IV. In this chapter we pass from the sufferings and temptations of the churches below to the unsullied glory above. The vision of the Almighty here described is thought to be interposed here to remind us that all decrees respecting the future “rest with God, and come from Him through Jesus Christ.”... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER THIS (better, _these things)_ I LOOKED (literally, _I saw;_ not “I looked,” as though the prophet turned his gaze then towards it), AND, BEHOLD A DOOR WAS OPENED (or, _set open)_ IN HEAVEN. — He did not look and see a door opening; he saw, and lo! the door stood open. There are differences as... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IMMEDIATELY I WAS IN THE SPIRIT. — Comp. Revelation 1:10. The mind and soul were absorbed in the vision of things celestial. (See. 2 Corinthians 12:1.) “Words may not tell of that transhuman change; If I were only what Thou didst create, Then newly, Love! by whom the heaven is ruled, Thou know’... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE THAT SAT WAS TO LOOK UPON LIKE A JASPER AND A SARDINE STONE. — In determining the significance of these emblems we must be guided partly by the analogy of Bible imagery elsewhere, and partly by our knowledge of precious stones. The sardian, or sardine, is admitted to be a stone of fiery red c... [ Continue Reading ]
(4)AND ROUND ABOUT THE THRONE WERE FOUR AND TWENTY SEATS (or, _thrones_), AND UPON THE SEATS (or, _thrones)_ I SAW FOUR AND TWENTY ELDERS SITTING, CLOTHED IN WHITE RAIMENT; AND THEY HAD ON THEIR HEADS CROWNS OF GOLD. — Perhaps the wish to give its due pre-eminence to the thought of Him who sat on th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND OUT OF THE THRONE PROCEEDED (rather, _proceed;_ there is a change in the tense used) LIGHTNINGS AND THUNDERINGS AND VOICES. — These are viewed by some as the indications of approaching judgments. Perhaps it is better to view them as the tokens of God’s power of judgment than as hints of immediat... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BEFORE THE THRONE THERE WAS A SEA OF GLASS LIKE UNTO CRYSTAL. — There is a sea before the throne of God. The woman apparelled in purple splendour sits upon many waters (Revelation 17:1). The waters are explained (Revelation 17:15) to be “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” Her th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE FIRST BEAST (better, in each case, _living being)_ WAS LIKE A LION, AND THE SECOND BEAST LIKE A CALF (comp. Ezekiel 1:7; Ezekiel 1:10), AND THE THIRD BEAST HAD A FACE AS A MAN (or, _its countenance as of a man),_ AND THE FOURTH BEAST WAS LIKE A FLYING EAGLE. — These are _living beings_, not... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE FOUR BEASTS (or, _living beings)_ HAD EACH OF THEM (literally, _one by one of them)_ SIX WINGS ABOUT HIM; AND THEY WERE FULL OF (or, _teeming with)_ EYES. — The last verse spoke of the living beings teeming with eyes; this tells us that neither the dropping nor the raising of their wings hin... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THOSE BEASTS... — Better, _And whensoever the living beings shall give_ (the future is used) _glory and honour and thanks to Him who sitteth upon the throne, to Him who liveth to the ages of ages, the four-and-twenty elders shall_ (as is their wont) _fall down before Him who sitteth on the... [ Continue Reading ]
The doxology is three-fold. (See Note on Revelation 1:6.) It should run — “Worthy art Thou, O Lord, and our God, To receive the glory, and the honour, and the power, Because Thou didst create all things, And through (or, _owing to — i.e._, because of) Thy will they _were_ (not ‘ are’) and were crea... [ Continue Reading ]