ἔθνη ὠργίσθησαν, κα ἦλθεν ἡ ὀργή συ, καὶ ὁ καιρὸς τῶν νεκρῶν, κριθῆναι, καὶ δῆναι τὸν μισθὸν τοῖς δέλοις σε τοῖς προφήταις καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις καὶ τοῖς φο βαμένοις τὸ ὄνομά σε τοῖς μικροῖς καὶ τοῖς μεγάλοις, κα διαφθεῖραι τις δια φθείροντας τὴν γῆν,

19 Καὶ ἀνοίγει ὁ ναὸς

τα Θεῖ ἐν τῷ *.gavw, upon ñ κιβωτὸς τῆς δια θήκης αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ ναῷ αὐτῷ· καὶ ἐγέ ο κοντο αςραπαὶ κ φωναὶ καὶ βρονιαὶ καὶ σεισμὸς καὶ χάλαζα μεγάλη.

thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and

great, and shouldest destroy them which 19 destroy the earth. And the Temple of God was opened in heaven, and

there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunder'ings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

Ver. 15. And the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying; &c.] The sound of the seventh Trumpet was become an object of expectation. It was the last Trumpet, the sabbatical one, which, after a long period of warfare, should bring rest and peace to the Church. The angel had solemnly declared, that" in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, the mystery of God should be finished" Immediately therefore as the sound of s Trumpet is heard, heavenly voices hail the happy time, and announce the triumphaut reign of God and

this

of his Anointed. The twenty-four elders join the heavenly chorus, anticipating the joyful event, even before it is disclosed in prophetical vision. Thus the scene is suddenly removed from earth to heaven; where the same apparatus, and the same heavenly ministers appear, surrounding the throne of God, as in the fourth chapter.

Ver. 18. The nations were wrathful.] This agrees with the opening of that august prophecy of our Lord's kingdom, in the second Psalm: Why do "the nations so furiously rage?" &c. The same subject is also magnificently displayed in the 110th

Psalın.

Ib. The season of the dead, for judgment to take place.] The received translation expresses that the dead are to be judged at this time. But this does not appear the whole import of the original: for, before the great day of retribution, when the literally dead shall be raised from their graves, and appear before the judgment-seat, (as in ch. xxii. 12.). another kind of judgment is to be expected; that by which the inequalities in the distribution of justice are, under the earthly reign of Christ, to be rectified. Κρισιν τοις έθνεσι επι Γγέλει, “ He shall utter judgment "to the nations,' was the prophetic designation of our Lord *. All judgment was committed to him" by the Father; and his right to exercise it, took place from his crucifixion: but this judgment was suspended for a time, H gas aula pon, and was not to be exercised in plenitude of power, till the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled ; and this judg ment, though not perfected in all its parts before

66

• Matt. xii. 18.
Acts viii. 33.

↑ John v. 22.

↑ John xii. 31.

Luke xxi, 24.

the

the great and last day, (which is also comprehended under this Trumpet,) yet, is first to be displayed, in the destruction of the corrupt worldly powers, and the restoration of a purer religion and morality. This

display of Christ's judgment on earth w shall yet behold under this Trumpet; and the jubilant songs of the heavenly choir evidently refer to it. "The "time of the dead," may likewise signify (in that metaphorical sense in which the word death, &c. is frequently used) the time when pure Religion, dead and buried, as it had been with the witnesses, shall revive and flourish. But no final opinion can be passed on an unfulfilled prophecy, before the event shall direct the interpretation.

Ver. 19. The ark of his covenant was seen in his Temple.] "The Ark of the Covenant" (the sacred coffer, so called, because it contained the tables of the Covenant, into which God had deigned to enter with the ancient Church) was deposited in the "ta

bernacle, called the holiest of all *." This interior part of the temple, accessible under the law to none but the high-priest, is now opened; and the ark is exhibited to view. Jesus Christ, the only Highpriest, and Mediator of the New Covenant, who had here deposited his New Covenant of Mercy, even "the everlasting Gospel;" who had broken down the partition excluding the Gentiles from its benefits; who alone could enter the Holy of Holies; grants it to be exhibited. As the walls of the idolatrous Jericho fell before the ark of the Old Covenant, so will the corrupt Babylon before this. But that which seems more immediately to be signified under this exhibition, is the restoration of the Gospel; of the Christian Religion,

in its purity. The Gentiles, from the entrance of the greater part of them into the Church, had not yet enjoyed the opportunity of knowing and practising a pure Religion. They had trodden the courts, but had never been admitted into the interior, of the Temple*. From the period of the Reformation, a view of the Ark of the Covenant was afforded to them.

Ib. And there were lightnings and voices; &c.] Such apparatus accompanied the promulgation of the old Covenant from Mount Sinait; and the same attends the re-production of the New Covenant. The scene is now in heaven; and the voices, &c. seem to proceed thence. But their effect must be intended for the earth; and the hail would probably fall there. So that Guos (omitted in some copies) may be translated earthquake. And the whole seems to express commotions, which must be dreadfully felt when the wrath of God, disclosed by this Trumpet, (ver. 18.) shall break forth upon the usurpers of his power. This is only a preparatory scene, and therefore affords only a general view of the wrath of God, which is seen especially poured out in the vision of the Vials, contained also under this Trumpet.

* Ch. xi. 2.

See note, ver. 15

+ Exod. xix. 16, &c.

PART

The Woman and the Dragon.