vants, and firm in their faith and charity, may be diftinguished from the hypocrites and pufillanimous. Accordingly, upon the falling of the cenfer on the earth, there happen thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and a great earthquake; which metaphorically exprefs four various kinds of tribulations, which are to befall the chriftians at the founding of the four first trumpets, and which will then be feen; and there the abovementioned four metaphorical terms will be explained. The three last trumpets, as we shall see hereafter, have three particular woes annexed to them.

v. 6. "And the feven angels, who had the feven trumpets, prepared themselves to found the trum-, pet.'

The trumpet is generally founded for war, or to give notice of any public danger or alarm. And fuch is the cafe here. The feven angels found at différent intervals of time their trumpets, to announce alarms to the Chriftians, fuch as perfecutions, herefies, wars, &c. trials with which they muft ftruggle, and which the Almighty fends them for their probation.

It may not be improper to obferve, that the magnificent scene, which was exhibited in heaven in the prelude to the opening of the feals, receives here an addition by the appearance of two new objects, the altar of incenfe and the altar of holocaufts. These are very aptly introduced, to point out fome particular circumftances that have relation to the trumpets. The firft altar, on which the Jews offered daily incenfe to God, prefents to our mind the daily offering the Chriftians make to God of their fervent and holy prayers, which afcend to heaven like fweet perfumes: while, at the fame time, the altar of holocaufts, on which the Jewish victims were burned, is here a just representation of martyrdom, by which the Chriftians are immolated as fo many victims to God in the fire of perfecution.

prayers of the faints afcended the hand of the angel."

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In imitation of the golden altar of incenfe that tood in the Jewish tabernacle before the Holy of Holies, there is here a golden altar of incenfe placed before the throne of God, to which an angel comes holding a golden cenfer. This is presently filled with much incenfe, which reprefents the prayers of all the laints, that is, of all the fervants of God on earth: and thus the angel offers thefe prayers, which afcend up as the odour of fo much fragrant incenfe before God, fo pleafing are they to him. We faw, Apoc. v. 8. See p. 19. the faints in heaven prefenting the prayers of the faithful to the Lamb; and here the ame kind of function is performed by an angel: which fhews how the angels are employed in good offices for mankind. Another inftance of this fort Es feen in the book of Tobias, where the angel tells that holy man, "When thou didft pray with tears, --I offered thy prayers to the Lord." Tob. xii. 12,

V. 5. "And the angel took the cenfer, and filled t with the fire of the altar, and caft it on the earth, and there were thunders, and voices, and lightings, and a great earthquake."

The angel having performed the religious rite of offering the prayers of the faints to God, he then akes the cenfer, and fills it with fire from the altar of holocaufts; fuch altar appearing to St. John in heaven fimilar to that which formerly belonged to The Jewish tabernacle. The cenfer fo filled with re, the angel cafts down on the earth. This is a gurative intimation of God's defign to try his ferants on earth by the fire of tribulation, like gold in he furnace. The Almighty had juft received their rayers with great complacency, and doubtlefs neer ceafes to keep a paternal eye over them, and to over them with his protection: but he here lets hem know, it is the difpofition of his Providence to ut them to the teft, that thofe who are truly his fer

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vants, and firm in their faith and charity, may be diftinguished from the hypocrites and pufillanimous. Accordingly, upon the falling of the cenfer on the earth, there happen thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and a great earthquake; which metaphorically exprefs four various kinds of tribulations, which are to befall the chriftians at the founding of the four first trumpets, and which will then be feen; and there the abovementioned four metaphorical terms will be explained. The three last trumpets, as we shall fee hereafter, have three particular woes. annexed to them.,

v. 6. "And the feven angels, who had the feven trumpets, prepared themselves to found the trum-, pet."

The trumpet is generally founded for war, or to give notice of any public danger or alarm. And fuch is the cafe here. The feven angels found at différent intervals of time their trumpets, to announce alarms to the Chriftians, fuch as perfecutions, herefies, wars, &c. trials with which they muft ftruggle, and which the Almighty fends them for their probation.

It may not be improper to obferve, that the magnificent scene, which was exhibited in heaven in the prelude to the opening of the feals, receives here an addition by the appearance of two new objects, the altar of incenfe and the altar of holocaufts. These are very aptly introduced, to point out fome particular circumftances that have relation to the trumpets. The firft altar, on which the Jews offered daily incenfe to God, prefents to our mind the daily offering the Chriftians make to God of their fervent and holy prayers, which afcend to heaven like fweet perfumes: while, at the fame time, the altar of holocaufts, on which the Jewish victims were burned, is here a just representation of martyrdom, by which the Chriftians are immolated as fo many victims to God in the fire of perfecution.

As before the opening of the feals we faw, p. 23, the clofe of the Old Law and the commencement of the New; fo here, before the founding of trumpets a confirmation of the fame appears, by the two Jewifh altars, of incenfe and holocaufts, being removed out of fight on the angels proceeding to found the trumpets which relate to the Chriftian Church.

The founding of the first Trumpet..

*

APOC. Chap. VIII. v. 7. "And the firft angel founded the trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and it was caft on the earth, and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all the green grafs was burnt up.

This shower of hail and fire mingled with blood, denotes the cruel and bloody perfecutions exercised against the Chriftians in the three firft centuries, till Conftantine, the firft chriftian emperor, put a stop to hem. The words, hail, fire, and blood, pretty plainly exprefs fome of the most remarkable kinds of death nflicted on the chriftians; fome being confumed by ire, others having their blood pilt by the fword, and others being ftoned to death, which kind of execution may very well be reprefented by hail. This errible fhower fell upon the earth, which here reprefents the Church of Chrift, in its firft quiet ftate, n allufion to the land which is the ftable part of the erraqueous globe. Then a third part of the earth was destroyed by the shower, that is, the perfecutions wept away nearly one-third part of the chriftians. But in particular, a third part of the trees was burnt, hat is, a third part of the paftors, with their clergy, meant here by the trees, were facrificed in the fire of perfecution and all the green grafs, or beft grafs, was confumed, that is, all the moft fervent

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*The third part of the earth was burnt," is not in the comnon Greek text; but it is found in feveral very good manuscripts,

and perfect among the faithful were bleffed with the crown of martyrdom.

Perfecutions, tortures, violent deaths by martyrdom, are fuch objects of alarm and terror to human nature, that they may with great propriety, be metaphorically stiled thunders: Apoc. viii. 5.

At the opening of the firft feal we faw the converfion of Jews and Pagans to the Chriftian faith, and thus the kingdom of Chrift took its rife. But no fooner is the infant Church formed, than the trumpet of alarm founds, and Chrift permits his new-acquired people to be fubjected to rigorous trials by repeated perfecutions, and their fidelity to be put to the stricteft teft. Such is the economy of his unfathomable wisdom.

Satan, who had ufurped for many ages almoft an univerfal empire in the world, by fetting himself up to be worshipped in the place of God, feeing his throne fhaken by the propagation of the Chriftian religion, was deeply ftung, and refolved to exert his utmost efforts to crush the new rifing power, and to fupport his own. For that purpofe he fet out by ftirring up the potentates of the earth: and as the monarchy of Rome was at that time exceedingly powerful, and extended over a great part of the then known world, his chief attempt was to inftil the poifon of his malice into the minds of the pagan Roman emperors, and to infpire them with the rankest hatred against the Chriftian religion. To open the fcene of his hellish machinations, he made ufe of the emperor Nero, doubtless a very proper inftrument for the work, as being already a monfter, of cruelty and vice. He freely drank the poisonous cup offered him by the devil, and first of all the Roman monarchs drew his fword against the chriftians. Nine other general perfecutions were raifed by the fubfequent emperors, of all which we shall here infert a brief account.