means, of ruinous prejudices and passions. And
this is precisely what had been going on in France
for many years previous to the revolution. In-
fidelity and Atheism had been openly inculcated,
until men had learned to scoff at everything re-
spectable in morals and religion. The Bible had
been thrown aside as a ruinous imposition, the God
of the Bible had been rejected, and death was
declared an eternal sleep. At the same time, there
had been inculcated, under the specious names of
REVELATION, CHAPTER XVL 161
liberty and equality, the most radical and out-
rageous principles of social and political life. 'Away
with all distinctions between the high and the low,
the rich and the poor, the virtuous and the de-
graded, the honourable and the despised. All pre-
tensions of this sort must yield before the claims of
reason, and the rising light of the new philosophy.'
That such was the state of opinion and feeling
in France in the latter part of the last century, no
one acquainted with the history of the times can
doubt. The currents of social and political life had
all been corrupted, moral impurity throbbed through
the entire system, and no wonder the infection soon
made its appearance in noisome and grievous sores
and ulcers. What else was to be expected from such
a preparation ? The odious and painful symbols of
the first vial here met a full significance.
The Second Vial.
' And the second angel poured out his vial upon
the sea ; and it became as the blood of a dead man:
and every living soul died in the sea.'
As this vial was poured upon the sea, some in-
terpreters are inclined to look for its fulfilment in
the naval defeats and losses of the French during
their revolutionary struggle. And these, certainly,
were numerous and crushing. It has been com-
puted that, during this bloody period, the French
lost two hundred ships of the line, between three
X
162 TUE ALOCALYPSE EXPLAINED:
and four hundred frigates, and an incalculable num-
ber of smaller vessels.
But I am inclined to look for tlie significance of
the second vial in the revolution itself. We have
seen -what preparation had long been making for it;
and in due time the vial of wrath came. At first,
under the National Assembly, the assault was chiefly
on the property of the citizens ; but after the
establishment of the Convention, — when the nation
had become frantic at the alarm of foreign invasion,
which the king and the clergy were supposed to
favour, — the storm arose and prostrated every
thing. The Church and the throne went down to-
gether. From this time, the blasphemies, the blood,
and carnage of the revolution were quickly in-
augurated; and the miseries which were endured
by that single nation, in the course of a few years,
transcend all description. The whole country
seemed to be turned into one great prison house,
the inhabitants to be converted into felons, and the
ordinary doom of man to be commuted for the
butchery of the sword and the guillotine. It
seemed for a time as if the knell of the whole
nation was tolled, and the world summoned to its
execution and funeral. Within the space of ten
years, not less than three million of human beings
are supposed to have perished in that one country.
Well may such an immolation be portended by
REVELATION, CHAPTER XVL 163
a sea of blood, in whicli every living creature
dies.
The Third Vial.
* And the third angel poured out his vial upon
the rivers and fountains of waters ; and they became
blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say,
Thou art righteous, Lord, which art, and wast,
and shalt be, because Thou hast judged thus : for
they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
and Thou hast given them blood to drink ; for they
are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar
say. Even so. Lord God Almighty, true and right-
eous are Thy judgments ' (Rev. xvi. 3-7).
We cannot mistake in applying this prediction
to some Papal country abounding with streams and
fountains, and where there had been much persecu-
tion. *They have shed the blood of saints and
prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to
drink; for they are w^orthy.' The next material
event, after the revolution in France, was the
invasion of Italy, where Napoleon gained his first
victories, and acquired his earliest fame. Here
occurred the battles of Montenotte, Millesimo, and
Dego ; the passage of the bridge of Lodi, and the
fall of Milan ; the siege of Mantua, and the battle
of Castiglione ; the battles of Caldero, Areola, and
Eivola, and the fall of Venice. Most of these battles
were on the branches of the Po — a countrv abound-
lei THE APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED:
ing with rivers and streams, also a country long
reddened with the blood of martyrs. Here the
persecutions of the Albigenses and Waldenses had
been perpretated, until the Alpine valleys literally
ran with blood. The blood which was now given
them to drink was no more than a righteous retri-
bution ; and, from the blow w^hicli here fell upon
the Papal power, persecuting Rome has never
recovered.
The Fourth Vial.
'And the fourth angel poured out liis vial upon
the sun ; and power was given unto him to scorch
men with fire. And men were scorched with great
heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath
power over these plagues : and they repented not
to give Him glory ' (Rev. xvi. 8, 9).
Following out the train of remark already pur-
sued, I cannot resist the conclusion, that the fourth
vial portended the wars of Napoleon in Germany
and Austria. These followed immediately upon his
wars in Italy. Indeed, one of the purposes for which
he invaded Italy was, to secure the Austrian posses-
sions there, and through them to reach Austria
itself. These wars were crushing, and exceedingly
bloody. They all tended to weaken the Papal
power, and ultimately to destroy it. In their pro-
gress, as one well expresses it, ' Europe seemed to
be all on fire with musketry and artillery, present-
REVELATION, CHAPTER XVI, 1G5
ing the blaze of a vast battle-field.' To tlie miser-
able inhabitants, it was as though the very sun in
the heavens had been commissioned to consume
and destroy them. Still they blasphemed the
name of God, and repented not to give Him the
glory.
The Fifth Vial.
' And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the
seat of the beast ; and his kingdom was full of dark-
ness ; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and
blasphemed the God of heaven because of their
pains and their sores, and repented not of their
deeds' (Rev. xvi. 10, 11).
Though all the previous judgments had been
preparatory to the one here presented, the grand
object of the revolutionists had not as yet been
accomplished. The seat, the throne of the beast,
had not been reached. But now a vial of wrath is
poured directly upon it. The ecclesiastical states
of Italy, and the capital, were to be attacked. In
this delicate and responsible undertaking the French
Directory proceeded with more caution, and with a
greater show of moderation, than they were wont
to assume ; still, their purpose was fixed, and they
firmly adhered to it. Early in the year 1799 Rome
was taken, and the tricolor flag floated on the summit
of the Capitol. The Pope was dragged from his
palace, his repositories were all ransacked and plmi'
166 THE APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED:
dered; even the rings were torn from Lis aged
fingers. He begged to be permitted to die where he
was ; but he was told that he could die anywhere
else as well. He was first sent into Tuscany, then
to Leghorn, and thence was compelled to traverse
the Alps and Apennines on his way to France. But
he did not live to complete the journey. At Valence,
after an illness of ten days, Gregory xvi. expired, in
the 82d year of his age, and the 24th of his pontificate.
Meanwhile the French troops had commenced a
regular and systematic pillage of Rome. Not only
the churches and convents, but the palaces of the
nobility and the cardinals were laid waste. The
soldiers ransacked every quarter of the city, seized
the most valuable works of art, and carried away a
vast amount of treasure, which former conquerors
had spared.
It might seem that the Papal power was now
forever crushed. The deep hostility of the revolu-
tionists, and their constant successes, apparently
looked to no other result. Events, however, soon
occurred to defeat such expectations ; and as much
as this is indicated in the prediction before us. The
worshippers of the beast were not to be immediately
destroyed, but spared to renew their abominations.
' They gnawed their tongues for pain, and blas-
phemed the God of heaven, and repented not of
their deeds.'
REVELATION, CHAPTER XVL 167
Not long after tlie death of Gregory, and the
sacking of Rome, some advantages were gained
over the revolutionists, and the cardinals were em-
boldened to get together and elect a new Pontiff.
Pius Yll. was chosen on the 13th of March 1800.
Napoleon made use of him for a time to further his
ambitious designs, and Popery secured another
respite.
The Sixth Vial.
* And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon
the great river Euphrates ; and the water thereof
was dried up, that the way of the kings of the East
might be prepared.' 'And I saw three unclean spirits
like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and
out of the mouth of the beast^ and out of the mouth
of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils,
working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of
the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to
the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Be-
hold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth,
and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and
they see his shame. And He gathered them to-
gether into a place called in the Hebrew tongue
Armageddon ' (Rev. xvi. 12—16).
The sixth trumpet we have before interpreted as
opening the way for the Turks, to invade the Eastern.
Roman empire, and effect its overthrow. The sixth
vial has reference, undoubtedly, to the same people ;
1G8 THE APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED:
but it seems to indicate, not their prevalence, but
their removal, ' that the way of the kings of the
East may be prepared.' Who these ' kings of the
East ' are, we do not know. Our hope is, that the
work of evangelization will go on in the East — in
Persia, China, India, Burmah — so that when the
Turkish obstacle shall be removed, a Christian
people may be prepared to come forward, and affi-
liate with their brethren of the West. Such an
event would fulfil the portents of this vial, and we
trust it may, ere long, be realized.
The Turkish empire, once so formidable to Chris-
tians, has long since passed its zenith, and is appa-
rently verging to its end. Instead of being the
teiTor of Christian Europe, it is now held up by the
powers of Europe, in their jealousy one of another.
For centuries there has been a gradual weakening
of the Turkish power. Province after province has
been dropping away, leaving it curtailed and feeble.
Moldavia, Wallachia, Greece, Algiers, Morocco, and
the other northern states of Africa, have revolted ;
and it holds but a nominal sway over Egypt; while
Eussia only waits its opportunity to strike a deci-
sive blow, and put an end to the Turkish dominion
for ever. And when this shall take place, a Chris-
tian East may be expected to come forward, as
above hinted, and join hands and hearts with their
brethren of the West.
REVELATION, CHAPTER XVl. 169
And "wlien the servants of Christ, in different
parts of the world, become affiliated, and prepared
to stand together, we may expect a mighty in-
fluence to be exerted against them. Who these
unclean spirits are, in the shape of frogs, which are
to come forth from the month of the dragon, the
beast, and the false prophet, I pretend not to say.
They may be the expiring genii of Paganism, Ma-
hometanism, and of Popery, working together, as
they have ever done, in opposition to the cause and
kingdom of Christ. Or, they may be the hordes of
Jesuit emissaries, who are now training for this
very purpose, going forth to muster their armies for
the final conflict. At any rate, there is to be such a
conflict ; and when the way is fully prepared for it,
the seventh vial will be poured out.
The Seventh Vial.
' And the seventh angel poured out his vial uito
the air ; and there came a great voice out of the
temple of heaven, from the throne, saying. It is done.
And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings ;
and there was a great earthquake, such as was not
since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earth-
quake, and so great. And the great city was divided
into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell :
and great Babylon came in remembrance before
God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the
fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away,
170 THE APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED:
and the mountains were not found. And there fell
upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone
about the weight of a talent : and men blasphemed
God because of the plague of the hail; for the
plague thereof was exceeding great ' (Rev. xvi.
17-21).
At the close of the sixth vial, the great conflict
was fully inaugurated, and everything was in readi-
ness for the final stroke. And now it falls. * The
seventh angel poured out his vial into the air ; and
there came a great voice out of the temple of
heaven — from the very throne of God — saying. It
is done' The long agony is over. The dragon,
the beast, the false prophet, and all those who bear
their mark, or worship their image, are subdued,
and the way is opened for the universal prevalence
and triumph of the kingdom of Christ.
The voices, the thunders, the lightnings, and
the earthquake denote the changes and revolutions
connected with, and consequent upon, this glorious
event. We can readily conceive that they must be
very great, — such as the terrific symbols here em-
ployed do but feebly represent.
The great city here spoken of is, without doubt,
the mystic Babylon, — the Papacy with all its ad-
herents and dependents. The division of the city
into three parts is probably spoken of as one of the
means of its destruction ; for we are immediately
REVELATION, CHAPTER XVL 171
told, that * great Babylon came in remembrance
before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine
of the fierceness of his wrath.'
Some of the symbols here employed, particularly
the hail-stones, denote, not revolution, but destruc-
tion. There will be, there must be, in the crisis
here spoken of, a terrible destruction of human life.
Still, we perceive in this instance, as in several
before introduced, that divine judgments, unless
accompanied by the sanctifying Spirit, produce no
good effect. They serve only to harden. *Men
blasphemed the name of God because of the plague
of the hail ; for the plague thereof was exceeding
great.'
172 THE APOCALYPSE EXPLAIJSED:
CHAPTER XV.
god's judgment upon the great whore.
re\t:lation, chap. xvii.
ALTHOUGH the writer of the Revelation, or
rather the Spirit which inspired him, had led
lis along at the end of the last chapter, — as he had
before done in several instances, — to the close of
the great conflict immediately preceding the mil-
lennium, he seems not to have been satisfied to
leave the matter thus, but must give a new illustra-
tion of the grand enemy with which the Church had
been called so long to contend, and of his final
defeat and overthrow. *And so,' says the writer,
* there came to me one of the seven angels which
had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying,
Come hither ; I will show thee the judgment of the
great whore that sitteth upon many waters, with
whom the kings of the earth have committed forni-
cation, and the inhabitants of the earth have been
made drunk w^ith the wine of her fornication ' (Rev.
xvii. 1-2).
This is a description of the whore by the angel ;
for John had not yet seen her. She is repre-
REVELATION, CHAPTER XVIL 173
sented by the angel as having her seat upon many
waters, as the literal Babylon was seated upon the
Euphrates, and the literal Rome on the Tiber.
These waters are subsequently interpreted as sym-
bolizing the peoples, and multitudes, and nations,
and tongues, over which the woman exerted her
bewitching, intoxicating influence.
* So the angel carried me away in the spirit into
the wilderness : and I saw a woman sit upon a
scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy,
having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman
was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked
with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, having a
golden cup in her hand full of abominations and
filthiness of her fornication: and upon her forehead
was a name written. Mystery, Babylon the great,
THE MOTHER OP HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OP
THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with
the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the
martyrs of Jesus : and when I saw her, I wondered
with great admiration. And the angel said unto
me. Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee
the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that
carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten
horns' (Rev. xvii. 3—7)..
And so the angel proceeds to interpret the vision
to the prophet, and to explain its significance.
* The beast that thou sawest was, and is not ; and
174 THE APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED:
shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into
perdition : and they that dwell on the earth shall
•wonder, (whose names were not written in the book
of life from the foundation of the world,) when
they behold the beast that was, and is not, and
yet is ' (Rev. xvii. 8).
This is the same beast which John saw rise out
of the sea in the beginning of the thirteenth chapter,
and which wo interpreted to signify Papal Rome,
in its civil, secular, kingly authority. And if there
could be any doubt as to the correctness of this
interpretation before, we are confirmed in it by the
interpretation of the angel here. ' Here is the mind
that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven
mountains, on which the woman sitteth,' — referring
"to the seven hills on which Rome was built. * And
there are seven kings : five are fallen, and one is,
and the other is not yet come ; and when he cometh,
he must continue a short space. And the beast
that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is
of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the
ten horns which thou sawest, are ten kings, w^hich
have received no kingdom as yet ; but receive power
as kings one hour with the beast. These have one
mind, and shall give their power and strength unto
the beast. These shall make w^ar with the Lamb,
and the Lamb shall overcome them ; for he is Lord
of lords and King of kings : and they that are with
REVELATION, CHAPTER XVIL 175
him, are called, and cliosen, and faithful' (Key.
xvii. 9—14).
The seven kings here spoken of, as explained in
a previous chapter, are the seven forms of govern-
ment which had prevailed at Rome, viz., kings,
consuls, dictators, decemvirs, military tribunes, and
emperors, — the last of which governed Rome when
the Apocalypse was written. Succeeding the fall
of the emperors and the Gothic kings, Rome, with
its environs, was reduced to a dukedom, subject to
the exarch of Ravenna. This was the seventh form
of government which, compared with what preceded
and followed it, continued but ' a short space.' As
to 'the beast that was and is not, which is the
eighth and is of the seven,' there can be no difficulty
in applying this to the Papacy, in its kingly autho-
rity. This was, in some sense, a new form of
government, the eighth ; and yet it is of the seven,
— almost identical with two of them, viz., kings
and emperors. It had the same central seat with
the governments which preceded it, — that is, Rome ;
it extended over the same territory, and embraced,
in its progress, the same nations. The ten horns of
the beast are ten kingdoms, which had no existence
at the time when this prophecy was written, but
came up upon the overthrow and division of the
Western Empire. They came into power, not one
hour with the beast, but the same hour with him, —
176 THE APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED:
which is a better rendering than that in our trans-
lation. These kingdoms existed at the same time
with the beast, had the same mind with him, and
gave then- power and strength unto him. Under
his influence ' they shall make war with the Lamb;
but the Lamb shall overcome them ; for He is Lord
of lords, and King of kings.'
Such was the beast on which the whore was
sitting, — Papal Rome, in its royal kingly authority.
But what does the whore stand for ? Whom does
she represent ? There can be as little doubt in this
case as in the other. She represents the Papacy in
its spiritual authority. She is identical with the
second beast in the thirteenth chapter; and also
with ' the false prophet,' who is so frequently asso-
ciated T\dth the beast, and is said to have * wrought
miracles before him, with which to deceive them
which had the mark of the beast, and that wor-
shipped his image ' (chap. xix. 20). The design of
this hideous and odious symbol — the woman — is
to exhibit more fully than had yet been done, Papal
Rome, in two aspects, viz., its idolatries and its
cruelties. Idolatry is commonly spoken of in the
Old Testament under the similitude of whoredom,
adultery.^ The idolatiies of the Church of Rome
are numberless. They are shamelessly open, and
of long continuance. In the Iconoclast controversy
* See Jer. iii. G-9 and xiii. 27; Ezek. xvi. 31-34.
REVELATION, CHAPTER XVII. 177
of tlie eighth and ninth centuries, the bishops of
Rome stood forth persistently as the advocates and
defenders of image worship. And from those times
to the present, they have persisted in their idola-
tries, — to the scandal of the Christian name with
some other religions, — and will not give them up.
In this respect she has fully justified the symbolism
before us. She has proved herself to be the great
whore which has corrupted the nations.
She also answers to the representation in the
chapter before us in respect to the cruelties. She is
* drunk with the blood of the saints, and of the mar-
tyrs of Jesus.' There is no computing the murders
of God's faithful witnesses, for which the Papal
harlot is responsible. They are, I had almost said,
numberless. If any one doubts the truth of this
representation, let him consult the histories of the
Albigenses andWaldenses, the Protestants of France,
and the martyrs of the low countries. Let him go
to the records of the Inquisition in Spain and Italy,
and in every other country where this terrible court
has been established. Rome may try to conceal
these horrible tragedies, but she cannot cover them
up. The blood of ten thousand martyrs is at this
moment crying against her for vengeance. Drunk
ivith the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus —
this is the terrible indictment which stands against
her in the court of heaven.
z
178 THE APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED:
We have seen already that the ten horns of the
beast, are the ten kingdoms into which the Western
Empire was divided, which for a time gave their
strength and power unto the beast, and with him
made war Avith the Lamb. But it shall not be so
always. The time will come when ' the ten horns
shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate
and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her
with fire.' To a great extent, this period has come
even now. Time was, when Germany, and England,
and Scotland, and Holland, and Protestant Switzer-
land, were giving their strength to the beast and
his paramour, and with them were united in making
war upon the Lamb. But it is not so now. These
nations have long since renounced this base allegi-
ance, and enlisted themselves on the other side.
And other nations are preparing to follow them.
From present appearances, nothing is more likely
than that Spain, and France, and Austria, and Italy,
may, ere long, come to hate the whore as earnestly
as they had ever loved her, and will unite with the
other Em'opean kingdoms to make her desolate,
and to burn her with fire. We wait the issues of
these great events with confidence and prayer.
REVELATION, CHAPTER XVII. 179
CHAPTER XVI.
THE FALL OF THE MYSTICAL BABYLON.
CHEAT LAMEXTxVTION ON EARTH, AND GREAT REJOICING IN HEAVEN,
ON ACCOUNT OF IT.
REVELATION, CHAP. XVIH.
WE have in this chapter a more full and formal
annunciation of the fall of the mystical Ba-
bylon — the great Papal, persecuting power — than