Revelation · Chapter 16

V. 1. Pour out the seven phials-The epistles to the seven churches are divided into three and four: the seven seals, and so the trumpets and phials, into four and three. The trumpets gradually, and in a long tract of time, overthrow the kingdom of the world: the phials destroy chiefly the beast and his followers, with a swift and impetuous force. The four first affect the earth, the sea, the rivers, the sun; the rest fall elsewhere, and are much more terrible.

Verse 1. Go your ways, and pour out] These ministers of the Divine justice were ready to execute vengeance upon transgressors, having full power; but could do nothing in this way till they received especial commission. Nothing can be done without the permission of God; and in the manifestation of justice or mercy by Divine agency, there must be positive command.

Verse 1. And I heard a great voice out of the temple — All things being prepared, the angels having received their instructions from the oracle, and the vials being filled with the wrath of God, by one of the four living creatures, (see on Revelation 15:7,) I heard the word of command given to the seven angels to pour out their vials in their order, the inhabitants of the earth being ripe for those judgments which the justice of God had appointed for their punishment. The epistles to the seven churches are divided into three and four; the seven seals, and so the trumpets and vials, into four and three. The trumpets gradually, and in a long tract of time, overthrow the kingdoms of the world; the vials destroy chiefly the beast and his followers, and that with a more swift and impetuous force. The four former affect the earth, the sea, the rivers, the sun: the rest fall elsewhere, and are much more terrible.

Verse 1. Pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. The catastrophes of nations have their origin in heaven. “Oh Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff of my indignation. I will send him against a hypocritical nation — Howbeit, he meaneth it not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and cut off nations not a few.” Isaiah 10:5-7.

1. And—The preparations of war are complete; (see introduction to xiv;) the officers are armed with their ammunition of plagues; the object is Babylon, the beast; and from the inmost holy place, where omnipotent Justice is secreted, the command for action comes forth. Go… pour… earth—For this Babylon is not wholly local; Rome is, indeed, with John, its primal representative, but its virtual presence, wickedness, and liability to retribution, cover the human earth. And so the angels receive their vials from one of the four beasts who represent creation; and the first four are poured upon the four creational points. The plagues, like the menaces of the fourteenth chapter, appear, at first, general, but at each advance grow in definiteness until the real object is struck with the final blow.

V. 2. And the first went-So the second, third, &c., without adding angel, to denote the utmost swiftness; of which this also is a token, that there is no period of time mentioned in the pouring out of each phial. They have a great resemblance to the plagues of Egypt, which the Hebrews generally suppose to have been a month distant from each other. Perhaps so may the phials; but they are all yet to come.

And poured out his phial upon the earth-Literally taken. And there came a grievous ulcer-As in Egypt, Exodus 9:10, 11. On the men who had the mark of the wild beast-All of them, and them only. All those plagues seem to be described in proper, not figurative, words.

Verse 2. A noisome and grievous sore] This is a reference to the sixth Egyptian plague, boils and blains, Exodus 9:8, 9, &c.

Verse 2. And the first poured out his vial upon the earth — This, according to Mr. Fleming, denotes God’s judgments upon the foundation of the Papal kingdom; the earth being that on which we walk, and by the fruits of which we are supported. By this, therefore, he understands the Popish clergy, and the Papal dominions and revenues, by which they were upheld. This vial, he thinks, began with the Reformation, and continued until the time when these agents of Popery were thrown out of as many countries of Europe as embraced the Reformation. And we may easily conceive what a mortification it was to that party, when the pretended sanctity of their bishops, priests, monks, and nuns was discovered to be a mere cheat, and their miracles nothing but lies or tricks; and when their tales of purgatory were exposed to public contempt, and their pardons and indulgences would sell no longer; and consequently, when the pope and his mitred officers saw themselves driven out from so great a part of their dominions, their seminaries for training up their advocates and defenders, of all denominations and orders, pulled down, and so much of their yearly revenues lost. Whence they are said to fall under a noisome and grievous elkov, ulcer, or sore — Being by this means pained and vexed inwardly, and rendered contemptible to the whole world, which looked upon them as no better than the plagues of mankind. So that this vial began with the rise of Zuinglius and Luther, and the other reformers, in the years 1516 and 1517, and continued to the year 1566; that is, about forty or fifty years; for by that time all the reformed churches were settled, and had published their creeds and confessions of faith against Rome, in opposition to the determinations of the Popish council of Trent, published A.D. 1563, and the creed of Pope Pius IV., which added twelve antichristian articles to the twelve primitive Christian ones, A.D. 1564.

Ver. 2. The first angel went, and poured out his vial on the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast. God is pleased sometimes to invade nations with new diseases, as the malignant cholera, associated with other visitations of his arm. Mr. Faber applies this vial spiritually to the curse of atheism and blasphemy, which fell on France and other powers under the beast. His words are — “At the pouring out of the first vial on the thirty first of August 1792, the noisome sore of atheism broke out, or publicly made its appearance in France, and throughout the whole Latin earth.”

2. Went—As commissioned, from the temple, (Revelation 15:5,) the Christic citadel. Upon the earth—The Babylonic land or soil; the ground element. Earth was first cursed for man’s sake. Sin has created a discord between man and nature. When man comes right, all will for him be right. But, at any rate, at this crisis of judgment the creation must reflect that retribution upon Babylon. Sore—Like Egypt’s plague of “boils.” Exodus 9:10. The broad land is plague-smitten, as in Egypt, for the crime of the capital. The earth is, perhaps, made to give forth miasms that corrupt and disease the systems of the Babylonic peoples.

V. 3. The second poured out his phial upon the sea-As opposed to the dry land.

And it become blood, as of a dead man-Thick, congealed, and putrid. And every living soul-Men, beasts, and fishes, whether on or in the sea, died.

Verse 3. As the blood of a dead man] Either meaning blood in a state of putrescency, or an effusion of blood in naval conflicts; even the sea was tinged with the blood of those who were slain in these wars. This is most probably the meaning of this vial. These engagements were so sanguinary that both the conquerors and the conquered were nearly destroyed; every living soul died in the sea.

Verse 3. And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea, &c. — This, says the same pious author, must begin where the other ended, as to the period of time. Now I find that in the year 1566 the wars between the king of Spain and the states of the Netherlands began. The Spaniards, indeed, were often victorious at first, yet they were at length compelled to declare them free states. It was then that the sea became blood to the Romanists, their votaries being miserably defeated in their expectations. For after their cruelties under the duke of Alva, in the Low Countries, and their massacre of the Protestants, in France and other places, the scene was changed very quickly; so that, in the year 1588, the Spaniards lost their vast armada, and ever after declined in their power. And the duke of Guise, the inveterate enemy of the Protestants, was killed the same year; and A.D. 1598 Philip II. of Spain died, being eaten of vermin: the edict of Nantz was also issued the same year in France in favour of the Protestants. So that, as the Reformed interest was in peace everywhere, and conquered in Holland and England, the Popish party, on the other hand, saw Spain, the late terror of the Protestants, brought to a languishing condition, and all their allies weary of wars and persecutions. And as in the year 1609 the truce was made between the Spaniards and the Dutch, so the war, though renewed and carried on afterward, became languid and faint, so as hardly to be regarded by either party, especially the Dutch, who were generally victorious and successful. Hence, as the period of this vial began in 1566, so we may reckon it continued about fifty years, namely, till the year 1617, when the third vial began.

Ver. 3. The second poured out his vial upon the sea. “This was in the beginning of September 1792, when the horrible and long-protracted massacres were perpetrated, during what was called the reign of terror, and were continued till the figurative sea, or population of France, resembled the blood of a dead man.”

3. Blood of a dead man—The magnificent blue and billowy sea… became, not like the crimson and fluid blood, still living, but black and coagulated, as being dead. This was fatal not only to the fisherman, the sailor, and the merchant, but to the life of every living thing in its waters. Notes on Revelation 18:15-19, 24. Living soul—Literally, every soul of life; that is, the animal soul, in which the vitality is inherent. To the power that has used the sea for oppression, the sea must pour back corruption and death.

V. 4. The third poured out his phial on the rivers and fountains of water-Which were over all the earth.

And they became blood-So that none could drink thereof.

Verse 4. Upon the rivers and fountains of waters] This is an allusion to the first Egyptian plague, Exodus 7:20; and to those plagues in general there are allusions throughout this chapter. It is a sentiment of the rabbins that “whatever plagues God inflicted on the Egyptians in former times, he will inflict on the enemies of his people in all later times.” See a long quotation on this subject from Rabbi Tanchum in Schoettgen.

Verses 4-7. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers a fountains of waters, &c. — Or those territories of the Papacy which were as necessary to it as rivers and fountains are to a country: the kind of plague under this vial being the same as that of the former. For, as the former destroyed the living creatures, or living souls, that were in or upon the sea, namely, the Spaniards, the great mariners of the world at that time, as to their maritime power, who after the year 1588 lost their former sovereignty of the seas, it being transferred to the English and Dutch; so this latter plague makes it difficult for the Popish party to subsist and maintain their ground, even in the inland countries, particularly in the several dominions of Germany and the neighbouring countries. For in the year 1617, Ferdinand being forced upon the Bohemians by the Emperor Matthias, and crowned king, the foundation of new quarrels was thus laid. For, a little while after, another most bloody religious war ensued, which shook all the empire, and excited the terror of all Europe. And, though the Protestants lost Bohemia, the Palatinate in part, and were driven out of Moravia, Austria, and Silesia, at this time, and were not only persecuted in many places, but were in danger of being extirpated and rooted out universally; yet the tide turned all on a sudden. For after the emperor had ruled Germany with a veteran army for a considerable time, Gustavus Adolphus entered it in the year 1630, and conquered everywhere. And though he was killed about two years afterward, yet his army continued to be victorious; until at length all things were settled at the peace of Munster, A.D. 1648; with which therefore the period of this vial, consisting of thirty-one years, must be supposed to end. Now, as this began with persecutions against, and cruelties upon the Protestants; so at length the angel of the waters is heard to give thanks to God for causing the enemies of his people at last to drink of their own blood. To which song of praise another angel says, Amen: all which seems to denote the joy of the Protestant states and churches on the success of the Swedish arms against the emperor.

Ver. 4-7. The third poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of water. “The regularly established governments of the Latin empire, represented by the rivers and fountains of water, experienced dreadful devastation from the arms of republican France, during a series of bloody and successful campaigns; the issue of which was a tremendous aggrandizement of that infidel power. Note here the conspicuous retaliation of providence on those nations, for the part they had formerly taken in slaughtering the protestants. Thou art righteous, oh Lord, said the angel of the waters, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy. And I heard another (angel) out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”

4. Rivers and fountains—Like the first plague of Egypt which ensanguined “the waters of Egypt,” “their streams,” and “their rivers, and their ponds.” Exodus 7:19. This blood was a vivid image of the slaughter of the martyrs.

V. 5. The Gracious one-So he is styled when his judgments are abroad, and that with a peculiar propriety. In the beginning of the book he is termed "The Almighty." In the time of his patience, he is praised for his power, which otherwise might then be less regarded. In the time of his taking vengeance, for his mercy. Of his power there could then be no doubt.

Verse 5. The angel of the waters] The rabbins attribute angels, not only to the four elements so called, but to almost every thing besides. We have already seen the angel of the bottomless pit, Revelation 9:11, and the angel of the fire, Revelation 14:18. The angel of the earth is spoken of in Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 13, 2, and is called Admael. They have also an angel that presides over the grass; another that presides over the cattle which feed upon the grass.

They say that God employed the angel of the sea to swallow up the waters at the creation, that the dry land might appear. He disobeyed, and God slew him; the name of the angel of the sea is Rahab. See Baba bathra, fol. 74, 2. It is plain from several places that the writer of the Apocalypse keeps these notions distinctly in view.

Verses 4-7. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers a fountains of waters, &c. — Or those territories of the Papacy which were as necessary to it as rivers and fountains are to a country: the kind of plague under this vial being the same as that of the former. For, as the former destroyed the living creatures, or living souls, that were in or upon the sea, namely, the Spaniards, the great mariners of the world at that time, as to their maritime power, who after the year 1588 lost their former sovereignty of the seas, it being transferred to the English and Dutch; so this latter plague makes it difficult for the Popish party to subsist and maintain their ground, even in the inland countries, particularly in the several dominions of Germany and the neighbouring countries. For in the year 1617, Ferdinand being forced upon the Bohemians by the Emperor Matthias, and crowned king, the foundation of new quarrels was thus laid. For, a little while after, another most bloody religious war ensued, which shook all the empire, and excited the terror of all Europe. And, though the Protestants lost Bohemia, the Palatinate in part, and were driven out of Moravia, Austria, and Silesia, at this time, and were not only persecuted in many places, but were in danger of being extirpated and rooted out universally; yet the tide turned all on a sudden. For after the emperor had ruled Germany with a veteran army for a considerable time, Gustavus Adolphus entered it in the year 1630, and conquered everywhere. And though he was killed about two years afterward, yet his army continued to be victorious; until at length all things were settled at the peace of Munster, A.D. 1648; with which therefore the period of this vial, consisting of thirty-one years, must be supposed to end. Now, as this began with persecutions against, and cruelties upon the Protestants; so at length the angel of the waters is heard to give thanks to God for causing the enemies of his people at last to drink of their own blood. To which song of praise another angel says, Amen: all which seems to denote the joy of the Protestant states and churches on the success of the Swedish arms against the emperor.

Ver. 4-7. The third poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of water. “The regularly established governments of the Latin empire, represented by the rivers and fountains of water, experienced dreadful devastation from the arms of republican France, during a series of bloody and successful campaigns; the issue of which was a tremendous aggrandizement of that infidel power. Note here the conspicuous retaliation of providence on those nations, for the part they had formerly taken in slaughtering the protestants. Thou art righteous, oh Lord, said the angel of the waters, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy. And I heard another (angel) out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”

5. The angel of the waters—Note on Revelation 14:18. The water-angel might have complained at this sanguinary invasion of his domain, but he humbly acknowledges the divine justice. Note Revelation 18:6. Not for his own sin, nor for the guilt of the waters, is this terrible transformation; but for the guilt of man, the idolatry of Babylon.

V. 6. Thou hast given then, blood to drink-Men do not drink out of the sea, but out of fountains and rivers. Therefore this is fitly added here. They are worthy-Is subjoined with a beautiful abruptness.

Verse 6. Thou hast given them blood to drink] They thirsted after blood and massacred the saints of God; and now they have got blood to drink! It is said that when Tomyris, queen of the Scythians, had vanquished Cyrus, she cut off his head and threw it into a vessel of blood, saying these words: Satia te sanguine, quem sitisti, cujusque insatiabilis semper fuisti; “Satisfy thyself with blood, for which thou hast thirsted, and for which thy desire has been insatiable.” See Justin. Hist., lib. i. c. 8. This figure of speech is called sarcasm in rhetoric.

“Sarcasmus with this biting taunt doth kill:

Cyrus, thy thirst was blood; now drink thy fill.”

Verses 4-7. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers a fountains of waters, &c. — Or those territories of the Papacy which were as necessary to it as rivers and fountains are to a country: the kind of plague under this vial being the same as that of the former. For, as the former destroyed the living creatures, or living souls, that were in or upon the sea, namely, the Spaniards, the great mariners of the world at that time, as to their maritime power, who after the year 1588 lost their former sovereignty of the seas, it being transferred to the English and Dutch; so this latter plague makes it difficult for the Popish party to subsist and maintain their ground, even in the inland countries, particularly in the several dominions of Germany and the neighbouring countries. For in the year 1617, Ferdinand being forced upon the Bohemians by the Emperor Matthias, and crowned king, the foundation of new quarrels was thus laid. For, a little while after, another most bloody religious war ensued, which shook all the empire, and excited the terror of all Europe. And, though the Protestants lost Bohemia, the Palatinate in part, and were driven out of Moravia, Austria, and Silesia, at this time, and were not only persecuted in many places, but were in danger of being extirpated and rooted out universally; yet the tide turned all on a sudden. For after the emperor had ruled Germany with a veteran army for a considerable time, Gustavus Adolphus entered it in the year 1630, and conquered everywhere. And though he was killed about two years afterward, yet his army continued to be victorious; until at length all things were settled at the peace of Munster, A.D. 1648; with which therefore the period of this vial, consisting of thirty-one years, must be supposed to end. Now, as this began with persecutions against, and cruelties upon the Protestants; so at length the angel of the waters is heard to give thanks to God for causing the enemies of his people at last to drink of their own blood. To which song of praise another angel says, Amen: all which seems to denote the joy of the Protestant states and churches on the success of the Swedish arms against the emperor.

Ver. 4-7. The third poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of water. “The regularly established governments of the Latin empire, represented by the rivers and fountains of water, experienced dreadful devastation from the arms of republican France, during a series of bloody and successful campaigns; the issue of which was a tremendous aggrandizement of that infidel power. Note here the conspicuous retaliation of providence on those nations, for the part they had formerly taken in slaughtering the protestants. Thou art righteous, oh Lord, said the angel of the waters, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy. And I heard another (angel) out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”

6. For they—The Babylonian men of verse 2. Are worthy—Deserving this recompense in kind. Revelation 18:6.

V. 7. Yea-Answering the angel of the waters, and affirming of God's judgments in general, what he had said of one particular judgment.

Verses 4-7. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers a fountains of waters, &c. — Or those territories of the Papacy which were as necessary to it as rivers and fountains are to a country: the kind of plague under this vial being the same as that of the former. For, as the former destroyed the living creatures, or living souls, that were in or upon the sea, namely, the Spaniards, the great mariners of the world at that time, as to their maritime power, who after the year 1588 lost their former sovereignty of the seas, it being transferred to the English and Dutch; so this latter plague makes it difficult for the Popish party to subsist and maintain their ground, even in the inland countries, particularly in the several dominions of Germany and the neighbouring countries. For in the year 1617, Ferdinand being forced upon the Bohemians by the Emperor Matthias, and crowned king, the foundation of new quarrels was thus laid. For, a little while after, another most bloody religious war ensued, which shook all the empire, and excited the terror of all Europe. And, though the Protestants lost Bohemia, the Palatinate in part, and were driven out of Moravia, Austria, and Silesia, at this time, and were not only persecuted in many places, but were in danger of being extirpated and rooted out universally; yet the tide turned all on a sudden. For after the emperor had ruled Germany with a veteran army for a considerable time, Gustavus Adolphus entered it in the year 1630, and conquered everywhere. And though he was killed about two years afterward, yet his army continued to be victorious; until at length all things were settled at the peace of Munster, A.D. 1648; with which therefore the period of this vial, consisting of thirty-one years, must be supposed to end. Now, as this began with persecutions against, and cruelties upon the Protestants; so at length the angel of the waters is heard to give thanks to God for causing the enemies of his people at last to drink of their own blood. To which song of praise another angel says, Amen: all which seems to denote the joy of the Protestant states and churches on the success of the Swedish arms against the emperor.

Ver. 4-7. The third poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of water. “The regularly established governments of the Latin empire, represented by the rivers and fountains of water, experienced dreadful devastation from the arms of republican France, during a series of bloody and successful campaigns; the issue of which was a tremendous aggrandizement of that infidel power. Note here the conspicuous retaliation of providence on those nations, for the part they had formerly taken in slaughtering the protestants. Thou art righteous, oh Lord, said the angel of the waters, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy. And I heard another (angel) out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”

7. To the angel of the waters now there comes a response from the altar. Really, the words another out of are not in the Greek; and Alford truly says, that the “simplest understanding is,” that it is the altar itself that speaks and is heard. The altar is cognizant of blood. The “souls” of the martyrs who were as sacrificed victims are under the altar.

V. 8. The fourth poured out his phial upon the sun-Which was likewise affected by the fourth trumpet. There is also a plain resemblance between the first, second, and third phials, and the first, second, and third trumpet. And it was given him-The angel.

To scorch the men-Who had the mark of the beast.

With fire-As well as with the beams of the sun. So these four phials affected earth, water, fire, and air.

Verse 8. Poured out his vial upon the sun] Mr. Robert Fleming, more than one hundred years ago, in his View of Scripture Prophecy, supposed that the sun here meant the French empire, and conjectured that this vial would be poured out on that empire about the year 1794. And it is remarkable that in 1793 the French king was beheaded by the National Assembly; and great and unparalleled miseries fell upon the French nation, which nearly extinguished all their nobility, and brought about a war that lasted twenty-three years, and nearly ruined that country and all the nations of Europe.

Verses 8, 9. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun — Namely, of the Papal kingdom; and power was given unto him — Unto the angel; to scorch men with fire — Alluding to the heat of the sun, namely, the men who had the mark of the beast. And they were scorched with great heat; nevertheless, they repented not to give glory to God, who had power over these plagues; but blasphemed his name the more — “Now as this vial,” says Fleming, “must begin where the other ends, namely, at, or a little after, A.D. 1648, so I cannot see but it must denote, first, the French wars in Flanders, that followed the peace of Munster, inflamed, after they had been apparently quenched, by the seizure of Lorraine, the new conquests of the French in Burgundy and Flanders, the wars in Germany, and invasion of the Low Countries; to which may be added the French king’s quarrels with several popes, about the restitution of Castro, the rights of the duke of Modena, &c. Now, seeing the bombarding of towns and cities was chiefly made use of in these later wars, we may see how properly the scorching, or burning men from above, (as if the sun had sent down fire and heat from his own body,) is made use of to characterize the time of this vial. But the chief thing to be taken notice of here is, that the sun, and other luminaries of heaven, are the emblems of princes and kingdoms; therefore, the pouring out of this vial on the sun must denote the humiliation of some eminent potentates of the Romish interest, who cherished and supported the Papal cause. And these, therefore, must be principally the houses of Austria and Bourbon, though not exclusively of other Popish princes. Now it is not unusual with God to make his enemies crush and weaken one another, which has been done in that part of the vial which is already fulfilled, and will be perhaps more so afterward. [Reader, mark this: how manifestly has it been accomplished!] As, therefore, France was made use of, in the instances given, to vex and scorch the Austrian family, in both branches of it, so afterward the French king himself was vexed when he saw himself forced to leave Holland, which he was so near surprising, A.D. 1672; and especially when he was compelled to resign all his conquests in Flanders by the peace of Ryswick. The effect of this vial is also seen in darkening the glory of King James, (from whom the Papists expected new conquests,) by the hand of King William; by whom also God put a stop to the career of the French monarch in his conquests in Flanders and on the Rhine. And we see it further poured out by the eclipse of the Austrian family, in the loss of Spain and its dependant principalities. As to the remaining part of this vial, I do humbly suppose that it will come to its highest pitch about A.D. 1717; and that it will run out about the year 1794.” [Mr. Fleming states at large his reasons for this conjecture, which, however, cannot be inserted here.] “At which time I suppose the fourth vial will end, and the fifth commence, by a new mortification of the Papacy, after this vial has lasted one hundred and forty-eight years, which is indeed a long period in comparison of the former vials; but if it be considered in reference to the fourth, fifth, and sixth trumpets, it is but short, seeing the fourth lasted one hundred and ninety, the fifth three hundred and two, and the sixth three hundred and ninety-three years.” It seems probable, if Mr. Fleming had lived in our time, instead of fixing the termination of the fourth vial in the year 1794, he would have extended the period of it till after the battle of Waterloo, in the middle of the year 1815. Mr. Faber, it may be observed, considers the French revolution, with all its consequences, as being comprehended in the fourth vial; for which he assigns the following reasons: “In the language of symbols, the sun of a kingdom is the government of that kingdom; and the sun of an empire, if it be a divided empire, is the government of the most powerful state within that empire. When the political sun shines with a steady lustre, and yields a salutary warmth, it is a blessing to a people. But when it glares with a fierce and unnatural heat, scorching all the productions of human industry with the intolerable blaze of a portentous tyranny, it is the heaviest curse which can befall a nation. Since the whole prophecy relates to the Roman empire, the sun mentioned under this vial must be the sun of the Roman firmament: since the pouring out of all the vials takes place long posterior to the division of the empire, this sun must be the sun of the divided empire; or the government of that state within the limits of the empire, which at the present era is the most powerful. The prediction then of the fourth vial obviously intimates, that the frantic scenes of the harvest should be succeeded by a systematic military tyranny, which should be exercised over the Roman empire by the government of the most powerful state then existing within its limits. The world, exhausted with the miseries of the symbolical harvest, and wearied with the wild struggles of licentious anarchy, should tamely submit to the lawless domination of an unrelenting despot. In pointing out the particular government intended by this scorching sun of the Latin or Papal firmament, the reader will doubtless have anticipated me. The present Popish states are France, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sardinia, and Etruria. Of these, I apprehend, no one will be inclined to deny that France is by many degrees the most powerful, and consequently that its government must inevitably be esteemed the sun of the system. To observe then the accurate completion of the prophecy of the fourth vial, in which it is said that power was given to this sun to scorch men with fire, and that they were scorched with great heat, we have only to cast our eyes over the continent. A system of tyranny hitherto unknown in Europe, except in the worst periods of the Roman history, has been established, and is now acted upon, by him who styles himself emperor of the French: and the scorching rays of military despotism are at this moment felt, [namely, in 1804, when this was written,] more or less, throughout France, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and the west of Germany. A regular plan of making each man a spy upon his neighbour destroys all the comfort and all the confidence of social life: and France, with her degraded provinces, or, as they are termed, with diplomatic mockery, allies, groans under the weight of endless requisitions, levies, and extortions, at once tormented herself, and the savage tormentor of others. But the effect produced, both by these plagues and by the following ones, will only be blasphemy and hardness of heart, instead of a reformation of principles and practice. The earthquake which overthrew the tenth part of the city, (chap. 11:13,) caused the remnant of the seed of the woman to give glory unto the Lord; but the effusion of the vials upon God’s enemies produces not the least tendency to repentance. We must not therefore look for any further reformation from Popery; for the vials are instruments of God’s wrath, not of mercy. France accordingly has nominally returned, like a dog to its vomit, to her old alliance with the blasphemous corruptions of Popery; but, according to every account of eye-witnesses, she still really and individually strengthens herself in the yet more blasphemous abominations of antichrist. Yet, although there will be no further reformation, it does not appear that the inspired writers give any intimations of some still more dreadful persecution of the witnesses than that which they have already undergone from the two Latin beasts; on the contrary, Scripture seems to me rather to lead to a directly opposite opinion. I mean not, indeed, to deny that individual Protestants, those, for instance, who reside in Popish countries, may experience persecution; these will continue to prophesy in sackcloth to the very end of the twelve hundred and sixty days: I would only be understood to intimate, that I can discover no warrant for expecting that Protestantism in general, as nationally professed, will ever be so far subdued by Popery as to undergo throughout the whole world a grand universal persecution resembling those of the pagan emperors, or the Roman pontiffs in the plenitude of their power.”

But to return to Mr. Fleming. “Let the reader,” says he, “call to mind what I premised to the consideration of these vials, namely, that seeing they suppose a struggle between the Popish and Reformed parties, every vial is to be looked upon as the event and conclusion of some new periodical attack of that first party upon the other, the issue of which proves at length favourable to the latter against the former. For if this be duly considered, it will convince us that a great declining of the Protestant interest for some time, and great and formidable advances and new degrees of increase in the Romish party, are very consistent with the state of both these opposite interests under the vials. For as Rome pagan was gradually ruined under the seals, under many of which it seemed to increase, and to become more rampant than before, when yet it was indeed declining, so must we suppose it will be with Rome Papal. For monarchies, as they rise gradually and insensibly, wear out so likewise. And therefore we must not entertain such chimerical notions of the fall of the Papacy, as if it were to be accomplished speedily or miraculously, as many have done. For as it rose insensibly, and step by step, so must it fall in like manner. For it is with the church as it is with particular Christians, who are often sorely buffeted by Satan, and sometimes brought even to extremities by temptations; but do ever carry the victory at last. Who would have believed that the Christian Church was about to triumph over the Roman pagan empire when the dreadful persecutions under Dioclesian and his collegiate emperors was at its highest pitch? But the darkest time of the night ushers in the dawning of the church’s day, in the usual way of God’s providence. And this is very conspicuously to be observed in the period of the third vial. Who would have thought that the loss of Bohemia, and the Emperor Ferdinand’s ruling all Germany with a formidable army, were likely to issue in the victories of the Swedish arms, and the future security of the Protestant interest through the empire and elsewhere? So that we must not wonder if for sixteen years [this was published in 1701] the house of Bourbon be raised up to be a further terror and scourge to the world, and to Protestant nations particularly. And, as a confirmation of this conjecture, let it be observed further, that it is something very extraordinary, and peculiar in some sense to this vial, ‘that the sun, upon which it is poured out, should yet be made the executor of the judgment of it upon others at the same time that he is tormented with it himself.’ So that whosoever is denoted by the sun here, (as I suppose the house of Bourbon principally is,) is made use of, as the devil is, both to torment others, and to be tormented himself in so doing. And if the king of France, therefore, be denoted by this principally, I fear he is yet to be made use of in the hand of God, as Nebuchadnezzar was of old against the Jews, namely, as a further severe scourge to the Protestant churches everywhere. And besides this characteristical mark, which seems to forebode his further exaltation and our humiliation, there is yet another thing that I cannot think upon but with dread and trembling of heart, namely, that it is further said, ‘that while this sun of the Popish world is running his fatal and dreadful career, and scorching men with fire, they are so far from being bettered by these judgments, that they go on more and more to blaspheme the name of God, who has power over these plagues. And while this continues to be the state of the Protestant world, and while atheism, deism, socinianism, irreligion, profaneness, skepticism, formality, hatred of godliness, and a bitter persecuting spirit continue and increase among us, what can we expect but new and desolating judgments? For while we continue to walk thus contrary to God, we cannot but expect that he should walk contrary to us also. It is in vain for us to boast of our privileges, or plead exemption from judgments on this account. For where there is no national reformation and repentance, national sins are like to pull down miseries upon us so much the sooner and more certainly, in that we have been so singularly and peculiarly privileged. For we may in this case expect that God will say to us, as to the Israelites of old, (Amos 3:2,) You especially have I known of all the families, or nations, of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. And therefore if we go on in sin as we have hitherto done, let us take heed to ourselves lest vengeance be near. I pray God I may be mistaken in my fears, but I am afraid I have but too just reason to turn prophet here, by applying to ourselves what Peter said to those of his time, 1 Epist. 4:17, &c., The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God. Though I do also conclude with him, that if it begin at us, dreadful will be the end of our enemies at last: and if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore, if we be called to suffer for our holy religion, let us do so according to the will of God, committing the keeping of our souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. Should it be asked, When will the tide turn for the Protestant Church? I answer, when they turn more universally to God, and no sooner. But if it be inquired further, Whether the sun of the Popish kingdom is not to be eclipsed himself at length? I must positively assert he will, else this vial were not a judgment upon him and the Romish party. But if yet again the question be, When this is to fall out, and how? I must say, I have nothing more to add to what I have said, as to the time. But as to the manner how this is to be done, our text lays a foundation of some more distinct thoughts. And we may suppose, lastly, that the French monarchy, after it has scorched others, will itself consume by doing so; its fire, and that which is the fuel that maintains it, wasting insensibly, till it be exhausted at last toward the end of this century, as the Spanish monarchy did before toward the end of the sixteenth age.” Thus Mr. Fleming: and it is remarkable that in 1793 the French king was beheaded by the National Assembly; and great and unparalleled miseries fell upon the French nation, which nearly extinguished all their nobility, and brought about a war that has lasted twenty-three years, and has nearly ruined that country and all the nations of Europe.

Ver. 8, 9. The fourth poured out his vial upon the sun. “The Latin firmament, or the principal government of the divided papal Roman empire, which scorched men with the burning fire of a systematic military tyranny. This was the government of France under the late despotic Usurper; and the blaze of his tyranny extended not merely to France, but likewise to Holland, Swisserland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and all the west of Germany. — And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, who hath power over these plagues; and they repented not to give him glory. So little were the nations that were afflicted with those plagues reformed by them.”

8. Unto him—To the sun, and not, as some think, to the angel. With (solar) fire—A very intense expression. Note Revelation 18:8.

V. 9. And the men blasphemed God, who had power over these plagues-They could not but acknowledge the hand of God, yet did they harden themselves against him.

Verse 9. They repented not] No moral national amendment has taken place in consequence of the above calamities in that unhappy country, nor indeed any of those nations engaged against her in that long and ruinous contest, which has now terminated, (1817,) without producing one political, moral, or religious advantage to herself or to Europe.

Verses 8, 9. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun — Namely, of the Papal kingdom; and power was given unto him — Unto the angel; to scorch men with fire — Alluding to the heat of the sun, namely, the men who had the mark of the beast. And they were scorched with great heat; nevertheless, they repented not to give glory to God, who had power over these plagues; but blasphemed his name the more — “Now as this vial,” says Fleming, “must begin where the other ends, namely, at, or a little after, A.D. 1648, so I cannot see but it must denote, first, the French wars in Flanders, that followed the peace of Munster, inflamed, after they had been apparently quenched, by the seizure of Lorraine, the new conquests of the French in Burgundy and Flanders, the wars in Germany, and invasion of the Low Countries; to which may be added the French king’s quarrels with several popes, about the restitution of Castro, the rights of the duke of Modena, &c. Now, seeing the bombarding of towns and cities was chiefly made use of in these later wars, we may see how properly the scorching, or burning men from above, (as if the sun had sent down fire and heat from his own body,) is made use of to characterize the time of this vial. But the chief thing to be taken notice of here is, that the sun, and other luminaries of heaven, are the emblems of princes and kingdoms; therefore, the pouring out of this vial on the sun must denote the humiliation of some eminent potentates of the Romish interest, who cherished and supported the Papal cause. And these, therefore, must be principally the houses of Austria and Bourbon, though not exclusively of other Popish princes. Now it is not unusual with God to make his enemies crush and weaken one another, which has been done in that part of the vial which is already fulfilled, and will be perhaps more so afterward. [Reader, mark this: how manifestly has it been accomplished!] As, therefore, France was made use of, in the instances given, to vex and scorch the Austrian family, in both branches of it, so afterward the French king himself was vexed when he saw himself forced to leave Holland, which he was so near surprising, A.D. 1672; and especially when he was compelled to resign all his conquests in Flanders by the peace of Ryswick. The effect of this vial is also seen in darkening the glory of King James, (from whom the Papists expected new conquests,) by the hand of King William; by whom also God put a stop to the career of the French monarch in his conquests in Flanders and on the Rhine. And we see it further poured out by the eclipse of the Austrian family, in the loss of Spain and its dependant principalities. As to the remaining part of this vial, I do humbly suppose that it will come to its highest pitch about A.D. 1717; and that it will run out about the year 1794.” [Mr. Fleming states at large his reasons for this conjecture, which, however, cannot be inserted here.] “At which time I suppose the fourth vial will end, and the fifth commence, by a new mortification of the Papacy, after this vial has lasted one hundred and forty-eight years, which is indeed a long period in comparison of the former vials; but if it be considered in reference to the fourth, fifth, and sixth trumpets, it is but short, seeing the fourth lasted one hundred and ninety, the fifth three hundred and two, and the sixth three hundred and ninety-three years.” It seems probable, if Mr. Fleming had lived in our time, instead of fixing the termination of the fourth vial in the year 1794, he would have extended the period of it till after the battle of Waterloo, in the middle of the year 1815. Mr. Faber, it may be observed, considers the French revolution, with all its consequences, as being comprehended in the fourth vial; for which he assigns the following reasons: “In the language of symbols, the sun of a kingdom is the government of that kingdom; and the sun of an empire, if it be a divided empire, is the government of the most powerful state within that empire. When the political sun shines with a steady lustre, and yields a salutary warmth, it is a blessing to a people. But when it glares with a fierce and unnatural heat, scorching all the productions of human industry with the intolerable blaze of a portentous tyranny, it is the heaviest curse which can befall a nation. Since the whole prophecy relates to the Roman empire, the sun mentioned under this vial must be the sun of the Roman firmament: since the pouring out of all the vials takes place long posterior to the division of the empire, this sun must be the sun of the divided empire; or the government of that state within the limits of the empire, which at the present era is the most powerful. The prediction then of the fourth vial obviously intimates, that the frantic scenes of the harvest should be succeeded by a systematic military tyranny, which should be exercised over the Roman empire by the government of the most powerful state then existing within its limits. The world, exhausted with the miseries of the symbolical harvest, and wearied with the wild struggles of licentious anarchy, should tamely submit to the lawless domination of an unrelenting despot. In pointing out the particular government intended by this scorching sun of the Latin or Papal firmament, the reader will doubtless have anticipated me. The present Popish states are France, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sardinia, and Etruria. Of these, I apprehend, no one will be inclined to deny that France is by many degrees the most powerful, and consequently that its government must inevitably be esteemed the sun of the system. To observe then the accurate completion of the prophecy of the fourth vial, in which it is said that power was given to this sun to scorch men with fire, and that they were scorched with great heat, we have only to cast our eyes over the continent. A system of tyranny hitherto unknown in Europe, except in the worst periods of the Roman history, has been established, and is now acted upon, by him who styles himself emperor of the French: and the scorching rays of military despotism are at this moment felt, [namely, in 1804, when this was written,] more or less, throughout France, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and the west of Germany. A regular plan of making each man a spy upon his neighbour destroys all the comfort and all the confidence of social life: and France, with her degraded provinces, or, as they are termed, with diplomatic mockery, allies, groans under the weight of endless requisitions, levies, and extortions, at once tormented herself, and the savage tormentor of others. But the effect produced, both by these plagues and by the following ones, will only be blasphemy and hardness of heart, instead of a reformation of principles and practice. The earthquake which overthrew the tenth part of the city, (chap. 11:13,) caused the remnant of the seed of the woman to give glory unto the Lord; but the effusion of the vials upon God’s enemies produces not the least tendency to repentance. We must not therefore look for any further reformation from Popery; for the vials are instruments of God’s wrath, not of mercy. France accordingly has nominally returned, like a dog to its vomit, to her old alliance with the blasphemous corruptions of Popery; but, according to every account of eye-witnesses, she still really and individually strengthens herself in the yet more blasphemous abominations of antichrist. Yet, although there will be no further reformation, it does not appear that the inspired writers give any intimations of some still more dreadful persecution of the witnesses than that which they have already undergone from the two Latin beasts; on the contrary, Scripture seems to me rather to lead to a directly opposite opinion. I mean not, indeed, to deny that individual Protestants, those, for instance, who reside in Popish countries, may experience persecution; these will continue to prophesy in sackcloth to the very end of the twelve hundred and sixty days: I would only be understood to intimate, that I can discover no warrant for expecting that Protestantism in general, as nationally professed, will ever be so far subdued by Popery as to undergo throughout the whole world a grand universal persecution resembling those of the pagan emperors, or the Roman pontiffs in the plenitude of their power.”

But to return to Mr. Fleming. “Let the reader,” says he, “call to mind what I premised to the consideration of these vials, namely, that seeing they suppose a struggle between the Popish and Reformed parties, every vial is to be looked upon as the event and conclusion of some new periodical attack of that first party upon the other, the issue of which proves at length favourable to the latter against the former. For if this be duly considered, it will convince us that a great declining of the Protestant interest for some time, and great and formidable advances and new degrees of increase in the Romish party, are very consistent with the state of both these opposite interests under the vials. For as Rome pagan was gradually ruined under the seals, under many of which it seemed to increase, and to become more rampant than before, when yet it was indeed declining, so must we suppose it will be with Rome Papal. For monarchies, as they rise gradually and insensibly, wear out so likewise. And therefore we must not entertain such chimerical notions of the fall of the Papacy, as if it were to be accomplished speedily or miraculously, as many have done. For as it rose insensibly, and step by step, so must it fall in like manner. For it is with the church as it is with particular Christians, who are often sorely buffeted by Satan, and sometimes brought even to extremities by temptations; but do ever carry the victory at last. Who would have believed that the Christian Church was about to triumph over the Roman pagan empire when the dreadful persecutions under Dioclesian and his collegiate emperors was at its highest pitch? But the darkest time of the night ushers in the dawning of the church’s day, in the usual way of God’s providence. And this is very conspicuously to be observed in the period of the third vial. Who would have thought that the loss of Bohemia, and the Emperor Ferdinand’s ruling all Germany with a formidable army, were likely to issue in the victories of the Swedish arms, and the future security of the Protestant interest through the empire and elsewhere? So that we must not wonder if for sixteen years [this was published in 1701] the house of Bourbon be raised up to be a further terror and scourge to the world, and to Protestant nations particularly. And, as a confirmation of this conjecture, let it be observed further, that it is something very extraordinary, and peculiar in some sense to this vial, ‘that the sun, upon which it is poured out, should yet be made the executor of the judgment of it upon others at the same time that he is tormented with it himself.’ So that whosoever is denoted by the sun here, (as I suppose the house of Bourbon principally is,) is made use of, as the devil is, both to torment others, and to be tormented himself in so doing. And if the king of France, therefore, be denoted by this principally, I fear he is yet to be made use of in the hand of God, as Nebuchadnezzar was of old against the Jews, namely, as a further severe scourge to the Protestant churches everywhere. And besides this characteristical mark, which seems to forebode his further exaltation and our humiliation, there is yet another thing that I cannot think upon but with dread and trembling of heart, namely, that it is further said, ‘that while this sun of the Popish world is running his fatal and dreadful career, and scorching men with fire, they are so far from being bettered by these judgments, that they go on more and more to blaspheme the name of God, who has power over these plagues. And while this continues to be the state of the Protestant world, and while atheism, deism, socinianism, irreligion, profaneness, skepticism, formality, hatred of godliness, and a bitter persecuting spirit continue and increase among us, what can we expect but new and desolating judgments? For while we continue to walk thus contrary to God, we cannot but expect that he should walk contrary to us also. It is in vain for us to boast of our privileges, or plead exemption from judgments on this account. For where there is no national reformation and repentance, national sins are like to pull down miseries upon us so much the sooner and more certainly, in that we have been so singularly and peculiarly privileged. For we may in this case expect that God will say to us, as to the Israelites of old, (Amos 3:2,) You especially have I known of all the families, or nations, of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. And therefore if we go on in sin as we have hitherto done, let us take heed to ourselves lest vengeance be near. I pray God I may be mistaken in my fears, but I am afraid I have but too just reason to turn prophet here, by applying to ourselves what Peter said to those of his time, 1 Epist. 4:17, &c., The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God. Though I do also conclude with him, that if it begin at us, dreadful will be the end of our enemies at last: and if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore, if we be called to suffer for our holy religion, let us do so according to the will of God, committing the keeping of our souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. Should it be asked, When will the tide turn for the Protestant Church? I answer, when they turn more universally to God, and no sooner. But if it be inquired further, Whether the sun of the Popish kingdom is not to be eclipsed himself at length? I must positively assert he will, else this vial were not a judgment upon him and the Romish party. But if yet again the question be, When this is to fall out, and how? I must say, I have nothing more to add to what I have said, as to the time. But as to the manner how this is to be done, our text lays a foundation of some more distinct thoughts. And we may suppose, lastly, that the French monarchy, after it has scorched others, will itself consume by doing so; its fire, and that which is the fuel that maintains it, wasting insensibly, till it be exhausted at last toward the end of this century, as the Spanish monarchy did before toward the end of the sixteenth age.” Thus Mr. Fleming: and it is remarkable that in 1793 the French king was beheaded by the National Assembly; and great and unparalleled miseries fell upon the French nation, which nearly extinguished all their nobility, and brought about a war that has lasted twenty-three years, and has nearly ruined that country and all the nations of Europe.

Ver. 8, 9. The fourth poured out his vial upon the sun. “The Latin firmament, or the principal government of the divided papal Roman empire, which scorched men with the burning fire of a systematic military tyranny. This was the government of France under the late despotic Usurper; and the blaze of his tyranny extended not merely to France, but likewise to Holland, Swisserland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and all the west of Germany. — And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, who hath power over these plagues; and they repented not to give him glory. So little were the nations that were afflicted with those plagues reformed by them.”

9. Blasphemed—Penalty sometimes admonishes and reforms, as in Revelation 11:13; but it aggravates the hardened, as here and in Revelation 9:21. Like the hardened Israelites of Isaiah 8:21, these sun-scorched sinners could only “curse their God and look upward.” From the four creation points the avenger now approaches nearer and nearer the beast. Clearly, (notwithstanding Dusterdieck’s denial,) there is a distinct transition from the previous four vials, poured upon points of inanimate nature, on account of man, and the three directly poured upon the bestial throne, his Euphratean population, and his metropolis. b. Fifth vial on kingdom of the beast, 10, 11.

V. 10. The four first phials are closely connected together; the fifth concerns the throne of the beast, the sixth the Mahometans, the seventh chiefly the heathens. The four first phials and the four first trumpets go round the whole earth; the three last phials and the three last trumpets go lengthways over the earth in a straight line.

The fifth poured out his phial upon the throne of the wild beast-It is not said, "on the beast and his throne." Perhaps the sea will then be vacant. And his kingdom was darkened-With a lasting, not a transient, darkness. However the beast as yet has his kingdom. Afterward the woman sits upon the beast. and then it is said, "The wild beast is not," Revelation 17:3, 7, 8.

Verse 10. The seat of the beast] epi ton qronon tou qhriou. Upon the throne of the wild beast. The regal family was smitten by the fourth vial; they did not repent: then the fifth angel pours out his vial on the throne of the wild beast, or antichristian idolatrous power.

Was full of darkness] Confusion, dismay, and distress.

Verses 10, 11. And the fifth angel poured out his vial on the seat, or throne, of the beast — The reader will recollect that mention has been made of two beasts, (see Revelation 13:1, 11,) the secular and the ecclesiastical; and, as Mr. Faber observes, “it might be doubted which of the two was here intended, were we not assisted in our inquiries by the general context of the whole prophecy. Whenever the beast is simply mentioned, by way of eminence, as it were, it will invariably be found that the ten-horned or secular beast is meant, not the two-horned or ecclesiastical beast. In addition to this general proof, the particular context of the present passage may be adduced. The angel pours his vial on the throne of the beast. Now the first beast is expressly said to have had a throne given him by the dragon; because, although nominally Christian, he exercised his secular authority like his predecessor, the pagan empire, in persecuting the church of God: (see Revelation 12:2:) whereas no mention is made of the throne of the second beast, and for this plain reason; the secular authority of the pope [and his clergy] was confined within the narrow limits of an Italian principality, and all the persecutions which he ever excited against the faithful were carried into effect by the first beast, through the instrumentality of his last head, or his ten horns. Hence it is manifest that the beast, upon whose throne the present vial is poured, is the first or secular beast. What is precisely meant by this judgment, it is impossible at present to determine with any certainty, inasmuch as it is yet future. If, however, we may argue from analogy, since the great city means the Roman empire, and since the throne means the authority exercised within that empire by its head, the pouring out of a vial upon the throne of the beast, so as to fill his whole kingdom with darkness, seems most naturally to mean some severe blow aimed directly at his authority, which should fill his whole kingdom with confusion.” This judgment, which Mr. Fleming supposed would begin about A.D. 1794, (but which probably did not begin till after the termination of the horrors of the French Revolution by the battle of Waterloo, in the year 1815,) that pious divine thought would not expire till A.D. 1848. For, says he, “since the pope received the title of supreme bishop no sooner than the year 606, he cannot be supposed to have any vial poured upon his throne, so as to ruin his authority as signally as this judgment must do, until the year 1848, when the twelve hundred and sixty years in the prophetical account may be considered as ending. But yet we are not to imagine that this vial will totally destroy the Papacy, (though it will exceedingly weaken it,) for we find it still in being and active when the next vial is poured out.” Bishop Newton thinks the judgment here intended will fall upon Rome itself, and will darken and confound the whole antichristian empire. But still the consequences of this plague are much the same as those of the foregoing one; for the sufferers, instead of repenting of their deeds, are hardened like Pharaoh, and still persist in their blasphemy and idolatry, and obstinately withstand all attempts of reformation.”

Ver. 10, 11. They gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven. “That this was literally the case towards, and at the termination of the war in 1814, and afterwards on the renewed termination of hostilities in 1815, might be fully ascertained by those who beheld the vast numbers of their wounded soldiers in the fields of battle, and afterwards in their public hospitals, blaspheming God, and cursing the author of their calamities. And that they do not yet repent of their deeds, is too plainly manifested by the hitherto unavailing attempts to reclaim them from their vices.

“Furthermore, considering the pains that had been taken to instruct the French prisoners, both in our prisons and prison-ships, while in England, and the apparent good impressions made on the minds of several, with the additional advantage of a French bible, which was given to almost every individual to take back with him on his return home, it might have been expected that a foundation was laid for the successful progress of the gospel in France. And we would still cherish the hope of the future triumphs of divine grace there, where the gospel-word was so early received, and many christian churches planted; yea, where not a few obtained through death a martyr’s crown.”

10. Seat—More truly, throne. Of the beast—As the throne of God is in the temple of the mystic Jerusalem, so, antithetically, the throne of the beast should be in the citadel of the mystic Babylon. Its pride, power, and darkening are chanted in Revelation 18:7, 8. Bold and terrible was that stroke of the angel-plague! From that high centre it would radiate darkness through his kingdom; and no wonder his subjects gnawed their tongues for pain.

V. 11. And they-His followers.

Gnawed their tongues-Out of furious impatience.

Because of their pains and because of their ulcers-Now mentioned together, and in the plural number, to signify that they were greatly heightened and multiplied.

Verse 11. Blasphemed the God of heaven] Neither did they repent; therefore other judgments must follow. Some think that the sun was Vitellius, the Roman emperor, and that his throne means Rome; and the darkening refers to the injuries she sustained in her political consequence by the civil wars which then took place, from which she never entirely recovered. Others apply it all to papal Rome, and in this respect make out a very clear case! Thus have men conjectured, but how much nearer are we to the truth?

Verses 10, 11. And the fifth angel poured out his vial on the seat, or throne, of the beast — The reader will recollect that mention has been made of two beasts, (see Revelation 13:1, 11,) the secular and the ecclesiastical; and, as Mr. Faber observes, “it might be doubted which of the two was here intended, were we not assisted in our inquiries by the general context of the whole prophecy. Whenever the beast is simply mentioned, by way of eminence, as it were, it will invariably be found that the ten-horned or secular beast is meant, not the two-horned or ecclesiastical beast. In addition to this general proof, the particular context of the present passage may be adduced. The angel pours his vial on the throne of the beast. Now the first beast is expressly said to have had a throne given him by the dragon; because, although nominally Christian, he exercised his secular authority like his predecessor, the pagan empire, in persecuting the church of God: (see Revelation 12:2:) whereas no mention is made of the throne of the second beast, and for this plain reason; the secular authority of the pope [and his clergy] was confined within the narrow limits of an Italian principality, and all the persecutions which he ever excited against the faithful were carried into effect by the first beast, through the instrumentality of his last head, or his ten horns. Hence it is manifest that the beast, upon whose throne the present vial is poured, is the first or secular beast. What is precisely meant by this judgment, it is impossible at present to determine with any certainty, inasmuch as it is yet future. If, however, we may argue from analogy, since the great city means the Roman empire, and since the throne means the authority exercised within that empire by its head, the pouring out of a vial upon the throne of the beast, so as to fill his whole kingdom with darkness, seems most naturally to mean some severe blow aimed directly at his authority, which should fill his whole kingdom with confusion.” This judgment, which Mr. Fleming supposed would begin about A.D. 1794, (but which probably did not begin till after the termination of the horrors of the French Revolution by the battle of Waterloo, in the year 1815,) that pious divine thought would not expire till A.D. 1848. For, says he, “since the pope received the title of supreme bishop no sooner than the year 606, he cannot be supposed to have any vial poured upon his throne, so as to ruin his authority as signally as this judgment must do, until the year 1848, when the twelve hundred and sixty years in the prophetical account may be considered as ending. But yet we are not to imagine that this vial will totally destroy the Papacy, (though it will exceedingly weaken it,) for we find it still in being and active when the next vial is poured out.” Bishop Newton thinks the judgment here intended will fall upon Rome itself, and will darken and confound the whole antichristian empire. But still the consequences of this plague are much the same as those of the foregoing one; for the sufferers, instead of repenting of their deeds, are hardened like Pharaoh, and still persist in their blasphemy and idolatry, and obstinately withstand all attempts of reformation.”

Ver. 10, 11. They gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven. “That this was literally the case towards, and at the termination of the war in 1814, and afterwards on the renewed termination of hostilities in 1815, might be fully ascertained by those who beheld the vast numbers of their wounded soldiers in the fields of battle, and afterwards in their public hospitals, blaspheming God, and cursing the author of their calamities. And that they do not yet repent of their deeds, is too plainly manifested by the hitherto unavailing attempts to reclaim them from their vices.

“Furthermore, considering the pains that had been taken to instruct the French prisoners, both in our prisons and prison-ships, while in England, and the apparent good impressions made on the minds of several, with the additional advantage of a French bible, which was given to almost every individual to take back with him on his return home, it might have been expected that a foundation was laid for the successful progress of the gospel in France. And we would still cherish the hope of the future triumphs of divine grace there, where the gospel-word was so early received, and many christian churches planted; yea, where not a few obtained through death a martyr’s crown.”

11. Blasphemed… because… pains—It strikingly illustrates this passage to note that the papacy has grown more bold in its theological blasphemies as its political power has waned. The syllabus of Pope Pius IX, and his assumption of infallibility, were his blasphemous defiance of the modern age, wrung from the beast by the plagues upon his throne. Dusterdieck notes, that there is in the four vials no such limitation of the ruin to the third part as appears in the seals and trumpets, and so infers that they indicate the final destruction of the world. The mistaken inference arises from his not noting the fact that Babylon’s destruction alone is the object of this triad of chapters; and the non-limitation signifies simply that the whole of Babylon is to be destroyed, and the destruction is to be total. c. Sixth vial on the Euphrates, for the kings of the East, 12.

V. 12. And the sixth poured out his phial upon the great river Euphrates-Affected also by the sixth trumpet.

And the water of it-And of all the rivers that flow into it. Was dried up-The far greater part of the Turkish empire lies on this side the Euphrates. The Romish and Mahometan affairs ran nearly parallel to each other for several ages. In the seventh century was Mahomet himself; and, a little before him, Boniface III., with his universal bishopric. In the eleventh, both the Turks and Gregory VII. carried all before them. In the year 1300, Boniface appeared with his two swords at the newly-erected jubilee. In the self-same year arose the Ottoman Porte; yea, and on the same day. And here the phial, poured out on the throne of the beast, is immediately followed by that poured out on the Euphrates; that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared-Those who lie east from the Euphrates, in Persia, India, &c., who will rush blindfold upon the plagues which are ready for them, toward the Holy Land, which lies west of the Euphrates.

Verse 12. Upon the great river Euphrates] Probably meaning the people in the vicinity of this river; though some think that the Tiber is intended. The water thereof was dried up] The people discomfited, and all impediments removed.

The kings of the east] There seems to be an allusion here to the ruin of Babylon by Cyrus, predicted by the Prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah 50:1-51:64. But what city or people is pointed out by this Babylon it is in vain to conjecture.

Verses 12-14. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates — Affected also by the sixth trumpet; and the water thereof was dried up — And of all the rivers that flowed into it. The Turkish empire seems to be here intended, lying chiefly on this side the Euphrates. The Romish and Mohammedan affairs ran nearly parallel to each other for several ages. In the seventh age rose Mohammed himself, and a little before him Boniface III., with his universal bishopric. In the eleventh, both the Turks and Gregory VII. carried all before them. In the year 1300 Boniface appeared with his two swords at the newly-erected jubilee. In the self-same year arose the Ottoman Porte; yea, and on the same day. And here the vial poured out on the beast is immediately followed by that poured out on the Euphrates; that is, as appears, on the Mohammedan antichrist, as the former were on the Papacy. And as the sixth trumpet brought the Turks from beyond the Euphrates, from crossing which river they date their rise, this sixth vial dries up their waves, and exhausts their power, as the means and way to prepare and dispose the eastern kings and kingdoms to renounce their heathenish and Mohammedan errors, in order to their receiving and embracing Christianity. To nearly the same purpose Mr. Faber interprets the effects of this vial. “Under the sixth trumpet,” says he, “the four Turkish sultanies, the mystic waters of the Ottoman empire, issued from the river Euphrates: under the sixth vial the waters of the same Euphrates are to be dried up. We cannot, therefore, reasonably doubt that the symbolical Euphrates means, in both cases, the same power. Rivers typify nations; and when a particular river is specified, the nation immediately connected with that river is obviously intended. Such being the case, as the issuing forth of the four sultanies, those mystic waters of the Euphrates, which deluged the eastern empire, denotes the rise of the Turkish power, so the drying up of those waters must evidently denote its subversion.” As a prelude to this, if we advert to the present state of the Turkish power we shall be convinced that, for several years, it has gradually been upon the decline; and the approaching termination of the Ottoman empire is so manifest, that even those whose attention is solely directed to politics, are sufficiently aware that the time of its extinction cannot be far distant. Of late it has been preserved rather by the jealousy of the great European powers than by any physical strength of its own; and it doubtless will be preserved by the hand of Providence, until his own appointed season shall approach for preparing a way for the kings of the east, and for gathering together the kings of the Latin world to the battle of the great day of God Almighty — By the kings of the east are probably meant the kings or kingdoms lying east from the Euphrates, namely, in Persia, India, and perhaps also China, for the conversion of whom to the Christian faith, it seems the removal of the Mohammedan empire will prepare the way. But though this seems probable, there can be no certainty of it; nor can the matters here predicted be more than the subjects of conjecture. Whoever these kings or kingdoms may be, they appear, Bishop Newton thinks, to threaten the ruin and destruction of the kingdom of the beast; and, therefore, the agents and emissaries of Popery, (verses 13, 14,) of the dragon, the representative of the devil, and of the beast, the representative of the antichristian empire, and of the false prophet, the representative of the antichristian church, (that is, as some think, the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits,) as disagreeable, as loquacious, as sordid, as impudent as frogs, are employed to oppose them, and stir up the princes and potentates of their communion to make their united and last effort in a religious war. These three unclean spirits, it is said, are the spirits of devils working miracles — Namely, pretended miracles, to impose upon the weak and credulous; which go forth to the kings of the earth — Thv oikoumenhv olhv, of the whole Roman world, or empire, as the expression frequently means; to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. That is, they use all their evil arts and wicked policy to excite the princes and great men of the world to unite more firmly against all who aid and abet the cause of truth and righteousness, of God and religion.

12. Great river Euphrates—Viewed here not as a part of the framework of creation, but as a symbol of the populations (Revelation 18:3) that sustain Babylon and the beast. Revelation 9:14. This symbol is drawn from a signal passage in profane history. When Cyrus the Great came with his mighty armies from the east, with many a king and prince in command of the various sections of his hosts, to conquer old Babylon, he found “the great city” impregnable. At length, in a master-stroke of military genius, he set his men to work to turn the direction of the channel of the Euphrates, which ran through the city. When its channel was sufficiently dry he led his soldiers on its bottom into the city, and so conquered it. So, then, the Euphrates was literally dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. Most beautifully does our seer appropriate this historic event to his symbolic purpose.

Cyrus is styled by God himself (Isaiah 45:1,) “mine anointed,” that is, my messiah, and so, if not exactly a type, is certainly an illustrative figure of our Messiah. One is from the east, and the other is from “the day-spring from on high.” Luke 1:78. One conquered the literal, and the other conquers the mystical, Babylon. Here as elsewhere John’s symbols are taken from sources within the biblical range. The meaning, then, is, that the population and powers of Babylon are wasted away, that the way of our Messiah, with his kings of the east leading his armies, might be prepared to the capture of the mystic Babylon. Alford objects, that to introduce an “auspicious event” like this here, where all is adverse, would be incongruous. But the event is very inauspicious to Babylon, and so is congruous with all the previous plagues.

d. The three frogs—Antichristic rally in behalf of Babylon, 13-16. After six such strokes of plagues the Satanic powers begin to respond with warlike movement. Three bold emissaries are sent forth to rally the world-wide forces to a world-wide conflict.

V. 13. Out of the mouth of the dragon, the wild beast, and the false prophet-It seems, the dragon fights chiefly against God; the beast, against Christ; the false prophet, against the Spirit of truth; and that the three unclean spirits which come from them, and exactly resemble them, endeavour to blacken the works of creation, of redemption, and of sanctification.

The false prophet-So is the second beast frequently named, after the kingdom of the first is darkened; for he can then no longer prevail by main strength, and so works by lies and deceit. Mahomet was first a false prophet, and afterwards a powerful prince: but this beast was first powerful as a prince; afterwards a false prophet, a teacher of lies. Like frogs-Whose abode is in fens, marshes, and other unclean places. To the kings of the whole world-Both Mahometan and pagan. To gather them-To the assistance of their three principals.

Verse 13. Three unclean spirits] Perhaps false teachers, called afterwards spirits of devils, which persuade the kings of the earth by lying miracles to come forth to the place of general slaughter, Revelation 16:14, 16,

Some good critics apply this to Vespasian, and his pretended miracles. See the account in Tacitus, lib. iv. c. 81.

Verses 12-14. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates — Affected also by the sixth trumpet; and the water thereof was dried up — And of all the rivers that flowed into it. The Turkish empire seems to be here intended, lying chiefly on this side the Euphrates. The Romish and Mohammedan affairs ran nearly parallel to each other for several ages. In the seventh age rose Mohammed himself, and a little before him Boniface III., with his universal bishopric. In the eleventh, both the Turks and Gregory VII. carried all before them. In the year 1300 Boniface appeared with his two swords at the newly-erected jubilee. In the self-same year arose the Ottoman Porte; yea, and on the same day. And here the vial poured out on the beast is immediately followed by that poured out on the Euphrates; that is, as appears, on the Mohammedan antichrist, as the former were on the Papacy. And as the sixth trumpet brought the Turks from beyond the Euphrates, from crossing which river they date their rise, this sixth vial dries up their waves, and exhausts their power, as the means and way to prepare and dispose the eastern kings and kingdoms to renounce their heathenish and Mohammedan errors, in order to their receiving and embracing Christianity. To nearly the same purpose Mr. Faber interprets the effects of this vial. “Under the sixth trumpet,” says he, “the four Turkish sultanies, the mystic waters of the Ottoman empire, issued from the river Euphrates: under the sixth vial the waters of the same Euphrates are to be dried up. We cannot, therefore, reasonably doubt that the symbolical Euphrates means, in both cases, the same power. Rivers typify nations; and when a particular river is specified, the nation immediately connected with that river is obviously intended. Such being the case, as the issuing forth of the four sultanies, those mystic waters of the Euphrates, which deluged the eastern empire, denotes the rise of the Turkish power, so the drying up of those waters must evidently denote its subversion.” As a prelude to this, if we advert to the present state of the Turkish power we shall be convinced that, for several years, it has gradually been upon the decline; and the approaching termination of the Ottoman empire is so manifest, that even those whose attention is solely directed to politics, are sufficiently aware that the time of its extinction cannot be far distant. Of late it has been preserved rather by the jealousy of the great European powers than by any physical strength of its own; and it doubtless will be preserved by the hand of Providence, until his own appointed season shall approach for preparing a way for the kings of the east, and for gathering together the kings of the Latin world to the battle of the great day of God Almighty — By the kings of the east are probably meant the kings or kingdoms lying east from the Euphrates, namely, in Persia, India, and perhaps also China, for the conversion of whom to the Christian faith, it seems the removal of the Mohammedan empire will prepare the way. But though this seems probable, there can be no certainty of it; nor can the matters here predicted be more than the subjects of conjecture. Whoever these kings or kingdoms may be, they appear, Bishop Newton thinks, to threaten the ruin and destruction of the kingdom of the beast; and, therefore, the agents and emissaries of Popery, (verses 13, 14,) of the dragon, the representative of the devil, and of the beast, the representative of the antichristian empire, and of the false prophet, the representative of the antichristian church, (that is, as some think, the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits,) as disagreeable, as loquacious, as sordid, as impudent as frogs, are employed to oppose them, and stir up the princes and potentates of their communion to make their united and last effort in a religious war. These three unclean spirits, it is said, are the spirits of devils working miracles — Namely, pretended miracles, to impose upon the weak and credulous; which go forth to the kings of the earth — Thv oikoumenhv olhv, of the whole Roman world, or empire, as the expression frequently means; to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. That is, they use all their evil arts and wicked policy to excite the princes and great men of the world to unite more firmly against all who aid and abet the cause of truth and righteousness, of God and religion.

Ver. 13. I saw three unclean spirits go out of the mouth of the dragon, in every form of pride; and out of the mouth of the beast, in the horrors of blasphemy, as mystery — infallible — vicar of God. And out of the mouth of the false prophet, in lies, in absolutions, in librations from purgatory. This character equally applies to Mahomed, the false prophet, on whose empire blood must be avenged with blood. Yea, with slaughter like Armageddon. Ezekiel 38.

13. From this infernal triad—the pagan dragon, pseudo-orthodox beast, and the hierarchic false prophet—three unclean spirits go forth. One goes from the mouth of each, and so is the symbol of utterance and propagation of principles according to the utterer. Like frogs—Unseemly figures issuing from the mouths of the monsters, like frogs from a miasmatic morass. The only appearance of the real frogs in Scripture previous to this is as one of the plagues of Egypt. The Hebrew word for frog signifies marsh-leaper; and the Egyptian conception was, that he was truly slime-born. Hence the slimy frog well represents the earthborn errors and depravities of the three monsters sent into the air in opposition to the heavenborn forces bearing down upon them. And, with their dismal croaking, they are the proper missionaries of atheistic despair, and fit pleaders for a falling cause. The pagan frog-form comes forth from the dragon; and modern atheism is essentially pagan. It substitutes a falsity in the place of the true God. Sometimes, with ancient Epicurus and Lucretius, it substitutes blind law, abolishing any intelligent lawgiver. Or, with Holbach, it substitutes the great material whole, under the name of Nature, as evolving all the changes we see. Or, with Comte, it makes an object of worship of what he calls the Great Being, the human race, and establishes a ritual in honor of the greatest specimens of humanity. Or, with Spencer, it imagines an Unknown Absolute, which, without consciousness or sense itself, is author of the intelligent system. The deity last invented seems to be god, Force, which produces motion, and in some unexplained way moves things into intellectual forms and operations. All these conceptions are simply the antitheistic workings of the old rebellious, godless spirit which transformed the first archangel into that old serpent the devil, here symbolized as the dragon. The beast—Is the power of spiritual despotism. It assumes to take the place of God in overruling the consciences of men, and thereby ruling over men themselves, to its own supreme aggrandizement. Its primal apocalyptic representative is the Romish spiritual empire, personally individualized in the pope, and brought to a climax in the proclamation of the dogma of papal infallibility. But developed by that expansion of which we have repeatedly spoken, it applies to all the great spiritual despotisms, whether Christian, Mohammedan, or Pagan, which have organized force and persecution, interfering between man and God. The false prophet—The lying theologian, the framer of mendacious dogmas, superstitions, and systems of error. He is often subservient to the spiritual despot, and often becomes the spiritual despot himself. And thus the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet are a sort of anti-trinity. The first, as pagan and atheistic, is opposed to God; the second, as lord of a hostile kingdom, is opposed to Christ; and the third, as the spirit of error, is opposed to the Holy Spirit of truth. Alford insists that these demons are literal; but as two of them come from the mouths of symbolical beings they may well be held as symbols. Not, indeed, as symbols of “classes of men” or “sects,” but of malign principles, infernal influences, and depraved systems and organisms. Working miracles—Or supernatural wonders, pretended or real. These prodigies are, of course, wrought through the agencies of men. The pseudo-“spiritism,” or demonism, of the present day may at least serve as illustration. Unto the kings… world—Correcter reading, Upon the kings of the whole inhabited world. Revelation 18:3. The universality of kings symbolized by the ten horns. Neither the summons to war or the fight itself is limited to a single locality. The battle—A battle of ideas, resolving itself into perhaps a corporeal battle, a series of wars for centuries. Yet there may be great critical contests, or even one all-decisive contest, greatly decisive of the vast result.

Verses 12-14. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates — Affected also by the sixth trumpet; and the water thereof was dried up — And of all the rivers that flowed into it. The Turkish empire seems to be here intended, lying chiefly on this side the Euphrates. The Romish and Mohammedan affairs ran nearly parallel to each other for several ages. In the seventh age rose Mohammed himself, and a little before him Boniface III., with his universal bishopric. In the eleventh, both the Turks and Gregory VII. carried all before them. In the year 1300 Boniface appeared with his two swords at the newly-erected jubilee. In the self-same year arose the Ottoman Porte; yea, and on the same day. And here the vial poured out on the beast is immediately followed by that poured out on the Euphrates; that is, as appears, on the Mohammedan antichrist, as the former were on the Papacy. And as the sixth trumpet brought the Turks from beyond the Euphrates, from crossing which river they date their rise, this sixth vial dries up their waves, and exhausts their power, as the means and way to prepare and dispose the eastern kings and kingdoms to renounce their heathenish and Mohammedan errors, in order to their receiving and embracing Christianity. To nearly the same purpose Mr. Faber interprets the effects of this vial. “Under the sixth trumpet,” says he, “the four Turkish sultanies, the mystic waters of the Ottoman empire, issued from the river Euphrates: under the sixth vial the waters of the same Euphrates are to be dried up. We cannot, therefore, reasonably doubt that the symbolical Euphrates means, in both cases, the same power. Rivers typify nations; and when a particular river is specified, the nation immediately connected with that river is obviously intended. Such being the case, as the issuing forth of the four sultanies, those mystic waters of the Euphrates, which deluged the eastern empire, denotes the rise of the Turkish power, so the drying up of those waters must evidently denote its subversion.” As a prelude to this, if we advert to the present state of the Turkish power we shall be convinced that, for several years, it has gradually been upon the decline; and the approaching termination of the Ottoman empire is so manifest, that even those whose attention is solely directed to politics, are sufficiently aware that the time of its extinction cannot be far distant. Of late it has been preserved rather by the jealousy of the great European powers than by any physical strength of its own; and it doubtless will be preserved by the hand of Providence, until his own appointed season shall approach for preparing a way for the kings of the east, and for gathering together the kings of the Latin world to the battle of the great day of God Almighty — By the kings of the east are probably meant the kings or kingdoms lying east from the Euphrates, namely, in Persia, India, and perhaps also China, for the conversion of whom to the Christian faith, it seems the removal of the Mohammedan empire will prepare the way. But though this seems probable, there can be no certainty of it; nor can the matters here predicted be more than the subjects of conjecture. Whoever these kings or kingdoms may be, they appear, Bishop Newton thinks, to threaten the ruin and destruction of the kingdom of the beast; and, therefore, the agents and emissaries of Popery, (verses 13, 14,) of the dragon, the representative of the devil, and of the beast, the representative of the antichristian empire, and of the false prophet, the representative of the antichristian church, (that is, as some think, the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits,) as disagreeable, as loquacious, as sordid, as impudent as frogs, are employed to oppose them, and stir up the princes and potentates of their communion to make their united and last effort in a religious war. These three unclean spirits, it is said, are the spirits of devils working miracles — Namely, pretended miracles, to impose upon the weak and credulous; which go forth to the kings of the earth — Thv oikoumenhv olhv, of the whole Roman world, or empire, as the expression frequently means; to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. That is, they use all their evil arts and wicked policy to excite the princes and great men of the world to unite more firmly against all who aid and abet the cause of truth and righteousness, of God and religion.

V. 15. Behold, I come as a thief-Suddenly, unexpectedly. Observe the beautiful abruptness.

I-Jesus Christ. Hear him.

Happy is he that watcheth.-Looking continually for him that "cometh quickly."

And keepeth on his garments-Which men use to put off when they sleep. Lest he walk naked, and they see his shame-Lest he lose the graces which he takes no care to keep, and others see his sin and punishment.

Verse 15. Behold, I come as a thief.] Here is a sudden but timely warning to put every man on his guard, when this sudden and generally unexpected tribulation should take place.

Keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked] Here is a plain allusion to the office of him who was called the prefect or overseer, of the mountain of the temple. His custom was to go his rounds during the watches of the night; and if he found any of the Levites sleeping on his watch, he had authority to beat him with a stick, and burn his vestments. See Middoth, fol. 34, 1, and Tamid. fol. 27, 2; 28, 1. Such a person being found on his return home naked, it was at once known that he had been found asleep at his post, had been beaten, and his clothes burnt; thus his shame was seen-he was reproached for his infidelity and irreligion.

Verses 15, 16. Behold, I come as a thief — Suddenly and unexpectedly. Observe the beautiful abruptness; I, Jesus Christ. Hear him! Thus, when it is foretold that these evil agents will use great art and address in support of their bad cause, the Spirit of wisdom adds a useful caution, warning the faithful servants of Christ to be on their guard against the emissaries of hell, lest they should be deceived to their own destruction. Blessed is he that watcheth — That looks continually for him that comes quickly; and keepeth his garments on him — Which men usually put off when they sleep; that is, that keepeth himself clothed with the robe of righteousness, the garment of salvation; lest he walk naked, and they see his shame — Lest he lose the graces which he takes no care to keep, and others see his sin and punishment. And he gathered them together — The true construction is, And they gathered them together; that is, the evil spirits and agents, before mentioned, gather all the forces of the Popish princes together; into a place called, in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon — That is, the mountain of destruction. Mageddon, or Megiddo, is a place frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, well known in ancient times for many memorable occurrences; in particular, the slaughter of the kings of Canaan, related Judges 5:19. Here the narrative appears to break off, but is resumed again chap. 19:19.

Ver. 15. Behold, I come as a thief, when the least expected. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments from being set on fire by the officer, who on going his rounds in the temple was used to take the candle out of his lantern, and set the linen clothes of the levite on fire, when he found him asleep at his post, lest he walk naked, and his shame be seen.

15. Behold—A solemn warning to watchfulness against being seduced by the spirits of devils into the antichristic army. He who is “the way, the truth, and the life,” steals upon us in the midst of these vain shows “as a thief;”—”a thief,” not in his hostile purpose, but in his difficulty of recognition. Yet unless one watcheth and keepeth his garments he will be left to nakedness and shame. The loose garments of the oriental sleeper are easily purloined, and the victim is liable, when he wakes, to walk naked. His safeguard is vigilance.

V. 16. And they gathered them together to Armageddon-Mageddon, or Megiddo, is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. Armageddon signifies the city or the mountain of Megiddo; to which the valley of Megiddo adjoined. This was a place well known in ancient times for many memorable occurrences; in particular, the slaughter of the kings of Canaan, related, Judges 5:19. Here the narrative breaks off. It is resumed, Revelation 19:19.

Verse 16. Armageddon.] The original of this word has been variously formed, and variously translated. It is מגדונ rh har-megiddon, “the mount of the assembly;” or גדהונ חרמה chormah gedehon, “the destruction of their army;” or it is wdgm rh har-megiddo, “Mount Megiddo,” the valley of which was remarkable for two great slaughters: one of the Israelites, 2 Kings 23:29, the other of the Canaanites, Judges 4:16; 5:19. But Mount Megiddo, that is Carmel, is the place, according to some, where these armies should be collected. But what is the battle of Armageddon? How ridiculous have been the conjectures of men relative to this point! Within the last twenty years this battle has been fought at various places, according to our purblind seers and self-inspired prophets! At one time it was Austerlitz, at another Moscow, at another Leipsic, and now Waterloo! And thus they have gone on, and will go on, confounding and being confounded.

Verses 15, 16. Behold, I come as a thief — Suddenly and unexpectedly. Observe the beautiful abruptness; I, Jesus Christ. Hear him! Thus, when it is foretold that these evil agents will use great art and address in support of their bad cause, the Spirit of wisdom adds a useful caution, warning the faithful servants of Christ to be on their guard against the emissaries of hell, lest they should be deceived to their own destruction. Blessed is he that watcheth — That looks continually for him that comes quickly; and keepeth his garments on him — Which men usually put off when they sleep; that is, that keepeth himself clothed with the robe of righteousness, the garment of salvation; lest he walk naked, and they see his shame — Lest he lose the graces which he takes no care to keep, and others see his sin and punishment. And he gathered them together — The true construction is, And they gathered them together; that is, the evil spirits and agents, before mentioned, gather all the forces of the Popish princes together; into a place called, in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon — That is, the mountain of destruction. Mageddon, or Megiddo, is a place frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, well known in ancient times for many memorable occurrences; in particular, the slaughter of the kings of Canaan, related Judges 5:19. Here the narrative appears to break off, but is resumed again chap. 19:19.

Ver. 16. And he gathered them together. The pronoun “he” destroys the sense. The Mons version supplies the proper antecedent. Et ces esprits [the three unclean spirits above] assemblerent ces rois au lieu, &c. And those spirits gathered these kings to a place called Armageddon, celebrated for the slaughter of the king of Canaan’s army, when not a man escaped. Judges 4. So again, Satan, compelled by divine power, shall infatuate his victims to final destruction.

16. And he—Rather they, referring to the spirits of devils, verse 14. It is the three demons who go as envoys to the kings of the earth, to form alliance and compact their forces against the divine invasion. Gathered them—The success is gained, the alliance formed, and the armies are gathered. Armageddon—A symbolic name invented by St. John and nowhere else found. Ar is the Greek form of the Hebrew har, mountain; and Mageddon is the Greek form of the Hebrew Megiddo. Megiddo was the scene of the great defeat of Sisera by Deborah and Barak, celebrated in Hebrew poetry by the song of Deborah, and thence traditionally glorious as the scene of a great victory for Jehovah. Our seer elevates it, though a plain, into a mountain, as symbol of the pre-eminence of the future conflict. All this indicates that the place is symbolical. When the day of this battle comes, the world will include not Europe alone, but America, Asia, and even Africa. The cities of the nations, verse 19, fall in the catastrophe with Babylon. We are not at all required to expect that such a contest will be decided in a single spot on the plain of Esdraelon or anywhere else. e. The seventh vial, on the air—the earthquake, the battle, and BABYLON’S

V. 17. And the seventh poured out his phial upon the air-Which encompasses the whole earth. This is the most weighty phial of all, and seems to take up more time than any of the preceding. It is done-What was commanded, Revelation 16:1. The phials are poured out.

Verse 17. Poured out his vial into the air] To signify that this plague was to be widely diffused, and perhaps to intimate that pestilences and various deaths would be the effect of this vial. But possibly air in this place may have some emblematical meaning.

It is done.] It is said, Revelation 10:7, that in the days of the seventh trumpet the mystery of God should be finished; so here we find it completed. gegone. All’s over! Fuimus Troes! Ilium fuit! Once there were Trojans, and they had a city; but now all are extinct.

Verses 17-21. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air — The seat of Satan’s residence, who is emphatically styled, (Ephesians 2:2,) the prince of the power of the air, and is represented (ver. 13,) as a principal actor in these latter scenes; so that this last period will not only complete the ruin of the kingdom of the beast, but will also shake the kingdom of Satan everywhere. Upon the pouring out of this vial, a solemn proclamation is made from the throne of God himself, It is done — In the same sense as the angel before affirmed, Revelation 10:7, that in the days of the seventh trumpet the mystery of God should be finished. Of this vial, as indeed of all the former, the completion is gradual; and the immediate effects and consequences are, (verses 18-21,) voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake, and great hail — Events portending great calamities. Voices, and thunders, and lightnings, are the usual attendants of the Deity, especially in his judgments. Great earthquakes, in prophetic language, signify great changes and revolutions; and this is such a one as men never felt and experienced before; such as was not since men were upon the earth. Not only the great city is divided into three parts, or factions, but the cities of the nations fall from their obedience to her. Her sins are remembered before God, and, like another Babylon, she will soon be made to drink of the bitter cup of his anger. Nay, not only the works of men, the cities, fall, but even the works of nature; the islands flee away, and the mountains are not found; which is more than was said before, Revelation 6:14, that they were moved out of their places; and can import no less than an utter extirpation of idolatry. Great hail, too, often signifies the judgments of God, and these are uncommon judgments. Diodorus, a grave historian, speaketh of hailstones which weighed a pound and more; Philostorgius mentions hail that weighed eight pounds; but these are about the weight of a talent — Or about a hundred pounds; a strong figure, to denote the greatness and severity of these judgments. But still the men continue obstinate, and blaspheme God because of the plague of the hail — They remain incorrigible under the divine judgments, and shall be destroyed before they will be reformed. This vial of consummation was supposed by Mr. Mede to synchronize with the vintage, mentioned Revelation 14:18, 19, the conclusion of the grand drama of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, the time of the end. — When it shall be poured out, says Faber, “the great controversy of God with the nations will commence; his ancient people will begin to be restored; and the sentence of destruction will go forth against the beast and the false prophet, even while they are in the midst of their temporary success, and while they are vainly flattering themselves with the hope of a complete victory over the church of God. Such being its contents, it is said to be poured out into the air, in allusion to the dreadful storms of political thunder and lightning which it will produce. Four important events are comprehended under it: the earthquake, by which the great city is divided into three parts; the symbolical storm of hail; the overthrow of Babylon, and the battle of Armageddon, to which the kings of the earth had begun to gather themselves together under the preceding vial.” On these particulars we may observe as follows: 1st, The earthquake, by which the great city is divided into three parts, manifestly signifies, according to the usual import of prophetic language, some great revolution by which the Latin empire shall either be divided into three sovereignties, or prefectures, like the ancient Roman empire. But what the precise meaning of this prediction is, and how the city will be divided into three parts, time alone can discover. 2d, The hail-storm seems to denote some northern invasion of the Roman empire. Since the northern incursions of the Gothic nations, under the first trumpet, are typified by a storm of hail, it is only natural to conclude, from analogy, that the hailstorm of this vial, which synchronizes with the time of the end, likewise typifies a northern invasion. 3d, The fall of the spiritual Babylon, described at large in chap. 18., seems to be the same as the destruction of the little horn of Daniel’s fourth beast; they both equally relate to the complete subversion of the Papacy. 4th, Exactly contemporary with the fall of the spiritual Babylon, or the adulterous Church of Rome, will be the overthrow of its supporter, the secular Babylon, or the ten-horned Roman beast. The power of both will be broken in the same battle of Armageddon, which is abundantly manifest from the concurring testimony both of Daniel and St. John. Thus also Fleming, “This vial brings down thunder, lightning, hail, and storms; which, together with a terrible earthquake, destroys all the antichristian nations, and particularly Rome, or mystical Babylon. And as Christ concluded his sufferings on the cross with this voice, It is finished, so the church’s sufferings are concluded with a voice out of the temple of heaven and from the throne of God and Christ there, saying, It is done: and therefore with this the millennium, or thousand years of Christ’s spiritual reign on earth, begins. Now how great and remarkable this last destruction of the Papal antichrist will be, we may guess by the representation given of it Revelation 14:19, 20, (where see the note,) in which it is set forth under the emblem of the great wine-press of the wrath of God, which can refer to nothing so properly as the event of the seventh vial.”

DOWNFALL, 17-20.

17. And—The great event is not given in this consecutive order. On the contrary, the tumult of the terrible conflict is reflected in the confusion of the narrative. A great voice out of the temple—Where the avenging divine Presence is fixed until the downfall. Note on Revelation 15:8. It is done—The catastrophe is, in immediate anticipation, complete. The capital of antichrist is prostrated. Note Revelation 18:8.

V. 18. A great earthquake, such as had not been since men were upon the earth-It was therefore a literal, not figurative, earthquake.

Verse 18. A great earthquake] Most terrible commotions, both civil and religious. Or a convulsion, shaking, or revolution.

Verses 17-21. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air — The seat of Satan’s residence, who is emphatically styled, (Ephesians 2:2,) the prince of the power of the air, and is represented (ver. 13,) as a principal actor in these latter scenes; so that this last period will not only complete the ruin of the kingdom of the beast, but will also shake the kingdom of Satan everywhere. Upon the pouring out of this vial, a solemn proclamation is made from the throne of God himself, It is done — In the same sense as the angel before affirmed, Revelation 10:7, that in the days of the seventh trumpet the mystery of God should be finished. Of this vial, as indeed of all the former, the completion is gradual; and the immediate effects and consequences are, (verses 18-21,) voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake, and great hail — Events portending great calamities. Voices, and thunders, and lightnings, are the usual attendants of the Deity, especially in his judgments. Great earthquakes, in prophetic language, signify great changes and revolutions; and this is such a one as men never felt and experienced before; such as was not since men were upon the earth. Not only the great city is divided into three parts, or factions, but the cities of the nations fall from their obedience to her. Her sins are remembered before God, and, like another Babylon, she will soon be made to drink of the bitter cup of his anger. Nay, not only the works of men, the cities, fall, but even the works of nature; the islands flee away, and the mountains are not found; which is more than was said before, Revelation 6:14, that they were moved out of their places; and can import no less than an utter extirpation of idolatry. Great hail, too, often signifies the judgments of God, and these are uncommon judgments. Diodorus, a grave historian, speaketh of hailstones which weighed a pound and more; Philostorgius mentions hail that weighed eight pounds; but these are about the weight of a talent — Or about a hundred pounds; a strong figure, to denote the greatness and severity of these judgments. But still the men continue obstinate, and blaspheme God because of the plague of the hail — They remain incorrigible under the divine judgments, and shall be destroyed before they will be reformed. This vial of consummation was supposed by Mr. Mede to synchronize with the vintage, mentioned Revelation 14:18, 19, the conclusion of the grand drama of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, the time of the end. — When it shall be poured out, says Faber, “the great controversy of God with the nations will commence; his ancient people will begin to be restored; and the sentence of destruction will go forth against the beast and the false prophet, even while they are in the midst of their temporary success, and while they are vainly flattering themselves with the hope of a complete victory over the church of God. Such being its contents, it is said to be poured out into the air, in allusion to the dreadful storms of political thunder and lightning which it will produce. Four important events are comprehended under it: the earthquake, by which the great city is divided into three parts; the symbolical storm of hail; the overthrow of Babylon, and the battle of Armageddon, to which the kings of the earth had begun to gather themselves together under the preceding vial.” On these particulars we may observe as follows: 1st, The earthquake, by which the great city is divided into three parts, manifestly signifies, according to the usual import of prophetic language, some great revolution by which the Latin empire shall either be divided into three sovereignties, or prefectures, like the ancient Roman empire. But what the precise meaning of this prediction is, and how the city will be divided into three parts, time alone can discover. 2d, The hail-storm seems to denote some northern invasion of the Roman empire. Since the northern incursions of the Gothic nations, under the first trumpet, are typified by a storm of hail, it is only natural to conclude, from analogy, that the hailstorm of this vial, which synchronizes with the time of the end, likewise typifies a northern invasion. 3d, The fall of the spiritual Babylon, described at large in chap. 18., seems to be the same as the destruction of the little horn of Daniel’s fourth beast; they both equally relate to the complete subversion of the Papacy. 4th, Exactly contemporary with the fall of the spiritual Babylon, or the adulterous Church of Rome, will be the overthrow of its supporter, the secular Babylon, or the ten-horned Roman beast. The power of both will be broken in the same battle of Armageddon, which is abundantly manifest from the concurring testimony both of Daniel and St. John. Thus also Fleming, “This vial brings down thunder, lightning, hail, and storms; which, together with a terrible earthquake, destroys all the antichristian nations, and particularly Rome, or mystical Babylon. And as Christ concluded his sufferings on the cross with this voice, It is finished, so the church’s sufferings are concluded with a voice out of the temple of heaven and from the throne of God and Christ there, saying, It is done: and therefore with this the millennium, or thousand years of Christ’s spiritual reign on earth, begins. Now how great and remarkable this last destruction of the Papal antichrist will be, we may guess by the representation given of it Revelation 14:19, 20, (where see the note,) in which it is set forth under the emblem of the great wine-press of the wrath of God, which can refer to nothing so properly as the event of the seventh vial.”

18. Voices—Though the seventh seal sends forth the seven trumpets, and the seventh trumpet the seven plagues, the seventh plague sends forth no further seven-series, but ends with this catastrophe. The voices, and thunders, and lightnings are the prelude to the great earthquake. Such as was not… earth—For it covers all the continents and disturbs all the islands. It changes the face of the human earth. The seer wants words to magnify our thoughts to its true magnitude.

V. 19. And the great city-Namely, Jerusalem, here opposed to the heathen cities in general, and in particular to Rome. And the cities of the nations fell-Were utterly overthrown. And Babylon was remembered before God-He did not forget the vengeance which was due to her, though the execution of it was delayed.

Verse 19. The great city] Some say Jerusalem, others Rome pagan, others Rome papal.

The cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.] Alluding to the mode of putting certain criminals to death, by making them drink a cup of poison. See Clarke on “Hebrews 2:9”.

Verses 17-21. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air — The seat of Satan’s residence, who is emphatically styled, (Ephesians 2:2,) the prince of the power of the air, and is represented (ver. 13,) as a principal actor in these latter scenes; so that this last period will not only complete the ruin of the kingdom of the beast, but will also shake the kingdom of Satan everywhere. Upon the pouring out of this vial, a solemn proclamation is made from the throne of God himself, It is done — In the same sense as the angel before affirmed, Revelation 10:7, that in the days of the seventh trumpet the mystery of God should be finished. Of this vial, as indeed of all the former, the completion is gradual; and the immediate effects and consequences are, (verses 18-21,) voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake, and great hail — Events portending great calamities. Voices, and thunders, and lightnings, are the usual attendants of the Deity, especially in his judgments. Great earthquakes, in prophetic language, signify great changes and revolutions; and this is such a one as men never felt and experienced before; such as was not since men were upon the earth. Not only the great city is divided into three parts, or factions, but the cities of the nations fall from their obedience to her. Her sins are remembered before God, and, like another Babylon, she will soon be made to drink of the bitter cup of his anger. Nay, not only the works of men, the cities, fall, but even the works of nature; the islands flee away, and the mountains are not found; which is more than was said before, Revelation 6:14, that they were moved out of their places; and can import no less than an utter extirpation of idolatry. Great hail, too, often signifies the judgments of God, and these are uncommon judgments. Diodorus, a grave historian, speaketh of hailstones which weighed a pound and more; Philostorgius mentions hail that weighed eight pounds; but these are about the weight of a talent — Or about a hundred pounds; a strong figure, to denote the greatness and severity of these judgments. But still the men continue obstinate, and blaspheme God because of the plague of the hail — They remain incorrigible under the divine judgments, and shall be destroyed before they will be reformed. This vial of consummation was supposed by Mr. Mede to synchronize with the vintage, mentioned Revelation 14:18, 19, the conclusion of the grand drama of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, the time of the end. — When it shall be poured out, says Faber, “the great controversy of God with the nations will commence; his ancient people will begin to be restored; and the sentence of destruction will go forth against the beast and the false prophet, even while they are in the midst of their temporary success, and while they are vainly flattering themselves with the hope of a complete victory over the church of God. Such being its contents, it is said to be poured out into the air, in allusion to the dreadful storms of political thunder and lightning which it will produce. Four important events are comprehended under it: the earthquake, by which the great city is divided into three parts; the symbolical storm of hail; the overthrow of Babylon, and the battle of Armageddon, to which the kings of the earth had begun to gather themselves together under the preceding vial.” On these particulars we may observe as follows: 1st, The earthquake, by which the great city is divided into three parts, manifestly signifies, according to the usual import of prophetic language, some great revolution by which the Latin empire shall either be divided into three sovereignties, or prefectures, like the ancient Roman empire. But what the precise meaning of this prediction is, and how the city will be divided into three parts, time alone can discover. 2d, The hail-storm seems to denote some northern invasion of the Roman empire. Since the northern incursions of the Gothic nations, under the first trumpet, are typified by a storm of hail, it is only natural to conclude, from analogy, that the hailstorm of this vial, which synchronizes with the time of the end, likewise typifies a northern invasion. 3d, The fall of the spiritual Babylon, described at large in chap. 18., seems to be the same as the destruction of the little horn of Daniel’s fourth beast; they both equally relate to the complete subversion of the Papacy. 4th, Exactly contemporary with the fall of the spiritual Babylon, or the adulterous Church of Rome, will be the overthrow of its supporter, the secular Babylon, or the ten-horned Roman beast. The power of both will be broken in the same battle of Armageddon, which is abundantly manifest from the concurring testimony both of Daniel and St. John. Thus also Fleming, “This vial brings down thunder, lightning, hail, and storms; which, together with a terrible earthquake, destroys all the antichristian nations, and particularly Rome, or mystical Babylon. And as Christ concluded his sufferings on the cross with this voice, It is finished, so the church’s sufferings are concluded with a voice out of the temple of heaven and from the throne of God and Christ there, saying, It is done: and therefore with this the millennium, or thousand years of Christ’s spiritual reign on earth, begins. Now how great and remarkable this last destruction of the Papal antichrist will be, we may guess by the representation given of it Revelation 14:19, 20, (where see the note,) in which it is set forth under the emblem of the great wine-press of the wrath of God, which can refer to nothing so properly as the event of the seventh vial.”

Ver. 19. And the great city was divided into three parts; say till we have clearer light, catholics, protestants, infidels. The latter race, full of blasphemy, will endeavour to strip religion of all her wealth; and chase away superstition by satire, enmity, and contempt.

19. Divided, by the earthquake, into three parts—Laid into three separate heaps. Of course so great an earthquake would leave no structure standing. The three, the divine number, intimates that it was the divine work. Babylon falls not so much by man as by God. And note that it is not said that the destruction was divinely limited to a third part, but that the divine destruction rested on all the parts. The great battle is a trifle to the great earthquake. Cities of the nations fell—All the antichristian capitals, among all nations, fell by the same earthquake. And yet by the run of the commentators it is held that Babylon itself does not fall—is only menaced and partially damaged. In view of the awful menaces and dread preparation narrated, all aimed at Babylon, we have the ludicrous result that Babylon is the only city among the nations that does not fall! Remembrance… to give… cup… wrath—Here we catch a gleam of the battle. This can mean nothing less than that Jehovah here and now accomplished the destruction to the utmost. The words Revelation 18:1, 2, and 8-23, are a picture of her consequent condition. Every island fled—Neither Megiddo nor Rome has any sea islands in sight. The picture is, that the continents were shaken by the earthquake, the islands were frightened away, and the mountains were leveled to the plain, or became invisible—were not found—to the eye of the seer amid the smoke and confusion of the earthquake, battle, and downfall.

V. 20. Every island and mountain was "moved out of its place," Revelation 6:14; but here they all flee away. What a change must this make in the face of the terraqueous globe! And yet the end of the world is not come.

Verse 20. Every island fled away] Probably meaning the capture of seaport towns, and fortified places.

Verses 17-21. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air — The seat of Satan’s residence, who is emphatically styled, (Ephesians 2:2,) the prince of the power of the air, and is represented (ver. 13,) as a principal actor in these latter scenes; so that this last period will not only complete the ruin of the kingdom of the beast, but will also shake the kingdom of Satan everywhere. Upon the pouring out of this vial, a solemn proclamation is made from the throne of God himself, It is done — In the same sense as the angel before affirmed, Revelation 10:7, that in the days of the seventh trumpet the mystery of God should be finished. Of this vial, as indeed of all the former, the completion is gradual; and the immediate effects and consequences are, (verses 18-21,) voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake, and great hail — Events portending great calamities. Voices, and thunders, and lightnings, are the usual attendants of the Deity, especially in his judgments. Great earthquakes, in prophetic language, signify great changes and revolutions; and this is such a one as men never felt and experienced before; such as was not since men were upon the earth. Not only the great city is divided into three parts, or factions, but the cities of the nations fall from their obedience to her. Her sins are remembered before God, and, like another Babylon, she will soon be made to drink of the bitter cup of his anger. Nay, not only the works of men, the cities, fall, but even the works of nature; the islands flee away, and the mountains are not found; which is more than was said before, Revelation 6:14, that they were moved out of their places; and can import no less than an utter extirpation of idolatry. Great hail, too, often signifies the judgments of God, and these are uncommon judgments. Diodorus, a grave historian, speaketh of hailstones which weighed a pound and more; Philostorgius mentions hail that weighed eight pounds; but these are about the weight of a talent — Or about a hundred pounds; a strong figure, to denote the greatness and severity of these judgments. But still the men continue obstinate, and blaspheme God because of the plague of the hail — They remain incorrigible under the divine judgments, and shall be destroyed before they will be reformed. This vial of consummation was supposed by Mr. Mede to synchronize with the vintage, mentioned Revelation 14:18, 19, the conclusion of the grand drama of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, the time of the end. — When it shall be poured out, says Faber, “the great controversy of God with the nations will commence; his ancient people will begin to be restored; and the sentence of destruction will go forth against the beast and the false prophet, even while they are in the midst of their temporary success, and while they are vainly flattering themselves with the hope of a complete victory over the church of God. Such being its contents, it is said to be poured out into the air, in allusion to the dreadful storms of political thunder and lightning which it will produce. Four important events are comprehended under it: the earthquake, by which the great city is divided into three parts; the symbolical storm of hail; the overthrow of Babylon, and the battle of Armageddon, to which the kings of the earth had begun to gather themselves together under the preceding vial.” On these particulars we may observe as follows: 1st, The earthquake, by which the great city is divided into three parts, manifestly signifies, according to the usual import of prophetic language, some great revolution by which the Latin empire shall either be divided into three sovereignties, or prefectures, like the ancient Roman empire. But what the precise meaning of this prediction is, and how the city will be divided into three parts, time alone can discover. 2d, The hail-storm seems to denote some northern invasion of the Roman empire. Since the northern incursions of the Gothic nations, under the first trumpet, are typified by a storm of hail, it is only natural to conclude, from analogy, that the hailstorm of this vial, which synchronizes with the time of the end, likewise typifies a northern invasion. 3d, The fall of the spiritual Babylon, described at large in chap. 18., seems to be the same as the destruction of the little horn of Daniel’s fourth beast; they both equally relate to the complete subversion of the Papacy. 4th, Exactly contemporary with the fall of the spiritual Babylon, or the adulterous Church of Rome, will be the overthrow of its supporter, the secular Babylon, or the ten-horned Roman beast. The power of both will be broken in the same battle of Armageddon, which is abundantly manifest from the concurring testimony both of Daniel and St. John. Thus also Fleming, “This vial brings down thunder, lightning, hail, and storms; which, together with a terrible earthquake, destroys all the antichristian nations, and particularly Rome, or mystical Babylon. And as Christ concluded his sufferings on the cross with this voice, It is finished, so the church’s sufferings are concluded with a voice out of the temple of heaven and from the throne of God and Christ there, saying, It is done: and therefore with this the millennium, or thousand years of Christ’s spiritual reign on earth, begins. Now how great and remarkable this last destruction of the Papal antichrist will be, we may guess by the representation given of it Revelation 14:19, 20, (where see the note,) in which it is set forth under the emblem of the great wine-press of the wrath of God, which can refer to nothing so properly as the event of the seventh vial.”

DOWNFALL, 17-20.

17. And—The great event is not given in this consecutive order. On the contrary, the tumult of the terrible conflict is reflected in the confusion of the narrative. A great voice out of the temple—Where the avenging divine Presence is fixed until the downfall. Note on Revelation 15:8. It is done—The catastrophe is, in immediate anticipation, complete. The capital of antichrist is prostrated. Note Revelation 18:8.

V. 21. And a great hail falleth out of heaven-From which there was no defence. From the earthquake men would fly into the fields; but here also they are met by the hail: nor were they secure if they returned into the houses, when each hail-stone weighed sixty pounds.

Verse 21. A great hail-about the weight of a talent] Has this any reference to cannon balls and bombs? It is very doubtful; we are all in the dark in these matters.

The words wv talantiaia, as a talent, are used to express something great, excessively oppressive; as noshmatwn talantiaiwn, terrible diseases, not diseases of the weight of a talent. See Rosenmuller. REVELATION

Verses 17-21. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air — The seat of Satan’s residence, who is emphatically styled, (Ephesians 2:2,) the prince of the power of the air, and is represented (ver. 13,) as a principal actor in these latter scenes; so that this last period will not only complete the ruin of the kingdom of the beast, but will also shake the kingdom of Satan everywhere. Upon the pouring out of this vial, a solemn proclamation is made from the throne of God himself, It is done — In the same sense as the angel before affirmed, Revelation 10:7, that in the days of the seventh trumpet the mystery of God should be finished. Of this vial, as indeed of all the former, the completion is gradual; and the immediate effects and consequences are, (verses 18-21,) voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake, and great hail — Events portending great calamities. Voices, and thunders, and lightnings, are the usual attendants of the Deity, especially in his judgments. Great earthquakes, in prophetic language, signify great changes and revolutions; and this is such a one as men never felt and experienced before; such as was not since men were upon the earth. Not only the great city is divided into three parts, or factions, but the cities of the nations fall from their obedience to her. Her sins are remembered before God, and, like another Babylon, she will soon be made to drink of the bitter cup of his anger. Nay, not only the works of men, the cities, fall, but even the works of nature; the islands flee away, and the mountains are not found; which is more than was said before, Revelation 6:14, that they were moved out of their places; and can import no less than an utter extirpation of idolatry. Great hail, too, often signifies the judgments of God, and these are uncommon judgments. Diodorus, a grave historian, speaketh of hailstones which weighed a pound and more; Philostorgius mentions hail that weighed eight pounds; but these are about the weight of a talent — Or about a hundred pounds; a strong figure, to denote the greatness and severity of these judgments. But still the men continue obstinate, and blaspheme God because of the plague of the hail — They remain incorrigible under the divine judgments, and shall be destroyed before they will be reformed. This vial of consummation was supposed by Mr. Mede to synchronize with the vintage, mentioned Revelation 14:18, 19, the conclusion of the grand drama of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, the time of the end. — When it shall be poured out, says Faber, “the great controversy of God with the nations will commence; his ancient people will begin to be restored; and the sentence of destruction will go forth against the beast and the false prophet, even while they are in the midst of their temporary success, and while they are vainly flattering themselves with the hope of a complete victory over the church of God. Such being its contents, it is said to be poured out into the air, in allusion to the dreadful storms of political thunder and lightning which it will produce. Four important events are comprehended under it: the earthquake, by which the great city is divided into three parts; the symbolical storm of hail; the overthrow of Babylon, and the battle of Armageddon, to which the kings of the earth had begun to gather themselves together under the preceding vial.” On these particulars we may observe as follows: 1st, The earthquake, by which the great city is divided into three parts, manifestly signifies, according to the usual import of prophetic language, some great revolution by which the Latin empire shall either be divided into three sovereignties, or prefectures, like the ancient Roman empire. But what the precise meaning of this prediction is, and how the city will be divided into three parts, time alone can discover. 2d, The hail-storm seems to denote some northern invasion of the Roman empire. Since the northern incursions of the Gothic nations, under the first trumpet, are typified by a storm of hail, it is only natural to conclude, from analogy, that the hailstorm of this vial, which synchronizes with the time of the end, likewise typifies a northern invasion. 3d, The fall of the spiritual Babylon, described at large in chap. 18., seems to be the same as the destruction of the little horn of Daniel’s fourth beast; they both equally relate to the complete subversion of the Papacy. 4th, Exactly contemporary with the fall of the spiritual Babylon, or the adulterous Church of Rome, will be the overthrow of its supporter, the secular Babylon, or the ten-horned Roman beast. The power of both will be broken in the same battle of Armageddon, which is abundantly manifest from the concurring testimony both of Daniel and St. John. Thus also Fleming, “This vial brings down thunder, lightning, hail, and storms; which, together with a terrible earthquake, destroys all the antichristian nations, and particularly Rome, or mystical Babylon. And as Christ concluded his sufferings on the cross with this voice, It is finished, so the church’s sufferings are concluded with a voice out of the temple of heaven and from the throne of God and Christ there, saying, It is done: and therefore with this the millennium, or thousand years of Christ’s spiritual reign on earth, begins. Now how great and remarkable this last destruction of the Papal antichrist will be, we may guess by the representation given of it Revelation 14:19, 20, (where see the note,) in which it is set forth under the emblem of the great wine-press of the wrath of God, which can refer to nothing so properly as the event of the seventh vial.”

21. Fell… out of heaven—As if to leave a full, last impression that the destruction was from Jehovah, a new form of judgment came out of heaven. These were icebergs, sixty pounds in weight, hailed down from the sky. These fell upon men, crushing them with their cold, solid, remorseless weight. Note Revelation 18:21. Yet, though the divine hand was so apparent, the survivors repented not, but blasphemed God. They persisted in their adherence to antichrist until the battle of Revelation 19:11-21.

By our interpretation of this triad of chapters thus closed, it may be truly said that “we are living under the period of the vials;” apparently under the fifth. The Roman spiritual world-power, which succeeded the imperial Roman world-power, is smitten with serial plagues, and declines. Yet it grows spiritually more impenitent, self-asserting, and defiant with every successive smite. This world-wide Babylon presents itself before us here in America, claiming absolute supremacy over us, and ready for the battle; moral battle as long as the physical battle is not in its power; physical battle as soon as a sufficiency of the moral battle is won. How long this vial-period will endure we have no chronometer or almanac that can tell us. But every man of us would do well to be alert in duty so long as the contest lasts.