God, for the angel-nature beholds God's face. It ls this thought which gives fol'C8 and 80lemnity t.o our Lord's warning (Matt. xviii._ 10). The angel of the Church, then, would be the spiritual personification oT the Church ; but it mnat not be conciluded from this, as Lillig does, that these angels are in " the mind of the poet himself nothing more tl1an imaginary exiatencea," or reduce the angel "to be just the community or Church itself." It is no more the Church itself than the "star" is the BBme as the candlestick. •• The star ia the supra-sensual counterpart, the heavenly ·representative ; the lamp, the earthly realization, the outward embodiment." The angel is the Church 1188D in its heavenly representative, and seen, therefore, in the light of those splendid possibilities which are hers if she holds fast by him who holds fast the seven 1tars. Space forbids any treatment of the wider questions on the ministry of angels, or the nature of angelic beings. That such are recognized in Scripture there can be no doubt, and nothing written above is designed to militate against such a belief; but it seems well to remember that where we are dealing with a symbolical book it is more In har- mony with its character to treat symbols as symbols. The forces of nature are God's messengers, and we may regard them as truly such, and feel that the expressions, "the angel of the waters," "the angel of fire," "the an&el of the abyss," and 80 forth, are designed to remind us that all things serve him, amt are the ministers of hinl, to do bis pleasure; we may even believe that· the various forces of nature, so little really under- irt.ood by us, are under the guardianship of spPcial personal messengers of God; but there is nothing in the imagery of the book which necessarily demands such a belief. It is, moreover, surely not inappropriate in our own day to reassert with some pertinacity the lofty thoughts of ancient belief, tht1t winds and storms, ocean and fire, do in truth belong to him round whom are the clouds and darkneas, whose is the sea, and whose hands prepared the dry land. · On the · literature of this subject, see Godet's •Studies on the New Testament ; • l!lcbaff, ' History of the Apostolic Church; ' Lightfoot's article on "The Christian Ministry,"in the 'Epistle to the Philippians,' pp. 193-199; Hengstenberg's lengthy note on eh. i. 20; ProfeBSOr Milligan's article, '' The Oandlestick and the Star," in the Ea;posiwr of September; 1878; Gebhardt, 'Der Lehrbegriff der Apokalypse,' article "'Die Engel," p. 37, or p. 36 in the Eni;lish translation ('The Doctrine of the Apoca- lypse'), published by Messrs. Clark, m the Foreign 'l'hf·ologic~l Library. Also "Excursus on Angelology" in the 'Speaker'a Commentary' on Daniel, p. 348; article "Angel," in Smith'a • Bible Dictionary.'
ExCUBIIUB B.-Tlte toi'ld beaaf. It Is t.o be noticed that the Interpretation of the whole Apocalypse is coloured by the interpretation given to the wild beast. The book, as we have seen (see 'Introdnctiou '), is one of hope, but it is also one of warning; not without a struggle would the foe be driven from the earth where he had usurped power for 80 Jong. The devil ir cast down; in the higher, the heavenly sphere, be is regarded as a fallen and defeated enemy; but this conflict bas its counterpart on the arena of the -world. The Apocalypse gives us in symbol some' features of this conflict. It shows four powers of evil-the dragon, the first and second wild beasts, and Babylon the harlot. It is with the beast that we are now concerned, but one or two remarks on thia family .of evil will not be ont of place. I. T:lui: FAMILY OF EVIL. 1. The four antagonists of good are relaud to one ariother. The resemblance between the dragon and the wild beast (comp. eh. xii. 3; ,xiii. 1; X\'ii. 3, 7, 10) is too obvious to be passed over; it seems designed t.o show us that the same principle and spirit of evil is at work in both. Again, the way in which the first wild beast gives place to the second wild beast, or false prophet (comp. eh. xiii. 11, 12; xvi 13; xiL 20; x:x. 10), and yet retains its ascendency (eoinp. eh. xiii. 14-17), mak8ll plain the close connection between them; and lastly, the appearance of the harlot, riding on the scarlet-coloured beast (eh. xvii. 3), completes the chain of association between them. The same principles and spirit of evil make themselves manifest in different spheres. 2. The four antagonists of good are arrayed to meet the fotW C01Te,pondiflg mariifestarion11 ef good. For every power of good we have the three Persons of the blessed Trinity-the Throned One, the Lamb, and the Holy Spirit-besides the Church, the bride, the Lamb's wife, the heavenly Jerusalem; we have on the side of evil, the tlragon, the beast, the false prophet, as a sort of trinity of evil, besides the harlot; oa. xxu. 1-21.] TllE REVELATION OF ST. JOIIN TllE DIViNE. 583