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17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had

power over fire; and cried with a loud voice to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

resented under the metaphor of the harvest, are now to be represented under the figure of the vintage. 18. Angel came out from the altar. — This is one of the angels of the elements; see the classification mentioned in our note under v. 2. He comes from the altar, where fire was kept continually burning. T Ponver over fire.—That is, the fire of the altar. “The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out;” Lev. vi. 13. T Cried nith a loud cry. All the voices from heaven, and from the temple, (and these terms are sometimes used synonymously,) are described as voices of great power; for the reason that they are effective, majestic, and command the obedience of all men. The thunder is sometimes described as God's voice; Job xxxvii. 4, 5; Psa. lxxvii. 18; civ. 7. Göd's voice is a mighty voice; Psa. lxviii. 33. Any voice announcing just recompense for sin seems to have been called the voice of the Lord; Isa. lxvi. 6. The voice of the Lord is like the sound of many waters, as of the roaring sea, or a mighty cataract. Such a comparison is truly sublime. See Ezk. i. 24; xliii. 2. It was as the voice of a multitude; Dan. x. 6; which shakes not only the earth, but heaven also; Heb. xii. 26. These metaphors and comparisons are all employed by the revelator. See i. 15; v. 2, 12; viii. 13; x. 3; xi. 15; xii. 10; xiv. 2; xvi. 17. T Thrust in thy sharp sickle. — Here the command COnneS fo the temple again, before the gathering of the clusters was commenced. T Vine of the earth. —What is the accustomed metaphorical use which the sacred writers make of the vine ! We will see. The cultivation of the vine was early known. It was

transplanted from place to place, and with proper care might even be carried a great distance without losing its life. Hence it was used to represent a people removed from one place to another. The Jews were a vine, brought out of Egypt, carried to Canaan, and planted there, after the heathen were driven out. “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river;” Psa. lxxx, 8–11. Isaiah speaks of a vineyard which God planted. He looked for good grapes, and behold it brought forth wild grapes. The prophet explains his allegory by saying: “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry;” Isa. v. 7. Jeremiah says to Israel, “Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed; how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me !” ii. 21. See, also, Hosea x. 1. It is apparent, then, that the prophets used the met. aphor of the vine to represent the house of Israel, or nation of the Jews. In the Apocalypse, the vine stands for the Romans, and occurs only in xiv. 18, 19. "I Her grapes are fully ripe. — This denotes that the wicked. ness of the people was full. “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for

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19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth,

and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the wine-press was

their wickedness is great;” Joel lii. 13. See the remarks under verse 15. Every abomination prevailed among the Romans. They worshipped the beast and his image, and received his mark on their right hands and foreheads; they had no rest day nor night, save the few who had embraced the religion of Jesus, taken up the cross, and been crucified with him — they rested from their labors, and their good works followed them. 19. Great nine-press of the norath of God. — To tread a people as in a wine-press, was to surround them, to crush, destroy, and extirpate them. See the following passage. “The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand; they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck; he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up. The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me; he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men; the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a wine-press. For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me; my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed;” Lam. i. 14–16. The wine-press of the wrath of God was the wine-press of his judgments. 20. And the nine-press nas trodden. —To tread the wine-press is, of course, to crush the enemy. The manner of crushing grapes among the Jews was to put them into the wat, or press, and then place men among them to tread upon them. The garments of such must, of course, be stained somewhat of the color of blood. “Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat 2 I have trodden the wine-press alone;

and of the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come;” Isa. lxiii. 2–4. This metaphor was perhaps used by Isaiah to represent the destruction of the Jews, in the days of vengeance, at the coming of Christ. See Lowth on the place. But, according to Adam Clarke, “Kimchi interprets the whole of the destruction of Rome.” The latter is the true application of the metaphor in the Apocalypse. See xix. 13, 15. TI Without the city. — When it is said the winepress was trodden “without the city,” it has reference, we think, to the custom of the Israelites, that men who were disgraced should be put out of the city. Punishments eminently dis

'graceful were inflicted without the

city. The custom originated on the journey from Egypt to Canaan. Those who were infected with the plague and leprosy were obliged to dwell without the camp; Lev. xiii. 46; Numb. v. 3. The punishment of stoning to death was inflicted without the camp; Numb. xv. 35. It was a disgrace, therefore, to be obliged to dwell without the camp, or to suffer punishments there. Hence we read in Hebrews : “For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth, therefore, unto him without the gate;” xiii. 11—13. The meaning is, we will suffer reproach for the name of Christ. The Romans were to be punished in a manner to bring upon them the greatest disgrace. T Blood came out of the nine-press. – Here the figure

trodden without the city, and

blood came out of the wine

is slightly changed. The juice of the grape becomes blood, and it flows in immense quantities, even to the horses’ bridles. Does not this denote that the Romans were to be afflicted with bloody wars? Bishop Newton says, “It is said (ver. 20) that ‘the blood came even unto the horsebridles,' which is a strong hyperbolical way of speaking to express vast slaughter and effusion of blood; a way of speaking not unknown to the Jews; for the Jerusalem Talmud, describing the woful slaughter which the Roman Emperor Adrian made of the Jews at the destruction of the city of Bitter, saith, “that the horses waded in blood up to the nostrils.' Nor are similar examples wanting even in the classic authors: for Silius Italicus, speaking of Hannibal's descent into Italy, useth a like expression, of ‘the bridles flowing with much blood;’ Sil. Ital. iii. 705.” Destructive wars are described by the flowing of great quantities of blood; and in the hyperbolical language of the Apocalypse, it flows even “to the horse-bridles” for the space of sixteen hundred furlongs. It is a strong hyperbole, like that in John xxi. 25 ; viz., that if the acts of Jesus were all written, “the world itself could not contain the books.” The oriental writers abounded in hyperboles; and the two to which we have now referred are perhaps the most striking in all the Scriptures. We infer nothing from the verse before us, than that great slaughter was intended. Judgments, especially such as came in the form of war, are represented under the metaphor of blood. The figure perhaps originated in what is said Exod. vii. 17. The success of Israel against their enemies is described by saying, they shall “drink the blood of the slain;” Numb. xxiii. 24. The garments of warriors are rolled in blood; Isaiah ix. 5. At the destruction of Idumea, the mountains were said to melt with blood; Isa. xxxiv. 3. The destruction of Egypt

is described in the following terms by Ezekiel: “Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will east thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height. I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee. And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light;" xxxii. 4–7. When we come to the Apoca. lypse, we find the same prophetic metaphors kept up; for that book bears a more striking resemblance to the books of the Old Testament, especially those of the prophets, than to any book of the New Testament. The moon turns to blood; vi. 12. One judgment was described as had and fire mingled with blood : and the “third part of the sea became blood;" viii. 7, 8; the two witnesses had the power to turn the waters to blood, which is described as “snaiting the earth with all plagues;” xi. 6; God gave the Romans “blood to drink,” because they had shed the blood of saints; xvi. 6; the murderous cruelty of the Romans was described by the woman, the “great harlot,” being drunk with the blood of saints and martyrs; xvii. 6; and Jesus, king of kings, when he rode forth to judge the Romans, was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; xix. 13. So much for the use of the metaphor of

blood. The hyperboles are, some of them, exceedingly bold. Having thus brought our comments on this chapter to a close, we observe, that we see clearly what was the judgment de

nounced in verses 9–11, under the

metaphors of the wine of the wrath of

God, and of torment in fire and brim

stone in the presence of the holy

press, even unto the horsebridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

CHAPTER XV.

ND I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvel

angels and the Lamb. Those judgments are described more particularly in verses 14–20. The Son of man and his angels are represented as being present. He comes upon a white cloud, with a sharp sickle. The harvest of the earth is ripe; the clusters of the grapes are ready to be gathered in; the “wine of the wrath of God” is to be poured out from the “wine-press of the wrath of God.” The figure is then slightly changed, and the wine turns to blood to represent the dreadful slaughter with which the enemies of Christ were supposed to be overthrown. Who can suppose this is descriptive of judgments in the immortal state 2 Look at xix. 13– 21. There we shall find similar figures occurring again. Jesus treadeth the “wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God;” but that this represents the punishment of men on the earth, is evident, because the fowls are called to eat their flesh, a metaphor which is never applied by any writer that we know of, sacred or profane, to the spiritworld. Several of the remaining chapters will be found only to carry out, in a more extended form, the subjects embraced in this.

CHAPTER XV.

Preliminary Remarks. – We must now expect, for several chapters, only the same subjects which were hinted at in the 14th chapter. They are carried out in a more enlarged form, which will appear as we proceed. This, let it be remembered, was precisely the manner of the revelator in treating of the judgments upon the Jews. He gaye, in chapter sixth, a synopsis or general view of those judgments, and then proceeded in subsequent chapters to fill up his plan more completely. Thus the harmony of his design is preserved. We

×

noticed, when examining the 14th chapter, that he treated of the spread of the gospel among the Jews; the preaching of it to the Gentiles; the punishment of the persecutors, who were to have no rest “day nor night;” and the rest that was to be enjoyed by those who had been crucified with Christ. In the 15th chapter we shall find an account of the progress of the gospel among the Gentiles, and the preparations that were made for visiting the wrath of God upon those who persecuted the Gentile Christians. 1. I san, another sign. —Everything in this chapter is remarkably scenic. This introduction of another sign was only in fulfilment of the revelator's general plan, of representing in a dramatic manner the events which he knew were to take place. It was made known to him that a new order of judgments was about to fall, to wit, the judgments on the Roman persecutors; and this he describes by saying: “I saw another sign in heaven,” &c. The word semeion, rendered “sign,” signifies, among other senses, a portent, a prodigy, or extraordinary occurrence, representing or portending somewhat else. See Parkhurst and other lexicographers. As if the revelator had said, I saw another wonder, or prodigy, the forerunner of great events. "I Great and marvellous. – For these reasons it is called “great and marvellous.” The language which the revelator here applies to the destruction of Rome is similar to that which was used by our Lord in regard to the destruction of Jerusalem. Luke xxi. 11, 25: “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring.” See xvi. 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 18–21, where more distinct metaphorical allusions are made to signs in the sun, air, sea,

lous, seven angels having the

seven last plagues; for in them

waters, islands, mountains, &c., &c. * Seven angels. – What was the sign, great and marvellous, which the revelator saw Ans. “Seven angels having the seven last plagues;” and here let it be observed, this is merely scenic, or imaginary. John unquestionably stated the truth; but we must take it in his own dress. The facts he was instructed to give; the imagery nas his omn; but this in a great part he borrowed from other portions of the Scriptures, especially the prophets. We say with Dr. Doddridge on another part of the Apocalypse, John's images “represented in a figurative manner things that did really exist. And though it is possible that ačrial scenes might, by divine or angelic power, have been formed, I think it much more probable, that all that passed was purely in the imagination of St. John.”—See Doddridge on Rev. iv. 2, in his Expositor. We have now before us another series of seven angels. The former series (viii. 2, 6) had seven trumpets to sound; these have “seven golden vials full of the wrath of God.” There is somewhat of a similarity in the imagery in these two cases, "I Having the seven last plagues. The plague, strictly speaking, was a disease which God was supposed to have sent upon men in his wrath. “And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them : for there is wrath gone out from the Lord: the plague is begun. And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed;” Num. xvi. 46– 48. Plagues are put for judgments even where this kind of disease was

not sent. The judgments God sent on Pharaoh were called plagues; Exod. xi. 1; xii. 13, et al. Plagues are spoken of in the sense of judgments in the passage before us. The judgments upon the Jews, as mentioned in the former part of the Apocalypse, were called “plagues;” ix. 20; xi. 6. The same term is applied to the judgments upon the Romans; xvi. 9, 21; xviii. 4, 8. Those who added to the Apocalypse were to suffer these plagues in common with the others; xxii. 18. Why were plagues divided into seven forms See xv. 6, 7, 8; xvi. 1; xvii. 1. For the same reason that the Lamb was said to have seven horns, and seven eyes; v. 6; and that the book had seven seals; v. 1; and that there were seven angels with seven trumpets; viii. 2; and that seven thunders uttered their voices; x. 3, &c., &c. The number seven signified, to the Jews at least, the idea of perfection and completeness; and nothing was more natural, therefore, as the revelator was about to describe all the judgments that appertain to this part of the Apocalypse, so that after them none would remain to be fulfilled, to represent them by the full and perfect number. And it is distinctly to be remembered, that these seven plagues embrace all the plagues subsequently mentioned in the Apocalypse: xvi. 9, 21; xviii. 4, 8; xxii. 18. If any other plagues besides these were found, then these would not be the last; and they are expressly said to be the last. T In them is filled up the norath of God. And why were these plagues called last plagues? The answer is given in the verse before us, – “for in them is filled up [or finished] the wrath of God.” What is meant by filled up? Prof. Stuart says, the Greek seems to run, “having seven plagues, which are the last.” — Wol. ii., p. 304. The measure of God's wrath is full; nothing more is to be added. When Jesus

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