The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 383

m0l'8. Bo soon, so certain, was his removal, that he i.a spoken of In ver. 8 as "the beast thH was, and ia not, and yet ia;" and again (ver. 11), a.a "was, and ill not;" though, from ver. 10 and many other sources, we kuow that when St. John wrote Nero was yet living, and furiously persecuting the Church of God. Thie ia an inspired prediction of what waa 90Dn to come, and i1 clothed, after the frequent manner of pl'Qpl\ecy,-in the language of an event already past, though indeed it was future. (c) ,6.1 one day to reappear (ver. 8, "He shall ascend out," etc.). The belief that Nero ahquld return was notorious (cf. Stuart and Farrar, in loc.). (2) He la identified: (a) By the city over which he rules (ver. 9). Seven-billed Rome, "the city of the seven hills,~ was as frequent and well-understood a name for Rome as would be " the cit7 on t4e banks of the •rhamea" for Lonrlon. (b) By his place in the succession of kmgs. He stands sixth in the list of the Roman emperors. " Five" had paslltld away of the twelve Qaisara, He was the sixth-the "one is" (ver, 10). (c) His successor's short llltign. Galba. reigned but three months: "He must continue a short space." (cl) By the uniyerBBl belief that he would return (cf. aupro). (3) Be is doomed to go•• into perdition" (irer, 11). Such waa the man or mOJlster-beast, rather-who led the war apinst the Church of Chriat in his day. 2. 1b the city of Roma. She ia branded with the name of" Babylon , , • mQf.her of harlot.a•• (ver. 5), and ~ dtlllCribed as an utterly abandoned wolll8D, revelling in wealth and aplendour, exercising her deadly Bedaotive influenC011 over all the empire, flaunting forth hw shame with unblushing effrontery, and cruel with a ferocity that the beaat she sat upon,and who sustained her, oould hardly rival or eatisfy. "Drnnk with the blood of the ll&int.a." Such w1111 the seven-billed Rome when St. John knew it. Even a monster like Nero would hardly have dared to rage as he did had he not been encouraged by the brutal populace that ■warmed in Rome. 3. To the eon&ula. and proconw,Za. The ten provincial governors who aided and abetted "the beast " in his wa.r against Obrist. There were ten of these i haly, Achaia, .Asia, Syria, Egy.pt, Africa, Spain, Gaul, Britain, Germany (Farrar). And in all these the will of Nero was law .. His persecution was by no means confined to Rome-this entire book shows that, though it began there. It was, aa ver. 13 says, they gave "their power • , • ~to the. beast/' 11. THB KBTH0DS ol!' TBltIB WA.BPABB. 1. Then, when SI. Jo'h'll wrote, it was by cruel, horrible; widespread, and bloody persecution. So that Rome. is represented as "dnmk with blood," and the desoription is confirmed by historic fact. But: 2, $ow, • eur clay, the aeoular, antiohriBtian apirit manifests itself in quite anothw form, Ti. beast--spirit "yet i$," though clothed in other garb. The world is the· world ye~ and. still 11take11 "war with the Lamb," It aims now not ao much to hurt the body: as the IJOUl. . The former it may not touch, but the latter it can and does. It kills holy habiu, wounds conscience, defiles the thought.. BtUDI religiollB sensibilities, mocb u teligiou• earnestness, exiles her language, her literature, and her lawa. All thia the world-spirit does by its customs, maxims, and itl administration of it.a rewards and punlsl:imenta. It h"8 corrupted public opinion, poisoned the atmoaphere which d,illy the· believer hail to breathe; it.a· influence i, often, !Jtlllerally, unseen, intangible, inde- ilcrlbable,"but nevertheless as real and deadly to tile aoula of men u were the bloody kn. of Rome to the bodies of the believers in the Ohuroh of the first century, But consider- . UL •rn LAllll A8A.IN8T ll'BOH "TBBSB" WA.B. A Lamb, and yet u Lord oflorda, and ithigofking1.• Theideaueem incongruous. How, then,is "theLamb"this? l. By rifhtful autliorit11. 'l'hough Son of man, he is also Son of God (of. Pa. il.). 2. By flrl"' uJ 1,,i, ,acrifioe. It is thl1 great fact thcat he keeps prominently through his cboten name--"the Lamb." ln heaven he 11 thus seen as "a Lamb who had been slain" {eh. iv.; cf. Phil iii., "Therefore hAth God also highly exalted him, and," et.o.). 8. JJy the might of tneflknesa. See how at bis nativity the shepherds were told they should • the " Saviour, Christ the Lord." And what was it that they did iee? A be.be, • wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and lying in a manger." But in that utter humiliation and seff-abnegation of the Son of God lay the miiht. that should make him, as it hu i:µade him, " King of kings, and Lord of lords. . Meekness is might, llklridce ii amvereignty, l~i~ l!fe ia gaini~g: i~; the cross creates the cro~. It is no arbitrary i.rftmgement; it bes 1n the constitution of our nature, to •hfoh his meekuese &lid loft aJl1l8l-l with wch rr.sistl- forge. "0 Galilalan, thou hast con<1ueredl" aid ~•  • · xw. 1-la] THE REVELATION OP ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 4'25