mh_parser/vol_split/66 - Revelation/Chapter 8.xml

<div2 id="Rev.ix" n="ix" next="Rev.x" prev="Rev.viii" progress="96.88%" title="Chapter VIII">
<h2 id="Rev.ix-p0.1">R E V E L A T I O N.</h2>
<h3 id="Rev.ix-p0.2">CHAP. VIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Rev.ix-p1">We have already seen what occurred upon opening
six of the seals; we now come to the opening of the seventh, which
introduced the sounding of the seven trumpets; and a direful scene
now opens. Most expositors agree that the seven seals represent the
interval between the apostle's time and the reign of Constantine,
but that the seven trumpets are designed to represent the rise of
antichrist, some time after the empire became Christian. In this
chapter we have, I. The preface, or prelude, to the sounding of the
trumpets, <scripRef id="Rev.ix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.8.1-Rev.8.6" parsed="|Rev|8|1|8|6" passage="Re 8:1-6">ver. 1-6</scripRef>. II. The
sounding of four of the trumpets, <scripRef id="Rev.ix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.8.7-Rev.8.13" parsed="|Rev|8|7|8|13" passage="Re 8:7-13">ver. 7</scripRef>, &amp;c.).</p>
<scripCom id="Rev.ix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.8" parsed="|Rev|8|0|0|0" passage="Re 8" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Rev.ix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.8.1-Rev.8.6" parsed="|Rev|8|1|8|6" passage="Re 8:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rev.8.1-Rev.8.6">
<h4 id="Rev.ix-p1.5">The Seven Trumpets. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rev.ix-p1.6">a.
d.</span> 95.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rev.ix-p2">1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there
was silence in heaven about the space of half a hour.   2 And
I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were
given seven trumpets.   3 And another angel came and stood at
the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him
much incense, that he should offer <i>it</i> with the prayers of
all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
  4 And the smoke of the incense, <i>which came</i> with the
prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's
hand.   5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with
fire of the altar, and cast <i>it</i> into the earth: and there
were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
  6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared
themselves to sound.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.ix-p3">In these verses we have the prelude to the
sounding of the trumpets in several parts.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.ix-p4">I. The opening of the last seal. This was
to introduce a new set of prophetical iconisms and events; there is
a continued chain of providence, one part linked to another (where
one ends another begins), and, though they may differ in nature and
in time, they all make up one wise, well-connected, uniform design
in the hand of God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.ix-p5">II. A profound <i>silence in heaven for the
space of half an hour,</i> which may be understood either, 1. Of
the silence of peace, that for this time no complaints were sent up
to the ear of the Lord God of sabaoth; all was quiet and well in
the church, and therefore all silent in heaven, for whenever the
church on earth cries, through oppression, that cry comes up to
heaven and resounds there; or, 2. A silence of expectation; great
things were upon the wheel of providence, and the church of God,
both in heaven and earth, stood silent, as became them, to see what
God was doing, according to that of <scripRef id="Rev.ix-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.2.13" parsed="|Zech|2|13|0|0" passage="Zec 2:13">Zech. ii. 13</scripRef>, <i>Be silent, O all flesh,
before the Lord, for he has risen up out of his holy
habitation.</i> And elsewhere, <i>Be still, and know that I am
God.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.ix-p6">III. The trumpets were delivered to the
angels who were to sound them. Still the angels are employed as the
wise and willing instruments of divine Providence, and they are
furnished with all their materials and instructions from God our
Saviour. As the angels of the churches are to sound the trumpet of
the gospel, the angels of heaven are to sound the trumpet of
Providence, and every one has his part given him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.ix-p7">IV. To prepare for this, another angel must
first offer incense, <scripRef id="Rev.ix-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.8.3" parsed="|Rev|8|3|0|0" passage="Re 8:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. It is very probable that this other angel is the Lord
Jesus, the high priest of the church, who is here described in his
sacerdotal office, having a golden censer and much incense, a
fulness of merit in his own glorious person, and this incense he
was to offer up, <i>with the prayers of all the saints, upon the
golden altar</i> of his divine nature. Observe, 1. All the saints
are a praying people; none of the children of God are born dumb, a
Spirit of grace is always a Spirit of adoption and supplication,
teaching us to cry, <i>Abba, Father.</i> <scripRef id="Rev.ix-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.32.6" parsed="|Ps|32|6|0|0" passage="Ps 32:6">Ps. xxxii. 6</scripRef>, <i>For this shall every one that
is godly pray unto thee.</i> 2. Times of danger should be praying
times, and so should times of great expectation; both our fears and
our hopes should put us upon prayer, and, where the interest of the
church of God is deeply concerned, the hearts of the people of God
in prayer should be greatly enlarged. 3. The prayers of the saints
themselves stand in need of the incense and intercession of Christ
to make them acceptable and effectual, and there is provision made
by Christ for that purpose; he has his incense, his censer, and his
altar; he is all himself to his people. 4. The prayers of the
saints come up before God in a cloud of incense; no prayer, thus
recommended, was ever denied audience or acceptance. 5. These
prayers that were thus accepted in heaven produced great changes
upon earth in return to them; the same angel that in his censer
offered up the prayers of the saints in the same censer <i>took of
the fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth,</i> and this
presently caused strange commotions, <i>voices, and thunderings,
and lightnings, and an earthquake;</i> these were the answers God
gave to the prayers of the saints, and tokens of his anger against
the world and that he would do great things to avenge himself and
his people of their enemies; and now, all things being thus
prepared, the angels discharge their duty.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Rev.ix-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.8.7-Rev.8.13" parsed="|Rev|8|7|8|13" passage="Re 8:7-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rev.8.7-Rev.8.13">
<h4 id="Rev.ix-p7.4">The Seven Trumpets. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rev.ix-p7.5">a.
d.</span> 95.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rev.ix-p8">7 The first angel sounded, and there followed
hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the
earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green
grass was burnt up.   8 And the second angel sounded, and as
it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea:
and the third part of the sea became blood;   9 And the third
part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died;
and the third part of the ships were destroyed.   10 And the
third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven,
burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the
rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;   11 And the name of
the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters
became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were
made bitter.   12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third
part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and
the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was
darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the
night likewise.   13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying
through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe,
woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices
of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.ix-p9">Observe, I. <i>The first angel sounded</i>
the first trumpet, and the events which followed were very dismal:
<i>There followed hail and fire mingled with blood,</i> &amp;c.,
<scripRef id="Rev.ix-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.8.7" parsed="|Rev|8|7|0|0" passage="Re 8:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. There was a
terrible storm; but whether it is to be understood of a storm of
heresies, a mixture of monstrous errors falling on the church (for
in that age Arianism prevailed), or a storm or tempest of war
falling on the civil state, expositors are not agreed. Mr. Mede
takes it to be meant of the Gothic inundation that broke in upon
the empire in the year 395, the same year that Theodosius died,
when the northern nations, under Alaricus, king of the Goths, broke
in upon the western parts of the empire. However, here we observe,
1. It was a very terrible storm-fire, and hail, and blood: a
strange mixture! 2. The limitation of it: it fell on <i>the third
part of the trees,</i> and on the third part of <i>the grass,</i>
and blasted and burnt it up; that is, say some, upon <i>the third
part of the clergy</i> and <i>the third part of the laity;</i> or,
as others who take it to fall upon the civil state, upon <i>the
third part of the great men,</i> and upon <i>the third part of the
common people,</i> either upon the Roman empire itself, which was a
third part of the then known world, or upon a third part of that
empire. The most severe calamities have their bounds and limits set
them by the great God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.ix-p10">II. <i>The second angel sounded,</i> and
the alarm was followed, as in the first, with terrible events: <i>A
great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and the
third part of the sea became blood,</i> <scripRef id="Rev.ix-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.8.8" parsed="|Rev|8|8|0|0" passage="Re 8:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. By this mountain some understand
the leader or leaders of the heretics; others, as Mr. Mede, the
city of Rome, which was five times sacked by the Goths and Vandals,
within the compass of 137 years; first by Alaricus, in the year
410, with great slaughter and cruelty. In these calamities, a third
part of the people (called here the sea or collection of waters)
were destroyed: here was still a limitation to the third part, for
<i>in the midst of judgment God remembers mercy.</i> This storm
fell heavy upon the maritime and merchandizing cities and countries
of the Roman empire.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.ix-p11">III. <i>The third angel sounded,</i> and
the alarm had the like effects as before: <i>There fell a great
star from heaven,</i> &amp;c., <scripRef id="Rev.ix-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.8.10" parsed="|Rev|8|10|0|0" passage="Re 8:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Some take this to be a political
star, some eminent governor, and they apply it to Augustulus, who
was forced to resign the empire to Odoacer, in the year 480. Others
take it to be an ecclesiastical star, some eminent person in the
church, compared to a <i>burning lamp,</i> and they fix it upon
Pelagius, who proved about this time a falling star, and greatly
corrupted the churches of Christ. Observe, 1. Where this star fell:
<i>Upon a third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of
waters.</i> 2. What effect it had upon them; it turned those
springs and streams into wormwood, made them very bitter, that men
were poisoned by them; either the laws, which are springs of civil
liberty, and property, and safety, were poisoned by arbitrary
power, or the doctrines of the gospel, the springs of spiritual
life, refreshment, and vigour to the souls of men, were so
corrupted and embittered by a mixture of dangerous errors that the
souls of men found their ruin where they sought for their
refreshment.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.ix-p12">IV. <i>The fourth angel sounded,</i> and
the alarm was followed with further calamities. Observe, 1. The
nature of this calamity; it was darkness; it fell therefore upon
the great luminaries of the heaven, that give light to the
world—<i>the sun, and the moon, and the stars,</i> either the
guides and governors of the church, or of the state, who are placed
in higher orbs than the people, and are to dispense light and
benign influences to them. 2. The limitation: it was confined to a
third part of these luminaries; there was some light both of the
sun by day, and of the moon and stars by night, but it was only a
third part of what they had before. Without determining what is
matter of controversy in these points among learned men, we rather
choose to make these plain and practical remarks:—(1.) Where the
gospel comes to a people, and is but coldly received, and has not
its proper effects upon their hearts and lives, it is usually
followed with dreadful judgments. (2.) God gives warning to men of
his judgments before he sends them; he sounds an alarm by the
written word, by ministers, by men's own consciences, and by the
signs of the times; so that, if a people be surprised, it is their
own fault. (3.) The anger of God against a people makes dreadful
work among them; it embitters all their comforts, and makes even
life itself bitter and burdensome. (4.) God does not in this world
stir up all his wrath, but sets bounds to the most terrible
judgments. (5.) Corruptions of doctrine and worship in the church
are themselves great judgments, and the usual causes and tokens of
other judgments coming on a people.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.ix-p13">V. Before the other three trumpets are
sounded here is solemn warning given to the world how terrible the
calamities would be that should follow them, and how miserable
those times and places would be on which they fell, <scripRef id="Rev.ix-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.8.13" parsed="|Rev|8|13|0|0" passage="Re 8:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. 1. The messenger was
<i>an angel flying in the midst of heaven,</i> as in haste, and
coming on an awful errand. 2. The message was a denunciation of
further and greater woe and misery than the world had hitherto
endured. Here are three woes, to show how much the calamities
coming should exceed those that had been already, or to hint how
every one of the three succeeding trumpets should introduce its
particular and distinct calamity. If less judgments do not take
effect, but the church and the world grow worse under them, they
must expect greater. <i>God will be known by the judgments that he
executes;</i> and he expects, when he comes to punish the world,
the inhabitants thereof should tremble before him.</p>
</div></div2>