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"white robes, and palms in their hands; and "cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our

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God, which sitteth upon the throne, and to the "Lamb." "And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed "in white robes? and whence came they? And I "said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said "unto me, These are they which came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, "and made them white, in the blood of the Lamb. "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he "that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

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They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any "more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any "heat: For the Lamb which is in the midst of the "throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe "away all tears from their eyes. eyes."*

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We have seen in the sealing of the 144,000, in the preceding passage, an emblem of the certain preservation of the church of Christ from the general destruction during the period of the sixth seal. In the passage now quoted we behold described, in highly figurative, but sublime language, the actual translation of the church, from the great tribulation of that period, into that state of millennial rest promised to her from the earliest ages.

The chronology of this vision is marked by the circumstance, that the palm-bearing multitude are described as standing before the throne, and serving God day and night in his temple ;" that is,

Rev. ix. 17.

in the inmost recess of the temple, or the holy of holies, in which compartment of the temple the throne of God is placed. Now in the sequel of this prophecy it will be seen, that till the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the temple of God, or holy of holies, remains shut, and is only opened after it sounds.* It will further be discovered, that though the temple of God is opened at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, yet it continues to be so filled with smoke from the glory of God, as to be inaccessible to men till after the fulfilling, or finishing, of the seven plagues of the seven last vials of the wrath of God. The worship performed in the temple by the palm-bearing multitude, must therefore be subsequent to the pouring out of the seven vials. But as these vials end with the destruction of Antichrist, at the battle of Armageddon, the scene of that multitude "clothed in, white raiment, with "palms in their hands," must also be subsequent to the destruction of the Anti-christian powers.

By the above chain of reasoning we are led to the conclusion, that the passage now under consideration relates to that illustrious appearance and establishment of the kingdom of our Lord, which is thus described in the prophecies of Daniel: "I saw in the "night visions, and behold one like the Son of man 66 came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the "Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before " him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and "languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away,

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"and his kingdom that which shall not be destroy"ed."*" And the kingdom, and dominion, and "the greatness of the kingdom under the whole "heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints "of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting 'kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey “ him.”†

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This manifestation of the kingdom of God takes place, as the best interpreters are agreed, on the destruction of the fourth monarchy, or the Roman empire, in its last shape, as divided into ten kingdoms. The commencement of this manifestation seems to be predicted in a subsequent part of the Apocalypse, under the figure of the "marriage of "the Lamb." It is further described where an account is given of the first resurrection,§ and of the new heaven and new earth, and the descent out of heaven of the New Jerusalem. It is apparent, from the prophecies of Daniel, that this new state of things does not take place till the second coming of Christ with the clouds of heaven. And the same thing may be gathered from the Apocalyptic description of the marriage of the Lamb, already referred

to.

Nothing can be more strained or unnatural than the application usually made of this sublime vision to the times of the Roman Emperor Constantine: nor can any thing have a greater tendency to excite the scorn of unbelievers, than such an explication of so important a passage of this mystical book. However much it may have the sanction of great names,

* Dan. vii. 13, 14. Rev. xx. 4—6.

+Ibid. ver. 27.
Rev. xxi.

Rev. xix. 7-9.
Dan. vii. 13, 14.

the chronological mark above referred to, would show the commonly received explanation to be erroneous, even were there no other reason for rejecting

it.

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In reference to the usual interpretation of this prophecy, Archdeacon Woodhouse, whom I have followed in rejecting it, makes the following remarks: Having thus formed, upon the scriptural grounds "above stated, this notion of the application of this prophecy, I found myself, when I came to read "the exposition of some eminent commentators, "little disposed to subscribe to their opinions, which represent this seventh chapter of the Apocalypse, "as containing a description of the state of the "church in Constantine's time; of the peace and protection it should enjoy under the civil powers, "and the great accession which should be made "unto it, both of Jews and Gentiles.' Now the

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history of this period faithfully related informs us, "that although the Christian Church was delivered "from persecution, and advanced in worldly con"sideration and power, yet did it acquire no real "accession of worth, dignity, or exaltation, by its "connection with the imperial throne. Nay, from "that very time its degeneracy and corruption are "most indubitably to be dated. From that period, worldly power and riches became the objects of its "leaders, not purity and virtue. Many entered the "Christian church, and obtained its honours and

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dignities, by base dissimulation of their principles, "to please the emperor, and recommend themselves "to his favour; and the consequent extension of the "Christian religion among the heathen nations was,

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"as Mosheim observes, in name, not in reality. "The worldly professors of Christianity in this century were so far from fulfilling the prophecy, by

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washing their robes in white, and by being fed " and conducted by the Lamb, that they appear " rather to have assumed the hue of another leader, "the fire-coloured dragon, and to have greedily sought from him those worldly riches, and that power, which their Lord had refused at his "hands."

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Having, in the preceding pages, endeavoured to ascertain the import of the first six seals, I shall close what I have to offer upon them by a brief recapitulation, and some general remarks. If the exposition of these seals, which has been offered, be the true one, it appears that they contain a kind of epitome of the history of the church,* from the ascension of our Lord till the time when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and that the sixth seal offers also a brief description of the great revolution in the latter days, which is to precede the establishment of the kingdom of God.

It is remarked by Archdeacon Woodhouse, in his valuable work on the Apocalypse, that "this method "of divine prediction, presenting at first a general "sketch or outline, and afterwards a more complete " and finished colouring of events, is not peculiar "to this prophetical book." We find the same method followed in the book of Daniel, wherein the prophetical history of the world is first given in its

* Archdeacon Woodhouse, p. 196.
Archdeacon Woodhouse, p. 197

+ Rev. xi.

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