The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 261

..:..Qie meuui ('u stated above) by which the depicted. Perhap1 he fa described as the Ohnrch chiefly bears witness of God.. (b) "Lord of the earth,'' since the witneSlles are The· iltne during which they prophesy; to prophesy qefore all the .earth (of. ver, 9 (otthe clothing fa sackcloth; (d) the ap- and Matt. xxiv. U:). · pellation of candlesticks and olive trees; Ver. 5.-And if any man will hurt them, (e) theh power 1io hurt; (j) their apparent dre · proceed~~b out of t!1eir mouth; ·itn:d death; (g) the torment they cause; (h) their dlll'otltetb then enemies ; if atty i>M tm?leth resuscitation; (i')their vindication; (k) the tcihurt them, etc. Most probably a. reference iriunedia.teadvent of the :linaljudgment ;-all to the aetof Elijah (2 Kingsi.10). Perhaps agree (as shown below) with the interpreta- there is a double reference in the ftre pro- tion gn'l!ll, (6) Witness is constantly con- ceeding out of tfleir mouth; it is the fore ot nected' in the . Apocalypse and elsewhere their witness, which refines and puriftes·and with the Church, and generally with convinces some; it is also the fire 'of con• litiff"ering, sometimes with triumph (ef. demnation, which follows those who :reject oh. i 2, 5, 9; vi. 9; xii. 11, 17; xx. 4). the testimony. The figure is found in Jer. (7} In eh. xix. 10 we a.re told, " The testi- v. 14, " I will make my words in thy·mouth mony [1ritnesa] of Jesus is the spirit of fire, and this people wood, and· it shall prophecy," exactly the quality with which devour them" (see also Hos. vi. 5; Eoolus. the two witnesses are credited (ver. 3), xlviii. 1). And if any mau will hurt 1.11.em, and which is the work of the Church. he. must in this manner· be killed ; any on& And. th17 lhall prophesy; that is, "pro- .Tiall wiU (future) is· read in the Revised phesy" in its literal meaning of forth telling Version, and is supported by N, A, SS ; God's will and his judgments on the wicked, o,;,.,., (present) is found in B, C, P, 'An- and so of preaohing repentance. This is dreas, Aretha.a. " In this manner ; " that emphatically the work of the Church, and is, by ftre. Such, throughout the Soripture.s, is accomplished chiefly through the Scrip- is the fonn nuder which the final judgment turea. It is. this prophesying that torments of those who reject God's message is (see vers. 5, 10). A thousand two h'lllldred shadowed forth, The description is not and three soore days. Or, forty and two more ofposed to a general interpretation monthe (ver. 2): During the period of the than it 1s to a.,n individual interpretation of world's existence (see orr ver. 2)the Church, the two witnesses. although " trodden underfoot," will not Ver. 6.-These have power to 1hut heaven, eeaae to" prophesy." Clothed in sackoloth. that it rain not in the days of their pro- Thu.s, symbolically, is expressed the same pheoy: a.nd have power over waten 'to turn met as in· ver. 2. The Churoh there is them to blood, and to smite· the urth with " trodden underfoot" during the period of all plague■, as often as they 1rill; thtJ power the world ; here it is said that she is to • • • the hea'D81'1 . . . the water, • ; . 6'17e1'?J perform her office during this time "clothed flague (Revised Version). The whole verse in sackcloth/' The treatment by the world 1s descriptive of the powers entrusted to of both the Ohurch of God and the Word of Moses a.nd Elijah, and 18 intended to oonvey God is represented by the apparel of mourn- the idea that the power which ■upported ing and woe, which·is the lot of the Church them would likewise support the two .wit- on ea.rth. nesses. It is doubtful whether the .meaning Ver. 4.-The■ e are the two olive trees, should be pressed further than this. U we and the two candlestioks. The " two olive do so, it may, perhaps, be said that (m the t:rooa·" and the "two candlesticks" are here words of Wordsworth)" if any one despises identical. Thus, while St. John uses the God's witnesses, they have the power, like figure of Zechariah, he does not apply it Elias, to shut heaven, and exclude all who in every detail. In the prophet, but one reject them. The dews of Divine grace are candlestick is mentioned. "The two olive withheld from all who scom them." It is trees."· which supply the material for the thus a frll:lilment of our Lord's words, candltlSticks, a:re fit emblems of the Old and " Whosoever haih, to him shall be given, New' Testaments; the candlesticks typify and he shall have more abundance : but the Jewish and Christian Churches. These whosoever bath not, from him shall be taken are identioa.l so far as being God's witnesses; away even that he bath" (Matt. ::s.iii. 12). the Chmch derives her stores from the Word And a.gain, besides the pnuishmenta which of God, the light of the Word of God is are finally to fall on the ungodly, it is the manifested through the Church. Standing case that the rejection of God's will is before the God of the earth ; the Lord of the followed on this earth by troubles which earth (Revised Vorsion). '!'be participle is would ·be avoided were men to listen to the masouline, though. ~he preceding art~cle witness borne of him. and nouns are fenunme. probably M bemg Ver. 7.-.:And .when they aha.ff have ·'>1l'lre · in keeping ·with the masculine cha- finished their te1!timony, T.his is u diffl• m<Jter under which the ·1iwo wiin88SC& are cult pa.ssai,;e. How can the Church's teatf. D},ony be said to .be finiiMd while the earth ''lie upon the, highway • , • theil' .Lord.i elill ~•.ts ?. The w-;:pla.1]ation 11eeI11B to lia "The ~ t eitf''.,.is referred to in eh. 1,f:I,.; in the words of our Lord, " When the Son 1,9; :s;vu, 18: xvm. lO~J9 ... Iw ·sigqifioe.n of lll8Jl, cometh, shall he find faith, on the t10n 11 always the same. viz. tfut type of earth?" (Luke xviii. 8). Christians are what is ungodly and of the world, and i1 ill, forewii.rned tha.t, as the ages roll on, faith always oonsigned to punishment. , Jernaa.: will wane. Though the Church be ap• lem, the type of what ie holy, is never.thus parently destroyed, she iii not really dead, designated. Here we a.re plainly told tha but will rise again. As our Lord, after spiritual, that is, the sy.mLolicaJ nature of th11: finishing Iris testimony, completed his wo1·k designation. Sodom and Eg~pt are chosen by his death a.nd subsequent ascension, so a.s the type of what is evil (cf. Dent. xxxii, the time will come when the Church shall 32; Isa. i. 10; Ezek. x:vi. 46; xx. 7, ·e~). have completed all that is necessary, by It was in this city, that is, by the iufill.l}nce otferirig to the world her testimony, and of this world-power, that the Lo.rd was, she.II then be so completely rejected e.s to crucified. ln describing the fate ofAhe appear dead. Her enemies will rejoice, but Church, St. John seems to have in mind the their time of r,joicing is cnt short (see be- life of Christ. His witness, the oppqs.j.t~ low). After three and, a half days comes he encountered, his death for n. brief time at her vindication, and her enemies are struck the completion of his work, his resurreqtion with consternation; for it is the end, and and ascension, and triumph over the devil, they µave no further opportunities for re- are all here reproduced. " The bodies lie pent~nce. Thus Hengstenberg says, "They in the street," symbolizes, according to shall only be overcome when they have Jewish custom, the most intense scorn and finished their testimouy, when God has no hatred. further need for their service, when their Ver. 9.-And they of the people and death can produce more fruit than their kindreds and tongues and nations ,shall see life." The beast that ascendeth out of the their dead bodies three days and a half, aJMl bottomless pit shall make war against them, shall not suffer their dead bodies to be. put and shall overoome them, and kill them ; in graves; and from among tluJ pooplea and the beast that cometh up out of the abusa. tribes, etc., do [men] look upon, eto,, .anti The article points to tlle beast which is suffer not, etc., in a tomb (Revised Version). described elsewhere in the Apocalypse (oh. The fourfold enumeration points to the wide xiii. l ; xvii. 8), and which is mentioned distribution of tbe stii.te of things symbo- here by ,proleipsis. "The fourth beast," lized (cf. oh. iv. 6; v. 9, etc.), and seems of which is read in A, me.y have been suggested itself almost sufficient to. demonstrate that by Dan. vii. 7. W has "the beast whieh tho two witnesses are not two individual then cometh up." The beast is Satan, persons who are here9.fter to appear. The perhaps manifested in the form of the period is but three days and a half; a.gain, persecuting world-power (see on eh. xiii. 1). as in vers. 2, B, a. broken, that is, a. finite but Hie.nature is indicated by the use of the uncertain period; but,, as compared with noun fh/plov, " a. wild beast," the opposite, as the three years a.ud a. half-the period of Wordsworth ~a.ys, of 'Apvlav, "the Lamb." the worhl's existence-v;,xy short. (On the The beast ascends out of tl,e abyss for a. signiti.eation of the last clause, see on ver. 8.) brief reign upon the earth, and is "drunken It is the usual Eastern mark of contempt with the blood of the saints," as described and degradation. The whole verse, to- in eh. xvii., but he ascends only to go into gether with the preceding a.nd succeeding perdition ( eh. xvii. 8). It is well to re• verses, describes symbolically, but graphi- member that the whole vi~ion is symbolical. cally, the scorn and contempt. to wliich the The intention is to convey the idea that the Church and God's Word will be subjected by Church, in her witness for God, will experi- men. ence opposition from the power of Satan, Ver. 10.-And they that dwell up,oa the which will wax more a.nd more formidable earth shall rejoioe over them, and make a.s time goes on, and result in the apparent merry, and shall send gifts one to another ; triumph of the forces of evil. But the because these two prophets tormented them triumph will be brief; it will but usher that dwelt on the earth; rejoice and ~ in the end and the final subjugation of the merru, tllat dwell (present, though future devil. in meaning; the present telllle rendering Ver. 8.-And their dead bodies shall lie the description more gr&phio). Those &well• ln ihe street of the great city, whioh ing on the earth a.re the ungodly, the ipirituallyis called Sodom and Egypt, where worldly. "They send gifts," in a.ccord~noe allo our Lord was crucified ; their dead body with Oriental custom on joyful ooca.eiollll (in the singular), according to A, B, O, (cf. ver. 9). "The prophets, the :witnesses, Aretha.a, and others, The plural is read in tormented; " probably rather by the d~ l(, P, ~ Prima.siUB, and otbera. Omit livery of their ID8!sage, whi0h would o.Jfcc,t 292 THE nivEtAT!ON 01!4 S'l'. JOlIN THE nrvnm. tmt. :n. 1-19. the oonsoience of men, tha.n by the plagues which e:r.alts and enhances the glory of the Nferred t.o in ver. 6, though both may be witnesses. The eff'ect upon the worldl.J ii, meant. .Alford, :Bengel, and Dllsterdieok told in ven. 11, 13. favour the latter 'View of the two ; Heng- Ver. lS.-.&.nd the same hour wu there a ttenberg takeii the former. great earthquake. In the visions of the Ver. IL-And after three day1 and a seals it is set forth, under the sixth seal, half the Spirit of life from God entered into how the destruction of the world ill ac, them, and they stood upon their feet. " The companied by earthquakes, etc. ; the fear three dRy■ and an half:' viz. those men- of the wickeJ is portrayed, tmd the pre- tioned in ver. 9, which see. Not merely servation of the just takes plar-e at the 11ame " life from God," but the " Spirit from time. Here, under the sixth trumpet, we God" (cf. the vision in Ezek. xxxvii., have the same events shown forth, the especially vers. 9, 10). " The Spirit of triumph of the godly being mentioned first, life" has been in the Church of God pre- though the rest happens " iu that same "1oualY', but she has become "dry bones; " hl)ur." This is the conclusion of the sixth "the Spirit" is now breathed anew into judgment, the consequence of the non- her, and she i■ rest.ored and magnified be- repeutauce mentioned iu eh. ix. 21. The fore the world. And great fear fell upon intervening narrative (eh. x. 1-xi. 12) them which 1aw them. "Beheld" (9,.,plo,) serves to show that opportunities of know- occurs in the Apocalyp1!6 only here and in ing God's will are given to men, as well as the next verse. Feaf', on e.coount of the warnings of judgmeut in case of disobedi- vindication of those whom they had treated ence. Vera. 13 of eh. xi. might follow oh. with contumely, and on account of the ix. 21, but for the desire of the seer t.o judgment to follow, whioh was even now demonstrate the long-suffering goodn688 1hadowed forth. and mercy of God. And the tenth part of Ver. 12.-And they heard a great voice the city fell, and in the earthquake were from heaven 1&ying unto them, Come up slain of men seven thousand. Both the hither. The reading 'llr<ov<Ta, "I heard," for Authorizecl Version and the Revised Version ,fjrrov<Ta.11, "they heard," in a correction of have in the margin, "names of men, seven N, and in B, Coptio, Armenian, .Andreas, thousand;' and some writers make much of may have arisen from the similarity of the the expression. Thus Alford says," .As if paaage to oh. vi 6; ix. 18. Diisterdieck, the name of each were recounted ; ., and who reads, "I heard," points out that iu Wordaworth, " Persons known and diB- eh. vi. 11 : ix. 4, the phrase used in address- tiuguished." But, in truth, llie phrase is ing others is, "It was said unto them." a Hebraism, to which we can attach no Thus the fate of the Church is that of her special significance (cf. Acts i. 15 ; eh. iii. 4 ). LoJ'd, and it is the fate of each individual Whatever may be the system of interpre- who may witu688 of God. Suffering, ap- tation adopted, this pl\ssage presents many parent extinetion, perhaps, but ultimate difficulties. 'l'he whole account appears to triumph and ascension iut.o the presence of relate to the jndgment-day, and it is there- God is their common inheritance. If so be fore more peculiarly prophetic than many that they suffer with him, they are also parts of the .Apocalypse, and for that reason glorified with him (Rom. viii, 17}, Alford its meaning must needs be more or leB& remarks that "no attempt has been made obscure. The aooount in this verse informs t.o explain this ascension by those who us that a part (a tenth) of the city (that is, interpret the witnesses figuratively of the of the wicked) suffers destruction; that the Old and New Testaments, or the like." Is number so destroyed is described as seven it not the resurrection of the just, of the thousand; that the rest (nine-tenths), in witness01 of God, and their exaltation at fear, recognize the power of God, t.o wtich the beginning of the last judgment? Thus they had hitherto refused attention. What St. Paul says, "But each iu his own order: is the final fate awarded to the nine-tenths Chrillt the Firstfruits ; then they that are we are not told. We have, therefore, Chrisfs, at his coming. Then cometh the to inquire the meaning of the numbers end" (I Oor. :r.v. IS). This "end" is imme- given. Now, it seems inherently impossible diately referred to by the seer. And they to interpret these numbers literally, and, uoended up to heaven in a cloud; and moreover, as we have repeatedly seen, it Is their enemiet beheld them ; in th6 cloud. not the habit of the writer of the .Apoca- The parallelism with Elijah and Christ lypse to indicate exaot numbers. We must, c- vel'I!. 5, 6, 8) is oarr1ed still further. thll?efore, try to discover the aymbolical The Ohuroh is triumphantly vindicated and meaning which St. John attached to these glorified as they were; the only difference expreBBions, the qualities rather than the is tha.t now all men behold it. The oloud quantities whioh he intended to signify. u not that which hidea them from view, but In the Bible the tenth part invariabl1 rather, like that in oh, xiv. 14, l!Omething llignifiee the tithe-the portion due from Die m. n. 1-19.] THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 298