there is an attempt to illustrate the particular things in the symbol.

(a) The first relates to the place in the order of time, or in history, which this seal occupies. If the three former seals have been located with any degree of accuracy, we should expect that this would follow, not very remotely, the severe laws pertaining to taxation, which, according to Mr. Gibbon, contributed so essentially to the downfall of the empire. And if it be admitted to be probable that the fifth seal refers to a time of persecution, it would be most natural to fix this period between those times and the times of Diocletian, when the persecution ceased. I may be permitted to say, that I was led to fix on this period without having any definite view beforehand of what occurred in it, and was surprised to find in Mr. Gibbon what seems to be so accurate a correspondence with the symbol.

(b) The second remark is, that the general characteristics of this period, as stated by Mr. Gibbon, agree remarkably with what we should expect of the period from the symbol. Thus speaking of this whole period, (A.D. 243-268,) embracing the reigns of Decius, Gallus, AEmilianus, Valerian, and Gallienus, he says, "From the great secular games celebrated by Philip to the death of the emperor Gallienus, there elapsed twenty years of shame and misfortune. During this calamitous period, every instant of time was marked, every province of the Roman world was afflicted by barbarous invaders and military tyrants, and the wearied empire seemed to approach the last and fatal moment of its dissolution," i. 135.

In regard to the particular things referred to in the symbol, the following specifications may furnish a sufficient confirmation and illustration:

(a) The killing with the sword. A fulfilment of this, so far as the words are concerned, might be found indeed in many portions of Roman history, but no one can doubt that it was eminently true of this period. It was the period of the first Gothic invasion of the Roman empire; the period when those vast hordes, having gradually come down from the regions of Scandinavia, and having moved along the Danube towards the Ukraine and the countries bordering on the Borysthenes, invaded the Roman territories from the East, passed over Greece, and made their appearance almost, as Mr. Gibbon says, within sight of Rome. Of this invasion, Mr. Gibbon says, "This is the first considerable occasion [the fact that the emperor Decius was summoned to the banks of the Danube, A.D. 250, by the invasion of the Goths] in which history mentions that great people, who afterwards broke the Roman power, sacked the capital, and reigned in Gaul, Spain, and Italy. So memorable was the part which they acted in the subversion of the Western empire, that the name of GOTHS is frequently, but improperly, used as a general appellation of rude and warlike barbarism," i. p. 136. As one of the illustrations that the "sword" would be used by "Death" in this period, we may refer to the siege and capture of Philippolis. "A hundred thousand persons are reported to have been massacred in the sack of that great city."-- Decline and Fall, i. 140. "The whole period," says Mr. Gibbon, speaking of the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, "was one uninterrupted series of confusion and calamity. The Roman empire was, at the same time, and on every side, attacked by the blind fury of foreign invaders, and the wild ambition of domestic usurpers," i. 144. "Such were the barbarians," says Mr. Gibbon, in the close of his description of the Goths at this period, and of the tyrants that reigned, "and such the tyrants, who, under the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, dismembered the provinces, and reduced the empire to the lowest pitch of disgrace and ruin, from whence it seemed impossible that it should ever emerge," i. 158.

(b) Famine: "Shall kill with hunger." This would naturally be the consequence of long-continued wars, and of such invasions as those of the Goths. Mr. Gibbon says of this period, "Our habits of thinking so fondly connect the order of the universe with the fate of man, that this gloomy period of history has been decorated with inundations, earthquakes, uncommon meteors, preternatural darkness, and a crowd of prodigies, fictitious or exaggerated. But a long and general famine was a calamity of a more serious kind. It was the inevitable consequence of rapine and oppression, which extirpated the produce of the present, and the hope of future harvests," i. p. 159. Prodigies, and preternatural darkness, and earthquakes, were not seen in the vision of the opening of the seal--but war and famine were; and the facts stated by Mr. Gibbon are such as would be now appropriately symbolized by Death on the pale horse.

(c) Pestilence: "And shall kill with death." Of the pestilence which raged in this period, Mr. Gibbon makes the following remarkable statement, in immediate connexion with what he says of the famine: "Famine is almost always followed by epidemical diseases, the effect of scanty and unwholesome food. Other causes must, however have contributed to the furious plague, which, from the year 250 to the year 265, raged without interruption in every province, every city, and almost every family in the Roman empire. During some time, five thousand persons died daily at Rome; and many towns that had escaped the hands of the barbarians were entirely depopulated," i. 169.

(d) Wild beasts: "And shall kill with the beasts of the earth." As already remarked, these are formidable enemies in the early stages of society, and when a country becomes from any cause depopulated. They are not mentioned by Mr. Gibbon as contributing to the decline and fall of the empire, or as connected with the calamities that came upon the world at that period. But no one can doubt that in such circumstances they would be likely to abound, especially if the estimate of Mr. Gibbon be correct, (i. 169,) when, speaking of these times, and making an estimate of the proportion of the inhabitants of Alexandria that had perished--which he says was more than one-half--he adds, "Could one venture to extend the analogy to the other provinces, we might suspect that war, pestilence, and famine had consumed in a few years the moiety of the human species." Yet, though not adverted to by Mr. Gibbon, there is a record pertaining to this very period, which shows that this was one of the calamities with which the world was then afflicted. It occurs in Arnobius, Adv. Gentes, lib. i. p. 6. Within a few years after the death of Gallienus, (about A.D. 300,) he speaks of wild beasts in such a manner as to show that they were regarded as a sore calamity. The public peril and suffering on this account were so great, that, in common with other evils, this was charged on Christians as one of the judgments of heaven which they brought upon the world. In defending Christians against the general charge that these judgments were sent from heaven on their account, he adverts to the prevalence of wild beasts, and shows that they could not have been sent as a judgment on account of the existence of Christianity, by the fact that they had prevailed also in the times of heathenism, long before Christianity was introduced into the empire. "Quando cum feris bella, et proelia cum leonibus gesta sunt? Non ante nos? Quando pernicies populis venenatis ab anguibus data est? Non ante nos?" "When were wars waged with wild beasts, and contests with lions? Was it not before our times? When did a plague come upon men poisoned by serpents? Was it not before our times?" In regard to the extent of the destruction which these causes would bring upon the world, there is a remarkable confirmation in Gibbon. To say, as is said in the account of the seal, that "a fourth part of the earth" would be subjected to the reign of death by the sword, by famine, by pestilence, and by wild beasts, may seem to many to be an improbable statement--a statement for the fulfilment of which we should look in vain to any historical records. Yet Mr. Gibbon, without expressly mentioning the plague of wild beasts, but referring to the three others --"war, pestilence, and famine"--goes into a calculation, in a passage already referred to, by which he shows that it is probable that from these causes half the human race was destroyed. The following is his estimate: "We have the knowledge of a very curious circumstance, of some use perhaps in the melancholy calculation of human calamities. An exact register was kept at Alexandria of all the citizens entitled to receive the distribution of corn. It was found that the ancient number of those comprised between the ages of forty and seventy had been equal to the whole sum of the claimants, from fourteen to fourscore years of age, who remained alive after the death of Gallienus. Applying this authentic fact to the most correct tables of mortality, it evidently proves that above half of the people of Alexandria had perished; and could we venture to extend the analogy to other provinces, we might suspect that war, pestilence, and famine had consumed in a few years the moiety of the human species," i. 159. The historian says that it might be "suspected" from these data that one-half of the human race had been cut off in a few years, from these causes; in the Apocalyptic vision it is said that power was given over one "fourth" of the earth. We may remark

(a) that the description in the symbol is as likely to be correct as the "suspicion" of the historian; and

(b) that his statement that in this period "a moiety of the race," or one-half of the race, perished, takes away all improbability from the prediction, and gives a most graphic confirmation of the symbol of Death on the pale horse. If such a desolation in fact occurred, there is no improbability in the supposition that it might have been prefigured by the opening of a prophetic seal. Such a wide-spread desolation would be likely to be referred to in a series of symbols that were designed to represent the downfall of the Roman power, and the great changes in human affairs that would affect the welfare of the church.

(1) "unto them" "unto him" (a) "kill" Eze 14:21

And when he had opened the fifth seal. Rev 5:1; Rev 6:1.

I saw under the altar. The four living creatures are no longer heard as in the opening of the first four seals. No reason is given for the change in the manner of the representation; and none can be assigned, unless it be, that having represented each one of the four living creatures in their turn as calling attention to the remarkable events about to occur, there seemed to be no necessity or propriety in introducing them again. In itself considered, it cannot be supposed that they would be any less interested in the events about to be disclosed than they were in those which preceded. This seal pertains to martyrs--as the former successively did to a time of prosperity and triumph; to discord and bloodshed; to oppressive taxation; to war, famine, and pestilence. In the series of woes, it was natural and proper that there should be a vision of martyrs, if it was intended that the successive seals should refer to coming and important periods of the world; and accordingly we have here a striking representation of the martyrs crying to God to interpose in their behalf and to avenge their blood. The points which require elucidation are

(a) their position-under the altar;

(b) their invocation--or their prayer that they might be avenged;

(c) the clothing of them with robes; and

(d) the command to wait patiently a little time.

(1.) The position of the martyrs: under the altar. There were in the temple at Jerusalem two altars--the altar of burnt sacrifices, and the altar of incense. The altar here referred to was probably the former. This stood in front of the temple, and it was on this that the daily sacrifice was made. Mt 5:23, seq. We are to remember, however, that the temple and the altar were both destroyed before the time when this book was written, and this should, therefore, be regarded merely as a vision. John saw these souls as if they were collected under the altar at the place where the sacrifice for sin was made--offering their supplications. Why they are represented as being there is not so apparent; but probably two suggestions will explain this:

(a) The altar was the place where sin was expiated, and it was natural to represent these redeemed martyrs as seeking refuge there; and

(b) it was usual to offer prayers and supplications at the altar, in connexion with the sacrifice made for sin, and on the ground of that sacrifice. The idea is, that they who were suffering persecution would naturally seek a refuge in the place where expiation was made for sin, and where prayer was appropriately offered. The language here is such as a Hebrew would naturally use; the idea is appropriate to any one who believes in the atonement, and who supposes that that is the appropriate refuge for those who are in trouble. But while the language here is such as a Hebrew would use, and while the reference in the language is to the altar of burnt sacrifice, the scene should be regarded as undoubtedly laid in heaven--the temple where God resides. The whole representation is that of fleeing to the atonement, and pleading with God in connexion with the sacrifice for sin.

The souls of them that were slain. That had been put to death by persecution. This is one of the incidental proofs in the Bible that the soul does not cease to exist at death, and also that it does not cease to be conscious, or does not sleep till the resurrection. These souls of the martyrs are represented as still in existence; as remembering what had occurred on the earth; as interested in what was now taking place; as engaged in prayer; and as manifesting earnest desires for the Divine interposition to avenge the wrongs which they had suffered.

For the word of God. On account of the word or truth of God. Rev 1:9.

And for the testimony which they held. On account of their testimony to the truth, or being faithful witnesses of the truth of Jesus Christ. Rev 1:9.

(2.) The invocation of the martyrs, Rev 6:10: And they cried with a loud voice. That is, they pleaded that their blood might be avenged.

Saying, How long, 0 Lord, holy and true. They did not doubt that God would avenge them, but they inquire how long the vengeance would be delayed. It seemed to them that God was slow to interpose, and to check the persecuting power. They appeal therefore to him as a God of holiness and truth; that is, as one who could not look with approval on sin, and in whose sight the wrongs inflicted by the persecuting power must be infinitely offensive; as one who was true to his promises, and faithful to his people. On the ground of his own hatred of wrong, and of his plighted faithfulness to his church, they pleaded that he would interpose.

Dost thou not judge and avenge our blood. That is, dost thou forbear to judge and avenge us; or dost thou delay to punish those who have persecuted and slain us. They do not speak as if they had any doubt that it would be done, nor as if they were actuated by a spirit of revenge; but as if it would be proper that there should be an expression of the Divine sense of the wrongs that had been done them. It is not right to desire vengeance or revenge; it is to desire that justice should be done, and that the government of God should be vindicated. The word "judge" here may either mean "judge us," in the sense of "vindicate us," or it may refer to their persecutors, meaning "judge them." The more probable sense is the latter: "How long dost thou forbear to execute judgment on our account on those that dwell on the earth?" The word avenge --εκδικεω--means to do justice; to execute punishment.

On them that dwell on the earth. Those who are still on the earth. This shows that the scene here is laid in heaven, and that the souls of the martyrs are represented as there. We are not to suppose that this literally occurred, and that John actually saw the souls of the martyrs beneath the altars--for the whole representation is symbolical; nor are we to suppose that the injured and the wronged in heaven actually pray for vengeance on those who wronged them, or that the redeemed in heaven will continue to pray with reference to things on the earth; but it may be fairly inferred from this that there will be as real a remembrance of the wrongs of the persecuted, the injured, and the oppressed, as if such prayer were offered there; and that the oppressor has as much to dread from the Divine vengeance as if those whom he has injured should cry in heaven to the God who hears prayer, and who takes vengeance. The wrongs done to the children of God; to the orphan, the widow, the down-trodden; to the slave and the outcast, will be as certainly remembered in heaven as if they who are wronged should plead for vengeance there, for every act of injustice and oppression goes to heaven and pleads for vengeance. Every persecutor should dread the death of the persecuted as if he went to heaven to plead against him; every cruel master should dread the death of his slave that is crushed by wrongs; every seducer should dread the death and the cries of his victim; every one who does wrong in any way should remember that the sufferings of the injured cry to heaven with a martyr's pleadings, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood?"

(3.) The robes that were given to the martyrs: And white robes were given unto every one of them. Emblems of purity or innocence. Rev 3:5. Here the robes would be an emblem of their innocence as martyrs; of the Divine approval of their testimony and lives, and a pledge of their future blessedness.

(4.) The command to wait: And it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season. That is, that they must wait for a little season before they could be avenged as they desired, Rev 6:10. They had pleaded that their cause might be at once vindicated, and had asked how long it would be before it should be done. The reply is, that the desired vindication would not at once occur, but that they must wait until other events were accomplished. Nothing definite is determined by the phrase "a little season," or a short time. It is simply an intimation that this would not immediately occur, or was not soon to take place. Whether it refers to an existing persecution, and to the fact that they were to wait for the Divine interposition until that was over, and those who were then suffering persecution should be put to death and join them; or whether to a series of persecutions stretching along in the history of the world, in such a sense that the promised vengeance would take place only when all those persecutions were passed, and the number of the martyrs completed, cannot be determined from the meaning of their words. Either of these suppositions would accord well with what the language naturally expresses.

Until their fellow-servants also. Those who were then suffering persecution, or those who should afterwards suffer persecution, grouping all together.

And their brethren. Their brethren as Christians, and their brethren in trial: those then living, or those who would live afterwards and pass through similar scenes.

Should be fulfilled. That is, till these persecutions were passed through, and the number of the martyrs was complete. The state of things represented here would seem to be, that there was then a persecution raging on the earth. Many had been put to death, and their souls had fled to heaven, where they pleaded that their cause might be vindicated, and that their oppressors and persecutors might be punished. To this the answer was, that they were now safe and happy--that God approved their course, and that in token of his approbation, they should be clothed in white raiment; but that the invoked vindication could not at once occur. There were others who would yet be called to suffer as they had done, and they must wait until all that number was completed. Then, it is implied, God would interpose, and vindicate his name. The scene, therefore, is laid in a time of persecution, when many had already died, and when there were many more that were exposed to death; and a sufficient fulfilment of the passage, so far as the words are concerned, would be found in any persecution, where many might be represented as having already gone to heaven, and where there was a certainty that many more would follow. We naturally, however, look for the fulfilment of it in some period succeeding those designated by the preceding symbols. There would be no difficulty, in the early history of the church, in finding events that would correspond with all that is represented by the symbol; but it is natural to look for it in a period succeeding that represented, under the fourth seal, by death on the pale horse. If the previous seals have been correctly interpreted, we shall not be much in danger of erring in supposing that this refers to the persecution under Diocletian; and perhaps we may find in one who never intended to write a word that could be construed as furnishing a proof of the fulfilment of the prophecies of the New Testament, what should be regarded as a complete verification of all that is represented here. The following particulars may justify this application:

(a) The place of that persecution in history: or the time when it occurred. As already remarked, if the previous seals have been rightly explained, and the fourth seal denotes the wars, the famine, and the pestilence, under the invasion of the Goths, and in the time of Valerian and Gallienus, then the last great persecution of the church under Diocletian would well accord with the period in history referred to. Valerian died in A.D. 260, being flayed alive by Sapor, king of Persia; Gallienus died in A.D. 268, being killed at Milan. Diocletian ascended the throne A.D. 284, and resigned the purple A.D. 304. It was during this period, and chiefly at the instigation of Galerius, that the tenth persecution of the Christians occurred--the last under the Roman power; for, in A. D. 306, Constantine ascended the throne, and ultimately became the protector of the church.

(b) The magnitude of this persecution under Diocletian is as consonant to the representation here as its place in history. So important was it, that, in a general chapter on the persecutions of the Christians, Mr. Gibbon has seen fit, in his remarks on the nature, causes, extent, and character of the persecutions, to give a prominence to this which he has not assigned to any others, and to attach an importance to it which he has not to any other. See vol. i. pp. 317-322. The design of this persecution, as Mr. Gibbon expresses it, (i. 318,) was "to set bounds to the progress of Christianity;" or, as he elsewhere expresses it, (on the same page,) "the destruction of Christianity." Diocletian, himself naturally averse from persecution, was excited to this by Galerius, who urged upon the emperor every argument by which he could persuade him to engage in it. Mr. Gibbon says in regard to this, "Galerius at length extorted from him [Diocletian] the permission of summoning a council, composed of a few persons, the most distinguished in the civil and military department of the state. It may be presumed that they insisted on every topic which might interest the pride, the piety, the fears of their sovereign in the destruction of Christianity," i. 318. The purpose, evidently, in the persecution, was, to make a last and desperate effort through the whole Roman empire for the destruction of the Christian religion; for Mr. Gibbon (i. 320) says, that "the edict against the Christians was designed for a general law of the whole empire." Other efforts had failed. The religion still spread, notwithstanding the rage and fury of nine previous persecutions. It was resolved to make one more effort. This was designed by the persecutors to be the last, in the hope that then the Christian name would cease to be: in the Providence of God it was the last--for then even these opposing powers became convinced that the religion could not be destroyed in this manner--and as this persecution was to establish this fact, it was an event of sufficient magnitude to be symbolized by the opening of one of the seals.

(c) The severity of this persecution accorded with the description here, and was such as to deserve a place in the series of important events which were to occur in the world. We have seen above, from the statement of Mr. Gibbon, that it was designed for the "whole empire," and it in fact raged with fury throughout the empire. After detailing some of the events of local persecutions under Diocletian, Mr. Gibbon says, "The resentment or the fears of Diocletian at length transported him beyond the bounds of moderation, which he had hitherto preserved, and he declared, in a series of edicts, his intention of abolishing the Christian name. By the first of these edicts, the governors of the provinces were directed to apprehend all persons of the ecclesiastical order; and the prisons destined for the vilest criminals were soon filled with a multitude of bishops, presbyters, deacons, and exorcists. By a second edict, the magistrates were commanded to employ every method of severity which might reclaim them from their odious superstition, and oblige them to return to the established worship of the gods. This rigorous order was extended, by a subsequent edict, to the whole body of Christians, who were exposed to a violent and general persecution. Instead of those solitary restraints, which had required the direct and solemn testimony of an accuser, it became the duty as well as the interest of the imperial officers to discover, to pursue, and to torment the most obnoxious among the faithful. Heavy penalties were denounced against all who should presume to save a proscribed sectary from the just indignation of the gods, and of the emperors," i. 322. The first decree against the Christians, at the instigation of Galerius, will show the general nature of this fiery trial of the church. That decree was to the following effect: "All assembling of the Christians for the purposes of religious worship was forbidden; the Christian churches were to be demolished to their foundations; all manuscripts of the Bible should be burned; those who held places of honour or rank must either renounce their faith or be degraded; in judicial proceedings the torture might be used against all Christians, of whatever rank; those belonging to the lower walks of private life were to be divested of their rights as citizens and as freemen; Christian slaves were to be incapable of receiving their freedom, so long as they remained Christians."--Neander, Hist. of the Church, Torrey's Trans. i. 148. This persecution was the last against the Christians by the Roman emperors; the last that was waged by that mighty Pagan power. Diocletian soon resigned the purple, and after the persecution had continued to rage, with more or less severity, under his successors, for ten years, the peace of the church was established. "Diocletian," says Mr. Gibbon, (i. 322,) "had no sooner published his edicts against the Christians, than, as if he had been committing to other hands his work of persecution, he divested himself of the imperial purple. The character and situation of his colleagues and successors sometimes urged them to enforce, and sometimes to suspend, the execution of these rigorous laws; nor can we acquire a just and distinct idea of this important period of ecclesiastical history, unless we separately consider the state of Christianity in the different parts of the empire, during the space of ten years which elapsed between the first edicts of Diocletian and the final peace of the church."

For this detail, consult Gibbon, i. 322-329, and the authorities there referred to; and Neander, Hist. of the Church, i. 147-156. Respecting the details of the persecution, Mr. Gibbon remarks, (i. 326,) "It would have been an easy task, from the history of Eusebius, from the declaration of Lactantius, and from the most ancient acts, to collect a long series of horrid and disgustful pictures, and to fill many pages with racks and scourges, with iron-hooks, and red-hot beds, and with the variety of tortures which fire and steel, savage beasts, and more savage executioners, could inflict on the human body." It is true that Mr. Gibbon professes to doubt the truth of these records, and attempts to show that the account of the number of the martyrs has been greatly exaggerated; yet no one, in reading his own account of this persecution, can doubt that it was the result of a determined effort to blot out the Christian religion, and that the whole of the imperial power was exerted to accomplish this end. At length, the last of the imperial persecutions ceased, and the great truth was demonstrated that Christianity could not be extinguished by power, and that "the gates of hell could not prevail against it." "In the year 311," says Neander, (i. 156,) "the remarkable edict appeared which put an end to the last sanguinary conflict of the Christian church and the Roman empire." This decree was issued by the author and instigator of the persecution, Galerius, who, "softened by a severe and painful disease, the consequence of his excesses, had been led to think that the God of the Christians might, after all, be a powerful being, whose anger punished him, and whose favour he must endeavour to conciliate." This man suspended the persecution, and gave the Christians permission "once more to hold their assemblies, provided they did nothing contrary to the good order of the Roman state." "Ita ut ne quid contra disciplinam agant."-- Neander, ibid.

(a) "altar" Rev 8:3 (b) "souls" Rev 20:4

Rev 6:9

(d) "how long" Zech 1:12 (e) "avenge" Rev 11:18, De 32:41-43

Rev 6:9

(a) "white robes" Rev 7:9,14 (b) "rest" Rev 14:13 (c) "until" Heb 11:40

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal.

Rev 5:1; 6:1.

And, lo, there was a great earthquake. Before endeavouring to ascertain to what the sixth seal was designed to refer, it is proper, as in the previous cases, to furnish a particular explanation of the meaning of the symbols. Rev 6:13, seq. All the symbols represented in the opening of this seal denote consternation, commotion, changes; but still they are all significant, and we are to suppose that something would occur corresponding with each one of them. It cannot be supposed that the things here described were represented on the part of the roll or volume that was now unfolded in any other way than that they were pictures, or that the whole was a species of panoramic representation made to pass before the eyes. Thus understood, it would not be difficult to represent each one of these things in a painting: as the heaving ground--the agitated forests--the trembling hills--the falling cities and houses--the sun blackened, and the moon turned to blood.

(a) The earthquake: There was a great earthquake. Rev 6:12. The word here used denotes a shaking or agitation of the earth. The effect, when violent, is to produce important changes--opening chasms in the earth; throwing down houses and temples; sinking hills, and elevating plains; causing ponds and lakes to dry up, or forming them where none existed; elevating the ocean from its bed, rending rocks, etc. As all that occurs in the opening of the other seals is symbolical, it is to be presumed that this is also, and that for the fulfilment of this we are not to look for a literal earthquake, but for such agitations and changes in the world as would be properly symbolized by this. The earthquake, as a symbol, would merely denote great agitations or overturnings on the earth. The particular character of those changes must be determined by other circumstances in the symbol that would limit and explain it. There are, it is said, but three literal earthquakes referred to in the Scripture: that mentioned in 1Kgs 19:11; that in Uzziah's time, Amos 1:1, Zech 14:5. and that which took place at the Saviour's death. All the rest are emblematical or symbolical--referring mostly to civil commotions and changes. Then in Hag 2:6-7: "Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts." That is, there would be great agitations in the world before he came. Heb 12:26-28. So also great changes and commotions are referred to in Isa 24:19-20: "The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage." An earthquake, if there were no other circumstances limiting and explaining the symbol, would merely denote great agitation and commotion--as if states and empires were tumbling to ruin. As this is here a mere symbol, it is not necessary to look for a literal fulfilment, or to expect to find in history actual earthquakes to which this had reference, any more than when it is said that "the heavens departed as a scroll" we are to expect that they will be literally rolled up; but if, in the course of history, earthquakes preceded remarkable political convulsions and revolutions, it would be proper to represent such events in this way.

The darkening of the sun: And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair. Sackcloth was a coarse black cloth, commonly, though not always, made of hair. It was used for sacks, for strainers, and for mourning garments; and as thus worn it was not an improper emblem of sadness and distress. The idea here is, that the sun put on a dark, dingy, doleful appearance, as if it were in mourning. The general image, then, in this emblem, is that of calamity--as if the very sun should put on the robes of mourning. We are by no means to suppose that this was literally to occur, but that some great calamity would happen of which this would be an appropriate emblem. Isa 13:10, Mt 24:29. Compare Isa 24:23, 34:4. Isa 50:3, 60:19-20, Eze 32:7-8, Joel 2:10, 3:15-16 Amos 8:9. What is the particular nature of the calamity is to be learned from other parts of the symbol.

The discolouration of the moon: And the moon became as blood. Red like blood--either from the smoke and vapour that usually precedes an earthquake, or as a mere emblem. This also would betoken calamity, and perhaps the symbol may be so far limited and modified by this as to denote war, for that would be most naturally suggested by the colour--red. Rev 6:4. But any great calamity would be appropriately represented by this--as the change of the moon to such a colour would be a natural emblem of distress.

See also:

Rev 6:13, seq.

(a) "earthquake" Rev 16:18 (b) "sun" Joel 2:10,31, 3:15, Mt 24:29

The falling of the stars: And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth. This language is derived from the poetic idea that the sky seems to be a solid concave in which the stars are set, and that, when any convulsion takes place, that concave will be shaken, and the stars will be loosened and fall from their places. See this language explained in Barnes "Isa 34:4". Sometimes the expanse above us is spoken of as a curtain that is spread out and that may be rolled up; sometimes as a solid crystalline expanse in which the stars are fixed. According to either representation, the stars are described as falling to the earth. If the expanse is rolled up, the stars, having nothing to support them, fall; if violent tempests or concussions shake the heavens, the stars, loosened from their fixtures, fall to the earth. Stars, in the Scriptures, are symbols of princes and rulers, (see Dan 8:10, Rev 8:10-11, 9:1) and the natural meaning of this symbol is, that there would be commotions which would unsettle princes, and bring them down from their thrones--like stars falling from the sky.

Even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs. Marg., green; Gr., ολυνθους. This word properly denotes winter-figs, or such as grow under the leaves, and do not ripen at the proper season, but hang upon the trees during the winter.-- Rob. Lex. This fruit seldom matures, and easily falls off in the spring of the year. --Stuart, in loc. A violent wind shaking a plantation of fig-trees would of course cast many such figs to the ground. The point of the comparison is, the ease with which the stars would seem to be shaken from their places, and hence the ease with which, in these commotions, princes would be dethroned.

See also:

Barnes "Re 6:14", seq.

(c) "stars" Rev 8:10 (1) "untimely" "green"

The departing of the heavens: And the heaven departed as a scroll. That is, as a book or volume--βιβλιον--rolled up. The heavens are here described as spread out, and their passing away is represented by the idea that they might be rolled up, and thus disappear. See Barnes "Isa 34:4". This too is a symbol, and we are not to suppose that it will literally occur. Indeed, it never can literally occur; and we are not, therefore, to look for the fulfilment of this in any physical fact that would correspond with what is here said. The plain meaning is, that there would be changes as if such an event would happen; that is, that revolutions would occur in the high places of the earth, and among those in power, as if the stars should fall, and the very heavens were swept away. This is the natural meaning of the symbol, and this accords with the usage of the language elsewhere.

The removal of mountains and islands: And every mountain and island were moved out of their places. This would denote convulsions in the political or moral world, as great as would occur in the physical world if the very mountains were removed, and the islands should change their places. We are not to suppose that this would literally occur, but we should be authorized from this to expect that, in regard to those things which seemed to be permanent and fixed on an immovable basis, like mountains and islands, there would be violent and important changes. If thrones and dynasties long established were overthrown; if institutions that seemed to be fixed and permanent were abolished; if a new order of things should rise in the political world, the meaning of the symbol, so far as the language is concerned, would be fulfilled.

(a) "heaven" Ps 102:26, Isa 34:4 (b) "mountain" Rev 16:20, Jer 4:23,24, Hab 3:6,10

The universal consternation: And the kings of the earth, etc. The design of this and the following verses, (Rev 6:15-17) in the varied language used, is evidently to denote universal consternation and alarm --as if the earth should be convulsed, and the stars should fall, and the heavens should pass away. This consternation would extend to all classes of men, and fill the world with alarm, as if the end of all things were coming.

The kings of the earth. Rulers--all who occupied thrones.

The great men. High officers of state.

And the rich men. Their wealth would not secure them from destruction, and they would be alarmed like others.

And the chief captains. The commanders of armies, who tremble like other men when God appears in judgment.

And the mighty men. Men of great prowess in battle, but who feel now that they have no power to withstand God.

And every bondman. Servant--δουλος. This word does not necessarily denote a slave, compare Barnes "Eph 6:5"; 1Timm 6:1; 1Timm 1:16 but here the connexion seems to demand it, for it stands in contrast with freeman. There were, in fact, slaves in the Roman empire, and there is no objection in supposing that they are here referred to. There is no reason why they should not be filled with consternation as well as others; and as this does not refer to the end of the world, or the day of judgment, the word here determines nothing as to the question whether slavery is to continue on the earth.

And every freeman. Whether the master of slaves or not. The idea is, that all classes of men, high and low, would be filled with alarm.

Hid themselves in the dens. Among the caves or caverns in the mountains. See Barnes on "Isa 2:19". These places were resorted to for safety in times of danger. Compare 1Sam 13:6 1Sam 24, Jud 6:2, Jer 41:9 and Jos. Ant. book xiv chapter xv, Jewish Wars, book i chapter 16.

And in the rocks of the mountains. Among the crags or the fastnesses of the mountains --also natural places of refuge in times of hostile invasion or danger. Isa 2:21.

See also:

Rev 6:16, seq.

(d) "said" Rev 9:6, Hoss 10:8, Lk 23:30

And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, etc.. This language is found substantially in Hoss 10:8: "And they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us." It is also used by the Saviour as denoting the consternation which would occur at his coming: "Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us," Lk 23:30. It is language denoting consternation, and an awful fear of impending wrath. The state of mind is that where there is an apprehension that God himself is coming forth with the direct instruments of his vengeance, and where there is a desire rather to be crushed by falling rocks and hills than by the vengeance of his uplifted arm.

From the face of him that sitteth on the throne. The face of God-- for he seems to be coming forth with the displays of his vengeance. It is not said that God would actually come forth in a visible form, but their consternation would be as great as if he were to do this; the state of mind indicated by this was an apprehension that it would be so.

And from the wrath of the Lamb. The Lamb of God; the Lord Jesus. Rev 5:6. There seems to be an incongruity between the words wrath and Lamb; but the word Lamb here is so far a proper name as to be used only to designate the Redeemer. He comes forth to execute wrath, not as a Lamb, but as the Son of God, who bore that name. It would seem from this that they who thus dreaded the impending terrors were aware of their source, or had knowledge enough to understand by whom they were to be inflicted. They would see that these were Divine judgments, and would apprehend that the end of the world drew near.

For the great day of his wrath is come. The threatening judgments would be so severe and awful that they would suppose that the end of the world was coming.

And who shall be able to stand? To stand before him, or to withstand his judgments.

(e) "the great day" Rev 16:14, Isa 13:6, Zeph 1:14 (f) "who shall" Ps 76:7

The former chapter acquainted us with Christ's receiving of the sealed book; this with the opening of it seal by seal. Christ reveals unto St. John the deep counsels of God, which were hidden and secret: the only-begotten Son, that lay in the bosom of the Father, he hath revealed them; he only received authority, and he only was endued with ability to reveal them.

Note, 1. The preparation made for St. John's vision of the seals; he standing afar off with profound reverence, heard a voice like thunder proceeding out of the mouth of one of the four beasts, who performed the office of a public crier, saying, Come and see. It is dangerous searching into God's secrets, and prying into his hidden councils, until we have a call and commission, a command and invitation, from God himself so to do; thus had St. John here; one said unto him, Come near, and see.

Note, 2. The vision itself, I beheld a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown, &c. By the white horse is generally understood the gospel, so called in regard of the divinity and spotless purity of its doctrine: the rider upon this horse is Christ, who rode swiftly in the ministry of the apostles, and other faithful teachers in the first ages of Christianity; and he rode with a bow in his hand, and a crown on his head: with a bow, that is, with threatenings and terrors denounced against his enemies before they were inflicted upon them, as the bow is first held in the hand, then the arrow prepared upon the string, and at last shot forth: and with a crown, denoting that royal state of kingly dignity and honour to which Christ, the Lamb that was slain, was now exalted; and thus he rode on conquering and to conquer, until he had consummated his victories, in a glorious triumph over his enemies, namely, in the conversion of some, and destruction of others; thus the opening of the first seal gave the church a very encouraging and comfortable prospect of the victories, successes and triumphs, of Christ, notwithstanding the rage, subtlety, and power, of all his enemies: Christ rode on with a bow in his hand, and with a crown on his head, conquering and to conquer, until his arrows were sharp in the hearts of his crucifiers; and will thus ride on till the people fall under him, and all his enemies become his footstool.

The second seal opened did represent to St. John's visionary view a red horse, of a bloody colour; denoting first the dreadful execution of God's wrath upon the Jews, embroiling the land with wars, divisions, bloodshed, unpeaceable tumults, killing and ruining one another, to which purpose he apprehended that he saw a sword in his hand that rode upon this horse, signifying the great slaughter which would be committed by the Jews upon one another.

Others, secondly, by this red horse understand the bloody Roman emperors, Nero, Trajan, &c., and the persecution which the primitive church underwent in their days. Eusebius relates, that so fierce was their rage against the poor Christians, that a man might see cities full of dead bodies, old and young, men and women, cast out naked, without any reverence of persons, or regard to sex.

From hence we may learn, What little reason the Christian church has to think strange of the fiery trial, as if some strange things happened unto them; when as we see all the rage and cruelty, all the blood and violence, which the Christian church has fallen under in the several ages of it, have been from the beginning revealed and prophetically foretold.

The third seal opened, sets forth the great calamity which should befall the church by famine, which some understand literally, others figuratively and mystically.

1. A literal famine in Judea, seems here to be prefigured by a person riding on a black horse, with a balance to weigh food in his hand: famine discolours, the face of men, and makes them look black, sad, and dismal; accordingly it is represented by a black horse; and the rider having a pair of scales in his hand to weigh corn by the pound, and not to measure it by the bushel, imports the great scarcity that there should be in bread; and St. John heard a voice saying, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny.

The Roman penny was the ordinary wages for a day's work to a labourer, so that the quantity of bread was but sufficient to keep persons alive for one day. Famine is a very sore and terrible judgment, it consumes a people by piecemeal: other judgments cut off suddenly, but this is a lingering and languishing death.

Lord! help us in the midst of our fulness, when we eat the fat, and drink the sweet, to remember how righteously thou mayst cut us short of our abused mercies. How is it that we have not long ago sinned away our plenty, who have so often sinned with our plenty?

2. Others understand the famine, here represented by the black horse, to be meant of a spiritual famine, a scarcity of the word of God, which fell out in the time of the ten persecutions, when the storm fell upon the bishops and most useful ministers in the church, when many bright and burning lamps were extinguished, others hid under a bushel: a dismal, gloomy day, when the church of God did eat her spiritual bread by weight, when all the spiritual food men could get to keep their souls alive from day to day could be but sufficient for that end.

The fourth seal opened represents a pale horse, (pestilence,) with death riding upon it; and hell, that is, the grave, followed it: denoting, say some, all the calamities of sword, pestilence, and famine, which Christ Mr 13:1-37 foretold should come upon the Jews, and cause an universal devastation of their city and nation, and as universal a destruction of their persons.

Note here, 1. How death is represented as sitting upon a pale horse; by a horse, for his strength, there is no resisting of him; for his swiftness, it is always posting towards us; for his office and use, which is to cut off, and carry away; and by a pale horse, for its ghastliness. Death has a grim and ghastly countenance, that strikes terror into all hearts, and paleness into all faces.

Note, 2. As terrible as death was, it must and did receive power before it could destroy and kill: I beheld a pale horse, and he that sat on him was death, and hell followed with him: and power was given to them.

Learn thence, That all the executioners of God's wrath and vengeance, sword, pestilence, and famine, death of all kinds, do act by commission, yea, they all come forth with limited commission; power was given to them.

Others conceive, that by this pale horse the persecution of the primitive church was represented under the Pagan emperors, who made her face look pale like death, by the loss of a vast quantity of blood and spirits, when the church was mowed down like a meadow, and sprang as fast.

Here we have the fifth seal opened; under which Christ represents to St. John the condition of those precious souls of the holy martyrs who died for the testimony of Christ, by the bloody hands of tyrants; the design whereof is to support and encourage all that were to come after in the same bloody path.

Observe here, 1. The vision which St. John saw, namely, the souls of the martyrs.

But how could they be seen?

Ans. Not by the external senses, being immaterial substances, but in spirit they were seen by him; he had a spiritual representation of them made to his mind.

Observe, 2. The place where he saw them, under the altar; that is, lying at the foot of the altar, as sacrifices slain, and presented unto God.

Where note, That however men look upon the death of the martyrs, yet in God's account they die as sacrifices: and their blood is no other than a drink-offering poured out to God, which he highly prizeth, and graciously accepteth.

Observe, 3. The cause of their sufferings and death described, it was for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held; as one of the martyrs in the Marian days held up his Bible at the stake, saying, "This is that hath brought me hither."

They die not as malefactors, but as martyrs, giving a threefold testimony of the truth, a lip-testimony, a life-testimony, and a death or blood-testimony: they held the profession of their faith faster than they held their own lives.

Observe, 4. What St. John heard, a loud cry, saying, How long?

Note, 1. That souls can speak audibly, to the ears of men;

Note, 2. That they have sense of sufferings when they are in glory: it doth not imply that souls there are in a restless state, or that they want true satisfaction and repose when they are out of the body; much less,

3. doth this cry suppose that they carried with them to heaven any angry resentments, or revengeful dispositions, towards their murderers: but this cry supposes in them a vehement zeal for the glory of God, a flagrant desire that God would clear their innocency, and make known his justice among men, that he would abolish the kingdom of Satan, and consummate the kingdom of Christ, making all his enemies to become his footstool; so that they pray for what Christ waits in glory, Heb 10:13 all the revenge here desired was only a vindication of God's holiness and truth, which he himself had promised.

Observe, 5. The gracious answer which God gave to the cry of these gracious souls, in which he speaks satisfaction to them these two ways,

1. By somewhat given them for the present,

2. By somewhat promised them hereafter.

First, white robes were given at present to every one of them, that is, large measures of heavenly glory, as the reward of their sufferings and services, beyond other saints; as if God had said, "Though the time be not yet come to satisfy your desires in the final ruin of Satan's kingdom, yet it shall by well with you in the mean time, you shall walk with me in white, and enjoy my glory in heaven."

Secondly, That is not all, but the very things they cry for shall be given them after a little season, for God had more to call unto sufferings besides them, and they having conquered shall be crowned together; as if God had said, "You my faithful witnesses, wait a little while until your brethren be got through the Red sea of suffering as well as you, and then you shall see the feet of Christ upon the necks of all his enemies, and justice shall fully avenge the precious innocent blood of all the saints, which in all ages has been shed for the testimony of the gospel, from Abel the martyr to the last sufferer: Rest, for a little season, until your fellow-servants also, and your brethren, shall be killed as you were."

Now from the whole learn these lessons of instruction.

Learn, 1. That the souls of men perish not with their bodies, but do certainly outlive them, and subsist in a state of separation from them; the bodies of these martyrs were destroyed by divers sorts of torments, but their souls were out of the reach of danger, they were in safety under the altar, and in glory, clothed with their white robes, when their bodies were either turned to ashes, or torn to pieces by wild beasts; we shall not cease to be, when we cease to breathe; our souls do not vanish with our breath.

Learn, 2. That as the soul is alive in a state of separation from the body, so it is awake also, and doth not sleep with the body.

Mark, These souls cried with a loud voice; then they were not asleep, though their bodies were alseep in the dust; the opinion of the soul's sleeping with the body, until the resurrection, is a wicked dream; it is granted that the organical acts of the soul, that is, such acts as do depend upon the members of the body, must cease when the body ceases; but we find when we are asleep, that our soul can act of itself, without the assistance of the body; the soul grieves and rejoices, hopes and fears, chooses and refuses, therefore the soul is not only alive, but awake also, in its state of separation from the body.

Learn, 3. That there are not only praises, but prayers in heaven, and that for justice to be inflicted upon persecutors here on earth. O the miserable condition of bloody persecutors! when heaven and earth both pray against them.

Learn, 4. That there is no sin committed upon earth, which doth more loudly call for vengeance from God in heaven, and which he will more certainly and severely punish, than persecuting and wronging of his saints and servants.

Learn, 5. That one reason why the suffering servants of God are not presently delivered from their persecutions, is this, because more of their brethren must suffer besides them, before their persecutions are ripe and ready for signal vengeance.

Learn lastly, That the souls of God's martyrs shall by under the altar in heaven clothed in white, enjoying divine glory, before the fatal day of final vengeance come upon the persecuting world; for though the patience of God suffers long, yet the holiness of God cannot permit that innocency should always suffer, and violence with persecution go unpunished, but in the mean time they shall put on their crown and their robes.

A threefold interpretation is given relating to this sixth seal, and the opening of it.

1. Some apply it altogether to the Jews, and that their destruction in Judea and at Jerusalem was so dismal, that it was represented to St. John as the darkening of the sun, and the moon looking like blood, and the stars falling, such calamities impending as if heaven and earth were dissolving: doubtless at and before the destruction of Jerusalem there was a confluence of such calamities, so dismal, and so dreadful, as can very difficultly be represented or described.

2. Others apply it to the overthrow of Paganism, and the destruction of the Heathen emperors; the fall of Paganism, by means of Constantines's conversion to the Christian faith, was the most terrible judgment that ever fell upon the devil's kingdom: and accordingly, by the earth's quaking, the sun's becoming black, the moon's becoming blood, and the stars falling from heaven to earth, is to be understood the great changes that were made in the Roman empire, by overturning the whole Pagan state, and making Christianity the religion of the greatest part of the world; so that the sense of the foregoing expression is metaphorical, and signifies a great and general alteration of the face of affairs, as if the world was to be another thing.

But, 3. There are that interpret all this of the great and horrible confusion of the Christian world under Antichrist, when Christ the Sun of righteousness began to be obscured, that is, his doctrine concerning his offices and benefits darkened; the moon or church turned into blood; the stars or pastors fallen from heavenly offices; the scriptures, like the heavens rolled up, forbidden to be read; the mountains, kings and princes, in jeopardy; and the islands brought under Antichrist's yoke and tyranny.

Lastly, Some apply all this to the last dissolution of the world, and the final judgment of the great day; according to what follows in the three next verses.

Observe here, That if this was meant of the Jews at the destruction of Jerusalem, it was exceeding dreadful, and bespake all sorts of men, from the highest to the lowest, to be under a most dreadful consternation, when they saw an inevitable vengeance coming upon them for crucifying Christ, and persecuting his members, which made them run into rocks, and call upon mountains to hide them: if it be applied to the judgment of the great day, it shows the justice of Christ in forcing those to call upon the mountains to hide them, who by persecution had driven his members to hide themselves in mountains, dens, and caves, of the earth: any sort of hope will be then in vain; neither greatness nor numbers will save any from misery and terror, when that day of vengeance is come.

Learn hence, That wicked men, how numerous, how powerful and strong soever, shall fall before the wrath and indignation of Christ; if when Christ appears like an angry Lamb the greatest in the world fall before him, what will they then do when Christ shall put on the fierceness and severity of a roaring lion? Mitissima sententia quae a mitussima judice denuntiatur. If the wrath of the Lamb cannot be borne, if the unbelieving kings and potentates of the earth shall be cast down at the sight of Christ, where shall the wicked and the sinner appear? If the wrath of a king be as the roaring lion, what will the wrath of God, an angry God, be?

Let us now be cast down at the sight of sin, and we shall not be cast down hereafter at the sight of God; but when others, at his appearance, cry to the rocks to cover them, and to the mountains to fall upon them, such as have seen sin to their abasement and humiliation, shall see a Saviour to their joyful satisfaction, and spend an eternity in the rapturous contemplation and ravishing fruition of him. Amen.