of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and right

eous are thy judgments. 8 And the fourth angel poured

and may well be called a great deep; Psa. xxxvi. 6. But none of these descriptions are intended by the sacred writers to contradict the essential attributes of the Deity. God's great and leading attribute is his goodness, or rectitude. Again and again do the sacred writers declare that he is righteous; and hence no description of his judgments should lead us to attribute anything unrighteous to him; Exod. ix. 27; 2 Chron. xii. 6; Psa. cxxix. 4; cxlv. 17; Lam. i. 18; Dan. ix. 14. The Lord is gracious; 1 Peter ii. 3. He is good; Psalms xxxiv. 8; c. 5; cxxxv. 3; cylv. 9; Jer. xxxiii. 11; Nah. i. 7. “He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide; neither will he keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him ;” Psa.ciii. S—13. He will never cast away from his presence the mourning, penitent soul, nor shut the door of mercy against the sinful, nor prevent them, if they desire, from returning to him. “If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail;” Psa. lxxxix. 30–33. Such is the government of our God — such is his tender mercy. How beautifully and forcibly does Micah say, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage 2 he retaineth not his anger

forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old;” vii. 18–20. “Whom the Lord loveth he correcteth;” Prov. iii. 12. The title which is preeminently applied to God in the New Testament is that of Father. “To give our views of God in one word, we believe in his parental character. We ascribe to him not only the name but the disposition and principles of a father — we believe that he has a father's concern for his creatures; a father's desire for their improvement; a father's equity in proportioning his commands to their powers; a father's joy in their progress; a father's readiness to receive the penitent; and a father's justice [a father's justice] for the incorrigible. We look upon this world as a place of education, in which he is training men by mercies and sufferings; by aids and temptations; by means and opportunities of various virtues; by trials of principle; by the conflicts of reason and passion; by a discipline suited to free and moral beings; for union with himself, and for a sublime and ever-growing virtue in heaven.”— (Dr. Channing's Baltimore sermon.) God, then, is truly merciful and gracious; Psa. cxi. 4; cxlv. 8; full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great kindness; Eph. ii. 4. He is long-suffering, very pitiful, and of tender mercy; Numb. xiv. 18; Nah. i. 3; Jas. v. 11. He wiłł punish the wicked, all the wicked, faithfully, adequately, but will not violate the principles of his nature, which have now been described, and which are so frequently and earnestly recognized and asserted by the writers both of the Old and New Testaments. Although in one sense his judgments out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed

the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him

ory. 10 And the fifth angel poured

are unsearchable; Rom. xi. 33; yet, we may be sure they are founded on the eternal principles of righteousness; and we may praise God for them as being true and righteous altogether; Psa. xix. 9; czix.7; Rev. xix. 2. 8. Upon the sun. — Changes in the heavenly bodies denoted great political changes; but the intent here seems to be, that the sun's heat should be increased to that degree that men should be actually scorched with it. The heat of the sun is sometimes exceedingly oppressive, and gives rise to violent diseases, fevers, and especially inflamation upon the brain. The most sickly portions of the globe are those on which the sun has the most power; and in other portions the most sickly seasons are those which are the warmest. The heat of the sun, therefore, being increased to such an extraordinary degree as actually to scorch men, denotes the severity of the divine judgments, which came, perhaps, in the form of pestilence. The blessings of the redeemed are described in the following terms: “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat;” Rev. vii. 16. That figure was evidently quoted from Isaiah xlix. 10 : “They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them : for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.” It is a similar metaphor when the blessings of the Messiah's kingdom are represented as a grateful shade beneath a scorching sky; Isa. iv. 6; xxv. 4; xxxii. 2. Although the fourth vial was poured out upon the sun, still we are to remember that no judgment is intended except that which took place

upon the earth. The command to the seven angels was to pour out their vials of wrath upon the earth. The effect of the fourth vial was felt nowhere but on the earth, although it was poured out upon the sun. Power was given to the sun to scorch men [i. e., men on the earth] with fire. These plagues poured from the vials are all represented as being on the earth; ver, 1. 9. Blasphemed the name of God. – In consequesce of their afflictions, men blasphemed the name of God. They could not endure with patience the plagues which were sent upon them. They repented not to give God glory. The Christians glorified him, and said, “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty: just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints;” but the persecutors glorified him not. T And they repented not to give him glory. — They repented not. So it is said of the Jews, who fell under God's judgments : “The rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands;” ix. 20, 21. And because they repented not, they were obliged to endure severer judgments still. They refused to glorify God. The Christians, in the midst of their deepest tribulations, glorified him. Mystery Babylon glorified her. self; xviii. 7; but the Christians said, “Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name 2" xv. 4. God should be glorified in all things; 1 Peter iv. 11. 10. Upon the seat of the beast. — The seat of the beast signifies the place of his power. A more proper transla. tion would seem to be, the throne of the beast, not intending the very throne, the emperor's chair of state, but the place or city of his power, the

out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven, because of their pains

and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. 12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the

central point of the empire. Where was the seat of the beast 2 or the place of his power 2 Was it not the imperial city ? T Full of darkness. – The kingdorm of the beast was full of darkness, like the darkness of Egypt that might be felt. T Gnanced their tongues.—The anguish of the worshippers of the beast is represented as very great; they had no rest day nor night, as was foretold, xiv. 11. They gnawed their tongues for their pain. This is one of the most forcible figures to describe intense pain that the mind can conceive. In some awful diseases, the sick man gnaws his tongue. It is a horrid spectacle, and, thank God, is seen but seldom. There have been cases, in which the unhappy subject, suffering great pain, accompanied by delirium, has gnawed his tongue until it bore. no resemblance to what it was once. This figure is even more forcible, we think, than that of “gnashing the teeth,” which occurs several times in the gospels, though they are parallel expressions. The language is not to be construed literally. It is clearly metaphorical. If such were the consequences attributable to the suffering of the wrath of God, - if men were made as it were mad, or delirious, by it, how properly was it represented in xiv. 10, by the wine of the wrath of God, which inflames and intoxicates men, and drives their reason away. 11. Blasphemed the God of heaven. — So great was the pain represented to be, that the sufferers lost all patience, and broke out in blasphemy against the Almighty; but they did not repent of their deeds. Their hearts, like Pharaoh's, were hardened. They persisted in their wickedness. See the remarks on ver, 9. How

different the condition between the worshippers of the beast, and the serwants of Jesus. The former had no rest, day nor night; xiv. 11; they were maddened with pain; xvi. 10. But the latter were blessed, while their enemies were destroyed ; they rested from their labors, and their works accompanied them wheresoever they Went. 12. Great river Euphrates. – Euphrates is called “the great river” in other parts of the Scriptures; see Gen. xv. 18; Deut. i. 7; Joshua i. 4. It was the eastern boundary of the land given to the seed of Abraham ; see the texts already referred to, and Deut. xi. 24; 1 Chron. v. 9. When the Israelites were conquered by the Romans, the Euphrates became the eastern boundary of the empire, and they never extended their conquests beyond this. The sixth angel is represented, therefore, as pouring out his vial on that river, that the waters thereof might be dried up, and that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared, that is, that all hindrances to the approach of the opposing armies might be taken away, and that they might march on into Syria, and hasten the fall of the Roman power. The revelator, perhaps, drew this figure from the early history of his countrymen, for God divided the Red Sea for them to pass through. The Nile, also, is represented as being divided, that the Jews returning to their country might pass through dry shod, Isa. xi. 15, – a figure like the one occurring in the verse before us. The figure of the drying up of rivers is sometimes used to represent great drought and want; in fact, we know that the smaller rivers are sometimes totally dry in a time of great drought.

way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of

See Job xii. 15; Isa. xix. 6; xlii. 15; xliv. 27; l. 2; Jer. li. 36; Zech. x. 11; Nahum i. 4. Another figure, as already noticed, is to represent the sea as being dried up to permit the people to pass through ; Psa. lxxiv. 15; cvi. 9. I Kings of the east.— Prof. Stuart inquires, why the kings of the east are mentioned, and adds, because “Parthia and her allies were the only powers that could pretend to rival the Romans in the strife of war. The Parthians often drove back, and at last confined, the Romans to the western bank of the Euphrates, retaining the dominion of middle Asia to themselves. The apocalyptist, therefore, here threatens war upon the Roman Empire by the only power which could then make it with any prospect of success. Even to the western parts of Asia had the Parthians sometimes urged their invasion and conquests. It is not necessary to suppose a literal prediction and fulfilment here. Enough that the symbol employed is exceedingly significant. The Roman Empire must be attacked, divided, weakened, by enemies; and this is most significantly expressed here by adverting to the only enemies which, when this book was written, were able to make any impression upon that empire.” — (Stuart on Apoc., ii., 313.) It is not to be supposed, that the Euphrates was actually dried; but it was a figurative method to show that the obstacles to the incursions of the enemies to the Romans, in that extreme quarter of the empire, should be removed; and the enemies should come in and break down the Roman power. Filled with fear at the approaching danger, the Roman power, both secular and spiritual, rouses all its energies to meet the crisis, as we shall see in the next verse. 13. Unclean spirits. – In this instance, unclean spirits are unquestionably spoken of metaphorically.

Even though we were to decide that the doctrine of actual demoniacal possessions is taught in the other parts of the New Testament, we should not suppose it was intended to be taught here. The doctrine of demoniacal possessions the Jews learned of the heathen, especially during the seventy years' captivity in Babylon; and this we judge to be the reason why we find so much more said in the New Testament concerning unclean spirits than in the Old. From this doctrine of possession, the phraseology of the Jews came to be somewhat modified; and although our Lord and his disciples adopt their phraseology, it is not to be supposed they meant to adopt their errors. The learned Dr. Lightfoot says, in his remarks on the parable of the unclean spirits: “These words seem to have been spoken by our Saviour according to the capacity Óf the common people, or rather according to the deceit, put upon them, more than according to the reality or truth of the thing itself; taking a parable from something commonly believed and entertained, that he might express the thing which he propounded more plainly and familiarly.” — (Works, xi.203.) From the earliest ages, the heathen supposed invisible spirits to have agency in the affairs of this world. They peopled the skies with the departed spirits of their heroes, to whom they assigned divers ranks, dispositions, and occupations; some they adored with gratitude, and others they worshipped with fear. This was all the work of imagination — it had no reality. They unquestionably believed it real; and when they experienced any extraordinary emotions, they were wont to attribute them to the agency of their fabled demons. This absurd notion was embraced by the Jews, as we learn from their historians; and Josephus, who lived nearly in the same age with the the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast,

and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

apostles, tells us, that demons are the spirits of wicked men, which return to the earth, and possess and torment the living. Speaking of a certain plant, he says: “It is only valuable on account of one virtue it hath, that if it be only brought to the sick persons, it quickly drives away those called demons, which are no other than the spirits of the wicked, that enter into men that are alive, and kill them, unless they can obtain some help against them.”—(Bell. Jud., lib. vii., c. vi., sec. 3.) This was the prevailing opinion in the time of Christ. Persons afflicted with insanity and epilepsy were more particularly judged to be possessed of demons; and the careful reader will perceive, by examining the supposed cases of possessions recorded in the New Testament, that the symptoms put forth by the subjects of them are, precisely the symptoms shown by persons really afflicted with those diseases. – (See Jahn's Arch., sec. 194 —197.) The Saviour, in speaking of persons thus afflicted, used the common language; not, as we suppose, to give countenance to the notion of the real existence of demons, but intenderness, perhaps, to the persons afflicted, o in accommodation to their views of themselves, as well as to the prevailing opinion on the subject. When Jesus cured people of insanity or epilepsy, he was said to cast out a demon, or demons, if the possessed thought himself to have more than one; and when Jesus transferred the madness on one occasion to a herd of swine, as the leprosy of Naaman was transferred to Gehazi, the demons were said to enter them, and their end was what might have been expected. We have thought it proper to present these general views on the subject of demoniacal possessions. Those who wish to look more into the matter are referred to Matt. x. 1; xii. 43; Mark i. 23, 26, 27; iii.

11, 30; v. 2, 8, 13; vi. 7; vii. 25; Luke iv. 36; vii. 21, 22; xi. 24; Acts v. 16; viii. 7. We recommend the reader also to consult Farmer on Demoniacs, and Campbell's Prelim. Diss. vi., p. 1. T Mouth of the dragon, mouth of the beast, &c. — The principal fact brought out in these two verses is, that the dragon, and the beast, and the false prophet, representing Rome spiritual and Rome secular, all united to arrest the downfall of the empire. Filled with consternation at the approaching danger, the civil power roused all its energies to meet it, as did also its coadjutors, the priests and minions of Rome spiritual. We were told, in Rev. xiii. 11—13, that the second beast, the auxiliary to the first, was a lamb in appearance, but a dragon in reality. He for a time exercised all the power of the first beast, and caused the body of the people to honor and reverence the first beast, or Rome secular. This auxiliary beast was to do great wonders, and to deceive mankind by the miracles' which he appeared to perform ; verses 14, 15. The unclean spirits, like frogs, came out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, the same power being intended here by the false prophet which is intended in Rev. xiii. 11–13 by the auxiliary beast. The heathen spiritual power, beyond all doubt, was auxiliary to the Secular. But the energies of all were summoned to ward off the dangers of the empire. Every kind of art and deception were employed to control the people, and ensure their devotion to the ruling power. The revelator states that the unclean spirits wrought miracles, the object of which was to rouse the people “ to the battle.” The unclean spirits that came out of the mouths of the dragon, beast, and false prophet, were like frogs. The frog is an odious animal, and was

unclean under the law. It inhabits