of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew but he himself. : 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood and his name is called The Word of God. 17: "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and the Messiah should do. "He shall judge the people righteously." The progress of his truth over all the er-will give him a white stone, and in the rors of the heathen is represented by the "Prince of the kings of the earth" | making war upon them; and the sufferings that his enemies endured under the judgments of God are described by the havoc of war. These figures are of frequent occurrence in the Apocalypse; we find them almost everywhere. In fact, the metaphors of the Bible at large are borrowed from nearly all the arts and occupations that were known to the Jews at the time of the writing of the books. But we have not done with the "Faithful and True." Let us go on with a description of his person. stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." See our remarks on that verse. The figure was perhaps drawn from the fact that the high priest alone could pronounce the name upon his mitre. See Stuart on the verse. Dr. Adam Clarke says, that the Jews never attempt to pronounce the name of Jehovah; and they affirm that the true pronunciation has been lost since the captivity in Babylon; and that no man now knows the true interpretation or pronunciation, but God himself. (See his Com. on this place.) If this be so, it is possible that the 12. His eyes as a flame of fire.. expression in this place, and also in This is the exact description we have ii. 17, is borrowed from the fact. heretofore found; Rev. i. 14. The Some suppose there is a reference eyes were radiant; they glowed with here to Isa. ix. 6, 7: "His name shall life. On his head were many crowns. be called Wonderful," &c. &c. HavThe crown was the sign of honoring thus described the person of the and supreme authority. Once Jesus"Faithful and True," we come now wore a crown of thorns; John xix. 5. to his nature. That was in the days of his suffering and humility. But when he came forth conquering and to conquer, then he wore not a crown of disgrace but crowns of honor and authority. All kings wear crowns; but Jesus is said to have worn many crowns, because he is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He had abundant authority. All power in heaven and on earth was given to him; Matt. xxviii. 18; and especially did he have authority to execute judgment; John v. 22, 27. Under the gospel the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son; and in view of the facts here suggested, it is said that on his head were many crowns. He had a name written, that no man knew but he himself.—We have met with this description before. See ch. ii. 13. Vesture dipped in blood.. This is agreeable to the sanguinary character of the metaphor. The Faithful and True has on his war-clothing, which bears marks that he has seen service in the field before this time. The metaphor probably was borrowed from Isaiah lxiii. 1-4. "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat? I have trodden the wine-press alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and heir blood shall be sprinkled 14 And the armies which 15 And out of his mouth were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a mouth seems to us a most unnatural one. But we are to consider that this sword represents the word of God. "For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and in tents of the heart;" Heb. iv. 12. Did the revelator quote this figure from the epistle to the Hebrews? or did the writer of the epistle quote from the Apocalypse? We think the latter. We have found the same figure in other parts of the Apocalypse. See i. 16; ii. 12. ¶ Smite the nations. upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come." These are sanguinary metaphors to apply to the Prince of Peace; but such was the manner of writing in the revelator's day and country. We are not to infer from them that Jesus had any cruelty in his spirit; they are merely the imagery of the chapter. The word of God. Is this the name the interpretation of which no man knew, but Christ himself? If so, why should we attempt the explanation? The same name, it must be confessed, seems to be referred to both in the 12th and 13th verses. John after- -The figure here is borrowed, appaward spoke more fully of this name, rently, from Isaiah. In describing viz., in his Gospel. "In the beginning Christ's reign among the nations, in was the Logos, or WORD," &c.; John the gospel, he says: "But with righti. 1. This name is found only in the eousness shall he judge the poor, and writings of John. We shall not at- reprove with equity for the meek of tempt the interpretation of it; but it the earth; and he shall smile the seems difficult to avoid the impres-earth with the rod of his mouth, and sion that we see John's style in the Apocalypse. 14. The armies which were in heaven. -The next thing in the scene was the armies that followed the True and Faithful. The scene represents these armies as issuing out of heaven, seated on white horses. See xvii. 14, where we are told that they who follow the King of kings and Lord of lords, are "called" and "chosen" and "faithful." They were honorable men, and hence are not compared to foot soldiers, but to the cavalry, the most stately part of an army, all mounted on white horses. They were clothed in fine linen, white and clean; and this shows they were members of the church of Christ, which, as his bride, was adorned in the same manner. Verse 8. 1 Не with the breath of his lips shall he rod of iron and he treadeth | written, KING OF KINGS, the wine-press of the fierceness AND LORD OF LORDS. and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name 17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all as well as in other parts of the New Testament, and in the prophets, Jesus is represented as having power over the kings of the earth. They hide themselves in the dens at his presence; Rev. vi. 15; and before the mighty army of his church they fall, and the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven devour their flesh; xix. 17. must fall, is set forth under the metaphor of a "rod of iron," or the rod of God's mouth, as the sword was "the sword of his mouth;" and the effect of God smiting the earth with the rod of his mouth is this: "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Com- 17. Angel standing in the sun.· - The pare Isa. xi. 9 with 4. The efficacy angel of this part of the scene is of the gospel in overturning all the described as standing in the sun. systems of heathenism is described The tout ensemble here is truly subas follows by the Psalmist: "Ask of lime. 1st. Heaven is opened, and the me and I shall give thee the heathen "Faithful and True," in appearance for thine inheritance, and the utter- most striking and majestic, rides forth most parts of the earth for thy posses-into the scene upon a white horse. sion. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel;" Psa. ii. 8, 9. He treadeth the wine-press, &c. -This seems to be a quotation from Isa. lxiii. 3; and it is used to show, that as grapes are crushed be-3d. An angel is seen standing in the neath the feet of him who tramples them, so should the enemies of the church be put down, by the power of Christ and his gospel. See our remarks on xiv. 19, 20. 2d. Following him come the armies of the faithful upon white horses, beautiful in appearance, their garments of the richest texture, and white and clean. How must such an army have glistened in the light of the sun! sun; and he cried with a loud voice to all the fowls of heaven, to come to the supper of the great God. He was infinitely above them all. An eagle, in its loftiest height, would be im16. On his thigh. - The name was mensely beneath him. What a comwrought on that part of the vesture manding position from which to adwhich covered the thigh; which is a dress the fowls that "fly in the midst conspicuous part of a person sitting of heaven." Could we have an actual on a horse. ¶ King of kings and Lord vision like that which passed in the of lords. - This name or title is very imagination of the revelator, the soul expressive. Under the gospel, Jesus would be overcome by the magnifihas a.. power. "The Father judgeth cence and sublimity of the scene. no man, but hath committed all judg-¶ Gather yourselves together for the ment unto the Son;" John v. 22; supper of the great God. — In the anihence he is called "the blessed and mated language of the prophets, their only potentate, the King of kings and predictions are often announced under Lord of lords;" 1 Tim. vi. 16. For the form of commands. See Isaiah his high authority he is said to be xiv. 21, and Jer. ix. 17, 18. The orthe "Prince of the kings of the earth;" der was given to the brute animals Rev. i. 5; and in xvii. 14, xix. 16, he to do only what the revelator meant is styled "King of kings and Lord of to predict that they would do. But lords." All through the Apocalypse, he quickens and enlivens his style by the fowls that fly in the midst tains, and the flesh of mighty of heaven, Come, and gather men, and the flesh of horses, yourselves together unto the and of them that sit on them, supper of the great God; and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and 18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of cap-great. using the form of a command. The reason for calling the fowls together to "the supper of the great God," will be explained in the next verse. xvii. 46. - See, also, Isa. xviii. 6, and Ivi. 9; Jer. vii. 33, and xii. 9. But the particular passage which the revelator seems to have had in his eye, when he drew his allegory, was Ezk. xxxix. 17-20: "And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God, Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field; assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye 18. Eat the flesh of kings. -- In a time of war, kings, and captains, and mighty men, and horses, are slain; and if left unburied, the birds of prey feed upon their bodies. As the revelator had represented Jesus under the figure of a commander of armies, and his saints under that of the armies, and his word under that of the sword, and the struggle between his truth and prevailing errors under that of a contest, so, to carry out and complete the allegory, he speaks of the slain, an immense number, who lie unburied, as food for the vulture and other ravenous birds. By a bold per-shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink sonification, he calls on the birds to blood till ye be drunken, of my sacricome to "the supper of the great fice which I have sacrificed for you. God," called His supper, on the same Thus ye shall be filled at my table principle in which an army employed with horses and chariots, with mighby Him for the purpose of chastising ty men, and with all men of war, saith some rebellious nation is called the the Lord God." Thus it will be seen rod of His anger and His indignation; the figure was not original with the Isa. x. 5. Poets of old were accus-revelator. tomed to describe the fate of warriors in this manner. See the opening of the Iliad. We quote from Pope : "Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring Of woes unnumbered, heavenly Goddess, sing! That wrath which hurled to Pluto's gloomy The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain, will of Jove." How appropriate to the revelator's application are the succeeding words of the prophet: "And I will set my glory among the heathen, all the heathen shall see my judg ment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them;" verse 21. "The principal design of the imagery, after all, is to portray in vivid colors the disgraceful death of the followers of the beast. To lie unburied, and thus become the prey of ravenous birds or beasts, was regarded by the ancients with peculiar horror."- Stuart. And now the threatening being complete, the war will begin. David told the Philistines, "I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know 19. The beast, the kings of the earth, that there is a God in Israel;" 1 Sam. I and their armies. These are the op 19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20 And the beast was taken, posing armies to those of the Lamb. The revelator, having described the former, introduces now the latter. The beast, (the secular power of the empire,) the kings of the earth, (that were subject to the empire,) and their forces, all conspired to put down Christ and his cause; or, in the figurative language, "to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army." And what will be the consequence? 20. The beast was taken. This battle is described rather by its consequences than in its details. The victory of the "Faithful and True" was complete. The commander of the opposing army was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which mankind had been deceived. On the subject of these miracles, see on xiii. 14; xvi. 14: and on "the mark of the beast," see the remarks under xiii. 16, 17; xiv. 9—11; xv. 2; xvii. 2; xx. 4. The beast and the false prophet had been united together in their operations; the latter had been a powerful auxiliary of the former; chap. xiii. 11-15; and consequently they both fall together. "The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet." The leaders were seized. And what became of them? Both were cast alive into a lake of fire. They were utterly destroyed, which is signified by their being cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. It is perhaps said that they are cast alive into this lake, in order to represent their torment to be the more keen. This is the first instance in which we have met with the figure of "the lake of fire and brimstone," which is purely apocalyp the and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received mark of the beast, and thei that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive tical, occurring nowhere else in the Bible. We shall seek first for the origin of the metaphor, and afterward for the intent of it. This figure of the "lake of fire and brimstone" unquestionably had its origin in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the neighboring cities. They were overthrown by fire from heaven. "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven;" Gen. xix. 24. On account of this event, these cities became very noted in the sacred writings of the Jews. The mention of them frequently occurs by way of metaphor or compar. ison. A wicked city was on that account called Sodom. Moses told the Jews, that if they did not obey God, but forsook him and rebelled against him, their land should become "brimstone and salt and burning," like the overthrow of Sodom, &c., which the Lord overthrew in his anger and in his wrath; Deut. xxix. 23. Sodom being overthrown by a shower of fire and brimstone, any land given up to devastation was said to become brimstone and burning. The figure of the shower of fire and brimstone came to be used to represent any severe judgment for sin, as Psa. xi. 5: "Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup." Sodom and the other cities being situated in a low plain, or valley, the place where they stood became a lake, or sea, and is in our day the site of the Dead Sea. This is a lake of brimstone or bitumen, which is continually rising to the surface and floating to the shore, and the shore itself is found to con |