The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 259

' CHAPTER XL .111en did neverthelesa not repent. · The .seventh trumpet is about t~ announce yet Ver, 1,--:-Aud ihere wa1 given me a more terrible woe for the .worldl)"; and, reed. like unto a rod. We are not tofd by previollS to this, a· brief but vivid deserip- who.m the_ t'eed is given, but in eh. ixi. tion is given of the oppressron-to be suifered the angel ijas the reed, and so also in Ezek. by the Chureh-11, desciription inserted here xl., Upon whieh 'the incident seems founded in order to lead up to, and .demonstra.t.e the (see· Ezek. xl.; and of. the reference to the absolut.e neeessity for, the terrible final o\t'ter eoui-t In rer. 17). The reed is '' like judgment. Among the ungodly a.re even a roil;" iha.t is, ·like to a Btaff. It is for a. ilOllle who are nomhu'llly membel'8 of the measuring-line, as in Zech. ii, 1, And the Chu,roh, who a.re typmed by the mds,-, angel IJOOd, 11&yi:ng, Omit;all except" say- court. ·No one could be. more oonscioue ing," u in the Revised Version. AJ"fr,,~ is that only a .portion of, the. Ohmch--:-" the ~ · a~solutely, not_as qu~lifying: '!'&J..lfft?S, elect"-,,-was to bti saved .than the wri~ of reed,. as Andreas (ef. eh,. lV• .1: XIV. 7: :px. the Epistles to the seven Churches (eh. t- 6), Rile, and measure the temple of G<ld ; iii.). Might not tl)e seer and his hearers rather, rouse and mea81We, etc. The impei'a.-· be inclined to ask, "Who, th!in; · can' 11e· tive verb does not imply anything as to the ;ie.fed? Ate there any wh6 el!<iape,when so pre,vious position·. of St;· John. " The · · Ill11oh is• said about the punishment in iltore t!imple " is v«6s, the ·shrine or dwelling- "for men?" · In answer io l!nch gul'fltiona, plaoe of God (a:s in ver. 19 nilso eh. iii; 12; the eeer is bidden to remember, whllt is apt vii. l!i), the inner temple, as distinguished to be forgotten in the dejection. riau11ed by from the outllt' oourt next mentioned. It the oontemplation of the huge amount of ~rcely -&eems poseible to doubt that the. wickedness which undouhtedlye_xiats in the tem~ ~.here figurative!)' used of ~he faith- world, viz. the l¥ge. nu~li.er ofgo6d men. ful .. p.o.rt1on of the Chu.re.·h of Chnst. The who form God's temple. It:isto be ·noticed, wor1Li& plQJnly J:h!ll! ueed,in eh. iii. 12 !ilso,that nd inention is made'off'tlie'ootn" ~nu· vii. 1,5 ·. and is frequently found with mand ·being aetue1ly eatTied but.· '.lHs Sil if this •signi66aticm in St. Paul's writitlgs, the uttering of 1ilie eommRild were wfflcient' which 'we1-e 1'1'obnbly known to St. Jolin. to direct the aMentivn of •St. J.obn,to &he, Diieterdleck and others thitik that St. John fact,which w&11 to be oonveyeil .-. him, -d. refers ·lite1·ally t.o the temple atJerue&lem, . that, therefore,, the_,nGC1;111Sity -fpr ~ and.to the earthly Jerusalem. J3ut, if .eo, out the ,injunction exii»ed no longer., ~&- this. portion of the.A.poca.lyp1e-stands self. therefore seems probablethat "the tem_pl~,•, C1todem11ed t1o11 a pre!lictipn wl)ich was falsi- mus~ be interpreted , symbolically. u:ii'. fied within a year or two of its en11Uciation; thJI dwelling-place of Gpd, the plaee in for in. xer. 131 i~ is expressly sta.ted that wfilch he is :wo?11hipped : that ilf, the multi- the ientli piirt of the city fell And no~ tude of true believers, or the faithful Chnreh. wheie else, in ·the book do. Jerusalem and St. John is bi'dden to measure it, in ordel' 'tfl the temple signify the ea.rthly plaC!)s. The sustain the faith a.nd hope of hitnself and object of · the measmement ts generally his hearers. · .It is placed in antithesis t& thought' to be to set apart or mark off that the outer ootWt, the faithless portiop of t.he, which ia ·measured from that which is felt visible Chmeh of God, which is given <>'tai:-, without: but opinions vary as to why the to th8' Gentiles-the type. of "11 that a temple ia th1111 set a.pa.rt, some thinking that worldly. And the altar, and them that it is the literal temple wbioh is given over wonhi.p therein. The altar of ineense to·. destruction, othel'S believing that the alone stood within the 11adr; but this may. ~ g is a tok!ll of the preservation of be only an accessory deta.il in the general the. (Jhurch of God. But may not the com- ,description, and not to be pressed to a mand ~ave been given w. St._ John in order particular interprGte.tion. "Them that wot-' to direct his a.ttention 1o the size of the ship therein" dii'ects our ihonghts to the Ohtfroh of' God? Tllis is the oommon mean- individual members of the one body which ing of the expre88ion throughout the Bible; collectively is "the temple.'' it ·m lo in :zech. ii. 1-5, a pa1!8age upon Ver. 2.-But the eourt whiah .u withoul which this is pouibly fo11Uded; and it is so tha temp!& l•ve out; &11d meuure it aQi, in olL :ai. 15. Moreover, there seems: a for it Q .given uto $he GeJitile11; U Aath. ~ explanation of the reason why ~qb an ~ git,8D (Bevi9ed Vexsion), . ~•t Ql81e].y . 1ncWtm.t, thus explained, .should ocour ~e. "leave out," but "east out." The. " oouri 'J.!lla.• kumpeti! ~ave spoken of the 19,fgll which ia witbout the temple" was ~tered portioni of mankind against whom they only by Jews. It seems. therefore; heie to were directed : the sixth has declared that signify part of the Church, but that;. pan cs. 11. 1-19.] THE REVELA.'l'ION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 289