תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

Turks. But it has already been shewn, that the original language will not admit of this construction. Or, if the construction could be admitted, even then it would not be found to answer the purpose of the commentators: for the continuance of time to be measured, is that, during which the evil angels continue to slay the third part of the men*. But this period is surely, in continuance, so long as the Mahometans continue to alienate from the Life which is in Christ, the third part of the men, or nations, which were once Christian. The Mahometan woe or plague is not yet come to its end; but the measure of continuance proposed by Mede and his followers, reaches only to the year 1672 †.

I must now leave to the learned and judicious investigator to determine, whether the prophecy of the sixth Trumpet do not appear to be more fitly and perfectly fulfilled in the great original irruption of the Mahometans, (comprehending perhaps also their subsequent inroads,) than in the later and more partial one by the Ottoman Turks. The interpretation now proposed will be found, not only to accord more accurately with the symbols exhibited in the vision, but also to bring the prophetical narration to that precise period, which is seen to open in the eleventh chapter, where the prophetical history, after a previous exhibition in the tenth chapter, proceeds. In that, and the ensuing chapters, the famous period of forty-two months, or 1260 days or years, comes

See verse 15.

+ About that time it may be allowed that the belligerent power of the Mahometan nations became less formidable to the Christian world. But which of these nations is yet become Christian? which of them has yet renounced the destructive doctrines of Mahomet?

[blocks in formation]

into view. And this, in the apprehension of almost all the commentators, had its beginning many centuries before the victories of the Ottoman Turks; probably from those of the Saracene Mahometans. If therefore the sixth Trumpet be understood to begin with this first Mahometan invasion, it will stand in its proper historical place. So beginning, it may be supposed to run through the whole period of 1260 years, and to contain all the successful warfare of the Mahometans on the Christians. It is not to the nation, but to the religion, to which, prophecy seems to advert. And all these invasions seem nearly of the same character.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

PART III.

SECTION VI.

The little Book.

CHAPTER X.

1 And I saw another
mighty angel coming
down from heaven,
clothed with a cloud,
and a radiance over
his head, and his face

was as the sun, and his
feet as pillars of fire,
2 And having in his hand

a little book opened.
And he set his right
foot upon the sea, and
his left foot upon the
3 land. And he cried

with a loud voice, as
when a lion roareth.

1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the

sun, and his feet as 2 pillars of fire. And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, 3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion

θαλάσσης, τὸν δὲ οὐώνυμον ἐπὶ τῆς 3 γῆς. Καὶ ἔκραξε φωνή μεγάλη, ὥσ περ λέων μυκᾶται καὶ ὅτε ἔκραξεν, ἐλά λησαν αἱ ἁπλὰ βροναὶ τὰς ἑαυτῶν 4 φωνάς. Καὶ ὅτε ἐλάλησαν αἱ ἑπτὰ βρονταί, ἔμελλον γράφειν· καὶ ἤκεσα

φωνὴν ἐκ τῇ ἐξανα λέγεσαν Σφράγι ἃ ἐλάλησαν αἱ

σου

ἁπλὰ βροναὶ, καὶ μὴ ταῦτα γράψης 5 Καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος, ὃν εἶδον ἑςῶτα ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἦρε τὴν χεῖρα αὑτῷ τὴν δεξιὰν εἰς τὸν ἐρα6 νὸν, Καὶ ὤμοσεν ἐν τῷ ζῶνι εἰς τὰς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, ὃς ἔκλισε τὸν ἐρανὸν

And when he had cried, the seven thunders uttered their 4 voices. And when the seven thunders had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven, saying, " Seal up those

καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ τὴν θά λασσαν καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ, ὅτι χρόνος 7 ἐκ ἔτι ἔςαι. ̓Αλλὰ

ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τῆς
φωνῆς τὸ ἑβδόμα
ἀγγέλω, ὅταν μέλλη
σαλπίζειν, καὶ ἐτε-
λέσθη τὸ μυςήριον
τῇ Θεῦ, ὡς εὐηγ
γέλισε τῆς ἑαυ

[ocr errors][ocr errors]

things which the se

ven thunders spake,
"and write them not."

5 And the angel, whom
I saw standing upon
the sea and upon the
land, lifted up his right
hand toward heaven,
6 And sware by Him,

7

roareth: and when he

had cried, seven thunders their uttered 4 voices. And when the

seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and 5 write them not. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea, and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, 6 And sware by Him that

who liveth for ever
and ever, who created
heaven and the things
therein, and the land
and the things therein,
and the sea and the
things therein, that
time shall be no more,
But in the days of the
voice of the seventh |
angel, when he is about
to sound, and the mys-
tery of God was finish-
ed, as he hath declared
good tidings to his
servants the prophets.
8 And the voice, which
I had heard from hea-
ven, spake unto me
again, and said, "Go,
"take the little book,
"which is opened in

liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven and the things that therein are, and the earth and the things that therein are, and

the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time

7 no longer: But in the

days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets, 8 And the voice which I heard from heaven, spake unto me again, and said, Go, and take

δελες της τροφής 8 τας. Καὶ ἡ φωνὴ, ἣν ήκεσα ἐκ τῶ ἐξανᾶ, πάλιν λα λέσα με ἐμᾶ, κ λέγεσα· Υπαξε, λάβε τὸ βιβλαρίδιον

τὸ ἠνεωμένον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ ἀγέλες το ἑςῶτος ἐπὶ τῆς θα λάσσης καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς

Ο γῆς. Καὶ ἀπῆλθον πρὸς τὸν ἄγγελον, λέγων αὐτῷ δυναί

μοι τὸ βιβλαρίδιον.

Καὶ λέγει μοι Λάβε και καλάφαίε αὐτός καὶ πικρανεῖ σε τὴν κοιλίαν, ἀλλ ̓ ἐν τῷ σόματί σε ἔςαι γλυκὺ, ὡς μέλι. 10 Καὶ ἔλαβον τὸ βι βλαρίδιον ἐκ τῆς χειρὸς τῇ ἀγγέλω, καὶ καλέφαρον αὐτό· καὶ ἦν ἐν τῷ τοματί με, ὡς μέλι, γλυκύ· καὶ ὅτε ἔφαῖον αὐτὸ, ἐπικράνθη ἡ κοιλία

11 με. Καὶ λέγει μοι Δεν σε πάλιν

προφητεῦσαι ἐπὶ λα

οἷς καὶ ἔθνεσι καὶ γλώσσαις καὶ βασι λεῦσι πολλοῖς,

« the hand of the an"gel, who standeth 66 upon the sea and

66

unto me, 66

66

upon the land." 9 And I went to the angel, saying unto him to give me the little book. And he saith Take, and eat it up; and it "shall imbitter thy "stomach; but in thy "mouth shall be sweet 10" as honey." And I took the little book from the hand of the angel, and ate it up. And it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach 11 imbittered. And he saith unto me, "Thou "must prophesy again "before many people, "and nations, and lan

66

was

guages, and kings.”

the little book which

open

in the hand of

is
the angel which stand-

eth 9 upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 10 And I took the little

upon the sea, and

book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was 11 bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

In the 13th verse of the viiith chapter, three grand woes, three distinct periods of successful attack upon the Church, by the Antichristian powers, are announced.

5

nounced. The first of these immediately takes place, and is afterwards described as past*; and the second follows: but this, though it begins, like the first, with an hostile invasion, does not end in like manner. No period (as, in the first, of 150 years) is assigned for its continuance; and when the description of the invasion seems to be finished, no like notice is given, that the woe is ended; on the contrary, it seems to continue till the seventh Trumpet sounds; then, and not till then, it is declared to be gone †. The prophecy had now begun to appear as drawing to its close; the seventh and last Trumpet was expected. But a new and enlarging scene opens under the sixth Trumpet, and before the end of the second woe. The famous period of forty-two months, or 1260 days, is now presented to view. The usurped domi-, nion of the Mahometans, disclosed in the sixth Trumpet, is continued throughout. But there is another Antichristian usurpation, which belongs to the same period, and which is to be produced, as cotemporary with it.

Ver. 1-3. Another mighty angel; &c.] The sublimity of this passage made an early impression upon the poetical mind of Sir William Jones: and "at a

period of mature judgment," says his biographer, "he considered it as equal in sublimity to any in the "inspired writers, and far superior to any that could "be produced from mere human compositions." This angel, although displaying superior glory and power, is not our Lord Jesus Christ, who appears in this part of the vision, not as an angel, but as the Lamb.

[blocks in formation]

Lord Teignmouth's Life of Sir William Jones, 4to. p. 14.
See note, ch. i. 14, 16.

(Ch,

« הקודםהמשך »