give a distinct thread of the scenes viewed from their own standpoint-the heavenly. One Chorus (14:3) is only described, not given in full like the rest. Boldly and fully these Choruses recognize that the reign of God, so far as its recognition is concerned, is limited now by his own patience, and in its fullness it has to be won. The Attributes and Beatitudes are Three when they are ascribed to God immediately around his Throne. They are Seven when uttered by the Angels. They are Four when offered by the rest of Creation. In other words, the numbers here must be regarded as more than symbols when used in these relations to the Divine, the Perfect, and the Created. The typical construction of the Choruses is as follows: I. A verse sung by separate voices or by a smaller number. 2. A full chorus sung by a second larger body in one case duplicated or reechoed by a third yet larger. In the first (4: 8) the four Cherubs sing the verse, the Twenty-four Elders the chorus. In the second (5:9) the Elders and Cherubs together sing the verse, many Angels the Chorus, which is taken up again by all Creation. In the third (7:9) the Saved sing the verse. All Angels the Chorus. In the fourth (11:15) Heavenly Voices sing the verse, the Elders the Chorus. The words of the fifth Chorus (14:3) are not given. But it is said its sound begins with the Voice of Christ, then of the Cherub Throne, and the Harps of the Elders, then by the hundred and forty-four thousand virgin companions of the Lamb. The Sixth Chorus (15:2) is chanted full. It The Seventh Chorus (19:1-7) is the climax. sums up the whole remaining action of the book. In construction it is doubled. Each part has the usual members of a Chorus, but inverted in the first part. All these choruses are lyrics which not only equal, but easily surpass, those of the otherwise inimitable Pindar, while the Poem as a whole is a nobler epic, a grander poem and far more sublime, than the otherwise surpassingly great and most perfect of poems, the Iliad of Homer. The Dirge over Babylon is no part of the Choruses, but it has a remarkable construction and should be noted in connection with them. See notes on 18:1-19:4. The Revelation is full of Christ. The Lamb is the axis round which the world of its scenery moves. He is the key to the whole situation. He is the only infallible means through whom can be unlocked the great secret truth of earth's real history. So it is in him we see the victory of Christ's devoted ones. It is of him their song of triumph tells. It is he who put the New Song in their mouth. It is in him everything is reconciled and made mete for the Father's use. FRANK SCHELL BALLENTINE, Christ's Church Rectory, Scranton, Pa., Trinitytide, 1901. |