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Biblical Criticism.—On the Contents of t...
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On the Contents of the Booh of Revelatio...
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Biblical Criticism.—On The Contents Of T...
Biblical Criticism . —On the Contents of the Book of Revelation . Na . II . I IS
On The Contents Of The Booh Of Revelatio...
On the Contents of the Booh of Revelation . No . II .
MY last essay [ pp . 42—45 ] ended with the end of the sixth chapter , including in it a sketch of the political and ecclesiastical state of Christianity , to A . D . SIS . We have seen the Pagan empire overturned at Rome , and the Christian name seizing on the throne of the Pontifex
Maximus , and ruling the Eastern and Western empire , taking possession of the revenues of their temples , and assuming the servile titles of the officers of * idol deities , and with them their dress , and their paraphernalia .
The seventh chapter is a continuation of the sixth seal . 1—S . The judgments of < Jod about to be poured out on the Roman emperor , are restrained , till the servants of God are sealed , i . e . till the appointed extent
of the peace and prosperity of the church h * d been established ; 6—8 , describes their numbers ; 9—17 > declares the happiness of the countless multitudes , who , by their fortitude under sufferings and death had obtained the triumphs of Christianity .
Chap . viti . 1 . We are now come to the opening of the seventh seal , and must here observe , that we shall often find the word heaven used , and that it invariably signifies temporal power .
The conclusion of the Smyrna state was the victory over Maxentius , and the decree of Consiantine and Licinus , which ended the persecution of the Christians . This state of war is
followed by half an hour ' silence , or the forty-eighth part of three hundred and sixty days , a space of about seven and a half days ; denoting the smallness of the period of peace before the trumpet of war would be again
sounded ; and so it was , even in the midst of their rejdicing for their victory , Constautine was called to repel an inroad of the Franks , and Licinus to fight with Maximiu for his throne .
It has been noticed that the Roman empire had now become Christian . In conformity to this language , the scene is here laid in lhe temple , or church of God , before ( he morning service . % 3 . During this silence God ' s messengers are preparing , and have given to them ' seven trumpets - , 4 , prayer ascends from the saints of God ;
On The Contents Of The Booh Of Revelatio...
5 , whilst another messenger takes fire fronji the altar and casts it to the earth ; denoting that the divine judgments about to take place are from divine appointment . ( Exod . x . 2 . ) 6 . The messengers prepare to sound the
trumpet of war . ( Jer . iv . IQ . ) This preparation may be considerecLas the interval between the reign of Constantineand that of Theodosius the Great . 7 . The first trumpet sounded , is followed by hail , attended with lightning and blood , which destroys the third part of the earth , of the trees ,
and of the green herb . References to the Psalms and Prophets shew that these are divine judgments : the earth is the Roman empire , peculiarly the land of Christians ; the trees are the middling and superior classes ; and the green herb is the lower class , or common people .
The Huns and Goths were ready to enter the Roman empire , but were restrained by the powerful arm of the great Theodosius ; his death released them from this terror , as also from
the hopes of his liberality . His sons succeeded him , Honorius in the Western , and Arcadius in the Eastern empire . Theodosius died January 395 . Before the end of the winter , the Goths
were in arms . Alaric , at the head of the barbarous nations of Scythia , entered Greece and compelled HoHorius to honour him with the title of Master-General of the Eastern Illyricuni-, whilst the barbarians elevated him on
their shields , and , proud of his victories , proclaimed him king of the Visigoths . After having desolated the Eastern empire , A . D . 400 to 403 , Alaric returned to the bank of the Danube , and there , recruited by fre $ h barbarians , he went through
Pannonia and over the Julian Alps into Italy , " where /* says the poet , " fame , encircled with terror , on gloomy wings , proclaimed the march of the barbarians , and filled Italy with terror . ' * The remainder of the sounding
of this first trumpet is but the history of increasing troubles , when it closed A . D . 450 , being through the whole Western empire oiie scene of continued invasion , revolution and slaughter , in which it was scarcely possible for less than one third of the
inhabitants of every rank to have perished . Chap . viii . 8 , 9 > the second trumpet sounds . A burning mountain , Attila
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 22, 1819, page 113, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/mrp_22021819/page/45/
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