The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 284

HOMI~U:S BY VARIOUS .AUTHORS. ' .; Ver. 8.-fie <Jhurch m tha _taildemeu. This var. 6 is reJ)tlated ln. Tar. H, ll,8- if calliJig sp,cial attention to. the facts .which it declares., But u; cannot be UDderstood, nor.its,le8soos learnt, until sundry questions are asked and. ..u.s,weted. L Who.u lM 'womaa ~Wiq/P She ie the .same as we read of in ver. 1~ vr.liere lihe appea.rs,;not in ,distre~ :hi,nnilia.tion; !!,nd fear, fleeing with all speed from ,,her dread<!d- foe, as it the .oaae -in tai:a ver. 6; but in all august splendour, with ritdla.nt vestments: and -starry crov,n, with the moon as her footstool, and the glory of the sun.shining.npon her; But who is she? ~ The blessed Virgin Mary;" answers the whole Catholic :world without a moment's hesitation; and. in innumera.ble paintings anq. sculptures, sermons and songs. they have so set. her forth as she is' represented here: . And that there is no refer- ence ·to the natiwity. and incarnation of our Lord .JesUB Christ in ,this cbaptier., he would.be a bo).d .. man who would affirm; but that .the mother of out Lord is mainly, and, much more;exclusively meant;,we cannot thinkt What is further said oonoerning .her .is impossible. as applied to the virgin-mother. .13ut, without question, MaryJ "the handmaid of the Lord," was a true and beautiful type of .that queenly woman who °ii portrayed in the opening verses of!,tbis !:hll.pter. 'And that woman is none other than the .ChUDCh of God,t she of whom .it: was so often said, ".'l'hy Maker is thy Husband; 'i' "Behold, I am married unto thee." · And in .this very book how often we reacl.of ~'-she Bridllj the Lamb's wife.,, I ·Of that faithful. 0liurch of Goo under the ancient,ditpensa- tion, Christ; according to the flesh, came. ," Born of a woman, made under the ,I,aw." 2. What is-meant by t"6 "travail" of theW<Ymanat the hour of her child's bir.tl,:? ·The sweet etory of Christmas is indeed pointed at here; but ,much more than. that, Are -we not reminded of those words of Isaiah, "As soon as Zion travailed, she -brought fortb,chHdren; "·and of St. Paul's words to·the Galatians, "My little children, of whom •hra.'vllil .in birth ;again UDtil Obrist -be. formed·.in you''? ·And so did ,the imcient Churcli, with muc;µ spiritual travail, in eamest trust. and· fervent prayer,-in. patient hope,," waiting for the con\!Olation of Israel;" give birthc to the Christian .ill!uroh, of whioh Christ himself. was the Hsa.d · and Type and Lord. .And tl)en : 3. W7w ii,. Qlf/ whal ia, the great red dragon-that portentous monster wbEme :bideous portn,,i, and purpose are here revealed? W}lo is that who is as :[>;hara.oh, watching for the birth 'of Israel's babes, in the far-off evil days of their. bondage in Egypt, that be might det!troy them; or as Herod, inquiri.Iijfdiligently ooncerning ,'1ihe birth of the holy Ohild .Jesus, that he might murderously rid himself of the possible rival ~• King of the Jews/'---- _wao is meant here? .And surely not Herod, nor, e:s:clusively, Nero or Roma;but the prince of .this .world, Satan, the old serpent, the devil--he and none other-is-the ~.gi:oot red dragon." " Bear as the colour of fire and as the colour of blood. Red. ·•u the emblem'°' the waalm and destroyer, as the emblem of him who 'was a.· murderer from ,the. beginning.'" The dragon is that fabulous.monster of who1µ-anci1)IJ:t poets told as -~ hnge in size, coiled like a snake, blood-red in colour, or shot-with, ·tihangiog tints," iDl!&tiable in voracity and ever athirst for human blood. In Ps. xci. it .is· linked with . "the lion and adder, and the young lion "-all which, together with the dragon, God's servant should " trample underfoot." . Fit emblem, therefore, for that cruel, bloodthirsty, and persecuting power with which Christ's; Church. has so often had ,to contend. Its · variety of assault is told of by the " seven heads; " its huge strength, by-the " ten horns; " its exalted authority amidst menj by the " seven diadems ; " and ita arrogant and audacious dominance, by" the tail which drew the third part of the stars of hea.ven; and cast them down ;to the earth." Such is the Churoh's lMlversary, the devil, who, in St. John's day, assumed a form which justified thi11 horrid portr&iture, but who, in whatever· form he may assume, from .whi<lhever of. his "seven heads" his attack may . spring, is ever, in spirit, purpose, and !Lim, one and the same., always and evel'ywhere. We.need not linger on the next question: 4. Who is tk child that waa wr-n-t. Thai _the Lord Jesus Christ is meant is, we think, incontestable; but.as it is not of ,his life and ministry that this vision mainly tells, but of that Churnh in which an.dlo.ll which he was born, his sojourn and sufferings here are passed over. Only his entrance into and departure from this world srE\,spoken of, and we ar,e. bidden contemplate him not here, but at the right hand of .God;ewhithar ha ucended after his work on earth was done; '&t; •·the womiltt/' and not her ehild, ling~ here,·~' -W:tlie ertiel lap*ttfl of her4Nad foe until the twelve hundred and· l!i1ty dafs, the }lerioll of tb:ile ~ 'we fi.nd: IIO ,p11rpetually menti6Iled in this book, and w ~ eqi.tals the tliree'~·and •~f, the half of the complete number Mven, and therefore type of a period '~ot eOQlplete, but brief md,broken,---until this time be done, the woma►tlte Ohul'Cli.:i:.;must r~fuau(in the wilderness to which she has fled; or, rather, h&s been borne of God (ver.14),,aiid where ,he is sheltered-fromtthe power of ·her drea.d<fue, and nourished bftb~ mmistilis of God, Itnow_onlyre1!1ai.ns,to ask: 4:. What ii ~h!"'t6ilderneil8 tuMch i&:sP!'hm'tfMit? And thl! reply 1s that 1t 18 a. type of the $>ttdit1on '"Of the Church until the tlfe:!ve hundred and sixty days, the time allotted for the Church's trial, be accomplished.' and concerning that condition we would nott spaalt---of its privations and perlis; but, mo11t of aH, of its privileges. · · · · · I. he- PRIVATIONS. ·No doubt there are these~ the very name df 11·wilderi).estl"' indicates that there1would'bil, . ·We cannot have the good things of the -·wor1d.:...t, tmi flesh-pots of Egypt"-.:and the good things of Christ too. · We have to make choiQe between- them. Making .the beat of both worlds is generally, if not always, a very doubtful procedure, though not a, few professed Christians· are for ever atWtnp\ing it: "How hardly sball they that have riches",;...tJie speciaUy good thing of t}.UliC11'<irJd~ "enter into the kingdom of heaven I" So said ,()ur Sa~iour, and all experience ,c!biifiral• his woro. For such things are but hindrancesJa,nd 'wnpemmenta, that do b!it rendlir our way through the wilderness yet more difficult, where it was difficult enongb befofe; It is told of a great. cardinal how, when in his last illness, he bad hiru~f wheeled·irito his sumptuous picture-gallery, -and as he wistfully looked at qne art tteasure ,aft.er another, he said to a friend who was with him, "Ah, ·these are the things ·that. make it hard to die I" No doubt· it is so; and hence we are_bidden go by the way <>f the wildern01111, so: that we may escape the besetm.ants that would otherwise delay our progress, Nor may we look for rese here. The pilgrim may never here say to his soul; "Soul, take -thine ease." Here we have no continuing city,_ out we seek one t'O come. There were Elims and other "quiet resting-places" where, once and again, l!irael ·was permitted t,o relieve the stress and strain of their long pilgrimage ; but the' common characteristics of their life was that of pilgrims, and thei'r forty years' ~joiirn: ·m the wilderness are ·spoken of, not as rest, but as thefr "wanderin~." And:,"indeed. the providenoe of God is ever busy to prevent· his people .from sett1ing down here. as 'if it wete their' rest. Hence the disquiet and ttoutr1e, the "black care" which· enters erery abode-the palatial as well as the poorest; the loss and bereavement, all: that. whioh the Bible calls the "stirring up the nest,"-all is for the purpose of retnindiiig us that this is not our rest, and to induce us--so slow, generally, to be· in!'l11ced-'-to seek ~e better country, even the heavenly one. Oh that men would' remember this, &rid reckon on· all thes.e things as the necessary, indispensable, and salutary, if aevere;- eonditions of our present lot I They would then be far less hard 1o bear, and would more readily fulfil their mission, and serve as a spur to urge us forward in too heavenly road. And there are also---· • · , : · ·' · · · II•. PERIL~ BELONGING TO THIS l'ILGRIMAGE. One we llave now glanced at-the pen1istent temptation to make the wilderness a home ; to l!O bring the :world into the Church, as that the Church itself should become a world; 'SO to mingle the·worldly 0