OF THE APOCALYPSE. The Epistles reveal the Spiritual; the Seals, the Civil; the Trumpets, the Ecclesiastical; and the Vials, the Judicial Phase of Christian History. Prefatory chapters to the Epistles, Seals, Rev. i, 4-20. Rev. iv. v. vii Rev. viii. 2-5. Trumpets, & Vials. Rev. x. xi. 113; xii. xiii. xiv. xv. Rev. xvi. 1, 2. Rev. xvi. 3. Rev. xvi. 4-7. On rivers and' fountains. Third part of Rev. xvi. 8, 9. the sun, moon, On the sun. and stars, Rev. ix. 1-12. Rev. xvi. 10, 11. Star falls, bottomless pit On the seat of opened. the beast. Rev. ix. 13-21. Rev. xvi. 12 The four an 16. gels loosed in On the river the Euphrates. Euphrates. Rev. xi. 14-19. The kingdoms Rev. xvi. 17. Seventh Period. Rev. viii. 1. of this world 21. On the air. The Christian Apostacy explained. Rev. xvii. Events connected with the Fall of Babylon, and the destruction of the Antichristian Army. Rev. xix. The next Dispensation, or the Millennial Age, or the reign of our LORD with His Saints on the earth. Rev. xx. 1-6. The end of the Millennial Age. Satan loosed. The general Resurrection and final Judg. ment; when Death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire, and the heavens and the earth flee away. Rev. xx. 7-15. The new heavens and new earth, the Holy City, New Jerusalem, descends from God out of heaven. Rev. xxi. and xxii. PART III. THE SYMBOLISM, AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE BOOK. BELIEVING the interpretation of the Apocalypse to be founded on the principles we have laid down in the foregoing Part, as set forth in the Table, we will now endeavour to confirm and illustrate these principles more fully from the Holy Scriptures. In referring then, to the principles upon which we propose to interpret the prophecy of this book, we remark in the first place concerning the Epistles, that these being addressed to only seven churches in Asia, when doubtless there were many more, the number intimates that they refer to the spiritual condition of the Church of CHRIST, from the beginning to the end of the dispensation. That is, they describe not only the spiritual condition of the churches to which they were written, and their application to the Catholic or Universal Church in all generations, from that time to the present, after a similar manner, but also, they are prophetic of seven distinct periods of its spiritual history, to each of which, according to its order and sequence, each Epistle has had an application, which no other of the series would bear at the time; so that its commendations, admonitions, and promises, were as peculiar to the period of which the Epistle was prophetic, as if they had been spoken at that time directly by the LORD from heaven, answering to, and corresponding so exactly with the condition of the Church and peculiarities of that period, as to show plainly and incontrovertibly its antetypical fulfilment. To understand, however, this application of the Epistles, it will be necessary, not only to trace a general outline of the Church's history, and to make this application of them, but also to give this interpretation in connexion with the other three prophetic streams, which apply to these same periods, and are given under the names of Seals, Trumpets, and Vials. These four streams of prophecy when combined together and rightly understood, will be found to contain a perfect history of the Christian Church, embracing every phase in its progress that can be presented to us. That such is the natural construction of these prophecies; namely, that they present a fourfold phase of the history of Christendom from the beginning to the end of the dispensation, commends itself even to our understanding. Suppose for example, that any person acquainted with all the events of Christian history, and also with the motives, and spirit in which they originated, be required to write a general history of these events, and to append a dissertation on the spirit and character of the times in which they took place, and that he is fully competent to do all this; what would be the probable and common-sense way in which he would seek to accomplish such an undertaking? Would he not, when he came to reflect upon, and examine the heterogeneous materials which he had to combine together into one general history, be almost forced from necessity to separate and classify his sub jects, and arrange them into sections, chapters, and books, according as the subject might be? He would find some events to be of a political character, and belonging to Civil history; some purely Ecclesiastical or belonging to the Church, as an outward polity, distinct from the State; such as the assemblings and decrees of its councils; the record of its doctrines, discipline, heresies, schisms, &c. He would also have to record the acts of God's providence in extraordinary deliverances, or His judgments in famine, pestilence, sword, or earthquake; which are wholly independent of, and distinct from Civil and Ecclesiastical affairs, although they may be indications of either the blessing or judgment of GOD upon the uprightness or iniquity of men engaged in them. And to this must be added the philosophy of the history, or an inquiry into the spirit and character of the times which had produced such events. All these things must be related, but could not be mixed together without confusion. And therefore no historian of any note has ever attempted to do so. Gibbon, Mosheim, and Milner, in their histories illustrate what we mean. Gibbon's history is an example of the Civil phase of a part of Christian history, unmingled with the Ecclesiastical, which is reserved for a separate narrative. Mosheim, on the other hand, gives us the history of the Church as distinct from the State, and only relates its acts as they have reference to, or bear upon the history of the Church. Milner pursues neither of these tracks, but professes to give the history of the spiritual part of the Church, or that part which he considers as such, without reference to Church and State affairs, except so far as they are mixed up with the history of this spiritual seed, or rather protesting body of Christian men against outward corruptions. And it will be found, that no phase of Christian history can be narrated without mixing up with it other events which in their character and in their origin, are distinct from the history related. We have instances of this in the Gospels, and Acts of the Apostles, in which the acts of Roman governors and Jewish priests are related, when neither the Gospel or Acts were written to give us the history of either the one or the other; but only of the founder of Christianity, and of those who immediately succeeded Him. That the things which S. John was commanded to write, were so classified and arranged, and that distinct phases or streams of history are given in these visions, will become more evident as we proceed with the interpretation of the emblems and imagery of this book. In looking at the general history of Christendom, it presents to the Christian mind a fourfold phase, which may be called the Spiritual, the Political, the Ecclesiastical, and the Judicial. We are led first to consider the spiritual state of mankind, because we see in this state an explanation of the outward acts and events which happen among them. There is next, the outward form in which this spiritual condition manifests itself in human actions. And this has a twofold aspect according as the Ministers of the Church or of the State are the actors, which brings out the Civil and Ecclesiastical phases of Christian history. We are next led to trace the consequences of these outward acts either in blessing or judgment upon the agents engaged in them, or upon the people who are affected by them. For although there is a sense in which wrath is reserved for the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men, yet it is also true, that a present visitation of God's |