darkness, of the kingdom of heaven over the kingdom of the wicked one. And thither must we also, in spirit, follow the inspired seer, if we too are to recognise the Divine necessity for God's terrible doings among the children of men, and sympathise with him in his ever-ruling purposes of righteousness and love; so that we may, in heaven's own light, understand the words of the psalmist: "The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance;" and be enabled with full assent of heart and conscience to join in the cry out of heaven's altar: "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments" (Rev. xvi. 7).

But what of the heaven into which the seer thus entered ? and in what sense are we to suppose him to have entered it? The Jewish Rabbins, we know, asserted that there were seven heavens which, as the celestial mansions, corresponded with the Sephiroth of seven splendours, which they denominated Strength, Mercy, Beauty, Victory, Glory, Foundation, and Kingdom: while, conversely, they maintained that there were seven hells, all comprehended under the general title of Gehenna: thus in some measure anticipating the teaching of Swedenborg, and dimly recognising the consolatory truth declared by our Lord himself, that in the Father's house are many mansions or abiding places, each one of which, so far as God can and does manifest his presence therein, may be a heaven to its inhabitants. Sure we may be, at least, that there are more heavens than one. Paul speaks of "the third heaven " (2 Cor. xiv. 2), to which he was, on a certain occasion, caught up, and where supposing this third heaven to be identical with the paradise" subsequently mentioned, which is doubtful-he "heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." The Scriptures, moreover, contain other clear though brief intimations that there are many heavens. The word itself is often used in the plural, as when we pray to "Our Father who art in the heavens" (v rois oupavois) Matt. vi. 9; and in the phrase, "the kingdom of the heavens ( Bariλeia twv ovpavoïs). So, again, when our Lord ascended on high, he is said to have "passed through the heavens" (Heb. iv. 14), and to have "ascended up above all the heavens." (Eph. iv. 10.)

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Dr. Seiss concludes that, as John in the present case was commanded to write what he saw and heard, and to communicate it to the Churches, whereas Paul, when caught up to the third, or highest heaven, was forbidden to describe what he saw and heard. therein, the heaven here spoken of cannot be the same: and another reason may, we think, be given in support of the same opinion, namely, that whereas Christ is, since his ascension, ever the most conspicuous object, the very cynosure of all spiritual vision, in the highest heaven; and hence Stephen, when dying, exclaimed, "I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God;" in the present vision the Redeemer is not seen at all in the first instance, and then only

symbolically. We are disposed, therefore, to conclude generally, with this very able interpreter, that the "circumstances connected with this subject indicate, that what is here referred to is simply the sky. The sign of the Son of Man' is to be displayed in the empyrean, no further off from the earth than to be visible to men; yet it is to appear in heaven.' The place where the returning Saviour is to meet his risen and translated saints, is in the air'in the clouds.' The heaven of this vision would, therefore, seem to be, indefinitely, the region above us-the firmament -the higher portions of the atmosphere which envelopes the earth. This, however, I take to be certain, that the location of what John beheld, was not earth, but above the earth, and quite unconnected with the earth."* Similarly, the American editor of Lange, writes: "It can scarce be supposed that the symbolic display of the vision took place in the central home, the holy of holies, of the universe. This supposition is not required, as some may suppose, by the language. It is manifest that throughout the Book, the seer employs similar expressions where the object of vision was not the thing described, but a simulacrum thereof, as in chap. xiii. 1, where he declares that he 'saw a beast rise up out of the sea.' And, still further, precisely the same form of expression is employed, Rev. xxi. 1, 'I saw a new heaven and a new earth,' when the real objects referred to were not, at the time of the vision, existent-all that he could then have beheld were their simulacra."

On one material point, however, we must differ from Dr. Seiss ; for while quite agreeing with him in the opinion that the heaven of John's vision will be "in the air," and is the place where the returning Saviour is to meet his risen and translated saints," these very admissions seem to us altogether inconsistent with his conclusion that the heaven referred to is, "indefinitely, the region above us-the firmament-the higher portions of the atmosphere." And they seem so on these grounds. The Lord Jesus, when about to depart out of this world, distinctly told his disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them;" and, further, "that if he thus went and prepared this place for them, he would come again and receive them unto himself," in the place-this is evidently implied-he had thus prepared. (John xiv. 2, 3.) Now the question to be decided is simply this,-Have we any means of identifying this prepared place-the future home of the saints? We think we have. If elsewhere in Scripture we find the risen saints actually represented as with Christ in such a home, and to this home a certain distinguishing name is given, then we may surely safely conclude-we cannot, in fact, fairly avoid the conclusion--that it is the place prepared by Christ; in other words, "the place where the

.

Lectures on the Revelation, vol. i., pp. 236, 237.

†The Revelation of John Expounded, p. 150 (Clark).

returning Saviour is to meet his risen and translated saints." Now we do find the description of such a home, distinguished by such a name, in the twelfth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews: "But ye have drawn near unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (plainly to be identified with 'the holy city, New Jerusalem,' of Rev. xxi.), and to an innumerable company of angels, and the assembly of the first-born ones which are written in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to the Mediator of the new covenant, even Jesus, and to the blood of sprinkling, speaking better things than that of Abel." (Vers. 22-24.) And that the place thus spoken of and designated is the very same place or heaven which John saw in vision, is proved not only by the fact that they agree as being the gathering-place of the risen saints, but by their close correspondence in the various particulars enumerated. Thus we have in the New or Heavenly Jerusalem, (1.) "The assembly of the firstborn ones," answering to the crowned and white-robed "elders," in the vision, who speak of themselves as "redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." (2.) "An innumerable company of angels,' answering to "many angels round about the throne" in the vision. (3.) "God the Judge of all," answering to the "throne and him who sat upon it" in the vision. (4.) "The Mediator of the new covenant and the blood of sprinkling," answering to "the Lion of the tribe of Judah," who is, at the same time, a lamb as it had been slain." And thus we reach the conclusion, that the "heaven" seen by John, is the "New" or "Heavenly Jerusalem," which shall indeed, at the time of the Lord's second coming, be locally in the air, but is, nevertheless, not "indefinitely the region above us."

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The point is one not without interest, and even importance, inasmuch as in this vision, assuming it to be an actual representation of the third heaven and its worship,-as is done, for instance, by Bishop Wordsworth, when he says, "The veil of the heavenly holy of holies had been removed by Christ (Heb. x. 12), and heaven was laid open to view,"-Ritualists and Romanists find at once the precedent for and the pattern of the ornate and pompous services in which they take so engrossing and childish a delight. Arguing that since God is thus worshipped in heaven by saints and angels, with lowly prostrations, the music of golden harps, in priestly vestments (but only of white), and even the sweet odours of incense, so is it only meet that these things should have their place, or be imitated, in his earthly worship. But all this is founded on an assumption which, as we have seen, cannot be established, and in disproof of which we shall immediately adduce further evidence. Meanwhile, we may say in passing, that the very opposite theory, which has found an advocate in Dr. Joseph Baylee, namely, that the vision is one of the paradise of the inter

mediate state, is altogether erroneous. The truth is, there is abundant internal evidence to show that this vision sets forth not what at present exists, either in the third heaven or in the paradise of Hades, but what is to be after the fulfilment of the vision and the epistles concerning the Churches. The consecutiveness of the

visions is distinctly expressed, and must not be ignored. "The declared object for which the Apostle was called up into the sky, was to be shown,-not what existed in heaven at the time, as some have mistakenly thought, but-the things which must take place AFTER' what he had already seen and described. The seven Churches, in all the amplitude of their representative significance, were first to run their course, and the order of things to which they belonged was to touch upon its end before one jot of what is here portrayed was to be realised. As John was called up just to be shown the things which must take place after these things,' of course, all that he saw and heard, consequent upon that rapture, can only be referred to the period next following the things of the first vision. That vision, as we have been led to conclude, and as we think must be admitted, embraces the whole continuity of the dispensation under which we are now living, and takes in the entire earthly Church-state, from the time of the Apostle to the end of the age, which is at Christ's coming again to receive his people to himself. The vision, therefore, relates to things which do not exist as yet, and which cannot become reality till that to which they are specifically said to be subsequent is fulfilled. It is therefore a picture of things in the sky, immediately upon the first movement of the Saviour in his coming to judgment, marked by the miraculous seizing away of the saints from their associates on earth to the clouds of heaven."*

Moreover, it seems to us essential, in order to any sober and reasonable exposition of this vision, as well as the greater part of the Book to which it belongs, that we recognise the fact that we have here to do, not with the heavenly realities themselves, but merely with their symbolic adumbration, by means of earthly images, more or less familiar to those to whom it was addressed. Thus, in the first place, according to a large majority of the most competent expositors, from Mede to Lincoln, the scenery of the vision is borrowed from the Jewish temple and tabernacle. And if to this

* Dr. Seiss. Ibid.

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The points of resemblance have been well drawn out by De Burgh :— "That in this vision the whole scenery is described with reference to the tabernacle and temple of old has been often observed, and, indeed, is most evident: for First, the throne on which Jehovah is represented as seated,' corresponds to the MERCY-SEAT in the holy of holies, or inmost sanctuary of the temple, so named because above and upon it, rested and dwelt, as it were, the Shekinah, or visible emblem of the glory of the Lord. (Exod. xxv. 12, 22.) Second, The seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,' at once call to mind the seven-branched candlestick or lamp-stand, with seven bowls or

it be replied, as by De Burgh and Dr. Craven (the American editor of Lange), that this is no warrant for concluding that the scene is not a representation of heaven itself, since, on the contrary, "it is not improbable" (Dr. Craven); and, indeed, we are expressly told (Exod. xxx. 40; Heb. viii. 4, 5; ix. 11, 12, 23, 24) that the tabernacle was itself " the example and shadow of heavenly things," Moses being expressly commanded to "make all things" pertaining to it "according to the pattern showed him in the mount;" our rejoinder is, that apart from the great prima facie improbability of supposing heaven to be anything like an actual counterpart of the Mosaic tabernacle, we have already had occasion to consider the question as to what heaven this vision was intended to represent; and we found reason to conclude that it was not the third heaventhe special place of God's manifested presence-not therefore any heaven actually in existence, either when the law was given to Moses, or when the spiritual vision of John was opened, but rather the place which Christ has now gone to prepare for his people, and in which, when he returns, he will receive them unto himself: in other words, "the holy city, New Jerusalem, which cometh down from God out of heaven," of which a splendid and particular description is subsequently given in this very book, which description, regarded as that of a materialism, in no respect harmonises with the representation in the present vision. Our argument, therefore, stands thus: (1) It is admitted on both sides that the scenery of the present vision is borrowed from the Jewish tabernacle. (2) But the heaven which it represents is not the third heaven, but the New Jerusalem, which is elsewhere literally described in a manner altogether different. (3) We are constrained, therefore, to conclude that the scenery of this vision is ideal and not similar; that is to say, it symbolically corresponds with, but does not actually represent heaven.

lamps, described in the same chapter (ver. 31-39), and which also stood in the same holy place; the emblem, as here stated, of the Spirit of God' in his manifold operations. Third, the sea of glass, like unto crystal,' seen before the throne, would seem to correspond accurately with the molten sea,' or great laver of brass, described 1 Kings vii. 23-26, likened to a sea as holding as much as 2,000 baths,' or about 15,000 gallons of water, in which the priests washed before entering on their holy services (Exod. xxx. 18-21; 2 Chron. iv. 6), and which was placed in front of the sanctuary, and so before the mercy-seat or throne, (Exod. xxx. and xxix. 4,) fitly introduced here in connection with a vision of that company, whose title is kings and priests unto God.' Fourth, the four beasts in the midst of the throne and round about the throne,' are, from the identity of description, universally allowed to be the same as the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy-seat in the temple. And then, last, there remain only the four and twenty elders,' throned and crowned, which there can be no doubt had their correspondent types in the four and twenty chiefs of the four and twenty courses of the priests, all selected exclusively from the sons of Aaron, for the office of governors of the sanctuary, and governors of the house of God.'"-Exposition of the Book of Revelation, pp. 117, 118. Fourth edition.