thority of the Apocalypse. Those who wish to pursue the subject farther, must seek for additional evidence in the writings of those persons, who have more especially considered this subject, particularly those of Dr Lardner and Dean Woodhouse. Our belief of its inspiration must rest on different grounds-on those of its prophetical character,—of doctrines contained in it, which were out of the power of unassisted reason to discover,—and on the many different evidences, by which we are assured that the Scriptures are a revelation from above. But it is a subject of gratitude to the Giver of every good gift, that he has vouchsafed to afford us such unimpeachable testimony in support of the authority of a book, which comes to us under the imposing and majestic character of THE GREAT PROPHECY OF THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION;-the storehouse of the destinies of the Christian Church to the end of all things;—which is ushered in, and is closed with a solemnity and awe, which belongs to no other book in the volume of Inspiration;-with so solemn a blessing on "him that readeth and those that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things that are written therein," and with so awful a denunciation against him, who presumes either "to add or to take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, that God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book;”. and which, above all, comes to us under the express sanction and authority of HIM, who is the Author of our faith and the Finisher of our salvation.

4 Chap. i. 3.

5 Chap. xxii. 18, 19.

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CHAPTER II.

ON THE OBJECT AND INTENT OF PROPHECY UNDER THE PATRIARCHAL AND JEWISH DISPENSATIONS.

IN endeavouring to form a right judgment with regard to the prophetical character of the Apocalypse, it is necessary that we should, in the first place, lay down the principles, on which the investigation ought to be conducted, and the grounds, on which our conclusions with regard to its prophetical character ought to be established. These are considerations of great importance: because it is, for the most part, from a want of considering the place which is occupied by the Apocalypse in the great scheme of prophecy, and what, therefore, may be justly presumed to be the great object of the prophecies contained in this mysterious book, considered with reference to this relation,-that many persons of great ability have fallen into material errors with regard to its prophetical character; and have attributed to it views, which are entirely inconsistent with the real station which it occupies in the revelations of God.

In surveying the whole range of Scripture prophecy, it may be considered under two great divisions: (1) First, that which extends from the first obscure revelation of the promise of a Redeemer to the coming of our Saviour; which includes the prophecies which were delivered under the Patriarchal and Jewish dispensations: (2) And secondly, the prophecies of the New Testament; which include those

OBJECT AND INTENT OF PROPHECY, &c.

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which were delivered by our Saviour and his Apostles; and of which the most distinguished and important, considered as a body of prophecy, are those which are comprehended in the Apocalypse of St John, and which close the volume of Revelation.

Now although the prophecies of our Saviour and his Apostles relate generally to events which are connected with the most important revolutions and destinies of the Christian church, yet the Apocalypse must be considered as the great prophecy of the Christian dispensation. It occupies the same station in the new dispensation that the writings of the Jewish prophets do in the former dispensations: and as the prophecies of these dispensation form the connecting link between the first promise of a Redeemer and the coming of our Saviour, so do the prophecies of the Apocalypse, in like manner, constitute the bond of connection between this period and the great consummation of all things;-with this additional circumstance of peculiarity, that-if the prophecies of the old dispensation have reference to the future progress and prospects of the Gospel in the world, and to the fates and destinies of the Redeemer's kingdom, we may expect to find, in these respects, a certain harmony and agreement between the prophecies of both dispensations; and that those parts of the earlier prophecies, as well as of those which were delivered by our Saviour and his Apostles, which are connected with the more distant parts of the divine economy, should appear again in a new form, and with additional light, in this last and closing part of the oracles of God.

If such, therefore, be the connection between the prophecies of both dispensations, it is only by con

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sidering the Apocalypse in connection with the preceding prophecies of the Old and New Testaments,— both with reference to the great subject of prophecy in general, and to the principles, on which these revelations of the Almighty Will to mankind have been conducted, that we can either derive the true principles of interpretation which are applicable to this mysterious book, or establish just conclusions with regard to the real character of the revelations which are contained in it.

I. The first point, therefore, to be ascertained with reference to this part of the subject, is with regard to the great object and scope of ancient prophecy.

This is expressly declared in the Apocalypse by the angel to the Apostle himself, when, in answer to the worship which was offered to him by St John, he declared to him, "See thou do it not; I am thy fellow-servant and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God; for THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS IS THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY;" which has been well explained by Bishop Hurd: "The spirit of prophecy is but the testimony of Jesus; it has no other use or end but to do honour to him; the prophet, whether he be angel or man, is only the minister of God to bear witness to his Son; and his commission is ultimately directed to this one purpose of manifesting the glories of his kingdom1." "And this text," as the same learned writer has observed, "is properly a key put into our hands to open to us the mysteries of that dispensation, which had in view ultimately the person of Christ, and the various revolutions of his kingdom. The 1 Bishop Hurd, Introduction to the Prophecies, Sermon 11. p. 29.

spirit of prophecy is universally the testimony of Jesus."

Indeed, our Lord himself appeals to the spirit of prophecy as bearing witness to his person and dispensation: Search the Scriptures, he said to the Jews, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me3: and, in that memorable discourse which he held with his disciples after his resurrection, he gave convincing proofs to how great an extent He was himself the subject of all the preceding revelations of God, when beginning at Moses and ALL the prophets he expounded unto them in ALL the Scriptures the things concerning himself. And the Apostles, both in their public discourses to the people, and in their writings, are frequent and explicit in their appeals to the prophecies of the Old Testament, and in their assertions, that the Redeemer and his everlasting kingdom constitute the spirit of prophecy, and the great and

2 Ib. p. 31. "To speak of prophecy (Bishop Hurd observes) under the idea of a testimony to, or concerning Jesus, is conforming to the true scriptural idea of that gift. Thus we are told that to him (i. e. to Jesus) give all the prophets witness—TOÚTW πάντες προφῆται μαρτυροῦσιν, Acts x. 43. Prophecy, therefore, being the thing here spoken of, is rightly called the testimony, or witness, to, or concerning Jesus." "And the construction (as the learned Prelate further observes) is fully justified, 1, by observing, that the genitive case (as here Inoou) is frequently used in Scripture, not actively, but passively. See a variety of instances in Mede, Works, p. 771, where he explains didaσkaλíaι Sapovíwv: and 2, by referring the reader to the following passages of St Paul, where the very expression of the text is so used, μὴ οὖν ἐπαισχυνθῆς τὸ μαρτ

τύριον τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν—clearly, be not ashamed of bearing testimony to our Lord, 2 Tim. i. 8; and to Rev. i. 9, where the Apostle tells us, he was in the isle of Patmos, — διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ-on account of having been faithful in preaching the word of God, and in bearing testimony to Jesus Christ; and still more plainly, Rev. xii. 17.—τῶν τηρούντων τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν τοῦ ̓Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ: where the persons who are described as being the objects of the dragon's fury are the WITNESSES, those faithful servants of truth, who suffered for the courageous and persevering testimony they gave, in evil times, to Jesus Christ, and to his pure religion." Note, Serm. 11. pp. 31 -34, 3 John v. 39.

4 Luke xxiv. 27.