mh_parser/vol_split/66 - Revelation/Chapter 6.xml

<div2 id="Rev.vii" n="vii" next="Rev.viii" prev="Rev.vi" progress="96.33%" title="Chapter VI">
<h2 id="Rev.vii-p0.1">R E V E L A T I O N.</h2>
<h3 id="Rev.vii-p0.2">CHAP. VI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Rev.vii-p1">The book of the divine counsels being thus lodged
in the hand of Christ, he loses no time, but immediately enters
upon the work of opening the seals and publishing the contents; but
this is done in such a manner as still leaves the predictions very
abstruse and difficult to be understood. Hitherto the waters of the
sanctuary have been as those in Ezekiel's vision, only to the
ankles, or to the knees, or to the loins at least; but here they
begin to be a river that cannot be passed over. The visions which
John saw, the epistles to the churches, the songs of praise, in the
two foregoing chapters, had some things dark and hard to be
understood; and yet they were rather milk for babes than meat for
strong men; but now we are to launch into the deep, and our
business is not so much to fathom it as to let down our net to take
a draught. We shall only hint at what seems most obvious. The
prophecies of this book are divided into seven seals opened, seven
trumpets sounding, and seven vials poured out. It is supposed that
the opening of the seven seals discloses those providences that
concerned the church in the first three centuries, from the
ascension of our Lord and Saviour to the reign of Constantine; this
was represented in a book rolled up, and sealed in several places,
so that, when one seal was opened, you might read so far of it, and
so on, till the whole was unfolded. Yet we are not here told what
was written in the book, but what John saw in figures enigmatical
and hieroglyphic; and it is not for us to pretend to know "the
times and seasons which the Father has put in his own power." In
this chapter six of the seven seals are opened, and the visions
attending them are related; the first seal in <scripRef id="Rev.vii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.1-Rev.6.2" parsed="|Rev|6|1|6|2" passage="Re 6:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>, the second seal in <scripRef id="Rev.vii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.3-Rev.6.4" parsed="|Rev|6|3|6|4" passage="Re 6:3,4">ver. 3, 4</scripRef>, the third seal in
<scripRef id="Rev.vii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.5-Rev.6.6" parsed="|Rev|6|5|6|6" passage="Re 6:5,6">ver. 5, 6</scripRef>, the fourth seal
in <scripRef id="Rev.vii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.7-Rev.6.8" parsed="|Rev|6|7|6|8" passage="Re 6:7,8">ver. 7, 8</scripRef>, the fifth
seal in <scripRef id="Rev.vii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.9-Rev.6.11" parsed="|Rev|6|9|6|11" passage="Re 6:9-11">ver. 9-11</scripRef>, the
sixth seal in <scripRef id="Rev.vii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.12-Rev.6.17" parsed="|Rev|6|12|6|17" passage="Re 6:12-17">ver. 12,
13</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<scripCom id="Rev.vii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6" parsed="|Rev|6|0|0|0" passage="Re 6" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Rev.vii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.1-Rev.6.2" parsed="|Rev|6|1|6|2" passage="Re 6:1-2" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rev.6.1-Rev.6.2">
<h4 id="Rev.vii-p1.9">The Opening of the Seals. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rev.vii-p1.10">a.
d.</span> 95.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rev.vii-p2">1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the
seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the
four beasts saying, Come and see.   2 And I saw, and behold a
white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was
given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.vii-p3">Here, 1. Christ, the Lamb, opens the first
seal; he now enters upon the great work of opening and
accomplishing the purposes of God towards the church and the world.
2. One of the ministers of the church calls upon the apostle, with
a voice like thunder, to come near, and observe what then appeared.
3. We have the vision itself, <scripRef id="Rev.vii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.2" parsed="|Rev|6|2|0|0" passage="Re 6:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>. (1.) The Lord Jesus appears riding on <i>a white
horse.</i> White horses are generally refused in war, because they
make the rider a mark for the enemy; but our Lord Redeemer was sure
of the victory and a glorious triumph, and he rides on the white
horse of a pure but despised gospel, with great swiftness through
the world. (2.) <i>He had a bow</i> in his hand. The convictions
impressed by the word of God are sharp arrows, they reach at a
distance; and, though the ministers of the word draw the bow at a
venture, God can and will direct it to the joints of the harness.
This bow, in the hand of Christ, abides in strength, and, like that
of Jonathan, <i>never returns empty.</i> (3.) <i>A crown was given
him,</i> importing that all who receive the gospel must receive
Christ as a king, and must be his loyal and obedient subjects; he
will be glorified in the success of the gospel. When Christ was
going to war, one would think a helmet had been more proper than a
crown; but a crown is given him as the earnest and emblem of
victory. (4.) <i>He went forth conquering, and to conquer.</i> As
long as the church continues militant Christ will be conquering;
when he has conquered his enemies in one age he meets with new ones
in another age; men go on opposing, and Christ goes on conquering,
and his former victories are pledges of future victories. He
conquers his enemies in his people; their sins are their enemies
and his enemies; when Christ comes with power into their soul he
begins to conquer these enemies, and he goes on conquering, in the
progressive work of sanctification, till he has gained us a
complete victory. And he conquers his enemies in the world, wicked
men, some by bringing them to his foot, others by making them his
footstool. Observe, From this seal opened, [1.] The successful
progress of the gospel of Christ in the world is a glorious sight,
worth beholding, the most pleasant and welcome sight that a good
man can see in this world. [2.] Whatever convulsions and
revolutions happen in the states and kingdoms of the world, the
kingdom of Christ shall be established and enlarged in spite of all
opposition. [3.] A morning of opportunity usually goes before a
night of calamity; the gospel is preached before the plagues are
poured forth. [4.] Christ's work is not all done at once. We are
ready to think, when the gospel goes forth, it should carry all the
world before it, but it often meets with opposition, and moves
slowly; however, Christ will do his own work effectually, in his
own time and way.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Rev.vii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.3-Rev.6.8" parsed="|Rev|6|3|6|8" passage="Re 6:3-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rev.6.3-Rev.6.8">
<h4 id="Rev.vii-p3.3">The Opening of the Seals. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rev.vii-p3.4">a.
d.</span> 95.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rev.vii-p4">3 And when he had opened the second seal, I
heard the second beast say, Come and see.   4 And there went
out another horse <i>that was</i> red: and <i>power</i> was given
to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they
should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great
sword.   5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the
third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse;
and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.   6
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure
of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and
<i>see</i> thou hurt not the oil and the wine.   7 And when he
had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast
say, Come and see.   8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:
and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.
And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to
kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the
beasts of the earth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.vii-p5">The next three seals give us a sad prospect
of great and desolating judgments with which God punishes those who
either refuse or abuse the everlasting gospel. Though some
understand them of the persecutions that befel the church of
Christ, and others of the destruction of the Jews, they rather seem
more generally to represent God's terrible judgments, by which he
avenges the quarrel of his covenant upon those who make light of
it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.vii-p6">I. Upon opening the second seal, to which
John was called to attend, <i>another horse</i> appears, of a
different colour from the former, <i>a red horse,</i> <scripRef id="Rev.vii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.4" parsed="|Rev|6|4|0|0" passage="Re 6:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. This signifies the
desolating judgment of war; he that sat upon this red horse had
<i>power to take peace from the earth, and that</i> the inhabitants
of <i>the earth should kill one another.</i> Who this was that sat
upon the red horse, whether Christ himself, as Lord of hosts, or
the instruments that he raised up to conduct the war, is not clear;
but this is certain, 1. That those who will not submit to the bow
of the gospel must expect to be cut in sunder by the sword of
divine justice. 2. That Jesus Christ rules and commands, not only
in the kingdom of grace, but of providence. And, 3. That the sword
of war is a dreadful judgment; it takes away peace from the earth,
one of the greatest blessings, and it puts men upon killing one
another. Men, who should love one another and help one another,
are, in a state of war, set upon killing one another.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.vii-p7">II. Upon opening the third seal, which John
was directed to observe, another horse appears, different from the
former, <i>a black horse,</i> signifying famine, that terrible
judgment; <i>and he that sat on the horse had a pair of balances in
his hand</i> (<scripRef id="Rev.vii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.5" parsed="|Rev|6|5|0|0" passage="Re 6:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>),
signifying that men must now eat their bread by weight, as was
threatened (<scripRef id="Rev.vii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.26.26" parsed="|Lev|26|26|0|0" passage="Le 26:26">Lev. xxvi. 26</scripRef>),
<i>They shall deliver your bread to you by weight.</i> That which
follows in <scripRef id="Rev.vii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.6" parsed="|Rev|6|6|0|0" passage="Re 6:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>, of
the voice that cried, <i>A measure of wheat for a penny, and three
measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and
the wine,</i> has made some expositors think this was not a vision
of famine, but of plenty; but if we consider the quantity of their
measure, and the value of their penny, at the time of this
prophecy, the objection will be removed; their measure was but a
single quart, and their penny was our sevenpence-halfpenny, and
that is a large sum to give for a quart of wheat. However, it seems
this famine, as all others, fell most severely upon the poor;
whereas the oil and the wine, which were dainties of the rich, were
not hurt; but if bread, the staff of life, be broken, dainties will
not supply the place of it. Here observe, 1. When a people loathe
their spiritual food, God may justly deprive them of their daily
bread. 2. One judgment seldom comes alone; the judgment of war
naturally draws after it that of famine; and those who will not
humble themselves under one judgment must expect another and yet
greater, for when God contends he will prevail. The famine of bread
is a terrible judgment; but the famine of the word is more so,
though careless sinners are not sensible of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.vii-p8">III. Upon opening the fourth seal, which
John is commanded to observe, there appears another horse, of a
pale colour. Here observe, 1. The name of the rider—<i>Death,</i>
the king of terrors; the pestilence, which is death in its empire,
death reigning over a place or nation, death on horseback, marching
about, and making fresh conquests every hour. 2. The attendants or
followers of this king of terrors—<i>hell,</i> a state of eternal
misery to all those who die in their sins; and, in times of such a
general destruction, multitudes go down unprepared into the valley
of destruction. It is an awful thought, and enough to make the
whole world to tremble, that eternal damnation immediately follows
upon the death of an impenitent sinner. Observe, (1.) There is a
natural as well as judicial connection between one judgment and
another: war is a wasting calamity, and draws scarcity and famine
after it; and famine, not allowing men proper sustenance, and
forcing them to take that which is unwholesome, often draws the
pestilence after it. (2.) God's quiver is full of arrows; he is
never at a loss for ways and means to punish a wicked people. (3.)
In the book of God's counsels he has prepared judgments for
scorners as well as mercy for returning sinners. (4.) In the book
of the scriptures God has published threatenings against the wicked
as well as promises to the righteous; and it is our duty to observe
and believe the threatenings as well as the promises.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.vii-p9">IV. After the opening of these seals of
approaching judgments, and the distinct account of them, we have
this general observation, that God <i>gave power to them over the
fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with hunger,
and with death, and with the beasts of the earth,</i> <scripRef id="Rev.vii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.8" parsed="|Rev|6|8|0|0" passage="Re 6:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. He gave them power, that
is, those instruments of his anger, or those judgments themselves;
he who holds the winds in his hand has all public calamities at his
command, and they can only go when he sends them and no further
than he permits. To the three great judgments of war, famine, and
pestilence, is here added <i>the beasts of the earth,</i> another
of God's sore judgments, mentioned <scripRef id="Rev.vii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.14.21" parsed="|Ezek|14|21|0|0" passage="Eze 14:21">Ezek. xiv. 21</scripRef>, and mentioned here the last,
because, when a nation is depopulated by the sword, famine, and
pestilence, the small remnant that continue in a waste and howling
wilderness encourage the wild beasts to make head against them, and
they become easy prey. Others, by <i>the beasts of the field,</i>
understand brutish, cruel, savage men, who, having divested
themselves of all humanity, delight to be the instruments of the
destruction of others.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Rev.vii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.9-Rev.6.17" parsed="|Rev|6|9|6|17" passage="Re 6:9-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rev.6.9-Rev.6.17">
<h4 id="Rev.vii-p9.4">The Opening of the Seals. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rev.vii-p9.5">a.
d.</span> 95.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rev.vii-p10">9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw
under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of
God, and for the testimony which they held:   10 And they
cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true,
dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the
earth?   11 And white robes were given unto every one of them;
and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little
season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that
should be killed as they <i>were,</i> should be fulfilled.  
12 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;   13 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.   14 And the heaven
departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain
and island were moved out of their places.   15 And the kings
of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief
captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free
man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
  16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide
us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the
wrath of the Lamb:   17 For the great day of his wrath is
come; and who shall be able to stand?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.vii-p11">In the remaining part of this chapter we
have the opening of the fifth and the sixth seals.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.vii-p12">I. The fifth seal. Here is no mention made
of any one who called the apostle to make his observation, probably
because the decorum of the vision was to be observed, and each of
the four living creatures had discharged its duty of a monitor
before, or because the events here opened lay out of the sight, and
beyond the time, of the present ministers of the church; or because
it does not contain a new prophecy of any future events, but rather
opens a spring of support and consolation to those who had been and
still were under great tribulation for the sake of Christ and the
gospel. Here observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.vii-p13">1. The sight this apostle saw at the
opening of the fifth seal; it was a very affecting sight (<scripRef id="Rev.vii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.9" parsed="|Rev|6|9|0|0" passage="Re 6:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): <i>I saw under the altar
the souls of those that were slain for the word of God, and for the
testimony which they held.</i> He saw the souls of the martyrs.
Here observe, (1.) Where he saw them—<i>under the altar;</i> at
the foot of the altar of incense, in the most holy place; he saw
them in heaven, at the foot of Christ. Hence note, [1.] Persecutors
can only kill the body, and after that there is no more that they
can do; their souls live. [2.] God has provided a good place in the
better world for those who are faithful to death and are not
allowed a place any longer on earth. [3.] Holy martyrs are very
near to Christ in heaven, they have the highest place there. [4.]
It is not their own death, but the sacrifice of Christ, that gives
them a reception into heaven and a reward there; they do not wash
their robes in their own blood, but in the blood of the Lamb. (2.)
What was the cause in which they suffered—<i>the word of God and
the testimony which they held,</i> for believing the word of God,
and attesting or confessing the truth of it; this profession of
their faith they held fast without wavering, even though they died
for it. A noble cause, the best that any man can lay down his life
for—faith in God's word and a confession of that faith.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.vii-p14">2. The cry he heard; it was a loud cry, and
contained a humble expostulation about the long delay of avenging
justice against their enemies: <i>How long, O Lord, holy and true,
dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on those that dwell on the
earth?</i> <scripRef id="Rev.vii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.10" parsed="|Rev|6|10|0|0" passage="Re 6:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>.
Observe, (1.) Even <i>the spirits of just men made perfect</i>
retain a proper resentment of the wrong they have sustained by
their cruel enemies; and though they die in charity, praying, as
Christ did, that God would forgive them, yet they are desirous
that, for the honour of God, and Christ, and the gospel, and for
the terror and conviction of others, God will take a just revenge
upon the sin of persecution, even while he pardons and saves the
persecutors. (2.) They commit their cause to him to whom vengeance
belongeth, and leave it in his hand; they are not for avenging
themselves, but leave all to God. (3.) There will be joy in heaven
at the destruction of the implacable enemies of Christ and
Christianity, as well as at the conversion of other sinners. When
Babylon falls, it will be said, <i>Rejoice over her, O thou heaven,
and you holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on
her,</i> <scripRef id="Rev.vii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.18.20" parsed="|Rev|18|20|0|0" passage="Re 18:20"><i>ch.</i> xviii.
20</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.vii-p15">3. He observed the kind return that was
made to this cry (<scripRef id="Rev.vii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.11" parsed="|Rev|6|11|0|0" passage="Re 6:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>), both what was given to them and what was said to
them. (1.) What was given to them—<i>white robes,</i> the robes of
victory and of honour; their present happiness was an abundant
recompence of their past sufferings. (2.) What was said to
them—that they should be satisfied, and easy in themselves, for it
would not be long ere the number of their fellow-sufferers <i>would
be fulfilled.</i> This is a language rather suited to the imperfect
state of the saints in this world than to the perfection of their
state in heaven; <i>there</i> is no impatience, no uneasiness, no
need of admonition; but in this world there is great need of
patience. Observe, [1.] There is a number of Christians, known to
God, who are appointed as <i>sheep for the slaughter,</i> set apart
to be God's witnesses. [2.] As the measure of the sin of
persecutors is filling up, so is the number of the persecuted
martyred servants of Christ. [3.] When this number is fulfilled,
God will take a just and glorious revenge upon their cruel
persecutors; he will recompense tribulation to those who trouble
them, and to those that are troubled full and uninterrupted
rest.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.vii-p16">II. We have here the sixth seal opened,
<scripRef id="Rev.vii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.12" parsed="|Rev|6|12|0|0" passage="Re 6:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. Some refer
this to the great revolutions in the empire at Constantine's time,
the downfall of paganism; others, with great probability, to the
destruction of Jerusalem, as an emblem of the general judgment, and
destruction of the wicked, at the end of the world; and, indeed,
the awful characters of this event are so much the same with those
signs mentioned by our Saviour as foreboding the destruction of
Jerusalem, as hardly to leave any room for doubting but that the
same thing is meant in both places, though some think that event
was past already. See <scripRef id="Rev.vii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.29-Matt.24.30" parsed="|Matt|24|29|24|30" passage="Mt 24:29,30">Matt. xxiv.
29, 30</scripRef>. Here observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.vii-p17">1. The tremendous events that were
hastening; and here are several occurrences that contribute to make
that day and dispensation very dreadful:—(1.) <i>There was a
great earthquake.</i> This may be taken in a political sense; the
very foundations of the Jewish church and state would be terribly
shaken, though they seemed to be as stable as the earth itself.
(2.) <i>The sun became black as sackcloth of hair,</i> either
naturally, by a total eclipse, or politically, by the fall of the
chief rulers and governors of the land. (3.) <i>The moon</i> should
<i>become as blood;</i> the inferior officers, or their military
men, should be all wallowing in their own blood. (4.) <i>The stars
of heaven shall fall to the earth</i> (<scripRef id="Rev.vii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.13" parsed="|Rev|6|13|0|0" passage="Re 6:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), and that <i>as a fig-tree
casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.</i>
The stars may signify all the men of note and influence among them,
though in lower spheres of activity; there should be a general
desolation. (5.) <i>The heaven</i> should <i>depart as a scroll
when it is rolled together.</i> This may signify that their
ecclesiastical state should perish and be laid aside for ever. (6.)
<i>Every mountain and island shall be moved out of its place.</i>
The destruction of the Jewish nation should affect and affright all
the nations round about, those who were highest in honour and those
who seemed to be best secured; it would be a judgment that should
astonish all the world. This leads to,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.vii-p18">2. The dread and terror that would seize
upon all sorts of men in that great and awful day, <scripRef id="Rev.vii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.15" parsed="|Rev|6|15|0|0" passage="Re 6:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. No authority, nor
grandeur, nor riches, nor valour, nor strength, would be able to
support men at that time; yea, the very poor slaves, who, one would
think, had nothing to fear, because they had nothing to lose, would
be all in amazement at that day. Here observe, (1.) The degree of
their terror and astonishment: it should prevail so far as to make
them, like distracted desperate men, call <i>to the mountains to
fall upon them, and to the hills to cover them;</i> they would be
glad to be no more seen; yea, to have no longer any being. (2.) The
cause of their terror, namely, the angry countenance <i>of him that
sits on the throne, and the wrath of the Lamb.</i> Observe, [1.]
That which is matter of displeasure to Christ is so to God; they
are so entirely one that what pleases or displeases the one pleases
or displeases the other. [2.] Though God be invisible, he can make
the inhabitants of this world sensible of his awful frowns. [3.]
Though Christ be a lamb, yet he can be angry, even to wrath, and
<i>the wrath of the Lamb</i> is exceedingly dreadful; for if the
Redeemer, that appeases the wrath of God, himself be our wrathful
enemy, where shall we have a friend to plead for us? Those perish
without remedy who perish by the wrath of the Redeemer. [4.] As men
have their day of opportunity, and their seasons of grace, so God
has his day of righteous wrath; and, when that day shall come, the
most stout-hearted sinners will not be able to stand before him:
all these terrors actually fell upon the sinners in Judea and
Jerusalem in the day of their destruction, and they will all, in
the utmost degree, fall upon impenitent sinners, at the general
judgment of the last day.</p>
</div></div2>