•nd lightnings which follow. An4 there before God ; and Bab11lon Oie !}1"Mt tMI re- came • great voioe out of the temple of tntmW<!f"ed in tlui sight of God (Revised Ver- heaven, from the throne, ■aying, It ii done. tion). Cf. the title of "great city" ('llide There. a.re alight variations in the text here. mpra). Cf. also the similar expression in The best authorities omit "of heaven." Acts x. 31, This clause. together with the, One manWJCrip\, N, instead of "throne " following one, taken in conjunction with insert& 'f'ou e,av, "of God." (On the charac- the preceding and succeeding verses, mnst teristic great t>oice, see on eh. vi. 1, etc.) be referred to the great judgment-day. To 'J'he same voice e.s in ver. 1, proba,bly that give unto her the cup of the wine of the of God himself, as the words, " from the fierceness of his wrath. This is the begin- throne," seem e.leoto ehow. Itis noticee.ble ning of the fulftlment of the doom predi!)ted that here, as in the 8881-visions and trnmpet- by the angel in eh. xiv. 10. The judgment visions, we are not explicitly informed of is more elaborately described in eh. xviii. the natnre of the last vision. We have the Ver. 20.-And flVfff isle.nd fled away, accompanying ci.roumste.nces described in and the mountains were not found. This ver. 18, which are always attendant on the continues the description of the earthquake last great manifestation, hut the end itself in ver. 18, the parenthesis concerning Baby- is left unrecorded. In the see.ls, the last lon occurring owing to the mention of the vision is described by the silence in heaven: destruction of the city (cf. the account given in the trumpets, tlae nature of the last under the sixth see.I). Such convultiions of judgment is only vaguely alluded to in the nature generally, in biblical d(•scriptione, triumphant heavenly eong. So here, only a·ccompany the near approach of the last a brief summary is given {vers. 18, 19) of judgment. Some writ.em interpret the what actually falls as the last extremity of islands and mountains of kingdoms (ef.. eh. God's wrath; a fuller account is reserved xvii. 9, 10). · for eh. xiL Ver. 21.-And there fell upon men a Ver. 18.-And there were voices, and great hail out of hse.ven, every stone about thunders, and lightnings ; and there was e. the weight of e. talent; cometh down •JJOB• great earthquake, such as was not since the present t.ense, rendering the description men were upon the earth, so mighty an more graphic. Commentators usually quote earthquake. and ao great. The usual ' Diodorus Siculns' (xix. 4:i), who mentiona, aooompaniments of any special mflnifesta- as something marvellous, hailst.Jnes of a tion of God's power or presence (see on eh. mina in weight; the mine. being one-sixtieth iv.Sand vi. 12-17). A similar description of e. talent; and also the account of Jose- is given of the close of the 11811.l and the phua, who speaks of stones e. talent in trumpet visions. weight being .thrown by me.chines at the Ver.19.-And the great city. The words siege of Jerusalem (see W etstein, ad loo.). wbioh follow, as well 88 eh, xi. 8; xiv, 8: " The men," though not pointing to any xvii. 18: xviii. 10, 16, etc., leave scarcely particular group of men who have been any doubt that the "great city" here is aefinitely mentioned, nevertheless neces- Babylon. These are the only passages in sarily refers to the wicked, who are the the Apocalypse where this title is fuund; object of this punishment. "Hail " is fre.. for in eh. :ni. 10," great" is not the true read- qnently mentioned as a jndgment of God. ing. Waa divided into three parts. The and is ad<led here to heighten the general eignifioation of this clause is somewhat un- effect of the description (cf. Exod. ix.: oertain. The idea is probably that of total Josh. x. 11; Ps. l:xxviii. -1:7; cv. 32; Isa. destruction, as in Ezek. v. 2, where a similar :xxviii. 2; xxx. 30: Ezek. xiii. 11; xxxviii. description is applied to Jerose.lem. Pos- 22; Hag. ii. 17; also eh. viii. 7; xi. 19). sibly there is a referenee to the trinity of And men blasphemed God because of the evil mentioned in ver. IS. And the oitiea plague of the hail ; for the plague thereof of the ne.tiona fell. The nation, signifies was exceeding great ; ia neeeding great the ungodly, who stand in the same rela- ('uide ,upra). As in ver. 9, men repent not. tion to the godly 88 the Gentiles to God's Like Pharaoh, their hearts 8!9 hardened. choeen people (et eh. xi. 18, eto.). This These words end the general deaoription of ll8nte11ce deolares the fall of every 188881' the vial-judgments, but the events allnded forni of evil, together with the greater to under the seventh vie.I are elaborated and typical form symbolized by~ the great city." particularwed in the chapters which follow; And great Bab7lon came in remembrance the whole concluding at the end of eh. xix.
HOMILETICS. Vers.1-11.-TIM first flw liowl,. While we by no means follow the hiFtorlcal mw,preters of this book in the attempt to identify any chronological sequence of actual 893 THE REVELATION 011' ST. JOHN TIIE DIVINE. [en. xv1. 1-21.
events with the seven seals, trumpets, and bowls, respectively, yet (as ls well pointed out by Professor Godetl) there is undoubtedly a moral progression indicated. The 8l!al points out an event concealed as yet, but foreseen by God, The trumpet points out an event announced 88 forthcoming. The bowl points out the event in actual execution.· We have studied the ground-plan of the Apocalypse with '8ference to the seals and trumpets; we now witness the pouring out of the bowls, i.e. the carrying out of the great jurlgments on the foes of God and of his Church, which in anticipation bad l>een· forecast already. The seven seals set before us the kind of events which were to be looked for-victory, war, famine, pestilence, martyrdom, convulsion; then the end. The aeven trumpets have pointed out the sphere over which the several judgments shall fall which are t.o bring about the end. These correspond almost pr~ci~ely with the seven bowls; thus confirming the impression that between trumpets and bowls there is the distinction· between announcement and effect,
-• 1 2 I 5 6 f -l'he trumpets follow thus in Ol'der: Earth, Sea, Waters, Sun, Smoke out The great The issue. viii. 7 viii. 8 viii.10, 11 viii. 12 of the river, xi.15-18 abyee, ix. 13-21 The bowls fol- ix.1-ll low thus: Earth, Sea, Walera, Sun, Throne of The great "It is done I" xvi. 2 xvi. 3 xvi.4-7 xvi. 8, 9 the beast, river, xvi, 17-21 xvi.10,11 xvi.12-16