heads, chap. xvii.; the application of the sixth head to the imperial rule in the prophet's time; the single millennium, followed by the loosing of Satan, and the judgment of the rest of the dead at its close. These are also important and leading truths, and, combined with the former, already lead us far towards a true and full understanding of the prophecy. Thirdly, These writers agree in the following corrections of Mede's system. They place all the vials under the seventh trumpet.] They reject the chronological meaning of the inner court, as denoting the early times of the church. They distinguish between the image of the beast and the beast himself, and restore the uniform sense of the latter. They assign the first effusion of the vials to the French Revolution; and date the time, times, and a half, either with the decree of Justinian, so as to terminate with the commencement of the vials, or with the time of Phocas, so as to terminate with their close. Lastly, They make the commencement of this mystical period parallel with the first woe, instead of the first trumpet. Fourthly, To these elements of truth, already numerous, the interpretations of Mr. Cuninghame and Mr. Frere, add the following, in which they diverge from Mede and Faber as well as Bengelius. They assign to the series of the seals, the trumpets, and the vision of the woman, a parallel commencement. They extend the seals throughout the dispensation of the gospel. They place the sixth seal parallel with the opening times of the seventh trumpet. They close the time, times, and a half, at the beginning of the vials. They refer the harvest to an ingathering of mercy, as the vintage to a season of wrath. They view the vision of the Son of man, chap. xiv. and of the word of God, chap. xix. as two successive stages of the second personal advent in glory. It may thus be seen that the variety of interpreters, and their views, is far removed from total uncertainty; and that increasing light has been constantly given. Of forty principles which exhibit the latest advance in prophetic truth, thirteen of the most vital are shared by Bengelius, whose scheme is the most defective, twenty-eight were already held by Mede; half of the remaining [362] twelve are received by the earliest, and the rest by the two later of the three living interpretators who have been most distinguished in this field of inquiry. The chief remaining elements that need to be combined, for a more complete and full exposition, are the following: The application of the four first seals with Dean Woodhouse and Mr. Cuninghame; the interpretation of the symbolic opening with Mr. Habershon; the meaning of the fourth part with Mr. Faber; the right place of the seventh seal with Mr. Frere; the true date of the first trumpet with Vitringa; the proper meaning of the second with Daubuz; of the third with Mr. Frere, and of the fourth partly as the same author; the true meaning of the fallen star with Vitringa; the meaning of the third part, the continuity of the sixth trumpet with Bishop Newton; the distinct reference of the temple, the altar, and the worshippers; the time of the death and resurrection with Mr. Fleming and Mr. Elliott; the earthquake with Mr. Frere; the unbroken continuity of chap. xii. with Brightman; the succession of the first and the second beast; the connection of the eagle and the angel messages; the note of time in the number of the beast with Bengelius; the name of the beast in the number with Clarke; the time and succession of the sealing of the tribes, with their historic meaning; the distinctive character of the three main visions; the connection of the times with the 1335 days of Daniel; the transition from the mystery of God and mystical events to the literal Antichrist and personal advent; the full interpretation of the number of the beast on a simple and strict principle, and in all the variety of its significance. Some have entertained the opinion that there may be a literal recapitulation of the prophecy respecting the Man of Sin and the whole book of Revelation. That Antichrist will at last assume an open and infidel form, seems plain from many scriptures. And it is probable too that part of the book of Revelation may link itself with the Old Testament prophecies, and be finally realized in events more literal, at the recall of the Jews. But there seem to the Author insuperable objections in the structure of the Apocalypse, and the nature of many of its symbols, to such a re-application of the whole. The principles by which such parts might be distinguished would require a research beyond the purpose of the present. work. THE SCHEME OF THE APOCALYPSE. [363] The siege of Jericho by Joshua contains a concentrated or bird's-eye view, or type, of the history developed in the Revelation. The sealing of the 144,000 is supposed to take place during the whole progress of the dispensation, and the character of successive periods of the church to be typified by the tribes successively named. VISION OF THE CHURCHES, CHAPTERS I. II. III. 1 The Apocalypse is a prophecy of 2 It is a prophecy reaching to the 10 9 The Judgment, Rev. xix., is the 11 3 The opening vision in the address 12 4 The Angelic Vision, chap. iv. 1- 13 5 The prophecy is continuous be- 14 The Apocalypse, chap. iv—xix. is 6 The four Beasts, Dan. vii., denote 7 The coming of the Son of Man, 8 The kingdom of the Son of Man, 17 18 4 II.-STRUCTURE. 19 The Apocalypse is composed, chap. i. 19, of the things seen, chap. i., the things then present, chap. ii. iii., and the things to be hereafter. chap. iv-xxii. The 20 The last of these alone are direct prophecy, and were signified to the apostle in visions by an angel, ch. i. 1; iv. 1; xxii. 8, 9. 21 The angelic visions are seven. The seals, ch. v-vii. trumpets, viii-ix. The woman and her seed, xii-xiv. The vials, xv. xvi. The fall of Babylon, xvii. 1; xix. 9. The judgment, xix. 10; xxi. 8. The heavenly Jerusalem, xxi. 9; xxii. 7. 22 The prophecy is successive from ch. xviii. to the close. 23 The ordinals in each sevenfold series are strictly successive in time. 24 The vision, ch. xii-xiv. has its three parts continuous and successive. 25 The events of ch. vii. are those of the seventh seal. 26 The passage xi. 4-10, is a narrative parenthesis, and no part of the vision. 27 The vision, x. xi. 15, falls entirely within the sixth trumpet. 28 The three first visions close with the time of the last vial or after. The time, times, and half a time, the 42 months, and 1260 days are the same interval. The time, times, and half of Daniel, and the Revelation are the same period. 29 They date from the opening of the 48 A prophetic day is a natural year. prophecy, and are parallel. 30 The vials commence with the time of the seventh trumpet. 31 The sealing is successive, and reaches through the trumpets to the last. 32 The siege of Jericho is a divine type, and a full key to the struc ture. III.-PARTICULAR APPLICA TION. 49 The three-and-a-half times are the half of seven times, the whole season of Gentile power, and the same with the latter times of St. Paul. 50 A time denotes 360 years, and χρονος is equivalent to καιρος. V. DETAIL OF APPLICATION. The following result simply from the combination of the above. 51 The 4 first trumpets contain the judgments that fell on the Roman empire from the 1st century to the rise of the Saracens. The third part denotes uniformly the third or eastern empire, the fourth part, the fourth or western empire. 33 The third woe is the open judg- 35 The False Prophet is the same with the two-horned beast. 53 The first trumpet relates to the Gothic eruptions before Constantine. The second trumpet relates to the fall of the Latin emperorship of Rome. |