The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 177

conviction. (3) Royally. "There was given unto him a crown." Right is royal, the only royal thing in the universe, and th.e more perfectly it is embodied, the ·more brilliant the diadem. Hence Christ is crowned with glory and honour. He is '.' exalted above all principalities sn..d powers," etc. Kind Heaven, quicken the speed. of this "white horse;" and may the victories of its triumphant Rider multiply every hour; and 'soon may " the kingdoms of, tbis world become the kingdoms of 01u God," etc. I . II. Tim DEVELOPMENT OF BviL IN HUMAN HISTORY. I take the p;lSSage li!I givin•g illustra.tic,ns of five· great evils at. work in human life. 1. War. •• And there wen't out another horse that was red f' and another horse catne · forth, a red horse']: and power was given to him that ,sat ihereon[and it was giV8D to him) to take peace from th~ earth, and.that they should kill [slay] one another: and there was giyen unto hini a ~~at sword:" Mutual ~urder, m11n ~estroying his brother. T~is evil refers to no particular penod or place; 1t has been gowg on from the days of Call:1 and Abel thro11gh all times !!Ven. unto this hour. Th13 spirit of tnurder b1m1s. thi:"oughciu,t the race. The "red horse" is ever on the gallop. His ruthless tramp !!'choes through all souls and communities. "Whence come wars? Come they not from _your lusts?" etc. .Alas I that there should be found in a country calling itself Christian governments that shoulli be feedillg ·aµd fattening this ." red J;torse " of rapine and bloodshed. 2; lndi·- gence. "I beheld, and lo [I saw, and 'behold] a blacl,t horse: and be that _sat· on him [thereon] had a pair of .balances [a balance) in his hand. And I heard_ [as it w~re] a voice in the midst of.the fo;ur beasts [ltving creatures] say, A measure·· of wh~t for a periny, and three measmes· of barley for a penny." "Whilst makjng /bod sll'ar~, do not mak_e it so'that a chamix (a day's provision of v.:heat;variously estimated at two or three pmts) shall not be got for a penny. Famine generally follows the sword. Ordinarily from sixteen to twenty measures were given for a· denarius'h (Fausset). 'l'he state of want here described means no mor.e than that the whole of a man's labour is exhausted in the purchase of the bread required for one· day; and thjs certainly does not amount. to. that indigence which prevails amongst thousands of our 09untrymen who are ataning for bread where wealth and luxury abpund: This evil, the~ like ,the others, jg not confined to any age or cliIJ'.!-e, but is here and every- where~ Let every man trace this national indigence to its true source. 3. Mortali~. "Behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell [Hades] foll~wed with him: And power was given [there was given authority] untd them over the fourth part of the eart·h, to kill [slay] with sword, and with hunger [faminl)J, and with death, and with the beasts (wild beasts) of the earth." "The colour pallid , or livid," says Bishop Carpenter, "is that deadly greenish b:iJ.e wliich is the uni:nis- ta]Qible token of the appr9ach of death. 'i'he rider is De~th, not a particular form of death, but Death himself. Att.ending him, and teady to gather up the slain, is Ha.pea. The fourth seal is the darkest and the most terrible•. Single forms of death (War and famine) were revealed in the earlier seals; now that the great king of terrors hi~self appears, and in his hand are gathered all forms of death.._war, plague, famine, pestilence. For the seeond time the word • death ' is used it must be taken. in a subordinate sense, as a particular form of death, such as plague or pestilence.'' This mortality is, then, another evil confined to ·no period or place. Death reigned from Adam to Moses, and from Moses to Christ, and from Christ to this hour. Men ate dying everywhere-allare d'ying. With every breath I draw, some.one falls. 4. .Mart~. "I saw 11nder (l!nderneath] the altar the sonlil of them that were [had been} ll!ai.ri. for tlif";ord of God,.arrd for the ·testimonywhich. they held: and they criecf with aloud fgmt] voice, saying,·How Jong, 0 Lord {M,aster, the], holy and true, dost tl}ou notjndge and avenge our blood?" Wlio is the martyr? The wotdi!'~irggeiit: (1) ~ is one who dies for the truth., "Sl!l,in for the Word of .God." l;fois not one who bas merely been: murdered; or· one who has been murdei;-ed on· acc011nt of his own con:iictions, but one who has been put to death for holdiiig right convictions-belief in the Word_ of God. Such a belief w~i?h t~ey lltt~sted by ample testimony: (2) Hi!' i! one who m heaven remembers the mJust1ce of his persecutors. "How long, 0 .Lord! The Almighty is represented as saying to Cain, " The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me." As if the earth itself was craving for justice, and groaned for retribu- tion of wrong. The cry of the martyr in heaven is not for vengeance, for all heaven is full of love ; but the cry is rather for information when justice will be done : "Hew ea. vt 1-17.) THE REVELATION OF S'l', JOIDT THE DIVINE. 201