CHAPTER II.

REPRESENTATION OF THE DIVINE

GLORY IN HEAVEN,

AND

ITS BLESSED INHABITANTS.

The second division of the Revelation here commences with the things to be "hereafter "-The symbol of their being unfolded-Scene described to be in Heaven-The Throne of God-The Elders— The Seven Spirits—The living creatures—The Worship of Heaven―The whole taken from Jewish worship—Similar visions of Isaiah Ezekiel - The Symbols of the Throne- What the Elders represent -The Lightnings and Thunders-The seven lamps of fire-The sea of glass-The four living creatures considered and explained-The language of their songs of praise.

CHAPTER II.

REPRESENTATION OF THE DIVINE

GLORY IN HEAVEN.

(ch. iv.)

"After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven; and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.”

This begins the second division of the Book, the disclosure of events which were then to come; and accordingly a new vision is introduced. In the former, the Apostle was not bidden to ascend into heaven, because no part of the scene to be transacted was there: the subject of what was then to be made known, concerned the church then in existence, and was not involved in the intricacies of human affairs.

Accordingly Christ is there exhibited as walking in the midst of the churches, and, both by warnings, threatenings, rewards, promises, and encouragements, guarding its purity. But now that the history of the Church to all future generations commences; and God is pleased, in giving it, to give it the superior advantage above all human histories, of showing to

us its connexion and sympathy with the church above, and the hierarchy of heaven; the apostle is ordered (and ordered by the Lord Jesus Christ, “the first voice which he heard") to ascend up thither.

In the highly figurative and expressive language in which the whole of this history is given, a door is said to be opened in heaven. This conveys the idea of all hindrances being removed, and an important welcome given-and it signifies in this place that such a welcome is given to all the disclosures which are about to be made of the counsels, decrees, and glories of Heaven.

Faint and cold at the best are the highest ideas we can, while in this world, form of that happy region, of which it is declared, that it consists of" a fulness of joy, and pleasures at God's right hand for evermore." We must, as the Apostle was, be taken up thither, before we shall be able to realize in any adequate degree its superlative blessedness; for no description however vivid, no representation however glowing, can bring home its glories to our carnal minds-none at least, even when given by the pen of inspiration, without much of the sanctifying illumination of that Spirit by which they were indited. May such illumination be given whilst we consider the effulgent opening of heaven here presented to our view; and may we be enabled, at least as far as the Lord permits and intends by this disclosure, in some faint degree to

"Pierce within the veil Which hides that world of light."

The description here given is in the following language:

1. THE THRONE.

"And immediately I was in the Spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine-stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

2. THE ELDERS.

"And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and

voices :

3. THE SEVEN SPIRITS.

"And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

4. THE LIVING CREATURES, AND THEIR

WORSHIP.

"And before the throne there was a sea of glass, like unto crystal and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind. And the first living creature was like a lion, and the second living creature was like a calf, and the third living creature had the face as a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

THE WORSHIP OF THE ELDERS.

"And when these living creatures give glory, and honour, and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and

ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

It will better assist us to understand this representation, as well as the scenery of the whole book, if, in studying it, we bear in mind that the Almighty, in the particulars here given, honours his own word, his own ordinances, and his own institutions, as connected with the Jewish dispensation and the Old Testament worship, by bringing them forward as the basis of the greater revelations and discoveries now about to be made. Being addressed to the visible sight, they supplied proper and suitable materials for the platform of these splendid visions; while the description of heaven and the heavenly world, above given, appears only as exhibiting or carrying out the anti-type of the divinely-ordered Jewish encampment in the wilderness. And, indeed, it may be observed, that in like manner as it is the ordinary way of the prophets to touch upon Jewish matters and history, and refer them for their full significance to the prophecies and histories of the Christian Church; so does the book of Revelation, in a preeminent manner, take the style of the old prophets, their symbols, types, and institutions, and bring them forward for the illustration of the wonderful and splendid history here given.

To begin with the description given in the above