[242] Zech. ii. 1, 2.
[243] Ezek. xl. 2-5.
[244] Zech. ii. 5.
[245] Chap. xxi. 15, 17.
[246] John vii. 4.
[247] Ver. 2.
[248] Isa. i. 13, 14.
[249] John ix. 34.
[250] John ix. 35.
[251] Chaps. ii. 24; iii. 1, 4.
[252] Comp. Matt. xxii. 14.
[253] Dan. vii. 25.
[254] Dan. ix. 27.
[255] John xvi. 33.
[256] Zech. iv.
[257] John viii. 12. Comp. Matt. v. 14.
[258] 2 Kings i. 10, 12.
[259] Dan. iii. 22.
[260] Chap. i. 16.
[261] 1 Kings xvii. 1; James v. 17.
[262] 1 Cor. x. 11.
[263] Ver. 7.
[264] John xvii. 4; xix. 30.
[265] See margin of R.V.
[266] Ps. cxxxii. 13, 14.
[267] Isa. i. 10, 21.
[268] Luke xxiii. 12.
[269] Neh. viii. 10.
[270] Esther ix. 22.
[271] Comp. chap. v. 6.
[272] Chap. iii. 21.
[273] Rom. viii. 19, 21.
[274] Chap. ix. 20.
[275] Chaps. viii. 13; ix. 12.
[276] 1 Cor. xv. 28.
[277] 2 Pet. iii. 13.
[278] Chap. iv. 8.
[279] Comp. p. 102.
[280] Isa. xlv. 15.
[281] Matt. v. 8.
[282] 2 Cor. vi. 16.
[283] Chap. xxi. 3.
[284] Heb. xii. 26, 27.
REV. xii.
The twelfth chapter of the Revelation of St. John has been felt by every commentator to be one more than usually difficult to interpret, and that whether we look at it in relation to its special purpose, or to its position in the structure of the book. If we can satisfy ourselves as to the first of these two points, we shall be better able to form correct notions as to the second.
Turning then for a moment to chap. xiii., we find it occupied with a description of two of the great enemies with which the Church has to contend. These are spoken of as "a beast" (ver. 1) and "another beast" (ver. 11), the latter being obviously the same as that described in chap. xix. 20 as "the false prophet that wrought the signs" in the sight of the former. At the same time, it is evident that these two beasts are regarded as enemies of the Church in a sense peculiar to themselves, for the victorious Conqueror of chap. xix. makes war with them, and "they twain are cast into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone."[285] This fate next overtakes, in chap. xx. 10, "the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan," so that no doubt can rest upon the fact that to St. John's view the great enemies of the Church are three in number. When, accordingly, we find two of them described in chap. xiii., and chap. xii. occupied with the description of another, we are warranted in concluding that the main purpose of the chapter is to set before us a picture of this last.
Thus also we are led to understand the place of the chapter in the structure of the book. We have already seen that the seven Trumpets are occupied with judgments on the world. The seven Bowls, forming the next and highest series of judgments, are to be occupied with judgments on the degenerate members of the Church. It is a fitting thing, therefore, that we should be able to form a clear idea of the enemies by which these faithless disciples are subdued, and in resisting whom the steadfastness of the faithful remnant shall be proved. To describe them sooner was unnecessary. They are the friends, not the enemies, of the world. They are the enemies only of the Church. Hence the sudden transition made at the beginning of chap. xii. There is no chronological relation between it and the chapters which precede. The thoughts embodied in it refer only to what follows. The chapter is obviously divided into three parts, and the bearing of these parts upon one another will appear as we proceed.