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The description here given is in the following language :

1. THE THRONE.

"And immediately I was in the Spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine-stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

2. THE ELDERS.

"And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and

voices :

3. THE SEVEN SPIRITS.

"And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

4. THE LIVING CREATURES, AND THEIR

WORSHIP.

"And before the throne there was a sea of glass, like unto crystal and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind. And the first living creature was like a lion, and the second living creature was like a calf, and the third living creature had the face as a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

THE WORSHIP OF THE ELDERS.

"And when these living creatures give glory, and honour, and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and

DIVINE GLORY IN HEAVEN.

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OF THE

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ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

It will better assist us to understand this representation, as well as the scenery of the whole book, if, in studying it, we bear in mind that the Almighty, in the particulars here given, honours his own word, his own ordinances, and his own institutions, as connected with the Jewish dispensation and the Old Testament worship, by bringing them forward as the basis of the greater revelations and discoveries now about to be made. Being addressed to the visible sight, they supplied proper and suitable materials for the platform of these splendid visions; while the description of heaven and the heavenly world, above given, appears only as exhibiting or carrying out the anti-type of the divinely-ordered Jewish encampment in the wilderness. And, indeed, it may be observed, that in like manner as it is the ordinary way of the prophets to touch upon Jewish matters and history, and refer them for their full significance to the prophecies and histories of the Christian Church; so does the book of Revelation, in a preeminent manner, take the style of the old prophets, their symbols, types, and institutions, and bring them forward for the illustration of the wonderful and splendid history here given.

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quotation of the heavenly world, we cannot but be struck with its similarity to the encampment of the children of Israel in their forty years' journeyings, described in Numbers ii.-and with the evident light which the comparison throws upon that representation. For instance, in the very centre of the camp there was that visible token or manifestation of God's immediate presence or glory, and the only one on earth, the Shechinah. This consisted of a cloud, sometimes breaking out into a bright and refulgent flame, resting on the mercy-seat; answering to its brighter anti-type now exhibited within the opened door of heaven to the view of the apostle, consisting not of a cloud and flame, but of a splendid throne. It was that throne seen by Micaiah,* when he said: "I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the hosts of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left." Also that described by Isaiah in the following sublime language, "I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the Seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto

another, and said, Holy, holy,

holy is the Lord of

hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory."

Besides this mention, there is to be found in the 1st of Ezekiel a most magnificent description of this resplendent seat of the Divine Majesty, corresponding

* 1 Kings xxii. 19.

in a most remarkable manner, yet in beautifully diversified language, with that here given. After many particulars from the 4th to the 26th verse, it closes as follows,-and I transcribe it, as I wish to draw a fixed attention to what is so often, in the after-parts of the Revelation, brought forward : "And above the firmament there was, over their heads, the likeness of a THRONE, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw, as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upwards, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord."

In the repesentation before us, no attempt is made to describe the majesty of Him that sat upon the throne-it is merely said that He was to look upon like a jasper, or a sardine stone-that is, of the daz. zling splendour and the ineffable brightness of the most costly, pellucid, transparent stones; and in this nameless majesty there is something inexpressibly grand. It is something resembling that which it is said was seen by Moses and Aaron when they went up into the mountain.*

*See Exodus xxiv. 10, 17.

It is a striking and encouraging appendage, both as mentioned here and in the above description of Ezekiel, that round the throne was a pledge of "There was mercy: a rainbow round about the throne," of the colour of living green," in sight like unto an emerald," or "a brightness round about as the appearance of the bow in the day of rain."

There were likewise round about this ineffably glorious throne of Jehovah four-and-twenty seats, or, more properly speaking, four-and-twenty other thrones, upon which are represented, seated, four-andtwenty elders with white robes, the emblems of perfect purity, and with coronets of gold on their heads.

These elders appear to be that part of the church redeemed from among men, who have already received their reward, and they answer to the four-andtwenty courses of the priests appointed by David to minister among the Jewish people set apart for the service of the temple; and likewise to the camp of the Levites, which in the wilderness surrounded the Tabernacle. For it appears very evident that there is a part of the ransomed church who have thus received their reward. The very circumstance of their being described in a bodily form, and seen with honours bestowed upon them, shews that they are intended to represent something more than separate spirits.

The question therefore arises, is there anything in Scripture to countenance such an idea, that any part of the righteous are now in the presence of God in such a state? In the first place, I would notice,

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