It is said that the "rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues" repented not. This expression doubtless signifies the Western, or Latin, church. They saw these judgments of the Euphratean hors.e.m.e.n on the Eastern empire, and the triumph of the Moslem sword and faith (the woe fell as a judgment upon the Eastern church); still, they continued as before in their abominable idolatries, by which is probably meant their worship of the virgin Mary, saints, relics, and images. There was no reformation. Error, superst.i.tion, and ecclesiastical usurpation prevailed as before.
The Turks obtained their first victory over the Christians of the Eastern, or Greek, empire in A.D. 1281. Within ten years the Latins who inhabited Palestine were entirely overthrown (see Gibbon, Vol. VI, p.
47), and the way was now clear for Turkish aggression against the Greek empire. Before the end of the century the four Sultanies mentioned were combined into one consolidated empire under Osman (corrupted by Europeans into Ottoman) and from him took the name which it still retains--the Ottoman empire. From the time they were let loose, the Turks continued their aggressions until A.D. 1453, when Constantinople fell before their victorious arms, and the Eastern empire, with the last of the Constantines, sunk to rise no more. "The Turkish sword and the religion of the Koran were enthroned in the Christian metropolis of the Roman emperors; and the proud Moslem had the Christian dog completely under his foot." The Ottoman power, however, continued to grow and make new conquests until the year A.D. 1672, when they conducted a successful campaign against Poland, in which forty-eight towns and villages were ceded to the Sultan, with promise of an annual tribute of two hundred and twenty thousand ducats. See Encyclopaedia Britannica, Art. Turkey.
This was the last victory they ever gained wherein the Ottoman empire obtained any advantage. A little later they marched against Vienna, but sustained a miserable defeat. "Venice and Russia now declared war against Turkey; misfortune followed misfortune; city after city was rent away from the empire; the Austrians were in possession of almost the whole of Hungary, the Italians of almost all the Morea." Encyclopaedia Britannica, Art. Turkey. So the power of the Ottomans to extend their conquests and to add to their empire, ended with the victory over the Poles in A.D. 1672. This fact is even admitted by Demetrius Cantemir, prince of Moldavia, one of their historians, in the following language: "This was the _last_ victory by which any advantage accrued to the Othman state, or any city or province was annexed to the ancient bounds of the empire." In accordance with this statement, the same historian ent.i.tles the first part of his history up to the victory over the Poles in 1672 the History of _the Growth of the Othman Empire_, and the remaining portion, _The Decay of the Othman Empire_.
Calculating now the time during which these hors.e.m.e.n were prepared to extend their conquests--"an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year"--we find according to prophetic, or symbolic, time--thirty days in a month, three hundred and sixty in a year--that it signifies three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days. This is exactly the period of time that elapsed between their first victory in A.D. 1281 and their last conquest in A.D. 1672. I can not verify the fifteen days, because no history at my command states the exact days of the month on which these victories occurred.
One more point of importance must be considered before we conclude this chapter, and that is the continuance of the Ottoman power. The first, or Saracen, woe had power to torment men "five months," or one hundred and fifty years, during which time they continued their ravages. The second woe began when the command was given to loose the four angels, or the beginning of the Ottoman conquests. "An hour, and a day, and a month, and a year," or three hundred and ninety-one years, marked the time during which they were "prepared" to extend their conquests. But it is not stated that the woe itself, or the Ottoman power, would then cease; for it is not represented as ending until after the death and the resurrection of the witnesses (chap. 11:14), immediately following which the coming of Christ and the general judgment, or the third woe, is described. Verses 15-18. The Turkish power has made no advance for centuries, but has been on the decline; yet it will endure for its allotted time. It furnishes us a way-mark by which we can determine our position along the pathway of time; for when it falls, we may rest a.s.sured that the coming of Christ is imminent.
For nearly two centuries it has been the wonder of civilized nations how that corrupt, tyrannical government, which has been described as a "despotism tempered by a.s.sa.s.sination," could exist in the increased light and onward advance of modern civilization. Concerning its position in Europe, Judson, in his recent history of Europe in the Nineteenth Century, says: "The Turkish empire has been an element of unrest in Europe. It has long been plain to all that it is not permanent. It has taken no root. The Turks are merely encamped in Europe; and it is merely a question of time when the last of them must return across the Bosphorus." Pp. 269, 270. But Turkey will continue to hold this territory of the old Greek empire until the time appointed by the Father for her overthrow. The nations of Europe have often conspired for her overthrow. This is what is known as the great Eastern Question, which has been described by one writer as "the expulsion of the Turk from Europe, and the scramble for his territory." But it has not yet been accomplished, for the very reason doubtless, that it _could not_ take place before the resurrection of the witnesses, of which we will speak later. Judson thus continues his account of the matter: "As soon as this idea was realized [that Turkish power in Europe must fall] by the Western nations, in place of the dread of the Turk which had so long been part and parcel of European thinking, the question of the disposal to be made of the Turkish possessions became matter of live interest.
And this is the Eastern Question. The Greek empire vanished forever when the last Constantine fell in 1453. The only problem is one of part.i.tion.
And the heart of it all is the disposal to be made of Constantinople.
That imperial city is a site that, in strong hands, means power and wealth. What shall become of it? Russia early formed designs of conquest.... The empress Catherine ... had a grand scheme for a restoration of the Greek empire under a Russian prince. Alexander I., at Tilsit, planned a part.i.tion of the Ottoman empire with Napoleon, but the latter declined to see Constantinople in Russian hands.
"Constantinople," said he, "is the empire of the world." In 1844 Nicholas visited England and made guarded suggestions to the prime-minister about the Turkish lands. The Ottoman empire, said he, was a sick man, nearly at the last extremity.... England declined to plan for a share of the inheritance, and nothing was done. In 1853 Nicholas resumed the subject with the British amba.s.sador at St. Petersburg. The sick man, he now held, was at the point of death.... But again England declined and, indeed, the next year went to war with Russia to save the sick man from a premature end at the hands of the would-be administrator of the estate. Another power doubly interested in the future of the Turkish dominions is Austria. That empire has been the traditional enemy of the Turk, and at the end of the seventeenth century was the actual bulwark of Europe against Mohammedan conquest. When the tide of war rolled the other way, Austria was ready to share in the spoils. Twice near the end of the eighteenth century, was an alliance made between Russia and Austria for the part.i.tion of Turkey," etc. Pp. 270, 271.
Thus, we find that these designs of nations for the overthrow of Turkey have so far been overruled; for G.o.d will not allow that power to come to "a _premature end_."
CHAPTER X.
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 pillars of fire:
2. 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 roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
4. 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 write them not.
5. 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 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 no longer:
7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of G.o.d 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 the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
9. 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 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 bitter.
11. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
In the preceding chapter we had a history of the two great woes that befell apostate Christendom. In this chapter we have in contrast a portion of the history of G.o.d"s true church, to show us that all was not lost even though the Eastern church was greviously tormented by the serpent-tails of the horses and the Western church still continued as before in her sorceries, fornications, and abominable idolatries.
The symbol is that of an angel from heaven. This is not the seventh, or the third woe angel, who ushers in the general judgment (chap.
11:15-18), but it is a special messenger appearing on earth with the awful message that the end of time is near and that when the seventh angel soon begins to sound the mystery of G.o.d shall be finished and there shall be time no longer. This mighty angel is symbolical of some human agencies of distinguished character; for it stands in striking contrast with the destructive powers described under the preceding trumpets. When angels appear on the panoramic scene only in the temple above, they themselves are not symbolic characters, but only the conductors of the Revelation; but whenever they appear on earth, they represent distinguished agencies among men. In the present vision the symbol is drawn, not from the natural world, but from the heavenly, and the scene is laid upon earth; therefore we must look to the history of the church to find its fulfilment in some distinguished agencies appearing for the defence of Christ and his truth. The cloud, rainbow, face as the sun, and feet as pillars of fire, are doubtless intended to set forth their beautiful, benignant character, and to show that the angel is not such an one as those that were bound in the river Euphrates. This one has the bow of covenant promise upon his head, and his face shines as the sun.
Where, then, in the history of G.o.d"s true church do we find the agencies corresponding to the symbol? We find them in the _holy ministry_ that he has raised up and is now sending forth to preach the pure gospel and to declare the speedy sounding of the seventh trumpet and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth again.
"Lo, the angel now is standing on the sea and on the land; How his voice the air is rending as to G.o.d he lifts his hand!
What an awful, awful message! Help us, Lord, this truth to see: When the seventh trumpet thunders, then shall time no longer be.
"One more trumpet yet to summon us before the judgment seat, Then the time of our frail planet will be said to be complete.
How the wicked will be wailing and the righteous overjoyed When with fire the heav"ns are burning and the earth shall be destroyed!"
This angel "set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth," that his lion-like voice might be heard over all the world. This shows that the earth (the Apocalyptic earth--the territory of the Roman empire) was not the only place where the message was to be borne; it was to be sounded upon the sea, which would indicate its promulgation among all nations.
When his mighty voice sounded, "seven thunders uttered their voices"; and when about to record what they said, John was commanded to "seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not." The fact that they were not to be recorded shows that they were to const.i.tute no part of this Revelation. John evidently thought so at first; for they had the appearance of revelation, something clothed with divine authority, but they were not to be delivered to the church. What, then, were they? The most probable supposition is, that they were things that G.o.d for some reason did not choose to have revealed. Their sayings may have described events just prior to the end so perfectly as to leave the world in no doubt respecting the nearness of Christ"s second coming; whereas it appears in the Scriptures that G.o.d has designed that it should be a matter of considerable uncertainty, especially to the unsaved. However, we can obtain no satisfactory explanation of the things uttered by the seven thunders; for we can not identify positively what John was commanded to "seal up."
This angel had in his hand a little book that John was required to take and eat. In advancing and taking the book, John himself becomes an actor in the symbolic scene, the same as was the book and the angel from whose hand he took it. Therefore we must now consider John a symbol of something in this vision. Some of the commentators have supposed that this book signified the remainder of the book of Revelation. But John was commanded to _write_ the Revelations, not to _eat_ them. And if he ate them, how, then, could they const.i.tute the remainder of the book?
Its true signification is undoubtedly the word of G.o.d. In making such an application we do not necessarily make one book merely a symbol of a larger one, as the Bible is, but of G.o.d"s _revealed will_, just the same as the sealed book of chapter V was the symbol of the divine purposes.
When we come to explain the resurrection of the witnesses in chapter XI, it will be found that this is the time when the word of G.o.d is again taught in all its purity, being restored for the first time, in its perfect sense, since the morning time of this dispensation. A great spiritual famine has for centuries overspread the earth. Since the time the black horse of the third seal entered on his career, the people have been starving for spiritual food. The few crumbs that have been dropped during the reign of Protestantism have been eagerly gathered up by the spiritually-minded; but, thank G.o.d! the time has now arrived when the messengers appear with food from heaven, and the mult.i.tudes of earth"s starving millions can "eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord G.o.d." Joel 2:26. Halleluiah!
In taking the book from the hand of the angel and eating it, John became a symbol of the church, or people of G.o.d, who receive the Word from the hand of his ministers. The sweetness of its taste signifies the eagerness with which people receive it and the gladness experienced when they first partake of the heavenly manna; while the bitterness resulting therefrom probably symbolizes the bitter persecutions and oppositions of which it is the occasion. "Yea, and _all_ that will live G.o.dly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 Tim. 3:12.
John was told to "prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings," which signifies that the people of G.o.d must again be witnesses of his saving grace throughout all the world. In the beginning of this dispensation all his people prophesied among the nations; for Christ had said unto them, "Ye shall be _witnesses_ unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." Acts 1:8. So, also, in this evening time we go forth again on the same mission, inspired by the soon-coming of our Savior.
"Even so come, Lord Jesus."
CHAPTER XI.
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of G.o.d, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
3. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
4. These are the two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the G.o.d of the earth.
5. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
6. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
The two princ.i.p.al objects of this vision is the city of Jerusalem with its holy temple and worshipers, and two witnesses prophesying for twelve hundred and sixty days. These are not objects from the natural world; therefore we may conclude that we have not here to do with political events, while the character of the symbols point us with certainty to the history of the church.
There is a possibility that the speaker here is not the angel of the preceding chapter; for the words in verse 1 "and the angel stood" may be an interpolation, they being found in very few ma.n.u.scripts. See the Revised Version and the Emphatic Diaglott, Greek and English. If not, then he must be the angel through whom the Revelation was given. Chap.
1:1; 22:8. Whether the angel is the same as the one in the preceding chapter or not, it is evident that that series of prophecy ends with chapter 10, and that he here introduces a new line of events running over the entire gospel dispensation[7], in which John as an active agent in the panoramic vision still stands as a symbol of the people of G.o.d, who, in striking contrast with the blind devotees of an apostate church, are commanded to "measure the temple of G.o.d, and the altar, and them that worship therein." The temple with its altar and court and the holy city itself, here used as symbols, are representative of something a.n.a.lagous, and refer to no other than the outward, visible church of G.o.d with its doctrines and worshipers. Its measurement is designed to show how far it conforms to the true church; while the rod is a symbol of the revealed will of G.o.d, by which the measurement is brought as to a true standard.
[Footnote 7: This statement may seem to conflict with the cla.s.sification of events in the "Diagram of the Revelation," where this prophecy is treated, not as an independent series, but as part of a compound series beginning with chapter 8 and ending with chapter 11. For thus cla.s.sifying it my reason is, that the line of prophecy beginning with chapter 8 introduces the seven trumpets, and therefore the series is not complete until the seventh trumpet is given, which event concludes the line of truth given in the present chapter.]
By noticing briefly the arrangement of the temple and the purposes to which the different apartments were put, we shall be able to understand better the design of this vision. The temple proper consisted of two apartments. In the first stood the altar of incense and other things; in the second, the ark of the covenant, etc. The priests officiated in the first apartment regularly, while into the second went the high-priest alone once every year. This, Paul informs us, was a shadow of a greater and more perfect tabernacle. Heb. 9:1-11; 8:2. The altar that is mentioned and that John was to measure is a symbol of the great cardinal doctrine of the church--the atonement and mediation of Christ. He was the sacrifice made for sin, through whom we have redemption and access unto G.o.d. John was also told to measure those who worshiped therein--the officiating ministers in the sanctuary--who were thus made symbols of the ministers and the teachers in the church. To measure the temple of G.o.d, then, was to ascertain the great doctrines taught in the Scriptures and symbolized by the sanctuary, the altar, and the priests; namely, the doctrines of the New Testament concerning G.o.d as the supreme lawgiver, the atonement of Jesus Christ as the only ground for justification, and the ministers whom he appointed to officiate in his church.