by his general providence. In the elders seated upon the thrones we see an emblem of the regal power of Christ exercised in the government of his own willing people. And in the armed tribes of Israel, as well as the lightnings which proceed from the mediatorial throne, we see a symbol of his power as exercised towards his adversaries; the whole combined description intimating the participation enjoyed by the church in the right of power possessed by Christ as Creator, King, and Conqueror.* 6 6 66 Judah;" and Jacob in his last bless- Verse 7. Of these Cherubim it is said that "the first living creature was like a lion, and the second living creature was like a calf, and the third living creature had a face as a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle." The holy and elect Jewish nation is the most constant and important type of the spiritual church of Christ. They are here represented as they appeared encamped in four companies around the tabernacle and mercy seat, or around the throne of die, and let not his men be few." Christ, during their sojourning in (Deut. chap. xxxIII. 6.) And with the wilderness, according to the him were associated, under the same directions thus given by God to standard the tribes of Simeon and Moses and recorded in Numbers II. Gad, on the west side was the “And on the east side shall they of standard of the tribe of Ephraim, the standard of the camp of Judah the figure of which was a calf, or pitch; which standard, according young bull; and upon the name of to the Jewish tradition, bore the his beloved Joseph his father dwelt figure of a lion. So Christ, descended with peculiar delight, as one who from Judah, is spoken of in this had under the severest trials been vision, as the Lion of the tribe of strengthened by the hands of the * It may possibly occur to some as an objection to the supposed correspondency between the symbol of the wheels of Ezekiel's vision, and the elders of St. John's, that the former are represented as being full of eyes, which the latter are not; upon which I would therefore observe, that when a complete hieroglyphic is used,—as when a Wheel, a Lion, an Eagle, or a Lamb are made to represent a man or men,-there is no impropriety in the abundance of the spiritual illumination they enjoy being described by the addition of many eyes; but that when the symbol is itself the human form, as in the case of the elders, or of him that sat on the throne, such an addition would appear to be incongruous and inappropriate. And I may further observe, that the crowns which the elders themselves wear imply, that as kings they had already been anointed with the holy anointing oil, and that these are therefore, without any increase in the number of their eyes, sufficient emblems of their being under the influence of the Holy Spirit. mighty God of Jacob, and of the Almighty whose abundant blessings he pronounced should descend upon his head. This was more particularly fulfilled in Ephraim, whom the patriarch adopted as his own son, and whose seed he predicted should become a multitude of nations;" and so distinguished was Ephraim amongst the tribes, that his name was given to one of the two divisions of the whole nation, as the name of Judah was to the other; as in Isaiah XI. 13. In the blessing of Moses we find that Ephraim is distinguished by the symbol which tradition ascribes to him, for he says of the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, in like allusion perhaps to the standard under which they appeared before him, "Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was sepa• rated from his brethren. His glory is like the firstling of his bullock; ' and his horns are like the horns of unicorns; with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth, and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh."-Under the same standard was associated also the tribe of Benjamin. And on the north side of the tabernacle was the standard of the camp of the tribe of Dan, said to have born the figure of an eagle; of whom Jacob pronounced, in reference to the import of his name, that he should judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel, or a distinguished one a mongst them. To him also is ascribed, in the blessing of Moses, the regal lion; but this being here appropriated to Judah, that of the sovereign of the birds, in the act, as is particularly noted, of "flying,' rather of spreading out his wings, an emblem of rule and wide extended empire, appears to be substituted. -Under the same standard were or associated the remaining tribes of Asher, and Naphthali. So that according to the natural and not unusual method of speaking of a body of men under the name of the standard which they follow, when we see in the vision of St. John the Lion, the Man, the Bull, and the Eagle, surrounding the throne of Christ, we see a representation of the ancient church, as when encamped in the wilderness, also surrounding his throne; and as we may say respecting the Jewish nation, so also we must say of this parallel representation, that it is a type of the elect church of the first-born; and, in this vision, of that portion of them whose names were not only "written in heaven," but who had already taken possession of their inheritance. Now if we consider the vision before us by the light of these facts we shall find the interpretation here given, and the tradition of the Jews relative to the figures carried on the four standards of Israel, completely borne out: for if we contemplate the whole animal creation as consisting of the four classes of the rational, the wild beasts, the tame cattle, and the birds; we shall find that the elect or chief of all are here chosen,namely, man the only rational animal and the head of all creation, the lion called the king of wild beasts, the bull the head of the flocks and herds and of all tame cattle, and the eagle esteemed the king of birds, beautifully and accurately representing the church of the elect, or first-born, chosen by Christ, and redeemed by his blood out of every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people. And Rabbi Abin authorises this view of the symbol when he observes, There are four which have principality in this world; among intellectual creatures MAN, among birds the EAGLE, among cattle the ox, and among wild beasts the LION. Thus we may consider that we at length understand by the means of this vision what was formerly less clearly expressed under the legal dispensation by the symbol of the Cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy seat; respecting which it appears that St. Paul, when writing to the Hebrews (chap. Ix. 5,) had much that he wished to say; though he could not at that time speak of them more particularly. This omission, otherwise so greatly to be de. plored, is however here supplied; and the meaning is revealed of an ancient type so interesting to the church of Christ, as having been for so long a period the only promise of their being hereafter, when their earthly pilgrimage and warfare should be accomplished, made partakers of the future glory of their Lord. Verse 8. It is said of these four living creatures or Cherubim, that they had each of them six wings; which agrees with the description given of them in Isa. vi. 2. Also in Ezek. 1. 6 and x. 21, they are represented as having four wings, by which reference to the rapidity of the motion of birds, far surpassing that of any other animals, is described that extreme velocity with which we are led to believe that spiritual bodies traverse through space, which in Ezekiel 1. 14 is compared to that of a flash of lightning; in conformity to which use of the symbol of wings, the angel who communicated the prophecy of the seventy weeks to Daniel, and touched him about the time of the evening oblation, is said to have been caused to "fly swiftly." By these symbols also we receive an intimation that the church in heaven is engaged in active services; which might indeed be inferred to be the case from the promises made in the epistles to the churches, and especially in that to Thyatira, and which our present ex perience also would naturally lead us to consider as necessarily constituting a principal source of the happiness of a future state. It is added that the Cherubim, as spiritual beings incapable of fatigue, "rest (or cease not) day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come;" and it is said also by Isaiah (chap. vi, 3,) “that the Seraphim cried one unto another saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." As vessels of the Holy Spirit they thus ascribe holiness to God, the three-fold ascription having reference to the divine Trinity,-to God the Father, who in times past created the world; to God the Son, who now worketh out its redemption; and to God the Holy Ghost, who we learn from these divine oracles, is to be the life of the future world. The sacred character of the number 3 (derived we cannot doubt from the divine Trinity itself,) has been already mentioned, as forming the basis of that of the numbers 7 and 24. We have found it likewise in the primary division of the Apocalypse into three parts, referring like this doxology to the past, the present, and the future; and we may perceive in the general construction of the whole of this sacred volume a still farther reference to the revelation made in this particular vision of the Divine Being. For as the divine personality is here represented as three-fold, and the holiness of the third person of the Trinity is also indicated by a seven-fold representation; so the primary division of this book is three-fold, and the third portion of its times (namely, the things which must be hereafter,) is represented by a seven-fold subdivision into the times of the seven seals. The perfection of the works of creation, as they came forth from his hands who pronounced them" good," appears also clearly to have been expressed in a similar way; for, in reference to the senses of sight and hearing, we find a natural division of the elements of light into seven gradations of colour; and of sound into a like number of gradations or musical notes; whose number we cannot in either case increase or diminish. The number three is in each case also pointed out as the basis of this seven-fold scale; viz. in music, by the peculiar harmonious agreement of thirds; and in light, by the seven prismatic colours resolving themselves into the three principal ones of blue, yellow, and red. Which connexion between the numbers 3 and 7 has been found by the means of the minute interpretation of the seven apocalyptic seals, or trumpets, which similarly resolve themselves, in reference to their several distinct subjects, into the three sets of 1, 2 and 4, to be founded on geometrical progression, or repeated multiplication by the same number; as the perfect cube is founded on the multiplication of the same number twice into itself. These facts however are evidences of divine wisdom and design floating upon or near the surface of an unfathomable sea. As we may however believe that the dimensions of the sacred buildings and vessels of the tabernacle and of the temple, directed to be so strictly attended to in all things, were in some way significant; and the discoveries of modern chemistry, by which it is found that the multiples alone of simple and elementary bodies will combine so as to form new and different compound bodies, shew that all things both in the books of nature and of revelation are specifically appointed, and regulated by number; it may not perhaps be unreasonable to anticipate a discovery hereafter of a still farther correspondency between them, answerable to these first beginnings. Verses 9 to 11. And when these living creatures give glory and 'honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders 'fall down before 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." In the previous verses we have seen the church in heaven, for the purpose of more clearly explaining their distinct offices of kings and priests, represented under the diverse symbols of the elders and the Cherubim the principal object of the passage now under consideration is to shew that these symbols nevertheless represent only the same individuals as seen under different aspects. This is effected by shewing that they never act separately or independently of each other, but always together as one and the same body; so that when the Cherubim offer their doxology, the elders simultaneously offer theirs. This union of the two symbols is demonstrated with respect to the living creatures or Cherubim and the wheels full of eyes, seen in Ezekiel's vision, (answering to these Cherubim and elders in the vision of St. John,) by its being stated that" when the liv'ing creatures went, the wheels went by them; when those stood, these 'stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels." (Ezek. 1. 19, 21; x. 16, 17.) Observe farther the entire humiliation of the church in heaven. They have thoroughly learned, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that most difficult of all lessons, which it is the object of all the divine dispensations to teach, that God is everything and man nothing; the pride of the old Adam has been thoroughly purged out of them by the sharp medicine of death; and you now see them in the beauty of holiness, and in the perfection of humility. The Apostle by one short visit to these heavenly regions was enabled to say with the deepest conviction, "Not I, but the grace of God that was in me;"-"not of 'works, but of grace, lest any man should boast.' And here, in the celestial song, there is but one prevailing sentiment, THOU art worthy." There are no difficulties found here in the doctrine of election by grace, brought hence by St. Paul, SO 'hard to be understood" upon earth all these are now banished and lost in sight," the light of heaven hath chased them." This humiliation of the Cherubim or church in heaven is in like manner expressed in the vision of Isaiah by their covering their faces and their feet with their wings; shewing that "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of his saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about him." The action indicates also such a glory to be present in God, as they are unworthy to look upon; and in themselves such an inferiority, as is not worthy to be looked upon. So Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God; and Elijah wrapt his in his mantle when he heard the still small voice which denoted the presence of the Lord. (Exod. III. 6; and 1 Kings xix. 13.) We farther notice in the description of the simultaneous action im puted to the Cherubim and the elders, (as being one and the same body of individuals seen under different aspects,) the propriety of those respectively assigned to each as referring, the one to the priestly, and the other to the regal office of the heavenly church. Thus while the living creatures ascribe "glory, and honour, and thanks" to Christ for the blessings of redemption, the elders ascribe 66 glory and honour and power" to Him by whom and for whom all things were made; which is their acknowledgement to their great King that it is from him they receive, and for his pleasure they employ, their delegated honours; and the eastern custom of first falling down on the knees, and then bowing the head to the earth, is considered to be here described. This act of homage may also receive illustration from the coronation of a Christian prince, whose nobles surround the throne, remaining uncovered with their coronets in their hands until the king is crowned, when they place them upon their heads, to signify that it is from him as their earthly sovereign all their possessions and honours are derived. The contrast also here made between the "thanks" rendered by the Cherubim, and the "power" ascribed by the elders to Christ, is too remarkable to be passed over without notice, and too obvious in its explanation to leave any doubt as to its import; and we thus find every passage and every word in this vision wonderfully arranged and chosen, so as to agree in setting forth, under the striking symbols we have thus endeavoured to explain, the several offices and the glory of Christ and of his redeemed church. JAS. H. FRERE. |