Rev. i. 20. Revelation of JESUS CHRIST, the candlestick is explained to be the symbol of a church filled with the HOLY GHOST; with its gifts of ministry, and its chief Minister or Angel presiding over it, giving forth the light of God's truth, for the good of the flock. It should appear therefore, that as these judgments are ministered by Angels, they are of that class mentioned in the Epistles; that is, they are the presiding ministers or heads of churches, by and under whom the saints have been gathered to the LORD, who personally represent the churches under their rule, and the weight of whose influence felt in these fearful judgments, appears to be referred to in each stone being the weight of a talent. We may add also to this explanation, that each stone, being said in the prophecy, to be about the weight of a talent, appears to indicate, that such churches or bodies of Christian men as those to whom S. John was commissioned to write at the beginning of this book, would again be seen before the judgment contained in this last vial of wrath begins, and that the ministry of God's Word and the gracious influence of His Holy Spirit being rejected, and quenched by men who receive not the love of the truth, the Spirit of God would be withdrawn from them, and the mercy which had been held out to them, would assume the form of judgment, in which wrath alone will be re vealed. We may also remark, that under the sixth period, or second woe trumpet, it is said, "they repented not;" but here, in this last period, they "blaspheme GOD because of the hail;" and as the former statement showed that the time of repentance was not then passed, the latter shows that at this time there is no place found for repentance; and their blasphemy against GOD is not done ignorantly, but knowingly, and that because of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. Thus have we concluded our interpretation of this most perfect and comprehensive form of prophecy in its sevenfoldness, as given under its Spiritual, Civil, Ecclesiastical, and Judicial aspects or Phases. The remaining chapters, which we now proceed to consider, will tend still further to illustrate and confirm the interpretation we have given. Rev. xvii. PART XIII. THE CHRISTIAN APOSTACY. BABYLON DESCRIBED, AND FORE 1 AND there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters : 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of JESUS: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. The seven heads 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is LORD of lords and KING of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 15 And He saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil His Will, and to agree and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of GOD shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. This and the two following chapters appear to be given as explanatory of certain notices and events, which in the sequence of the prophetic narrative we have passed over. The visions contained in these chapters could not have been given before without interrupting the series of prophecies. For they explain in detail those things concerning the beast and his judgment, and the destruction of the powers of evil which are notified to us in the sixth trumpet and vial. The first two of these chapters, namely, the seventeenth and eighteenth, give us a symbolic description of the condition in which the apostate Church will be found in con nexion with the infidel Antichrist, together with those who shall be destroyed with her. And the nineteenth chapter presents us with a description of the mode of their destruction. We are first informed that the Apostle is visited by one of the seven angels which had the seven vials; who shows him the righteous judgments of GOD upon the apostate Church and nations. The fact here represented by the mission of the angel to interpret this mystery of iniquity and its judgment, contains in it a still further mystery of the condition and ministry of the Church of CHRIST, at the time when this prophecy shall be fulfilled, and that ordinance of the Church, represented by the Angel, shall again be seen. This is implied also in the interpretation of the prefatory visions to the seals, concerning the four living creatures, and the four and twenty elders: for in the restoration of the Apostleship, and of the fourfold ministry of CHRIST at this time, is included the perfect order and constitution of the Church of CHRIST, in its sevenfoldness of angelic ministry, as revealed in the prefatory vision to the Epistles. It is one of these seven angels, that shows to S. John, the bride the Lamb's wife, and also the visions in chapters xix. and xxi. ; which being prophetic of still further events, imply that all these ordinances will be revived, and in active exercise, at the time the Church is made ready, and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. In chapters xix. 10, and xxii. 9, it is also said, that "the Apostle fell down before the feet of the angel which showed him these things, to worship him; and the angel said unto him, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: |