Revelation's Seventh Seal: Judgment of 1st-century Israel
Below is the 17th of multiple excerpts of commentary on the Book of Revelation from The Parousia, the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell:
"The Third Vision
"THE SEVEN TRUMPETS, CHAPS. VIII. IX. X. XI. [8, 9, 10, 11]
"We have now reached the close of the second vision [of the seven seals], and it might be supposed that the catastrophe by which it was concluded is so complete and exhaustive that there could be no room for any further development. But it is not so. And here we have again to call attention to one of the leading features in the structure of the Apocalypse [Book of Revelation]. It is not a continuous and progressive sequence of events, but a continually recurring representation of substantially the same tragic history [of Jerusalem's fall in A.D. 70] in fresh forms and new phases. ...At the same time every new vision enlarges the sphere of our observation and heightens the interest by the introduction of new incidents and actors.
"OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL.
"THE SEVEN TRUMPETS, CHAPS. VIII. IX. X. XI. [8, 9, 10, 11]
"We have now reached the close of the second vision [of the seven seals], and it might be supposed that the catastrophe by which it was concluded is so complete and exhaustive that there could be no room for any further development. But it is not so. And here we have again to call attention to one of the leading features in the structure of the Apocalypse [Book of Revelation]. It is not a continuous and progressive sequence of events, but a continually recurring representation of substantially the same tragic history [of Jerusalem's fall in A.D. 70] in fresh forms and new phases. ...At the same time every new vision enlarges the sphere of our observation and heightens the interest by the introduction of new incidents and actors.
"OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL.
"CHAP. viii. 1 [Rev. 8:1].---‘And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.’
"The seventh seal, strictly speaking, belongs to the former [second] vision [of the seven seals]; but it will be observed that the catastrophe of that vision occurs under the sixth seal, and that the seventh becomes simply the connecting link between the second vision and the third,---[that is,] between the seals and the trumpets. This no doubt intimates the close relation subsisting between them. ...It appears the most reasonable supposition that we have here, in the vision of the seven trumpets, a fresh unfolding of the desolating judgments [as depicted in the opening of the seven seals] which were about to overwhelm the doomed land of [1st-century] Judea. ...
"THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS.
"CHAP. viii. 7-12 [Rev. 8:7-12].---‘The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth’ (land) [Greek: tes ges], etc.
"...After an awful pause on the opening of the seventh seal, significant of the solemn and mournful character of the events which are about to take place, seven angels, or rather the seven angels who stand before God, receive seven trumpets, which they are commissioned successively to sound. Before they begin, however, an angel presents to God the prayers of the saints, along with the smoke of much incense from a golden censer, at the golden altar which was before the throne. This is usually regarded as symbolical of the acceptableness of Christian worship through the intercession and advocacy of the Mediator. But observe the effects of the prayers. The angel takes the censer which had perfumed the prayers of the saints, fills it with fire from the altar, and hurls it upon the land [Rev. 8:5]: and immediately voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake follow. Strange answers to prayer. But if we regard these prayers of the saints as the appeals of the suffering and persecuted people of God, whom we have seen [in Rev. 6:9-11] represented in the former visions as crying aloud, ‘How long, O Lord, how long?’ [Rev. 6:10] all becomes clear. The Lord will avenge the blood of His servants; His wrath is kindled; swift retribution is at hand. The censer which censed the prayers becomes the vehicle of judgment, and is cast upon the land, filled with the fury of the Lord,---the fire from the altar before the throne."
"...After an awful pause on the opening of the seventh seal, significant of the solemn and mournful character of the events which are about to take place, seven angels, or rather the seven angels who stand before God, receive seven trumpets, which they are commissioned successively to sound. Before they begin, however, an angel presents to God the prayers of the saints, along with the smoke of much incense from a golden censer, at the golden altar which was before the throne. This is usually regarded as symbolical of the acceptableness of Christian worship through the intercession and advocacy of the Mediator. But observe the effects of the prayers. The angel takes the censer which had perfumed the prayers of the saints, fills it with fire from the altar, and hurls it upon the land [Rev. 8:5]: and immediately voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake follow. Strange answers to prayer. But if we regard these prayers of the saints as the appeals of the suffering and persecuted people of God, whom we have seen [in Rev. 6:9-11] represented in the former visions as crying aloud, ‘How long, O Lord, how long?’ [Rev. 6:10] all becomes clear. The Lord will avenge the blood of His servants; His wrath is kindled; swift retribution is at hand. The censer which censed the prayers becomes the vehicle of judgment, and is cast upon the land, filled with the fury of the Lord,---the fire from the altar before the throne."
Comments
Post a Comment