Third Seal. "And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see that thou hurt not the oil and the wine." The figures here presented are symbols of scarcity and famine. And this judgment did indeed take place, at the very time to which these symbols allude, under the reign of the Antonines. Dreadful famines were occasioned by inundations, wars, mismanagement of public stores, devouring insects, fires, earthquakes, and other signal judgments, upon Rome, and her various provinces.

see.

Fourth Seal. "And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was death, and hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." The events denoted by these symbols were fulfilled in the reign of Caracalla, and in days that followed, to the reign of Aurelius in the third century. In those times we find thirty competitors at once claiming the imperial crown. Emperors were set up, and deposed in thick succession. Twenty, some authors say thirty, different emperors were acknowledged in sixty years; most of whom came to violent deaths. Wars within and without raged. Also famines and most terrible pestilence raged for fifteen years together. Wild beasts (one of God's signal judgments; see Ezek. xv, 21,) invaded. Authors state, that five hundred wolves entered a city at one time: And that lions and tigers made signal war upon the inhabitants of various parts of the empire.

Fifth Seal. "And when he had opened the fifth

scal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying,

How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." This prophetic passage may have some special allusion to that persecution, for ten years, which was to take place under Dioclesian.* But the passage must be viewed as comprising things upon a wider scale. We hear in it the voice of the blood of martyrs generally crying to God from the ground for vengeance; as did that of Abel, Gen. iv, 10. The judgments of the preceding seals seem to be overlooked by these martyrs, as though those judgments were nothing, compared with those, for which their blood calls. It is remarkable that this seal does not exhibit an execution of judgments. It is a call only for judgments far more signal, than any previously executed. It is hence to be viewed as a notice preparatory to the more terrible judgments of the following or sixth seal; and indeed to all the judgments then future, till the introduction of the Millennium. It may be viewed as a divine denunciation of the tremendous judgments which shall issue in that effectual "inquisition for blood," which God will institute, when he shall "come out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; when the earth shall also disclose her blood, and shall no longer eover her slain:" Isa. xxvi, 21. The effectual judg ments of the last days, introductory to the Millennium, are abundantly represented as an avenging of the blood

* This was the tenth and most terrible of the persecutions, under the Pagan empire. The first was by Nero, a little after the middle of the first century. The second was by Domitian, just at the close of the first century. The third was by Adrian, soon after. The fourth was by Antoninus Verus, after the middle of the second century. The fifth was by Antoninus who succeeded, near the close of the second century. The fifth by Maximin, the sixth by Desus, the seventh by Gallus, the eighth by Volusian, the ninth by Valerian, and tenth by Dioclesian, the most terrible of all..

of martyrs, and of all the blood wickedly shed upon the earth. Rev. xviii, 24; "And in her (mystical Babylon) was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." As Christ denounced to the Jews, that the blood of prophets and saints, and of all wickedly slain upon the earth, should be required of that generation; so the blood of all the martyrs, shed in Antichristian Rome, will be in a most important sense required of the generation, that shall fall in the battle of the great day, according to the passage just quoted from Rev. xviii, 24. The fifth seal may be viewed as the first warning in the prophetic parts of this bock, of that tremendous event; while, in its chronological order its immediate reference was to judgments then impending. Like the fifth trumpet then, which is the first wo-trumpet, the fifth seal begins the opening of things upon a wider scale, than any preceding seals,

Sixth Seal. "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heavens departed as a scroll, when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"

This signal passage, it is agreed by all the best expositors, predicted the revolution in Rome, from Paganism to Christianity, which took place under the emperor Constantine, early in the fourth century of the Christian era. See a sketch of this revolution in the note, page 71 of this book. The ancient pagan Ro

man Beast in this revolution, received a wound in his sixth, his imperial head, and died. From that period, for a course of centuries, the secular Roman Beast had no actual existence. The Papal Beast arose, and with his image of the Pagan Beast had his season of dominion. This revolution was a far more notable event, than the judgments of the preceding seals; as appears from the prophetic description of it; and from the history of the event, The figures in this passage are bold, striking, compli cated, and decisive. And events will be more fully adequate to them, when the same imperial head of the Roman Beast, after being healed of its deadly wound, and having again attacked the cause of Christ, and filled the world with terror, shall be utterly destroyed in the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

The three last seals, like the three last trumpets, relate to capital events. The fifth and sixth just described, clearly relate to more signal judgments, than those of the preceding seals. And the seventh (which is opened in the beginning of the eighth chapter) is indeed the most capital of all; for it contains all the trumpets.

2. The seventh chapter presents four Angels, at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds, that they should not blow, till the servants of God were sealed in their foreheads. One hundred and forty four thousand are sealed from the twelve tribes of Israel. An innumerable multitude then appear, of all nations, and kindred, and people, and tongues, standing before the throne. And a description follows of the heavenly state.

The holding of the four winds, is an emblem of the deferring of further desolating judgments on the Roman empire, for a season, after the revolution before noted. The dreadful judgments of the northern inva sions were impending. But they were suspended for a course of years. And this interval of peace the Holy Spirit improved, to call in vast multitudes, (a certain number put for an uncertain) of God's chosen. Their being sealed in their foreheads, is an emblem of their being renewed and sanctified. They are represented

as being literally of Israel. The Gentiles acceded to the Jewish church or the visible kingdom of God. They are hence called the children of Abraham. And the portion of them then converted are here figuratively called by the name of the twelve patriarchs. The Gentile church is God's spiritual Israel. Their number in the Roman empire, at that time was vast, represented by the square of the twelve patriarchs, or of the apostles, in thousands. Yet the scene was increased. Far greater multitudes, which none could number, were then presented to the view of the evangelist, as though they were already in heaven, collected from all parts of the earth, and had begun, in the vast assembly above, their eternal work of praise. Their state of glory is described. They had come out of great tribulation on earth. Their palm branches held in their hands, are symbols of their eternal victory. And their enjoyment of God and the Lamb is perfect, exquisite, and everlasting.

The scene in this chapter was most animating to the people of God, and probably designed to fortify their souls against the terrors of the tremendous scenes, that were to follow, under the trumpets.

3. The eighth chapter contains four of the trumpets of judgment inflicted on the Roman empire.

Seventh Seal. "And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour." This silence may be viewed as indicative of the solemn awe and suspense, occasioned by an expectation of the terrible series of judgments then opening upon the western branch of the empire, in the invasions from the barbarians of the north; and the bloody revolution to take place there between the last of the third century, and the beginning of the seventh. Some suppose this silence to have been expressed in allusion to the silent worship performed in the ancient Jewish temple, while the high priests, on the day of expiation, was offering incense on the golden altar. What follows seems to favor this idea. For Christ, the Angel of the covenant, the great High Priest, is represented as perfuming the prayers of the saints,