תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

tested, by all historians, that the prosperity of the church in this age produced the corruptions which finally terminated in the falling away, and setting up the antiChristian abominations.

7th and 8th verses, " And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death, and hell followed with him; and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with beasts of the earth." The fourth seal opened in the year A. D. 538, when anti-Christ first arose, for the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. "And to the woman was given two wings of an eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, times, and a half, from the face of the serpent." The pale horse is named, in this passage, death. And hell followed, showing us plainly that it is the anti-Christian power which would have the ascendency over one fourth part of the earth, during the opening of this seal. "Power was given unto them," shows conclusively that it is the same power mentioned in Rev. xiii. 2—5, " And the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." "And there was given him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." Again, 7th verse," And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them; and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." In our text he says, "Power was given them to kill with the sword," that is, to make war, which was fulfilled in Europe, when the papal power sent out large armies to exterminate the heretics, as they were called, who would not worship the beast or his image. "And with hunger;" this was fulfilled by the same power imprisoning and starving to death many thousands of persons who were suspected of opposition to her ungodly pretensions. "And with death;" inventing the most cruel and bloody means of torture that were ever imposed upon our world; to inflict death, in every possible shape that men or devils could invent

shape that man could inflict, thousands were thrown to ferocious beasts, to be destroyed by them. The time and place of the opening of this seal we cannot be mistaken in. It must have been during the bloody and persecuting reign of the papal church.

9th-11th verses, " And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held; and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also, and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." On the opening of the fifth seal, there is no beast to say, "Come and see," for this very good reason — the church has not changed her position, and is yet in the wilderness, like the flying eagle. Therefore, under the fourth beast, the church is likewise under the control of the same anti-Christian power as under the fourth seal, but the difference appears to be only in one thing - the church appears to enjoy a little respite from her persecuting enemy; and it would seem by the language of the souls of the martyrs that they are now looking for a day of vengeance, which God hath promised upon them who worshipped the beast or his image; and the inquiry is, How long before this day of vengeance will come? The answer is given to these praying souls to rest a little sea. son, and they are informed there must be one more day or little season of persecution, when their brethren must be killed in like manner with themselves; and when that is accomplished, they would then experience the last promise of God, the resurrection. This seal was opened about the beginning of the 18th century, A. D. 1700 when the bloody persecutions against Protestants ceased, and the nations of the world began to enjoy religious freedom.

12th-17th verses, " And I beheld when he had open ed the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake. On the opening of this seal there is a great earthquake This earthquake is spoken of in other places in this book and alludes to the French revolution; and of course this seal opened about A. D. 1790. "And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood." Sun sometimes denotes rulers or kings, as in the case of Joseph's dream, when the sun, moon and stars made obeisance to him, meaning his father, head over all Israel, his mother, and his brethren; for where the king is called the sun, the queen is called the moon, and inferior rulers are called stars, as Christ is called sun of righteousness, because he is king of Zion. The church is called the moon, because she is the bride of Christ. Ministers are called stars because they are inferior rulers in Christ's kingdom. Therefore I understand this to mean in that revolution when the king lost his authority, and tried to disguise himself, and fled from his own subjects, afterwards was beheaded. The queen, too, became blood, and all the nobility of France fell to the earth. One decree levelled all titles and distinctions with the commonalty, like a fig-tree casting her untimely figs. "And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together." The heavens must

mean that circle in which the planets move; and if that is to be understood figuratively, so must this. Heavens must then mean the laws and government of France, These were all swept away, or rolled up and laid away like an old parchment out of date or use. "And every mountain and island were moved out of their places." Mountains and islands are figures of large and small governments, and in the French revolution every government was removed from their legitimate sovereigns, except England, in the old Roman empire, and given to kings of Bonaparte's creation. And certainly all the kingdoms in Europe were changed from what they were before; so that when legitimacy was restored, the ancient kings could not and have not found their kingdoms

in the same situation they were in before the revolution. "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the rocks and mountains, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb."

It is a well-known fact to all who are conversant with the history of the French revolution, that almost every king in Europe had to flee from his kingdom during the space of about five and twenty years: the king of Portugal to Brazil; the king of Spain to France; the king of France fled to England; the Pope died in exile; the king of Sardinia left his kingdom and fled to the island of Sardinia; the king of Naples to the island of the same name; the king of Austria left his capital; and the king of Prussia took shelter under Russia; the emperor of all the Russias left Moscow to its fate; and Bonaparte himself fled to the island of Elba, and died a prisoner on St. Helena. The great men and chief captains, and all orders and degrees of men, had to flee from the land of their fathers, and seek an asylum among strangers. So true was this passage of Scripture fulfilled that many writers and divines actually supposed that it was the last great battle and supper of the great God. "For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" The sixth seal is not yet wholly opened; for it is evident that we are carried down to the last day, the great day of wrath which will immediately follow the sealing time which he gives us in the next chapter.

Rev. vii. 1, "And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that it should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree." Daniel tells us, vii. 2, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea." The four winds, then, means the opposing elements, war and contention. These principal elements of war and contention God would restrain for a little season, so they should not fan up the spirit of war and strife, neither in the Roman government, (called earth,) nor on the great

nations, (called great sea,) nor on individuals or small societies of men, (called trees;) and this has been remarkably fulfilled for twenty years past. Not a particle of opposition has been experienced against the translation and spread of the Bible, or the missionary cause. Kings have been nursing fathers, and queens nursing mothers, to help forward the cause of God. The wind of Papacy has been kept down by the angel, so that all the opposition they could raise has been weak and inefficient. The Mahometan wind has not blown a blast for twenty years; the idolatrous and pagan nations of the East have, by some invisible power, been kept in check; the infidel and deistical principles of the West have been held in complete subjection by the same invisible hand, until the servants of God should be sealed. Therefore, since the French revolution, none of these four winds of opposition to Christ have been permitted to use any physical force, as formerly, to suppress the spread of the gospel through the earth. “And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea." The angel here spoken of as ascending from the east, is the angel standing on the land and on the sea, with a little book open, and the same that is represented in another place as flying through the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to them who dwell on the earth. Coming from the east, the place of light, and having the seal of the living God, shows plainly that it is the angel of the gospel. The four angels are the four messengers of God, who suppress those four opposition principles, until the sealing time shall be over, "saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of God in their foreheads." The four angels are here commanded not to let these four winds of opposition hurt the earth, sea, or trees, until the sealing time is past, which is the same time spoken of, Daniel xii. 1, "Then shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people." "And I heard the number of them which were sealed; and there were sealed a hundred forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel."

« הקודםהמשך »