CHAPTER II.

THE SIXTH SEAL.

"AND I beheld, when he had opened the sixth "seal; and lo, there was a great earthquake, and "the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and "the moon became as blood; and the stars of "heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree "casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind: and the heavens departed as a scroll "when it is rolled together; and every mountain "and island were moved out of their places: and "the kings of the earth, and the great men, and "the rich men, and the chief captains, and the

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mighty men, and every bondman, and every free"man hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks "of the mountains; and said to the mountains, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that "sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the "Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come, "and who shall be able to stand ?"*

In the hieroglyphical language of prophecy, the natural universe is used as a symbol of the political world; hence it follows, that a great earthquake denotes a mighty revolution in the world politic. The sun and moon, being the symbols of the

* Rev. vi. 12—17.

sovereign or imperial power, their obscuration, the sun becoming black as a sackcloth of hair, and the moon becoming as blood, signify the extinction of the imperial power, or its ceasing to exert a benefi cial influence on the affairs of men. The stars denote princes and nobles, subordinate to the imperial power.*

Their falling to the ground, like the unripe fruit of a fig-tree when shaken by a mighty wind, signifies the degradation of the princes and nobles, by means of sudden and violent political convulsions. The heaven or firmament, in the natural world, is the medium through which the sun, moon, and stars, communicate to us their heat, and light, and influences. Consequently, the symbolical heaven must be that in the world politic, through which the symbolical sun and other luminaries act upon us; . e. the political constitutions and governments of the empires and kingdoms of the world. The passing away of the heaven, therefore, denotes the utter subversion and destruction of the political and ecclesiastical constitution of the empire, which is the subject of the prophecy. Mountains and islands denote kingdoms and states. When it is said that the mountains and islands are moved out of their places, it denotes the subversion and removal of the kingdoms and states of the world politic. The rest of the language of this remarkable passage is so literal as to require little illustration. It is descriptive of the dreadful

* See, in illustration of the symbolical language, Jacob's interpretation of Joseph's dream, Gen. xxxvii. 9, 10. Also, Sir Isaac Newton's Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel, chap. ii. On the Prophetic Language.

consternation which shall overwhelm the princes and rulers of the world, during the progress of the terrific convulsions of this seal; and it shows that they shall at length be forced to yield to the conviction of the arrival of that awful day of visitation of the wrath of the God, of which we so often read in the prophetical Scriptures.

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In the prophecy of Joel we are informed, that "the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the "moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come."* Our Lord in his remarkable discourse upon the destruction of the temple, and the signs of his second advent in the clouds of heaven, predicts these signs in the following language. "Immediately after the tribu"lation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and "the moon shall not give her light, and the stars "shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the "heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear "the sign of the Son of Man in heaven "then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and

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and

'they shall see the Son of Man coming in the "clouds of heaven with power and great glory."+ The language of Mark is nearly similar. Luke somewhat varies the description, and connects, in a chronological manner, the signs in the heavens, which go before our Lord's second advent, with the preceding parts of the prophecy. "They (the

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Jews) shall fall by the edge of the sword, and "shall be led away captive into all nations and "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles,

* Joel ii. 31.

+ Matt. xxiv. 29, 30.

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"until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And "there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, "and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of "nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves "roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and "for looking after those things which are coming "on the earth: for the powers of the heavens shall "be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of "Man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh." Luke here tells us, not only that these signs in the symbolical heavens shall occur previously to the second advent of Christ, but also that they are to happen precisely at the period when "the times of the Gentiles "are fulfilled." The meaning of this expression will be investigated in a subsequent part of this work.

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The passages quoted from Joel and the Evangelists, are so exactly similar in their import and form of expression, that there is no reason to doubt that they refer to the same events;† and it is apparent that they describe a dreadful series of political revolutions, which shall convulse the nations of the world before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, the day of the second advent. And if we carefully compare the language in which the

* Luke xxi. 24-28.

+ Mr. Faber, in his Sacred Calendar of Prophecy, entirely concurs with me in the synchronism of these various passages of Joel, and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Sacred Cal. Vol. I. pp. 217-220, 282.

earthquake, and celestial signs of the sixth seal are described, with what is written, as above, in the prophecy of Joel and the Evangelists, we shall see so near an agreement, as cannot but lead us to think that all these inspired writers, in the passages which have been cited, describe the same catastrophe ; and, consequently, that the earthquake of the sixth seal relates also to the great revolution which is to take place in the last ages. But, as it has very incongruously been supposed by Mede, Bishop Newton, and the great body of modern commentators, that this seal was fulfilled by the change which took place in the established religion and government of the Roman empire, in the time of Constantine, it may be necessary to make some remarks, by way of refutation of this commonly received interpretation.

The hieroglyphics of the sixth seal, are of too august a nature, to be applied to the events which happened on the accession of Constantine. It is said, And lo, there was a great earthquake, and "the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and "the moon became as blood." These symbols indicate a mighty revolution, including in it the complete extinction or obscuration of the imperial dignity. It is true, that, in the person of Constantine, the imperial dignity of Rome, passed from the Heathen emperors, to a new line professing the Christian faith. But that dignity itself, was neither extinguished nor obscured by this event: on the contrary, it shone forth with increased splendour, after the defeat and death of the rivals of Constantine, Momentous in its consequences,