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another, before the seventh seal was opened, chap. VII, 2; and in reference with them, this angel is called, in the text, aṛños ayyλos, another angel; not one of those again, nor one of the trumpeters, though engaged in an employment of the same purport.

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In this chapter we have to consider, 1. An angel swearing a solemn oath, with the voice of a lion's roar, 2. The voices of the seven thunders, and 3. An injunction on John, to eat a book and prophecy. The glorious majesty in which this angel appears, has led expositors into the same error with John, who mistook an angel for the Lord himself, chap. xIx, 10. But this is evidently a mistake. The Lord Jesus is never called an angel in the New Testament, and much less in the Revelation, where he has his angels, chap. xx11, 16. and is himself the Lord, which cometh, the Almighty. St. John pronounces him an angel, a heavenly messenger; he distinguishes him to be another angel, in comparison to those in similar employments, chap. v, 2. vII, 2; he brought the little book open, and did not open it himself; he appealed to the living God for the truth of his message, and not to his own authority; and to crown the whole argument, the Lord himself calls him an angel, by a voice from heaven, verse 8. But, though he is not the Lord himself, yet his office is by far too dignified for any mere man, however great an instrument he may have been on earth. In my humble opinion, all the angels, who appeared to John in this book, should be considered in a double point of view. First, as actual angels or spirits from the other world, whom the Lord really employs in administering the government of the world; and secondly, as to their habit, attire and employments, which are indicative both of their office and dignity, and of the state of the Church, or of the nations on carth at that time. Viewed in this light the angel of this chapter, is one of the Lords prime. ministers of state, andh is whole appearance a symbolical

representation, of the true state of the Christian church at that time, and of the nature of his mission.

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By contemplating this angel thus enrobed in majesty and glory, we may inform ourselves of the general state of the church of Christ after the year 772. St. John calls him another mighty angel, which here expresses both dignity of person and of office, Ps. CIII. 20; as also the internal power of the Church, to live to God, propagate the Gospel and oppose her enemies. He was clothed with a cloud, which as well, as his standing with his right foot on the sea, and with his left foot on the earth, supposses him to have been of an extraordinary, and more than collossean stature, and of great personal glory; who, like the angel chap. XVIII, 1. divested of this cover would have illuminated the earth by his splendor. This cloud may signify the prejudices of the Heathen nations against Christianity, and the corruptions of the Christian worship and practice at that time. The rainbow upon his head, which is the token of Gods covenant with Noah and his posterity after the flood, may here denote that the Church at this time enjoyed peace and halcyon days of God's blessing and protection from her enemies. It is worthy of remark that his face is described to be, ως ο ηλιος, as the sun, like the body of the sun, without mentioning, that it shone in any degree of brightness; where it is said of the Lord himself, chap. I. 16. that his countenance was as the sun shineth in his powor. I presume, his face, denotes the body of the Christian ministry, and the doctrines of the Christian religion, as then preached and believed, which at that time emitted but an obstructed light, as does the sun on a misty day. His feet were as pillars of fire, by which the church is represented, as having attained a sure establishment on earth, firm as the foundation & strength of pillars, and as being possessed of a burning zeal to unfold her banners among the nations of the earth, for the glory of the redeemers kingdom. Eph. VI, 15,

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Hitherto, we have considered this angel as John beheld his person before him, descriptive of the state of the Church at that time. We shall now meditate on his ac tions, as being a symbolical representation of the nature and object of his mission. A knowledge of this, can only be acquired from the subject of his oath, for the truth of which he makes so solemn an appeal to heaven; and from his account of the contents of the little book to the apostle, . verse 11. "Thou must prophecy again [] beyond or concerning many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." The oath determines the time, how long the establishments of these nations and kingdoms are to continue, at the termination of which, the mystery of God should be finished; but the prophecy, from the contents of the little book, refers to the people of God within their limits. This period comprises more that a thousand years, as I shall show in its proper place, and commences A. D. 772; for which reason we meet with it thus early, in the general series of prophecies. Hence we may safely conclude, that this prophecy refers only to those peoples, nations tongues and kingdoms, which in the end may be very accessary in establishing the personal kingdom of Christ on earth; though their own establishments must then be done away, in order to finish this great mystery. Verse 2. In his hand a little book open. This little book is a portion of the remaining part of that book, which he .. who sat on the throne, the Father of eternity, at first held in his right hand, chap. v, 1, containing God's de crees that should be accomplished in the government of this world. The Lamb received it as his commission, and thereby undertook the administration of government; o pening seal by seal, to execute the eternal designs of Hea ven. It was a book of small bulk, because many of its prophecies, scenes and visions, were now accomplished, and those rolls, into which it had at first been sealed up, had been laid aside. That the angel brought it open in

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his hand, may signify that its contents were now understood by those superior angels, employed in the administration of the world, and about to be accomplished in the affairs of the Church.

He set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth. This manner of standing is very remarkable, and, no doubt, of an important signification in this vision. Bengelius and other expositors understood these expressions after the manner of ancient geographers, who termed Europe the sea, because surrounded by it, and Asia the earth; so that the angel faced Africa. But I am convinced, after mature consideration, that these words, earth and sea, when mentioned together, always signify the whole Roman empire within its ancient limits; and when specified, the earth denotes the interior continent, and sea the countries adjacent to the Mediterranean. See chap. VI, 4, VII, 1. VIII, 7. 8. IX, 3. The angel stood on both, because the object of his mission was, to proclaim most portentous and important events to both these parts of the world.

Verse 3, And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth.* Thus he stood near Patmos, and cried with a voice, loud and terrible as a lion's roar resounding over. Asia, and echoing back to Europe. This tremendous cry indicates great concern on the part of the angel, and proves him engaged in a matter of extraordinary import; which, no doubt, marks an epoch in the occurrences of those nations to which it refers, as it does in the general course of this prophecy. Bengelius, Iung, Gill, &c. &c. are of opinion, that by this cry the angel pronounced the contents of the sixth verse. I have pondered this subject, with all the regard due to such eminent men, and

*Mvxasda, proprice non est leonum, sed boum, camelorum, et latinis significat mugire; leonum autem est vesai, rugire; non ob、 servatur vero semper tam accurate etiam apud alios scriptores gaecos hoc discrimen. Vide Kuttners Hypom.

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am convinced that this cry should be considered as distinguished from the angel's cath, as it is placed in the text, and a portentous foretoken of great calamities, which were to begin in Asia, from whence this voice proceeded, Let us now trace its echo. The Christians at all times felt a predilection for the Holy land; & this partiality does not seem unreasonable. That country has been the theatre of God's people, since the time of Abraham, and bears so many monuments of his wondrous love and special providence, to which the inspired writings of the Old Testament refer. It was the theatre of the redemption of the world, where the author of our hely religion taught those heavenly lessons, proved his Messiahship by signs and miracles, bled and died for our sins upon the cross; where the apostles preached, and the church had her first establishment. But after the third century this predilection degenerated into superstition. It was now considered a hely zcal, to undertake pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and an important branch of true piety, to have visited the holy places in Palastine. When that superstitious rage for pilgrimages to the sepulchres of saints and myrters, became general in Christendom, the Saracens beheld whole multitudes of these travellers, encountering all manner of danger and difficulties in their journies to the Holy land, and often treated them with inexpressible cruelty. Thus it continued to the reign of the califf Aron Al Rasjid, who from a particular regard for CharIemangne, indulged the Christians very much. And the time of his reign were the halcyon days, referred to by the rainbow upon the angel's head; all which accords precisely with these prophetic numbers. But after the benign reign of Aron Al Rasjid, a cruel scene of afliction, misery and calamities opened upon the Christian pilgrims, during the government of the Saracens, and the dominion of the Turks, in which these deluded travellers were often robbed, plundered, maimed, or murdered in the most

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