CHAPTER III.

THE

EXALTATION OF CHRIST IN HEAVEN;

THE COMMITTAL OF THE

CHURCH'S CONCERNS INTO HIS HANDS;

AND THE

WORSHIP PAID TO HIM BY ITS BLESSED

INHABITANTS.

Symbol of the Book-A master symbol-Its seven seals-Their general meaning-Form of the books of the ancients—Importance of the contents of the seven-sealed book—Coming forward of Christ as the slain Lamb—In what sense he opens the seals— Extent of time they represent—The study of them important— Worship of the living creatures-The prayers of the Saints- New Song of heaven-Future honour of the Saints-Song of the Angels-And of the whole Creation-Divinity of Christ.

34

CHAPTER III.

THE

EXALTATION OF CHRIST;

AND

THE WORSHIP PAID TO HIM.

THE Apostle having represented the throne and majesty of the Lord God Almighty to our view; and having described that that throne was encircled by the redeemed church, consisting both of the bodied and disembodied spirits of just men, he goes on to

say,

"I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals." (v. 1.)

The mention of a book in the right hand of God, seated on his throne in heaven, implies that such a symbol must be understood as intended to convey to our minds a register, wherein things are written of God's counsels and purposes, respecting what was to "happen hereafter." At the same time it is very evident, from the subsequent predictions in the Revelation, that, as a symbol, it is highly significant; not referring to an indiscriminate relation of events, or to a literal book; but having relation to a certain class of

events—and, from the position in which it stands, and the circumstances that surround it, to the most superior class or series of events, and those of a character to which this symbol has a reference. It contains, in fact, the ground work of Church history under the Christian dispensation; and stands exactly in the same relation to the fourth or Roman kingdom individually, as the vision of the great image of Daniel* did to the four kingdoms collectively; that is, it contains the first great lesson of modern history, and that in which all the events of the last eighteen hundred years are involved.

I consider, therefore, that, in like manner as the vision of the great image laid the platform, or the grand outline of Gentile idolatrous history in the four successive kingdoms of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome; so does the writing of this book give the great outline of the entire remaining history of the remaining part of the last or fourth kingdom, begining from the time in which these splendid visions were given to John, in the reign of the emperor Trajan, near the end of the first century. What we have to do, therefore, is to refer to the Astronomical Canon of Ptolemy, given at the end of " the Dissertation of the Prophecies of the Old Testament;" and its continuation, and we shall there see the names of all the successive emperors from that time to the present. It is the history of their reigns, therefore, with all the mighty events and changes that have revolved

* See p. 176, Dis.

with them, as what was to "happen hereafter," and what was promised to be revealed to the Apostle, that we may naturally suppose was intended to be represented by the contents of this book.

By the seven seals with which it is said to be sealed, are to be understood the distinct and most important eras or portions of time in which, during this long period, these successive reigns were divided or distinctly marked, forming new orders of things. Their being all homogeneous, or similar in their nature, renders it necessary that the government should continue the same, and not signify, like the changes of the great image, changes of monarchy. And this idea clearly explains to my mind, that this master-symbol, of a book sealed with seven seals, signifies that the general historical record of the Roman empire, running through the entire number of its numerous successive emperors, was to experience seven most decided and complete changes, each of which should give new habits of thought, alter the complexion of affairs, and form new and distinct eras of time. And it will appear, as we proceed, that six out of the seven of such successive changes, have already passed; and that the reigns thus prominently standing forward, are most aptly and significantly designated as being brought out by events and instruments within the empire itself; by the opening of seals-that is, events having the stamp of legitimate authority-the seals of empire ; and not, like the next series of events, by extrinsic causes, without the bounds of the empire.