# commentaries

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 To the angel of the Church in Ephesus, write:<p/>These things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. I know your works--I mean your toil and your steadfast endurance, and I know that you cannot bear evil men, and that you have put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and who are not, and have proved them liars. I know that you possess steadfast endurance. I know all that you have borne for my name's sake and I know that you have not been worn out by your efforts. All the same I have this against you--that you have left your first love. Remember, then, whence you have fallen, and repent, and make your conduct such as it was at first. If you do not, I am coming to you, and I will remove your lampstand from its place, if you do not repent.<p/>But you do possess this virtue--you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I too hate.<p/>Let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches. I will give to him who overcomes to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.<p/></i> Ephesus, First And Greatest (<a href='B:730 2:1-7'>Rev 2:1-7</a> Continued)<p/>When we know something of the history of Ephesus and learn something of its conditions at this time, it is easy to see why it comes first in the list of the seven Churches.<p/>Pergamum was the official capital of the province of Asia but Ephesus was by far its greatest city. It claimed as its proud title "The first and the greatest metropolis of Asia." A Roman writer called it Lumen Asiae, The Light of Asia. Let us see, then, the factors which gave it its preeminent greatness.<p/>(i) In the time of John, Ephesus was the greatest harbour in Asia. All the roads of the Cayster Valley--the Cayster was the river on which it stood--converged upon it. But the roads came from further afield than that. It was at Ephesus that the road from the far-off Euphrates and Mesopotamia reached the Mediterranean, having come by way of Colossae and Laodicea. It was at Ephesus that the road from Galatia reached the sea, having come by way of Sardis. And from the south came up the road from the rich Maeander Valley. Strabo, the ancient geographer, called Ephesus "The Market of Asia," and it may well be that in <a href='B:730 18:12-13'>Rev 18:12-13</a> John was setting down a description of the varied riches of the marketplace at Ephesus.<p/>Ephesus was the Gateway of Asia. One of its distinctions, laid down by statute, was that when the Roman proconsul came to take up office as governor of Asia, he must disembark at Ephesus and enter his province there. For all the travellers and the trade, from the Cayster and the Maeander Valleys, from Galatia, from the Euphrates and from Mesopotamia, Ephesus was the highway to Rome. In later times, when the Christians were brought from Asia to be flung to the lions in the arena in Rome, Ignatius called Ephesus the Highway of the Martyrs.<p/>Its position made Ephesus the wealthiest and the greatest city in all Asia and it has been aptly called the Vanity Fair of the ancient world.<p/>(ii) Ephesus had certain important political distinctions. It was a free city. In the Roman Empire certain cities were free cities; they had had that honour conferred upon them because of their services to the Empire. A free city was within its own limits self-governing; and it was exempted from ever having Roman troops garrisoned there. It was an assize town. The Roman governors made periodical tours of their provinces; and at certain specially chosen cities and towns courts were held where the governor tried the most important cases. Further, Ephesus held yearly the most famous games in Asia which attracted people from all over the province.<p/>(iii) Ephesus was the centre of the worship of Artemis or, as the King James Version calls her, Diana of the Ephesians. The Temple of Artemis was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was four hundred and twenty-five feet long by two hundred and twenty feet wide; it had one hundred and twenty columns, each sixty feet high and the gift of a king, and thirty-six of them were richly gilded and inlaid. Ancient temples consisted mostly of colonnades with only the centre portion roofed over. The centre portion of the Temple of Artemis was roofed over with cypress wood. The image of Artemis was one of the most sacred images in the ancient world. It was by no means beautiful but a squat, black, many-breasted figure; so ancient that none knew its origin. We have only to read <a href='B:510 19:1-41'>Act 19:1-41</a> to see how precious Artemis and her temple were to Ephesus. Ephesus had also famous temples to the godhead of the Roman Emperors, Claudius and Nero, and in after days was to add temples to Hadrian and Severus. In Ephesus pagan religion was at its strongest.<p/>(iv) Ephesus was a notorious centre of pagan superstition. It was famous for the Ephesian Letters, amulets and charms which were supposed to be infallible remedies for sickness, to bring children to those who were childless and to ensure success in any undertaking; and people came from all over the world to buy them.<p/>(v) The population of Ephesus was very mixed. Its citizens were divided into six tribes. One consisted of those who were descendants of the original natives of the country; one consisted of those who were direct descendants of the original colonists from Athens; three consisted of other Greeks; and one, it is probable, consisted of Jews. Besides being a centre of religion the Temple of Artemis was also a centre of crime and immorality. The Temple area possessed the right of asylum; any criminal was safe if he could reach it. The temple possessed hundreds of priestesses who were sacred prostitutes. All this combined to make Ephesus a notoriously evil place. Heraclitus, one of the most famous of ancient philosophers, was known as "the weeping philosopher." His explanation of his tears was that no one could live in Ephesus without weeping at its immorality.<p/>Such was Ephesus; a more unpromising soil for the sowing of the seed of Christianity can scarcely be imagined; and yet it was there that Christianity had some of its greatest triumphs. R. C. Trench writes: "Nowhere did the word of God find a kindlier soil, strike root more deeply or bear fairer fruits of faith and love."<p/>Paul stayed longer in Ephesus than in any other city (<a href='B:510 20:31'>Act 20:31</a>). It was with Ephesus that Timothy was connected so that he is called its first bishop (<a href='B:610 1:3'>1Ti 1:3</a>). It is in Ephesus that we find Aquila, Priscilla and Apollos (<a href='B:510 18:19'>Act 18:19</a>; <a href='B:510 18:24'>Act 18:24</a>; <a href='B:510 18:26'>Act 18:26</a>). Surely to no one was Paul ever more close than to the Ephesian elders, as his farewell address so beautifully shows (<a href='B:510 20:17-38'>Act 20:17-38</a>). In later days John was the leading figure of Ephesus. Legend has it that he brought Mary the mother of Jesus to Ephesus and that she was buried there. When Ignatius of Antioch wrote to Ephesus, on his way to being martyred in Rome, he could write: "You were ever of one mind with the apostles in the power of Jesus Christ."<p/>There can be few places which better prove the conquering power of the Christian faith.<p/>We may note one more thing. We have spoken of Ephesus as the greatest harbour of Asia. Today there is little left of Ephesus but ruins and it is no less than six miles from the sea. The coast is now "a harbourless line of sandy beach, unapproachable by a ship." What was once the Gulf of Ephesus and the harbour is "a marsh dense with reeds." It was ever a fight to keep the harbour of Ephesus open because of the silt which the Cayster brings down. The fight was lost and Ephesus vanished from the scene.<p/>Ephesus, Christ And His Church (<a href='B:730 2:1-7'>Rev 2:1-7</a> Continued)<p/>John begins the letter to Ephesus with two descriptions of the Risen Christ.<p/>(i) He holds the seven stars in his right hand. That is to say, Christ holds the Churches in his hand. The word for to hold is kratein (<a href='S:G2902'>G2902</a>), and it is a strong word. It means that Christ has complete control over the Church. If the Church submits to that control, it will never go wrong; and more than that--our security lies in the fact that we are in the hand of Christ. "They shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand" (<a href='B:500 10:28'>Joh 10:28</a>).<p/>There is another point here which emerges only in the Greek. Kratein (<a href='S:G2902'>G2902</a>) normally takes a genitive case after it (the case which in English we express by the word of). Because, when we take hold of a thing, we seldom take hold of the whole of it but of part of it. When kratein (<a href='S:G2902'>G2902</a>) takes an accusative after it, it means that the whole object is gripped within the hand. Here, kratein (<a href='S:G2902'>G2902</a>) takes the accusative and that means that Christ clasps the whole of the seven stars in his hand. That means he holds the whole Church in his hand.<p/>We do well to remember that. It is not only our Church which is in the hand of Christ; the whole Church is in his hand. When men put up barriers between Church and Church, they do what Christ never does.<p/>(ii) He walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. The lampstands are the Churches. This expression tells us of Christ's unwearied activity in the midst of his Churches. He is not confined to any one of them; wherever men are met to worship in his name, Christ is there.<p/>John goes on to say certain things about the people of the Church of Ephesus.<p/>(i) The Risen Christ praises their toil. The word is kopos (<a href='S:G2884'>G2884</a>) and it is a favourite New Testament word. Tryphena, Tryphosa and Persis all work hard int he Lord (<a href='B:520 16:12'>Rom 16:12</a>). The one thing that Paul claims is that he has worked harder than all (<a href='B:530 15:10'>1Co 15:10</a>). He fears lest the Galatians slip back, and his labour is in vain (<a href='B:550 4:11'>Gal 4:11</a>). In each case--and there are many others--the word is either kopos (<a href='S:G2884'>G2884</a>) or the verb kopian (<a href='S:G2872'>G2872</a>). The special characteristic of these words is that they describe the kind of toil which takes everything of mind and sinew that a man can put into it. The Christian way is not for the man who fears to break sweat. The Christian is to be a toiler for Christ, and, even if physical toil is impossible, he can still toil in prayer.<p/>(ii) The Risen Christ praises their steadfast endurance. Here is the word hupomone (<a href='S:G5281'>G5281</a>) which we have come upon again and again. It is not the grim patience which resignedly accepts things. It is the courageous gallantry which accepts suffering and hardship and turns them into grace and glory. It is often said that suffering colours life; but when we meet life with the hupomone (<a href='S:G5281'>G5281</a>) which Christ can give, the colour of life is never grey or black; it is always tinged with glory.<p/>Ephesus, When Orthodoxy Costs Too Much (<a href='B:730 2:1-7'>Rev 2:1-7</a> Continued)<p/>The Risen Christ goes on to praise the Christians of Ephesus because they have tested evil men and proved them liars.<p/>Many an evil man came into the little congregations of the early church. Jesus had warned of the false prophets who are wolves in sheep's clothing (<a href='B:470 7:15'>Mat 7:15</a>). In his farewell speech to the elders of this very Church at Ephesus, Paul had warned them that grievous wolves would invade the flock (<a href='B:510 20:29'>Act 20:29</a>). These evil men were of many kinds. There were emissaries of the Jews who sought to entangle Christians again in the Law and followed Paul everywhere, trying to undo his work. There were those who tried to turn liberty into licence. There were professional beggars who preyed on the charity of the Christian congregations. The Church at Ephesus us was even more open to these itinerant menaces than any other Church. It was on the highway to Rome and to the east, and what R. C. Trench called "the whole rabble of evil-doers" was liable to descend upon it.<p/>More than once the New Testament insists on the necessity of testing. John in his First Letter insists that the spirits who claim to come from God should be tested by their willingness to accept the Incarnation in all its fullness (<a href='B:690 4:1-3'>1Jn 4:1-3</a>). Paul insists that the Thessalonians should test all things and then hold on to that which is good (<a href='B:590 5:21'>1Th 5:21</a>). He insists that, when the prophets preach, they are subject to the testing of the other prophets (<a href='B:530 14:29'>1Co 14:29</a>). A man cannot proclaim his private views in the assembly of God's people; he must abide in the tradition of the Church. Jesus demanded the hardest test of all: "By their fruits you will know them" (<a href='B:470 7:15-20'>Mat 7:15-20</a>).<p/>The Church at Ephesus had faithfully applied its tests and had weeded out all evil and misguided men; but the trouble was that something had got lost in the process. "I have this against you, says the Risen Christ, "that you have lost your first love." That phrase may have two meanings.<p/>(a) It can mean that the first enthusiasm is gone. Jeremiah speaks of the devotion of Israel to God in the early days. God says to the nation that he remembers, "the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride" (<a href='B:300 2:2'>Jer 2:2</a>). There had been a honeymoon period, but the first flush of enthusiasm is past. It may be that the Risen Christ is saying that all the enthusiasm has gone out of the religion of the Church of Ephesus.<p/>(b) Much more likely this means that the first fine rapture of love for the brotherhood is gone. In the first days the members of the Church at Ephesus had really loved each other; dissension had never reared its head; the heart was ready to kindle and the hand was ready to help. But something had gone wrong. It may well be that heresy-hunting had killed love, and orthodoxy had been achieved at the price of fellowship. When that happens, orthodoxy has cost too much. All the orthodoxy in the world will never take the place of love.<p/>Ephesus, The Steps On The Return Journey (<a href='B:730 2:1-7'>Rev 2:1-7</a> Continued)<p/>In Ephesus something had gone wrong. The earnest toil was there; the gallant endurance was there; the unimpeachable orthodoxy was there; but the love was gone. So the Risen Christ makes his appeal and it is for the three steps of the return journey.<p/>(i) First, he says "Remember". He is not here speaking to someone who has never been inside the Church; he is speaking to those who are inside but have somehow lost the way. Memory can often be the first step on the way back. In the far country the prodigal son suddenly remembered his home (<a href='B:490 15:17'>Luk 15:17</a>).<p/>O. Henry has a short story. There was a lad who had been brought up in a village; and in the village school he had sat beside a village girl, innocent and sweet. The lad found his way to the city; fell into bad company; became an expert pickpocket. He was on the street one day; he had just picked a pocket--a neat job, well done--and he was pleased with himself. Suddenly he saw the girl he used to sit beside at school. She was still the same--innocent and sweet. She did not see him; he took care of that. But suddenly he remembered what he had been, and realized what he was. He leaned his burning head against the cool iron of a lamp post. "God, he said, "how I hate myself." Memory was offering him the way back.<p/>William Cowper wrote:<p/>Where is the blessedness I knew<p/>When first I saw the Lord?<p/>Where is the soul-refreshing view<p/>Of Jesus and his word?<p/>A verse like that may sound like nothing but tragedy and sorrow, but in fact it can be the first step of the way back; for the first step to amendment is to realize that something has gone wrong.<p/>(ii) Second, he says "Repent". When we discover that something has gone wrong, there is more than one possible reaction. We may feel that nothing can sustain its first lustre, and so accept what we consider inevitable. We may be filled with a feeling of resentment and blame life instead of facing ourselves. We may decide that the old thrill is to be found along forbidden pathways and try to find spice for life in sin. But the Risen Christ says, "Repent!" Repentance is the admission that the fault is ours and the feeling of sorrow for it. The prodigal's reaction is: "I will arise and go to my father and say I have sinned." (<a href='B:490 15:18'>Luk 15:18</a>). It is Saul's cry of the heart when he realizes his folly: "I have played the fool and I have erred exceedingly" (<a href='B:90 26:21'>1Sa 26:21</a>). The hardest thing about repentance is the acceptance of personal responsibility for our failure, for once the responsibility is accepted the godly sorrow will surely follow.<p/>(iii) Third, he says "Do". The sorrow of repentance is meant to drive a man to two things. First, it is meant to drive him to fling himself on the grace of God, saying only: "God, be merciful to me a sinner." Second, it is meant to drive him to action in order to bring forth fruits meet for repentance. No man has truly repented when he does the same things again. Fosdick said that the great truth of Christianity is that "no man need stay the way he is." The proof of repentance is a changed life, a life changed by our effort in co-operation with the grace of God.<p/>Ephesus, A Ruinous Heresy (<a href='B:730 2:1-7'>Rev 2:1-7</a> Continued)<p/>We meet here a heresy which the Risen Christ says that he hates and which he praises Ephesus for also hating. It may seem strange to attribute hatred to the Risen Christ; but two things are to be remembered. First, if we love anyone with passionate intensity, we will necessarily hate anything which threatens to ruin that person. Second, it is necessary to hate the sin but love the sinner.<p/>The heretics we meet here are the Nicolaitans. They are only named, not defined. But we meet them again in Pergamum (<a href='B:730 2:15'>Rev 2:15</a>). There they are very closely connected with those "who hold the teaching of Balaam, and that in turn is connected with eating things offered to idols and with immorality (<a href='B:730 2:14'>Rev 2:14</a>). We meet precisely the same problem at Thyatira where the wicked Jezebel is said to cause Christians to practise immorality and to eat things offered to idols.<p/>We may first note that this danger is coming not from outside the Church but from inside. The claim of these heretics was that they were not destroying Christianity but presenting an improved version.<p/>We may, second, note that the Nicolaitans and those who hold the teaching of Balaam were, in fact, one and the same. There is a play on words here. The name Nicolaos (<a href='S:G3532'>G3532</a>), the founder of the Nicolaitans, could be derived from two Greek words, nikan (<a href='S:G3528'>G3528</a>), to conquer, and laos (<a href='S:G2992'>G2992</a>), the people. Balaam (<a href='S:H1109'>H1109</a>) can be derived from two Hebrew words, bela, to conquer, and ha'am (<a href='S:H5971'>H5971</a>), the people. The two names, then, are the same and both can describe an evil teacher, who has won victory over the people and subjugated them to poisonous heresy.<p/>In <a href='B:40 25:1-5'>Num 25:1-5</a> we find a strange story in which the Israelites were seduced into illegal and sacrilegious unions with Moabite women and into the worship of Baal-peor, a seduction which, if it had not been sternly checked, might have ruined the religion of Israel and destroyed her as a nation. When we go on to <a href='B:40 31:16'>Num 31:16</a> we find that seduction definitely attributed to the evil influence of Balaam. Balaam, then, in Hebrew history stood for an evil man who seduced the people into sin.<p/>Let us now see what the early church historians have to tell us about these Nicolaitans. The majority identify them with the followers of Nicolaus, the proselyte of Antioch, who was one of the seven commonly called deacons (<a href='B:510 6:5'>Act 6:5</a>). The idea is that Nicolaus went wrong and became a heretic. Irenaeus says of the Nicolaitans that "they lived lives of unrestrained indulgence" (Against Heresies, 1:26:3). Hippolytus says that he was one of the seven and that "he departed from correct doctrine, and was in the habit of inculcating indifference of food and life" (Refutation of Heresies, 7: 24). The Apostolic Constitutions (6: 8) describe the Nicolaitans as "shameless in uncleanness." Clement of Alexandria says they "abandon themselves to pleasure like goats...leading a life of self-indulgence." But he acquits Nicolaus of all blame and says that they perverted his saying "that the flesh must be abused." Nicolaus meant that the body must be kept under; the heretics perverted it into meaning that the flesh can be used as shamelessly as a man wishes (The Miscellanies 2: 20). The Nicolaitans obviously taught loose living.<p/>Let us see if we can identify their point of view and their teaching a little more definitely. The letter to Pergamum tells us that they seduced people into eating meat offered to idols and into immorality. When we turn to the decree of the Council of Jerusalem, we find that two of the conditions on which the Gentiles were to be admitted to the Church were that they were to abstain from things offered to idols and from immorality (<a href='B:510 15:28-29'>Act 15:28-29</a>). These are the very conditions that the Nicolaitans broke.<p/>They were almost certainly people who argued on these lines. (a) The Law is ended; therefore, there are no laws and we are entitled to do what we like. They confused Christian liberty with unchristian licence. They were the very kind of people whom Paul urged not to use their liberty as an opportunity for the flesh (<a href='B:550 5:13'>Gal 5:13</a>). (b) They probably argued that the body is evil anyway and that a man could do what he liked with it because it did not matter. (c) They probably argued that the Christian was so defended by grace that he could do anything and take no harm.<p/>What lay behind this Nicolaitan perversion of the truth? The trouble was the necessary difference between the Christian and the pagan society in which he moved. The heathen had no hesitation in eating meat offered to idols and it was set before him at every social occasion. Could a Christian attend such a feast? The heathen had no idea of chastity and sexual relations outside marriage were accepted as completely normal and brought no shame. Must a Christian be so very different? The Nicolaitans were suggesting that there was no reason why a Christian should not come to terms with the world. Sir William Ramsay describes their teaching thus: "It was an attempt to effect a reasonable compromise with the established usages of the Graeco-Roman society and to retain as many as possible of those usages in the Christian system of life." This teaching naturally affected most the upper classes because they had most to lose if they went all the way with the Christian demand. To John the Nicolaitans were worse than pagans, for they were the enemy within the gates.<p/>The Nicolaitans were not prepared to be different; they were the most dangerous of all heretics from a practical point of view, for, if their teaching had been successful, the world would have changed Christianity and not Christianity the world.<p/>Ephesus, The Great Reward (<a href='B:730 2:1-7'>Rev 2:1-7</a> Continued)<p/>Finally, the Risen Christ makes his great promise to those who overcome. In this picture there are two very beautiful conceptions.<p/>(i) There is the conception of the tree of life. This is part of the story of the Garden of Eden; in the midst of the garden there was the tree of life (<a href='B:10 2:9'>Gen 2:9</a>); it was the tree of which Adam was forbidden to eat (<a href='B:10 2:16-17'>Gen 2:16-17</a>); the tree whose fruit would make a man like God, and for eating which Adam and Eve were driven from Eden (<a href='B:10 3:22-24'>Gen 3:22-24</a>).<p/>In later Jewish thought the tree came to stand for that which gave man life indeed. Wisdom is a tree of life to them that lay hold of her (<a href='B:240 3:18'>Pro 3:18</a>); the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life (<a href='B:240 11:30'>Pro 11:30</a>); hope fulfilled is a tree of life (<a href='B:240 13:12'>Pro 13:12</a>); a tongue is a tree of life (<a href='B:240 15:4'>Pro 15:4</a>).<p/>To this is to be added another picture. Adam was first forbidden to eat of the tree of life and then he was barred from the garden so that the tree of life was lost for ever. But it was a regular Jewish conception that, when the Messiah came and the new age dawned, the tree of life would be in the midst of men and those who had been faithful would eat of it. The wise man said: "They that do the things that please thee shall receive the fruit of the tree of immortality" (Ecc 19:19). The rabbis had a picture of the tree of life in paradise. Its boughs overshadowed the whole of paradise; it had five hundred thousand fragrant perfumes and its fruit as many pleasant tastes, every one of them different. The idea was that what Adam had lost the Messiah would restore. To eat of the tree of life means to have all the joys that the faithful conquerors will have when Christ reigns supreme.<p/>(ii) There is the conception of paradise, and the very sound of the word is lovely. It may be that we do not attach any very definite meaning to it but when we study history, we come upon some of the most adventurous thinking the world has ever known.<p/>(a) Originally paradise was a Persian word. Xenophon wrote much about the Persians, and it was he who introduced the word into the Greek language. Originally it meant a pleasure garden. When Xenophon is describing the state in which the Persian king lived, he says that he takes care that, wherever he resides, there are paradises, full of all the good and beautiful things the soil can produce (Xenophon: Oeconomicus, 4: 13). Paradise is a lovely word to describe a thing of serene beauty.<p/>(b) In the Septuagint paradise has two uses. First, it is regularly used for the Garden of Eden (<a href='B:10 2:8'>Gen 2:8</a>; <a href='B:10 3:1'>Gen 3:1</a>). Second, it is regularly used of any stately garden. When Isaiah speaks of a garden that has no water, it is the word paradise that is used (<a href='B:290 1:30'>Isa 1:30</a>). It is the word used when Jeremiah says: "Plant gardens and eat their produce" (<a href='B:300 29:5'>Jer 29:5</a>). It is the word used when the preacher says: "I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees" (<a href='B:250 2:5'>Ecc 2:5</a>).<p/>(iii) In early Christian thought the word has a special meaning. In Jewish thought after death the souls of all alike went to Hades, a grey and shadowy place. Early Christian thought conceived of an intermediate state between earth and heaven to which all men went and in which they remained until the final judgment. This place was conceived of by Tertullian as a vast cavern beneath the earth. But there was a special part in which the patriarchs and the prophets lived, and that was paradise. Philo describes it as a place "vexed by neither rain, nor snow, nor waves, but which the gentle Zephyr refreshes, breathing ever on it from the ocean." As Tertullian saw it, only one kind of person went straight to this paradise, and that was the martyr. "The sole key, he said, "to unlock paradise is your own life's blood" (Tertullian: Concerning the Soul, 55).<p/>Origen was one of the most adventurous thinkers the Church ever produced. He writes like this: "I think that all the saints (saints means Christians) who depart from this life will remain in some place situated on the earth, which holy Scripture calls paradise, as in some place of instruction and, so to speak, class-room or school of souls.... If anyone indeed be pure in heart and holy in mind, and more practised in perception, he will by making more rapid progress, quickly ascend to a place in the air, and reach the kingdom of heaven, through these mansions (stages) which the Greeks called spheres and which holy Scripture calls heavens.... He will in the end follow him who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, who said: 'I will that where I am, these may be also.' It is of this diversity of places he speaks, when he said: 'In my Father's house are many mansions'" (Origen: De Principilis, 2: 6).<p/>The great early thinkers did not identify paradise and heaven; paradise was the intermediate stage, where the souls of the righteous were fitted to enter the presence of God. There is something very lovely here. Who has not felt that the leap from earth to heaven is too great for one step and that there is need of a gradual entering into the presence of God? May it have been of this that Charles Wesley was thinking when he sang:<p/>Changed from glory into glory,<p/>Till in heaven we take our place,<p/>Till we cast our crowns before thee,<p/>Lost in wonder, love, and praise.<p/>(iv) In the end in Christian thought paradise did not retain this idea of an intermediate state. It came to be equivalent to heaven. Our minds must turn to the words of Jesus to the dying and penitent thief: "Today you will be with me in paradise" (<a href='B:490 23:43'>Luk 23:43</a>). We are in the presence of mysteries about which it would be irreverent to dogmatize; but is there any better definition of paradise than to say that it is life for ever in the presence of our Lord?<p/>When death these mortal eyes shall seal,<p/>And still this throbbing heart,<p/>The rending veil shall thee reveal<p/>All glorious as thou art--<p/>and that is paradise.<p/><b>THE LETTER TO SMYRNA</b> (<a href='B:730 2:8-11'>Rev 2:8-11</a>)


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 And to the angel of the Church in Smyrna, write:<p/>These things says the first and the last, who passed through death, and who came to life again.<p/>I know the affliction and the poverty you endure--you are rich in spite of it--and I know the slanders which proceed from those who call themselves Jews and are not, but who are a synagogue of Satan. Have no fear of what you will have to go through Behold! the devil is going to throw some of you into prison in order to test you, and you will have a time of affliction which will last for ten days. Show yourselves loyal to death and I will give you the crown of life.<p/>Let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.<p/></i> Smyrna, The Crown Of Asia (<a href='B:730 2:8-11'>Rev 2:8-11</a> Continued)<p/>If it was inevitable that Ephesus should come first in the list of the seven Churches, it was but natural that Smyrna its great rival should come second. Of all the cities of Asia, Smyrna was the loveliest. Men called it the ornament of Asia, the crown of Asia and the flower of Asia. Lucian said that it was "the fairest of the cities of Ionia." Aristides, who sang the praise of Smyrna with such splendour, spoke of "the grace which extends over every part like a rainbow...the brightness which pervades every part, and reaches up to the heavens, like the glitter of the bronze of armour in Homer." It added to the charm of Smyrna that the west wind, the gentle zephyr ever blew through its streets. "The wind, said Aristides, "blows through every part of the city, and makes it as fresh as a grove of trees." The constant west wind had only one disadvantage. The sewage of the city drained into the gulf on which the city stood, and the west wind tended to blow it back upon the city rather than out to sea.<p/>Smyrna was magnificently situated. It stood at the end of the road which crossed Lydia and Phrygia and travelled out to the far east, and it commanded the trade of the rich Hermus valley. Inevitably it was a great trading city. The city itself stood at the end of a long arm of the sea, which ended in a small land-locked harbour in the city's heart. It was the safest of all harbours and the most convenient; and it had the added advantage that in time of war it could be easily closed by a chain across its mouth. It was fitting that on the coins of Smyrna there should be an inscription of a merchant ship ready for sea.<p/>The setting of the city was equally beautiful. It began at the harbour; it traversed the narrow foothills; and then behind the city there rose the Pagos, a hill covered with temples and noble buildings which were spoken of as "The Crown of Smyrna." A modern traveller describes it as "a queenly city crowned with towers." Aristides likened Smyrna to a great statue with the feet in the sea; the middle parts in the plain and the foothills; and the head, crowned with great buildings, on the Pagos behind. He called it "a flower of beauty such as earth and sun had never showed to mankind."<p/>Its history had not a little to do with the beauty of Smyrna, for it was one of the very few planned cities in the world. It had been founded as a Greek colony as far back as 1000 B.C. Round about 600 B.C. disaster had befallen it, for then the Lydians had broken in from the east and destroyed it. For four hundred years Smyrna had been no city, but a collection of little villages; then Lysimachus had rebuilt it as a planned whole. It was built with great, straight, broad streets. Strabo speaks of the handsomeness of the streets, the excellence of the paving and the great rectangular blocks in which it was built. Most famous of all the streets was the Street of Gold, which began with the Temple of Zeus and ended with the Temple of Cybele. It ran cross-wise across the foothills of the Pagos; and, if the buildings which encircled the Pagos were the crown of Smyrna, the Street of Gold was the necklace round the hill.<p/>Here we have an interesting and a significant thing which shows the care and knowledge with which John set down his letters from the Risen Christ. The Risen Christ is called, "He who died and came to life." That was an echo of the experience of Smyrna itself.<p/>Smyrna had other claims to greatness besides its city. It was a free city and it knew what loyalty was. Long before Rome was undisputed mistress of the world, Smyrna had cast in its lot with her, never to waver in its fidelity. Cicero called Smyrna "one of our most faithful and our most ancient allies." In the campaign against Mithradates in the far east things had gone badly with Rome. And when the soldiers of Rome were suffering from hunger and cold, the people of Smyrna stripped off their own clothes to send to them.<p/>Such was the reverence of Smyrna for Rome that as far back as 195 B.C. it was the first city in the world to erect a temple to the goddess Roma. And in A.D. 26, when the cities of Asia Minor were competing for the privilege of erecting a temple to the godhead of Tiberius, Smyrna was picked out for that honour, overcoming even Ephesus.<p/>Not only was Smyrna great in trade, in beauty, in political and in religious eminence; it was also a city where culture flourished. Apollonius of Tyana had urged upon Smyrna the truth that only men can make a city great. He said: "Though Smyrna is the most beautiful of all cities under the sun, and makes the sea its own, and holds the fountains of the zephyr, yet it is a greater charm to wear a crown of men than a crown of porticoes and pictures and gold beyond the standard of mankind: for buildings are seen only in their own place, but men are seen everywhere and spoken about everywhere and make their city as vast as the range of countries which they can visit." So Smyrna had a stadium in which famous games were yearly held; a magnificent public library; an Odeion which was the home of music; a theatre which was one of the largest in Asia Minor. In particular, Smyrna was one of the cities which laid claim to being the birthplace of Homer; it had a memorial building called the Homereion and put Homer's head on its coinage. This was a disputed claim. Thomas Heywood, the seventeenth century poet, wrote the famous epigram:<p/>Seven cities warr'd for Homer, being dead,<p/>Who, living, had no roof to shroud his head.<p/>In such a city we would expect magnificent architecture, and in Smyrna there was a host of temples, to Cybele, to Zeus, to Apollo, to the Nemeseis, to Aphrodite, and to Asclepios.<p/>Smyrna had rather more than its share of a characteristic which was common to all Greek cities. Mommsen said that Asia Minor was "a paradise of municipal vanity", and Smyrna of all cities was noted for "its municipal rivalry and its local pride." Everyone in it wished to exalt Smyrna and wished himself to climb to the top of the municipal tree. It is not without point that in the address of the letter the Risen Christ is called "the first and the last." In comparison with his glory all earthly distinctions are worthless.<p/>There remains one feature of Smyrna which stands out in the letter and which had serious consequences for the Christians there. The Jews were specially numerous and influential (<a href='B:730 2:9'>Rev 2:9</a>). We find them, for instance, contributing 10,000 denarii for the beautification of the city. It is clear that in Smyrna they were specially hostile to the Christian Church, no doubt because it was from them and from those interested in Judaism that Christianity drew many of its converts. So, then, we may well end this study of Smyrna with the story of the most famous Christian martyrdom which happened there.<p/>Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, was martyred on Saturday, 23rd February, A.D. 155: It was the time of the public-games; the city was crowded; and the crowds were excited. Suddenly the shout went up: "Away with the atheists; let Polycarp be searched for." No doubt Polycarp could have escaped; but already he had had a dream vision in which he saw the pillow under his head burning with fire and he had awakened to tell his disciples: "I must be burnt alive."<p/>His whereabouts was betrayed by a slave who collapsed under torture. They came to arrest him. He ordered that they should be given a meal and provided with all they wished, while he asked for himself the privilege of one last hour in prayer. Not even the police captain wished to see Polycarp die. On the brief journey to the city, he pled with the old man: "What harm is it to say, 'Caesar is Lord' and to offer sacrifice and be saved?" But Polycarp was adamant that for him only Jesus Christ was Lord.<p/>When he entered the arena there came a voice from heaven saying: "Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man." The proconsul gave him the choice of cursing the name of Christ and making sacrifice to Caesar or death. "Eighty and six years have I served him, said Polycarp, "and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?" The proconsul threatened him with burning, and Polycarp replied: "You threaten me with the fire that burns for a time, and is quickly quenched, for you do not know the fire which awaits the wicked in the judgment to come and in everlasting punishment. Why are you waiting? Come, do what you will."<p/>So the crowds came flocking with faggots from the workshops and from the baths, and the Jews, even although they were breaking the Sabbath law by carrying such burdens, were foremost in bringing wood for the fire. They were going to bind him to the stake. "Leave me as I am, he said, "for he who gives me power to endure the fire, will grant me to remain in the flames unmoved even without the security you will give by the nails." So they left him loosely bound in the flames, and Polycarp prayed his great prayer:<p/>O Lord God Almighty, Father of thy beloved and blessed Child,<p/>Jesus Christ, through whom we have received full knowledge of thee,<p/>God of angels and powers, and of all creation, and of the whole<p/>family of the righteous, who live before thee, I bless thee that<p/>thou hast granted unto me this day and hour, that I may share,<p/>among the number of the martyrs, in the cup of thy Christ, for the<p/>resurrection to eternal life, both of soul and body in the<p/>immortality of the Holy Spirit. And may I today be received among<p/>them before thee, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, as thou, the<p/>God without falsehood and of truth, hast prepared beforehand and<p/>shown forth and fulfilled. For this reason I also praise thee for<p/>all things. I bless thee, I glorify thee through the eternal and<p/>heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, thy beloved Child, through<p/>whom be glory to thee with him and the Holy Spirit, both now and<p/>for the ages that are to come. Amen.<p/>So much is plain fact, but then the story drifts into legend, for it goes on to tell that the flames made a kind of tent around Polycarp and left him untouched. At length the executioner stabbed him to death to achieve what the flames could not do. "And when he did this there came out a dove, and much blood, so that the fire was quenched, and all the crowd marvelled that there was such a difference between the unbelievers and the elect."<p/>What is sure is that Polycarp died, a martyr for the faith.<p/>It can have been no easy engagement to be a Christian at Smyrna, and yet the letter to Smyrna is one of the two in which there is undiluted praise.<p/>Smyrna, Under Trial (<a href='B:730 2:8-11'>Rev 2:8-11</a> Continued)<p/>The Church of Smyrna was in trouble and further trial was imminent.<p/>There are three things that the letter says about this trial.<p/>(i) It is thlipsis (<a href='S:G2347'>G2347</a>), affliction. Thlipsis originally meant crushing beneath a weight. The pressure of events is on the Church at Smyrna.<p/>(ii) It is ptocheia (<a href='S:G4432'>G4432</a>), poverty. In the New Testament poverty and Christianity are closely connected. "Blessed are you poor, said Jesus (<a href='B:490 6:20'>Luk 6:20</a>). Paul described the Christians at Corinth as being poor yet making many rich (<a href='B:540 6:10'>2Co 6:10</a>). James speaks of God choosing the poor in this world to be rich in faith (<a href='B:660 2:5'>Jas 2:5</a>).<p/>In Greek there are two words for poverty. Penia (compare <a href='S:G3993'>G3993</a>) describes the state of the man who is not wealthy and who, as the Greeks defined it, must satisfy his needs with his own hands. Ptocheia (<a href='S:G4432'>G4432</a>) describes complete destitution. It has been put this way--penia describes the state of the man who has nothing superfluous; ptocheia (<a href='S:G4432'>G4432</a>) describes the state of the man who has nothing at all.<p/>The poverty of the Christians was due to two things. It was due to the fact that most of them belonged to the lower classes of society. The gulf between the top and the bottom of the social scale was very wide. We know, for instance, that in Rome the poorer classes literally starved because contrary winds delayed the corn ships from Alexandria and the corn dole could not be distributed.<p/>There was another reason for the poverty of the Christians. Sometimes they suffered from the spoiling of their goods (<a href='B:650 10:4'>Heb 10:4</a>). There were times when the heathen mob would suddenly attack the Christians and wreck their homes Life was not easy for a Christian in Smyrna or anywhere else in the ancient world.<p/>(iii) There is imprisonment. John forecasts an imprisonment of ten days. That is not to be taken literally. Ten days was an expression for a short time which was soon to come to an end. So this prophecy is at once a warning and a promise. Imprisonment is coming, but the time of trouble, although sharp, will be short. Two things are to be noted.<p/>First, this is exactly the way in which persecution came. To be a Christian was against the law, but persecution was not continuous. The Christians might be left in peace for a long time, but at any moment a governor might acquire a fit of administrative energy or the mob might set up a shout to find the Christians--and then the storm burst. The terror of being a Christian was the uncertainty.<p/>Second, imprisonment does not sound so bad to us. We might say: "Imprisonment? Well, that is not so bad as death anyway." But in the ancient world imprisonment was merely the prelude to death. A man was only a prisoner until he was led out to die.<p/>Smyrna, The Cause Of The Trouble (<a href='B:730 2:8-11'>Rev 2:8-11</a> Continued)<p/>The instigators of persecution were the Jews. Again and again in Acts we see how the Jews stirred up the authorities against the Christian preachers. It happened at Antioch (<a href='B:510 13:50'>Act 13:50</a>); at Iconium (<a href='B:510 14:2'>Act 14:2</a>; <a href='B:510 14:5'>Act 14:5</a>); at Lystra (<a href='B:510 14:19'>Act 14:19</a>); at Thessalonica (<a href='B:510 17:5'>Act 17:5</a>).<p/>The story of what happened at Antioch shows us how the Jews often succeeded in moving the authorities to take action against the Christians (<a href='B:510 13:50'>Act 13:50</a>). Round the Jewish synagogues gathered many "god-fearers." These were Gentiles who were not prepared to go the whole way and to become proselytes but they were attracted by the preaching of one God instead of many gods, and were attracted specially by the purity of the Jewish ethic as compared with the heathen life. In particular women were attracted to Judaism for these reasons. Often these women were of high station, the wives of magistrates and governors, and it was through them that the Jews got at the authorities and moved them to persecute.<p/>John calls the Jews the synagogue of Satan. He is taking a favourite expression of the Jews and reversing it. When the people of Israel met together they loved to call themselves "the assembly of the Lord" (<a href='B:40 16:3'>Num 16:3</a>; <a href='B:40 20:4'>Num 20:4</a>; <a href='B:40 31:16'>Num 31:16</a>). Synagogue is in Greek sunagoge (<a href='S:G4864'>G4864</a>), which literally means a coming together, an assembly, a congregation. It is as if John said: "You call yourselves the assembly of God when, in fact, you are the assembly of the devil." Once John Wesley said of certain men who were presenting a crude Picture of God: "Your God is my devil." It is a terrible thing when religion becomes the means of evil things. It has happened. In the days of the French Revolution, Madame Roland uttered her famous cry: "Liberty, what crimes are committed in your name!" There have been tragic times when the same could be said about religion.<p/>Six slanders were regularly levelled against the Christians.<p/>(i) On the basis of the words of the Sacrament--this is my body, and this is my blood--the story went about that the Christians were cannibals.<p/>(ii) Because the Christians called their common meal the Agape (<a href='S:G26'>G26</a>), the Love Feast, it was said that their gatherings were orgies of lust.<p/>(iii) Because Christianity did, in fact, often split families, when some members became Christians and some did not, the Christians were accused of "tampering with family relationships."<p/>(iv) The heathen accused the Christians of atheism because they could not understand a worship which had no images of the gods such as they themselves had.<p/>(v) The Christians were accused of being politically disloyal because they would not say: "Caesar is Lord."<p/>(vi) The Christians were accused of being incendiaries because they foretold the end of the world in flames.<p/>It was not difficult for maliciously-minded people to disseminate dangerous slanders about the Christian Church.<p/>Smyrna, Christ's Claim And Christ's Demand (<a href='B:730 2:8-11'>Rev 2:8-11</a> Continued)<p/>We have seen that the Church at Smyrna was battling with difficulties and threatened with worse to come. In view of that the letter to Smyrna opens with two resounding titles of Christ which tell what he can offer to a man confronted with such a situation as faced the Christians at Smyrna.<p/>(i) Christ is the first and the last. In the old Testament that is a title belonging to God. "I am the first, Isaiah heard God say, "and I am the last" (<a href='B:290 44:6'>Isa 44:6</a>; <a href='B:290 48:12'>Isa 48:12</a>). This title has two aspects. To the Christian it is a tremendous promise. Come what will, from the first day of life to the last the Risen Christ is with us. Of whom then shall we be afraid?<p/>But to the pagans of Smyrna it was a warning. They loved their city calling it the first in Asia, and they themselves were all striving every man to be one better than his neighbours. The Risen Christ said: "I am the first and the last." Here is the death of human pride. Beside the glory of Christ all human titles are of no importance and all human claims become ridiculous. When Julian, the Roman Emperor, had failed in his attempt to banish Christianity and bring back the old gods, and when he had come to death in the attempt, he said: "To shoulder Christ from out the topmost niche was not for me."<p/>(ii) Christ is he who was dead and is alive again. The tenses of the verb are of the first importance. The Greek for "was" is genomenos (compare <a href='S:G1510'>G1510</a>), which means became. It describes what we might call a passing phase. Christ became dead; it was episode through which he passed. In the Greek the verb which the King James Version translates "is alive" is not a present tense but an aorist, which describes one action completed in the past. The right translation is "came to life again" (as in the Revised Standard Version), and the reference is to the event of the Resurrection. The Risen Christ is he who experienced death came to life again in the triumphant event of the Resurrection, and is alive for evermore. Here again there are two aspects.<p/>(a) The Risen Christ is one who has experienced the worst that life could do to him. He had died in the agony of the Cross. No matter what happened to the Christians of Smyrna, Jesus Christ had been through it. Jesus Christ can help because he knows what life is like at its worst and has experienced even the bitterness of death.<p/>(b) The Risen Christ has conquered the worst that life can do. He triumphed over pain and over death; and he offers us through himself the way to victorious living.<p/>In this passage there is also a demand, and the demand is for loyalty, loyal even when death is the price to be paid. Loyalty was a quality of which the people of Smyrna knew something, for their city had flung in its lot with Rome, when Rome's greatness was only a far off possibility, and had never wavered from in its allegiance, in fair weather and in foul. If all the other noble qualities of life were placed in the balance against it, loyalty would outweigh them all. It was R. L. Stevenson's prayer that "in all the chances of fortune, and down to the gates of death" we should be "loyal and loving to one another."<p/>Smyrna, The Promised Reward (<a href='B:730 2:8-11'>Rev 2:8-11</a> Continued)<p/>Jesus Christ will be in no man's debt and loyalty to him brings its own reward. In this passage two rewards are mentioned.<p/>(i) There is the crown of life. Again and again the crown of the Christian is mentioned in the New Testament. Here and in, <a href='B:660 1:12'>Jas 1:12</a> it is the crown of life. Paul speaks of the crown of righteousness (<a href='B:620 4:8'>2Ti 4:8</a>), and of the crown of boasting (<a href='B:590 2:19'>1Th 2:19</a>). Peter speaks of the crown of glory (<a href='B:670 5:4'>1Pe 5:4</a>). Paul contrasts the immortal crown of the Christian with the fading crown of laurel which was the prize of the victor in the games (<a href='B:530 9:25'>1Co 9:25</a>), and Peter speaks of the unfading crown of glory (<a href='B:670 5:4'>1Pe 5:4</a>).<p/>Of in each of these phrases means "which consists of". To win the crown of righteousness or glory or life is to be crowned with righteousness or glory or with life. But we must understand the idea behind this word crown (stephanos, <a href='S:G4735'>G4735</a>). In Greek there are two words for crown, diadema (G), which means the royal crown, and stephanos (<a href='S:G4735'>G4735</a>), which has usually something to do with joy and victory. It is not the royal crown which is being offered to the Christian; it is the crown of joy and victory. Stephanos (<a href='S:G4735'>G4735</a>) has many associations, and all of them contribute something to the riches of thought behind it.<p/>(a) First to the mind comes the victor's crown in the games. Smyrna had games which were famous all over Asia. As in the Olympic Games, the reward of the victorious athlete was the laurel crown. The Christian can win the crown of victory in the contest of life.<p/>(b) When a man had faithfully performed the work of a magistrate, at the end of his term of office he was granted a crown. He who throughout life faithfully serves Christ and his fellow-men will receive his crown.<p/>(c) The heathen world was in the habit of wearing crowns, chaplets of flowers, at banquets. At the end of the day, if the Christian is loyal, he will have the joy of sitting as a guest at the banquet of God.<p/>(d) The heathen worshippers were in the habit of wearing crowns when they approached the temples of their gods. At the end of the day, if he has been faithful, the Christian will have the joy of entering into the nearer presence of God.<p/>(e) Some scholars have seen in this crown a reference to the halo or the nimbus which is round the head of divine beings in pictures. If that is so, it means that the Christian, if he is faithful, will be crowned with the life which belongs to God himself. As John said: "We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (<a href='B:690 3:2'>1Jn 3:2</a>).<p/>In this life it may be that the Christian's loyalty will bring him a crown of thorns, but in the life to come it will surely bring him the crown of glory.<p/>(ii) Cyprian uses two great phrases to describe those who are faithful unto death. He describes them as "illustrious with the heraldry of a good name, and he calls them "the white-robed cohort of the soldiers of Christ." To the faithful another promise is made: they will not be hurt by the second death. The second death is a mysterious phrase which occurs nowhere in the New Testament outside the Revelation (<a href='B:730 20:6'>Rev 20:6</a>; <a href='B:730 20:14'>Rev 20:14</a>; <a href='B:730 21:8'>Rev 21:8</a>). The Rabbis talked of "the second death whereof the wicked die in the next world." The phrase may have two origins.<p/>(a) The Sadducees believed that after death there was absolutely nothing; the Epicureans held the same doctrine. This belief finds its place even in the Old Testament for that pessimistic book Ecclesiastes is the work of a Sadducee. "A living dog is better than a dead lion; for the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing" (<a href='B:250 9:4-5'>Ecc 9:4-5</a>). For the Sadducees and the Epicureans death was extinction. To the orthodox Jew this was too easy, for it meant that for the wise and for the fool the end was the same (<a href='B:250 2:15'>Ecc 2:15</a>, Ecc 16 ; Ecc 19:2). They, therefore, came to believe that there were, so to speak, two deaths--physical death which every man must undergo and after that a death which was the judgment of God.<p/>(b) This is very closely connected with the ideas which we touched on when studying the word paradise (<a href='B:730 2:7'>Rev 2:7</a>). We saw that many of the Jews and the early Christian thinkers believed that there was an intermediate state into which all men passed until the time of judgment. If that were so, then indeed there would be two deaths, the physical death which no man can escape and the spiritual death into which the wicked would enter after the final judgment.<p/>Of such things it is not given to any man to speak with confidence but, when John spoke of the faithful being unharmed by the second death, he meant precisely the same as Paul when he said that nothing in life or in death, in time or in eternity can separate those who love him from Jesus Christ. Such a man is safe from all that life or death can do to him (<a href='B:520 8:38-39'>Rom 8:38-39</a>).<p/><b>THE LETTER TO PERGAMUM</b> (<a href='B:730 2:12-17'>Rev 2:12-17</a>)


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 And to the angel of the Church in Pergamum, write:<p/>These things says he who has the sharp two-edged sword. I know where your home is. I know that it is where the throne of Satan is; and yet you hold fast to my name, and have not denied your loyalty to me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan has his home. But I have a few things against you. You have among you some people who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat meat offered to idols and to commit fornication. So you, too, have those who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. So, then, repent. If you do not, I am coming to you quickly, and I will go to war with them with the sword of my mouth.<p/>Let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches. To him who overcomes I will give a share of the hidden manna; and I will give him a white stone, and written on the stone a new name, which no one but him who receives it knows.<p/></i> Pergamum, The Seat Of Satan (<a href='B:730 2:12-17'>Rev 2:12-17</a> Continued)<p/>There is a difference in the name of this city in the different translations of the New Testament. The King James Version calls it Pergamos, while the English Revised Version, the Revised Standard Version and Moffatt call it Pergamum. Pergamos (<a href='S:G4010'>G4010</a>) is the feminine form of the name and Pergamum the neuter. In the ancient world it was known by both forms but Pergamum was much the commoner and the newer translations are right to prefer it.<p/>Pergamum had a place all its own in Asia. It was not on any of the great roads, as Ephesus and Smyrna were, but historically it was the greatest city in Asia. Strabo called it an illustrious (epiphanes, <a href='S:G2016'>G2016</a>) city and Pliny called it "by far the most famous city in Asia" (longe clarissimum Asiae). The reason was that, by the time John was writing, Pergamum had been a capital city for almost four hundred years. Back in 282 B.C. it was made the capital of the Seleucid kingdom, one of the sections into which the empire of Alexander the Great was broken up. It remained the capital until 133 B.C. In that year Attalus the Third died and before he died he willed his dominions into the possession of Rome. Out of the dominions of Attalus, Rome formed the province of Asia and Pergamum still remained its capital.<p/>Its geographical position made Pergamum even more impressive. It was built on a tall conical hill, which dominated the valley of the River Caicus, from the top of which the Mediterranean could be seen, fifteen miles away. Sir William Ramsay describes it: "Beyond all other cities in Asia Minor, it gives the traveller the impression of a royal city, the home of authority; the rocky hill on which it stands is so huge, and dominates the broad plain of the Caicus so proudly and so boldly." History and honour gathered around Pergamum. Let us then set down its outstanding characteristics.<p/>(i) Pergamum could never achieve the commercial greatness of Ephesus or of Smyrna but it was a centre of culture which surpassed both. It was famous for its library, which contained no fewer than 200,000 parchment rolls. It was second only to the unique library of Alexandria.<p/>It is interesting to note that the word parchment is derived from Pergamum (<a href='S:G4010'>G4010</a>). In the ancient world parchment was he pergamene charta, the Pergamene sheet; and to this name attaches a story. For many centuries ancient rolls were written on papyrus, a substance made of the pith of a very large bulrush which grows beside the Nile. The pith was extracted, cut into strips, pressed into sheets and smoothed. There emerged a substance not unlike brown paper, and this was universally used for writing. In the third century B.C. a Pergamene king called Eumenes was very anxious to make the library of the city supreme. In order to do so he persuaded Aristophanes of Byzantium, the librarian at Alexandria, to agree to leave Alexandria and come to Pergamum. Ptolemy of Egypt, enraged at this seduction of his outstanding scholar, promptly imprisoned Aristophanes and by way of retaliation put an embargo on the export of papyrus to Pergamum. Faced with this situation, the scholars of Pergamum invented parchment or vellum, which is made of the skins of beasts, smoothed and polished. In fact parchment is a much superior vehicle for writing and, although it did not do so for many centuries, it in the end ousted papyrus altogether as writing material.<p/>(ii) Pergamum was one of the great religious centres. In particular it had two famous shrines. In the letter of the Risen Christ Pergamum is said to be the place where "Satan's seat" is. Obviously this must refer to something which the Christian Church regarded as particularly evil. Some have found the reference explained in Pergamum's religious splendour.<p/>(a) Pergamum regarded itself as the custodian of the Greek way of life and of the Greek worship. About 240 B.C. it had won a great victory against the savage invading Galatae or Gauls. In memory of that victory a great altar to Zeus was built in front of the Temple of Athene which stood eight hundred feet up on Pergamum's conical hill. Forty feet high, it stood on a projecting ledge of rock and looked exactly like a great throne on the hillside. All day it smoked with the smoke of sacrifices offered to Zeus. Around its base was carved one of the greatest achievements in the world of sculpture, the frieze which showed the Battle of the Giants, in which the gods of Greece were victorious over the giants of the barbarians. It has been suggested that this great altar was Satan's seat. But it is unlikely that a Christian writer would call that altar Satan's seat, for even by this time the old Greek gods were anachronisms and it would have been a waste of the powder and shot of Christian invective to attack them.<p/>(b) Pergamum was particularly connected with the worship of Asclepios, so much so that Asclepios was known as "the Pergamene god." When Galen was mentioning favourite oaths, he said that people commonly swore by Artemis of Ephesus, or Apollo of Delphi, or Asclepios of Pergamum. Asclepios was the god of healing and his temples were the nearest approach to hospitals in the ancient world. From all over the world people flocked to Pergamum for relief for their sicknesses. R. H. Charles has called Pergamum "the Lourdes of the ancient world." The task of healing was partly the work of the priests; partly the work of doctors--Galen, second only to Hippocrates in the medical history of the ancient world, was born in Pergamum; and partly the work of Asclepios himself. Was there anything in that worship to move the Christians to call the Temple of Asclepios Satan's seat? There may have been two things.<p/>First, the commonest and most famous title for Asclepios was Asclepios Soter (<a href='S:G4990'>G4990</a>), Asclepios the Saviour. It might well be that the Christians felt a shudder of horror that the name Saviour should be given to anyone other than Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world.<p/>Second, the emblem of Asclepios was the serpent, which still appears on the cap badge of the Royal Army Medical Corps. Many of the coins of Pergamum have Asclepios' serpent as part of their design. It might well be that Jew or Christian might regard a religion which took the serpent as its emblem as a Satanic cult. Again this explanation seems unlikely. As has been pointed out, the Christians would regard the place where men went to be healed--and often were--with pity rather than with indignation. The worship of Asclepios surely would not give adequate ground for calling Pergamum Satan's seat.<p/>It seems then that we must look elsewhere for the explanation of this phrase.<p/>(iii) Pergamum was the administrative centre of Asia. That meant that it was the centre of Caesar worship for the province. We have already described Caesar worship and the dire dilemma in which it placed the Christian.<p/>It was organized with a provincial centre and an administration like that of a presbytery or diocese. The point here is that Pergamum was the centre of that worship for the province of Asia. Undoubtedly that is why Pergamum was Satan's seat; it was the place where men were required on pain of death to take the name of Lord and give it to Caesar instead of to Christ; and to a Christian there could be nothing more Satanic than that.<p/>And here is the explanation of the beginning of the letter to Pergamum. The Risen Christ is called he who has the sharp two-edged sword. Roman governors were divided into two classes--those who had the ius gladii, the right of the sword, and those who had not. Those who had the right of the sword had the power of life and death; on their word a man could be executed on the spot. Humanly speaking the proconsul, who had his headquarters at Pergamum, had the ius gladii, the right of the sword, and at any moment he might use it against any Christian; but the letter bids the Christian not to forget that the last word is still with the Risen Christ, who has the sharp two-edged sword. The power of Rome might be satanically powerful; the power of the Risen Lord is greater yet.<p/>Pergamum, An Engagement Very Difficult (<a href='B:730 2:12-17'>Rev 2:12-17</a> Continued)<p/>To be a Christian in Pergamum was to face what Cromwell would have called "an engagement very difficult."<p/>We have already seen what a concentration of pagan religion had its centre in Pergamum. There was the worship of Athene and Zeus, with its magnificent altar dominating the city; there was the worship of Asclepios, bringing sick people from far and near; and above all there were the demands of Caesar worship, hanging for ever like a poised sword above the heads of the Christians.<p/>So the Risen Christ says to the Christians of Pergamum: "I know where you stay." The word for to stay is here katoikein (<a href='S:G2730'>G2730</a>) ; and it means to have one's permanent residence in a place. It is a very unusual word to use of Christians in the world. Usually the word used of them is paroikein (<a href='S:G3939'>G3939</a>), which means to be a sojourner. Peter writes his letter to the sojourners throughout the provinces of Asia Minor. But here the matter is being regarded from another point of view. The Christians of Pergamum have their permanent residence, so far as this world is concerned, in Pergamum; and Pergamum is the place where Satan's rule is strongest.<p/>Here is something very important. The principle of the Christian life is not escape, but conquest. We may feel it would be very much easier to be a Christian in some other place and in some other circumstances but the duty of the Christian is to witness for Christ where life has set him. We once heard of a girl who was converted in an evangelistic campaign. A reporter on a secular newspaper, her first step after her conversion was to get a new job on a small Christian newspaper where she was constantly in the society of professing Christians. It was strange that the first thing that her conversion did was to make her run away. The more difficult it is to be a Christian in any set of circumstances. the greater the obligation to remain within these circumstances. If in the early days Christians had run away every time they were confronted with a difficult engagement, there would have been no chance of a world for Christ.<p/>The Christians at Pergamum proved that it was perfectly possible to be a Christian under such circumstances. Even when martyrdom was in the air they did not flinch. Of Antipas we know nothing; there is a late legend in Tertullian that he met his death by being slowly roasted to death within a brazen bull. But there is a point in the Greek impossible to reproduce in English which is intensely suggestive. The Risen Christ calls Antipas my faithful martus (<a href='S:G3144'>G3144</a>). We have translated that "martyr"; but martus (<a href='S:G3144'>G3144</a>) is the normal Greek word for witness. In the early church to be a martyr and to be a witness were one and the same thing. Witness meant so often martyrdom. Here is a rebuke to us. So many are prepared to demonstrate their Christianity in Christian circles but are equally prepared to play it down in circles where Christianity is met with opposition.<p/>We must note another thing. The Risen Christ calls Antipas my faithful martus (<a href='S:G3144'>G3144</a>) and so gives him nothing less than his own title. In <a href='B:730 1:5'>Rev 1:5</a> and <a href='B:730 3:14'>Rev 3:14</a> Christ himself is called the faithful martus (<a href='S:G3144'>G3144</a>) ; to those who are true to him he gives nothing less than his own name.<p/>Pergamum, The Doom Of Error (<a href='B:730 2:12-17'>Rev 2:12-17</a> Continued)<p/>In spite of the fidelity of the Church at Pergamum there is error. There are those who hold the teaching of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. We have already discussed these people in connection with Ephesus and we meet them again when we come to study the letter of Thyatira. They sought to persuade Christians that there was nothing wrong with a prudent conformity to the world's standards.<p/>The man who is not prepared to be different need not start on the Christian way at all. The commonest word for the Christian in the New Testament is hagios (<a href='S:G40'>G40</a>) whose basic meaning is different or separate. The Temple is hagios (<a href='S:G39'>G39</a>) because it is different from other buildings; the Sabbath day is hagios (<a href='S:G40'>G40</a>) because it is different from other days; God is supremely hagios (<a href='S:G40'>G40</a>) because he is totally different from men; and the Christian is hagios (<a href='S:G40'>G40</a>) because he is different from other men.<p/>We must be clear what this difference means, for there is a paradox in it. It is Paul's summons to the Corinthians that they should be different from the world. "Come out from among them" (<a href='B:540 6:17'>2Co 6:17</a>). This difference from the world does not involve separation from it nor hatred for it. Paul says in writing to the very same Church: "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (<a href='B:530 9:22'>1Co 9:22</a>). It was Paul's claim that he could get alongside all men; but--and here is the point--his getting alongside them was that he might save some. It was not a question of bringing Christianity down to their level; it was a question of bringing them up. The fault of the Nicolaitans was that they were following a policy of compromise solely to save themselves from trouble.<p/>It is the word of the Risen Christ that he will make war with them. We must note that he did not say: "I will go to war with you"; he said: "I will go to war with them." His wrath was not directed against the whole Church but against those who were seducing her; for those who were led astray, he had nothing but pity.<p/>It is the threat of the Risen Christ that he will make war against them with the sword of his mouth. The Christ of the sword is a startling idea. Thinking of past conquerors and comparing them with Jesus Christ, the poet wrote:<p/>Then all these vanished from the scene,<p/>Like flickering shadows on a glass;<p/>And conquering down the centuries came<p/>The swordless Christ upon an ass.<p/>What then is the sword of Christ? The writer to the Hebrews speaks of the word of God which is sharper than any two-edged sword (<a href='B:650 4:12'>Heb 4:12</a>). Paul speaks of "the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God" (<a href='B:560 6:17'>Eph 6:17</a>). The sword of Christ is the word of Christ.<p/>In the word of Christ there is conviction of sin; in it a man is confronted with the truth and thereby with his own failure to obey it. In the word of Christ there is invitation to God; it convicts a man of sin and then invites him back to the love of God. In the word of Christ there is assurance of salvation; it convicts a man of sin, it leads him to the Cross, and it assures him that there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (<a href='B:510 4:12'>Act 4:12</a>). The conquest of Christ is his power to win men to the love of God.<p/>Pergamum, The Bread Of Heaven (<a href='B:730 2:12-17'>Rev 2:12-17</a> Continued)<p/>In this letter the Risen Christ promises two things to the man who overcomes; the first is a share of the hidden manna to eat. Here is a Jewish conception which has two aspects.<p/>(i) When the children of Israel had no food in the desert God gave them manna to eat (<a href='B:20 16:11-15'>Exo 16:11-15</a>). When the need of the manna passed, the memory did not A pot of the manna was put into the ark and laid up before God in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and in the Temple (<a href='B:20 16:33-34'>Exo 16:33-34</a>; <a href='B:650 9:4'>Heb 9:4</a>). Early in the sixth century B.C. the Temple which Solomon had built was destroyed; and the rabbis had a legend that, when that happened, Jeremiah hid away the pot of manna in a cleft in Mount Sinai and that, when the Messiah came, he would return and the pot of manna would be discovered again. To a Jew "to eat of the hidden manna" meant to enjoy the blessings of the Messianic age. TO a Christian it meant to enter into the blessedness of the new world which would emerge when the Kingdom came.<p/>(ii) There may be a wider and more general meaning. Of the manna it is said: "This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat" (<a href='B:20 16:15'>Exo 16:15</a>). The manna is called "grain of heaven" (<a href='B:230 78:24'>Psa 78:24</a>); and it is said to be the "bread of the angels, (<a href='B:230 78:25'>Psa 78:25</a>). Here the manna may mean heavenly food. In that case John would be saying: "In this world you cannot share with the heathen in their feasts because you cannot sit down to meat which is part of a sacrifice that has been offered to an idol. You may think that you are being called upon to give up much but the day will come when you will feast in heaven upon heavenly food." If that is so, the Risen Christ is saying that a man must abstain from the seductions of earth if he wishes to enjoy the blessings of heaven.<p/>(iii) There is one possible further interpretation of this. Some have suggested that the hidden manna is the bread of God given to the Christian at the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. John tells us that when the Jews said to him that their fathers had eaten manna in the wilderness, so receiving bread, and Jesus said "I am the bread of life" (<a href='B:500 6:31-35'>Joh 6:31-35</a>). If the hidden manna and the bread of life are the same, the hidden manna is not only the bread of the sacrament but stands for nothing less than Christ, the bread of life; and this is a promise that to him who is faithful he will give himself.<p/>Pergamum, The White Stone And The New Name (<a href='B:730 2:12-17'>Rev 2:12-17</a> Continued)<p/>The final promise of Christ to the faithful in Pergamum is that he will give them the white stone with the new name on it. This is a passage of which there are almost endless interpretations. In the ancient world a white stone might stand for many things.<p/>(i) There was a Rabbinic legend that precious stones fell from heaven along with the manna. The white stone would then simply stand for the precious gifts of God to his people.<p/>(ii) In the ancient world coloured stones were used as counters for working out calculations. This would mean that the Christian is counted among the number of the faithful.<p/>(iii) In the ancient law courts white and black stones were used for registering the verdict of juries, black for condemnation, white for acquittal. This would mean that the Christian is acquitted in the sight of God because of the work of Jesus Christ.<p/>(iv) In the ancient world objects called tesserae were much used. A tessera was a little tablet made of wood or metal or stone; it had writing on it; and, generally speaking, the possession of a tessera conferred some kind of privilege upon a man. Three of these tesserae add something to the picture.<p/>(a) In Rome the great houses had their clients, dependents who every morning received from their patron food and money for the day. They were often given a tessera by which they identified themselves as having the right to the free gifts. This would mean that the Christian has the right to the free gifts for life which Christ can give.<p/>(b) To win a victory at the games was one of the greatest honours the ancient world could give. Outstanding victors were given, by the master of the games, a tessera which in the days to come conferred upon them the right of free entry to all public spectacles. This would mean that the Christian is the victorious athlete of Christ who is a sharer in the glory of his Lord.<p/>(c) In Rome a great gladiator was the admired hero of all. Often a gladiator had to fight on until he was killed in combat. But if he had had a specially illustrious career, when he grew old, he was allowed to retire in honour. Such men were given a tessera with the letters "SP" on it. "SP" stands for the Latin word spectatus, which means a man whose valour has been proved beyond a doubt. This would mean that the Christian is the gladiator of Christ and that, when he has proved his valour in the battle of life, he is allowed to enter into the rest which Christ gives with honour.<p/>(v) In the ancient world a specially happy day was called a white day. Plutarch tells that when Pericles was besieging Samos he knew that the siege would be long; he did not wish his army to grow weary; so he divided it into eight parts; every day the eight companies drew lots; one was a white bean; and the company which drew the white bean was exempt from duty for the day and could enjoy itself as it wished. So it was that a happy day came to be called a white day (Plutarch: Life of Pericles 64). Pliny in one of his letters tells a friend that that day he had had the joy of hearing in the law courts two magnificent young pleaders in whose hands the future of Roman oratory was safe; and, he says, that experience made that day one marked candidissimo calculo, with the whitest of stones (Pliny: Letters 6: 11). It was said that the Thracians and the Scythians kept in their homes an urn into which for every happy day they threw a white stone and for every unhappy day a black stone; at the end of their lives the stones were counted, and as the white or the black preponderated, a man was said to have had a wretched or a happy life. This would mean that through Jesus Christ the Christian can have the joy that no man takes from him (<a href='B:500 16:22'>Joh 16:22</a>).<p/>(vi) Along this line there is another and most likely interpretation. One of the commonest of all customs in the ancient world was to carry an amulet or charm. It might be made of a precious metal or a precious stone but often it was nothing more than a pebble. On the pebble there was a sacred name; to know a god's name was to have a certain power over him, to be able to summon him to one's aid in time of difficulty and to have mastery over the demons. Such an amulet was thought to be doubly effective, if no one other than the owner knew the name that was inscribed upon it. Most likely what John is saying is: "Your heathen friends--and you did the same in your heathen days--carry amulets with superstitious inscriptions on them and they think they will keep them safe. You need nothing like that; you are safe in life and in death because you know the name of the only true God."<p/>Pergamum, Renamed By God (<a href='B:730 2:12-17'>Rev 2:12-17</a> Continued)<p/>It is just possible that we ought to look for the meaning of the new name and the white stone in another direction altogether.<p/>The words white and new are characteristic of the Revelation. R. H. Charles has said that in the Revelation "white is the colour and livery of heaven." The word used does not describe a dull, flat whiteness but one which glistens like snow in the winter sun. So in the Revelation we find white garments (<a href='B:730 3:5'>Rev 3:5</a>); white robes (<a href='B:730 7:9'>Rev 7:9</a>); white linen (<a href='B:730 19:8'>Rev 19:8</a>; <a href='B:730 19:14'>Rev 19:14</a>); and the great white throne of God himself (<a href='B:730 20:11'>Rev 20:11</a>). White, then, is heaven's colour.<p/>In Greek there are two words for "new." There is neos (<a href='S:G3501'>G3501</a>), which means new in point of time. A thing can be neos (<a href='S:G3501'>G3501</a>), and yet exactly like any number of things. On the other hand there is kainos (<a href='S:G2537'>G2537</a>), which is new not only in point of time but also in point of quality; nothing like it has ever been made before. So in the Revelation there is the new Jerusalem (<a href='B:730 3:12'>Rev 3:12</a>); the new song (<a href='B:730 5:9'>Rev 5:9</a>); the new heavens and the new earth (<a href='B:730 21:1'>Rev 21:1</a>); and God makes all things new (<a href='B:730 21:5'>Rev 21:5</a>). With this in mind two lines of thought have been suggested.<p/>It has been suggested that the white stone is the man himself; that the Risen Christ is promising his faithful ones a new self, cleansed of all earthly stains and glistening with the purity of heaven.<p/>As to the new name, one of the features of the Old Testament is the giving to a man of a new name to mark a new status. So Abram becomes Abraham when the great promise is made that he will be the father of many nations and when he, as it were, acquires a new status in the plan of God for men (<a href='B:10 17:5'>Gen 17:5</a>). So after the wrestling at Peniel, Jacob becomes Israel, which means the prince of God, because he had prevailed with God (<a href='B:10 32:28'>Gen 32:28</a>). Isaiah hears the promise of God to the nation of Israel: "The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord will give" (<a href='B:290 62:2'>Isa 62:2</a>).<p/>This custom of giving a new name to mark a new status was known in the heathen world as well. The name of the first of the Roman Emperors was Octavius; but when he became Emperor he was given the name Augustus to mark his new status.<p/>A curious superstitious parallel to this comes from peasant life in Palestine. When a person was very ill and in danger of death, he was often given the name of someone who had lived a long and saintly life, as if this turned him into a new person over whom the illness might lose its power.<p/>On this basis of interpretation, Christ promises a new status to those who are faithful to him.<p/>This is attractive. It suggests that the white stone means that Jesus Christ gives to the man who is true to him a new self and that the new name means the new status of glory into which the man who has been true to Christ will enter when this life ends and when the next begins. It remains to say that, attractive as that interpretation is, the view which traces back the white stone and the new name to the use of amulets is more likely to be correct.<p/><b>THE LETTER TO THYATIRA</b> (<a href='B:730 2:18-29'>Rev 2:18-29</a>)


text:
 And to the angel of the Church in Thyatira write:<p/>These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire and whose feet are like beaten brass.<p/>I know your works--I mean your love and your loyalty and your service and your steadfast endurance; and I know that your last works are more than your first.<p/>But I hold it against you that you make no effort to deal with the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and whose misleading teaching causes my servants to commit fornication and to eat meat offered to idols. I have given her a time within which to repent and she refuses to repent from her fornication. Behold, I am going to cast her into a bed and I am going to cast her paramours into great affliction, unless they repent from her deeds; and I will slay her children with death; and all the Churches will know that I am he who searches the inmost desires and thoughts of a man's being; and I will give to each one of you what your works deserve.<p/>To the rest of you in Thyatira, to all those who do not hold this teaching, to such as have not known the depths of Satan, as they call them, I say this--I am not going to put any other burden on you. All I say is, hold on to what you have until I come. I will give to him who overcomes, and who keeps my works to the end, authority over the Gentiles; and he will smite them with a rod of iron; like vessels of pottery they will be smashed; for this is the authority that I have received from my Father; and I will give him the morning star.<p/>Let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches.<p/></i> Thyatira, The Peril Of Compromise (<a href='B:730 2:18-29'>Rev 2:18-29</a> Continued)<p/>The longest of the seven letters is written to the least important of the seven cities. None the less, the problem which faced Thyatira and the danger which threatened it were those which were universally involved in the position of the Christians in Asia.<p/>Thyatira lies in the long valley connecting the valleys of the Hermus and the Caicus rivers through which the railway runs today; and it was its geographical position which gave it its importance.<p/>(i) Thyatira lay on the road which connected Pergamum with Sardis and went on to Philadelphia and to Laodicea, linking up with both Smyrna and Byzantium. That was the road by which the imperial post travelled; and it was crowded with the commerce of Asia and the east. Therefore, first and foremost Thyatira was a great commercial town.<p/>(ii) Strategically the importance of Thyatira was that it was the gateway to Pergamum, the capital of the province. The first we hear of Thyatira is that it is an armed garrison, manned by a company of Macedonian troops, placed there as an outpost to protect Pergamum. The difficulty was that Thyatira was not capable of any prolonged defence. It lay in an open valley. There was no height that could be fortified; and all that Thyatira could ever hope to do was to fight a delaying action until Pergamum could prepare to meet the invaders.<p/>(iii) Thyatira had no special religious significance. It was not a centre of either Caesar or of Greek worship. Its local hero-god was called Tyrimnus and he appears on its coins on horseback armed with battle-axe and club. The only notable thing about Thyatira from the religious point of view was that it possessed a fortune-telling shrine, presided over by a female oracle called the Sambathe. Certainly no threat of persecution hung over the Thyatiran Church.<p/>(iv) What, then, was the problem in Thyatira? We know less about Thyatira than about any other of the seven cities and are, therefore, seriously handicapped in trying to reconstruct the situation. The one thing we do know is that it was a great commercial centre, specially of the dyeing industry and of the trade in woollen goods. It was from Thyatira that Lydia, the seller of purple, came (<a href='B:510 16:14'>Act 16:14</a>). From inscriptions discovered we learn that it had an extraordinary number of trade guilds. These were associations for mutual profit and pleasure of people employed in certain trades. There were guilds of workers in wool, leather, linen and bronze, makers of outer garments, dyers, potters, bakers and slave-dealers.<p/>Here, we think, was the problem of the Church in Thyatira. To refuse to join one of these guilds would be much the same as to refuse to join a trade union today. It would mean to give up all prospect of commercial existence. Why should a Christian not join one of these guilds? They held common meals. These would very often be held in a temple and even if not, they would begin and end with a formal sacrifice to the gods, and the meat eaten would be meat which had already been offered to idols. Further, it often happened that these communal meals were occasions of drunken revelry and slack morality. Was it possible for a Christian to be part of such occasions?<p/>Here was the problem at Thyatira; the threat came from inside the Church. There was a strong movement, led by the woman addressed as Jezebel, which pled for compromise with the world's standards in the interests of business and commercial prosperity, maintaining, no doubt, that the Holy Spirit could preserve them from any harm. The answer of the Risen Christ is unequivocal. With such things the Christian must have nothing to do.<p/>Thyatira, The State Of The Church In Thyatira (<a href='B:730 2:18-29'>Rev 2:18-29</a> Continued)<p/>R. H. Charles points out that by far the longest of the seven letters is written to the most unimportant of the seven cities; but its problem was far from being unimportant.<p/>Of all the seven letters this is the most enigmatic. Our trouble is that we have so little definite information about Thyatira and we are presented with a series of four questions--What was the situation of the Church in Thyatira? Who was Jezebel? What did she teach? What do the promises made to the Church at Thyatira mean?<p/>(i) The letter opens with a description of the Risen Christ which has a threat in it. His eyes are like a flame of fire and his feet like burnished bronze. The description is taken from that of the angelic messenger in <a href='B:340 10:6'>Dan 10:6</a>: "His face was like the appearance of lightning, and his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze." The flaming eyes must stand for two things, blazing anger against sin and the awful penetration of that gaze which strips the disguises away and sees into a man's inmost heart. The brazen feet must stand for the immovable power of the Risen Christ. A message which begins like that will certainly be no soothing tranquillizer.<p/>The letter goes on to terms of the highest praise. The love and loyalty and service and endurance of the Church at Thyatira are matters for congratulation. We must note how these great qualities go in pairs. Service is the outcome of love and patient endurance the product of loyalty.<p/>Then comes the condemnation of the woman Jezebel and all her ways and teaching; and one can hardly avoid the conclusion that she had very considerable influence in the Church at Thyatira.<p/>The necessary conclusion seems to be this. On the surface the Church at Thyatira was strong and flourishing. If a stranger went into it, he would be impressed with its abounding energy and its generous liberality and its apparent steadfastness. For all that, there was something essential missing.<p/>Here is a warning. A church which is crowded with people and which is a hive of energy is not necessarily a real Church. It is possible for a Church to be crowded because its people come to be entertained instead of instructed, and to be soothed instead of confronted with the fact of sin and the offer of salvation; it maybe a highly successful Christian club rather than a real Christian congregation.<p/>Thyatira, The Source Of The Error (<a href='B:730 2:18-29'>Rev 2:18-29</a> Continued)<p/>(2) The source of the trouble in Thyatira centred round a woman whom the letter calls Jezebel. A variety of answers have been given to the question of her identity.<p/>(i) We begin with an answer which is very interesting, although it is doubtful if it is possible. The King James Version calls her: "that woman Jezebel." Moffatt translates "that Jezebel of a woman." The Greek is: ten (<a href='S:G3588'>G3588</a>) gunaika (<a href='S:G1135'>G1135</a>) Iezabel (<a href='S:G2403'>G2403</a>). A few manuscripts have after gunaika (<a href='S:G1135'>G1135</a>) the word sou (<a href='S:G4675'>G4675</a>), which means "your." The noun gune (<a href='S:G1135'>G1135</a>) --the nominative of the word of which gunaika (<a href='S:G1135'>G1135</a>) is the accusative form--not only means "woman" but also "wife"; and if with these manuscripts we read ten (<a href='S:G3588'>G3588</a>) gunaika <a href='S:G1135'>G1135</a>) sou (<a href='S:G4675'>G4675</a>) Iezabel (<a href='S:G2403'>G2403</a>), the phrase will mean: "your wife Jezebel."<p/>Early on we saw that the angel of the Church may be the bishop of the Church. If, then, the letter is addressed to the bishop of the Church and there is a reference to your wife Jezebel, it means that the cause of all the trouble is the bishop's wife! That would be an interesting sidelight on the early Christian congregations and it would not be the last time that the wives of church officials were the sources of trouble in a congregation. But this interpretation must be rejected because the evidence for inserting sou (<a href='S:G4675'>G4675</a>) is not good enough.<p/>(ii) One of the few claims to distinction which Thyatira possessed was an oracle called the Sambathe, a woman fortune-teller. The Greeks made great use of oracles. The oracle at Delphi was world famous and the expression a Delphic utterance has become proverbial. It may be that this oracle was a Jewess, for the Jews in the ancient world went in largely for this business of fortune telling. There are those who see in the Sambathe the evil influence which was threatening the Church at Thyatira; but this, too, must be rejected, for it is quite clear that Jezebel was a member of the Church and her influence was being exerted from within.<p/>(iii) Some, on no grounds whatever, have identified Jezebel with Lydia, the seller of purple from Thyatira, whom Paul met and converted at Philippi. It is suggested that she came back to Thyatira and became an evil influence in the Church because of her wealth and her business interests. That theory is merely a slander on Lydia.<p/>(iv) The only reasonable conclusion is that we have no idea who Jezebel was, although we can with certainty trace the kind of person that she was.<p/>That she claimed to be a prophetess is not so very surprising. It is true that Paul would have nothing to do with women speaking in the Church (<a href='B:530 14:34'>1Co 14:34</a>). But it is also true that in both the Old and the New Testaments there are prophetesses. In the Old Testament there are Miriam (<a href='B:20 15:20'>Exo 15:20</a>), Deborah (<a href='B:70 4:4'>Jdg 4:4</a>) and Huldah (<a href='B:120 22:14'>2Ki 22:14</a>); and in the New Testament there are Anna (<a href='B:490 2:36'>Luk 2:36</a>), and the four virgin daughters of Philip (<a href='B:510 21:9'>Act 21:9</a>).<p/>This woman is called Jezebel and, therefore, her character must be discovered in the original Jezebel than whom few women have acquired such a reputation for wickedness. She was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon, and the wife of Ahab (<a href='B:110 16:31'>1Ki 16:31</a>). When she came from Sidon, she brought her own gods and caused Ahab and his people to worship Baal. It was not that she would have wished to banish the worship of Jehovah, if the prophets of Jehovah would have accepted Baal in addition to Jehovah. She slew the prophets of the Lord and at her own table supported four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal (<a href='B:110 18:13'>1Ki 18:13</a>; <a href='B:110 18:19'>1Ki 18:19</a>). She was Ahab's evil genius; in particular, she was responsible for the murder of Naboth in order that Ahab might enter into the possession of the ground where his vineyard stood (<a href='B:110 21:1-29'>1Ki 21:1-29</a>). And she left behind her a name for "harlotries and sorceries" (<a href='B:120 9:22'>2Ki 9:22</a>).<p/>All this must mean that Jezebel of Thyatira was an evil influence on the life and worship of the Christian Church. It must be clearly understood that she had no wish to destroy the Church; but she wished to bring into it new ways which were, in fact, destructive of the faith.<p/>(1) Thyatira, The Teaching Of Jezebel (<a href='B:730 2:18-29'>Rev 2:18-29</a> Continued)<p/>(3) This Jezebel of a woman is accused of teaching two things--eating meat offered to idols and committing fornication.<p/>(a) One of the great problems of the Christian Church was that of meat offered to idols and it was one which met the Christian every day. When a man made a sacrifice in a Greek temple, very little of the meat was burned on the altar. Sometimes all that was actually burned was a few hairs cut from the forehead of the animal. The priests received a share of the meat of the animal as their perquisite; and the worshipper received the rest. With it he did one of two things. He might hold a feast of his friends within the temple precincts. A common form of invitation to a festal meal ran: "I invite you to dine with me at the table of our Lord Serapis." Or he might take the meat home and hold a feast in his own house. Here was the Christian problem. Could a Christian, in a temple or anywhere else, eat meat which had been consecrated to idols? Paul discusses this very problem in <a href='B:530 8:1-13'>1Co 8:1-13</a>; <a href='B:530 9:1-27'>1Co 9:1-27</a>; <a href='B:530 10:1-33'>1Co 10:1-33</a>.<p/>The problem was complicated by the fact that even the meat in butchers' shops might well have been offered to idols previously. The priests in the temples could not possibly consume all the meat which fell to them and therefore, sold much of their share to the butchers' shops. Such meat was the best meat. What was a Christian going to do about that?<p/>The Church had no doubt as to where a Christian's duty lay. Abstention from things offered to idols was one of the conditions on which the Gentiles received the right of entry into the Christian Church (<a href='B:510 15:29'>Act 15:29</a>).<p/>The prohibition of meat offered to idols had one far-reaching consequence. It came near to cutting off a Christian from all social fellowship with non-Christians; there were few social occasions, and almost no banquets, which he could share with the heathen world.<p/>This had another consequence which, as we have already said, we think was at the back of the situation in Thyatira. It meant that the Christian could not join any trade guild for all the guilds had a common meal as a central part of their practice which might well be held in a heathen temple and would largely consist of meat offered to idols. His abstention from guild membership was equivalent to commercial suicide.<p/>Here is where Jezebel came in. She urged upon the Christians that there was no need to cut themselves off from society or abstain from the guilds. When she did so, she was not proceeding on grounds of principle but was simply trying to protect her business interests. Jezebel is to be counted amongst those to whom the claims of commercial success speak more loudly than the claims of Christ.<p/>(2) Thyatira, The Teaching Of Jezebel (<a href='B:730 2:18-29'>Rev 2:18-29</a> Continued)<p/>(b) The other part of Jezebel's teaching is not so clear. She is said to teach the people to commit fornication (<a href='B:730 2:20'>Rev 2:20</a>); she is urged to repent from her fornication (<a href='B:730 2:21'>Rev 2:21</a>); and her paramours and her children are threatened along with her (<a href='B:730 2:22-23'>Rev 2:22-23</a>). Is this reference to be taken literally or in the metaphorical sense which is so common in Scripture to sexual immorality or to spiritual infidelity?<p/>(i) There is no doubt that in Scripture infidelity to God is expressed in terms of fornication and adultery. Israel is the Bride of God (<a href='B:290 54:5'>Isa 54:5</a>; <a href='B:300 3:20'>Jer 3:20</a>); and in the New Testament the Church is the Bride of Christ (<a href='B:540 11:1-2'>2Co 11:1-2</a>; <a href='B:560 5:24-28'>Eph 5:24-28</a>). Again and again in the Old Testament the Israelites are, therefore, said to "play the harlot after strange gods" (<a href='B:20 34:15-16'>Exo 34:15-16</a>; <a href='B:50 31:16'>Deu 31:16</a>; <a href='B:350 9:1'>Hos 9:1</a>). In the New Testament the age which is unfaithful to Jesus Christ is an "evil and adulterous generation" (<a href='B:470 12:39'>Mat 12:39</a>; <a href='B:470 16:4'>Mat 16:4</a>; <a href='B:480 8:38'>Mar 8:38</a>). Is the fornication which Jezebel's teaching inculcated a spiritual infidelity to Jesus Christ? If that is the meaning, her paramours (<a href='B:730 2:22'>Rev 2:22</a>) will be those who are flirting with this kind of teaching and her children (<a href='B:730 2:23'>Rev 2:23</a>) those who have accepted it.<p/>It may well be that the teaching of Jezebel was that the Christians did not need to be so exclusive in their worship of Jesus Christ and, above all, that there was no need for them to refuse to say, "Caesar is Lord, and to burn their pinch of incense. If the Christian Church as a whole had accepted that form of teaching, the inevitable consequence would have been that Christianity would have become nothing more than still another of those religions of which the Roman Empire was so full. The claim of Christianity is not that Jesus Christ is one of the Saviours nor even the chief of Saviours; but that he is the only Saviour.<p/>(ii) One thing in the letter militates against that view. We read that the followers of Jezebel claimed to know the depths of Satan (<a href='B:730 2:24'>Rev 2:24</a>). Some scholars think that this is the Risen Christ's contemptuous description of the false teaching. The real Christian knows what Paul called the deep things of God (<a href='B:530 2:10'>1Co 2:10</a>); what Jezebel and her company know is the deep things of Satan. But that will not do, for the letter unmistakably speaks of "the deep things of Satan, as they call them." This is quite certainly a reference to a kind of belief that was not uncommon among the heretics. Some of them held that it was a plain duty to experience every kind of sin. The real achievement was to allow the body to wallow in sin and to keep the soul unaffected. Those who knew the deep things of Satan were those who had deliberately plumbed evil to its depths. Jezebel may well have been teaching that it was a duty to sin.<p/>It seems to us that in this case all the threads tie up and there is no necessity to make a choice between views. All the probability is that Jezebel was teaching that a Christian ought to accommodate himself to the world; in other words she was urging on the Church a spiritual infidelity which was bound to issue in physical fornication. It is in the mercy of God that the teaching of Jezebel and her like did not become the view of the Church. If that had happened, the Church would have become a kind of pleasant paganism. On this Paul said: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (<a href='B:520 12:2'>Rom 12:2</a>). And Jesus said the last word on the matter: "No one can serve two masters.... You cannot serve God and mammon" (<a href='B:470 6:24'>Mat 6:24</a>). The old choice is still the new choice: "Choose you this day whom you will serve" (<a href='B:50 30:19'>Deu 30:19</a>; <a href='B:60 24:15'>Jos 24:15</a>).<p/>Thyatira, Promises And Threats (<a href='B:730 2:18-29'>Rev 2:18-29</a> Continued)<p/>(4) The letter to Thyatira finishes with a series of great threats and great promises. Jezebel has been given all the latitude the divine mercy can give her. If she does not repent, she will be cast into a bed of sickness and her paramours and followers will share her fate. This will prove to all men that indeed the Risen Christ, as the King James Version has it, "searches the reins and hearts." The phrase is a translation of <a href='B:300 11:20'>Jer 11:20</a>. In Jeremiah the prerogative of searching the inmost thoughts of men belongs to God; but in the Revelation, as so often, the prerogatives of God have become the prerogatives of the Risen Christ.<p/>The reins are the kidneys; strange as it may seem to us, Hebrew psychology believed that the seat of emotion was in the lower viscera, the kidneys and the bowels; and the seat of thought was in the heart. When the Risen Christ says that he will search the reins and the heart, it means that every emotion and every thought will be open to his gaze.<p/>There is real point here. When we began to study the letter to Thyatira we saw that anyone coming into that Church for the first time would have believed it to be surging with life and fruitful in every good work. No doubt those who prospered in business because of their compromise with the world were lavish in their liberality. No doubt those who attended the trade guilds gave generously to charitable funds. They looked like real Christians. No doubt Jezebel seemed to many a fine character. She must have had a command of language and a fine presence to be regarded as a prophetess. The point here is that the Risen Christ can see beyond the outward disguise; he will know whether or not her repentance is real.<p/>To those who are faithful the promise is made and it is twofold.<p/>(i) The first part comes from <a href='B:230 2:8-9'>Psa 2:8-9</a>; "Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." In Jewish belief that was a Messianic Psalm, thinking of a conquering Messiah who would smash the heathen and extend the rule of Israel to the ends of the earth. But it has also been one of the great missionary inspirations of the Christian Church. Many a missionary claimed that promise: "Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage."<p/>(ii) The second part is the promise of the morning star. Four main interpretations have been given.<p/>(a) It is taken as a promise of the first resurrection. As the morning star rises after the night, so the Christian will rise after the night of death.<p/>(b) It is taken as the conquest of Lucifer. Lucifer is the devil, the angel who was so proud that he rebelled against God and was cast over the battlements of heaven (<a href='B:290 14:12'>Isa 14:12</a>). Lucifer means light-bringer and it is the name of the morning star. If that be so, this is a promise of complete power over Satan and over sin.<p/>(iii) This has been referred to <a href='B:340 12:3'>Dan 12:3</a>. There the promise is: "and those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever." If that be so, the morning star is the glory which will come to those who are righteous and have helped others to walk in the paths of righteousness.<p/>(iv) All these are very lovely and may all be involved in this promise; but we are quite certain that the correct interpretation is this. The Revelation itself calls Jesus "the bright morning star" (<a href='B:730 22:16'>Rev 22:16</a>). The promise of the morning star is the promise of Christ himself. If the Christian is true, when life comes to an end he will possess Christ, never to lose him any more. 


text:
 And to the angel of the Church in Sardis, write:<p/>These things says he who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars.<p/>I know your works; I know that you have a reputation for life, but that you are dead. Show yourself watchful, and strengthen what remains and what is going to die. I have not found your works completed before my God. Remember, then, how you received and heard the gospel, and keep it, and repent. If, then, you are not on the watch, I will come as a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.<p/>But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their garments and they will walk with me in white raiment, because they are worthy. He who overcomes will be thus clothed in white raiment and I will not wipe his name out of the Book of Life, but I will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels.<p/>Let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches.<p/></i> Sardis, Past Splendour And Present Decay (<a href='B:730 3:1-6'>Rev 3:1-6</a> Continued)<p/>Sir W. M. Ramsay said of Sardis that nowhere was there a greater example of the melancholy contrast between past splendour and present decay. Sardis was a city of degeneration.<p/>Seven hundred years before this letter was written Sardis had been one of the greatest cities in the world. There the king of Lydia ruled over his empire in oriental splendour. At that time Sardis was a city of the east and was hostile to the Greek world, Aeschylus wrote of it: "They that dwelt by Tmolous pledged themselves to cast the yoke on Hellas."<p/>Sardis stood in the midst of the plain of the valley of the River Hermus. To the north of that plain rose the long ridge of Mount Tmolus; from that ridge a series of hills went out like spurs, each forming a narrow plateau. On one of these spurs, fifteen hundred feet up, stood the original Sardis. Clearly such a position made it almost impregnable. The sides of the ridge were smoothly precipitous; and only where the spur met the ridge of Mount Tmolus was there any possible approach into Sardis and even that was hard and steep. It has been said that Sardis stood like some gigantic watch-tower, guarding the Hermus valley. The time came when the narrow space on the top of the plateau was too small for the expanding city; and Sardis grew round the foot of the spur on which the citadel stood. The name Sardis (Sardeis, <a href='S:G4454'>G4454</a>, in Greek) is really a plural noun, for there were two towns, one on the plateau and one in the valley beneath.<p/>The wealth of Sardis was legendary. Through the lower town flowed the River Pactolus, which was said in the old days to have had gold-bearing waters from which much of the wealth of Sardis came. Greatest of the Sardian kings was Croesus, whose name is still commemorated in the proverb, "As rich as Croesus." It was with him that Sardis reached its zenith and it was with him that it plunged to disaster.<p/>It was not that Croesus was not warned where Sardis was heading. Solon, the wisest of the Greeks, came on a visit and was shown the magnificence and the luxury. He saw the blind confidence of Croesus and his people that nothing could end this splendour; but he also saw that the seeds of softness and of degeneration were being sown. And it was then that he uttered his famous saying to Croesus: "Call no man happy until he is dead." Solon knew only too well the chances and changes of life which Croesus had forgotten.<p/>Croesus embarked upon a war with Cyrus of Persia which was the end of the greatness of Sardis. Again Croesus was warned, but he failed to see the warning. To get at the armies of Cyrus he had to cross the River Halys. He took counsel of the famous oracle at Delphi and was told: "If you cross the River Halys, you will destroy a great empire. Croesus took it as a promise that he would annihilate the Persians; it never crossed his mind that it was a prophecy that the campaign on which he had embarked would be the end of his own power.<p/>He crossed the Halys, engaged in battle and was routed. He was not in the least worried, for he thought that all he had to do was to retire to the impregnable citadel of Sardis, recuperate and fight again. Cyrus initiated the siege of Sardis, waited for fourteen days, then offered a special reward to anyone who would find an entry into the city.<p/>The rock on which Sardis was built was friable, more like close packed dried mud than rock. The nature of the rock meant that it developed cracks. A certain Mardian soldier called Hyeroeades had seen a Sardian soldier accidentally drop his helmet over the battlements, and then make his way down the precipice to retrieve it. Hyeroeades knew that there must be a crack in the rock there by means of which an agile man could climb up. That night he led a party of Persian troops up by the fault in the rock. When they reached the top they found the battlements completely unguarded.<p/>The Sardians had thought themselves too safe to need a guard; and so Sardis fell. A city with a history like that knew what the Risen Christ was talking about when he said: "Watch!"<p/>There were a few futile attempts at rebellion; but Cyrus followed a deliberate policy. He forbade any Sardian to possess a weapon of war. He ordered them to wear tunics and buskins, that is, actor's boots, instead of sandals. He ordered them to teach their sons lyre-playing, the song and the dance, and retail trading. Sardis had been flabby already but the last vestige of spirit was banished from its people and it became a city of degeneration.<p/>It vanished from history under Persian rule for two centuries. In due time it surrendered to Alexander the Great and through him it became a city of Greek culture. Then history repeated itself. After the death of Alexander there were many claimants for the power. Antiochus, who became the ruler of the area in which Sardis stood, was at war with a rival called Achaeus who sought refuge in Sardis. For a year Antiochus besieged him; then a soldier called Lagoras repeated the exploit of Hyeroeades. At night with a band of brave men he climbed the steep cliffs. The Sardians had forgotten their lesson. There was no guard and once again Sardis fell because it was not upon the watch.<p/>In due time the Romans came. Sardis was still a wealthy city. It was a centre of the woollen trade; and it was claimed that the art of dyeing wool was actually discovered there. It became a Roman assize town. In A.D. 17 it was destroyed by an earthquake which devasted the area. Tiberius, the Roman Emperor, in his kindness remitted all tribute for five years and gave a donation of 10,000,000 sesterces, that is, L400,000: towards rebuilding and Sardis recovered itself by the easy way.<p/>When John wrote his letter to Sardis, it was wealthy but degenerate. Even the once great citadel was now only an ancient monument on the hill top. There was no life or spirit there. The once great Sardians were soft, and twice they had lost their city because they were too lazy to watch. In that enervating atmosphere the Christian Church too had lost its vitality and was a corpse instead of a living Church.<p/>Sardis, Death In Life (<a href='B:730 3:1-6'>Rev 3:1-6</a> Continued)<p/>In the introduction to this letter the Risen Christ is described in two phrases.<p/>(i) He is he who has the seven Spirits of God. We have already come upon this strange phrase in <a href='B:730 1:4'>Rev 1:4</a>. It has two aspects of meaning. (a) It denotes the Holy Spirit with his sevenfold gifts, an idea founded on the description of the Spirit in <a href='B:290 11:2'>Isa 11:2</a>. (b) It denotes the Spirit in his sevenfold operation. There are seven Churches, yet in each of them the Spirit operates with all his presence and power. The seven spirits signifies the completeness of the gifts of the Spirit and the universality of his presence.<p/>(ii) He is he who has the seven stars. The stars stand for the Churches and their angels. The Church is the possession of Jesus Christ. Many a time men act as if the Church belonged to them, but it belongs to Jesus Christ and all in it are his servants. In any decision regarding the Church, the decisive factor must be not what any man wishes the Church to do but what Jesus Christ wishes to be done.<p/>The terrible accusation against the Church at Sardis is that, although it has a reputation for life, it is, in fact, spiritually dead. The New Testament frequently likens sin to death. In the Pastoral Epistles we read: "She who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives" (<a href='B:610 5:6'>1Ti 5:6</a>), The Prodigal Son is he who was dead and is alive again (<a href='B:490 15:24'>Luk 15:24</a>). The Roman Christians are men who have been brought from death to life (<a href='B:520 6:13'>Rom 6:13</a>). Paul says that his converts in their pre-Christian days were dead through trespasses and sins (<a href='B:560 2:1'>Eph 2:1</a>; <a href='B:560 2:5'>Eph 2:5</a>).<p/>(i) Sin is the death of the will. If a man accepts the invitations of sin for long enough, the time comes when he cannot accept anything else. Habits grow upon him until he can no longer break them. A man comes, as Seneca had it, to hate his sins and to love them at the same rime. There can be few of us who have not experienced the power of some habit into which we have fallen.<p/>(ii) Sin is the death of the feelings. The process of becoming the slave of sin does not happen overnight. The first time a man sins he does so with many a qualm. But the day comes, if he goes on taking what is forbidden, when he does without a qualm that which once he would have been horrified to do. Sin, as Burns had it, "petrifies the feeling."<p/>(iii) Sin is the death of all loveliness. The terrible thing about sin is that it can take the loveliest things and turn them into ugliness. Through sin the yearning for the highest can become the craving for power; the wish to serve can become the intoxication of ambition; the desire of love can become the passion of lust. Sin is the killer of life's loveliness.<p/>It is only by the grace of God that we can escape the death of sin.<p/>Sardis, A Lifeless Church (<a href='B:730 3:1-6'>Rev 3:1-6</a> Continued)<p/>The lifelessness of the Church at Sardis had a strange effect.<p/>(i) The Church at Sardis was untroubled by any heresy. Heresy is always the product of the searching mind; it is, in fact, the sign of a Church that is alive. There is nothing worse than a state in which a man is orthodox because he is too lazy to think for himself He is actually better with a heresy which he holds intensely than with an orthodoxy about which in his heart of hearts he does not care.<p/>(ii) The Church at Sardis was untroubled by any attack from the outside, neither by the heathen or by the Jews. The truth was that it was so lifeless that it was not worth attacking. The Pastoral Epistles describe those who had drifted away from the true faith by saying that they had a form of godliness but denied its power (<a href='B:620 3:5'>2Ti 3:5</a>). Moffatt translates it: "Though they keep up a form of religion, they will have nothing to do with it as a force." Phillips puts it: "They will maintain a facade of 'religion,' but their conduct will deny its validity."<p/>A truly vital Church will always be under attack. "Woe to you," said Jesus, "when all men speak well of you!" (<a href='B:490 6:26'>Luk 6:26</a>). A Church with a positive message is bound to be one to which there will be opposition.<p/>A Church which is so lethargic as to fail to produce a heresy is mentally dead; and a Church which is so negative as to fail to produce opposition is dead in its witness to Christ.<p/>Sardis, Watch! (<a href='B:730 3:1-6'>Rev 3:1-6</a> Continued)<p/>If anything is to be rescued from the impending ruin of the Church in Sardis the Christians there must wake from their deadly lethargy and watch. No commandment appears more frequently in the New Testament than that to watch.<p/>(i) Watchfulness should be the constant attitude of the Christian life. "It is full time, says Paul, "to wake from sleep" (<a href='B:520 13:11'>Rom 13:11</a>). "Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, he urges (<a href='B:530 16:13'>1Co 16:13</a>). It has been said that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" and eternal watchfulness is the price of salvation.<p/>(ii) The Christian must be on the watch against the wiles of the devil (<a href='B:670 5:8'>1Pe 5:8</a>). The history of Sardis had its vivid examples of what happens to the garrison whose watch is slack. The Christian is under continual attack by the powers which seek to seduce him from his loyalty to Christ. Often these attacks are subtle. He must, therefore, be ever on the watch.<p/>(iii) The Christian must be on the watch against temptation "Watch and pray, said Jesus, "that you may not enter into temptation" (<a href='B:470 26:41'>Mat 26:41</a>). Temptation waits for our unguarded moments and then attacks. In the Christian life there must be unceasing vigilance against it.<p/>(iv) Repeatedly the New Testament urges the Christian to be on the watch for the coming of his Lord. "Watch, therefore, said Jesus, "for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." "What I say to you, I say to all: watch" (<a href='B:470 24:42-43'>Mat 24:42-43</a>; <a href='B:480 13:37'>Mar 13:37</a>). "Let us not sleep, as others do, writes Paul to the Thessalonians. "Let us keep awake and be sober" (<a href='B:590 5:6'>1Th 5:6</a>). No man knows the day and the hour when for him eternity will invade time. "The last day is a secret, says Augustine, "that every day may be watched." A man should live every day as if it were his last.<p/>(v) The Christian must be on the watch against false teaching. In Paul's last address to the elders of Ephesus he warns them that grievous wolves will invade the flock from outside and from inside men will arise to speak perverse things. "Therefore, he says, "watch!" (<a href='B:510 20:29-31'>Act 20:29-31</a>).<p/>(vi) Nor must the Christian forget that, even as he must watch for Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is watching him. "I have not found your works perfect, says the Risen Christ, "in the sight of my God." Here two great truths meet us. (a) Christ is looking for something from us. We so often regard him as the one to whom we look for things; for his strength, his help, his support, his comfort. But we must never forget that he is looking for our love, our loyalty and our service. (b) The things a man must do lie to his hand. The old saying is true: "Fate is what we must do; destiny is what we are meant to do." The Christian does not believe in an inescapable fate; but he does believe in a destiny which he can accept or refuse.<p/>From everyone of us Jesus Christ is looking for something; and for everyone of us there is something to do.<p/>Sardis, The Imperatives Of The Risen Lord (<a href='B:730 3:1-6'>Rev 3:1-6</a> Continued)<p/>In <a href='B:730 3:3'>Rev 3:3</a> we have a series of imperatives.<p/>(i) The Risen Christ says: "Remember how you received and heard the gospel." It is the present imperative and means: "Keep on remembering; never allow yourself to forget." The Risen Christ is telling the lethargic Sardians to remember the thrill with which they first heard the good news. It is a fact of life that certain things sharpen memory which has grown dull. When, for instance, we return to a graveside, the sorrow from which the years have taken the edge grows piercingly poignant again. Ever and again the Christian must stand before the Cross and remember again what God has done for him.<p/>(ii) The Risen Christ says: "Repent!" This is an aorist imperative and describes one definite action. In the Christian life there must be a decisive moment, when a man decides to be done with the old way and to begin on the new.<p/>(iii) The Risen Christ says: "Keep the commands of the gospel." Here again we have a present imperative indicating continuous action. It means: "Never stop keeping the commands of the gospel." Here is a warning against what we might call "spasmodic Christianity." Too many of us are Christian one moment and unchristian the next.<p/>(iv) There is the command to watch. There is an old Latin saying that "the gods walk on feet that are wrapped in wool." Their approach is silent and unobserved, until a man finds himself without warning facing eternity. But that cannot happen if every day a man lives in the presence of Christ; he who walks hand-in-hand with Christ cannot be taken unawares by his coming.<p/>Sardis, The Faithful Few (<a href='B:730 3:1-6'>Rev 3:1-6</a> Continued)<p/>In <a href='B:730 3:4'>Rev 3:4</a> there shines through the darkness a ray of hope. Even in Sardis there are the faithful few. When Abraham is pleading with God for Sodom, he appeals to God: "To slay the righteous with the wicked, far be that from thee" (<a href='B:10 18:25'>Gen 18:25</a>). In the old story of the kings, Abijah alone of all the sons of Jeroboam was spared because in him was found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel (<a href='B:110 14:13'>1Ki 14:13</a>). God never abandons his search for the faithful few and they are never lost to his sight in the mass of the wicked.<p/>It is said of the faithful that they "have not soiled their garments." James spoke with respect and admiration of the man who kept himself "unstained from the world" (<a href='B:660 1:27'>Jas 1:27</a>). There are two possible pictures here.<p/>(i) In the heathen world no worshipper was allowed to approach a temple of the gods with soiled clothes. For the heathen this was an external thing; but this may describe the man who has kept his soul clean so that he can enter into the presence of God and not be ashamed.<p/>(ii) Swete thinks that the white garments stand for the profession a man made at baptism; and that the phrase described the man who had not broken his baptismal vows. At this stage in the Church's history baptism was adult baptism, and at baptism a man took his personal pledge to Jesus Christ. This is all the more likely because it was common at baptism to clothe a man, after he had emerged from the water, in clean white robes, symbolic of the cleansing of his life. The man who is faithful to his pledge will, beyond a doubt, some day hear God say: "Well done!"<p/>To those who have been true the promise is that they will walk with God. Again there is a double background.<p/>(a) There may be a heathen background. At the Persian court the king's most trusted favourites were given the privilege of walking in the royal gardens with the king and were called "The Companions of the Garden." Those who have been true to God will some day walk with him in Paradise.<p/>(b) There may be a reference to the old story of Enoch. "And Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him" (<a href='B:10 5:24'>Gen 5:24</a>). Enoch walked with God on earth and continued to walk with him in the heavenly places. The man whose walk with God is close on earth will enter into a nearer companionship with him when the end of life comes.<p/>Sardis, The Threefold Promise (<a href='B:730 3:1-6'>Rev 3:1-6</a> Continued)<p/>To those who have been faithful comes the threefold promise.<p/>(i) They will be clothed with white raiment. It is said of the righteous that "they will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father" (<a href='B:470 13:43'>Mat 13:43</a>); and it is said of God that he covers himself with light as with a garment (<a href='B:230 104:2'>Psa 104:2</a>). What do the white robes signify?<p/>(a) In the ancient world white robes stood for festivity. "Let your garments be always white, said the preacher, "and let not oil be lacking on your head" (<a href='B:250 9:8'>Ecc 9:8</a>). The white robes may stand for the fact that the faithful will be guests at the banquet of God.<p/>(b) In the ancient world white robes stood for victory. On the day when a Roman triumph was celebrated, all the citizens clad themselves in white; the city itself was called urbs candida, the city in white. The white robes may stand for the reward of those who have won the victory.<p/>(c) In any land and time white is the colour of purity, and the white robes may stand for the purity whose reward is to see God. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (<a href='B:470 5:8'>Mat 5:8</a>).<p/>(d) It has been suggested that the white robes stand for the resurrection bodies which the faithful will some day wear. They who are faithful will share in that whiteness of light which is the garment of God himself.<p/>We need not make a choice between these various meanings; we may well believe that they are all included in the greatness of the promise.<p/>(ii) Their names will not be wiped out of the Book of Life. The Book of Life is a conception which occurs often in the Bible. Moses is willing to be wiped out of the book which God has written, if by his sacrifice he can save his people from the consequence of their sin (<a href='B:20 32:32-33'>Exo 32:32-33</a>). It is the hope of the Psalmist that the wicked will be blotted out of the book of the living (<a href='B:230 69:28'>Psa 69:28</a>). In the time of judgment those who are written in the book will be delivered (<a href='B:340 12:1'>Dan 12:1</a>). The names of Paul's fellow-labourers for God are written in the book of life (Php_4:3). He who is not written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire (<a href='B:730 20:15'>Rev 20:15</a>); only they who are written in the Lamb's book of life shall enter into blessedness (<a href='B:730 21:27'>Rev 21:27</a>).<p/>In the ancient world a king kept a register of his citizens. When a man committed a crime against the state, or when he died, his name was erased from that register. To have one's name written in the book of life is to be numbered amongst the faithful citizens of the Kingdom of God.<p/>(iii) Jesus Christ will confess their names before his Father and the angels. It was Jesus' promise that, if a man confessed him before men, he would confess him before his Father; and if a man denied him before men, he would deny him before his Father (<a href='B:470 10:32-33'>Mat 10:32-33</a>; <a href='B:490 12:8-9'>Luk 12:8-9</a>). Jesus Christ is for ever true to the man who is true to him.<p/><b>THE LETTER TO PHILADELPHIA</b> (<a href='B:730 3:7-13'>Rev 3:7-13</a>)


text:
 And to the angel of the Church in Philadelphia, write:<p/>These things says he who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no man will shut, and shuts and no man opens. I know your works. Behold, I have set before you a door which stands open and which no man shuts, because you have a little strength and because you have kept my word, and have not denied my name. Behold, I will give you those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who call themselves Jews and who are not, but who lie. Behold, I will make them come and kneel before your feet, and they will know that I have loved you. Because you have kept my command to endure, I, too, will keep you safe from the hour of testing, which is to come upon the whole inhabited world, to test those who dwell upon the earth. I am coming quickly. Hold on to what you have, that no one may take your crown.<p/>I will make him who overcomes a pillar in the temple of my God and he will go out no more; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, of the new Jerusalem, which is coming down from heaven from my God, and my new name.<p/>Let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches.<p/></i> Philadelphia, City Of Praise (<a href='B:730 3:7-13'>Rev 3:7-13</a> Continued)<p/>Philadelphia was the youngest of all the seven cities. It was founded by colonists from Pergamum under the reign of Attalus the Second, who ruled in Pergamum from 159 to 138 B.C. Philadelphos (<a href='S:G5361'>G5361</a>) is the Greek for one who loves his brother. Such was the love of Attalus for his brother Eumenes that he was called Philadelphos, and it was after him that Philadelphia was named.<p/>It was founded for a special purpose. It was situated where the borders of Mysia, Lydia and Phrygia met. But it was not as a garrison town that Philadelphia was founded, for there was little danger there. It was founded with the deliberate intention that it might be a missionary of Greek culture and language to Lydia and Phrygia; and so well did it do its work that by A.D. 19 the Lydians had forgotten their own language and were all but Greeks. Ramsay says of Philadelphia that it was "the centre for the diffusion of Greek language and Greek letters in a peaceful land and by peaceful means." That is what the Risen Christ means when he speaks of the open door that is set before Philadelphia. Three centuries before, Philadelphia had been given an open door to spread Greek ideas in the lands beyond; and now there has come to it another great missionary opportunity, to carry to men who never knew it the message of the love of Jesus Christ.<p/>Philadelphia had a great characteristic which has left its mark upon this letter. It was on the edge of a great plain called the Katakekaumene (<a href='S:G2618'>G2618</a>), which means the Burned Land. The Katakekaumene was a great volcanic plain bearing the marks of the lava and the ashes of volcanoes then extinct. Such land is fertile; and Philadelphia was the centre of a great grape-growing area and a famous producer of wines. But that situation had its perils, and these perils had left their mark more deeply on Philadelphia than on any other city. In A.D. 17 there came a great earthquake which destroyed Sardis and ten other cities. In Philadelphia the tremors went on for years; Strabo describes it as a "city full of earthquakes."<p/>It often happens that, when a great earthquake comes, people meet it with courage and self-possession, but ever. recurring minor shocks drive them to sheer panic. That is what happened in Philadelphia. Strabo describes the scene. Shocks were an everyday occurrence. Gaping cracks appeared in the walls of the houses. Now one part of the city was in ruins, now another. Most of the population lived outside the city in huts and feared even to go on the city streets lest they should be killed by failing masonry. Those who still dared to live in the city were reckoned mad; they spent their time shoring up the shaking buildings and every now and then fleeing to the open spaces for safety. These terrible days in Philadelphia were never wholly forgotten, and people in it ever waited subconsciously for the ominous tremors of the ground, ready to flee for their lives to the open spaces. People in Philadelphia well knew what security lay in a promise that "they would go out no more."<p/>But there is more of Philadelphia's history than that in this letter. When this earthquake devastated it, Tiberius was as generous to Philadelphia as he had been to Sardis. In gratitude it changed its name to Neocaesarea--the New City of Caesar. In the time of Vespasian Philadelphia was in gratitude to change its name again to Flavia, for Flavius was the Emperor's family name. It is true that neither of these new names lasted and "Philadelphia" was restored. But the people of Philadelphia well knew what it was to receive "a new name."<p/>Of all the cities Philadelphia receives the greatest praise and it was to show that it deserved it.<p/>In later days it became a very great city. When the Turks and Mohammedanism flooded across Asia Minor and every other town had fallen, Philadelphia stood erect. For centuries it was a free Greek Christian city amidst a pagan people. It was the last bastion of Asian Christianity. It was not till midway through the fourteenth century that it fell; and to this day there is a Christian bishop and a thousand Christians in it. With the exception of Smyrna the other Churches are in ruins but Philadelphia still holds aloft the banner of the Christian faith.<p/>Philadelphia, Titles And Claims (<a href='B:730 3:7-13'>Rev 3:7-13</a> Continued)<p/>In the introduction to this letter the Risen Christ is called by three great titles, each of which implies a tremendous claim.<p/>(i) He is he who is holy. Holy is the description of God himself "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, was the song of the seraphs which Isaiah heard (<a href='B:290 6:3'>Isa 6:3</a>). "To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One" (<a href='B:290 40:25'>Isa 40:25</a>). "I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King" (<a href='B:290 43:15'>Isa 43:15</a>). All through the Old Testament God is the Holy One; and now that title is given to the Risen Christ. We must remember that holy (hagios, <a href='S:G40'>G40</a>) means different, separate from. God is holy because he is different from men; he has that quality of being which belongs to him alone. To say that Jesus Christ is holy is to say that he shares the being of God.<p/>(ii) He is he who is true. In Greek there are two words for true. There is alethes (<a href='S:G227'>G227</a>), which means "true" in the sense that a true statement is different from a false statement. There is alethinos (<a href='S:G228'>G228</a>), which means "real" as opposed to that which is "unreal." It is the second of these words which is used here. In Jesus is reality. When we are confronted with him, we are confronted with no shadowy outline of the truth but with the truth itself.<p/>(iii) He is he who has the key of David, who opens and no man will shut, who shuts and no man opens. We may first note that the key is the symbol of authority. Here is the picture of Jesus Christ as the one who has the final authority which no one can question.<p/>Behind this there is an Old Testament picture. Hezekiah had a faithful steward called Eliakim, who was over all his house and who alone could admit to the presence of the king. Isaiah heard God say of this faithful Eliakim: "and I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open" (<a href='B:290 22:22'>Isa 22:22</a>). It is this picture which is in John's mind. Jesus alone has authority to admit to the new Jerusalem, the new city of David. As the Te Deum has it: "Thou didst open the kingdom of Heaven to all believers." He is the new and living way into the presence of God.<p/>Philadelphia, The Open Door (<a href='B:730 3:7-13'>Rev 3:7-13</a> Continued)<p/>In <a href='B:730 3:8-9'>Rev 3:8-9</a> there is a problem of punctuation. In the early Greek manuscripts there was no punctuation at all. The problem is that the words "because you have a little strength, and because you have kept my word, and have not denied my name, can go equally well with what precedes them or with what follows. They may express either the reason why the door stands open before the Christians of Philadelphia or the reason why they will be given those who belong to the synagogue of Satan. We have taken them with the words which precede them.<p/>It is the great promise of the Risen Christ that he has set before the Christians of Philadelphia an open door which no man can ever shut. What is the meaning of this open door?<p/>(i) It may be the door of missionary opportunity. Writing to the Corinthians of the work which lies ahead of him, Paul says: "For a wide door for effective work has opened to me" (<a href='B:530 16:9'>1Co 16:9</a>). When he came to Troas, a door was opened to him by the Lord (<a href='B:540 2:12'>2Co 2:12</a>). He asks the Colossians to pray that a door of utterance may be opened for him (<a href='B:580 4:3'>Col 4:3</a>). When he came back to Antioch he told how God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles (<a href='B:510 14:27'>Act 14:27</a>).<p/>This meaning is particularly appropriate for Philadelphia. We have seen how it was a border town, standing where the boundaries of Lydia, Mysia and Phrygia met, and founded to be a missionary of Greek language and culture to the barbarous peoples beyond. It was on the road of the imperial postal service, which left the coast at Troas, came to Philadelphia via Pergamum, Thyatira and Sardis, and joined the great road out to Phrygia. The armies of Caesar travelled that road; the caravans of the merchant-men travelled it; and now it was beckoning the missionaries of Christ.<p/>Two things emerge here. (a) There is a door of missionary opportunity before every man and he need not go overseas to find it. Within the home, within the circle in which we move, within the parish in which we reside, there are those to be won for Christ. To use that door of opportunity is at once our privilege and our responsibility. (b) In the way of Christ the reward of work well done is more work to do. Philadelphia had proved faithful and the reward for her fidelity was still more work to do for Christ.<p/>(ii) It has been suggested that the door which is set before the Philadelphians is none other than Jesus himself. "I am the door, said Jesus (<a href='B:500 10:7'>Joh 10:7</a>; <a href='B:500 10:9'>Joh 10:9</a>).<p/>(iii) It has been suggested that the door is the door to the Messianic community. With Jesus Christ the new kingdom of David was inaugurated; and, just as in the ancient kingdom Eliakim had the keys to admit to the royal presence, so Jesus is the door to admit to the kingdom of God.<p/>(iv) Apart from all these things, for any man the door of prayer is always open. That is a door which no man can ever shut and it is one which Jesus opened when he assured men of the seeking love of God the Father.<p/>Philadelphia, Inheritors Of The Promise (<a href='B:730 3:7-13'>Rev 3:7-13</a> Continued)<p/>In <a href='B:730 3:9'>Rev 3:9</a> the promise of the Risen Christ is that some day the Jews who slander the Christians will kneel before them. This is an echo of an expectation of the Jews which finds frequent expression in the Old Testament.<p/>This was that in the new age, all nations would do humble homage to the Jews. This promise recurs again and again in Isaiah. "The sons of those who oppressed you shall come bending low to you; and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet" (<a href='B:290 60:14'>Isa 60:14</a>). "The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you and be yours, they shall follow yon; they shall come over in chains and bow down to you" (<a href='B:290 45:14'>Isa 45:14</a>). "Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers; with their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet" (<a href='B:290 49:23'>Isa 49:23</a>). Zechariah has a vision of the day when all men of all nations and languages shall turn to Jerusalem, "they shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you"' (<a href='B:450 8:22-23'>Zec 8:22-23</a>).<p/>It was the Christian belief that the Jewish nation had lost its place in the plan of God and that that place had passed to the Church. A Jew in God's sense of the term was not one who could claim racial descent from Abraham but one of any nation who had made the same venture of faith as he had (<a href='B:520 9:6-9'>Rom 9:6-9</a>). The Church was the Israel of God (<a href='B:550 6:16'>Gal 6:16</a>). It was, therefore, now true that all the promises which had been made to Israel had been inherited by the Church. It was to her that one day all men would humbly make their submission. This promise is a reversal of all that the Jews had expected; they had expected that all nations would kneel before them; but the day was to come when they with all nations would kneel before Christ.<p/>That is what the Philadelphian Church would see, at least in its beginnings, if its members were faithful. Up until now they had been faithful. In the sentence, "You have kept my word, and have not denied my name, both the verbs are in the aorist tense, which describes one definite act in past time; and the implication is that there had been some time of trial out of which the Philadelphian Church had emerged triumphantly true. They may have only a little strength; their resources may be small; but, if they are faithful, they will see the dawn of the triumph of Christ.<p/>Though few and small and weak your bands,<p/>Strong in your Captain's strength,<p/>Go to the conquest of all lands;<p/>All must be his at length.<p/>That which must keep a Christian faithful is the vision of a world for Christ, for the coming of such a world depends on the fidelity of the individual Christian.<p/>Philadelphia, Those Who Keep Are Kept (<a href='B:730 3:7-13'>Rev 3:7-13</a> Continued)<p/>It is the promise of the Risen Christ that he who keeps will be kept. "You have kept my commandment, he says, "therefore, I will keep you." Loyalty has its sure reward. In <a href='B:730 3:10'>Rev 3:10</a> in the Greek the phrase my command to endure is highly concentrated. Literally, it is the word of my endurance. The real meaning is that the promise is to those who have practised the same kind of endurance as Jesus displayed in his earthly life.<p/>When we are called upon to show endurance, the endurance of Jesus Christ supplies us with three things. First, it supplies us with an example. Second, it supplies us with an inspiration. We must walk looking to him, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame (<a href='B:650 12:1-2'>Heb 12:1-2</a>). Third the endurance of Jesus Christ is the guarantee of his sympathy with us when we are called upon to endure. "Because he himself has suffered and been tempted he is able to help those who are tempted" (<a href='B:650 2:18'>Heb 2:18</a>).<p/>In <a href='B:730 3:10'>Rev 3:10</a> we are back again amidst beliefs which are characteristically Jewish. As we have so often seen, the Jews divided time into two ages, the present age which is wholly bad, and the age to come, which is wholly good with in between the terrible time of destruction when judgment will fall upon the world. It is to that terrible time that John refers. Even when time comes to an end, and the world as we know it ceases to exist, he who is faithful to Christ will still be said in his keeping.<p/>Philadelphia, Promise And Warning (<a href='B:730 3:7-13'>Rev 3:7-13</a> Continued)<p/>In <a href='B:730 3:11'>Rev 3:11</a> there is promise and warning combined.<p/>The Risen Christ tells them that he is coming quickly. It has been said that in the New Testament the Coming of Christ is continually used for two purposes.<p/>(i) It is used as a warning to the heedless. Jesus himself tells of the wicked servant, who took advantage of his master's absence to conduct himself evilly and to whom the master made a sudden return that brought judgment. (<a href='B:470 24:48-51'>Mat 24:48-51</a>). Paul warns the Thessalonians of the terrible fate which awaits the disobedient and the unbelieving when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven and shall take swift and final vengeance on his enemies (<a href='B:600 1:7-9'>2Th 1:7-9</a>). Peter warns his people that they will give account for their deeds to him who comes to judge the living and the dead (<a href='B:670 4:5'>1Pe 4:5</a>).<p/>(ii) It is used as a comfort to the oppressed. James urges patient endurance on his people because the coming of the Lord is drawing near (<a href='B:660 5:8'>Jas 5:8</a>); soon their distresses will be at an end. The writer to the Hebrews urges patience, for soon he that shall come will come (<a href='B:650 10:37'>Heb 10:37</a>).<p/>In the New Testament men used the idea of the Coming of Christ as a warning to the heedless and as a comfort to the oppressed. It is quite true that, in the literal sense, Jesus Christ did not come back to those who were so warned and exhorted. But no man knows when eternity will invade his life and God will bid him rise and come; and that must warn the careless to prepare to meet his God and cheer the oppressed with the thought of the coming glory of the faithful soul.<p/>There is another warning here. The Risen Christ bids the Philadelphians hold to what they have, that no one may take their crown (<a href='B:730 3:11'>Rev 3:11</a>). It is not a question of someone stealing their crown but of God taking it from them and giving it to someone else, because they were not worthy to wear it. Trench makes a list of people in the Bible who lost their place to someone else because they had shown that they were not fit to hold it. Esau lost his place to Jacob (<a href='B:10 25:34'>Gen 25:34</a>; <a href='B:10 27:36'>Gen 27:36</a>). Reuben, unstable as water, lost his place to Judah (<a href='B:10 49:4'>Gen 49:4</a>; <a href='B:10 49:8'>Gen 49:8</a>). Saul lost his place to David (<a href='B:90 16:1'>1Sa 16:1</a>; <a href='B:90 16:13'>1Sa 16:13</a>). Shebna lost his place to Eliakim (<a href='B:290 22:15-25'>Isa 22:15-25</a>). Joab and Abiathar lost their places to Benaiah and Zadok (<a href='B:110 2:25'>1Ki 2:25</a>). Judas lost his place to Matthias (<a href='B:510 1:25-26'>Act 1:25-26</a>). The Jews lost their place to the Gentiles (<a href='B:520 11:11'>Rom 11:11</a>).<p/>There is tragedy here. It sometimes happens that a man is given a task to do and goes towards it with the highest hopes; but it begins to be seen that he is too small for the task and he is removed from the task and it is given to someone else. That can happen with the tasks of God. God has a task for every man; but it may be that the man proves himself unfit for the task and it is given to another.<p/>It is blessedly true that even out of failure a man can redeem himself--but only if he casts himself upon the grace of Jesus Christ.<p/>Philadelphia, Many Promises (<a href='B:730 3:7-13'>Rev 3:7-13</a> Continued)<p/>In <a href='B:730 3:12'>Rev 3:12</a> we come to the promises of the Risen Christ to those who are faithful. They are many and most would paint pictures which would be vivid and real to the people of Philadelphia.<p/>(i) The faithful Christian will be a pillar in the Temple of God. A pillar of the Church is a great and honoured support. Peter and James and John were the pillars of the early church in Jerusalem (<a href='B:550 2:9'>Gal 2:9</a>). Abraham, said the Jewish Rabbis, was the pillar of the world.<p/>(ii) The faithful Christian will go out no more. There may be something of two meanings here.<p/>(a) This may be a promise of security. We have seen how for years Philadelphia was terrorized by recurring earthquakes of the earth and how, when such times came, its citizens fled into the open country to escape and, when the tremors ended, came uncertainly back. Life was lived in an atmosphere of insecurity. There is for the faithful Christian the promise of a settled serenity in the peace which Jesus Christ can give.<p/>(b) Some scholars think that what is here promised is fixity of moral character. In this life even the best of us is sometimes bad. But he who is faithful will in the end come to a time when he is like a pillar fixed in the Temple of God and goodness has become the constant atmosphere of his life. If this is the meaning, this phrase describes the life of untroubled goodness which is lived when, after the battles of earth, we reach the presence of God.<p/>(iii) Jesus Christ will write upon the faithful Christian the name of his God. There may be three pictures here.<p/>(a) In the cities of Asia Minor, and in Philadelphia, when a priest died after a lifetime of faithfulness, men honoured him, by erecting a new pillar in the temple in which he had served and by inscribing his name and the name of his father upon it. This then would describe the lasting honour which Christ pays to his faithful ones.<p/>(b) It is just possible that there is a reference to the custom of branding a slave with the initials of his owner to show that he belongs to him. Just so God will put his mark upon his faithful ones. Whichever picture is behind this, the sense is that the faithful ones will wear the unmistakable badge of God.<p/>(c) It is just possible that we have an Old Testament picture. When God told to Moses the blessing which Aaron and the priests must pronounce over the people, he said: "They shall put my name upon the people of Israel" (<a href='B:40 6:22-27'>Num 6:22-27</a>). It is the same idea again; it is as if the mark of God was upon Israel so that all men may know that they are his people.<p/>(iv) On the faithful Christian the name of the new Jerusalem is to be written. That stands for the gift of citizenship in the city of God to the faithful Christian. According to Ezekiel the name of the re-created city of God was to be The Lord is there (<a href='B:330 48:35'>Eze 48:35</a>). The faithful ones will be citizens of the city where there is always the presence of God.<p/>(v) On the faithful Christian Christ will write his own new name. The people of Philadelphia knew all about taking a new name. When in A.D. 17 a terrible earthquake devastated their city and Tiberius, the Emperor, dealt kindly with them, remitting taxation and making a generous gift to rebuild it, they in their gratitude, called the city Neocaesarea, the New City of Caesar, and later when Vespasian was kind to them, they called it Flavia, for that was the family name of Vespasian. Jesus Christ will mark his faithful ones with his new name: what that name was we need not even speculate, for no man knows it (<a href='B:730 19:12'>Rev 19:12</a>), but in the time to come, when Christ has conquered all, his faithful ones will bear the badge which shows that they are his and share his triumph.<p/><b>THE LETTER TO LAODICEA</b> (<a href='B:730 3:14-22'>Rev 3:14-22</a>)


text:
 And to the angel of the Church in Laodicea, write:<p/>These things says the Amen, the witness on whom you can rely and who is true, the moving cause of the creation of God. I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are tepid and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say, I am rich and I have acquired riches, and I need nothing, and are quite unaware that it is you who are the wretched and the pitiable one, the poor and the blind and the naked one, I advise you to buy from me gold that has been refined by fire that you may be rich, white raiment that you may be clothed and that the shame of your nakedness may not be openly displayed, and eye-salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.<p/>I rebuke and discipline all those whom I love. Be eager, therefore, and repent.<p/>Behold, I am standing at the decor and knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and will have my meal with him, and he with me.<p/>I will give to him who overcomes to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and took my seat with my Father in his throne.<p/>Let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches.<p/></i> Laodicea, The Church Condemned (<a href='B:730 3:14-22'>Rev 3:14-22</a>)<p/>Laodicea has the grim distinction of being the only Church of which the Risen Christ has nothing good to say.<p/>In the ancient world there were at least six cities called Laodicea and this one was called Laodicea on the Lycus to distinguish it from the others. It was founded about 250 B.C. by Antiochus of Syria and was named after his wife Laodice.<p/>Its importance was due entirely to its position. The road from Ephesus to the east and to Syria was the most important in Asia. It began at the coast at Ephesus and it had to find a way to climb up to the central plateau 8,500 feet up. It set out along the valley of the River Maeander until it reached what were known as the Gates of Phrygia. Beyond this point lay a broad valley where Lydia, Phrygia and Caria met. The Maeander entered that valley by a narrow, precipitous gorge through which no road could pass. The road, therefore, detoured through the Lycus valley. In that valley Laodicea stood.<p/>It was literally astride the great road to the east which went straight through Laodicea, entering by the Ephesian Gate and leaving by the Syrian Gate. That in itself would have been enough to make Laodicea one of the great commercial and strategic centres of the ancient world. Originally Laodicea had been a fortress; but it had the serious handicap that all its water supply had to come by underground aqueduct from springs no less than six miles away, a perilous situation for a town besieged. Two other roads passed through the gates of Laodicea, that from Pergamum and the Hermus Valley to Pisidia and Pamphylia and the coast at Perga and that from eastern Caria to central and west Phrygia.<p/>As Ramsay says: "It only needed peace to make Laodicea a great commercial and financial centre." That peace came with the dominion of Rome. When the Roman peace gave it its opportunity it became, as Pliny called it, "a most distinguished city."<p/>Laodicea had certain characteristics which have left their mark on the letter written to it.<p/>(i) It was a great banking and financial centre. When Cicero was travelling in Asia Minor it was at Laodicea that he cashed his letters of credit. It was one of the wealthiest cities in the world. In A.D. 61 it was devastated by an earthquake; but so rich and independent were its citizens that they refused any help from the Roman government and out of their own resources rebuilt their city. Tacitus writes: "One of the most famous cities of Asia, Laodicea, was in that same year overthrown by an earthquake and without any relief from us recovered itself by its own resources" (Tacitus: Annals 14: 27). No wonder that Laodicea could boast that it was rich and had amassed wealth and had need of nothing. It was so wealthy that it did not even need God.<p/>(ii) It was a great centre of clothing manufacture. The sheep which grazed round Laodicea were famous for their soft, violet-black, glossy wool. It mass-produced cheap outer garments. It was specially connected with a tunic called the trimita, so much so, indeed, that it was sometimes called Trimitaria. Laodicea was so proud of the garments it produced that it never realized it was naked in the sight of God.<p/>(iii) It was a very considerable medical centre. Thirteen miles to the west, between Laodicea and the Gate of Phrygia, stood the temple of the Carian god Men. At one time that temple was the social, administrative and commercial centre of the whole area. Until less than a hundred years ago great markets were regularly held on its site. In particular the temple was the centre of a medical school which was transferred to Laodicea itself. So famous were its doctors that the names of some appear on the coins of Laodicea. Two of them were called Zeuxis and Alexander Philalethes.<p/>This medical school was famous for two things throughout the world, ointment for the ear and ointment for the eyes. The King James and Revised Standard Versions speak of eye-salve. The word for salve is kollourion (<a href='S:G2854'>G2854</a>) which literally means a little roll of bread. The reason for the word is that this famous tephra Phrygia, Phrygian powder, was exported all over the world in solidified tablet form in the shape of little rolls. Laodicea was so conscious of its medical skill in the care of the eyes that it never realized that it was spiritually blind.<p/>The words of the Risen Christ arise directly from the prosperity and the skill in which Laodicea took so much pride and which had in the minds of its citizens, and even of its Church, eliminated the need for God.<p/>(iv) We add a final fact about Laodicea. It was in an area where there was a very large Jewish population. So many Jews emigrated here that the Rabbis inveighed against the Jews who sought the wines and baths of Phrygia. In 62 B.C. Flaccus, the governor of the province, became alarmed at the amount of currency which the Jews were exporting in payment of the Temple tax which every male Jew paid and put an embargo on the export of currency. The result was that twenty pounds weight of gold was seized as contraband in Laodicea and one hundred pounds in Apameia in Phrygia. That amount of gold would be equal to 15,000 silver drachmae. The Jewish Temple tax amounted to half a shekel, which was equal to two drachmae. This means that in the district there were at least 7,500 male Jews. In Hierapolis, six miles away from Laodicea, there was a "Congregation of Jews" which had power to levy and to retain fines, and an archive office where Jewish legal documents were specially kept. There can have been few areas where the Jews were wealthier and more influential.<p/>Laodicea, The Claims Of Christ (<a href='B:730 3:14-22'>Rev 3:14-22</a> Continued)<p/>Of all the seven Churches that of Laodicea is most unsparingly condemned. In it there is no redeeming feature. It is interesting to note that the third century work The Apostolic Constitutions (8: 46) says that Archippus was the first Bishop of the Church in Laodicea. When Paul was writing to the neighbouring Church of Colossae, he says sternly: "Say to Archippus, See that you fulfil the ministry which you have received in the Lord" (<a href='B:580 4:17'>Col 4:17</a>). It would seem that Archippus was somehow failing in his duty. That was thirty years before the Revelation was written; but it may be that as long ago as that the rot had set in in the Church in Laodicea and an unsatisfactory ministry had sown the seeds of degeneration.<p/>Like all the letters it begins with a series of great titles of Jesus Christ.<p/>(i) He is the Amen. This is a strange title and may go back to either of two origins.<p/>(a) In <a href='B:290 65:16'>Isa 65:16</a> God is called the God of truth; but in the Hebrew he is called the God of Amen. Amen is the word which is often put at the end of a solemn statement in order to guarantee its truth. If God is the God of Amen, he is utterly to be relied upon. This would mean that Jesus Christ is the One whose promises are true beyond all doubt.<p/>(b) In John's gospel Jesus' statements often begin: "Truly, truly, I say to you" (e.g. <a href='B:500 1:51'>Joh 1:51</a>; <a href='B:500 3:3'>Joh 3:3</a>; <a href='B:500 3:5'>Joh 3:5</a>; <a href='B:500 3:11'>Joh 3:11</a>). The Greek for truly is Amen. It is possible that when Jesus Christ is called the Amen it is a reminiscence of his own way of speaking. The meaning would be the same, Jesus is one whose promises can be relied upon.<p/>(ii) He is the witness on whom we can rely and who is true. Trench points out that a witness must satisfy three essential conditions. (a) He must have seen with his own eyes that of which he tells. (b) He must be absolutely honest, so that he repeats with accuracy that which he has heard and seen. (c) He must have the ability to tell what he has to say, so that his witness may make its true impression on those who hear. Jesus Christ perfectly satisfied these conditions. He can tell of God, because he came from him. We can rely on his words for he is the Amen. He is able to tell his message, for never did man speak as he did.<p/>(iii) As the Revised Standard Version has it, he is the beginning of God's creation. This phrase, as it stands in English, is ambiguous. It could mean, either, that Jesus was the first person to be created or that he began the process of creation, as Trench put it, "dynamically the beginning." It is the second meaning which is intended here. The word for beginning is arche (<a href='S:G746'>G746</a>). In early Christian writings we read that Satan is the arche (<a href='S:G746'>G746</a>) of death, that is to say, death takes its origin in him; and that God is the arche (<a href='S:G746'>G746</a>) of all things, that is, all things find their beginning in him.<p/>The connection of the Son with creation is frequently made in the New Testament. John begins his gospel by saying of the Word: "All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made" (<a href='B:500 1:3'>Joh 1:3</a>). "In him, says Paul, "all things were created" (<a href='B:580 1:15'>Col 1:15</a>; <a href='B:580 1:18'>Col 1:18</a>). The insistence on the Son's part in creation was due to the heretics who explained sin and disease by saying that the world had been created by a false and inferior god. It is the Christian insistence that this world is God's creation and that its sin and sorrow are not his fault, but are caused by the disobedience of men. As the Christian sees it, the God of creation and the God of redemption are one and the same.<p/>Laodicea, Neither One Thing Nor Another (<a href='B:730 3:14-22'>Rev 3:14-22</a> Continued)<p/>The condemnation of Laodicea begins with a picture of almost crude vividness; because the Laodiceans are neither cold nor hot, they have about them a kind of nauseating quality, which will make the Risen Christ vomit them out of his mouth.<p/>The exact meaning of the words is to be noted. Cold is psuchros (<a href='S:G5593'>G5593</a>) ; and it can mean cold to the point of freezing. Ecclesiasticus (Sir_43:20) speaks of the cold north wind which makes the ice congeal upon the waters. Hot is zestos (<a href='S:G2200'>G2200</a>) ; and it means hot to boiling point. Tepid is chliaros (<a href='S:G5513'>G5513</a>). Things which are tepid often have a nauseating effect. Hot food and cold food can both be appetizing, but tepid food will often make the stomach turn. Directly opposite Laodicea, on the other bank of the Lycus, and in full view, stood Hierapolis, famous for its hot mineral springs. Often hot mineral springs are nauseating in their taste and make the person who drinks them want to be physically sick. That is the way in which the Church at Laodicea affected the Risen Christ. Here is something to make us think:<p/>(i) The one attitude which the Risen Christ unsparingly condemns is indifference. It has been said that an author can write a good biography if he loves his subject or hates him but not if he is coldly indifferent. Of all things indifference is the hardest to combat. The problem of modern evangelism is not hostility to Christianity; it would be better if it were so. The problem is that to so many Christianity and the Church have ceased to have any relevance and men regard them with complete indifference. This indifference can be broken down only by the actual demonstration that Christianity is a power to make life strong and a grace to make life beautiful.<p/>(ii) The one impossible attitude to Christianity is neutrality. Jesus Christ works through men; and the man who remains completely detached in his attitude to him has by that very fact refused to undertake the work which is the divine purpose for him. The man who will not submit to Christ has necessarily resisted him.<p/>(iii) Hard as it may sound, the meaning of this terrible threat of the Risen Christ is that it is better not even to start on the Christian way than to start and then to drift into a conventional and meaningless Christianity. The fire must be kept burning. There is an unwritten saying of Jesus: "He who is near me is near the fire." And the way to "maintain the spiritual glow" (<a href='B:520 12:11'>Rom 12:11</a>, Moffatt) is to live close to Christ.<p/>Laodicea, The Wealth That Is Poverty (<a href='B:730 3:14-22'>Rev 3:14-22</a> Continued)<p/>The tragedy of Laodicea was that it was convinced of its own wealth and blind to its own poverty. Humanly speaking, anyone would say that there was not a more prosperous town in Asia Minor. Spiritually speaking, the Risen Christ declares that there was not a more poverty-stricken community. Laodicea prided itself on three things; and each is taken in turn and shown at its true value.<p/>(i) It prided itself on its financial wealth. It was rich and had acquired wealth and had need of nothing--so it thought. The Risen Christ advises Laodicea to buy gold refined in the fire. It may be that gold tried in the fire stands for faith for it is thus that Peter describes faith (<a href='B:670 1:7'>1Pe 1:7</a>). Wealth can do much but there are things that it can never do. It cannot buy happiness nor give a man health either of body or of mind; it cannot bring comfort in sorrow nor fellowship in loneliness. If all that a man has to meet life with is wealth, he is poor indeed. But if a man has a faith tried and refined in the crucible of experience, there is nothing which he cannot face; and he is rich indeed.<p/>(ii) Laodicea prided itself on its clothing trade. The garments made there were famous over all the world, and the wool of the sheep of Laodicea was a luxury article which all men knew, But, says the Risen Christ, Laodicea is spiritually naked; if it wants really to be clothed it must come to him. The Risen Christ speaks of "the shame of the nakedness of Laodicea."<p/>This would mean even more in the ancient world than now. In the ancient world to be stripped naked was the worst humiliation. It was thus that Hanum treated the servants of David (<a href='B:100 10:4'>2Sa 10:4</a>). The threat to Egypt is that Assyria will lead her people naked and barefoot (<a href='B:290 20:4'>Isa 20:4</a>). It was Ezekiel's threat to Israel that her enemies would strip her of her clothes (<a href='B:330 16:37-39'>Eze 16:37-39</a>; <a href='B:330 23:26-29'>Eze 23:26-29</a>; compare <a href='B:350 2:3'>Hos 2:3</a>; <a href='B:350 2:9'>Hos 2:9</a>; <a href='B:400 1:8'>Mic 1:8</a>; <a href='B:400 1:11'>Mic 1:11</a>). God's threat passed on by Nahum to the disobedient people was: "I will let nations look on your nakedness, and on your kingdoms shame" (<a href='B:410 3:5'>Nah 3:5</a>). On the other hand, to be clothed in fine raiment was the greatest honour. Pharaoh honoured Joseph by clothing him in vestures of fine linen (<a href='B:10 41:42'>Gen 41:42</a>). Daniel is clothed in purple by Belshazzar (<a href='B:340 5:29'>Dan 5:29</a>). The royal apparel is for the man whom the king honours (<a href='B:190 6:6-11'>Est 6:6-11</a>). When the prodigal son returns, it is the best robe that is put upon him (<a href='B:490 15:22'>Luk 15:22</a>).<p/>Laodicea prides itself on the magnificent garments it produces but spiritually it is naked and nakedness is shame. The Risen Christ urges it to buy white raiment from him. This may well stand for the beauties of life and character which only the grace of Christ can give. There is little point in a man adorning his body, if he has nothing to adorn his soul. Not all the clothes in the world will beautify a person whose nature is twisted and whose character is ugly.<p/>(iii) Laodicea prided itself on its famous eye-salve; but the facts of the case show that it was blind to its own poverty and nakedness. Trench says: "The beginning of all true amendment is to see ourselves as we are." All eye-salves in the ancient world caused the eyes to smart at their first application, and Laodicea had no wish to see itself as it was.<p/>Laodicea, Love's Chastisement (<a href='B:730 3:14-22'>Rev 3:14-22</a> Continued)<p/><a href='B:730 3:19'>Rev 3:19</a> is one whose teaching runs throughout Scripture. "I rebuke and discipline all those whom I love." There is a very lovely thing about the way this is put. It is a quotation from <a href='B:240 3:12'>Pro 3:12</a>, but one word is altered. In the Greek of the Septuagint the word for love is agapan (<a href='S:G25'>G25</a>) which indicates the unconquerable attitude of goodwill which nothing can turn to hate; but it is a word which maybe has more of the head than the heart in it; and in the quotation the Risen Christ changes agapan (<a href='S:G25'>G25</a>) to philein (<a href='S:G5368'>G5368</a>) which is the most tender affection. We might well paraphrase it: "It is the people who are dearest to me on whom I exercise the sternest discipline."<p/>Let us first take the word rebuke. The Greek is elegchein (<a href='S:G1651'>G1651</a>) and it describes the kind of rebuke which compels a man to see the error of his ways. Elegchos (<a href='S:G1650'>G1650</a>) is the corresponding noun, and Aristotle defines it: "Elegchos (<a href='S:G1650'>G1650</a>) is the proof that a thing cannot be otherwise than we say." The most vivid example of this kind of rebuke is the way in which Nathan opened David's eyes to his sin (<a href='B:100 12:1-14'>2Sa 12:1-14</a>). The rebuke of God is not so much punishment as illumination.<p/>Let us see how the idea of discipline runs through the Bible.<p/>It is very characteristic of the teaching of Proverbs. "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him" (<a href='B:240 13:24'>Pro 13:24</a>). "Withhold not correction from the child; for, if you beat him with a rod he will not die. If you beat him with the rod you will save his life from Sheol" (<a href='B:240 23:13-14'>Pro 23:13-14</a>). "Faithful are the wounds of a friend" (<a href='B:240 27:6'>Pro 27:6</a>). "The rod and reproof give wisdom; but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.... Discipline your son and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart" (<a href='B:240 29:15'>Pro 29:15</a>; <a href='B:240 29:17'>Pro 29:17</a>). "Blessed is the man whom thou dost chasten, O Lord, and whom thou dost teach out of thy law" (<a href='B:230 94:12'>Psa 94:12</a>). "Behold, happy is the man whom God reproves; therefore, despise not the chastening of the Almighty" (<a href='B:220 5:17'>Job 5:17</a>). "We are chastened of the Lord that we may not be condemned along with the world" (<a href='B:530 11:32'>1Co 11:32</a>). "For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is testing you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons" (<a href='B:650 11:6'>Heb 11:6</a>; <a href='B:650 11:8'>Heb 11:8</a>). "He that loveth his son will continue to lay stripes upon him, that he may have joy of him in the end. He that chastiseth his son shall have profit of him and shall glory of him among his acquaintances" (Ecc 30:1).<p/>It is, in fact, God's final punishment to leave a man alone. "Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone" (<a href='B:350 4:17'>Hos 4:17</a>). As Trench has it: "The great Master-builder squares and polishes with many strokes of the chisel and hammer the stones which shall find a place at last in the walls of the heavenly Jerusalem.... It is the crushed grape, and not the untouched, from which the costly liquor distils." There is no surer way of allowing a child to end in ruin than to allow him to do as he likes. It is a fact of life that the best athlete and the finest scholar receive the most demanding training. The discipline of God is not something which we should resent, but something for which we should be devoutly thankful.<p/>Laodicea, The Christ Who Knocks (<a href='B:730 3:14-22'>Rev 3:14-22</a> Continued)<p/>In <a href='B:730 3:20'>Rev 3:20</a> we have one of the most famous pictures of Jesus in the whole New Testament. "Behold, says the Risen Christ, "I am standing at the door and knocking." This picture has been derived from two different sources.<p/>(i) It has been taken as a warning that the end is near, and that the Coming of Christ is at hand. The Christian must be ready to open whenever he hears his Lord knocking (<a href='B:490 12:36'>Luk 12:36</a>). When the signs come, the Christian will know that the last time is near, even at the doors (<a href='B:480 13:29'>Mar 13:29</a>; <a href='B:470 24:33'>Mat 24:33</a>). The Christian must live well and live in love because the judge is standing at the doors (<a href='B:660 5:9'>Jas 5:9</a>). It is true that the New Testament uses this picture to express the imminence of the coming of Christ. If that is the picture here, this phrase contains a warning and tells men to have a care, for Jesus Christ the Judge and King is at the door.<p/>(ii) We cannot say that that meaning is impossible and yet it does not seem to fit the context, for the atmosphere of the passage is not so much warning as love. It is much better to take this saying of Christ as expressing the appeal of the lover of the souls of men. The origin of the passage is much more likely to be in Solomon's Song when the lover stands at the door of his beloved and pleads with her to open. "Hark! my beloved is knocking. Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, perfect one" (SS 5:2-6). Here is Christ the lover knocking at the door of the hearts of men. And in this picture we see certain great truths of the Christian religion.<p/>(a) We see the pleading of Christ. He stands at the door of the human heart and knocks. The unique new fact that Christianity brought into this world is that God is the seeker of men. No other religion has the vision of a seeking God.<p/>In his book Out of Nazareth Donald Baillie cites three witnesses to the uniqueness of this conception. Montefiore, the great Jewish scholar, said that the one thing which no Jewish prophet or Rabbi ever conceived of is the "conception of God actually going out in quest of sinful men, who were not seeking him, but who were turned away from him." The National Christian Council of Japan in a document found the distinctive difference of Christianity from all other religions in, "Man not seeking God, but God taking the initiative in seeking man." St. Bernard away back in the twelfth century used often to say to his monks that, "However early they might wake and rise for prayer in their chapel on a cold mid-winter morning or even in the dead of night, they would always find God awake before them, waiting for them--nay, it was he who had awakened them to seek his face."<p/>Here is the picture of Christ searching for sinful men who did not want him. Surely love can go no further than that.<p/>(b) We see the offer of Christ. As the King James Version has it, "I will come in and sup with him." The word translated "sup" is deipnein (<a href='S:G1172'>G1172</a>) and its corresponding noun is deipnon (<a href='S:G1173'>G1173</a>). The Greeks had three meals in the day. There was akratisma, breakfast, which was no more than a piece of dried bread dipped in wine. There was ariston (<a href='S:G712'>G712</a>), the midday meal. A man did not go home for it; it was simply a picnic snack eaten by the side of the pavement, or in some colonnade, or in the city square. There was deipnon (<a href='S:G1173'>G1173</a>) ; this was the evening meal; the main meal of the day; people lingered over it, for the day's work was done. It was the deipnon (<a href='S:G1173'>G1173</a>) that Christ would share with the man who answered his knock, no hurried meal, but that where people lingered in fellowship. If a man will open the door, Jesus Christ will come in and linger long with him.<p/>(iii) We see human responsibility. Christ knocks and a man can answer or refuse to answer. Christ does not break in; he must be invited in. Even on the Emmaus road, "He appeared to be going further" (<a href='B:490 24:28'>Luk 24:28</a>). Holman Hunt was right when in his famous picture The Light of the World he painted the door of the human heart with no handle on the outside, for it can be opened only from within. As Trench has it: "Every man is lord of the house of his own heart; it is his fortress; he must open the gates of it, and he has "the mournful prerogative and privilege of refusing to open." The man who refuses to open is "blindly at strife with his own blessedness." He is a "miserable conqueror."<p/>Christ pleads and offers; but it is all to no avail if a man will not open the door.<p/>This Means You (<a href='B:730 3:14-22'>Rev 3:14-22</a> Continued)<p/>The promise of the Risen Christ is that the victor will sit with him in his own victorious throne. We will get the picture right if we remember that the eastern throne was more like a couch than a single seat. The victor in life will share the throne of the victorious Christ.<p/>Every letter finishes with the words: "Let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches." This saying does two things.<p/>(i) It individualizes the message of the letters. It says to every man: "This means you." So often we listen to a message which comes through a preacher and apply it to everyone but ourselves. In our heart of hearts we believe that the stern words cannot possibly be meant for us and that the promises are too good to be true for us. This phrase says to every one of us: "All these things are meant for you."<p/>(ii) It generalizes the message of the letters. It means that their message was not confined to the people in the seven Churches nineteen hundred years ago, but that through them the Spirit is speaking to every man in every generation. We have set these letters carefully against the local situations to which they were addressed; but their message is not local and temporary. It is eternal and in them the Spirit still speaks to us. 


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<b>THE OPENING HEAVENS AND THE OPENING DOOR</b> (<a href='B:730 4:1'>Rev 4:1</a>)<p/><i> 4:1 After this I saw, and, behold, a door in heaven was standing open, and there came to me the voice that I had heard before, speaking to me like the sound of a trumpet, and the speaker said: "Come up here, and I will show you the events which must follow these things."<p/></i><p/>In <a href='B:730 2:1-29'>Rev 2:1-29</a>; <a href='B:730 3:1-22'>Rev 3:1-22</a> we saw the Risen Christ walking amidst his churches upon earth. Now the scene changes to the court of heaven.<p/>A door was opened in heaven for the seer. There are two possibilities here: (a) It may be that he is thought of as already being in heaven, and the door is opening into still more holy parts of heaven. (b) It is much more likely that the door is from earth to heaven. Primitive Jewish thought conceived of the sky as a vast solid dome, set like a roof upon a square flat earth; and the idea here is that beyond the dome of the sky there is heaven, and a door is opened in that dome to give the seer entry into heaven.<p/>In the early chapters of the Revelation there are three of the most important doors in life.<p/>(i) There is the door of opportunity. "Behold," said the Risen Christ to the Church at Philadelphia, "I have set before you an open door" (<a href='B:730 3:8'>Rev 3:8</a>). That was the door of the glorious opportunity by which the message of the gospel could be taken to the regions beyond. God sets before every man his own door of opportunity.<p/>(ii) There is the door of the human heart. "Behold, says the Risen Christ, "I stand at the door and knock (<a href='B:730 3:20'>Rev 3:20</a>). At the door of every heart there comes the knock of the nail-pierced hand, and a man may open or refuse to open.<p/>(iii) There is the door of revelation. "I saw a door in heaven standing open, says the seer. God offers to every man the door which leads to the knowledge of God and of life eternal.<p/>More than once the New Testament speaks of the heavens being opened; and it is of the greatest significance to see the object of that opening.<p/>(i) There is the opening of the heavens for vision. "The heavens were opened and I saw visions of God" (<a href='B:330 1:1'>Eze 1:1</a>). God sends to those who seek him the vision of himself and of his truth.<p/>(ii) There is the opening for the descent of the Spirit. When Jesus was baptized by John, he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon himself (<a href='B:480 1:10'>Mar 1:10</a>). When a man's mind and soul seek upwards, the Spirit of God descends to meet them.<p/>(iii) There is the opening for the revelation of the glory of Christ. It was the promise of Jesus to Nathanael that he would see the heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man (<a href='B:500 1:51'>Joh 1:51</a>). Some day the heavens will open to disclose the glory of Christ; and inevitably that day will bring joy to those who have loved him and amazement and fear to those who have despised him.<p/><b>THE THRONE OF GOD</b> (<a href='B:730 4:2-3'>Rev 4:2-3</a>)


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 Immediately, I fell under the influence of the Spirit; and, behold, a throne stood in heaven, and there was One seated on it. And he who was seated on the throne was like a jasper stone and a sardian to look at; and there was a rainbow circling round the throne, like an emerald to look at.<p/></i><p/>When the seer entered the door into heaven, he fell into an ecstasy.<p/>In heaven he saw a throne and God on the throne. The throne of God is a common Old Testament picture. The prophet said: "I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him" (<a href='B:110 22:19'>1Ki 22:19</a>). The Psalmist has it: "God sits on his holy throne" (<a href='B:230 47:8'>Psa 47:8</a>). Isaiah saw the Lord "sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up" (<a href='B:290 6:1'>Isa 6:1</a>). In the Revelation the throne of God is mentioned in every chapter except <a href='B:730 2:1-29'>Rev 2:1-29</a>; <a href='B:730 8:1-13'>Rev 8:1-13</a> and <a href='B:730 9:1-21'>Rev 9:1-21</a>. The throne of God stands for the majesty of God. When Handel was asked how he had come to write the Messiah, his answer was: "I saw the heavens opened and God upon his great white throne."<p/>John saw One seated upon the throne. There is something very interesting here. John makes no attempt to describe God in any human shape. As Swete says, "He rigorously shuns anthropomorphic details." He describes God in "the flashing of gem-like colours, but he never mentions any kind of form. It is the Bible's way to see God in terms of light. The Pastorals describe God as "dwelling in the light that no man can approach unto" (<a href='B:610 6:16'>1Ti 6:16</a>). And long before that the Psalmist had spoken of God who covers himself with light as a garment (<a href='B:230 104:2'>Psa 104:2</a>).<p/>John sees his vision in terms of the lights which flash from precious stones. We do not know what exactly these stones were. The three names here are the jasper, the sardian and the emerald. One thing is certain; these were typical of the most precious stones. Plato mentions the three of them together as representative of precious stones (Plato, Phaedo 111 E). They were part of the rich array of the King of Tyre (<a href='B:330 28:13'>Eze 28:13</a>); they were among the precious stones on the breast-plate of the High Priest (<a href='B:20 28:17'>Exo 28:17</a>); and they were among the stones which were the foundation of the Holy City (<a href='B:730 21:19'>Rev 21:19</a>).<p/>The jasper is nowadays a dull opaque stone, but in the ancient world it seems to have been a translucent rock crystal, through which the light would come with an almost unbearable scintillation. Some think that here it means a diamond, and this is not impossible. The sardian, so called because it was said to be found mainly near Sardis, was blood-red; it was a gem which was frequently used to have engravings incised on it and may correspond to the modern carnelian. The emerald is most likely the green emerald which we know.<p/>The picture of the presence of God which John saw was like the blinding flash of a diamond in the sun, with the dazzling blood-red of the sardian; and there flashed through both the more restful green of the emerald, for in that way alone could the eye bear to look upon the sight.<p/>It may well be that the jasper stands for the unbearable brightness of the purity of God; that the blood-red sardian stands for his avenging wrath; and that the gentle green of the emerald stands for his mercy by which alone we can meet his purity and his justice.<p/><b>THE TWENTY-FOUR ELDERS</b> (<a href='B:730 4:4'>Rev 4:4</a>)<p/><i> 4:4 And in a circle round the throne I saw twenty-four thrones, and seated upon the thrones twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads.<p/></i><p/>We now approach one of the difficult passages for which the Revelation is notorious. In it we meet twenty-four elders and then four living creatures; and we have to try to identify them.<p/>We find the twenty-four elders frequently appearing in the Revelation. Let us set down the facts about them. They sit around the throne, clothed in white robes and wearing crowns (<a href='B:730 4:4'>Rev 4:4</a>; <a href='B:730 14:3'>Rev 14:3</a>); they cast their crowns before the throne (<a href='B:730 4:10'>Rev 4:10</a>); they continually worship and praise (<a href='B:730 5:11'>Rev 5:11</a>; <a href='B:730 5:14'>Rev 5:14</a>; <a href='B:730 7:11'>Rev 7:11</a>; <a href='B:730 11:16'>Rev 11:16</a>; <a href='B:730 14:3'>Rev 14:3</a>; <a href='B:730 19:4'>Rev 19:4</a>); they bring to God the prayers of the saints (<a href='B:730 5:8'>Rev 5:8</a>); one of them encourages the seer, when he is sad (<a href='B:730 5:5'>Rev 5:5</a>); and one of them acts as interpreter of one of the visions (<a href='B:730 7:13'>Rev 7:13</a>). We may note five lines of explanation.<p/>(i) In the Old Testament there are indications of a kind of council surrounding God. The prophet sees God sitting on his throne and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left (<a href='B:110 22:19'>1Ki 22:19</a>). In Job the sons of God come to meet with him (<a href='B:220 1:6'>Job 1:6</a>; <a href='B:220 2:1'>Job 2:1</a>). Isaiah speaks of God reigning in glory--among his elders (<a href='B:290 24:23'>Isa 24:23</a>). In the Genesis story of the garden, the accusation against Adam is that he has eaten of the fruit of the forbidden tree and become like one of us (<a href='B:10 3:22'>Gen 3:22</a>). It may be that the idea of the elders has something to do with the idea of God's council surrounding him.<p/>(ii) When the Jews were in Babylon, they could not avoid coming into contact with Babylonian ideas. And it might well be that sometimes they incorporated Babylonian ideas into their own thinking, especially if there was some initial resemblance. The Babylonians had twenty-four star gods, for the worship of the stars was a part of Babylonian religion; and it has been suggested that these became in Jewish thought twenty-four angels who surrounded the throne of God, and that the elders stand for these.<p/>(iii) We move on to explanations which we think are much more likely. There were so many priests in Israel that they could not possibly serve in the Temple at the one time and so they were divided into twenty-four different courses (<a href='B:130 24:7-18'>1Ch 24:7-18</a>). Each of these courses had its president, known as an elder of the priests. Sometimes these elders were called princes, or governors, of the house of God (<a href='B:130 24:5'>1Ch 24:5</a>). It is suggested that the twenty-four elders stand symbolically for the twenty-four courses of the priests. They present the prayers of the faithful to God (<a href='B:730 5:8'>Rev 5:8</a>), and that is priestly work. The Levites were similarly divided into twenty-four courses for the work of the Temple and they praised God with harps and psalteries and cymbals (<a href='B:130 25:6-31'>1Ch 25:6-31</a>), and the elders also have their harps (<a href='B:730 5:8'>Rev 5:8</a>). So the twenty-four elders may stand for the heavenly ideal of the earthly worship of the priests and Levites in the Temple.<p/>(iv) It has been suggested that the twenty-four elders stand for the twelve patriarchs and the twelve apostles combined. In the new Jerusalem the names of the twelve patriarchs are on the twelve gates and the names of the twelve apostles are on the foundation stones of the wall.<p/>(v) We think that the likeliest explanation is that the twenty-four elders are the symbolic representatives of the faithful people of God. Their white robes are the robes promised to the faithful (<a href='B:730 3:4'>Rev 3:4</a>), and their crowns (stephanoi, <a href='S:G4735'>G4735</a>) are those promised to those who are faithful unto death (<a href='B:730 2:10'>Rev 2:10</a>). The thrones are those which Jesus promised to those who forsook all and followed him (<a href='B:470 19:27-29'>Mat 19:27-29</a>). The description of the twenty-four elders fits well with the promises made to the faithful.<p/>The question will then be, "Why twenty-four?" The answer is because the Church is composed of Jews and Gentiles. There were originally twelve tribes, but now it is as if the tribes were doubled. Swete says that the twenty-four elders stand for the Church in its totality. We remember that this is a vision, not of what yet is, but of what shall be; and the twenty-four elders stand as representatives of the whole Church which one day in glory will worship in the presence of God himself.<p/><b>AROUND THE THRONE</b> (<a href='B:730 4:5-6'>Rev 4:5-6</a> <b>a)</b>


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a And flashes of lightning and voices and peals of thunder were coming forth from the throne. There were seven torches of fire burning before the throne, and these are the seven Spirits of God. And in front of the throne there was what I can only call a sea of glass like crystal.<p/></i><p/>John adds more details to his mysterious and awe-inspiring picture of heaven. The voices are the voices of the thunder; and thunder and lightning are often connected with the manifestation of God. In the vision of Ezekiel lightning comes out of the fiery haze around the throne (<a href='B:330 1:13'>Eze 1:13</a>). The Psalmist tells how the voice of the thunder of God was heard in the heavens, and the lightnings lightened the world (<a href='B:230 77:18'>Psa 77:18</a>). God sends his lightning to the ends of the earth (<a href='B:220 37:4'>Job 37:4</a>). But what is primarily in the mind of John is the description of Mount Sinai as the people waited for the giving of the Law: "There were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast" (<a href='B:20 19:16'>Exo 19:16</a>). John is using imagery which is regularly connected with the presence of God.<p/>The seven torches are the seven Spirits of God. We have already met the seven Spirits before the throne (<a href='B:730 1:4'>Rev 1:4</a>; <a href='B:730 3:1'>Rev 3:1</a>). There are scholars who see Babylonian influence here also. For the Babylonians the seven planets were also divine and within the presence of God; it would be natural to liken the planets to torches and it has been suggested that this imagery is Babylonian in origin.<p/>The "glassy sea" has exercised a strange fascination over the minds of many people, including hymn-writers. The Greek does not say that there was a sea of glass but "as it were a sea of glass." There was something which was beyond all description, but which could be likened only to a great sea of glass. Where did the seer get this picture?<p/>(i) He may have got it from a conception in the most primitive thought of the Old Testament. We have already seen that the firmament is conceived of as a great solid dome arching over the earth. Beneath it is the earth, and above it the heaven. The creation story speaks of the waters under the firmament and the waters above the firmament (<a href='B:10 1:7'>Gen 1:7</a>). The Psalmist calls upon the waters that are above the heavens to praise the Lord (<a href='B:230 148:4'>Psa 148:4</a>). The belief was that above the firmament, perhaps as the kind of floor of heaven, there was a great sea. Further, it was on that sea that God had set his throne. The Psalmist says of God that he set the beams of his chambers upon the waters (<a href='B:230 104:3'>Psa 104:3</a>).<p/>(ii) It may be that John's time in Patmos gave him the idea of this picture. Swete suggests that he saw a vast surface which flashed back the light, "like the Aegan Sea, when on summer days John looked upon it from the heights of Patmos." John had often seen the sea like a sea of molten glass and maybe his picture was born from that.<p/>(iii) There is a further possibility. According to the Koran (Sura 27) Solomon had in his palace a floor of glass so like a sea that, when the Queen of Sheba came to visit him, she picked up her skirts thinking she had to wade through water. It may be that John is thinking of the throne of God set in a glass-floored palace.<p/>(iv) There is one other remote possibility. John says that the glassy sea was like crystal (krustallon, <a href='S:G2930'>G2930</a>) ; but krustallon could mean ice; and then the idea would be an expanse which shimmered like an ice-field. It is a magnificent picture, but it can hardly be the real picture because neither John nor his people would ever have seen such a scene, and it would have meant nothing to them.<p/>There are three things that this sea like shining glass does symbolize.<p/>(i) It symbolizes preciousness. In the ancient world glass was usually dull and semi-opaque, and glass as clear as crystal was as precious as gold. In <a href='B:220 28:17'>Job 28:17</a> gold and glass are mentioned together as examples of precious things.<p/>(ii) It symbolizes dazzling purity. The blinding light reflected from the glassy sea would be too much for the eyes to look upon, like the purity of God.<p/>(iii) It symbolizes immense distance. The throne of God was in the immense distance, as if at the other side of a great sea. Swete writes of "the vast distance which, even in the case of one who stood in the door of heaven, intervened between himself and the throne of God."<p/>One of the greatest characteristics of the writing of the seer is the reverence which, even in the heavenly places, never dares to be familiar with God, but paints its picture in terms of light and distance.<p/><b>THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES (1)</b> (<a href='B:730 4:6'>Rev 4:6</a> <b>b-8)</b><p/><i> 4:6b-8 And, between the throne and the elders, in a circle round the throne, were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind. The first living creature was like a lion; the second living creature was like an ox; the third living creature had what appeared to be a man's face; the fourth living creature was like an eagle in flight. The four living creatures had each of them six wings; and around and within they were full of eyes. Night and day they never rested from saying:<p/>Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, the Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.<p/></i><p/>Here we come to another of the symbolic problems of the Revelation. The four living creatures appear frequently in the heavenly scene: so let us begin by collecting what the Revelation itself says about them. They are always found near the throne and the Lamb (<a href='B:730 4:6'>Rev 4:6</a>; <a href='B:730 5:6'>Rev 5:6</a>; <a href='B:730 14:4'>Rev 14:4</a>). They have six wings and they are full of eyes (<a href='B:730 4:6'>Rev 4:6</a>; <a href='B:730 4:8'>Rev 4:8</a>). They are constantly engaged in praising and in worshipping God (<a href='B:730 4:8'>Rev 4:8</a>; <a href='B:730 5:9'>Rev 5:9</a>; <a href='B:730 5:14'>Rev 5:14</a>; <a href='B:730 7:11'>Rev 7:11</a>; <a href='B:730 19:4'>Rev 19:4</a>). They have certain functions to perform. They invite the dreadful manifestations of the wrath of God to appear upon the scene (<a href='B:730 6:1'>Rev 6:1</a>; <a href='B:730 6:7'>Rev 6:7</a>). One of them hands over the vials of the wrath of God (<a href='B:730 15:7'>Rev 15:7</a>).<p/>Although there are definite differences, there can be little doubt that we find the ancestors of these living creatures in the visions of Ezekiel. In Ezekiel's vision the four living creatures each have four faces--the faces of a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle; and they uphold the firmament (<a href='B:330 1:6'>Eze 1:6</a>; <a href='B:330 1:10'>Eze 1:10</a>; <a href='B:330 1:22'>Eze 1:22</a>; <a href='B:330 1:26'>Eze 1:26</a>); the felloes of the wheels are full of eyes (<a href='B:330 1:18'>Eze 1:18</a>). In Ezekiel we have all the details of the picture in the Revelation, although the details are differently allocated and arranged. In spite of the differences the family resemblance is clear.<p/>In Ezekiel the four living creatures are definitely identified with the cherubim. (It is to be noted that -im is the Hebrew plural ending; cherubim is simply cherubs and seraphim is simply seraphs.) The identification is made in <a href='B:330 10:20'>Eze 10:20</a>; <a href='B:330 10:22'>Eze 10:22</a>. The cherubim were part of the decoration of Solomon's Temple, in the place of prayer and on the walls (<a href='B:110 6:23-30'>1Ki 6:23-30</a>; <a href='B:140 3:7'>2Ch 3:7</a>). They were represented on the hanging veil which shut off the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place (<a href='B:20 26:31'>Exo 26:31</a>). There were two cherubim on the lid of the ark, called the mercy-seat; and they were so placed that they faced each other and their wings swept over to form a kind of canopy over the mercy-seat (<a href='B:20 25:18-21'>Exo 25:18-21</a>). One of the commonest pictures of God is sitting between the cherubim, and it is thus that he is often addressed in prayer (<a href='B:120 19:15'>2Ki 19:15</a>; <a href='B:230 80:1'>Psa 80:1</a>; <a href='B:230 99:1'>Psa 99:1</a>; <a href='B:290 37:16'>Isa 37:16</a>). God is represented as flying on the cherubim and on the wings of the wind (<a href='B:230 18:10'>Psa 18:10</a>). It is the cherubim who guard the way to the Garden when Adam and Eve have been banished from it (<a href='B:10 3:24'>Gen 3:24</a>). In the later books written between the Testaments, such as Enoch, the cherubim are the guardians of the throne of God (Enoch 71:7).<p/>From all this one thing emerges clearly--the cherubim are angelic beings who are close to God and the guardians of his throne.<p/><b>(2) THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES</b> (<a href='B:730 4:6'>Rev 4:6</a> <b>b-8 continued)</b><p/> What do these four living creatures symbolize?<p/>(i) They are clearly part of the imagery of heaven; and they are not figures whom the writer of the Revelation did not create, but whom he inherited from previous pictures. They may originally have come from Babylonian sources, and they may have stood for the four principal signs of the Zodiac and for the four winds coming from the four quarters of heaven. But the John who wrote the Revelation was not aware of that, and he used them simply as part of the imagery of heaven in which he had been brought up.<p/>(ii) How did John himself think of the symbolism of these living creatures? We think that Swete offers the right explanation. The four living creatures stand for everything that is noblest, strongest, wisest and swiftest in nature. Each has the preeminence in his own particular sphere. The lion is supreme among beasts; the ox is supreme among cattle; the eagle is supreme among birds; and man is supreme among all creatures. The beasts represent all the greatness and the strength and the beauty of nature; here we see nature praising God. In the verses to follow we see the twenty-four elders praising God; and when we put the two pictures together we get the picture of both nature and man engaged in constant adoration of God. "The ceaseless activity of nature under the hand of God is a ceaseless tribute of praise."<p/>The idea of nature praising God is one which occurs in the Old Testament more than once. "The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech and night to night declares knowledge" (<a href='B:230 19:1-2'>Psa 19:1-2</a>). "Bless the Lord all his works in all places of his dominion" (<a href='B:230 103:22'>Psa 103:22</a>). <a href='B:230 148:1-14'>Psa 148:1-14</a> is a magnificent summons to the whole of nature to join in praising God.<p/>There is a tremendous truth here. The basic idea behind this is that anything which is fulfilling the function for which it was created is praising God. One of the basic conceptions of Stoicism was that in everything there was a spark of God, scintilla. "God, said Seneca, "is near you, with you, within you; a holy spirit sits within us." As Gilbert Murray points out, the sceptics laughed at this and sought to make a fool of the whole idea. "What, said the sceptic, "God in worms? God in dung beetles?" "Why not?" demanded the Stoic.<p/>Cannot an earthworm serve God? Do you suppose that it is only a general who is a good soldier? Cannot the lowest private fight his best? Happy are you, if you are serving God and carrying out his purpose as faithfully as an earthworm. Whatever carries out the function for which it was created is thereby worshipping God.<p/>This is a thought which opens out the most magnificent vistas. The humblest and the most unseen activity in the world can be the true worship of God. Work and worship literally become one. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever; and man carries out that function when he does what God sent him into the world to do. Work well done rises like a hymn of praise to God.<p/>This means that the doctor on his rounds, the scientist in his laboratory, the teacher in his classroom, the musician at his music, the artist at his canvas, the shop assistant at his counter, the typist at her typewriter, the housewife in her kitchen--all who are doing the work of the world as it should be done are joining in a great act of worship.<p/><b>THE SYMBOLISM OF THE LIVING CREATURES</b> (<a href='B:730 4:6'>Rev 4:6</a> <b>b-8 continued)</b><p/> It was not long before the early church found certain symbolisms in the living creatures, in particular of the four Gospels--a representation which is often to be found in stained-glass windows in churches.<p/>The earliest and the fullest identification was made by Irenaeus about A.D. 170: He held that the four living creatures represented four aspects of the work of Jesus Christ, which in turn are represented in the four Gospels.<p/>The lion symbolizes the powerful and effective working of the Son of God, his leadership and his royal power. The ox signifies the priestly side of his work, for it is the animal of sacrifice. The man symbolizes his incarnation. The eagle represents the gift of the Holy Spirit, hovering with his wings over the Church. John represents "the original, effective and glorious generation of the Son from the Father, and tells how all things were made by him; and is, therefore, symbolized by the lion. Luke begins with the picture of Zacharias the priest, and tells the story of the fatted calf killed for the finding of the younger son; and is, therefore, symbolized by the ox. Matthew begins by giving us the human descent of Jesus and "The character of a humble and meek man is kept up throughout the whole gospel, and is, therefore, symbolized by the man. Mark begins with a reference to the Spirit of prophecy coming down from on high upon men which "points to the winged aspect of the Gospel"; and, therefore, is symbolized by the eagle.<p/>Irenaeus goes on to say that the fourfold form of the beasts represents the four principal covenants which God made with the human race. The first was made with Adam, prior to the flood. The second was made with Noah, after the flood. The third consisted of the giving of the Law to Moses. The fourth is that which renovates man in Christ, "raising and bearing men upon its wings into the heavenly kingdom."<p/>But, as we have said, there was a variety of different identifications.<p/>The scheme of Athanasius was:<p/>Matthew = the man Mark = the ox<p/>Luke = the lion John = the eagle,<p/>The scheme of Victorinus was:<p/>Matthew = the man Mark = the lion<p/>Luke = the ox John = the eagle<p/>The scheme of Augustine was:<p/>Matthew = the lion Mark = the man<p/>Luke = the ox John = the eagle.<p/>It may be said that on the whole Augustine's identifications became the most commonly accepted, because they fit the facts. Matthew is best represented by the lion, because in it Jesus is depicted as the Lion of Judah, the One in whom all the expectations of the prophets came true. Mark. is best represented by the man, because it is the nearest approach to a factual report of the human life of Jesus. Luke is best represented by the ox, because it depicts Jesus as the sacrifice for all classes and conditions of men and women everywhere. John is best represented by the eagle, because of all birds it flies highest and is said to be the only living creature which can look straight into the sun; and John of all the gospels reaches the highest heights of thought.<p/><b>THE SONG OF PRAISE</b> (<a href='B:730 4:6'>Rev 4:6</a> <b>b-8 continued)</b><p/><i> 4:6b-8 Night and day the living creatures never rested from their doxology of praise:<p/>Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, the Almighty, Who was, and Who is, and Who is to come.<p/></i><p/>Here is set out the sleepless praise of nature. "Man rests on the Sabbath, and in sleep, and in the end in death, but the course of nature is unbroken and unbroken in praise." There is never any time when the world God made is not praising him.<p/>As o'er each continent and island<p/>The dawn leads on another day,<p/>The voice of prayer is never silent,<p/>Nor dies the strain of praise away.<p/>The doxology seizes on three aspects of God.<p/>(i) It praises him for his holiness (compare <a href='B:290 6:3'>Isa 6:3</a>). Again and again we have seen that the basic idea of holiness is difference. That is supremely true of God. He is different from men. Precisely there is the reason that we are moved to adoration of God. If he were simply a glorified human person, we could not praise. As the poet had it: "How could I praise, if such as I could understand" The very mystery of God moves us to awed admiration in his presence and to amazed love that that greatness should stoop so low for us men and for our salvation.<p/>(ii) It praises his omnipotence. God is the Almighty. The people to whom the Revelation was written are under the threat of the Roman Empire, a power which no person or nation had ever successfully withstood. Think what it must have meant to be sure that behind them stood the Almighty. The very giving of that name to God affirms the certainty of the safety of the Christian; not a safety which meant release from trouble but which made a man secure in life and in death.<p/>(iii) It praises his everlastingness. Empires might come and empires might go; God lasts for ever. Here is the triumphant affirmation that God endures unchanging amidst the enmity and the rebellion of men.<p/><b>GOD, THE LORD AND CREATOR</b> (<a href='B:730 4:9-11'>Rev 4:9-11</a>)


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 When the living creatures shall give glory and honour and thanksgiving to him who is seated on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders shall fall down before him who is seated on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, and say:<p/>It is right, our Lord and God, that you should receive the glory and the honour and the power, for you have created all things, and through your will all things exist and have been created.<p/></i><p/>Here is the other section of the choir of thanksgiving. We have seen that the living creatures stand for nature in all its greatness and the twenty-four elders for the great united Church in Jesus Christ. So when the living creatures and the elders unite in praise, it symbolizes nature and the Church both praising God. There are commentators who have made difficulty here. In <a href='B:730 4:8'>Rev 4:8</a> the praise of the living creatures is unceasing by day and night; in this passage the picture is of separate bursts of praise at each of which the elders fall down and worship. But surely to say that there is an inconsistency is unimaginative criticism; we do not look for a strict logic in the poetry of adoration.<p/>John uses a picture which the ancient world would know well. The elders cast their crowns before the throne of God. In the ancient world that was the sign of complete submission. When one king surrendered to another, he cast his crown at the victor's feet. Sometimes the Romans carried with them an image of their emperor and, when they had reduced a monarch to submission, there was a ceremony in which the vanquished one had to cast his crown before the emperor's image. The picture looks on God as the conqueror of the souls of men; and on the Church as the body of people who have surrendered to him. There can be no Christianity without submission.<p/>The doxology of the elders praises God on two counts.<p/>(i) He is Lord and God. Here is something which would be even more meaningful to John's people than it is to us. The phrase for Lord and God is: kurios (<a href='S:G2962'>G2962</a>) kai (2532) theos (<a href='S:G2316'>G2316</a>) ; and that was the official title of Domitian, the Roman Emperor. It was, indeed, because the Christians would not acknowledge that claim that they were persecuted and killed. Simply to call God Lord and God was a triumphant confession of faith, an assertion that he holds first place in all the universe.<p/>(ii) God is Creator. It is through his will and purpose that all things existed even before creation and were in the end brought into actual being. Man has acquired many powers, but he does not possess the power to create. He can alter and rearrange; he can make things out of already existing materials; but only God can create something out of nothing. That great truth means that in the realest sense everything in the world belongs to God, and there is nothing a man can handle which God has not given to him. 


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<b>THE ROLL IN THE HAND OF GOD</b> (<a href='B:730 5:1'>Rev 5:1</a>)<p/><i> 5:1 And in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne I saw a roll written on the front and on the back, and seated with seven seals.<p/></i><p/>We must try to visualize the picture which John is drawing. It is taken from the vision of Ezekiel: "And, when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me; and lo, a written scroll was in it; and he spread it before me; and it had writing on the front and on the back; and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe" (<a href='B:330 2:9-10'>Eze 2:9-10</a>).<p/>We must note that it was a roll and not a book which was in the hand of God. In the ancient world, down to the second century A.D., the form of literary work was the roll, not the book. The roll was made of papyrus, manufactured in single sheets about ten inches by eight. The sheets were joined together horizontally when a great deal of writing had to be done. The writing was in narrow columns about three inches long, with margins of about two and a half inches at the top and at the bottom, and with about three-quarters of an inch between the columns. The roll commonly had a wooden roller at each end. It was held in the left hand, unrolled with the right, and, as the reading went on, the part in the left hand was rolled up again. We may get some idea of the dimensions of a roll from the following statistics. Second and Third John, Jude and Philemon would occupy one sheet of papyrus; Romans would require a roll 11 1/2 feet long; Mark, 19 feet; John, 23 1/2 feet; Matthew, 30 feet; Luke and Acts, 32 feet. The Revelation itself would occupy a roll 15 feet long. It was such a roll that was in the hand of God. Two things are said about it.<p/>(i) It was written on the front and on the back. Papyrus was a substance made from the pith of a bulrush which grew in the delta of the Nile. The bulrush was about fifteen feet high, with six feet of it below the water; and it was as thick as a man's wrist. The pith was extracted and cut into thin strips with a very sharp knife. A row of strips was laid vertically; on the top of them another row of strips was laid horizontally; the whole was then moistened with Nile water and glue and pressed together. The resulting substance was beaten with a mallet and then smoothed with pumice stone; and there emerged a substance not unlike brown paper.<p/>From this description it will be seen that on one side the grain of the papyrus would run horizontally; that side was known as the recto; and on that side the writing was done, as it was easier to write where the lines of the writing ran with the lines of the fibres. The side on which the fibres ran vertically was called the verso and was not so commonly used for writing.<p/>But papyrus was an expensive substance. So, if a person had a great deal to write, he wrote both on the front and on the back. A sheet written on the back, the verso, was called an opisthograph, that is, a sheet written behind. Juvenal talks of a young tragedian walking about with the papyrus manuscript of a tragedy on Orestes written on both sides; it was a lengthy production! The roll in God's hand was written on both sides; there was so much on it that recto and verso alike were taken up with the writing.<p/>(ii) It was sealed with seven seals. That may indicate either of two things.<p/>(a) When a roll was finished, it was fastened with threads and the threads were sealed at the knots. The one ordinary document sealed with seven seals was a will. Under Roman law the seven witnesses to a will sealed it with their seals, and it could only be opened when all seven, or their legal representatives, were present. The roll may be what we might describe as God's will, his final settlement of the affairs of the universe.<p/>(b) It is more likely that the seven seals stand simply for profound secrecy. The contents of the roll are so secret that it is sealed with seven seals. The tomb of Jesus was sealed to keep it safe (<a href='B:470 27:66'>Mat 27:66</a>); the apocryphal Gospel of Peter says that it was sealed with seven seals. It was so sealed to make quite certain that no unauthorized person could possibly open it.<p/><b>GOD'S BOOK OF DESTINY</b> (<a href='B:730 5:2-4'>Rev 5:2-4</a>)


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 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming in a great voice: "Who is good enough to open the roll, and to loosen its seals?" And there was no one in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth, who was able to open the roll or to look at it; and I was weeping sorely because there was no one who was found to be good enough to open the roll or to see it.<p/></i><p/>As John looked at God with the roll in his hand, there came a challenge from a strong angel. A strong angel appears again in <a href='B:730 10:1'>Rev 10:1</a> and <a href='B:730 18:21'>Rev 18:21</a>. In this case the angel had to be strong so that the challenge of his voice might reach throughout the universe. His summons was that anyone worthy of the task should come forward and open the book.<p/>There is no doubt that the book is the record of that which is to happen in the last times. That there was such a book is a common conception in Jewish thought. It is common in the Book of Enoch. Uriel the archangel says to Enoch in the heavenly places: "O Enoch, observe the writing of the heavenly tablets, and read what is written thereon, and mark every individual fact." Enoch goes on: "And I observed everything on the heavenly tablets, and read everything which was written thereon, and understood everything, and read the book of all the deeds of men and of all the children of flesh that will be upon the earth to the remotest generations." (I Enoch 81:1-2). In the same book Enoch has a vision of the Head of Days on the throne of his glory, "and the books of the living were opened before him" (I Enoch 47:3). Enoch declares that he knows the mystery of the holy ones, because "the Lord showed me and informed me, and I have read in the heavenly tables" (I Enoch 106:19). On these tables he saw the history of the generations still to come (I Enoch 107:1). The idea is that God has a book in which the history of time to come is already written.<p/>When we are seeking to interpret this idea, it is well to remember that it is vision and poetry. It would be a great mistake to take it too literally. It does not mean that everything is settled long ago and that we are in the grip of an inescapable fate. What it does mean is that God has a plan for the universe; and that the purpose of God will be in the end worked out.<p/>God is working his purpose out, as year succeeds to year:<p/>God is working his purpose out, and the time is drawing near--<p/>Nearer and nearer draws the time--the time that shall surely be,<p/>When the earth shall be filled with the glory of God, as the<p/>waters cover the sea.<p/>In response to the challenge of the angel no one came forward; none was good enough to open the roll. And at this John in his vision fell to weeping sorely. There were two reasons for his tears.<p/>(i) In <a href='B:730 4:1'>Rev 4:1</a> the voice had made the promise to him: "I will show you what must take place after this." It now looked as if the promise had been frustrated.<p/>(ii) There is a deeper reason for his sorrow. It seemed to him that there was no one in the whole universe to whom God could reveal his mysteries. Here, indeed, was a terrible thing. Long ago Amos had said: "Surely the Lord God does nothing, without revealing his secrets to his servants the prophets" (<a href='B:370 3:7'>Amo 3:7</a>). But here was a world so far from God that there was none able to receive his message.<p/>For John that problem was to be triumphantly solved in the emergence of the Lamb. But behind this problem lies a great and a challenging truth. God cannot deliver a message to men unless there be a man fit to receive it. Here is the very essence of the problem of communication. It is the problem of the teacher; he cannot teach truth which his scholars are unable to receive. It is the problem of the preacher; he cannot deliver a message to a congregation totally incapable of comprehending it. It is the eternal problem of love; love cannot tell its truths or give its gifts to those incapable of hearing and receiving. The need of the world is for men and women who will keep themselves sensitive to God. He has a message for the world in every generation; but that message cannot be delivered until there is found a man capable of receiving it. And day by day we either fit or unfit ourselves to receive the message of God.<p/><b>THE LION OF JUDAH AND THE ROOT OF DAVID</b> (<a href='B:730 5:5'>Rev 5:5</a>)<p/><i> 5:5 And one of the elders said to me: "Stop weeping. Behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has won such a victory that he is able to open the book and its seven seals."<p/></i><p/>We are now approaching one of the most dramatic moments in the Revelation, the emergence of the Lamb in the centre of the scene. Certain things lead up to it.<p/>John has been weeping because there is none to whom God may reveal his secrets. There comes to him one of the elders, acting as the messenger of Christ and saying to him: "Weep not." These words were more than once on the lips of Jesus in the days of his flesh. That is what he said to the widow of Nain when she was mourning her dead son (<a href='B:490 7:13'>Luk 7:13</a>); and to Jairus and his family when they were lamenting for their little girl (<a href='B:490 8:52'>Luk 8:52</a>). The comforting voice of Christ is still speaking in the heavenly places.<p/>Swete has an interesting comment on this. John was weeping and yet his tears were unnecessary. Human grief often springs from insufficient knowledge. If we had patience to wait and trust, we would see that God has his own solutions for the situations which bring us tears.<p/>The elder tells John that Jesus Christ has won such a victory that he is able to open the book and to loosen the seals. That means three things. It means that because of his victory over death and all the powers of evil and because of his complete obedience to God he is able to know God's secrets; he is able to reveal God's secrets; and it is his privilege and duty to control the things which shall be. Because of what Jesus did, he is the Lord of truth and of history. He is called by two great titles.<p/>(i) He is the Lion of Judah. This title goes back to Jacob's final blessing of his sons before his death. In that blessing he calls Judah "a lion's whelp" (<a href='B:10 49:9'>Gen 49:9</a>). If Judah himself is a lion's whelp, it is fitting to call the greatest member of the tribe of Judah The Lion of Judah. In the books written between the Testaments this became a messianic title. 2 Esdras speaks of the figure of a lion and says: "This is the Anointed One, that is, the Messiah" (2<a href='B:190 12:31'>Est 12:31</a>). The strength of the lion and his undoubted place as king of beasts make him a fitting emblem of the all-powerful Messiah whom the Jews awaited.<p/>(ii) He is the Root of David. This title goes back to Isaiah's prophecy that there will come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a root of Jesse who shall be an ensign to the people (<a href='B:290 11:1'>Isa 11:1</a>; <a href='B:290 11:10'>Isa 11:10</a>). Jesse was the father of David, and this means that Jesus Christ was the Son of David, the promised Messiah.<p/>So, here we have two great titles which are particularly Jewish. They have their origin in the pictures of the coming Messiah; and they lay it down that Jesus Christ triumphantly performed the work of the Messiah and is, therefore, able to know and to reveal the secrets of God, and to preside over the working out of his purposes in the events of history.<p/><b>THE LAMB</b> (<a href='B:730 5:6'>Rev 5:6</a>)<p/><i> 5:6 And I saw a Lamb standing in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders. It still bore the marks of having been slain. It had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God despatched to all the earth<p/></i><p/>Here is the supreme moment of this vision--the emergence of the Lamb in the scene of heaven. It is possible to think of this scene in two ways. Either we may think of the four living creatures forming a circle around the throne and the twenty-four elders forming a wider circle with a larger circumference, with the Lamb standing between the inner circle of the four living creatures and the outer circle of the twenty-four elders; or, much more likely, the Lamb is the centre of the whole scene.<p/>The Lamb is one of the great characteristic ideas of the Revelation in which Jesus Christ is so called no fewer than twenty-nine times. The word he uses for Lamb is not used of Jesus Christ anywhere else in the New Testament. John the Baptist pointed to him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (<a href='B:500 1:29'>Joh 1:29</a>; <a href='B:500 1:36'>Joh 1:36</a>). Peter speaks of the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (<a href='B:670 1:19'>1Pe 1:19</a>). In <a href='B:290 53:7'>Isa 53:7</a>, in the chapter so dear to Jesus and to the early Church, we read of the lamb brought to the slaughter. But in all these cases the word is amnos (<a href='S:G286'>G286</a>), whereas the word that the Revelation uses is arnion (<a href='S:G721'>G721</a>). This is the word that Jeremiah uses, when he says: "I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter" (<a href='B:300 11:19'>Jer 11:19</a>). By using arnion (<a href='S:G721'>G721</a>) and using it so often, John wishes us to see that this is a new conception which he is bringing to men.<p/>(i) The Lamb still bears the marks of having been slain. There we have the picture of the sacrifice of Christ, still visible in the heavenly places. Even in the heavenly places Jesus Christ is the one who loved us and gave himself for us.<p/>(ii) There is another side to this. This same Lamb, with the marks of sacrifice still on it, is the Lamb with the seven horns and the seven eyes.<p/>(a) The seven horns stand for omnipotence. In the Old Testament the horn stands for two things.<p/>First, it stands for sheer power. In the blessing of Moses the horns of Joseph are like the horns of a wild ox and with them he will push the people together to the ends of the earth (<a href='B:50 33:17'>Deu 33:17</a>). Zedekiah, the prophet, made iron horns as a sign of promised triumph over the Syrians (<a href='B:110 22:11'>1Ki 22:11</a>). The wicked is warned not to lift up his horn (<a href='B:230 75:4'>Psa 75:4</a>). Zechariah sees the vision of the four horns which stand for the nations who have scattered Israel (<a href='B:450 1:18'>Zec 1:18</a>).<p/>Second, it stands for honour. It is the confidence of the Psalmist that in the favour of God our horn shall be exalted (<a href='B:230 89:17'>Psa 89:17</a>). The good man's horn shall be exalted with honour (<a href='B:230 112:9'>Psa 112:9</a>). God exalts the horn of his people (<a href='B:230 148:14'>Psa 148:14</a>).<p/>We must add still another strand to this picture. In the time between the Testaments the great heroes of Israel were the Maccabees; they were the great warriors who were the liberators of the nations; and they are represented as horned lambs (I Enoch 90:9).<p/>Here is the great paradox; the Lamb bears the sacrificial wounds upon it; but at the same time it is clothed with the very might of God which can now shatter its enemies. The Lamb has seven horns; the number seven stands for perfection; the power of the Lamb is perfect, beyond withstanding.<p/>(b) The Lamb has seven eyes, and the eyes are the Spirits which are despatched into all the earth. The picture comes from Zechariah. There the prophet sees the seven lamps which are "the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth" (<a href='B:450 4:10'>Zec 4:10</a>). It is an eerie picture; but quite clearly it stands for the omniscience of God. In an almost crude way it says that there is no place on earth which is not under the eye of God.<p/>Here is a tremendous picture of Christ. He is the fulfilment of all the hopes and dreams of Israel, for he is the Lion of Judah and the Root of David. He is the one whose sacrifice availed for men, and who still bears the marks of it in the heavenly places. But the tragedy has turned to triumph and the shame to glory; and he is the one whose all-conquering might none can withstand and whose all-seeing eye none can escape.<p/>Few passages of Scripture show at one and the same time what Swete called "the majesty and the meekness" of Jesus Christ and in the one picture combine the humiliation of his death and the glory of his risen life.<p/><b>MUSIC IN HEAVEN</b> (<a href='B:730 5:7-14'>Rev 5:7-14</a>)


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 And the Lamb came and received the roll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. When it had received the roll, the four living creatures fell before the Lamb and so did the twenty-four elders, each of whom had a harp and golden bowls laden with incenses, which are the prayers of God's dedicated people. And they sang a new song and this is what they sang:<p/>Worthy are you to receive the roll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and so at the price of your life blood you bought for God those of every tribe and tongue and people and race and made them a kingdom of priests to our God. and they will reign upon the earth.<p/>And I saw, and I heard the voice of many angels, who were in a circle round the throne, and the living creatures, and the elders; and their number was ten thousands of ten thousands and thousands of thousands, and they were singing with a great voice:<p/>The Lamb which has been slain is worthy to receive the power and the riches and the wisdom and the strength and the honour and the glory and the blessing.<p/>And I heard every created creature which was in the heaven and upon the earth and beneath the earth and on the sea and all things in them saying:<p/>Blessing and honour and glory and dominion for ever and ever to him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb.<p/>And the four living creatures said, Amen; and the elders fell down and worshipped.<p/></i><p/>It is necessary to look at this passage as a whole before we begin to deal with it in detail. R. H. Charles quotes Christina Rossetti on it; "Heaven is revealed to earth as the homeland of music." Here is the greatest chorus of praise the universe can ever hear. It comes in three waves. First, there is the praise of the four living creatures and of the twenty-four elders. Here we see all nature and all the Church combining to praise the Lamb. Second, there is the praise of the myriads of angels. Here is the picture of all the inhabitants of heaven lifting up their voices in praise. Third, John sees every created creature, in every part of the universe, to its deepest depth and its farthest corner, singing in praise.<p/>Here is the truth that heaven and earth and all that is within them is designed for the praise of Jesus Christ; and it is our privilege to lend our voices and our lives to this vast chorus of praise, for that chorus is necessarily incomplete so long as there is one voice missing from it.<p/>The Prayers Of The Saints (<a href='B:730 5:8'>Rev 5:8</a>)<p/>The first section in the chorus of praise is the song of the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders; and, as we have seen, they represent all that is in nature and in the universal Church.<p/>The picture of the elders is interesting. They have harps. The harp was the traditional instrument to which the Psalms were sung. "Praise the Lord with harp," says the Psalmist (<a href='B:230 33:2'>Psa 33:2</a>). "Sing praises to the Lord with the harp; the harp, and the sound of melody" (<a href='B:230 98:5'>Psa 98:5</a>). "Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God upon the harp" (<a href='B:230 147:7'>Psa 147:7</a>). The harp stands for the music of praise as the Jews knew it.<p/>The elders also have golden bowls full of incense; and the incense is the prayers of God's dedicated people. The likening of prayers to incense comes also from the Psalms. "Let my prayer be before thee counted as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice" (<a href='B:230 141:2'>Psa 141:2</a>). But the significant thing is the idea of intermediaries in prayer. In later Jewish literature this idea of heavenly intermediaries bringing the prayers of the faithful to God is very common. In the Testament of Dan (<a href='B:340 6:2'>Dan 6:2</a>) we read: "Draw near unto God and to the angel that intercedeth for you, for he is a mediator between God and man." In this literature we find many such angels.<p/>Chief of them all is Michael, the archangel, "the merciful and long-suffering" (I Enoch 40:9). He is said daily to come down to the fifth heaven to receive men's prayers and to bring them to God (3 Baruch 11). In Tobit it is the archangel Raphael who brings the prayers of men to God; "I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, who present the prayers of the saints, and who go in and out before the glory of the Holy One" (Tob_12:15). It is Gabriel who tells Enoch: "I swear unto you that in heaven the angels are mindful of you before the glory of the Great One" (I Enoch 104:1). Sometimes it is the guardian angels who bring the prayers of men to God; and it is said that at certain times each day the doors are open so that the prayers may be received (Apocalypse of Paul 7: 10). Sometimes all the angels, or, as Enoch calls them, The Watchers, are engaged in this task. It is to "the Holy Ones of Heaven" that the souls of men complain with their cry for justice (I Enoch 9:3). It is the duty of the Watchers of heaven to intercede for men (I Enoch 15:2). As we have seen, the angels are mindful of men for good (I Enoch 104:1). Sometimes, it would seem, the blessed dead share in this task. The angels and the holy ones in their resting-places intercede for the children of men (I Enoch 39:6). There are certain things to be said about this belief in heavenly intermediaries.<p/>(i) From one point of view it is an uplifting thought. We are, so to speak, not left to pray alone. No prayer can be altogether heavy-footed and leaden-winged which has all the citizenry of heaven behind it to help it rise to God.<p/>(ii) From another point of view it is quite unnecessary. Before us is set an open door which no man can ever shut; no man's prayers need any assistance, for God's ear is open to catch the faintest whisper of appeal.<p/>(iii) The whole conception of intermediaries arises from a line of thought which has met us before. As the centuries went on, the Jews became ever more impressed with the transcendence of God, his difference from men. They began to believe that there never could be any direct contact between God and man and that there must be angelic intermediaries to bridge the gulf. That is exactly the feeling that Jesus Christ came to take away; he came to tell us that God "is closer to us than breathing, nearer than hands or feet" and to be the living way by which for every man, however humble, the door to God is open.<p/>The New Song (<a href='B:730 5:9'>Rev 5:9</a>)<p/>The song that the four living creatures and the elders sang was a new song. The phrase a new song is very common in the Psalms; and there it is always a song for the new mercies of God. "Sing to him a new song, says the Psalmist (<a href='B:230 33:3'>Psa 33:3</a>). God took the Psalmist out of the fearful pit and from the miry clay and set his foot on a rock and put a new song in his mouth to praise God (<a href='B:230 40:3'>Psa 40:3</a>). "O sing a new song to the Lord, for he has done marvellous things? (<a href='B:230 98:1'>Psa 98:1</a>; compare <a href='B:230 96:1'>Psa 96:1</a>). "I will sing a new song to thee, O God" (<a href='B:230 144:9'>Psa 144:9</a>). "Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful" (<a href='B:230 149:1'>Psa 149:1</a>). The nearest parallel in the Old Testament comes from Isaiah. There God declares new things and the prophet calls upon men to sing to the Lord a new song (<a href='B:290 42:9-10'>Isa 42:9-10</a>).<p/>The new song is always a song for new mercies of God; and it will be noblest of all when it is a song for the mercies of God in Jesus Christ.<p/>One of the characteristics of the Revelation is that it is the book of new things. There is the new name (<a href='B:730 2:17'>Rev 2:17</a>; <a href='B:730 3:12'>Rev 3:12</a>); there is the new Jerusalem (<a href='B:730 3:12'>Rev 3:12</a>; <a href='B:730 21:2'>Rev 21:2</a>); there is the new song (<a href='B:730 5:9'>Rev 5:9</a>; <a href='B:730 14:3'>Rev 14:3</a>); there are the new heavens and the new earth (<a href='B:730 21:1'>Rev 21:1</a>); and there is the great promise that God makes all things new (<a href='B:730 21:5'>Rev 21:5</a>).<p/>One most significant thing is to be noted. Greek has two words for new, neos (<a href='S:G3501'>G3501</a>), which means new in point of time but not necessarily in point of quality, and kainos (<a href='S:G2537'>G2537</a>), which means new in point of quality. Kainos (<a href='S:G2537'>G2537</a>) describes a thing which has not only been recently produced but whose like has never existed before.<p/>The significance of this is that Jesus Christ brings into life a quality which has never existed before, new joy, new thrill, new strength, new peace. That is why the supreme quality of the Christian life is a kind of sheen. It has been said that "the opposite of a Christian world is a world grown old and sad."<p/>The Song Of The Living Creatures And Of The Elders (<a href='B:730 5:9-10'>Rev 5:9-10</a>)<p/>Let us begin by setting down this song:<p/>Worthy are you to receive the roll, and to open its seals, because you were slain, and so at the price of your life blood you bought for God those of every tribe and tongue and people and race, and made them a kingdom of priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.<p/>The praise rendered to the Lamb by the four living creatures and the elders is rendered because he died. In this song there is summed up the results of the death of Jesus Christ.<p/>(i) It was a sacrificial death. That is to say, it was a death with purpose in it. It was not an accident of history; it was not even the tragic death of a good and heroic man in the cause of righteousness and of God; it was a sacrificial death. The object of sacrifice is to restore the lost relationship between God and man; and it was for that purpose, and with that result, that Jesus Christ died.<p/>(ii) The death of Jesus Christ was an emancipating death. From beginning to end the New Testament is full of the idea of the liberation of mankind achieved by him. He gave his life a ransom (lutron, <a href='S:G3083'>G3083</a>) for many (<a href='B:480 10:45'>Mar 10:45</a>). He gave himself a ransom (antilutron, <a href='S:G487'>G487</a>) for all (<a href='B:610 2:6'>1Ti 2:6</a>). He redeemed us--literally bought us out from (exagorazein, <a href='S:G1805'>G1805</a>) --from the curse of the law (<a href='B:550 3:13'>Gal 3:13</a>). We are redeemed (lutrousthai, <a href='S:G3084'>G3084</a>) not by any human wealth but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ (<a href='B:670 1:19'>1Pe 1:19</a>). Jesus Christ is the Lord that bought us (agorazein, <a href='S:G59'>G59</a>) (<a href='B:680 2:1'>2Pe 2:1</a>). We are bought with a price (agorazein, <a href='S:G59'>G59</a>) (<a href='B:530 6:20'>1Co 6:20</a>; <a href='B:530 7:23'>1Co 7:23</a>). The New Testament consistently declares that it cost the death of Jesus Christ to rescue man from the dilemma and the slavery into which sin had brought him. The New Testament has no "official" theory of how that effect was achieved; but of the effect itself it is in no doubt whatever.<p/>(iii) The death of Jesus Christ was universal in its benefits. It was for men and women of every race. There was a day when the Jews could hold that God cared only for them and wished for nothing but the destruction of other peoples. But in Jesus Christ we meet a God who loves the world. The death of Christ was for all men and, therefore, it is the task of the Church to tell all men of it.<p/>(iv) The death of Jesus Christ was an availing death. He did not die for nothing. In this song three aspects of the work of Christ are singled out.<p/>(a) He made us kings. He opened to men the royalty of sonship of God. Men have always been sons of God by creation; but now there is a new sonship of grace open to every man.<p/>(b) He made us priests. In the ancient world the priest alone had the right of approach to God. When an ordinary Jew entered the Temple, he could make his way through the Court of the Gentiles, through the Court of the Women, into the Court of the Israelites; but into the Court of the Priests he could not go. It was thus far and no farther. But Jesus Christ opened the way for all men to God. Every man becomes a priest in the sense that he has the right of access to God.<p/>(c) He gave us triumph. His people shall reign upon the earth. This is not political triumph or material lordship. It is the secret of victorious living under any circumstances. "In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (<a href='B:500 16:33'>Joh 16:33</a>). In Christ there is victory over self, victory over circumstance and victory over sin.<p/>When we think of what the death and life of Jesus Christ have done for men, it is no wonder that the living creatures and the elders burst into praise of him.<p/>The Song Of The Angels (<a href='B:730 5:11-12'>Rev 5:11-12</a>)


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 And I saw, and I heard the voice of many angels, who were in a circle round the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and their number was ten thousands of ten thousands and thousands of thousands; and they were saying with a great voice:<p/>The Lamb, which has been slain, is worthy to receive the power and the riches and the wisdom and the strength and the honour and the glory and the blessing.<p/></i><p/>The chorus of praise is taken up by the unnumbered hosts of the angels of heaven. They stand in a great outer circle round the throne and the living creatures and the elders and they begin their song. We have repeatedly seen how John takes his language from the Old Testament; and here there is in his memory David's great thanksgiving to God:<p/>Blessed art thou, O Lord, the God of Israel, our Father, for<p/>ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power<p/>and the glory and the victory and the majesty; for all that is<p/>in the heavens and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom<p/>O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches<p/>and honour come from thee, and thou rulest over all. In thy<p/>hand are power and might; and in thy hand it is to make great,<p/>and to give strength to all (<a href='B:130 29:10-12'>1Ch 29:10-12</a>).<p/>The song of the living creatures and of the elders told of the work of Christ in his death; now the angels sing of the possessions of Christ in his glory. Seven great possessions belong to the Risen Lord.<p/>(i) To him belongs the power. Paul called Jesus, "Christ the power of God" (<a href='B:530 1:24'>1Co 1:24</a>). He is not one who can plan but never achieve; to him belongs the power. We can say triumphantly of him: "He is able."<p/>(ii) To him belongs the riches. "Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor" (<a href='B:540 8:9'>2Co 8:9</a>). Paul speaks of "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (<a href='B:560 3:8'>Eph 3:8</a>). There is no promise that Jesus Christ has made that he does not possess the resources to carry out. There is no claim on him which he cannot satisfy.<p/>(iii) To him belongs the wisdom. Paul calls Jesus Christ "the wisdom of God" (<a href='B:530 1:24'>1Co 1:24</a>). He has the wisdom to know the secrets of God and the solution of the problems of life.<p/>(iv) To him belongs the strength. Christ is the strong one who can disarm the powers of evil and overthrow Satan (<a href='B:490 11:22'>Luk 11:22</a>). There is no situation with which he cannot cope.<p/>(v) To him belongs the honour. The day comes when to him every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord (Php_2:11). A strange thing is that even those who are not Christian often honour Christ by admitting that in his teaching alone lies the hope of this distracted world.<p/>(vi) To him belongs the glory. As John has it: "We beheld his glory, from glory as of the only Father, full of grace and truth" (<a href='B:500 1:14'>Joh 1:14</a>). Glory is that which by right belongs to God alone. To say that Jesus Christ possesses the glory is to say that he is divine.<p/>(vii) To him belongs the blessing. Here is the inevitable climax of it all. All these things Jesus Christ possesses, and every one of them he uses in the service of the men for whom he lived and died; he does not clutch them to himself.<p/>Therefore, there rises to him from all the redeemed thanksgiving for all that he has done. And that thanksgiving is the one gift that we who have nothing can give to him who possesses all.<p/>The Song Of All Creation (<a href='B:730 5:13-14'>Rev 5:13-14</a>)


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 And I heard every created creature which was in the heaven, and upon the earth, and beneath the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, saying:<p/>Blessing and honour and glory and dominion for ever and ever to him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb.<p/>And the four living creatures said, Amen; and the elders fell down and worshipped.<p/></i><p/>Now the chorus of praise goes so far that it cannot go farther, for it reaches throughout the whole of the universe and the whole of creation. There is one vast song of praise to the Lamb. We may note one very significant thing. In this chorus of praise God and the Lamb are joined together. Nothing could better show the height of John's conception of Jesus Christ. In the praise of creation he sets him by the side of God.<p/>In the song itself there are two things to note.<p/>The creatures which are in the heaven add their praise. Who are they? More than one answer has been given and each is lovely in its own way. It has been suggested that the reference is to the birds of the air; the very singing of the birds is a song of praise. It has been suggested that the reference is to the sun, the moon and the stars; the heavenly bodies in their shining are praising God. It has been suggested that the phrase gathers up every possible being in heaven--the living creatures, the elders, the myriads of angels and every other heavenly being.<p/>The creatures which are beneath the earth add their praise. That can only mean the dead who are in Hades, and here is something totally new. In the Old Testament the idea is that the dead are separated altogether from God and man and live a shadowy existence. "In death there is no rememberence of thee; in Sheol who can give thee praise?" (<a href='B:230 6:5'>Psa 6:5</a>). "Shall the dust praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth? What profit is there in my death if I go down to the pit?" (<a href='B:230 30:9'>Psa 30:9</a>). "Dost thou work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise thee? Is thy steadfast love declared in the grave, or thy faithfulness in Abaddon? Are thy wonders known in the darkness, or thy saving help in the land of forgetfulness?" (<a href='B:230 88:10-12'>Psa 88:10-12</a>). "For Sheol cannot thank thee, death cannot praise thee; those that go down to the pit cannot hope for thy faithfulness" (<a href='B:290 38:18'>Isa 38:18</a>).<p/>Here is a vision which sweeps all this away. Not even the land of the dead is beyond the reign of the Risen Christ. Even from beyond death the chorus of praise rises to him.<p/>The picture here is all-inclusive of all nature praising God. There are in Scripture many magnificent pictures of the praise of God by nature. In the Old Testament itself there is <a href='B:230 148:1-14'>Psa 148:1-14</a>. But the noblest song of praise comes from the Apocrypha. In the Greek Old Testament there is an addition to Daniel. It is called The Song of the Three Children and it is sung by Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, as Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego are there called, before they enter the fiery furnace. It is long, but it is one of the world's great poems, and we must quote in full the part in which they call upon nature to praise God.<p/>O ye sun and moon, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye stars of heaven, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O every shower and dew, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O all ye winds, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye fire and heat, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye winter and summer, bless the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye dews and storms of snow, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye nights and days, bless the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye light and darkness, bless the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye cold and heat, bless the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye ice and cold, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye frost and snow, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye lightnings and clouds, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O let the earth bless the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye mountains and little hills, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O all ye herbs of the field, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O all things that grow on the earth, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye fountains, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye seas and rivers, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye whales and all that move in the waters, bless ye the<p/>Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O all ye fowls of the air, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O all ye beasts and cattle, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O all ye creeping things of the earth, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever.<p/>O ye children of men, bless ye the Lord:<p/>Praise and exalt him above all for ever. 


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<b>THE OPENING OF THE SEALS</b> (<a href='B:730 6:1-8'>Rev 6:1-8</a>)<p/> As one by one the seals of the roll are opened, history unfolds itself before John's eyes.<p/>As we study this section, we must remember one general fact which is basic to its understanding. In this series of visions John is seeing in advance the end of terror and judgment which could bring in the golden age of God.<p/>Before we study the section in detail, we note one general point. In the first section of the visions, <a href='B:730 6:1-8'>Rev 6:1-8</a>, the King James Version consistently follows a form of the Greek text which makes each of the four living creatures say: "Come and see!" (<a href='B:730 6:1'>Rev 6:1</a>; <a href='B:730 6:3'>Rev 6:3</a>; <a href='B:730 6:5'>Rev 6:5</a>; <a href='B:730 6:7'>Rev 6:7</a>). In all the best Greek manuscripts it is simply, "Come!" as translated in the Revised Standard Version. This is not an invitation to John to come and see; it is a summons to the four horses and their riders one by one to come forward on the stage of history.<p/><b>THE FOUR HORSES AND THEIR RIDERS</b> (<a href='B:730 6:1-8'>Rev 6:1-8</a> <b>continued)</b>


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 And I saw when the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a loud voice like the sound of thunder, "Come!" And I saw, and, behold, a white horse, and he who was seated on it had a bow, and a conqueror's crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.<p/>And, when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" And there came forth another horse blood-red in colour, and to him that sat upon it there was given to take peace from the earth, and to bring it about that men slay one another, and a great sword was given to him.<p/>And, when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" And, behold, there came a black horse, and he who sat upon it had the beam of a balance in his hand. And I heard as it were a voice in the middle of the four living creatures saying: "A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of barley for a denarius. But you must not injure the oil and the wine."<p/>And, when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come!" And I saw, and, behold, there came a pale horse, and the name of him who sat upon it was Death, and Hades followed with him; and they were given power over a fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, and by the wild beasts of the earth.<p/></i><p/>Before we embark on a detailed interpretation of this vision, we note two important points.<p/>(i) We note that the origin of this vision is in <a href='B:450 6:1-8'>Zec 6:1-8</a>. Zechariah sees four horses which are let loose upon the earth to deal out vengeance on Babylon and Egypt and the nations which have oppressed God's people. "These are going forth to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth" (<a href='B:450 6:5'>Zec 6:5</a>). The horses stand for the four mighty winds which God is about to let loose on the earth with a blast of destruction. John does not keep the details the same; but for him, too, the horses and their riders are the instruments of the avenging judgment of God.<p/>(ii) We must explain the method of interpretation which we think must be used. The four horses and their riders stand for four great destructive forces which are in the times before the end to be despatched against the evil world by the holy wrath of God. But, John sees these forces in terms of actual events in the world which he knew where life seemed a chaos, the world seemed to be disintegrating, and the earth seemed to be full of terrors. The horses and their riders are forces of destruction and agents of wrath; they are not to be identified with any historical figures but in the events of his own time John saw symbols and types of the destruction to come<p/>Our method of interpretation will, therefore, be to define the destructive force for which each of the horses stands, and then, where possible, to find circumstances in the history of John's own time which illustrate the destruction to come. We will further see that in more than one case John is dealing in pictures and ideas which were part of the stock in trade of the writers of these visions of the days of the end.<p/>The White Horse Of Conquest (<a href='B:730 6:1-2'>Rev 6:1-2</a>)


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 And I saw, when the Lamb opened the first of the seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a loud voice like the sound of thunder: "Come!" And I saw, and, behold a white horse, and he who was seated on it had a bow, and a conqueror's crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.<p/></i><p/>As each of the seven seals is broken and opened, a new terror falls upon the earth. The first terror is depicted under the form of a white horse and its rider. What do they represent? Two explanations have been suggested, one of which is certainly wrong.<p/>(i) It has been suggested that the rider on the white horse is the victorious Christ himself. This conclusion is drawn because this picture is connected by some commentators with that in <a href='B:730 19:11-12'>Rev 19:11-12</a> which tells of a white horse and on it a rider, called Faithful and True and crowned with many crowns, who is the victorious Christ. It is to be noted that the crown in this passage is different from that in <a href='B:730 19:1-21'>Rev 19:1-21</a>. Here the crown is stephanos (<a href='S:G4735'>G4735</a>), which is the victor's crown; in <a href='B:730 19:1-21'>Rev 19:1-21</a> it is diadema (<a href='S:G1238'>G1238</a>), which is the royal crown. The passage we are here studying is telling of woe upon woe and disaster upon disaster; any picture of the victorious Christ is quite out of place in it. This picture tells of the coming not of the victor Christ but of the terrors of the wrath of God.<p/>(ii) Quite certainly, the white horse and its rider stand for conquest in war. When a Roman general celebrated a triumph, that is, when he paraded through the streets of Rome with his armies and his captives and his spoils after some great victory, his chariot was drawn by white horses, the symbol of victory.<p/>But, as we said in the introduction to this passage, John is clothing his predictions of the future in pictures of the present which his readers would recognize. The rider of the horse had in his hand a bow. In the Old Testament the bow is always the sign of military power. In the final defeat of Babylon her mighty men are taken and their bows--that is, their military power--destroyed (<a href='B:300 51:56'>Jer 51:56</a>). God will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel (<a href='B:350 1:5'>Hos 1:5</a>). God breaks the bow and shatters the spear in sunder and burns the chariots with fire; that is, against him no human military power can stand (<a href='B:230 46:9'>Psa 46:9</a>). The bow, then, would always stand for military power. But there is one particular picture which the Romans and all who dwelt in Asia would at once recognize. The one enemy whom. the Romans feared was the Parthian power. The Parthians dwelt on the far eastern frontiers of the Empire and were the scourge of Rome. In A.D. 62 an unprecedented event had occurred; a Roman army had actually surrendered to Vologeses, the king of the Parthians. The Parthians rode white horses and were the most famous bowmen in the world. A "Parthian shot" still means a final, devastating blow, to which there is no possible answer.<p/>So, then, the white horse and its rider with the bow stand for militarism and conquest.<p/>Here is something which it has taken men long to learn. Military conquest has been presented as a thing of glamour; but it is always tragedy. When Euripides wished to depict warfare upon the stage, he did not bring on an army with banners. He brought on a bent and bewildered old woman leading by the hand a weeping child who had lost his parents. During the Spanish civil war a journalist told how he suddenly realized what war was. He was in a Spanish city in which the opposing parties were waging guerrilla warfare. He saw walking along the pavement a little boy, obviously lost, and bewildered and terrified, dragging along a toy which had lost its wheels. Suddenly there was the crack of a rifle shot; and the little boy pitched on the ground, dead. That is war. First among the tragic terrors of the terrible times John sets the white horse and the man with the bow, the vision of the tragedy of militaristic conquest.<p/>The Blood-red Horse Of Strife (<a href='B:730 6:3-4'>Rev 6:3-4</a>)


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 When he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say: "Come!" And there came forth another horse, blood-red in colour, and to him that sat upon it there was given to take peace from the earth, and to bring it about that men should slay each other, and a great sword was given to him.<p/></i><p/>The function of the second horse and its rider is to take peace from the earth. They stand for that destructive strife which sets man against man and nation against nation in a chaos of tragic destruction. There are two backgrounds to this.<p/>(i) John was writing in a time when internecine strife was tearing the world apart. In the thirty years before the reign of Herod the Great, 67 to 37 B.C., in Palestine alone no fewer than 100,000 men had perished in abortive revolutions. In A.D. 61 in Britain there had arisen the rebellion connected with the name of Queen Boadicea. The Romans crushed it, Boadicea committed suicide and 150,000 men perished.<p/>(ii) In the Jewish pictures of the end time, an essential element is the complete disintegration of all human relationships. Brother will fight against brother, neighbour against neighbour, city will rise against city, and kingdom against kingdom (<a href='B:290 19:2'>Isa 19:2</a>). Every man's hand shall be against the hand of his neighbour (<a href='B:450 14:13'>Zec 14:13</a>). From dawn to sunset they will slay each other (Enoch 100:12). Friend shall war against friend; friends will attack one another suddenly (4 <a href='B:150 5:9'>Ezr 5:9</a>; <a href='B:150 4:1-24'>Ezr 4:1-24</a> Ezra 6:24). Some of them shall fall in battle, and some of them shall perish in anguish, and some of them shall be destroyed by their own (2 Baruch 70:2-8). Many shall be stirred up in anger to injure many, and they shall rouse up all men in order to shed blood, and in the end they will all perish together (Baruch 48:37).<p/>The vision of the end was a vision of a time when all human relationships would be destroyed and the world a seething cauldron of embittered hate.<p/>It is still true that the nation in which there is division between man and man and class and class and hatred based on competitive ambition and selfish desire is doomed; and the world in which nation is set against nation is hastening to its end.<p/>The Black Horse Of Famine (<a href='B:730 6:5-6'>Rev 6:5-6</a>)


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 When he had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say: "Come!" And, behold, there came a black horse, and he who sat upon it had the beam of a balance in his hand. And I heard, as it were, a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying: "A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of barley for a denarius. But you must not injure the oil and the wine."<p/></i><p/>It will help us to understand the idea behind this passage if we remember that John is giving an account not of the end of things, but of the signs and events which precede the end. So here the black horse and its rider represent famine, a famine which is very severe and causes great hardship, but which is not desperate enough to kill. There is wheat--at a prohibitive price; and the wine and the oil are not affected.<p/>The three main crops of Palestine were the corn, the wine and the oil; and it is these three which are always mentioned when the crops of the land are being described (<a href='B:50 7:13'>Deu 7:13</a>; <a href='B:50 11:14'>Deu 11:14</a>; <a href='B:50 28:51'>Deu 28:51</a>; <a href='B:350 2:8'>Hos 2:8</a>; <a href='B:350 2:22'>Hos 2:22</a>). The rider of the horse had the cross-beam of a balance in his hand. In the Old Testament the phrase to eat bread by weight indicates the greatest scarcity. In Leviticus it is the threat of God that, if the people are disobedient "they shall deliver your bread again by weight" (<a href='B:30 26:26'>Lev 26:26</a>). It is the threat of God to Ezekiel: "I will break the stall of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with fearfulness" (<a href='B:330 4:16'>Eze 4:16</a>).<p/>It was not entirely abnormal that there should be wine and oil when there was no corn. The olive and the vine were much more deeply-rooted than the corn; and they could stand a drought which would wipe out the corn crop. When Jacob had to send down to Egypt for corn in the days of the famine in the time of Joseph, he was still able to send with his sons a gift of "the choice fruits of the land" (<a href='B:10 43:11'>Gen 43:11</a>). But it is true that a situation in which wine and oil were plentiful and corn prohibitively dear would be the equivalent of one in which luxuries were plentiful and necessities scarce.<p/>We can see the extent of the scarcity from the statement of the voice from amidst the four living creatures. A measure of wheat or three measures of barley was to cost a denarius. The measure was a choinix (<a href='S:G5518'>G5518</a>), equivalent to two pints and consistently defined in the ancient world as a man's ration for a day. A denarius was the equivalent of four pence and was a working man's wage for a day. Normally one denarius bought anything from eight to sixteen measures of corn and three to four times as much barley. What John is foretelling is a situation in which a man's whole working wage would be needed to buy enough corn for himself for a day, leaving absolutely nothing to buy any of the other necessities of life and absolutely nothing for his wife and family. If instead of corn he bought the much inferior barley, he might manage to give some to his wife and family but again he would have nothing to buy anything else.<p/>We have seen that, although John was telling of the signs which were to precede the end, he was nevertheless painting them in terms of actual historical situations which men would recognize. There had been desperate famines in the time of Nero which left the luxury of the rich untouched. There was an occasion when a ship arrived in Italy from Alexandria. The starving populace thought it was a cornship, for all the cornships came from Alexandria; and they rioted when they discovered that the cargo was not corn but a special kind of sand from the Nile Delta to spread upon the ground of the arena for a gladiatorial show. This passage finds an amazing echo in certain events during the reign of Domitian, at the very time when John was writing. There was a very serious shortage of grain and also a superabundance of wine. Domitian took the drastic step of enacting that no fresh vineyards should be planted and that half the vineyards in the provinces should be cut down. At this edict the people of the province of Asia, in which John was writing, came very near to rebelling for their vineyards were one of their principal sources of revenue. In view of the violent reaction of the people of Asia, Domitian rescinded his edict and actually enacted that those who allowed their vineyards to go out of cultivation should be prosecuted. Here is the very picture of a situation in which corn was scarce and it was yet forbidden to interfere with the supply of wine and oil.<p/>So, then, this is a picture of famine set alongside luxury. There is always something radically wrong with a situation in which some have too much and others too little. This is always a sign that the society in which it occurs is hastening to its ruin.<p/>There is one other interesting point which, it has been suggested, is in this passage. It is from the midst of the four living creatures that there comes the voice telling of the famine prices of corn. We have already seen that the four living creatures may well symbolize all that is best in nature; and this may well be taken to be nature's protest against famine amidst men. The tragedy has nearly always been that nature produces enough, and more than enough, but that there are many people to whom that abundance never comes. It is as if John was symbolically indicating that nature herself protests when the gifts she offers are used selfishly and irresponsibly for the luxury of the few at the expense of the many.<p/>The Pale Horse Of Pestilence And Death (<a href='B:730 6:7-8'>Rev 6:7-8</a>)


text:
 When he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying: "Come!" And I saw, and, behold, there came a pale horse, and the name of him who sat upon it was Death, and Hades followed with him; and they were given power over a fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.<p/></i><p/>As we approach this passage we must once again remember that it is telling not of the final end but of the signs which precede it. That is why it is a fourth part of the earth which is involved in death and disaster. This is a terrible time but it is not the time of total destruction.<p/>The picture is a grim one. The horse is pale in colour. The word is chloros (<a href='S:G5515'>G5515</a>) which means pale in the sense of livid and is used of a face blenched with terror. The passage is complicated by the fact that the Greek word thanatos (<a href='S:G2288'>G2288</a>) is used in a double sense. In <a href='B:730 6:8'>Rev 6:8</a> it is used to mean both death and pestilence.<p/>John was writing in a time when famine and pestilence did devastate the world; but in this case he is thinking in terms provided by the Old Testament which more than once speaks of "the four sore judgments." Ezekiel hears God tell of the time when he will send his "four sore acts of judgment upon Jerusalem"--sword, famine, evil beasts, and pestilence (<a href='B:330 14:21'>Eze 14:21</a>). In Leviticus there is a passage which tells of the penalties which God will send upon his people because of their disobedience. Wild beasts will rob them of their children and destroy their cattle and make them few in number. The sword will avenge their breaches of the covenant. When they are gathered in their cities the pestilence will be among them. He will break the stall of bread and they will eat and not be satisfied (<a href='B:30 26:21-26'>Lev 26:21-26</a>).<p/>Here John is using a traditional picture of what is to happen when God despatches his wrath upon his disobedient people. At the back of it all is the permanent truth that no man or nation can escape the consequences of their sin.<p/><b>THE SOULS OF THE MARTYRS</b> (<a href='B:730 6:9-11'>Rev 6:9-11</a>)


text:
 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw beneath the altar the souls of those who had been stain for the sake of the word of God and because of the witness which they bore. And they cried with a loud voice: "How long, Lord, Holy and True, will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?" And to each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to rest for still a little while, until there should be completed the number of their fellow-servants and of their brothers who must be killed.<p/></i><p/>At the breaking of the fifth seal comes the vision of the souls of those who had died for their faith.<p/>Jesus left his followers in no doubt as to the suffering and the martyrdom they would be called upon to endure. "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated of all nations for my name's sake" (<a href='B:470 24:9'>Mat 24:9</a>; <a href='B:480 13:9-13'>Mar 13:9-13</a>; <a href='B:490 21:12'>Luk 21:12</a>; <a href='B:490 21:18'>Luk 21:18</a>). The day would come when those who killed Christians would think they were doing a service for God (<a href='B:500 16:2'>Joh 16:2</a>).<p/>The idea of an altar in heaven is one that occurs more than once in the Revelation (<a href='B:730 8:5'>Rev 8:5</a>; <a href='B:730 14:18'>Rev 14:18</a>). It is not by any means a new idea. When the furnishings of the tabernacle were to be made, they were all to be constructed according to the pattern which God possessed and would show (<a href='B:20 25:9'>Exo 25:9</a>; <a href='B:20 25:40'>Exo 25:40</a>; <a href='B:40 8:4'>Num 8:4</a>; <a href='B:650 8:5'>Heb 8:5</a>; <a href='B:650 9:23'>Heb 9:23</a>). It is the consistent idea of those who wrote about the Tabernacle and the Temple that the pattern of all the holy things already existed in heaven.<p/>The souls of those who had been slain were there beneath the altar. That picture is taken directly from the sacrificial ritual of the Temple. For a Jew the most sacred part of any sacrifice was the blood; the blood was regarded as being the life and the life belonged to God (<a href='B:30 17:11-14'>Lev 17:11-14</a>). Because of that, there were special regulations for the offering of the blood.<p/>"The rest of the blood of the bull the priest shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering" (<a href='B:30 4:7'>Lev 4:7</a>). That is to say, the blood is offered at the foot of the altar.<p/>This gives us the meaning of our passage here. The souls of the martyrs are beneath the altar. That is to say, their life-blood has been poured out as an offering to God. The idea of the martyr's life as a sacrifice to God is in the mind of Paul. He says that he will rejoice, if he is offered up on the sacrifice and the service of the faith of the Philippians (Php_2:17). "I am already," he says, "on the point of being sacrificed" (<a href='B:620 4:6'>2Ti 4:6</a>). In the time of the Maccabees the Jews suffered terribly for their faith. There was a mother whose seven sons were threatened with death because of their loyalty to their Jewish beliefs. She encouraged them not to yield and reminded them how Abraham had not refused to offer Isaac. She told them that, when they reached their glory, they must tell Abraham that he had built one altar of sacrifice but their mother had built seven. In later Judaism it was said that Michael, the archangel, sacrificed on the heavenly altar the souls of the righteous and of those who had been faithful students of the law. When Ignatius of Antioch was on his way to Rome to be burned, his prayer was that he should be found a sacrifice belonging to God.<p/>There is a great and uplifting truth here. When a good man dies for the sake of goodness, it may look like tragedy, like the waste of a fine life; like the work of evil men; and, indeed, it may be all these things. But every life laid down for right and truth and God is ultimately more than any of these things--it is an offering made to God.<p/><b>THE CRY OF THE MARTYRS</b> (<a href='B:730 6:9-11'>Rev 6:9-11</a> <b>continued)</b><p/> There are three things in this section which we must note.<p/>(i) We have the eternal cry of the suffering righteous--"How long?" This was the cry of the Psalmist. How long were the heathen to be allowed to afflict God's righteous people? How long were they to be allowed to taunt his people by asking where God was and what he was doing? (<a href='B:230 79:5-10'>Psa 79:5-10</a>). The thing to remember is that when the saints of God uttered this cry, they were bewildered by God's seeming inactivity but they never doubted his ultimate action, and the ultimate vindication of the righteous.<p/>(ii) We have a picture which is easy to criticize. The saints actually wished to see the punishment of their persecutors. it is hard for us to understand the idea that part of the joy of heaven was to see the punishment of the sinners in Hell. In the Assumption of Moses the Jewish writer (10: 10) hears God promise:<p/>And thou shalt look from on high and shalt see thy enemies in<p/>Gehenna.<p/>And thou shalt recognize them and rejoice,<p/>And thou shalt give thanks and confess thy Creator.<p/>In later times Tertullian (Concerning Spectacles 30) was to taunt the heathen with their love of spectacles and to say that the spectacle to which the Christian most looked forward was to see his one-time persecutors writhing in Hell.<p/>You are fond of spectacles; expect the greatest of all spectacles,<p/>the last and eternal judgment of the universe. How shall I admire,<p/>how laugh, how rejoice, how exult, when I behold so many proud<p/>monarchs, and fancied gods, groaning in the lowest abyss of<p/>darkness; so many magistrates who persecuted the name of the Lord,<p/>liquefying in fiercer flames than they ever kindled against the<p/>Christians; so many sage philosophers blushing in red hot flames<p/>with their deluded scholars; so many celebrated poets trembling<p/>before the tribunal, not of Minos, but of Christ; so many<p/>tragedians more tuneful in the expression of their own sufferings;<p/>so many dancers writhing in the flames.<p/>It is easy to stand aghast at the spirit of vengeance which could write like that. But we must remember what these men went through, the agony of the flames, of the arena and the wild beasts, of the sadistic torture which they suffered. We have the right to criticize only when we have gone through the same agony.<p/>(iii) The martyrs must rest in peace for a little longer until their number is made up. The Jews had the conviction that the drama of history had to be played out in full before the end could come. God would not stir until the measure appointed had been fulfilled (2<a href='B:190 4:36'>Est 4:36</a>). The number of the righteous first has to be offered (Enoch 47:4). The Messiah would not come until all the souls which were to be born had been born. The same idea finds its echo in the burial prayer in the Anglican Prayer Book that "it may please thee shortly to accomplish the number of thine elect and to hasten thy kingdom." It is a curious notion but at the back of it is the idea that all history is in the hand of God, and that in it and through it all he is working his purpose out to its certain end.<p/><b>THE SHATTERED UNIVERSE</b> (<a href='B:730 6:12-14'>Rev 6:12-14</a>)


text:
 I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the heaven fell upon the earth, as a fig-tree casts its figs, when it is shaken by a high wind; and the heavens were split like a roll that is rolled up, and the hills and islands were moved from their places.<p/></i><p/>John is using pictures very familiar to his Jewish readers. The Jews always regarded the end as a time when the earth would be shattered and there would be cosmic upheaval and destruction. In the picture there are, as it were, five elements which can all be abundantly illustrated from the Old Testament and from the books written between the Testaments.<p/>(i) There is the earthquake. At the coming of the Lord the earth will tremble (<a href='B:370 8:8'>Amo 8:8</a>). There will be a great shaking in the land of Israel (<a href='B:330 38:19'>Eze 38:19</a>). The earth will quake and the heavens will tremble (<a href='B:360 2:10'>Joe 2:10</a>). God will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land (<a href='B:440 2:6'>Hag 2:6</a>). The earth will tremble and be shaken to its bounds; the hills will be shaken and fall (Assumption of Moses 10: 4). The earth shall open and fire burst forth (2<a href='B:190 5:8'>Est 5:8</a>). Whoever gets out of the war will die in the earthquake; and whoever gets out of the earthquake will die in the fire, and whoever gets out of the fire will perish in the famine (Baruch 70:8). The Jewish prophets and seers saw a time when earth would be shattered and a tide of destruction would flow over the old world before the new world was born.<p/>(ii) There is the darkening of the sun and moon. The sun will set at midday, and earth will grow dark in the clear day light (<a href='B:370 8:9'>Amo 8:9</a>). The stars will not shine; the sun will be darkened in his going forth and the moon will not cause her light to shine (<a href='B:290 13:10'>Isa 13:10</a>). God will clothe the heavens with blackness and will make sackcloth their covering (<a href='B:290 50:3'>Isa 50:3</a>). God will make the stars dark and cover the sun with a cloud (<a href='B:330 32:7'>Eze 32:7</a>). The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood (<a href='B:360 2:31'>Joe 2:31</a>). The horns of the sun will be broken and he will be turned into darkness, the moon will not give her light, and will be turned into blood; and the circle of the stars will be disturbed (Assumption of Moses 10: 4-5). The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give her light (<a href='B:470 24:29'>Mat 24:29</a>; <a href='B:480 13:24'>Mar 13:24</a>; <a href='B:490 23:45'>Luk 23:45</a>).<p/>(iii) There is the falling of the stars. To the Jew this idea was specially terrible, for the order of the heavens was the very guarantee of the unchanging fidelity of God. Take away the reliability of the heavens and there was nothing left but chaos. The angel tells Enoch to behold the heavens, to see how the heavenly bodies never change their orbits or transgress against their appointed order (Enoch 2:1). Enoch saw the chambers of the sun and moon, how they go out and come in, how they never leave their orbit, and add nothing to it and take nothing from it (Enoch 41:5). To the Jew the last word in chaos was a world of falling stars. But in the end time the host of heaven would be dissolved and fall down as the leaf falls from the vine and the fig from the fig-tree (<a href='B:290 34:4'>Isa 34:4</a>). The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be shaken (<a href='B:470 24:29'>Mat 24:29</a>). The firmament shall fall on the sea and a cataract of fire will reduce the heavens and the stars to a molten mass (Sibylline Oracles 3: 83). The stars will transgress their order and alter their orbits (Enoch 80:5-6). The outgoings of the stars will change (2<a href='B:190 5:4'>Est 5:4</a>). The end will be a time when the most reliable things in the universe will become a disorderly and terrifying chaos.<p/>(iv) There is the folding up of the heavens. The picture in this passage is of a roll stretched out and held open, and then suddenly split down the middle so that each half recoils and rolls up. God will shake the heavens (<a href='B:290 13:13'>Isa 13:13</a>). The heavens will be rolled together as a scroll (<a href='B:290 34:4'>Isa 34:4</a>). They will be changed like a garment and folded up (<a href='B:230 102:25-26'>Psa 102:25-26</a>). At the end the eternal heavens themselves will be rent in two.<p/>(v) There is the moving of the hills and of the islands of the sea. The mountains will tremble and the hills will be moved (<a href='B:300 4:24'>Jer 4:24</a>). The mountains will quake and the hills will melt (<a href='B:410 1:5'>Nah 1:5</a>). John saw a time when the most unshakeable things would be shaken and when even rocky isles like Patmos would be lifted from their foundation.<p/>Strange as John's pictures may seem to us, there is not a single detail which is not in the pictures of the end time in the Old Testament and in the books written between the Testaments. We must not think that these pictures are to be taken literally. Their point is that John is taking every terrifying thing that can be imagined and piling them all together to give a picture of the terrors of the end time. Today, with our increased scientific knowledge, we might well paint the picture in different terms; but it is not the picture that matters. What matters is the terrors which John and the Jewish seers foresaw when God would invade the earth when time was coming to an end.<p/><b>THE TIME OF TERROR</b> (<a href='B:730 6:15-17'>Rev 6:15-17</a>)


text:
 And the kings of the earth and the great ones and the captains and the rich and the strong, and every slave and every free person hid themselves in the caves and the rocks of the hills, and said to the mountains and to the rocks: "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"<p/></i><p/>As John saw it in his vision, the end time was to be one of universal terror. Here again he is working with pictures familiar to all who knew the Old Testament and the later Jewish writings. When the Day of the Lord came, men would be afraid; pangs and sorrows would take hold of them; they would be in pain as a woman who travails; and they would be amazed at one another (<a href='B:290 13:6'>Isa 13:6</a>; <a href='B:290 13:8'>Isa 13:8</a>). At that time even the mighty man would cry bitterly (<a href='B:430 1:14'>Zep 1:14</a>). The inhabitants of the land would tremble (<a href='B:360 2:1'>Joe 2:1</a>). They would be frighted with fear; there would be no place to which to flee and no place in which to hide; the children of earth would tremble and quake (Enoch 102:1, 3). God would come to be a witness against his sinning people (<a href='B:400 1:1-4'>Mic 1:1-4</a>). He would be like a refiner's fire, and who might abide the day of his coming? (<a href='B:460 3:1-3'>Mal 3:1-3</a>). The Day of the Lord would be great and terrible, and who could endure it? (<a href='B:360 2:11'>Joe 2:11</a>). Men would say to the mountains, "Cover us, and to the hills, "Fall on us" (<a href='B:350 10:8'>Hos 10:8</a>), words which Jesus quoted on the way to the Cross (<a href='B:490 23:30'>Luk 23:30</a>).<p/>This passage has two significant things to say about this fear.<p/>(i) It is universal. <a href='B:730 6:15'>Rev 6:15</a> speaks of the kings, the captains, the great ones, the rich, the strong, the slave and the free. It has been pointed out that these seven words include "the whole fabric of human society." No one is exempt from the judgment of God. The great ones may well be the Roman governors who persecute the Church; the captains are the military authorities. However great a governor a man is and however much power he wields, he is still subject to the judgment of God. However rich a man may be, however strong, however free he may count himself, however much of a slave, however insignificant, he does not escape the judgment of God.<p/>(ii) When the day of the Lord comes, John sees people seeking somewhere to hide. Here is the great truth that the first instinct of sin is to hide. In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve sought to hide themselves (<a href='B:10 3:8'>Gen 3:8</a>). H. B. Swete says: "What sinners dread most is not death, but the revealed presence of God." The terrible thing about sin is that it makes a man a fugitive from God; and the supreme thing about the work of Jesus Christ is that it puts a man into a relationship with God in which he no longer need seek to hide, knowing that he can cast himself on the love and the mercy of God.<p/>(iii) We note one last thing. That from which men flee is the wrath of the Lamb. Here is paradox; we do not readily associate wrath with the Lamb but rather gentleness and kindness. But the wrath of God is the wrath of love, which is not out to destroy but even in anger is out to save the one it loves. 


text:
 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth so that the wind might not blow upon the earth, or upon the sea, or against any tree. And I saw another angel going up from where the sun rises, with a seal which belonged to the living God, and he shouted with a great voice to the four angels to whom was given power to harm the earth and the sea: "Do not harm the earth and the sea or the trees until we seal the servants of our God upon their foreheads."<p/></i><p/>Before we deal with this chapter in detail, it is better to set out the general picture behind it.<p/>John is seeing the vision of the last terrible days aid in particular the great tribulation which is to come, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time (<a href='B:470 24:21'>Mat 24:21</a>; <a href='B:480 13:19'>Mar 13:19</a>). In this coming tribulation there was to be a final assault by every evil power and a final devastation of the earth. It is to play their part in this devastation that the winds are waiting and from which for a little while they are being held in check.<p/>Before this time of terror and devastation comes, the faithful are to be sealed with the seal of God in order that they may survive it. It is not that they are to be exempt from it but that they are to be brought safely through it.<p/>This is a terrible picture; even if the faithful are to be brought through this terrible time, they none the less must pass through it, and this is a prospect to make even the bravest shudder.<p/>In <a href='B:730 7:9'>Rev 7:9</a> the range of the seer's vision extends still further and he sees the faithful after the tribulation has passed. They are in perfect peace and satisfaction in the very presence of God. The last time will bring them unspeakable horrors, but when they have passed through it they will enter into equally unspeakable joy.<p/>There are really three elements in this picture. (i) There is a warning. The last unparalleled and inconceivable time of tribulation is coming soon. (ii) There is an assurance. In that time of destruction the faithful will suffer terribly, but they will come out on the other side because they are sealed with the seal of God. (iii) There is a promise. When they have passed through that time, they will come to the blessedness in which all pain and sorrow are gone and there is nothing but peace and joy.<p/><b>THE WINDS OF GOD</b> (<a href='B:730 7:1-3'>Rev 7:1-3</a> <b>continued)</b><p/> This vision is expressed in conceptions of the world which were the conceptions of the days in which John wrote.<p/>The earth is a square, flat earth; and at its four corners are four angels waiting to unleash the winds of destruction. Isaiah speaks of gathering the outcasts of Judah from the four corners of the earth (<a href='B:290 11:12'>Isa 11:12</a>). The end is come upon the four corners of the earth in Ezekiel (<a href='B:330 7:2'>Eze 7:2</a>).<p/>It was the belief of the ancient peoples that the winds which came from due north, south, east and west were all favourable winds; but that those which blew diagonally across the earth were harmful. That is why the angels are at the corners of the earth. They are about to unleash the winds which blow diagonally. It was the common belief that all the forces of nature were under the charge of angels. So we read of the angel of the fire (<a href='B:730 14:18'>Rev 14:18</a>) and the angel of the waters (<a href='B:730 16:5'>Rev 16:5</a>). These angels were called "The Angels of Service." They belonged to the very lowest order of angels, because they had to be continually on duty and, therefore, could not keep the Sabbath as a day of rest. Pious Israelites who faithfully observed the Law of the Sabbath were said to rank higher than these angels of service.<p/>The angels are bidden to restrain the winds until the work of sealing the faithful should be completed. This idea has more than one echo in Jewish literature. In Enoch the angels of the waters are bidden by God to hold the waters in check until Noah had built the ark (Enoch 66:1, 2). In 2Baruch the angels with the flaming torches are bidden to restrain their fire, when Jerusalem was sacked by the Babylonians, until the sacred vessels of the Temple could be hidden away and saved from the looting of the invaders (Bar_6:4). More than once we see the angels restraining the forces of destruction until the safety of the faithful has been made secure.<p/>One of the interesting and picturesque ideas of the Old Testament is that of the winds as the servants and the agents of God. This was specially so of the Sirocco, the dread wind from the south-east, with the blast like hot air from a furnace which withered and destroyed all vegetation. Zechariah has the picture of the chariots of the winds, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth (<a href='B:450 6:1-5'>Zec 6:1-5</a>). Nahum speaks of the Lord who has his way in the whirlwind (the Sirocco) and the storm (<a href='B:410 1:3'>Nah 1:3</a>). The Lord goes with the whirlwinds of the south (<a href='B:450 9:14'>Zec 9:14</a>). The winds are God's chariots (<a href='B:300 4:13'>Jer 4:13</a>). God comes with his chariots like a whirlwind (<a href='B:290 66:15'>Isa 66:15</a>). The wind is the breath of God (<a href='B:220 37:9-10'>Job 37:9-10</a>). The wind rends the mountains (<a href='B:110 19:11'>1Ki 19:11</a>) and withers the grass (<a href='B:290 40:7'>Isa 40:7</a>; <a href='B:290 40:24'>Isa 40:24</a>) and dries up the stream, the river and the sea (<a href='B:410 1:4'>Nah 1:4</a>; <a href='B:230 18:15'>Psa 18:15</a>).<p/>So terrible was the effect of the Sirocco that it gained a place in the pictures of the last days. One of the terrors which was to precede the end was a terrible storm. God would destroy his enemies as stubble before the wind (<a href='B:230 83:13'>Psa 83:13</a>). God's day would be the day of the whirlwind (<a href='B:370 1:14'>Amo 1:14</a>). The whirlwind of the Lord goes forth in its fury and falls on the head of the wicked (<a href='B:300 23:19'>Jer 23:19</a>; <a href='B:300 30:23'>Jer 30:23</a>). The wind of the Lord, the Sirocco, will come from the wilderness and destroy the fertility of the land (<a href='B:350 13:15'>Hos 13:15</a>). God will send his four winds upon Elam and scatter the people (<a href='B:300 49:36'>Jer 49:36</a>).<p/>This is difficult for many of us to understand; the dweller in the temperate countries does not know the terror of the wind. But there is something here more far-reaching than that and more characteristic of Jewish thought, the Jews knew nothing of secondary causes. We say that atmospheric conditions, variations in temperature, land and mountain configurations, cause certain things to happen. The Jew ascribed it all to the direct action of God. He simply said, God sent the rain; God made the wind to blow; God thundered; God sent his lightning.<p/>Surely both points of view are correct, for we may still believe that God acts through the laws by which his universe is governed.<p/><b>THE LIVING GOD</b> (<a href='B:730 7:1-3'>Rev 7:1-3</a> <b>continued)</b><p/> Before the great tribulation smites the earth the faithful ones are to be marked with the seal of God. There are two points to note.<p/>(i) The angel with the seal comes from the rising of the sun, from the East. All John's pictures mean something and there may be two meanings behind this: (a) It is in the East that the sun, the supreme earthly giver of light and life, rises; and the angel may stand for the life and the light that God gives his people even when death and destruction are abroad. (b) It is just possible that John is remembering something from the story of the birth of Jesus. The wise men come to Palestine searching for the king who is to be born, for "We have seen his star in the East" (<a href='B:470 2:2'>Mat 2:2</a>). It is natural that the delivering angel should rise in the same part of the sky as the star which told of the birth of the Saviour.<p/>(ii) The angel has the seal which belongs to the living God. The living God is a phrase in which the writers of Scripture delight and when they use it, there are certain things in their minds.<p/>(a) They are thinking of the living God in contra-distinction to the dead gods of the heathen. Isaiah has a tremendous passage of sublime mockery of the heathen and their dead gods whom their own hands have made (<a href='B:290 44:9-17'>Isa 44:9-17</a>). The smith takes a mass of metal and works at it with the hammer and the tongs and the coals, sweating and parched at his task of manufacturing a god. The carpenter goes out and cuts down a tree. He works at it with line and compass and plane. Part of it he uses to make a fire to warm himself; part of it he uses to make a fire to bake his bread and roast his meat; and part of it he uses to make a god. The heathen gods are dead and created by men; our God is alive and the creator of all things.<p/>(b) The idea of the living God is used as an encouragement. In the midst of their struggles Joshua reminds the people that with them there is the living God and that he will show his strength in their conflicts with their enemies (<a href='B:60 3:10'>Jos 3:10</a>). When a man is up against it, the living God is with him.<p/>(c) Only in the living God is there satisfaction. It is the living God for whom the soul of the psalmist longs and thirsts (<a href='B:230 42:2'>Psa 42:2</a>). Man can never find satisfaction in things but only in fellowship with a living person; and he finds his highest satisfaction in the fellowship of the living God.<p/>(d) The biblical writers stress the privilege of knowing and belonging to the living God. Hosea reminds the people of Israel that once they were not a people, but in mercy they have become children of the living God (<a href='B:350 1:10'>Hos 1:10</a>). Our privilege is that there is open to us the friendship, the fellowship, the help, the power and the presence of the living God.<p/>(e) In the idea of the living God there is at one and the same time a promise and a threat. Second Kings vividly tells the story of how the great king Sennacherib sent his envoy Rabshakeh to tell Hezekiah that he proposed to wipe out the nation of Israel. Humanly speaking, the little kingdom of Judah had no hope of survival, if the might of Assyria was launched against it. But with Israel there was the living God and he was a threat to the godlessness of Assyria and a promise to the faithful of Israel (<a href='B:120 18:17-37'>2Ki 18:17-37</a>).<p/><b>THE SEAL OF GOD</b> (<a href='B:730 7:4-8'>Rev 7:4-8</a>)


text:
 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand were sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. Of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand; of the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand; of the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand; of the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand; of the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand; of the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand; of the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand; of the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand; of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand; of the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand; of the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand.<p/></i><p/>Those who are to be brought safely through the great tribulation are sealed upon their foreheads. The origin of this picture is very likely in <a href='B:330 9:1-11'>Eze 9:1-11</a>. In Ezekiel's picture, before the final slaughter begins, the man with the inkhorn marks the forehead of those who are faithful and the avengers are told that none so marked must be touched (<a href='B:330 9:1-7'>Eze 9:1-7</a>).<p/>The idea of the king's seal would be very meaningful in the East. Eastern kings wore a signet ring whose seal was used to authenticate documents as really coming from the king's hand and to mark that which was the king's personal property. When Pharaoh appointed Joseph his prime minister and representative, he gave him his signet ring in token of the authority which had been delegated to him (<a href='B:10 41:42'>Gen 41:42</a>). So Ahasuerus gave his signet ring, first to Haman and then, when Haman's wicked schemes were unmasked, to Mordecai (<a href='B:190 3:10'>Est 3:10</a>; <a href='B:190 8:2'>Est 8:2</a>). The stone which shut Daniel into the lion's den was sealed (<a href='B:340 6:17'>Dan 6:17</a>), as was the stone with which the Jews sought to make the tomb of Jesus secure (<a href='B:470 27:66'>Mat 27:66</a>).<p/>Very commonly a seal indicated source or possession. A merchant would seal a Package of goods to certify that it belonged to him; and the owner of a vineyard would seal jars of wine to show that they came from his vineyard and with his guarantee.<p/>So here the seal was a sign that these people belonged to God and were under his power and authority.<p/>In the early church this picture of sealing was specially connected with two things. (a) It was connected with baptism which was regularly described as sealing. It is as if, when a person was baptized, a mark was put upon him to show that he had become the property and the possession of God. (b) Paul regularly talks about the Christian being sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. The possession of the Holy Spirit is the sign that a man belongs to God. The real Christian is marked out by the seal of the Spirit which enables him to have the wisdom and the strength to cope with life in a way beyond the attainment of others.<p/><b>THE NUMBER OF THE FAITHFUL</b> (<a href='B:730 7:4-8'>Rev 7:4-8</a> <b>continued)</b><p/> There are certain quite general things to be noted here which will greatly help towards the interpretation of this passage.<p/>(i) Two things are to be said about the number 144,000: (a) It is quite certain that it does not stand for the number of the faithful in every day and generation. The 144,000 stands for those who in the time of John are sealed and preserved from the great tribulation which at that moment was coming upon them. In due time, as we see in <a href='B:730 7:9'>Rev 7:9</a>, they are to be merged with the great crowd beyond all counting and drawn from every nation. (b) The number 144,000 stands, not for limitation but for completeness and perfection. It is made up of 12 multiplied by 12--the perfect square--and then rendered even more inclusive and complete by being multiplied by 1,000 This does not tell us that the number of the saved will be very small; it tells us that the number of the saved will be very great.<p/>(ii) The enumeration in terms of the twelve tribes of Israel does not mean that this is to be read in purely Jewish terms. One of the basic thoughts of the New Testament is that the Church is the real Israel, and that the national Israel has lost all its privileges and promises to the Church. Paul writes: "He is not a real Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal. His praise is not from men but from God" (<a href='B:520 2:28-29'>Rom 2:28-29</a>). "Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel," says Paul (<a href='B:520 9:6-7'>Rom 9:6-7</a>). If a man is Christ's, then is he Abraham's seed and an heir according to the promise (<a href='B:550 3:29'>Gal 3:29</a>). It is the Church which is the Israel of God (<a href='B:550 6:16'>Gal 6:16</a>). It is Christians who are the real circumcision, those who worship God in the spirit, who rejoice in Christ Jesus and who have no confidence in the flesh (Php_3:3). Even if this passage is stated in terms of the twelve tribes of Israel, the reference is still to the Church of God, the new Israel, the Israel of God.<p/>(iii) It would be a mistake to place any stress on the order in which the twelve tribes are given, because the lists of the tribes are always varying in their order. But two things stand out. (a) Judah comes first, thus supplanting Reuben, who was the eldest son of Jacob. That is simply explained by the fact it was from the tribe of Judah that the Messiah came. (b) Much more interesting is the omission of Dan. But there is also an explanation of that. In the Old Testament Dan does not hold a high place and is often connected with idolatry. In Jacob's dying speech to his sons, it is said: "Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse's heels, so that his rider falls backward" (<a href='B:10 49:17'>Gen 49:17</a>). In Judges the children of Dan are said to have set up a graven image (<a href='B:70 18:30'>Jdg 18:30</a>). The golden calves, which became a sin, were set up in Bethel and in Dan (<a href='B:110 12:29'>1Ki 12:29</a>). There is more. There is a curious saying in <a href='B:300 8:16'>Jer 8:16</a>: "The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan; at the sound of the neighing of their stallions the whole land quakes. They come and devour the land and all that fills it." That saying came to be taken as referring to Antichrist, the coming incarnation of evil; and it came to be believed among the Jewish Rabbis that Antichrist was to spring from Dan. Hippolytus (Concerning Antichrist 14) says: "As the Christ was born from the tribe of Judah, so will the Antichrist be born from the tribe of Dan." That is why Dan is missed out from this list and the list completed by the including of Manasseh, who is normally included in Joseph.<p/><b>THE GLORY OF THE MARTYRS</b> (<a href='B:730 7:9-10'>Rev 7:9-10</a>)


text:
 After this I saw, and, behold, a great crowd, so great that none could count its number, drawn from every race and from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes and palms in their hands. And they shouted with a great voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated upon the throne and to the Lamb."<p/></i><p/>Here we have the beginning of the vision of the future blessedness of the martyrs.<p/>(i) There is encouragement. There is coming upon the faithful a time of terror such as the world has never seen; and John is telling them that, if they endure to the end, the glory will be worth all the suffering. He is setting out how infinitely worthwhile it is in the long run to accept everything involved in the martyrdom which fidelity must undergo.<p/>(ii) The number of the martyrs is beyond all counting. This may well be a memory of the promise that God made to Abraham that his descendants would one day be as the number of the stars in the heavens (<a href='B:10 15:5'>Gen 15:5</a>), and as the sand of the seashore (<a href='B:10 32:12'>Gen 32:12</a>); at the last the number of the true Israel will be beyond all reckoning.<p/>(iii) John uses a phrase of which he is very fond. He says that God's faithful ones will come from every race and tribe and people and tongue (compare <a href='B:730 5:9'>Rev 5:9</a>; <a href='B:730 11:9'>Rev 11:9</a>; <a href='B:730 13:7'>Rev 13:7</a>; <a href='B:730 14:6'>Rev 14:6</a>; <a href='B:730 17:15'>Rev 17:15</a>). H. B. Swete speaks of "the polyglot cosmopolitan crowd who jostled one another in the agora or on the quays of the Asian sea-port towns." In any Asian harbour or market-place there would be gathered people from many lands, speaking many different tongues. Any evangelist would feel his heart afire to bring the message of Christ to this assorted crowd of people. Here is the promise that the day will come when all this motley crowd of many nations and many tongues will become the one flock of the Lord Christ.<p/>(iv) It is in victory that the faithful finally arrive in the presence of God and of the Lamb. They appear, not weary, battered and worn, but victorious. The white robe is the sign of victory; a Roman general celebrated his triumph clothed in white. The palm is also the sign of victory. When, under the might of the Maccabees, Jerusalem was freed from the pollutions of Antiochus Epiphanes, the people entered in with branches and fair boughs and palms and psalms (2Ma_10:7).<p/>(v) The shout of the triumphant faithful ascribes salvation to God. It is God who has brought them through their trials and tribulations and distresses; and it is his glory which now they share. God is the great saviour, the great deliverer of his people. And the deliverance which he gives is not the deliverance of escape but the deliverance of conquest. It is not a deliverance which saves a man from trouble but one which brings him triumphantly through trouble. It does not make life easy, but it makes life great. It is not part of the Christian hope to look for a life in which a man is saved from all trouble and distress; the Christian hope is that a man in Christ can endure any kind of trouble and distress, and remain erect all through them, and come out to glory on the other side.<p/><b>THE PRAISE OF THE ANGELS</b> (<a href='B:730 7:11-12'>Rev 7:11-12</a>)


text:
 And all the angels stood in a circle round the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell upon their faces before the throne, and worshipped God, saying:<p/>"So let it be. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength belong to our God for ever and for ever. Amen."<p/></i><p/>The picture is of a series of great concentric circles of the inhabitants of heaven. On the outer ring stand all the angels. Nearer the throne are the twenty-four elders; still nearer are the four living creatures; and before the throne are the white-robed martyrs. The martyrs have just sung their shout of praise to God and the angels take that song of praise and make it their own. "So let it be, say the angels; they say "Amen" to the martyrs' praises. Then they sing their own song of praise and every word in it is meaningful.<p/>They ascribe blessing to God; and God's creation must always be blessing him for his goodness in creation and in redemption and in providence to all that he has created. As a great saint put it: "Thou hast made us and we are thine; thou hast redeemed us and we are doubly thine."<p/>They ascribe glory to God. God is the King of kings and the Lord of lords; therefore, to him must be given glory. God is love but that love must never be cheaply sentimentalized; men must never forget the majesty of God.<p/>They ascribe wisdom to God. God is the source of all truth, the giver of all knowledge. If men seek wisdom, they can find it by only two paths, by the seeking of their minds and by waiting upon God--and the one is as important as the other.<p/>They offer thanksgiving to God. God is the giver of salvation and the constant provider of grace; he is the Creator of the world and the constant sustainer of all that is in it. It was the cry of the psalmist: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits" (<a href='B:230 103:2'>Psa 103:2</a>). Shakespeare said that it was sharper than a serpent's tooth to have a thankless child. We must see to it that we are never guilty of the ugliest and the most graceless of sins, that of ingratitude.<p/>They ascribed honour to God. God is to be worshipped. It may be that sometimes we come to think of him as some one to be used; but we ought not to forget the claims of worship, so that we not only ask things from him but offer ourselves and all we have to him.<p/>They ascribe power to God. God's power never grows less and the wonder is that it is used in love for men. God works his purposes out throughout the ages and in the end his kingdom will come.<p/>They ascribe strength to God. The problem of life is to find strength for its tasks, its responsibilities, its demands. The Christian can say: "I will go in the strength of the Lord."<p/>There is no greater exercise in the life of devotion than to meditate on the praise of the angels and, to appropriate to ourselves everything in it.<p/><b>WASHING FROM SIN</b> (<a href='B:730 7:13-14'>Rev 7:13-14</a>)<p/><i> 7:13,14 And one of the elders said to me: "Do you know who these are who are clothed in white robes and where they came from?" I said to him: "Sir, you know." He said to me: "These are they who are coming out of the great tribulation, and who have washed their robes, and have made them white through the power of the blood of the Lamb."<p/></i><p/>One thing is to be noted before we go on to deal with this passage in detail. The King James Version generalizes the meaning by translating: "These are they who came out of great tribulation." But the Revised Standard Version correctly translates: "These are they who came out of the great tribulation." The seer is convinced that he and his people are standing at the end time of history and that that end time is to be terrible beyond all imagining. The whole point of his vision is that beyond that terrible time glory will follow. It is not tribulation in general of which he is speaking but of that tribulation which Jesus foretold when he said, "In those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be" (<a href='B:480 13:19'>Mar 13:19</a>; <a href='B:470 24:21'>Mat 24:21</a>). Nowadays we read this passage as speaking about tribulation in general and in that sense find it very precious; and we are right to read it so because the promises of God are for ever. At the same time it is right to remember that originally it referred to the immediate circumstances of the people to whom John was writing.<p/>This passage has two pictures which are very common in the Bible. We first look at these pictures separately and then we put them together in order to find the total meaning of the passage.<p/>The great crowd of the blessed ones are in white robes. The Bible has much to say both about white robes and about soiled robes. In the ancient world this was a very natural picture, for it was forbidden to approach a god with robes which were unclean. The picture was still further intensified by the fact that often when a Christian was baptized he was dressed in new white robes. These robes were taken to symbolize his new life and to soil them was the symbolic way of expressing failure to be true to the baptismal vows.<p/>Isaiah says: "We have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment" (<a href='B:290 64:6'>Isa 64:6</a>). Zechariah sees the high priest Joshua clothed in filthy garments and hears God say: "Remove the filthy garments from him... Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel" (<a href='B:450 3:1-5'>Zec 3:1-5</a>). In preparation for the receiving of the commandments from God, Moses orders the people wash their garments (<a href='B:20 19:10'>Exo 19:10</a>; <a href='B:20 19:14'>Exo 19:14</a>). The Psalmist prays to God to wash him thoroughly from his iniquity, to purge him with hyssop, to wash him until he is whiter than snow (<a href='B:230 51:1-7'>Psa 51:1-7</a>). The prophet hears the promise that the sins which are as scarlet will be as white as snow and those that were red like crimson will be as wool (<a href='B:290 1:18'>Isa 1:18</a>). Paul reminds his people in Corinth that they have been washed and sanctified (<a href='B:530 6:11'>1Co 6:11</a>).<p/>Here is a picture which is present all through scripture, of the man who has stained his garments with sin and who has been cleansed by the grace of God. It is of the greatest importance to remember that this love of God does not only forgive a man his stained garments, it makes them clean.<p/><b>THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST</b> (<a href='B:730 7:13-14'>Rev 7:13-14</a> <b>continued)</b><p/> This passage speaks of the blood of the Lamb. The New Testament has much to say about the blood of Jesus Christ. We must be careful to give this phrase its full meaning. To us blood indicates death, and certainly the blood of Jesus Christ speaks of his death. But to the Hebrews the blood stood for the life. That was why the orthodox Jew never would--and still will not--eat anything which had blood in it (<a href='B:10 9:4'>Gen 9:4</a>). The blood is the life and the life belongs to God; and the blood must always be sacrificed to him. The identification of blood and life is not unnatural. When a man's blood ebbs away, so does his life. When the New Testament speaks about the blood of Jesus Christ, it means not only his death but his life and death. The blood of Christ stands for all Christ did for us and means for us in his life and in his death. With that in our minds let us see what the New Testament says about that blood.<p/>It is the blood of Jesus Christ which is cleansing us from all sin (<a href='B:690 1:7'>1Jn 1:7</a>). It is the blood of Jesus Christ which makes expiation for us (<a href='B:520 3:25'>Rom 3:25</a>), and it is through his blood that we are justified (<a href='B:520 5:9'>Rom 5:9</a>). It is through his blood that we have redemption (<a href='B:560 1:7'>Eph 1:7</a>), and we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (<a href='B:670 1:19'>1Pe 1:19</a>). It is through his blood that we have peace with God (<a href='B:580 1:20'>Col 1:20</a>). His blood purges our conscience from dead works to serve the living God (<a href='B:650 9:14'>Heb 9:14</a>).<p/>There are four ideas here, the first being the main idea from which the others spring.<p/>(i) The main idea is based on sacrifice. Sacrifice is essentially something designed to restore a lost relationship with God. God gives man his law; man breaks that law; that breach of the law interrupts the relationship between God and man; and sacrifice is designed to atone for the breach and to restore the lost relationship. The great work of Jesus Christ in his life and in his death is to restore the lost relationship between God and man.<p/>(ii) This work of Christ has something to do with the past. It wins for man forgiveness for past sins and liberates him from his slavery to sin.<p/>(iii) This work of Christ has something to do with the present. It gives a man here and now, upon earth, in spite of failure and of sin, a new and intimate relationship with God, in which fear is gone and in which love is the bond.<p/>(iv) This work of Christ has something to do with the future. It frees a man from the power of evil and enables him to live a new life in the time to come.<p/><b>SAINTS WHO'VE WASHED THEIR ROBES IN BLOOD OF THE LAMB</b> (<a href='B:730 7:13-14'>Rev 7:13-14</a> <b>continued)</b><p/> Let us now unite the two ideas of which we have been thinking. The blessed ones have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Let us try to express as simply as possible what that means.<p/>The white robes always stand for two things. They stand for purity, for the life cleansed from the taint of past sin, the infection of present sin and the attack of future sin. They stand for victory, for the life which has found the secret of victorious living. Put at its very simplest, this means that the blessed ones have found the secret of purity and the secret of victory in all that Jesus Christ did for them in his life and in his death.<p/>Now let us try to see the meaning of in the blood of the Lamb. There are two possibilities.<p/>(i) It may mean in the power of the blood of the Lamb or at the cost of the blood of the Lamb. This would then be a vivid way of saying that this purity and victory were won in the power and at the cost of all that Jesus did for men in his life and in his death.<p/>(ii) But it may be even more probable that the picture is to be taken literally; and that John conceives of the blessed ones as having washed their robes in the blood which flows from the wounds of Jesus Christ. To us that is a strange and perhaps even repulsive picture; and it is paradoxical to think of robes becoming white when washed in the scarlet of blood. But it would not seem strange to the people of John's day; to many of them it would be literally familiar. The greatest religious force of the time was the Mystery Religions. These were dramatic religions which by deeply moving ceremonies offered to men a rebirth and a promise of eternal life. Perhaps the most famous was Mithraism, at whose centre was the god Mithra. Mithraism had its devotees all over the world; it was the favourite religion of the Roman army and even in Britain there are relics of the chapels of Mithra where the Roman soldiers met for worship. The most sacred ceremony of Mithraism was the taurobolium, the bath of bull's blood. It is described by the Christian poet Prudentius. "A trench was dug, over which was erected a platform of planks, which were perforated with holes. Upon this platform a sacrificial bull was slaughtered. Below the platform knelt the worshipper who was to be initiated. The blood of the slaughtered bull dripped through on to the worshipper below. He exposed his head and all his garments to be saturated with blood; and then he turned round and held up his neck that the blood might trickle upon his lips, ears, eyes and nostrils; he moistened his tongue with the blood which he then drank as a sacramental act. He came out from this certain that he was renatus in aeternum, reborn for all eternity."<p/>This may sound grim and terrible to us; but in the last analysis it is not the picture which matters but the truth behind the picture. And the great and unchanging truth is that through the life and death of Jesus Christ, there has come to the Christian that purity and victory which he could never achieve for himself.<p/><b>CHRIST'S SACRIFICE AND MAN'S APPROPRIATION</b> (<a href='B:730 7:13-14'>Rev 7:13-14</a> <b>continued)</b><p/> One thing in this passage remains to be noted, and it is of the first importance. It is said of the blessed ones that "they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."<p/>Here is symbolically laid down man's part in his own salvation; the blessed ones washed their own robes. That is to say, the act of man's redemption is Christ's, but the effect is not passive and man has to appropriate it. There might be available to a man all the apparatus to cleanse his garments, but it remains ineffective until he uses it for himself.<p/>How does a man avail himself of the sacrifice of Christ?<p/>He does so through penitence. He must begin with sorrow for his sin and the desire for amendment. He does so through faith. He must believe with all his heart that Christ lived and died for us men and for our salvation, and that his sacrifice is mighty to save. He does so through using the means of grace. The Scriptures will awaken his penitence and his faith and kindle his heart; prayer will keep him ever close to Christ and daily increase his intimacy with him; the Sacraments will be channels through which by faith renewing grace will flow to him. He does so through daily loyalty and vigilance and living with Christ.<p/><b>THE SERVICE IN THE GLORY</b> (<a href='B:730 7:15'>Rev 7:15</a>)<p/><i> 7:15 That is why they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits upon the throne will spread the covering of his glory over them.<p/></i><p/>Those who have been faithful will have the entry into the very presence of God. Jesus said: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (<a href='B:470 5:8'>Mat 5:8</a>).<p/>There is a very significant fact hidden here. Serving God day and night was part of the task of the Levites and the priests (<a href='B:130 9:33'>1Ch 9:33</a>). Now those who are before the throne of God in this vision are, as we have already seen in <a href='B:730 7:9'>Rev 7:9</a>, drawn from every race and tribe and people and tongue. Here is a revolution. In the earthly Temple in Jerusalem no Gentile could go beyond the Court of the Gentiles on pain of death. An Israelite could pass through the Court of the Women and enter into the Court of the Israelites, but no further. Beyond that was the Court of the Priests, which was for priests alone. But in the heavenly temple the way to the presence of God is open to people of every race. Here is a picture of heaven with the barriers down. Distinctions of race and of status exist no more; the way into the presence of God is open to every faithful soul.<p/>There is one other half-hidden fact here. In <a href='B:730 7:15'>Rev 7:15</a> the King James Version has it that he who sits upon the throne shall dwell among them. That is a perfectly correct translation, but there is more in it than meets the eye. The Greek for to dwell is skenoun (<a href='S:G4637'>G4637</a>), from skene (<a href='S:G4633'>G4633</a>) which means a tent. It is the same word as is used when John says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (<a href='B:500 1:14'>Joh 1:14</a>). The Jews always connected this with a certain Hebrew word which was somewhat similar in sound although quite unrelated in meaning. This was the word shechinah (compare <a href='S:H7931'>H7931</a>), the visible presence of the glory of God. Usually that presence took the form of a luminous cloud. So when the Ten Commandments were given, "the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days.... And the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain" (<a href='B:20 24:16-18'>Exo 24:16-18</a>). It was the same with the Tabernacle. The cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter into the Tabernacle because of the glory of the Lord. This was the cloud which guided the Israelites by day and the fire that guided them by night (<a href='B:20 40:34-38'>Exo 40:34-38</a>). At the dedication of Solomon's temple the glory of the Lord filled it so that the priests could not enter (<a href='B:140 7:1-3'>2Ch 7:1-3</a>).<p/>Skenoun (<a href='S:G4637'>G4637</a>) always turned the thoughts of a Jew to shechinah (compare the Hebrew verb, shakan, <a href='S:H7931'>H7931</a>, to dwell): and to say that God dwelt in any place was to say that his glory was there.<p/>This was always so for a Jew, but as time went on it became more and more so. The Jews came to think of God as increasingly remote from the world. They did not even think it right to speak of him as being in the world; that was to speak in terms which were too human; and so they took to substituting the shechinah (compare <a href='S:H7931'>H7931</a>), for the name of God. We read Jacob's words at Bethel: "Surely the Lord is in this place" (<a href='B:10 28:16'>Gen 28:16</a>); the Rabbis changed that to: "The shechinah (compare <a href='S:H7931'>H7931</a>) is in this place." In Habbakuk we read: "The Lord is in his holy temple" (<a href='B:420 2:20'>Hab 2:20</a>); but the later Jews said: "God was pleased to cause his shechinah (compare <a href='S:H7931'>H7931</a>) to dwell in the temple." In Isaiah we read: "My eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts" (<a href='B:290 6:5'>Isa 6:5</a>); the later Jews altered it to: "Mine eyes have seen the shechinah (compare <a href='S:H7931'>H7931</a>), of the King of the world."<p/>No Jew would hear the word skenoun (<a href='S:G4637'>G4637</a>) without thinking of shechinah; and the real meaning of the passage is that God's blessed ones would serve and live in the very sheen of his glory.<p/>It can be so on earth. He who faithfully works and witnesses for God has always the glory of God upon his work.<p/><b>THE BLISS OF THE BLESSED</b> (<a href='B:730 7:16-17'>Rev 7:16-17</a>)<p/><i> 7:16,17 They will not hunger any more, nor will they thirst any more; the sun will not fall on them, nor any heat; because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and will lead them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.<p/></i><p/>It would be impossible to number the people who have found comfort in this passage in the house of mourning and in the hour of death.<p/>There is spiritual promise here, the promise of the ultimate satisfying of the hunger and the thirst of the human soul. This is a promise which occurs again and again in the New Testament, and especially in the words of Jesus. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (<a href='B:470 5:6'>Mat 5:6</a>). Jesus said: "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger; and he who believes in me shall never thirst" (<a href='B:500 6:35'>Joh 6:35</a>). "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (<a href='B:500 4:14'>Joh 4:14</a>). Jesus said: "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink" (<a href='B:500 7:37'>Joh 7:37</a>). God has made us for himself, as Augustine said, and our hearts are restless till they rest in him. As the hymn has it:<p/>O Christ, in thee my soul has found,<p/>And found in thee alone,<p/>The peace, the joy, I sought so long,<p/>The bliss till now unknown.<p/>Now none but Christ can satisfy,<p/>None other name for me!<p/>There's love, and life, and lasting joy,<p/>Lord Jesus, found in thee.<p/>But it may well be that we should not entirely spiritualize this passage. In the early days many of the Church's members were slaves. They knew what it was to be hungry all the time; they knew what thirst was; they knew what it was for the pitiless sun to blaze down upon their backs as they toiled, forbidden to rest. Truly for them heaven would be a place where hunger was satisfied and thirst was quenched and the heat of the sun no longer tortured them. The promise of this passage is that in Christ is the end of the world's hunger, the world's pain, and the world's sorrow.<p/>We do well to remember that John found the origin of this passage in the words of Isaiah: "They shall not hunger or thirst; neither scorching wind nor sun shall smite them; for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will lead them" (<a href='B:290 49:10'>Isa 49:10</a>). This is a supreme example of an Old Testament dream finding its perfect fulfilment in Jesus Christ.<p/><b>THE DIVINE SHEPHERD</b> (<a href='B:730 7:16-17'>Rev 7:16-17</a> <b>continued)</b><p/> Here is the promise of the loving care of the Divine Shepherd for his flock.<p/>The picture of the shepherd is something in which both the Old and New Testament delight.<p/>"The Lord is my shepherd, begins the best loved of all the psalms (<a href='B:230 23:1'>Psa 23:1</a>). "O Shepherd of Israel, begins another (<a href='B:230 80:1'>Psa 80:1</a>). Isaiah pictures God feeding his flock like a shepherd, holding the lambs in his arms and carrying them in his bosom (<a href='B:290 40:11'>Isa 40:11</a>). The greatest title that the prophet can give to the Messianic king is shepherd of his people (<a href='B:330 34:23'>Eze 34:23</a>; <a href='B:330 37:24'>Eze 37:24</a>).<p/>This was the title that Jesus took for himself. "I am the good shepherd, (<a href='B:500 10:11'>Joh 10:11</a>; <a href='B:500 10:14'>Joh 10:14</a>). Peter calls Jesus the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls (<a href='B:670 2:25'>1Pe 2:25</a>), and the writer to the Hebrews speaks of him as that great shepherd of the sheep (<a href='B:650 13:20'>Heb 13:20</a>).<p/>This is a precious picture in any age; but it was more meaningful in Palestine than it can ever be to those who live in cities. Judaea was like a narrow plateau with dangerous country on either side. It was only a very few miles across, with on one side the grim cliffs and ravines leading down to the Dead Sea and on the other the drop to the wild country of the Shephelah. There were no fences or walls and the shepherd had to be ever on the watch for straying sheep. George Adam Smith describes the eastern shepherd. "With us sheep are often left to themselves; I do not remember to have seen in the East a flock without a shepherd. In such a landscape as Judaea, where a day's pasture is thinly scattered over an unfenced track, covered with delusive paths, still frequented by wild beasts, and rolling into the desert, the man and his character are indispensable. On some high moor, across which at night hyenas howl, when you met him sleepless, far-sighted, weather-beaten, armed, leaning on his staff, and looking out over his scattered sheep, every one on his heart, you understand why the shepherd of Judaea sprang to the front in his people's history; why they gave his name to their king, and made him the symbol of Providence; why Christ took him as the type of self-sacrifice."<p/>Here we have the two great functions of the Divine Shepherd. He leads to fountains of living waters. As the psalmist had it: "He leads me beside still waters" (<a href='B:230 23:2'>Psa 23:2</a>). "With thee is the fountain of life" (<a href='B:230 36:9'>Psa 36:9</a>). Without water the flock would perish; and in Palestine the wells were few and far between. That the Divine Shepherd leads to wells of water is the symbol that he gives us the things without which life cannot survive.<p/>He wipes the tear from every eye. As he nourishes our bodies so he also comforts our hearts; without the presence and the comfort of God the sorrows of life would be unbearable, and without the strength of God there are times in life when we could never go on.<p/>The Divine Shepherd gives us nourishment for our bodies and comfort for our hearts. With Jesus Christ as Shepherd nothing can happen to us which we cannot bear. 


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 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense that he might add it to the prayers of the saints on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense went up with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God. And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the ground. And there were crashes of thunder and loud voices and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.<p/></i><p/>Before we begin to examine this passage in detail, we may note one point about its arrangement. <a href='B:730 8:2'>Rev 8:2</a>, which tells of the seven angels with the seven trumpets, is clearly out of place. As it stands, it interrupts the sense of the passage and it should come immediately before <a href='B:730 8:7'>Rev 8:7</a> --probably a copyist's mistake.<p/>The passage begins with an intensely dramatic silence in heaven for about half an hour. The sheer stillness is even more effective than the thunder and the lightning. This silence may have two meanings.<p/>(i) It may be a kind of breathing-space in the narrative, a moment of preparation before another shattering revelation comes.<p/>(ii) There may be something much more beautiful in it. The prayers of the saints are about to go up to God; and it may be that the idea is that everything in heaven halts so that the prayers of the saints may be heard. As R. H. Charles puts it: "The needs of the saints are more to God than all the psalmody of heaven." Even the music of heaven and even the thunder of revelation are stilled so that God's ear may catch the whispered prayer of the humblest of his trusting people.<p/>The picture divides itself into two. In the first half an unnamed angel offers the prayers of the saints to God. In Jewish thought the archangel Michael made prayer for the people of Israel and there was a nameless angel called The Angel of Peace whose duty was to see that Israel "did not fall into the extremity of Israel" and who interceded for Israel and for all the righteous.<p/>The angel is standing at the altar. The altar in the Revelation frequently appears in the picture of heaven (<a href='B:730 6:9'>Rev 6:9</a>; <a href='B:730 9:13'>Rev 9:13</a>; <a href='B:730 14:18'>Rev 14:18</a>). It cannot be the altar of burnt-offering, for there can be no animal sacrifice in heaven; it must be the altar of incense. The altar of incense stood before the Holy Place in the Temple (<a href='B:30 16:12'>Lev 16:12</a>; <a href='B:40 16:46'>Num 16:46</a>). Made of gold, it was eighteen inches square and three feet high. At each corner it had horns; it was hollow and was covered over with a gold plate, and round it was a little railing, like a miniature balustrade, to keep the burning coals from falling off it. In the Temple incense was burned and offered before the first and after the last sacrifices of the day. It was as if the offerings of the people went up to God wrapped in an envelope of perfumed incense.<p/>Here we have the idea that prayer is a sacrifice to God; the prayers of the saints are offered on the altar and, like all other sacrifices, they are surrounded with the perfume of the incense as they rise to God. A man may have no other sacrifice to offer to God; but at all times he can offer his prayers and there are always angelic hands waiting to bring them to God.<p/>There is another half of this picture. The same angel takes the censer, fills it with coals from the altar and dashes it on the ground; and this is the prelude to the thunder and the earthquake which are the introduction to more terrors. The picture comes from the vision of Ezekiel, in which the man in the linen-cloth takes coals from between the cherubim and scatters them over the city (<a href='B:330 10:2'>Eze 10:2</a>); and it is kin to the vision of Isaiah in which his lips are touched with a live coal from the altar (<a href='B:290 6:6'>Isa 6:6</a>).<p/>But this picture introduces something new. The coals from the censer introduce new woes. H. B. Swete puts it this way: "The prayers of the saints return to the earth in wrath." The idea in John's mind is that the prayers of the saints avail to bring vengeance upon those who had maltreated them.<p/>We may feel that a prayer for vengeance is a strange prayer for a Christian, but we must remember the agony of persecution through which the Church was passing when the Revelation was written.<p/><b>THE SEVEN ANGELS WITH THE TRUMPETS</b> (<a href='B:730 8:2'>Rev 8:2</a> <b>;</b> <a href='B:730 8:6'>Rev 8:6</a>)<p/><i> 8:2,6 And I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God, and seven trumpets were given to them; and the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to sound the trumpets.<p/></i><p/>These seven angels, known as the angels of the presence, were the same as the archangels. Their names were Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel and Remiel (Tob_12:1 ; Tob_12:5).<p/>That they were called the angels of the presence means two things. First, they enjoyed a special honour. In an oriental court it was only the most favoured courtiers who had the right at all times to the presence of the king; to be a courtier of the presence was a special honour. Second, although to be in the presence of the king meant special honour, even more it meant immediate readiness to be despatched on service. Both Elijah and Elisha repeatedly spoke of "the Lord God of Israel before whom I stand" (<a href='B:110 17:1'>1Ki 17:1</a>; <a href='B:110 18:15'>1Ki 18:15</a>; <a href='B:120 3:14'>2Ki 3:14</a>; <a href='B:120 5:16'>2Ki 5:16</a>); and the phrase really means, "The Lord God of Israel whose servant I am."<p/>The seven angels had seven trumpets. In the visions of the Old and the New Testament the trumpet is always the symbol of the intervention of God in history. All these pictures, and there are many of them, go back to the scene at Mount Sinai, when the law was given to the people. There were on the mountain thunders and lightnings and thick cloud, and a very loud trumpet blast (<a href='B:20 19:16'>Exo 19:16</a>; <a href='B:20 19:19'>Exo 19:19</a>). This trumpet blast became an unchanging part of the apparatus of the Day of the Lord. In that day the great trumpet will be blown and it will summon back the exiles from every land (<a href='B:290 27:13'>Isa 27:13</a>). On the Day of the Lord the trumpet will be blown in Zion and the alarm sounded in the holy mountain (<a href='B:360 2:1'>Joe 2:1</a>). That day will be a day of trumpet and alarm (<a href='B:430 1:16'>Zep 1:16</a>). The Lord will blow the trumpet and go out with the whirlwind (<a href='B:450 9:14'>Zec 9:14</a>).<p/>This picture passed into the New Testament visions of the last day. Paul speaks of the day when the trumpet shall sound and the corruptible will put on incorruption (<a href='B:530 15:52-53'>1Co 15:52-53</a>). He speaks of the trumpet of God, which is to sound when Christ comes again (<a href='B:590 4:16'>1Th 4:16</a>). Matthew speaks of the great sound of a trumpet when the elect are gathered in (<a href='B:470 24:31'>Mat 24:31</a>).<p/>It would be wrong to expect God literally to blow the trumpet; but none the less the picture has symbolic truth in it. A trumpet blast can be three things:<p/>(i) It can sound the alarm. It can waken from sleep or warn of danger; and God is always sounding his warnings in the ears of men.<p/>(ii) It can be the fanfare which announces the arrival of royalty. It is a fitting symbol to express the invasion of time by the King of eternity.<p/>(iii) It can be the summons to battle. God is always summoning men to take sides in the strife of truth with falsehood and to become soldiers of the King of kings.<p/><b>THE UNLEASHING OF THE ELEMENTS</b> (<a href='B:730 8:7-12'>Rev 8:7-12</a>)


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 The first angel sounded a blast on his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood and launched themselves on the dry land; and a third part of the dry land was burned up, and a third part of the trees was burned up, and all green grass was burned up.<p/>The second angel sounded a blast on his trumpet, and what I can only call a great mountain burning with fire was hurled into the sea; and a third part of the sea became blood, and a third part of the creatures in the sea who had life died, and a third part of the ships were destroyed in wreckage.<p/>The third angel sounded a blast on his trumpet, and a great meteor blazing like a torch fell from heaven; and it fell on a third part of the rivers, and on the springs of water. And the name by which the meteor is called is Wormwood; and a third part of the waters became wormwood; and many of mankind died because of the embitterment of the waters.<p/>The fourth angel sounded a blast on his trumpet, and a third part of the sun was smitten, and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars, so that a third part of their light was darkened, and so that a third part of the day did not shine, and so with the night.<p/></i><p/>Here we have a picture of the elemental forces of nature hurled in judgment against the world. At each blast on the trumpet a different part of the world is attacked; the destruction that follows is not total for this is only the prelude to the end. First, the blast of destruction falls on the earth (<a href='B:730 8:7'>Rev 8:7</a>); then it falls upon the sea (<a href='B:730 8:8-9'>Rev 8:8-9</a>); then it falls upon the fresh water rivers and springs (<a href='B:730 8:10-11'>Rev 8:10-11</a>); then it falls on the heavenly bodies (<a href='B:730 8:12'>Rev 8:12</a>). The tide of destruction is unleashed on every part of the created universe.<p/>We have further to note where John found his imagery. For the most part the pictures find their origin in the descriptions in Exodus of the plagues which fell on Egypt when Pharaoh refused to allow the people to go.<p/>In John's picture hail and fire and blood fall upon the dry land. In <a href='B:20 9:24'>Exo 9:24</a> we read how there came upon Egypt fire mixed with a hail of unparalleled destructiveness. John to increase the terror adds blood, remembering Joel's picture of the day when the sun would be turned into darkness and the moon into blood (<a href='B:360 2:10'>Joe 2:10</a>). In John's picture a third part of the sea becomes blood and the fishes in it die. In Exodus, when Moses lifted up his rod and smote the waters, the waters of the Nile turned to blood and the fishes in the river died (<a href='B:20 7:20-21'>Exo 7:20-21</a>). In Zephaniah's picture of the Day of the Lord the threat of God is: "I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea" (<a href='B:430 1:3'>Zep 1:3</a>). There is no parallel for the picture of the fall of the flaming star, but there are many to the ideas of waters turning to wormwood.<p/>Wormwood is a general name for the class of plants known as artemisia whose characteristic is bitterness of taste. They are not really poisonous in the sense of being fatal, although they are noxious, but the Israelites dreaded their bitterness. Wormwood was the fruit of idolatry (<a href='B:50 29:17-18'>Deu 29:17-18</a>). It was the threat of God through Jeremiah that God would give his people wormwood to eat and the waters of gall to drink (<a href='B:300 9:14-15'>Jer 9:14-15</a>; <a href='B:300 23:15'>Jer 23:15</a>). Wormwood always stood for the bitterness of the judgment of God on the disobedient.<p/>In John's picture there came a darkening of a third part of the lights of heaven. In Exodus one of the plagues was a darkness that could be felt over the whole land (<a href='B:20 10:21-23'>Exo 10:21-23</a>).<p/>As we have so often seen, John is so steeped in the Old Testament that its visions come to him as the natural background of all that he has to say.<p/>In this case it is by no means impossible that John is taking at least a part of his picture from actual events which he had seen or of which he had heard. A rain which looks like a rain of blood has more than once been reported from the Mediterranean countries. There is, for instance, a record of such a rain in Italy and all over south-east Europe in 1901: The reason for it is that fine red sand from the Sahara Desert is caught up into the upper air; and then when the rain comes it seems to be raining blood, as the rain and the fine red particles of sand fall together upon the earth. It may well be that John had seen something like this or had heard of it.<p/>Further, he speaks of a flaming mass falling into the sea. This sounds very like a volcanic eruption. There was an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in August Of A.D. 79 which decimated Naples and its bay. That would be within a very few years of the writing of the Revelation. The Aegean Sea has volcanic islands and volcanoes beneath the sea. Strabo, the Greek geographer, reports an eruption in the Aegean Sea, in which Patmos lay, in the year 196 B.C., which actually resulted in the formation of a new island called Pataia Kaumene. Such events also may have been in John's mind.<p/>In this picture of terror John has the vision of God using the elemental forces of nature to warn man of the final destruction to come.<p/><b>THE FLYING EAGLE</b> (<a href='B:730 8:13'>Rev 8:13</a>)<p/><i> 8:13 And I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven crying with a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe! for those who dwell on the earth, because of what is going to happen when the rest of the trumpets speak, which the three angels are about to sound."<p/></i><p/>Here we have one of the pauses in the story which the Revelation uses so effectively. Three fearful woes are to come upon the earth when the three angels sound the last blasts on the trumpets; but for the moment there is a pause.<p/>In this pause the seer sees an eagle--not an angel as the King James Version has it. It is quite possible that the Greek could mean "one solitary eagle." The expression "mid-heaven" means the zenith of the sky, that part where the sun is at midday. Here we have a dramatic and eerie picture of an empty sky and a solitary eagle winging its way across its zenith, forewarning of the doom to come.<p/>Again John is using an idea which is not new. We have the same picture in Second Baruch. When the writer of that book has seen his vision and wishes to send it to the Jews exiled in Babylon by the waters of the Euphrates, he goes on: "And I called the eagle and spake these words unto it: 'The Most High hath made thee that thou shouldest be higher than all birds. Now go, and tarry not in any place, nor enter a nest, nor settle on any tree, till thou hast passed over the breadth of the many waters of the river Euphrates, and hast gone to the people that dwell there, and cast down to them this epistle'" (Baruch 77:21-22).<p/>The picture is not to be taken literally but the symbolism behind it is that God uses nature to send his messages to men. 


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<b>THE UNLOCKING OF THE ABYSS</b> (<a href='B:730 9:1-2'>Rev 9:1-2</a>)<p/><i> 9:1,2 The fifth angel sounded a blast on his trumpet, and I saw a star failing from heaven on the earth, and to him there was given the key of the shaft of the bottomless abyss; and he opened the shaft of the abyss; and smoke went up from the shaft like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the abyss.<p/></i><p/>The picture of terror mounts in its awful intensity. Now the terrors coming upon the earth are beyond nature; they are demonic; the abyss is being opened and superhuman terrors are being despatched upon the world.<p/>The picture will become clearer if we remember that John thinks of the stars as living beings. This is common in Enoch where, for instance, we read of wandering and disobedient stars being bound hand and foot and cast into the abyss (Enoch 86:1; 88:1). To the Jewish mind the stars were divine beings, who by disobedience could become demonic and evil.<p/>In the Revelation we read fairly often of the abyss or the bottomless pit. The abyss is the intermediate place of punishment of the fallen angels, the demons, the beast, the false prophet and of Satan (<a href='B:730 9:1-2'>Rev 9:1-2</a>; <a href='B:730 9:11'>Rev 9:11</a>; <a href='B:730 11:7'>Rev 11:7</a>; <a href='B:730 20:1'>Rev 20:1</a>; <a href='B:730 20:3'>Rev 20:3</a>). Their final place of punishment is the lake of burning fire and brimstone (<a href='B:730 20:10'>Rev 20:10</a>; <a href='B:730 20:14-15'>Rev 20:14-15</a>). To complete the picture of these terrors we may add that Gehenna--which is not mentioned in the Revelation--is the place of punishment for evil men.<p/>This idea of the abyss underwent a development. In the beginning it was the place of the imprisoned waters. In the creation story the primaeval waters surround the earth and God separates them by creating the firmament (<a href='B:10 1:6-7'>Gen 1:6-7</a>). In its first idea the abyss was the place where the flood of the waters was confined by God beneath the earth, a kind of great subterranean sea, where the waters were imprisoned to make way for the dry land. The second step was that the abyss became the abode of the enemies of God, although even there they were not beyond his power and control (<a href='B:370 9:3'>Amo 9:3</a>; <a href='B:290 51:9'>Isa 51:9</a>; <a href='B:230 74:13'>Psa 74:13</a>).<p/>Next the abyss came to be thought of as a great chasm in the earth. We see this idea in <a href='B:290 24:21-22'>Isa 24:21-22</a>, where the disobedient hosts of heaven and the kings of the earth are gathered together as prisoners in the pit.<p/>This is the kind of picture in which inevitably horror mounts upon horror. The most detailed descriptions of the abyss are in Enoch, which was so influential between the Testaments. There it is the prison abode of the angels who fell, the angels who came to earth and seduced mortal women, the angels who taught men to worship demons instead of the true God (<a href='B:10 6:1-4'>Gen 6:1-4</a>). There are grim descriptions of it. It has no firmament above and no firm earth beneath; it has no water; it has no birds; it is a waste and horrible place, the end of heaven and earth (Enoch 18:12-16). It is chaotic. There is a fire which blazes and a cleft into the abyss whose magnitude passes all conjecture (Enoch 21:1-10).<p/>These things are not to be taken literally. The point is that in this terrible time of devastation which the seer sees coming upon the earth, the terrors are not natural but demonic; the powers of evil are being given their last chance to work their dreadful work.<p/><b>THE LOCUSTS FROM THE ABYSS</b> (<a href='B:730 9:3-12'>Rev 9:3-12</a>)


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 From the smoke locusts came forth upon the earth, and they were given power like the power of the scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only such men as had not the seal of God upon their forehead. They were not permitted to kill them, but to torture them for five months. Their torture was like the torture of a scorpion when it strikes a man; and in those days men will seek for death and not be able to find it; and they will long to die but death flees from them.<p/>In likeness the locusts were like horses prepared for battle; on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold. Their faces were like human faces and they had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. They had scales like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots with horses running to battle. They have tails like scorpions with stings, and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months. As king over them they have the angel of the bottomless abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek Appolyon. The first woe has passed. Behold, there are still two woes to follow it.<p/></i><p/>From the smoke which emerged from the shaft of the abyss came a terrible invasion of locusts. The devastation locusts can inflict and the terror they can cause is well-nigh incredible. All through the Old Testament the locust is the symbol of destruction; and the most vivid and terrible description of them and of their destructiveness is in <a href='B:360 1:1-20'>Joe 1:1-20</a>; <a href='B:360 2:1-32'>Joe 2:1-32</a> which are a description of an invasion of locusts; and it is from these two chapters that John takes much of his material. They laid the vine waste and stripped the bark from the trees; the field is wasted and the corn is destroyed; every tree of the field is wasted and withered; and the flocks and herds starve because there is no pasture (<a href='B:360 1:7-18'>Joe 1:7-18</a>). They are like a great strong people who darken the very sky; they are as destructive as a flame of fire and nothing escapes them; they are like horses and they run like chariots, with a noise like flame devouring the stubble; they march in their ranks like mighty men of war; they scale the mountains, climb into houses and enter in at the windows, until the very earth shudders at them (<a href='B:360 2:1-11'>Joe 2:1-11</a>). The two chapters of Joel should be read in full and set beside the description in the Revelation.<p/>G. R. Driver in his commentary on Joel in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges has collected the facts about locusts in his notes and in a special appendix; and he has shown that the words of Joel and of the Revelation are no exaggeration.<p/>The locusts breed in desert places and invade the cultivated lands for food. They may be about two inches in length, with a wing span of four to five inches. They belong to the same family as the household cricket and the grasshopper. They will travel in a column a hundred feet deep and as much as four miles long. When such a cloud of locusts appears, it is as if there had been an eclipse of the sun and even great buildings less than two hundred feet away cannot be seen.<p/>The destruction they cause is beyond belief. When they have left an area, not a blade of grass is to be seen; the trees are stripped of their bark. Land where the locusts have settled looks as if it had been scorched with a bush fire; not one single living thing is left. Their destructiveness can best be appreciated from the fact that it is recorded that in 1866 a plague of locusts invaded Algiers and so total was the destruction which they caused that 200,000 people perished of famine in the days which followed.<p/>The noise of the millions of their wings is variously described as like the dashing of waters in a mill-wheel or the sound of a great cataract. When the millions of them settle on the ground the sound of their eating has been described as like the crackling of a prairie fire. The sound of them on the march is like heavy rain falling on a distant forest.<p/>It has always been noticed that the head of the locust is like the miniature head of a horse. For that reason the Italian word for locust is cavaletta and the German Heupferd.<p/>When they move, they move inexorably on like an army with leaders. People have dug trenches, lit fires, and even fired cannon in an attempt to stop them but without success; they come on in a steady column which climbs hills, enters houses and leaves scorched earth behind.<p/>There is no more destructive visitation in the world than a visitation of locusts, and this is the terrible devastation which John sees, although the demonic locusts from the pit are different from any earthly insect.<p/><b>THE DEMONIC LOCUSTS</b> (<a href='B:730 9:3-12'>Rev 9:3-12</a> <b>continued)</b><p/> Hebrew has a number of different names for the locust which reveal its destructive power. It is called gazam (<a href='S:H1501'>H1501</a>), the lopper or the shearer, which describes how it shears all living vegetation from the earth; it is called 'arbeh (<a href='S:H697'>H697</a>), the swarmer, which describes the immensity of its numbers; it is called hasil, the finisher, which describes the devastation it causes; it is called caal'am (<a href='S:H5556'>H5556</a>), the swallower or the annihilator; it is called hargol (compare <a href='S:H7270'>H7270</a>), the galloper, which describes its rapid progress over the land; it is called tslatsal (<a href='S:H6767'>H6767</a>), the creaker, which describes the sound it makes.<p/>It is not the vegetation of the earth which they are to attack; in fact they are forbidden to do that (<a href='B:730 9:4'>Rev 9:4</a>); their attack is to be launched against the men who have not the seal of God upon their foreheads.<p/>The ordinary locust is devastating to vegetation but not harmful to human beings; but the demonic locust is to have the sting of a scorpion, one of the scourges of Palestine. In shape the scorpion is like a small lobster, with lobster-like claws to clutch its prey. It has a long tail, which curves up over its back and over its head; at the end of the tail there is a curved claw; with this claw the scorpion strikes and it secretes poison as the blow is delivered. The scorpion can be up to six inches in length; it swarms in crannies in walls and literally under almost every stone. Campers tell us that every stone must be lifted when a tent is pitched lest a scorpion be beneath it. Its sting is worse than the sting of a hornet; it is not necessarily fatal, but it can kill. The demonic locusts have the power of scorpions added to them.<p/>Their attack is to last for five months. The explanation of the five months is almost probably that the life-span of a locust from birth, through the larva stage, to death is five months. It is as if we might say that one generation of locusts is being launched upon the earth.<p/>Such will be the suffering caused by the locusts that men will long for death but will not be able to die. Job speaks of the supreme misery of those who long for death and it comes not (<a href='B:220 3:21'>Job 3:21</a>); and Jeremiah speaks of the day when men will choose death rather than life (<a href='B:300 8:3'>Jer 8:3</a>). A Latin writer, Cornelius Gallus, says: "Worse than any wound is to wish to die and yet not be able to do so."<p/>The king of the locusts is called in Hebrew Abaddon (<a href='S:H11'>H11</a>; <a href='S:G3'>G3</a>) and in Greek Apollyon (<a href='S:G623'>G623</a>). Abaddon (<a href='S:H11'>H11</a>) is the Hebrew for destruction; it occurs oftenest in the phrases "death and destruction," and "hell and destruction" (<a href='B:220 26:6'>Job 26:6</a>; <a href='B:220 28:22'>Job 28:22</a>; <a href='B:220 31:12'>Job 31:12</a>; <a href='B:230 88:11'>Psa 88:11</a>; <a href='B:240 15:11'>Pro 15:11</a>; <a href='B:240 27:20'>Pro 27:20</a>). Apollyon (<a href='S:G623'>G623</a>) is the present participle of the Greek verb to destroy and itself means The Destroyer. It is fitting that the king of the demonic locusts should be called Destruction and The Destroyer.<p/><b>THE HORSEMEN OF VENGEANCE</b> (<a href='B:730 9:13-21'>Rev 9:13-21</a>)


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 The sixth angel sounded a blast on his trumpet and I heard a voice from the four horns of the altar saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet: "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." So there came the four angels who were prepared for that hour and day and month and year, to kill a third part of the human race. The number of the armed forces of cavalry was twenty thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number, and this was how I saw in appearance the horses and those who were seated on them. They had breastplates of fiery red, and smoky blue, and sulphurous yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and from their mouths there issued fire and smoke and brimstone. With these three plagues they killed a third part of the human race, with the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which were issuing from their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like snakes with heads, and with them they inflict their hurt.<p/>The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, even in spite of this did not repent of the deeds of their hands, so as to cease to worship demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which can neither hear nor see nor move; nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their immorality or their thefts.<p/></i><p/>The horror of the picture mounts. The demonic locusts were allowed to injure but not kill; but now come the squadrons of demonic cavalry to annihilate a third part of the human race.<p/>This is a passage whose imagery is mysterious and whose details no one has ever been able fully to explain.<p/>No one really knows who were the four angels bound at the river Euphrates. We can only set down what we know and what we can guess. The Euphrates was the ideal boundary of the territory of Israel. It was God's promise to Abraham: "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates" (<a href='B:10 15:18'>Gen 15:18</a>). The angels, therefore, came from the distant lands, from the alien and hostile places from which the Assyrians and the Babylonians had in time past descended with destruction upon Israel.<p/>Further, in the Book of Enoch we frequently meet angels who are described as the Angels of Punishment. Their task was at the right time to unleash the avenging wrath of God upon the people. Undoubtedly these four angels were included among the Angels of Punishment.<p/>We have to add another fact to all this. We have frequently seen how the pictures of John are coloured by actual historical circumstances. The most dreaded warriors in the world were the Parthian cavalry; and the Parthians dwelt beyond the Euphrates. It may well be that John was visualizing a terrible descent of the Parthian cavalry on mankind.<p/>The seer adds horror to horror. The number of the hosts of this terrible cavalry is 200,000,000, which simply means that they were beyond all numbering, like the chariots of God (<a href='B:230 68:17'>Psa 68:17</a>). They seem to be armoured in flame, for their breastplates are fiery red like the glow of a blazing furnace, smoky blue like the smoke rising from a fire and sulphurous yellow like the brimstone from the pit of hell. The horses have heads like lions and tails like serpents; they breathe out destructive fire and smoke and brimstone, and their serpent-tails deal out hurt and harm. The consequence of all this is that one-third of the human race is destroyed.<p/>It would have been only natural to think that the remainder of mankind would take warning from this dreadful fate; but they did not and continued to worship their idols and demons and in the evil of their ways. It is the conviction of the biblical writers that the worship of idols was nothing less than devil worship and that it was bound to issue in evil and immorality. 


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 I saw another angel, a mighty one, coming down out of heaven, clad in a cloud, and with a rainbow on his head. His face was as the sun and his feet were like pillars of fire. He had in his hand a little roll which was opened. He put his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he cried with a loud voice as a lion roars, and, when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices. When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write and I heard a voice from heaven saying: "Set a seal on what the seven thunders said, and do not write it."<p/></i><p/><a href='B:730 10:1-11'>Rev 10:1-11</a> and <a href='B:730 11:1-14'>Rev 11:1-14</a> is a kind of interlude between the sounding of the sixth and the seventh trumpets. The sixth trumpet has already sounded, but the seventh does not sound until <a href='B:730 11:15'>Rev 11:15</a>, and in between there are terrible things.<p/>The mighty angel in this passage is described in terms which show that he came straight from the presence of God and the Risen Christ. He is clad in a cloud and the clouds are the chariots of God, for "God maketh the clouds his chariot" (<a href='B:230 104:3'>Psa 104:3</a>). He has a rainbow on his head and the rainbow is part of the glory of the throne of God (<a href='B:330 1:28'>Eze 1:28</a>). The rainbow is caused by the light of the angel's face shining through the cloud. His face is as the sun which is the description of the face of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (<a href='B:470 17:2'>Mat 17:2</a>). His voice was as the roar of a lion which is often used as a simile of the voice of God, "the Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem" (<a href='B:360 3:16'>Joe 3:16</a>; <a href='B:350 11:10'>Hos 11:10</a>; <a href='B:370 3:8'>Amo 3:8</a>). Clearly this angel has come from the very presence of God; some think that he is none other than the glorified Christ himself.<p/>The angel has one foot on the sea and one on the land. This shows his size and power, for sea and land stand for the sum total of the universe. It also shows that the power of God stands as firm on the sea as it does on the land. In his hand the angel has a little roll, unrolled and opened. That is to say, he is giving John a limited revelation about a quite small period of time. When the angel speaks, the seven thunders sound. They are most likely a reference to the seven voices of God in <a href='B:230 29:1-11'>Psa 29:1-11</a>.<p/>Naturally, when the seer sees the open roll and hears the angel's voice, he prepares to make a record of it; but he is ordered not to do so. That is to say, he is being given a revelation which at the moment he is not to pass on. We get exactly the same idea when Paul tells us that he was caught up to the third heaven and "heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter" (<a href='B:540 12:4'>2Co 12:4</a>). We need not even begin to speculate about what the secret revelation was. We simply know that John had experiences which he could not communicate to others. God sometimes tells a man more than that man can say or than his generation can understand.<p/><b>THE DIVINE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE END</b> (<a href='B:730 10:5-7'>Rev 10:5-7</a>)


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 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there was no time left; but that in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he would sound his trumpet, there would be completed the secret purpose of God, the good news of which he announced to his servants the prophets.<p/></i><p/>The angel now makes an announcement and affirms it with an oath. Sometimes the announcement has been taken to mean that "Time shall be no more". That is to say, time as we know it is about to be ended and eternity to begin. It is more likely that the meaning is that there is no time left, that there is to be no further delay, that Antichrist is about to burst upon the scene in all his destructive terror. As the writer to the Hebrews had it: "Yet a little while and the coming one will come, and shall not tarry" (<a href='B:650 10:37'>Heb 10:37</a>). The hour has struck when the man of sin shall be revealed (<a href='B:600 2:3'>2Th 2:3</a>). Whichever be the meaning of the phrase, certainly the message is that Antichrist is about to invade the earth; the scene is being set for the final contest.<p/>When this happens, as the Revised Standard Version has it, the mystery of God would be fulfilled. The meaning is that the whole purpose of God in human history will stand revealed. Much in life is difficult to understand; wickedness seems to hold sway. But, as John saw it, there is going to be a final show-down. God and Antichrist, good and evil, will face each other; final and total victory will be won, the questions will find their answers and the wrongs will be righted.<p/>Beyond all the strangeness of the picture stands the truth that history is moving towards the inevitable triumph of God and that, though evil may flourish, it cannot in the end be triumphant.<p/><b>THE JOY AND THE SORROW OF THE MESSENGER OF GOD</b> (<a href='B:730 10:8-11'>Rev 10:8-11</a>)


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 And I heard the voice which I had heard from heaven speaking again to me and saying: "Go, take the little roll which lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land." And I went away to the angel and asked him to give me the little roll. He said to me: "Take it and eat it. It will be bitter to your stomach but it will be as sweet as honey to your mouth." And I took the little roll from the hand of the angel and ate it; and it was as sweet as honey to my mouth and, when I ate it, it was bitter to my stomach. And they said to me: "You must prophesy in regard to many peoples and nations and languages and kings."<p/></i><p/>Before we deal with this passage in any detail, we note how twice the seer is told to take the roll. It is not handed to him; even when he asks the angel to give it to him, the answer is that he must take it. The meaning is that God's revelation is never forced on any man; he must take it.<p/>This picture comes from the experience of Ezekiel who was told to eat the roll and to fill his belly with it (<a href='B:330 3:1'>Eze 3:1</a>; <a href='B:330 3:3'>Eze 3:3</a>). In both pictures the idea is the same. The messenger of God has to take God's message into his very life and being.<p/>The sweetness of the roll is a recurring thought in Scripture. To the psalmist the judgments of God are sweeter than honey and the honey-comb (<a href='B:230 19:10'>Psa 19:10</a>). "How sweet are thy words to my taste! sweeter than honey to my mouth" (<a href='B:230 119:103'>Psa 119:103</a>). It may well be that behind these words lies a pleasant Jewish educational custom. When a Jewish boy was learning the alphabet, it was written on a slate in a mixture of flour and honey. He was told what the letters were and how they sounded. After the original instruction, the teacher would point at a letter and would ask: "What is that and how does it sound?" If the boy could answer correctly, he was allowed to lick the letter off the slate as a reward! When the prophet and the psalmist speak about God's words and judgments being sweeter than honey, it may well be that they were thinking of this custom.<p/>John adds another idea to this. To him the roll was sweet and bitter at one and the same time. What he means is this. A message of God may be to a servant of God at once a sweet and bitter thing. It is sweet because it is a great thing to be chosen as the messenger of God; but the message itself may be a foretelling of doom and, therefore, a bitter thing. So for John it was an infinite privilege to be admitted to the secrets of heaven but at the same time it was bitter to have to forecast the time of terror, even if triumph lay at its end. 


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<b>ANTICHRIST</b> (<a href='B:730 11:1-19'>Rev 11:1-19</a>)<p/> In the passages of the Revelation which we are now about to approach we will on many occasions meet the figure of Antichrist. This figure has exercised a strange fascination over the minds of men and many have been the speculations and theories about him. It will, therefore, be convenient to collect the material about Antichrist at this stage and to try to piece it into a connected whole.<p/>We may lay it down as a general principle that Antichrist stands for the power in the universe which is against God. Just as the Christ is the Holy One and the Anointed King of God, so Antichrist is the Unholy One and the King of all evil. Just as the Christ is the incarnation of God and goodness, so Antichrist is the incarnation of the Devil and of evil.<p/>The idea of a force opposed to God was not new. Antichrist had his predecessors long before the days of the New Testament; and it will help if we look first at some of the older pictures, for they left their mark on the New Testament picture.<p/>(i) The Babylonians had a myth in regard to the creation of the world which they shared with all the Semitic peoples and with which the Jews must have come into contact. This myth painted the picture of creation in terms of a struggle between Marduk the creator and Tiamat the dragon, who stands for primaeval chaos. There was a further belief that this struggle between God and chaos would be repeated before the world came to an end.<p/>This old belief in the struggle between the creating God and the dragon of chaos found its way into the Old Testament and is the explanation of certain obscure passages there. Isaiah tells of the day when God will slay the leviathan and the crooked serpent and the dragon that is in the sea (<a href='B:290 27:1'>Isa 27:1</a>). In Jewish thought this ancient dragon of chaos came to be known as Rahab. Isaiah says: "Was it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the dragon?" (<a href='B:290 51:9'>Isa 51:9</a>). When the Psalmist is recounting the triumphs of God, he says: "I will mention Rahab" (<a href='B:230 87:4'>Psa 87:4</a>). "Thou didst crush Rahab like a carcass," he says (<a href='B:230 89:10'>Psa 89:10</a>). Here is one of the ancestors of the Antichrist idea and that is one of the reasons why the dragon idea reappears in the Revelation (<a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a>).<p/>(ii) There is the Belial--or, as it is sometimes called, Beliar--idea. The word Belial frequently occurs in the Old Testament as a synonym for evil. An evil man or woman is called a son or daughter of Belial. Eli's wicked sons are sons of Belial (<a href='B:90 2:12'>1Sa 2:12</a>). When Hannah was silently praying for a child in the Temple, Eli thought that she was drunk but Hannah says that she is not a daughter of Belial (<a href='B:90 1:16'>1Sa 1:16</a>). The wicked Nabal is called a son of Belial (<a href='B:90 25:17'>1Sa 25:17</a>; <a href='B:90 25:25'>1Sa 25:25</a>). One of Shimei's insults was to call David a son of Belial (<a href='B:100 16:7'>2Sa 16:7</a>). The false witnesses produced by Jezebel against Naboth are sons of Belial (<a href='B:110 21:10'>1Ki 21:10</a>; <a href='B:110 21:13'>1Ki 21:13</a>), as are Jeroboam's revolutionary followers (<a href='B:140 13:7'>2Ch 13:7</a>). The exact meaning of the word is in doubt. It has been taken to mean prince of the air, hopeless ruin, worthlessness. Between the Testaments Belial came to be regarded as the chief of the demons. In the New Testament the word occurs only once: "What accord has Christ with Belial?" (<a href='B:540 6:15'>2Co 6:15</a>). There it is used as the antithesis of Christ. It may well be that this idea came in part at least from the Persian religion with which the Jews came into contact. Persian religion, Zoroastrianism, conceived of the whole universe as the battleground in which the struggle was fought out between Ormuzd, the god of light, and Ahriman, the god of darkness. Here again we have the conception of a force in the world opposed to God and fighting against him.<p/>(iii) There is a sense in which the obvious Antichrist is Satan, the Devil. Sometimes Satan is identified with Lucifer, the son of the morning, the angel who in heaven rebelled against God and was cast down to hell. "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!" (<a href='B:290 14:12'>Isa 14:12</a>). It is easy to find instances in which Satan--the very name means the Adversary--acted in such a way as to overturn the purpose of God, for it is his very nature to do so. Such an instance was when Satan persuaded David to number the people in direct contravention of the command of God (<a href='B:130 21:1'>1Ch 21:1</a>). But though Satan is the direct opponent of God, he remains an angel, whereas Antichrist is a visible figure upon earth in which the very essence of evil has become incarnate.<p/>(iv) There is a sense in which the development of the idea of the Messiah made the development of the idea of Antichrist inevitable. The Messiah, God's Anointed One, is bound to meet with opposition; and that opposition is entirely likely to crystallize into one supreme figure of evil. We must remember that Messiah and Christ mean the same thing, being the Hebrew and the Greek respectively for The Anointed One. Where there is the Christ, there will of necessity be the Antichrist, for so long as there is sin there will be opposition to God.<p/>(v) In the Old Testament there is more than one picture of the divine battle with the assembled opposition to God. We find such a picture in the struggle with Gog and Magog (<a href='B:330 38:1-23'>Eze 38:1-23</a>), and in the destruction of the destroyers of Jerusalem (<a href='B:450 14:1-21'>Zec 14:1-21</a>).<p/>But, so far as the later Jews were concerned, the peak of the manifestation of evil was connected with one terrible episode in their history. This is commemorated in Daniel's picture of the little horn, which waxed great even against heaven, which stopped the daily sacrifice, which cast down the sanctuary (<a href='B:340 8:9-12'>Dan 8:9-12</a>). The little horn stands for Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria. He determined to introduce Greek ways, language and Greek worship into Palestine, for he regarded himself as the missionary of Greek culture. The Jews resisted. Antiochus Epiphanes invaded Palestine and captured Jerusalem. It was said that eighty thousand Jews were either slaughtered or sold into slavery. To circumcise a child or to possess a copy of the Law was a crime punishable by death. History has seldom, or never, seen so deliberate an attempt to wipe out the religion of a whole people. He desecrated the Temple. He erected an altar to Olympian Zeus in the Holy Place and on it sacrificed swine's flesh; and he turned the rooms of the Temple into public brothels. In the end the gallantry of the Maccabees restored the Temple and conquered Antiochus; but to the Jews Antiochus was the incarnation of all evil.<p/>It can be seen that the figure of Antichrist was taking shape already in the Old Testament; the incarnation of evil is an idea that is already there.<p/>We now turn to the idea of Antichrist in the New Testament:<p/>(i) There is very little mention of the Antichrist idea in the Synoptic Gospels. The only real occurrence is in the chapters which deal with the end and the signs of the end. There Jesus is represented as saying: "Then if any one says to you, 'Lo, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect" (<a href='B:470 24:23'>Mat 24:23</a>; <a href='B:470 24:44'>Mat 24:44</a>; <a href='B:480 13:6'>Mar 13:6</a>; <a href='B:480 13:22'>Mar 13:22</a>; <a href='B:490 21:8'>Luk 21:8</a>). In the Fourth Gospel Jesus is represented as saying: "I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive" (<a href='B:500 5:43'>Joh 5:43</a>). There the idea of Antichrist is rather that of false teaching, leading men away from true loyalty to Jesus Christ, a line of thought which, as we shall see, occurs again in the New Testament.<p/>(ii) One of the main pictures of Antichrist is that of the Man of Sin in <a href='B:600 2:1-17'>2Th 2:1-17</a>. Paul is reminding the Thessalonians of that which he had already taught them by word of mouth and of that which was an essential part of his teaching. He says: "Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you this?" (<a href='B:600 2:5'>2Th 2:5</a>). In this picture there is first to be a general falling away; then the man of sin will come who will exalt himself above God and claim the worship which belongs to God by right, and work lying signs and wonders which will deceive many. At the moment when Paul is writing there is something which restrains this final manifestation of evil (<a href='B:600 2:7'>2Th 2:7</a>). In all probability Paul means the Roman Empire, seen by him as keeping the world from disintegrating into the chaos of the last time. Here Antichrist is concentrated into one person who is the very essence of evil. This rather connects itself with the Beliar idea of the Old Testament and with the conflict of light and darkness in the Persian world view.<p/>(iii) The idea of Antichrist occurs in the Letters of John. It is, in fact, only there that the actual word occurs. In the last time Antichrist is to come; in the times in which John writes many Antichrists have come; therefore, says John, they know that they are living in the last time (<a href='B:690 2:18'>1Jn 2:18</a>). He who denies the Father and the Son is Antichrist (<a href='B:690 2:22'>1Jn 2:22</a>). In particular he who denies that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is Antichrist (<a href='B:690 4:3'>1Jn 4:3</a>; <a href='B:700 1:7'>2Jn 1:7</a>). The supreme characteristic of Antichrist is the denial of the reality of the Incarnation.<p/>Here again the main connection of Antichrist is with heresy. Antichrist is the spirit of falsehood which seduces men from the truth and leads them into mistaken ideas which are the ruin of the Christian faith.<p/>(iv) It is in the Revelation that the fullest picture of Antichrist is painted and it occurs in more than one form.<p/>(a) In <a href='B:730 11:7'>Rev 11:7</a> there is the picture of the beast from the abyss, who is to slay the two witnesses in Jerusalem and who is to reign for forty-two months. This gives us the picture of Antichrist as coming, as it were, from hell, to have a terrible and destructive, but limited, time of power. In this picture there is at least some connection with the Daniel picture of Antiochus Epiphanes as the little horn. That is certainly where the period of forty-two months comes from, for that was the period during which the terror of Antiochus and the desecration of the Temple lasted.<p/>(b) In <a href='B:730 12:1-17'>Rev 12:1-17</a> there is the picture of the great red dragon, who persecutes the woman clothed with the sun, the woman who begets the man child. This dragon is ultimately defeated and cast out of heaven. The dragon is definitely identified with the old serpent the devil (<a href='B:730 12:9'>Rev 12:9</a>). This has clearly some kind of connection with the old myth of the dragon of chaos who was the enemy of God.<p/>(c) In <a href='B:730 13:1-18'>Rev 13:1-18</a> there is the picture of the beast with the seven heads and the ten horns, which comes from the sea, and the other beast with the two horns, which comes from the land. There is no doubt that what is in John's mind is the terror and the savagery of Caesar worship; and in this case Antichrist is the great begetter of persecution of the Christian Church. Here the idea is of cruel, persecuting power, bent on the utter destruction of Christ and his Church.<p/>(d) In <a href='B:730 17:3'>Rev 17:3</a> we have the picture of the scarlet coloured beast, with the seven heads and the ten horns, on which the woman called Babylon is seated. We are told that the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. In the Revelation Babylon symbolizes Rome and Rome was built on seven hills. Clearly this picture stands for Rome and Antichrist is Rome's persecuting power unleashed upon the Church.<p/>It is of great interest to note the change here. As we have seen, to Paul, when he wrote Second Thessalonians, Rome was the one power which restrained the coming of Antichrist. In <a href='B:520 13:1-7'>Rom 13:1-7</a> Paul writes of the state as divinely appointed and urges all Christians to be loyal citizens. In <a href='B:670 2:13-17'>1Pe 2:13-17</a> the order to Christians is willingly to submit themselves to the government of the state, to fear God and to honour the king. In the Revelation there is a world of difference; times had changed; the full fury of persecution had broken out; and Rome had become to John the Antichrist.<p/>(v) We note one last element in the picture of Antichrist. With the old Jewish idea of this anti-God power and with the Christian idea of a power who was the incarnation of evil, there combined an idea from the Graeco-Roman world. The worst of the Roman Emperors in the early days was Nero who was regarded as the supreme monster of iniquity, not only by the Christians, but also by the Romans themselves. Nero died by suicide in A.D. 68, and there went up a sigh of relief. But almost immediately there arose the belief that he was not dead and that he was waiting in Parthia to descend on the world with the terrible hordes of the Parthians to let loose destruction and terror. This idea is called the Nero redivivus, the Nero resurrected, myth. In the ancient world it was widespread more than twenty years after Nero was dead. To the Christians, Nero was a figure of concentrated evil. It was he who had put the blame of the great fire of Rome on to the Christians; it was he who had initiated persecution; it was he who had found the most savage methods of torture. Many Christians believed in the Nero redivivus myth; and frequently--as in certain parts of the Revelation--Nero redivivus and Antichrist were identified and the Christians thought of the coming of Antichrist in terms of the return of Nero.<p/><b>THE VISION OF THINGS TO COME</b> (<a href='B:730 11:1-19'>Rev 11:1-19</a> <b>continued)</b> A measuring rod like a stall was given to me, with the instructions: "Rise and measure the Temple of God, and the altar and those who worship there. But leave out of the reckoning the outer Court which is outside the Temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles, and they will trample on the Holy City for forty-two months.<p/>And I will give the task of prophesying to my two witnesses and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands who stand before the Lord of all the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and whoever tries to hurt them must be thus killed.<p/>These have the authority to shut up the heaven so that rain may not fall during the period for which they prophesied a drought; and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they wish.<p/>When they shall have completed their witness, the beast which comes up from the abyss will make war with them and will overcome them and will kill them. Their corpses shall lie in the street of the great city, whose spiritual name is Sodom and Egypt, and where their Lord also was crucified. There are those of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations who are to see their bodies for three and a half days, and they will not allow their bodies to be placed in a tomb. Those who inhabit the land will rejoice over them and will make merry and will send gifts to each other, because these two prophets tortured those who inhabit the land."<p/>After the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon all who saw them. They heard a great voice from heaven saying to them: "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them. At that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth of the city collapsed and seven thousand persons were killed, and the rest of the people were in fear and gave glory to the God of heaven.<p/>The second woe is gone and, behold, the third is coming quickly.<p/>The seventh angel sounded a blast on his trumpet and there came great voices in heaven saying: "The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Anointed One, and he will reign for ever and ever."<p/>The twenty-four elders, who sat upon their thrones in the presence of God, fell down upon their faces, and worshipped God saying: "We give you thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, that you have taken your supreme authority and that you have entered upon your reign. The nations have raged, and your wrath has come, and there has come the time to judge the dead, and to give their reward to your servants the prophets and to God's dedicated people and to those who fear your name, both small and great, and to destroy those who are the destroyers of the earth."<p/>And the Temple of God was opened in heaven, and in the Temple there was seen the Ark of the Covenant, and there were lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and a great storm of hail.<p/></i><p/>It is better to see this chapter as a whole, before we make any attempt to deal with it in detail. It has been said that it is at one and the same time the most difficult and the most important chapter in the Revelation. Its difficulty is obvious and it contains problems of interpretation about whose solution there can be no real certainty. Its importance lies in the fact that it contains a deliberate summary of the rest of the book. The seer has eaten the little roll and taken into his mind the message of God; and now he sets it down, not yet in detail but in the broad lines of its development. So certain is he of the course of events that from <a href='B:730 11:11'>Rev 11:11</a> he alters the tense of his narrative and speaks of things still in the future as if they were past. Let us then set out the scheme of this chapter which is also the scheme of the rest of the book.<p/>(i) <a href='B:730 11:1-2'>Rev 11:1-2</a>. Here is the picture of the measuring of the Temple. As we shall see, the measuring is closely parallel to the sealing and is for the purposes of protection when the demonic terrors descend upon the world.<p/>(ii) <a href='B:730 11:3-6'>Rev 11:3-6</a>. Here is the preaching of the two witnesses who are heralds of the end.<p/>(iii) <a href='B:730 11:7-10'>Rev 11:7-10</a>. Here is the first emergence of Antichrist in the form of the beast from the abyss, and the temporary triumph of Antichrist which results in the death of the two witnesses.<p/>(iv) <a href='B:730 11:11-13'>Rev 11:11-13</a>. Here follows the restoration to life of the witnesses and the consequent repentance and conversion of the Jews.<p/>(v) <a href='B:730 11:14-19'>Rev 11:14-19</a>. Finally, here is the first sketch of the final triumph of Christ, the thousand years of his initial reign, the rising of the nations, the defeat of the nations and the judgment of the dead, and the establishment of the Kingdom of God and of his Anointed One.<p/>We now proceed to examine the chapter in detail.<p/>The Measuring Of The Temple (<a href='B:730 11:1-2'>Rev 11:1-2</a>)<p/>To the seer is given a measuring rod like a staff. The word for measuring rod is literally reed. There were certain grasses which grew with stalks like bamboo canes as much as six or eight feet high; these stalks were used as measuring rods. The word rod actually stands for a Jewish unit of measurement, equal to six cubits. The cubit was originally the space from the tip of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger and was reckoned as seventeen or eighteen inches; so the rod is equal to about nine feet.<p/>The picture of measuring is common in the visions of the prophets. We find it in Ezekiel, Zechariah and Amos (<a href='B:330 40:3'>Eze 40:3</a>; <a href='B:330 40:6'>Eze 40:6</a>; <a href='B:450 2:1'>Zec 2:1</a>; <a href='B:370 7:7-9'>Amo 7:7-9</a>); and no doubt these previous visions were in John's mind.<p/>We find the idea of measuring used in more than one way. It is used as a preparation for building or for restoration and also as a preparation for destruction. But here the meaning lies in preservation. The measuring is like the sealing which is described in <a href='B:730 7:2-3'>Rev 7:2-3</a>; the scaling and the measuring are both for the protection of God's faithful ones in the demonic terrors to descend upon the earth.<p/>The seer has to measure the Temple, but he must omit from his measurement the outer court which has been given over to the Gentiles. The Temple in Jerusalem was divided into four courts, converging, as it were, upon the Holy of Holies. There was the Court of the Gentiles, into which Gentiles might come but beyond which they might not pass under penalty of death. Between it and the next court was a balustrade, into which were set tablets warning any Gentile that to come further was to be liable to instant death. Next came the Court of the Women beyond which women could not come; then the Court of the Israelites beyond which ordinary men could not come. Lastly, there was the Court of the Priests, which contained the Altar of the Burnt-Offering, made of brass, the Altar of Incense, made of gold, and the Holy Place; and into this court only the priests might come.<p/>The seer is to measure the Temple. But the date of the Revelation, as we have seen, is somewhere about A.D. 90; and the Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed in A.D. 70: How, then, could the Temple be measured?<p/>The solution lies in this. Almost certainly John is taking over a picture which had already been used. Almost certainly this passage was originally spoken or written in A.D. 70, during the last siege of Jerusalem. During that siege the party of the Jews who would never admit defeat were the Zealots; they would rather die to a man, as indeed they ultimately did. When the walls of the city were breached, these Zealots retired into the Temple to make a last desperate resistance there. It is practically certain that some of their prophets said: "Never fear. The Gentile invaders may reach the outer Court of the Gentiles and defile it; but they will never penetrate into the inner Temple. God would never allow that." That confidence was disappointed; the Zealots perished and the Temple was destroyed; but originally the measuring of the inner courts and the abandoning of the outer court stood for the Zealot hope in those last terrible days.<p/>John takes this picture and completely spiritualizes it. When he speaks of the Temple, he is not thinking of the Temple building at all which had been blasted out of existence more than twenty years before. For him the Temple is the Christian Church, the people of God. This picture meets us repeatedly in the New Testament. The Christians are living stones, built into a spiritual house (<a href='B:670 2:5'>1Pe 2:5</a>). The Church is founded on the apostles and the prophets; Jesus is the corner stone; the whole Church is growing into a holy temple in the Lord (<a href='B:560 2:20-21'>Eph 2:20-21</a>). "Do you not know, says Paul, "that you are God's temple?" (<a href='B:530 3:16'>1Co 3:16</a>; compare, <a href='B:540 6:16'>2Co 6:16</a>).<p/>The measuring of the Temple is the sealing of the people of God; they are to be preserved in the terrible time of trial; but the rest are doomed to destruction.<p/>The Length Of The Terror (<a href='B:730 11:1-2'>Rev 11:1-2</a> Continued)<p/>The length of the terror is to be forty-two months; the time of the preaching of the witnesses is to be twelve hundred and sixty days; their corpses are to lie on the street for three and a half days. Here is something which occurs again and again (compare <a href='B:730 13:5'>Rev 13:5</a>; <a href='B:730 12:6'>Rev 12:6</a>); and occurs in still another form in <a href='B:730 12:14'>Rev 12:14</a> where the period is a time, times and half a time. This is the famous phrase which goes back to Daniel (<a href='B:340 7:25'>Dan 7:25</a>; <a href='B:340 12:7'>Dan 12:7</a>). We have to enquire, first, into the meaning of the phrase and, second, into its origin.<p/>Its meaning is three and a half years. That is what forty-two months, and twelve hundred and sixty days--by Jewish reckoning--are. A time, times and half a time is equal to one year plus two years plus half a year.<p/>The origin of the phrase comes from that most terrible time in Jewish history when Antiochus Epiphanes, King of Syria, tried to force Greek language, culture and worship upon the Jews and was met with the most violent and stubborn resistance. The roll of the martyrs was immense but the dreadful process was finally halted by the rising of Judas Maccabaeus.<p/>Judas and his heroic followers waged guerrilla warfare and won the most amazing victories. Finally Antiochus and his forces were driven out and the Temple was restored and cleansed. The point is that this dreadful period lasted from June 168 B.C. to December 165 B.C. (To this day the Jews celebrate in December the Festival of Hanukah which commemorates the restoration and the cleansing of the Temple.) That is to say this dreadful time lasted almost exactly three and a half years. It was during that time that Daniel was written and the phrase was coined which ever afterwards was stamped on the Jewish mind as indicating a period of terror and suffering and martyrdom.<p/>The Two Witnesses (<a href='B:730 11:3-6'>Rev 11:3-6</a>)<p/>It was always part of Jewish belief that God would send his special messenger to men before the final coming of the Day of the Lord. In Malachi we hear God say: "Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me" (<a href='B:460 3:1'>Mal 3:1</a>). Malachi actually identifies the messenger as Elijah: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and dreadful Day of the Lord comes" (<a href='B:460 4:5'>Mal 4:5</a>). So, then, in our passage we have the coming of the messengers of God before the final contest.<p/>These messengers have the task of prophesying; they will prophesy for 1,260 days, that is for three and a half years, which, as we have seen, is the period always connected with terror and destruction to come. Their message will be sombre, for they are clothed in sackcloth. It will be a message of condemnation; to listen to it will be like a torture and the people will be glad when the two witnesses are killed (<a href='B:730 11:10'>Rev 11:10</a>).<p/>(i) Some scholars have entirely allegorized this passage. They see in the two witnesses the Law and the Prophets, or the Law and the Gospel, or the Old Testament and the New Testament. Or, they see in the two witnesses a picture of the Church. Jesus had told his followers that they must be witnesses to him in Jerusalem, in Judaea, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth (<a href='B:510 1:8'>Act 1:8</a>). Those who explain the two witnesses by the witness of the Church explain the number two by referring to <a href='B:50 19:15'>Deu 19:15</a>, where it is said that if a charge is brought against anyone it must be confirmed by the evidence of two witnesses. But the picture of the two witnesses is so definite that it seems to refer to definite persons.<p/>(ii) The two witnesses have been taken to be Enoch and Elijah. Neither Enoch nor Elijah was said to die. "Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God took him" (<a href='B:10 5:24'>Gen 5:24</a>); Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind and in a chariot of fire to heaven (<a href='B:120 2:11'>2Ki 2:11</a>); and Tertullian (Concerning the Soul, 50) refers to a belief that they were being kept by God in heaven to bring death to Antichrist.<p/>(iii) Much more likely the witnesses are Elijah and Moses. Elijah was held to be the greatest of the prophets, just as Moses was the supreme law-giver; and it was fitting that the two outstanding figures in the religious history of Israel should be God's messengers at the last time. It was these two who appeared to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (<a href='B:480 9:4'>Mar 9:4</a>). Further, the things said of them fit Moses and Elijah as they fit no one else. It is said (<a href='B:730 11:6'>Rev 11:6</a>) that they have power to turn the water into blood and to smite the earth with all plagues, and that is what Moses did (compare specially <a href='B:20 7:14-18'>Exo 7:14-18</a>). It is said that fire proceeds out of their mouth and burns up their enemies, and that they can shut up the heavens so that the rain is withheld. That is what Elijah did with the company of soldiers sent to take him (<a href='B:120 1:9-10'>2Ki 1:9-10</a>) and when he prophesied to Ahab that there would be no rain upon the earth (<a href='B:110 17:1'>1Ki 17:1</a>). We have already seen that Elijah was expected to return to herald the end; and it would not be difficult to regard God's promise that he would raise up a prophet like Moses (<a href='B:50 18:18'>Deu 18:18</a>) as a prophecy that Moses himself would return.<p/>The Saving Death Of The Two Witnesses (<a href='B:730 11:7-13'>Rev 11:7-13</a>)<p/>The witnesses are to preach for their allotted time and then will come Antichrist in the form of the beast from the abyss; and the two witnesses will be cruelly slain.<p/>This is to happen in Jerusalem; but Jerusalem is called by the terrible names of Sodom and Egypt. Long before this Isaiah had addressed the rulers of Jerusalem as the rulers of Sodom and the people of Jerusalem as the people of Gomorrah (<a href='B:290 1:9-10'>Isa 1:9-10</a>). Sodom and Gomorrah stand as the types of sin, the symbols of those who had not received strangers (compare the story in <a href='B:10 19:4-11'>Gen 19:4-11</a>) and who had turned their benefactors into slaves (Wis_19:14-15). The wickedness of Jerusalem had already crucified Jesus Christ and in the days to come it is to regard the death of his witnesses with joy.<p/>So will the people of Jerusalem hate the two witnesses that they will leave their bodies unburied in the street. In Jewish thought it was a terrible thing that a body should not be buried. When the heathen attacked God's people, to the Psalmist it was the greatest tragedy of all that there was none to bury them (<a href='B:230 79:3'>Psa 79:3</a>); the threat to the disobedient prophet, a threat which came true, was that his carcase would not come to the sepulchre of his fathers (<a href='B:110 13:22'>1Ki 13:22</a>). Even worse, such will be the hatred of the people for the witnesses of God that they will regard their death as a reason for festival.<p/>But that is not the end. After three and a half days--here we have the same period--the breath of life entered again into the two slain witnesses and they stood upon their feet. Still more startling things were to happen. In sight of all, the two witnesses were summoned up into heaven, re-enacting, as it were, Elijah's first departure to heaven in the whirlwind and the chariot of fire (<a href='B:120 2:11'>2Ki 2:11</a>).<p/>To add to the terror came a destructive earthquake which wrecked a tenth of the city and brought death to seven thousand of its inhabitants. The result was that those who had seen these terrifying events and were spared, gave glory to God. That is to say, they repented, for that is the only real way to give glory to God.<p/>The great interest of this passage lies in the fact that the unbelievers were won by the sacrificial death of the witnesses and by God's vindication of them. Here is the story of the Cross and of the Resurrection all over again. Evil must be conquered and men won, not by force but by the acceptance of suffering for the name of Christ.<p/>The Forecast Of Things To Come (<a href='B:730 11:14-19'>Rev 11:14-19</a>)<p/>What makes this passage difficult is that it seems to indicate that things have come to an end in final victory, while there is still half the book to go. The explanation, as we have seen, is that this passage is a summary of what is still to come. The events foreshadowed here are as follows.<p/>(i) There is the victory in which the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Anointed One. This is really a quotation of <a href='B:230 2:2'>Psa 2:2</a>, and is another way of saying that the Messianic reign has begun. In view of this victory the twenty-four elders, that is, the whole Church, break out in thanksgiving.<p/>(ii) This victory leads to the time when God takes his supreme authority (<a href='B:730 11:17'>Rev 11:17</a>). That is to say, it leads to the thousand year reign of God, the Millenium, a thousand year period of peace and prosperity.<p/>(iii) At the end of the Millenium there is to come the final attack of all the hostile powers (<a href='B:730 11:18'>Rev 11:18</a>); they will be finally defeated and then will follow the last judgment.<p/>In <a href='B:730 11:19'>Rev 11:19</a> we come back, as it were, to the present. There is a vision of the heavenly Temple opened and of the Ark of the Covenant. Two things are involved in this vision.<p/>(i) The Ark of the Covenant was in the Holy of Holies, the inside of which no ordinary person had ever seen, and into which even the High Priest went only on the Day of Atonement. This must mean that now the glory of God is going to be fully displayed.<p/>(ii) The reference to the Ark of the Covenant is as a reminder of God's special covenant with his people. Originally that covenant had been with the people Israel; but the new covenant is with all of every nation who love and believe in Jesus. Whatever the terror to come, God will not be false to his promises.<p/>This is a picture of the coming of the full glory of God, a terrifying threat to his enemies but an uplifting promise to the people of his covenant. 


