The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 239

Wore the Tell (Bsod. :d. 26). Thia' altar pumahment'111 a foretalfe of hell, u IINIDII had 1:mr "horn■•• projeonng at the oornen to be foreshadowed in the "fire and .-.ola (Exod. nx. 2; aee alao Smith's • DictionarJ and· brimatone" of Yen. 17, IS,• Wordll- of tile Bihle,'.art.. "Altar"). worth and others oontend .thai the "four Ver.,14.,-laJing &o the sixth angel wbiol!, angels" a.re good,· angels, who have been had the trQl.pet. Tre~llea reads, ~• Saying hitherto restrained, , Ae remarked above, to the mth angel, rhou that hast . the ihe poini,ill not a material one, but it aeem1 trumpet," et.o. ; but the common rendering more probable that evil angela a.re intended. ia much more probe.hie. Here the angel U1 Their loosing does not n ~ mean that .represented as directly causing the incidents they a.re loosed at.a time subsequent to thi■ which follow; in me other oe.iles, we are only vision. but only 'that they.· a.re . ander the told ijj.at eaoh angel "eounded." Loose the control of God,. who allows them freedom 'to four ..angela which are bound in the great carry out thil mission.. Thua also, in ·the ri',er. Euphrat&1. Thi■ villion baa led to a eaae--of .the other judgments, it baa .haen ~ variety of intel'prelationa. Some are pointed out that the period of their opera- obvioualy absurd; in all theae. is _consider- tion may mttend th~hout all age8j ftom able doubt and difficulty. The following i.a the beginning to the . end of, , the world. offered as a possible solution to '5Qme ex- They arise, from the Api\rata Many te~t, though it ii not pretetuled that every writer■ point out til&t this riv« was looked difficulty is . aatisf11Ciorily diapo:aed of. In · upon by the lllraelites a.s the ,natural aonroe making this suggestion, ibe following cir- from whioh ■prang their enemies (BBEJ lllll. cumat&nOOII have been bome in mind: (1) vii. 201 viii 7; Jer. x!YL 'IQ);; Indeed,.the Tbe nuinpei-vieions seem constructed upon Eupht&tee wa.s looked upon as the. botmda.ry a. ;sptema.tic plan. and· therefore it seems of the .Jewish kingdom (Oe.,o.. u. :18 • Deur. likely ·that thu judgment,.like the fifth and i 7; ,xi. 24:; Josh. i i; 2 Sam. viii.. S; the seventh, is a spirib;lal Qne ('1ide ,upra). 1 Ohron. ' y. 9): henoo . those coming from (2) .The obj.ects of. this ~shment a.re ouf of. the Enphrates. ,were frequently• ene- thoa& wllo commit the sins "bed in vera. mies. · The exf)ffllBion m&y be m81'81y aecea- 20, 21 . . (3) The visj.on must have borne llOI')' to the general filling up of the ~ aome n:ie1PJ1ing for thoae to whom it .was or it· may tesoh us ,tlmtt the punishment. firG ..deliveN!(l. Ii seems unlikely, then,- which follow Dow from thei:r natural l!Oaroe, foni;,,ijl~t events are here portrayed which riz. men's· sins (cf. eh.· ivi. ,12, when 1he collld _not ~ibly have been foreeeen. ~ Euphrates is certainly alluded t.o aa· ~ understood by the early 0hristians. T_hil source from whence arise hostile ho&ts), 11&ema to. exclmJe (except possibly in .a Ver. 15.-And the fou angels were looaed, secoJi~ sense) e.11 reference to the papacy, whioh were prepared for an hour,a.nd. a.day, etc: {,-:; Wordsworth). (4) Whether .the and a month, ·and a 7ea.r, ·for -to ■l&y the e.ngela here described are good angels or third pa.rt of men. · The a.Iteration ■ in the be.a ,an~ls makes no ma,terial difference to Bevised Version make the meaning much the .lll&lll pi.rt of the VISion, which 'is to.set plainer: tei\ieh had bee1'. ~ - far the forth punishmentfor the uµ.godly, sanctioned lwur, and day, and :mont.1,, atld lfflllt\ ti\al or originated b1 God. (5) The object of CINy lkot&ld kill; etc. That is to aa7 thoee the putiishn:ient is to bring men to repent- •which he.d" inOod'sforeknowledge"been ance, but it largely fails to do so (ver. 21). prepe,1ed" in order to operate M the exe.M We therefore conclude that the wholejudg.. period required-the exaot year, month, dav, ment , portrays the 11piritual evils . which and even hour. Esch knew his appointed aftijot the ungodly in this life, and which time. Four is the number used to denote give them, as it were. a. foretaste of their universality in, thingt of this world (aee on .Jooin in the life to come. Sin frequentl7 oh. iv. 6). The number, 1her8':>re,1!e8mB to brings unre11t and trouble immediately in imply th&t the power of _the angels is ·of its train ; Beldom, if ever., peace and sa.tis- universal extent. The tAW part· are de- factjon. The stings of 11in are, perhaps, stroyed ; that is, a great part, though not none .the less potent. because their effect is the larger (of. eh. viii. 7, et ,eq.). · ·' · freq'li.ently unseen by .~he general public. Ver. 16.-Ancl the Qumber of the 111'1117 The terror of the miuderer, the shame of of the hornmen j •and tM tffl'IIW8I' 'Of 4B the thief, the abasement and physical suffer- armce, of the om,al'!I· No horsemen have ing of the impure,, the deliri- ~ of hitherto been allnded to; but they are ap- the drunkaid, are very real tormenta. 'l'he parently the destroying host under the nmpber of such inOictions is, indeed, gree.t direction of the four angels. The· symbol enpugh to be desoribed u " two myriads is, no doubt, choaen to signifr power, of of myrla4s" (ver. 16); they destroy .e. part, whioh horsemen or cavalry a.re, an emblem. but not the greater part (ver. 15, "the third Were two hundred thouaand'thoU&lld; or. pars'') of man; and 7et how largely they WIJ08 muriada oJ flll,riad8 (cf. Jude 1~16, fail to lrd1lg maa to repentance I Sm whieh ii a quotation fiom Enooh; ai.o Du. 4-IX. ,1......2LJ THE, REVEL.&rION · OF ST. ·JOHN ,THE DIVHOL fJt1