crystal: and in the midst of the

throne, and round about the

transparent, that the figures of persons were reflected from it as if it were water. The floor, or pavement before the tabernacle, on which the people stood to worship God, was composed of plates or slabs, highly polished. It looked like glass, and when persons stood upon it, their images were so clearly reflected, that they seemed almost to be standing on the open sea. Hence, we read, Rev. xv. 2, “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” They stand on the sea of glass, – for so the pavement seemed to be ; and they had the harps of God, because they came there to praise him ; it was the place on which the people stood when they assembled to sing in chorus the sacred songs of the temple. *| In the midst of the throne. — The beings referred to had a very near approach to the throne; they were nearer to it than were the four-andtwenty elders. The cherubim seemed to be in the midst of the ark. “For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above;” 1 Kings viii. 7; 2 Chron. v. 8; Heb. ix. 5. From this near relation which the cherubim held to the throne, came the idea of the revelator. T Four beasts, or rather four living creatures. – The four beasts were hieroglyphical representations, though the word beasts seems to be an unfortunate translation ; for they certainly are described as intelligent beings, “ saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” “It was a most unhappy mistake in our translators, (says Dr. Doddridge,) to render the word zoa, beasts; it certainly signifies any other kind of animals, that is, of creatures which

have animal life, as well as beasts. The word beast not only degrades the signification, but the animals here mentioned have parts and appearances which beasts have not, and are represented as in the highest sense rational.” The revelator seems to have copied from Ezekiel in this description. To describe the approach of Jehovah, the prophet said, “The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God;” chap. i. 1. “And I looked, and behold a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went ; they went every one straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man and the face of a lion, on the right side : and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces; and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. And they went every one straight forward; whither the Spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps : it went up and down my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let

him hear what the Spirit saith

unto the churches.

CHAPTER IV.

FTER this I looked, and behold, a door was opened

course, reigned in a spiritual kingdom. And according to Paul’s application of a passage in Isaiah, this was a matter of prophecy. “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord : and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord : and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth : and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked;” Isa. xi. 1–4. For Paul's application of this passage to Christ, see Rom. xv. 12. The wicked will not have Christ to reign over them. “But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me;” Luke xix. 27. Jesus will continue to reign until all enemies are put under his feet; 1 Cor. xv. 25. And how does he reign We have already said, spiritually. He reigns by the power of his truth and of his life. His faithfulness, his resignation, his piety, benevolence, love, have a great influence over all his followers. In this sense, all faithful Christians, whose lives are an imitation of his, reign with him, in the proclaiming and illustrating of his truth and in the influence of their lives. But this they cannot do, unless they are faithful. “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us;” 2 Tim. ii. 12. This reigning with Christ exists in any

place where Christians are faithful. We are not obliged to confine it to the immortal world. It is expressly declared to be on the earth. “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 ;” Rev. v. 9, 10. See also the notes on Rev. ii. 26, 27. 22. He that hath an ear. — See the remarks on ii. 7, 11, 17, &c.

CHAPTER IV.

1. After this I looked.— After the things which had been described, I looked, &c. &c. We now enter on an entirely new section of the Apocalypse. The revelator had stated, in the commencement, the authority by which he spake; and had described the actual state of the seven Asiatic churches, which perhaps were put forth as representatives of all the churches. Having finished so much, he proceeded to the prophetic parts of his communication. And let it be observed, the prophetic part of the Apocalypse begins with the verse now before us. The manner in which he had been prepared to make the communication to the seven churches, was described i. 10; and what he saw, he was instructed to write and communicate to those churches, ver. 11. A distinct epistle was written to each church. He had spoken by the Spirit, or rather the Spirit had spoken by him ; and at the end of each epistle, he had called on men as fol. lows: “He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” And here it strikes the mind, that the language is not what the Spirit saith to the seven churches, but what the Spirit saith to in heaven: and the first voice which I heard, was as it were

of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither,

the churches, as if meaning the churches at large. The presumption is, that although John addressed only the seven, yet being put as representatives of all the rest, they were all interested in the communications which he made. After he had concluded his communications to the seven churches, he came to the prophetic parts, which seem not to be addressed to those churches, but to the Christian world at large. Nothing more is said in the Apocalypse about the seven churches. The testimony is “to every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book;” xxii. 18. T I looked. — The word here is not to be taken in the ordinary acceptation of merely seeing ; but is to be understood as having an insight, after the manner of the prophets, or seers, by which he was enabled to foretell the events which he subsequently described. *I Door nas opened in heaven. — We take the opportunity, in this place, to offer a few remarks on the scriptural, and especially the apocalyptical, sense, of the word heaven. It is put, 1st. For the region of the air, as when we speak of the fowls of heaven; Rev. viii. 13, x. 6; xiii. 13; xiv. 6; xvi. 21; xix. 17; xx. 9. 2d. It is put for the firmament, as when we speak of the sun in heaven, or the stars of heaven; vi. 14; viii. 10; ix. 1; xx. 11. 3d. It is put for the imaginary dwelling-place of God. The firmament is but an imaginary place; and in the same sense heaven may be understood when spoken of as God's dwelling-place. The form of God's existence is altogether mysterious. We do not suppose we are to understand heaven, when spoken of as the dwelling-place of God, to be strictly a locality. It partakes of the metaphorical, the scenical. God, among the ancients, was supposed to dwell in any place where he specially manifested his presence. When Jacob

slept upon the ground, on his way towards Haran, he had a vision, and behold, a ladder was seen reaching from the earth to the heaven, on which the angels of God were ascending and descending ; and he heard a voice above it saying, “I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father,” &c. He awoke, with the spell of the dream upon him. “Surely (said he) the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not ; this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven;” Gen. xxviii. 16, 17. As though he had said, this is the avenue to God’s presence. The Jews of old supposed that God inhabited some spiritual dwelling, (if we may so speak,) which they called eternity, a high and holy place. They also supposed him to dwell in the humble and contrite spirit; Isaiah lwii. 15. This high and holy place, of which the Jews had an indistinct idea, they called heaven. But they held, from the earliest times, that God also dwelt among them. He dwelt beneath the cherubim, at the mercy-seat, upon the ark of the covenant; 2 Kings xix. 15; Psa. lxxx. 1; Isa. xxxvii. 15. In the case before us, it would seem that heaven was put for the supposed dwelling-place of God. This was represented to the Jews, in the temple, by the mercy-seat. By the door opening in heaven, may be understood the opening of the door, or gate, to the mercy-seat. T A trumpet talking njith me. — This was the first voice the revelator heard. He had seen no person, but he heard a voice, which seemed to be as if a trumpet had life, and had the power to talk. The meaning is, it was a trumpet-like voice. In the view of the ancient Hebrews, men could not see God with the outward eye. They could see a representation of him ; but it was not supposed they could see God himself; John i. 18; 1 Tim. vi. 16. There was a moral or spiritual sense, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the Spirit: and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat

on the throne. 3 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

in which the pure in heart could see him ; Matt. v. 8. But though they could not see Jehovah, yet they could hear his voice, as was the case with Adam and Eve in the garden; Gen. iii. 8. So the revelator heard the voice of the trumpet talking with him. We desire to remark once for all, that we regard the scenes described in this chapter to be purely metaphorical, as much so as the account of the temptation of our first parents, in the garden of Eden, by the serpent. He who should seek to interpret the language literally, would have confusion worse confounded. The design of the revelator seems to have been to represent, that he had a special opportunity of approaching the Holy One, and of learning from him the events “which must be hereafter.” The imagery is not real, but imaginative. It is a figurative description of the dwelling-place of the High and Holy One. See 2d, 3d, and 4th verses. T Which must be hereafter. — This shows plainly that the prophetic part of the book is about to begin, for which the revelator was specially preared by the communication with eaven. We were informed in Rev. i. 19, that John was directed to write the things which he had seen, the things which were, and the things which were to be afterward. The latter things are written in those H. of the Apocalypse which we ave now approached. 2. Immediately Invas in the Spirit. — That is, “when the door was opened, and the trumpet voice talked with me, I was immediately in a spiritual frame of mind”—a fit and proper state in which to behold the things which he was to see and describe. ‘s A throne nas set in heaven. — This was the first thing he saw after the

door in heaven was opened. T And one sat on the throne. — He saw not the being, and yet the sight impressed him with the fact that there was a being there. 3. Like a jasper and sardine stone. — Beautiful, glorious! Such was the appearance. These precious stones had great lustre. But this was not all that contributed to the brilliance of the scene. T A rainbon, round about the throne. — The description is intended to be of the most gorgeous kind. This description of the throne of God, and of the mysterious Being seated thereon, seems to us to be framed according to the descriptions given by Isaiah and Ezekiel. See the words of the former prophet: “I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings: with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke;” Isa. vi. 1–4. This vision appeared to the prophet to be in the temple; for he said that the train of the Holy One “filled the temple.” See also Ezekiel chap. i., especially verses 26–28. “And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone, and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the

like unto an emerald. 4 And round about the throne

were four and twenty seats; and upon the seats I saw four

appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.” Now we cannot have a doubt that the revelator found his images in the passages we have here quoted. They were not the creations of wild fancy in him ; he found them in the sacred books of the Jews. Compare with the above Ezek. x.

4. Four-and-tncenty seats. – This is a continuation of the imagery. Fourand-twenty exalted seats, or thrones, are placed around the throne of God. We say thrones, for those who sit on them have crowns upon their heads, as signs that they reign with God. *I Four-and-tmenty elders. — First of all, who were the elders ? What kind of an officer were they The word itself signifies, a man of age, experience, and dignity. We read of the elders often in the Old Testament, as well as in the New. They were the magistrates, heads, or rulers of the people. Even when the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, they seem to have had a kind of government, and there were among them some whom they owned as their teachers and rulers. Moses was directed to confer with them, previously to undertaking the deliverance of the people; Exod. iii. 16–18. These elders were men of experience, wisdom and gravity, and of authority among the people. Afterwards, when it became necessary for Moses to have assistance in governing the people, he was advised to appoint elders for that purpose. “Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating

covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens : and let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge : so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee;” Exod. xviii. 21, 22. For the commission given to these men, see Deut. i. 16, 17. This appointment was confirmed by the authority of God; see Numb. xi. 16, 17; and these men ruled in conjunction with Moses; Deut. xxvii. 1 : “And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.” With this explanation we shall be able to understand the matter of the four-and-twenty elders in the passage before us. The form of the court of heaven was made with reference to the God-appointed form of government among the Jews. This form was held sacred in the eyes of the Jews; and how natural was it therefore for the revelator, himself a Hebrew, when painting a Scene of the presence of God, and the heavenly court, to describe it after the sacred fashion of the Jews. It is true, we read, in one or two instances, of some slight changes in the government; but a body of elders was always clustered around the chief officer, both in secular and holy matters. We read often of the elders in the New Testament as being the leaders of the Jewish people in their opposition to Jesus and his apostles, as well as other matters. This led the Christians to regard the elders as stiff. necked and rebellious men; but it begat no prejudices in their minds in regard to the office itself. But why was the number twenty-four selected 2 We read nowhere of that exact number of elders except in the Apoca