in heaven: and the first voice which I heard, was as it were

of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither,

the churches, as if meaning the * Churches at large. The presumption - is, that although John addressed only - the seven, yet being put as representatives of all the rest, they were all interested in the communications which he made. After he had concluded his communications to the seven churches, he came to the prophetic parts, which seem not to be addressed to those churches, but to the Christian world at large. Nothing more is said in the Apocalypse about the seven churches. The testimony is “to every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book;” xxii. 18. "I I looked. — The word here is not to be taken in the ordinary acceptation of merely seeing ; but is to be understood as having an insight, after the manner of the prophets, or seers, by which he was enabled to foretell the events which he subsequently described. *I Door nas opened in heaven. — We take the opportunity, in this place, to offer a few remarks on the scriptural, and especially the apocalyptical, sense, of the word heaven. It is put, 1st. For the region of the air, as when we speak of the fowls of heaven; Rev. viii. 13, x. 6; xiii. 13; xiv. 6; xvi. 21; xix. 17; xx. 9. 2d. It is put for the firmament, as when we speak of the sun in heaven, or the stars of heaven; vi. 14; viii. 10; ix. 1; xx. 11. 3d. It is put for the imaginary dwelling-place of God. The firmament is but an imaginary place; and in the same sense heaven may be understood when spoken of as God's dwelling-place. The form of God's existence is altogether mysterious. We do not suppose we are to understand heaven, when spoken of as the dwelling-place of God, to be strictly a locality. It partakes of the metaphorical, the scenical. God, among the ancients, was supposed to dwell in any place where he specially manifested his presence. When Jacob

slept upon the ground, on his way towards Haran, he had a vision, and behold, a ladder was seen reaching from the earth to the heaven, on which the angels of God were ascending and descending ; and he heard a voice above it saying, “I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father,” &c. He awoke, with the spell of the dream upon him. “Surely (said he) the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not; this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven ;” Gen. xxviii. 16, 17. As though he had said, this is the avenue to God's presence. The Jews of old supposed that God inhabited some spiritual dwelling, (if we may so speak,) which they called eternity, a high and holy place. They also supposed him to dwell in the humble and contrite spirit; Isaiah lyii. 15. This high and holy place, of which the Jews had an indistinct idea, they called heaven. But they held, from the earliest times, that God also dwelt among them. He dwelt beneath the cherubim, at the mercy-seat, upon the ark of the covenant; 2 Kings xix. 15; Psa. lxxx. 1; Isa. xxxvii. 16. In the case before us, it would seem that heaven was put for the supposed dwelling-place of God. This was represented to the Jews, in the temple, by the mercy-seat. By the door opening in heaven, may be understood the opening of the door, or gate, to the mercy-seat. T A trumpet talking moth me. — This was the first voice the revelator heard. He had seen no person, but he heard a voice, which seemed to be as if a trumpet had life, and had the power to talk. The meaning is, it was a trumpet-like voice. In the view of the ancient Hebrews, men could not see God with the outward eye. They could see a representation of him ; but it was not supposed they could see God himself; John i. 18; 1 Tim. vi. 16. There was a moral or spiritual sense, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the Spirit: and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat

on the throne. 3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight

in which the pure in heart could see him ; Matt. v. 8. But though they could not see Jehovah, yet they could hear his voice, as was the case with Adam and Eve in the garden; Gen. iii. 8. So the revelator heard the voice of the trumpet talking with him. We desire to remark once for all, that we regard the scenes described in this chapter to be purely metaphorical, as much so as the account of the temptation of our first parents, in the garden of Eden, by the serpent. He who should seek to interpret the language literally, would have confusion worse confounded. The design of the revelator seems to have been to represent, that he had a special opportunity of approaching the Holy One, and of learning from him the events “ which must be hereafter.” The imagery is not real, but imaginative. It is a figurative description of the dwelling-place of the High and Holy One. See 2d, 3d, and 4th verses. T Which must be hereafter. — This shows plainly that the prophetic part of the book is about to begin, for which the revelator was specially prepared by the communication with heaven. We were informed in Rev. i. 19, that John was directed to write the things which he had seen, the things which were, and the things which were to be afterward. The latter things are written in those |. of the Apocalypse which we ave now approached. 2. Immediately Invas in the Spirit. — That is, “when the door was opened, and the trumpet voice talked with me, I was immediately in a spiritual frame of mind”—a fit and proper state in which to behold the things which he was to see and describe. * A throne nas set in heaven. — This was the first thing he saw after the

door in heaven was opened. T And one sat on the throne. — He saw not the being, and yet the sight impressed him with the fact that there was a being there. 3. Like a jasper and sardine stone. — Beautiful, glorious! Such was the appearance. These precious stones had great lustre. But this was not all that contributed to the brilliance of the scene. T A rainbon, round about the throne. — The description is intended to be of the most gorgeous kind. This description of the throne of God, and of the mysterious Being seated thereon, seems to us to be framed according to the descriptions given by Isaiah and Ezekiel. See the words of the former prophet: “I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings: with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke ;” Isa. vi. 1–4. This vision appeared to the prophet to be in the temple ; for he said that the train of the Holy One “filled the temple.” See also Eze. kiel chap. i., especially verses 26–28. “And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone, and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the

like unto an emerald. 4 And round about the throne

were four and twenty seats; and upon the seats I saw four

appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.” Now we cannot have a doubt that the revelator found his images in the passages we have here quoted. They were not the creations of wild fancy in him ; he found them in the sacred books of the Jews. Compare with the above Ezek. x. 4. Four-and-trpenty seats. – This is a continuation of the imagery. Fourand-twenty exalted seats, or thrones, are placed around the throne of God. We say thrones, for those who sit on them have crowns upon their heads, as signs that they reign with God. *I Four-and-tnenty elders. — First of all, who were the elders ? What kind of an officer were they The word itself signifies, a man of age, experience, and dignity. We read of the elders often in the Old Testament, as well as in the New. They were the magistrates, heads, or rulers of the people. Even when the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, they seem to have had a kind of government, and there were among them some whom they owned as their teachers and rulers. Moses was directed to confer with them, previously to undertaking the deliverance of the people; Exod. iii. 16–18. These elders were men of experience, wisdom and gravity, and of authority among the people. Afterwards, when it became necessary for Moses to have assistance in governing the people, he was advised to appoint elders for that purpose. “Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating

covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens : and let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge : so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee;” Exod. xviii. 21, 22. For the commission given to these men, see Deut. i. 16, 17. This appointment was confirmed by the authority of God; See Numb. xi. 16, 17; and these men ruled in conjunction with Moses; Deut. xxvii. 1 : “And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.” With this explanation we shall be able to understand the matter of the four-and-twenty elders in the passage before us. The form of the court of heaven was made with reference to the God-appointed form of government among the Jews. This form was held sacred in the eyes of the Jews; and how natural was it therefore for the revelator, himself a Hebrew, when painting a scene of the presence of God, and the heavenly court, to describe it after the sacred sashion of the Jews. It is true, we read, in one or two instances, of some slight changes in the government; but a body of elders was always clustered around the chief officer, both in secular and holy matters. We read often of the elders in the New Testament as being the leaders of the Jewish people in their opposition to Jesus and his apostles, as well as other matters. This led the Christians to regard the elders as stiffnecked and rebellious men; but it begat no prejudices in their minds in regard to the office itself. But why was the number twenty-four selected 2 We read nowhere of that exact number of elders except in the Apoca

and twenty elders sitting, clothed

lypse. There probably existed some reason in the revelator's mind why he selected the number twenty-four. There are two reasons which may be assigned; and they present themselves to our mind with a force so nearly equal, that it is difficult to state which has the most power. We will proceed to name them. 1st. There were twelve apostles in the Christian church. The Jewish and Christian religion were both divinely appointed institutions; and it is possible, therefore, that the revelator desired to represent them both, by their elders, in the court of heaven. One elder for each of the twelve tribes, and one to answer to each of the twelve apostles, (who were regarded as the heads of the tribes of spiritual Israel, Matt. xix. 28,) would make up the number twenty-four. With this view, the court of heaven is composed, under the Father, of an equal number of representatives from both the Jewish and Christian institutions. The twelve Jewish tribes are sometimes used spiritually for the Jews converted to the Christian religion. See James i. 1, and Rev. vii. The other reason to which we have referred, which perhaps induced the revelator to use the number twenty-four, is this: Under the reign of David the Jewish priests were divided into twenty-four orders, courses, or classes, as will be perceived by examining Numb. xxiv. The Christian believers, those who had entered Christ's spiritual kingdom, who had come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, were reckoned as kings and priests in God's sight. “Ye are a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices;” 1 Pet. ii. 5. “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;” 9. The Christians consessed that they had been made “kings and priests unto God;” Rev. i.,6; v. 10. “They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign

in white raiment; and *:

with him a thousand years;” xx.

6. By analogy, then, the Christian

priests might be divided into twenty.

four courses; and each course hav.

ing one representative in the court

of heaven, would make the twenty

four elders. Whether one of these

reasons, or both of them, operated on the mind of the revelator; and if only one, which of the two, we must leave for the reader to determine. These elders perform no offices in the drama of the Apocalypse which are inconsistent with their characters as representatives of the church, or of the holy men of both Jewish and Chris. tian dispensations. They are princi. pally distinguished by the devout and Solemn worship which they rendered to God and the Lamb; Rev. v. S.; xi. 16; xix. 4. T Clothed in n-hite raiment. — We have already shown that inhabitants of the heavenly world are supposed to be clothed in white, as a sign of purity and of honor. See the notes on Rev. iii. 4, 5, 18. The redeemed were washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb; i. 5; vii. 14. How appropriate it was, then, for the revelator to clothe his elders in white. T Cronons of gold. – The Christians were kings as well as priests; and hence the elders were represented each as having a crown of gold upon his head, which he wore in the presence of the Highest, who thus acknowledged the prečminence. The four-and-twenty seats on which they sat were (thromoi) thrones; and we know of no reason why the word was not thus rendered, as in Matt. xix. 28. A brief review of what has been said on the subject before us, may present it now to the reader's mind in a more definite, clear and single light. In his figurative description, John first puts a throne, with a glorious personage upon it, bright and beautiful to behold. Round about the throne was a rainbow. It was encircled also with four-and-twenty minor thrones, on

had on their heads crowns of gold.

5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and thunder

which sat as many elders, clothed in white, having on their heads crowns of gold. No one can suppose this description to be a reality; it is purely imaginative. We think the words of Dr. Doddridge are worthy of great attention: — “We are not to imagine that the person sitting on the throne, or the four animals, or the four-andtwenty elders, were real beings existing in nature; though they represented in a figurative manner things that did really exist. — And though it is possible that aerial scenes might, by divine or angelic power, have been formed, I think it much more probable that all that passed was purely in the imagination of St. John. This will keep us, in our interpretation, clear of a thousand difficulties, not to say absurdities, which would follow from a contrary supposition : namely, that there is in heaven an animal in the form of a lamb to represent Christ; and that there are such living creatures as are here described, and that God himself appears in a human form, &c. And this observation I make once for all, desiring it may be remembered, and applied as occasions present.” — (See his Expos. on the place.) Such was Doddridge's opinion, and we have no doubt of its correctness. The great truths of prophecy made known to John were doubtless divine communications to him ; but the imagery is to be understood as imagery merely. We have already shown what suggested these metaphors to the mind of the revelator. He, doubtless, obtained them from the Old Testament. It is a common metaphor of the Old Testa– ment writers to represent God as sitting on a throne, all glorious in appearance. The scene of John's vision, says Lightfoot, “is according to the scheme of the temple, and the divine glory there. And hence you have mention of the altar, candle

sticks, sea of glass, the ark of the covenant, and the like. And as at the opening of the temple doors, a trumpet sounded, - so is the allusion here. The door in heaven opened, and a trumpet calls John to come in and see what was there. — (Harmony of the New Testament.) The same author says again, – “The revelator seeth Christ enthroned in the middle of his church, in the same prophetic and visionary emblem that Ezekiel had seen ; Ezek. i. and x.; and this is a commentary and fulfilling of that scene that Daniel speaketh of; vii. 9, 10, 22. In Ezekiel the Lord, when Jerusalem was to be destroyed, and the glory of the Lord that used to be there, and the people, were to flit into another land, - appeareth so enthroned as sitting in judgment and flitting away by degrees to another place, as compare Ezek. i. and x. well together. So Christ here, when the destruction of Jerusalem was near at hand, and his glory and presence [were about] to remove from that nation, now given up to unbelief and obduration, to reside among the Gentiles, – he is seated upon his throne, as judge and king, with glorious attendance, to judge that nation for their sins and unbelief, and stating the affair of his church, whither his glory was now removing.”— (Harmony of the New Testament.) We explain the figures in this chapter on the same principle on which we explain similar imagery in the 24th and 25th chapters of Matthew. The appearance of God's dwelling-place is drawn from that of the camp of Israel. 1. The tabernacle was in the middle there; so is the throne here; 2. There, the four squadrons of the camp of Levi next the tabernacle; so here, the four living creatures. 3. There, the whole camp of Israel; so here, twenty-four elders, representatives of the whole church, built from