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(i. e. a messenger from God), without the addition of the words God or Lord, either expressed, or evidently from the context understood. Examples are numerous, and may be seen in all the concordances. The afyελo, angels, or messengers of John Baptist (Luke vii. 24.) of Christ (Luke ix. 52.) of Peter (Acts xii. 15.) were human beings, ambassadors, delegates. Such were the twelve Apostles, as the very name implies, messengers, delegates; to which Saint Paul adds that of herald (иngu, naι añosтоλos, 1 Tim. ii. 7.) which has nearly thé same signification. They executed the office of ambassadors under Christ †; and the Bishops, afterwards delegated by them, held the same kind of commission. For Saint Paul, mentioning under what name or title such heads of the Church, Titus and others, were to be received, says, "They are the They are the messengers of the Churches, (in the original it is axoloλor,) and the glory of Christ t." They held an intermediate and delegated office, between Christ, the Head of all the Churches, and that particular Church to which they were deputed by him or his Apostles. They were the under-shepherds, to whom particular flocks were intrusted, and from whom the Great Shepherd will expect account. To such persons, in so intermediate and responsible an office, the injunctions of their Lord, the supreme Head, are addressed. As he walks in the midst of the seven lamp-bearers, or seven Churches, so he possesses, and directs, the seven lights which are to be placed upon them. The lights which the Churches receive, are derived from him, and pass through his hand. These lights or teachers, and heads of the

* Αίγελος το Θε8 or Κυξιθ.

+ 2 Cor. v. 20. Eph. vi. 20. 1 Cor. iv. 1.

2 Cor. iv. 1.

Church,

Church, are here represented under the emblems of stars; by which, in the symbolical language of Scrip ture, are signified eminent leaders in God's service. Under this symbol, Joshua, David, and others, and Christ himself, are denoted *. And it well accords to the distinguished presidents and conductors of the Christian Church, whose appropriate reward is announced †, that "they shall shine as the stars for ever "and ever." And the removal of such teachers is represented in prophetical language, as the stars being removed, covered, darkened, and not giving their light t

Ver. 16. And from his mouth a two-edged sharp sword coming forth.] This is the weapon by which our Lord and his followers are to conquer at the last; and therefore is again described in ch. xix. 15, 21. In an eminent passage of the evangelical Prophet, confessedly prophetical of our Lord, it is said, "He shall "smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with "the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked §.” Agreeably to which, the "sword of the Spirit" is called by St. Paul," the word of God ;" and is the weapon with which, according to the same Apostle, even "with the spirit of his mouth," the Lord shall destroy the man of sin T. And the powers of this weapon are again described: "The word of God is quick **, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword tt."

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* Num, xxiv. 17. Rev. xxii. 16. Dan. viii. 10. 2 Macc. ix. 10. Dan. xii. 3.

Ezek. xxxii. 8. Joel ii. 10. iii. 15. and in other passages.

Is. xi. 4. See also Is. xxx. 28, 33. xlix. 2. Job xli. 19, 21.

Ps. cxlix. 6.

|| Eph. vi. 17.

T2 Thess. ii. 8.

** i. e. alive, Zav.

+ Heb. iv. 12.

These

These quotations from Holy Writ cast considerable light upon the passage before us, and shew the nature

of the arms, by which our Lord and his Church are to gain their victories; not by the usual instruments of human warfare, but by the preaching of the word in evangelical purity and power. The metaphor of the sword, employed here to represent powerful speech, may appear bold; but," says Bishop Lowth, "it is just*. "It has been employed by the most ingenious heathen "writers, if with equal elegance, not with equal force. "It is said of Pericles, by Aristophanes †,

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Όλως εκηλεί, και μονος τῶν ῥηλοςῶν

Το κεντρον εΓκαλαλεπε ακροωμένοις.

Apud Diod. lib. xii.

his powerful speech

Pierced the hearer's soul, and left behind

Deep in his bosom its keen point infix'd.

"Pindar is particularly fond of this metaphor, and frequently applies it to his own poetry. Olymp. ii. "160, 149. ix. 17."

The Sun.] Our Lord has the stars, the lesser lights, the ministers of his word, in his hand, under his direction; but he himself alone shineth like the greater light, "The Sun of righteousness, with sevenfold light." But as he is in glory, so shall be likewise his They shall faithful servants after their resurrection. "shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their "Father §."

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Here ends the Apostle's description of this appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ; for such he undoubtedly is, from his account of himself, which follows in verse

*On Is. xlix. 2.

+ See Cicero, Epist. ad. Atticum, xii. 6,

Mal. iv. 2. Is. xxx. 26.

§ Mat. xiii. 43.

the

the 18th, and which can belong to none of the angelic natures, but solely to the only-begotten Son of God. It is also to be observed, that our Lord repeats, and applies to himself, all this description, in his addresses to the seven Churches, contained in the two subsequent chapters; and in one of these passages he calls himself Vios ToŨ Oεcũ, the Son of God. Now an angel, or even a good man, in the language of Scripture is called sometimes os ε8, a son of God; but none except ever styled & vios Add to this, that

the only begotten, our Lord Jesus, is 8 Oɛ8, the Son of God. Ch. ii. 18. in the next verse, Saint John is described as prostrating himself before this Son of Man, and no reproof follows, as in ch. xix. 10, and xxii. 9, when he prostrates himself to the angel. This shews the difference between an angel and the only begotten Son of God; and unites, with other passages of Scripture in authorising the worship which the orthodox Christians pay to their Redeemer. Such was the opinion of the most ancient commentators, Το της Θεότητος τε Χριςε εμφαίνεται μεγεθος, αυτό γαρ δελα τα συμπαντα*.

Ver. 17. As dead.] The effect here described is such as was to be expected from the conflict of passions in the breast of the Apostle, of surprise and delight, of fear and joy. For, it was the appearance of the Son of Man, who on earth had dignified Saint John with his peculiar love, but it was at the same time awful and alarming.

Ib. And he laid his right hand upon me.] The right hand is the hand of protection, and of salvation †, and of fellowship, and the instrument of conveying spiritual gifts §. The touch felt palpably by the

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Apostle, is agreeable to that part of Scripture which represents our Lord, after his resurrection, as an object of feeling. This passage is sublime*: Mahomet perceived and has imitated it in his fictions: but his imitation is carried to a vicious excess; the hand of God, touching the Prophet, is described to be cold f.

Ib. Fear not.] The scenery accompanying the visions under the Gospel, is of a milder nature than that under the Mosaical dispensation, which was ushered in at Mount Sinai with so dreadful an apparatus, that none could dare to behold ‡. "Fear not," is the comforting assurance to the Virgin, to Zacharias, to the Shepherds, to the Women at the Sepulchre, under similar impressions.

Ib. I am the first and the last.] See the notes on verses

4 and 8.

Ver. 18. The keys.] To bear the keys, imports the same, both in Scriptural and Pagan antiquity, as to bear power and office. In chap. iii. ver. 7, our Lord is represented to have "the keys of David;" to bear that power and office which were attributed to him by the Prophet Isaiah, in the very same words §. It is by these keys that he possesses the sole and exclusive right of opening and shutting to all eternity |.

* "Who can read, if he reads without prejudice, the following "address of Jesus to Jobn, sinking to the ground through fear, and not "be affected with the greatness of the thought and the expressions? "Fear not, &c. &c. v. 17, 18." Michaelis, Introd. to N. Test. ch. xxxii. sect. x.

+ Prideaux, Life of Mahomet. Vie de Mahomed par Boulainvilliers, p. 356.

Heb. xii. 2 Cor. iii. 7, 8.

§ Is. xxii. 22.

See Greg. Neocas. Oratio Panegyr. p. 73. edit. Paris.; Bp. Lowth on Isaiah xxii. 22; and Jortin's Sermons, vol. iv. 366.

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