LECTURE III.

THE OPENING OF THE SEVEN SEALS.

"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.

"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.

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

"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 beasts full of eyes before and behind.

"And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

"And the four beasts 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.

"And when those beasts 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."-REV. iv.

JOHN sees "a door" in the walls of heaven, and through that door he beholds, and in this chapter describes, its interior glory. He witnesses there in that vast panorama the dawning scenes of centuries to come,

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each century sweeping past in solemn procession. First, however, he unveils the heavenly state just as he sees it. Foremost in the scene he beholds the Son of God arrayed and radiant with his evangelical glory; the sardine or colour of flesh indicating his humanity as the visible shrine of Deity, and the rainbow,-that thing woven out of sunbeams and raindrops-smiles and tears, he recognises as the emblem of a covenant in all things ordered and sure; the predominating green, the colour that prevails in creation, because softest and most suitable to the eye, indicates the softening influence of the humanity of Jesus on the rays of the otherwise inapproachable glory that shone through it. This in fact is the character of heaven. The crown of Jesus is visible in the subduing light of his cross-his very throne of glory lies in the light of Calvary, and Paradise regained wears still in heaven the aspect of Gethsemane. Four living creatures, (wa,) improperly translated "beasts," (which last is the proper rendering of Onpia, a word that occurs in subsequent parts of this book,) and four and twenty elders are revealed to John in the celestial scene.

The four living creatures, it is probable, refer to the Jewish Church, and are meant to personate it, as seems to be indicated by their respective Jewish characteristics. The twelve tribes were arranged in their marching into four divisions, and each division had its appropriate symbol. Judah and his two tribes had the symbol of a lion; Reuben and his two, that of a man; Ephraim and his two, that of a bull; Dan and his two, that of an eagle. The four and twenty elders very probably represent the Gentile Church, being in no respect signalized by Levitical symbols. At all events the two parties, the living creatures and the elders are of the Redeemed Church, and not angelic beings, as is obvious from their anthem, chap. v. 8, 9-" And when he had taken the book the four living creatures and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints," or holy ones, i. e. of themselves; "and they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast

slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." These worshipping ones, evidently a company of redeemed gathered from the church below, are also represented as casting their crowns before the throne. This is evidence, by an expressive action, of their conscious obligation to Him that loved them. They see on each crown the image of the Lamb and the superscription of his name, and each gem seems to them radiant with his lustre, and this fact gives emphasis to every feeling and eloquence to every song. The sins of the lost will never be over-punished, and the mercies of the saved will never be over-acknowledged. The former will never cease to blame themselves. The latter will never cease to praise the Lord. The "seven Spirits" referred to in verse 5, and likened to seven lamps of fire, are apocalyptic representations of the Holy Spirit of God. The number seven is employed in Scripture as the numerical representative of perfection. Thus, the seven churches represent the one universal visible church; and in the use of this number there seems to be a usage borne out by corresponding analogies in the material world. All know that seven colours are the component elements of pure light; and seven notes is the range of the musical scale; and thus the sacred symbol may be laid in the nature of things.*

It may here too be proper to answer the question, why symbols are employed, when abstract and naked ideas might have been set forth. Symbols are the most permanent exponents of thought, as well as universally intelligible, because the great facts and leading phenomena of creation are the same in all countries and in all ages, and convey at the same time most vividly, as well as most intelligibly, universally, and permanently, the truths of which they are the vehicles; but, in fact, there

The seven Spirits are quoted by Romanists in defence of angel worship. But Augustine, in his exposition of Psalm cl., and Gregory Nazianzen, in his forty-first Oration, and Ambrose, on Luke, Book IX., all apply the passage to the Holy Ghost or Septiform Spirit.

was a necessity, as far as we can see, for the use of symbols in a Divine book that describes the future. If utterly unintelligible, they would have been useless either as prefigurations of truth or evidences by comparison of its fulfilment, and if too obvious, they would have interfered with the responsibility of man and the freedom of the movements of the world. They are perfect, just as the Holy Spirit has given them.

The inspired seer then gives his vision of the book with seven seals, in chap. v. 1-7. "And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne."

This chapter opens with an account of the mysterious book, which contained things to come, that is, things subsequent to the date of the apocalyptic vision. The explanation of its being written "within" and "without" is ascertained by a reference to the structure of the ancient book or volume. It was a skin of parchment, with a roller at each end. The reader having read the writing on the skin in the part between the two rollers, unwound a portion from the left-hand roller, and after reading it, wound it on the right, and when the whole of one side had thus been perused in successive portions, he turned toward himself the opposite ends of the rollers, and wound and unwound as before, till all the manuscript on the

other side had been likewise read. The book seen by the seer and thus constructed, had seven seals attached to it-seals, that serve to indicate that they were secret, and also seals, to indicate that they were to be broken or opened. Each seal was the compendium of a distinct prophecy of events and circumstances to evolve. Various theories have been given by way of explanation; the most celebrated are those of Cunninghame of Lainshaw, and Elliott. The first six seals contain the history of the temporal glory and decline of Rome Pagan, the most illustrious empire of the ancient earth. This is my strong, and I think demonstrable conviction. The first six trumpets, which are comprehended in the seventh seal, contain the desolation of Rome Christian by the Goths, the Saracens, and the Turks. The first six vials, which are comprehended in the seventh trumpet, embody the events that occurred subsequent to the breaking forth of the great European revolution in 1793. Thus the twenty-one apocalyptic symbols, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven vials, represent in succession the progress of the church along the obstructions of time, her vicissitudes of experience, her trials, her cruel mockings, her perils, and her final triumph and permanent prosperity, contemporaneously with overwhelming judgments on the nations, and on the apostacy. John says, verse 4,-"I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book." The sacred seer thus showed an earnest and anxious desire to understand unfulfilled prophecy, and thereby to learn things that were to come. Such desire was not sinful, nay, within the proper limits it was as dutiful as it was blessed. If no symbol had been exhibited significant of events to come, he would have had no right to inquire, "for secret things belong unto the Lord." But as a symbol was shown him, it was the instinct of nature and the evidence of grace to seek reverently and humbly after its significance, for "things revealed belong to us and to our children;" but we are not left to conjecture on the nature of this curiosity, for one of the elders showed it was lawful when he said unto him, "Weep not, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the