The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 375

ing exph1.ne.tion, which 11how1 how the tl,e abyss to go fnt.o perdition." This non• unfaithfulness is avenged. existence, contemporaneously with exist- °V81'. 7.-And the e.ngel Rid unto me, ence and subsequent --reappearance, is Wherefore didst thou marvel t did tl-.o• exactly what is deecribed in the wound "on,ler t-- the same word 811 in ver. 6. healed (eh. xiii a; see e.lso the remaiudel' Though the seer cannot fully comprehend of this verse). The period, iherefore, the terrible signiftt-anee of tbe eign he sees, embraced in these worda is that of the whole viz. that a portion e,f the Chnroh is one existence of this WOJ"ld. It coincides witla with the hostile world (see on ver. 6), yes the period referred to in oh. xii. H and 17, there are sufficient marks wherewith to and in oh. xx. S. Throughout the Apoca- identify it. The woman, the wilderness, lypse the word ~fJ11a1Toct, translated "bot- the reliance ution the world-power, the tomleea pit" (Authorized Version) and inscription, the similar description of Judah "e.byBS" (Revised Version). is uaed to in Jer. ii.and iii. (see on ver. 6), might have describe the dwelling-place <>f Sato (see made the interpretation plain. I will tell eh. ix. 1, 2, 11; xi. 7: xx. 1, 8) while work• thee the mystery of the woman, and of the ing in the world. "Perdition" is described beaat that o&rrieth her, which bath the Bflen in eh. xix. 20 as the "lake of fire burning heada and ten horn■; the ten ho1"m (cf. ver. with brimstone." And they that dwell oa 5, which .declares that this essential unity is a mydery), Observe, too, that the the earth lhall wonder, whose nam• not written in the book of life froza the were " m;rstery of the wome.n and of the beast" foundation o_f the world, when they behold is all ·one. (On the " beast," " the seven the bsast that was, and ii not, and yet is ; · heads," e.nd "the ten horns," see on pre- f11h~ natM hatk not been uwillen upon the nous verses, especially eh. xiii. 1.) In ver. book • • • beast, how thal he tells, and u 1 the harlot is aaid to sit on the waters; not, and "hall be pre,,,nt. The last word1 here the beast carries her. · The two state- show exactly what is meant in the first part ments are really identical : both the beast of the verse (which see). The ihst words and the waters represent the worldly power are a repetition of words in eh. xiii 8 found among" peoples, multitudes, nation.a, (which eee). and tongues" (ver. 14). Vf!l'. 9.-And here ts the mind which hath Ver. 8.-'--The beast that thou sawest was, wisdom. Omit " and." Read, Here u tJMJ and· ;. not; and ■hall aacend out of the mit<d (or, meaning), et.c. Th088 words (as bottomleu pit, and go into perdition ; ®d in eh. xiii. 18) draw attention to the is about to come up out of the abyu (Revised explanation whieh follows-or else that Vel'Sion). "And to go,. (6.rcl-y ..v) is read which preoedes(cf. eh. xiii.18). They also in N, e.· P, Vulgate, and almost all cur- make it appear that the explanation whioh ■ivea: while fnrd-yu," he goeth," is founil in the angel o:!fers of the "mystery" is nnt one A, 12, Arethe.a, Irenreua. The latter part of ·to be understood without some difficulty. this passage is related aga.in in eh. xix. 20. The aeven heads are seven mountains, on The beast, as we have seen, is the world- which the woman sitteth. The diversity of power-Satan in his character of "prince opinions on the interpretation of this pru1sage of this world." Three stages are marked is mainly owing to the fact that writers !lre out in the existence of this world-power: not consistent in their application of eymbolll first, it 1M8; second, it '3 not now; thirdly, and numbers: in one place interpreting it reappears, to be cast into perdition. The figuratively, in another literally. We have first period describes the condition of things repeatedly seen that the language of the before the sacrifice of Christ. Then it we.i, Apocalypse and its numbers are symbolical. that Satan ruled supreme in the world; The seals are not literal seals, the Lamb ia that the ~wer of the world-the beaat-tDas. not a literal Lamb, the beast is not a litere.J. But Christ overcame the world (John xvi. beast, eto. So here, the mountains are not 38) ; henceforth to all true believers there literal mountains. A mountain ia a symbol is. "peace," although they may " he.Ve of power (see on eh. viii_. 8); iret1rn is the tribulation" in the world (John xvi; 33); number significant of universality (see on for the faithfnl Christ..au the power or the eh. i. 4; v. I, etc.). The pie.in meaning of world-the beast-is not. Yet, though for the ptlSIIBge, therefore, is that the woman the true servant of God there is a sense in relie& upon a visibly univel'IIQI power. This which it may be ll!lid that this 'f.'?Wer h811 is precisely the idea oontained in ver. S, no existence, it nevertheless exists in the which describe& the faith1&81! part of the abyBS, that is, in its natural abiding-place Church (the harlot) trusting to the power Ill the world, among the worldly minded, of the world (the beast). Of course, the and th111 may cause "tribulation" to the most prominent form of this world-power in faitbfnl A further downfall is, therefore, St. John's time was heathen Rome, benoe prepared for it-that. whioh will take place 10me writers believe that "the seven-billed at ihe lr.at day, when it " will ascend from city," Rome, ia referred to hm-e-either  OR. :rvn. 1-18.J THE REVELATION OJ.I' BT. JOilN THE DIVINE. -tlT