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 prepared by the communication with heaven. 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 |. 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. * A throne nas set in heaven. — This was the first thing he saw after the

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

and twenty elders sitting, clothed

in white raiment; and they

lypse. There probably existed some reason in the revelator's mind why he selected the number twenty-four. There are two reasons which may be assigned; and they present themselves to our mind with a force so nearly equal, that it is difficult to state which has the most power. We will proceed to name them. 1st. There were twelve apostles in the Christian church. The Jewish and Christian religion were both divinely appointed institutions; and it is possible, therefore, that the revelator desired to represent them both, by their elders, in the court of heaven. One elder for each of the twelve tribes, and one to answer to each of the twelve apostles, (who were regarded as the heads of the tribes of spiritual Israel, Matt. xix. 28,) would make up the number twenty-four. With this view, the court of heaven is composed, under the Father, of an equal number of representatives from both the Jewish and Christian institutions. The twelve Jewish tribes are sometimes used spiritually for the Jews converted to the Christian religion. See James i. 1, and Rev. vii. The other reason to which we have referred, which perhaps induced the revelator to use the number twenty-four, is this : Under the reign of David the Jewish priests were divided into twenty-four orders, courses, or classes, as will be perceived by examining Numb. xxiv. The Christian believers, those who had entered Christ's spiritual kingdom, who had come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, were reckoned as kings and priests in God's sight. “Ye are a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices;” 1 Pet. ii. 5. “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;” 9. The Christians confessed that they had been made “kings and priests unto God;” Rev. i.,6; v. 10. “They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign

with him a thousand years;” xx. 6. By analogy, then, the Christian priests might be divided into twentyfour courses; and each course having one representative in the court of heaven, would make the twentyfour elders. Whether one of these reasons, or both of them, operated on the mind of the revelator; and if only one, which of the two, we must leave for the reader to determine. These elders perform no offices in the drama of the Apocalypse which are inconsistent with their characters as representatives of the church, or of the holy men of both Jewish and Christian dispensations. They are principally distinguished by the devout and solemn worship which they rendered to God and the Lamb; Rev. v. 8; xi. 16; xix. 4. T Clothed in n-hite raiment. — We have already shown that inhabitants of the heavenly world are supposed to be clothed in white, as a sign of purity and of honor. See the notes on Rev. iii. 4, 5, 18. The redeemed were washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb; i. 5; vii. 14. How appropriate it was, then, for the revelator to clothe his elders in white. T Cronons of gold. – The Christians were kings as well as priests; and hence the elders were represented each as having a crown of gold upon his head, which he wore in the presence of the Highest, who thus acknowledged the prečminence. The four-and-twenty seats on which they sat were (thronoi) thrones; and we know of no reason why the word was not thus rendered, as in Matt. xix. 28. A brief review of what has been said on the subject before us, may present it now to the reader's mind in a more definite, clear and single light. In his figurative deScription, John first puts a throne,

with a glorious personage upon it,

bright and beautiful to behold.

Round about the throne was a rain

bow. It was encircled also with

four-and-twenty minor thrones, on

had on their heads crowns of gold.

5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and thunder

which sat as many elders, clothed in white, having on their heads crowns of gold. No one can suppose this description to be a reality; it is purely imaginative. We think the words of Dr. Doddridge are worthy of great attention: — “We are not to imagine that the person sitting on the throne, or the four animals, or the four-andtwenty elders, were real beings existing in nature; though they represented in a figurative manner things that did really exist. — And though it is possible that aerial 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. This will keep us, in our interpretation, clear of a thousand difficulties, not to say absurdities, which would follow from a contrary supposition : namely, that there is in heaven an animal in the form of a lamb to represent Christ; and that there are such living creatures as are here described, and that God himself appears in a human form, &c. And this observation I make once for all, desiring it may be remembered, and applied as occasions present.” — (See his Expos. on the place.) Such was Doddridge's opinion, and we have no doubt of its correctness. The great truths of prophecy made known to John were doubtless divine communications to him; but the imagery is to be understood as imagery merely. We have already shown what suggested these metaphors to the mind of the revelator. He, doubtless, obtained them from the Old Testament. It is a common metaphor of the Old Testa– ment writers to represent God as sitting on a throne, all glorious in appearance. The scene of John's vision, says Lightfoot, “is according to the scheme of the o and the divine glory there. And hence you have mention of the altar, candle

sticks, sea of glass, the ark of the covenant, and the like. And as at the opening of the temple doors, a trumpet sounded, - so is the allusion here. The door in heaven opened, and a trumpet calls John to come in and see what was there. — (Harmony of the New Testament.) The same author says again, – “The revelator seeth Christ enthroned in the middle of his church, in the same prophetic and visionary emblem that Ezekiel had seen ; Ezek. i. and x.; and this is a commentary and fulfilling of that scene that Daniel speaketh of ; vii. 9, 10, 22. In Ezekiel the Lord, when Jerusalem was to be destroyed, and the glory of the Lord that used to be there, and the people, were to flit into another land, - appeareth so enthroned as sitting in judgment and flitting away by degrees to another place, as compare Ezek. i. and x. well together. So Christ here, when the destruction of Jerusalem was near at hand, and his glory and presence [were about] to remove from that nation, now given up to unbelief and obduration, to reside among the Gentiles, – he is seated upon his throne, as judge and king, with glorious attendance, to judge that nation for their sins and unbelief, and stating the affair of his church, whither his glory was now removing.”— (Harmony of the New Testament.) We explain the figures in this chapter on the same principle on which we explain similar imagery in the 24th and 25th chapters of Matthew. The appearance of God's dwelling-place is drawn from that of the camp of Israel. 1. The tabernacle was in the middle there; so is the throne here. 2. There, the four squadrons of the camp of Levi next the tabernacle; so here, the four living creatures. 3. There, the whole camp of Israel; so here, twenty-four elders, representatives of the whole church, built from

me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich ; and white

raiment, that thou mayest be

clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye

earthly riches. But in their purest state, they are sometimes used to represent “durable riches and righteousness.” And so the process of the purification of the metals is used to represent the process of divine grace in the purification of the sinful; and afflictions and chastisements, because they purify, are compared to the fire of the furnace. “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them ; I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God;” Zech. xiii. 9. “But who may abide the day of his coming 2 and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and

silver, that they may offer unto the

Lord an offering in righteousness;” Mal. iii. 2, 3. Hence, gold as the purest metal, and especially in its highest state of purification, is put for truth and purity. “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver ;” Prov. xxv. 11. “How is the gold become dim how is the most fine gold changed the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!” Lam. iv. 1, 2. Buy of me gold, tried in the fire, i.e., the purest gold; that which has no alloy. It is certainly put here for truth and righteousness, – the virtues which that church greatly needed. They had supposed themselves rich; they had gold and silver; but they needed a better kind of riches, which the revelator represents by “gold

tried in the fire.” “I White raiment.— We have already explained this metaphor, in the notes on iii. 5. White was the color that denoted honor, purity and rejoicing. The inhabitants of the heavenly world, the attendants who stand around the throne of God, messengers who bear the will of God to men, are all supposed to be clad in white. The heavenly messenger who appeared to Daniel, was in white; vii. 9. At the transfiguration, the raiment of Jesus was “white as the light;" Matt. xvii. 2. The angel who appeared at the resurrection of Jesus, had on raiment “white as snow;” Idem, xxviii. 3; see also Rev. iv. 4; vii. 9, 13; xv. 6; xix. 8, 14. From these facts, the redeemed, cleansed from all their sins, are said to be without “spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;” Eph. v. 27; that is, they are wholly white. “Many shall be purified and made white, and tried;” Dan. xii. 10. And this whiteness, or purification, is produced by the virtue of Christ's word; for it was said of those who had been redeemed, “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb ;” Rev. vii. 14. When, therefore, the Laodiceans were counselled to buy white raiment, it was in effect urging them to be purified; and as their spiritual destitution had been described, among other metaphors, by a want of clothing, the purity they so much needed was beautifully represented by raiment of whiteness. I Eye-solve. — The Laodiceans had been said to be blind, as well as poor and naked; the correspondence of the metaphor required, therefore, that the improvement of their spiritual condition should be described as the improvement of the sight. Eye-salve is to promote the health of the eye; and they were