(20) He who beareth testimony to these things saith: Yea, I come quickly! Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

Ο μαρτυρών is Christ. Thus Christ often speaks of the Father as μagrvoor respecting him, i. e. as vouching for the reality and divine authenticity of his mission. So here; the Saviour himself vouches for the truth of what John has disclosed. He makes the appeal, also, for confirmation of this, to his speedy coming; for by this all might know whether John had spoken the truth.

To this solemn promise of a speedy advent, John subjoins his fervent wish that it might take place; Amen! i. e. let it be verified. Come, Lord Jesus! Let the promise of thy speedy advent be fulfilled, so that all shall acknowledge the truths for which thou hast vouched, and all shall behold thy church triumphant, and thy glory filling the whole earth!

(21) The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints!

This is the usual form of benediction in the epistles of the N. Testament. It contains a wish or prayer on the part of him who utters it, that the favour of Christ, in all respects, may be bestowed on those in whose behalf the prayer is made. Here it has special reference, as we may well suppose, to the blessings disclosed and promised in the book before us.

EXCURSUS I.

Angelology of the Scriptures.*

Rev. I. 1. Καὶ ἐσήμανεν ἀποστειλὰς διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου αὑτοῦ τῳ δούλῳ αὑτοῦ Ἰωάννῃ.ν. 4. . . . ἀπὸ τῶν ἑπτὰ πνευμάτων.

No book in the Old Testament or the New so often introduces the agency of angels as the Apocalypse. They constitute, if I may be allowed to speak in the language of rhetoricians, the principal machinery of this great moral Epopee. Angels are the companions and interpreters of the seer, throughout his visions. Their interposition is announced in the inscription to the book, and declared again near its close, 22: 16. They are everywhere brought forward to our view, either as the executioners of divine justice, or as fulfilling the will of God and the Redeemer by becoming instruments in protecting the church, and making it victorious over all its enemies and persecutors.

Has the writer now, in all this, conformed to the spirit of his times and to the usage of the Scriptures? Or has he invented for himself a machinery which is novel, and which has no parallel in other productions of the period in which he wrote? In other words: Is all this the mere offspring of his own vivid and fruitful imagination; or is it the result of introducing agencies familiar and in general well understood at the time when he wrote, but modified in a degree, by his own conceptions and by the manner of representation appropriate or peculiar to himself, as to many of the nicer and more distinctive traits?

These questions may be easily answered, by a proper survey of the angelology of the Scriptures, and of other early productions. And inasmuch as the structure of the Apocalypse, and (with respect to many passages) the right interpretation of it, depends on a correct view of

"The substance of this Excursus has already been printed in a somewhat enlarged form, in Vol. I. of the Bibliotheca Sacra; but as many who may read the Commentary on the Apocalypse will not probably have access to it as there exhibited; and as I have often referred to it in my remarks on many passages in the Apocalypse; I have deemed it necessary to reprint it here, but in a form somewhat abridged.

ancient angelology, it seems important here, for the aid of the reader, to place before him a sketch of this subject.

In regard to the real existence of angels, good and evil, it is not necessary for me to enter into any discussion. The consideration of this topic is appropriate to the province of doctrinal theology. I may therefore dismiss it with but two or three suggestions.

It is plainly beyond the province of human reason, unenlightened by revelation, to determine for or against the real existence of angels good or evil. They do not develope themselves to our senses. They are not the immediate objects of our proper cognisance. Their existence is not a necessary one, like that of the Maker of heaven and earth. Consequently we can know nothing which is absolutely certain respecting them, except it is revealed to us.

Plainly our reason cannot decide against their real existence; for all our sources of argument in defence of such a position, must be comprised in analogy and must depend on it; and in an analogy to that which is the proper object of our cognisance. But if we go from man downward toward the lower species of living creatures, we find a continued gradation of being, even down to the lowest. Should we apply this analogy in the other direction, and go upwards toward the great Supreme, what forbids the supposition that there are intermediate beings between us and Him? If reason simply can decide anything, the presumption would seem to be, that angelic, or at any rate superior and intermediate, beings between us and the Godhead do exist.

At all events, so the Bible seems most clearly to teach us. For the sake of perspicuity, I shall arrange the biblical doctrine, in respect to this subject, under distinct heads which will aid us in the proper conception of it.

I. Good Angels.

(1) They are very numerous. "Thousand thousands ministered unto him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him," Dan. 7: 10. The like in Ps. 68: 17. 2 K. 6: 16, 17, "An innumerable company

of angels," Heb. 12: 22. Matt. 26: 53. Jude v. 14. Rev. 5: 11.

(2) Angels accompany the divine Majesty and the Saviour, and take part in all the peculiarly glorious displays which they make, either in the way of mercy or of judgment. (a) At the giving of the Law, on mount Sinai; Heb. 2: 2. Acts 7: 53. Gal. 3: 19. Deut. 33: 2. Ps. 68: 17. (b) They accompany the Saviour, when Jerusalem is destroyed by his power; Matt. 24: 30, 31. (c) At the final judgment; Matt. 13: 39— 41. 25: 31. 1 Thess. 4: 16. 2 Thess. 1: 7—9.

(3) Angels are the guardians of individuals and of nations. (a) Of the Lord Jesus Christ, from his conception till his death; Luke 1: 11

20, 26-38. Matt. 1: 20, 21. 2: 13, 19, 20. 4: 11. (This guardianship is recognized in Matt. 4: 6). John 1: 51. Luke 22: 43. Matt. 28: 2-7. Mark 16: 5-7. Acts 1: 10, 11. (b) Of individuals; Matt. 18: 10, "Their angels [viz. the angels of infants] do always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven," i. e. to little children a special guardianship of presence-angels or archangels is assigned. Here the phrase do always behold the face, etc., is of the same import as the phrase before his throne, so often introduced in the Apocalypse. So Heb. 1: 14. Ps. 34: 7. Acts 12: 7-15. Gen. 32: 1, 2. 2 Kings 6: 17. (c) of nations and kingdoms; Ex. 14: 19. 23: 20. 33: 2. Num. 20: 16. Josh. 5: 13. Is. 63: 9. Dan. 10: 5-13, 20, 21, where the angel, who was one of the guardians of the Jews, represents himself as struggling with the prince of Persia, in order that he might obtain the liberation of the Jews (v. 13). He promises also to renew the contest (v. 20), and indicates his success by declaring that "the prince of Greece will come,” i. e. to overthrow the Persian empire. Here also Michael in particular is designated as the prince of the Jews; and in Dan. 12: 1, he is represented as the great prince who standeth for the people of God.' So in Jude (v. 9), Michael is represented as contending with Satan about the body of Moses,' and of course as being the defender of God's chosen people. In Rev. 12: 7, Michael and his angels are represented as contending with the devil and his angels, who are in pursuit of the child [Jesus]," who is caught up to the throne of God." So again in Dan. 11: 1, the guardian angel of the Jews stands by and strengthens the king of Persia, in his kind intentions with respect to the Jews. In Zech. 1: 8-14 the guardian angel of the Jews is developed, as active and efficient in providing for their welfare and safety. Again, in Zech. 3: 1, 2, the angel of the Lord, i. e. the guardian angel of the Jews, rebukes Satan for his malignant intention toward Joshua the high-priest. And while Michael is thus employed in defending the Lord's people, Gabriel seems to be the angel-interpreter or messenger sent to make disclosures to men, respecting nations or individuals. Thus in Dan. 8: 16 seq. 9: 21 seq. Luke 1: 19-26. So in Job 33: 23, 7ba axba, an angel, an interceder, a part of whose business it is to show to men the divine uprightness. See also the case of the guardian angel of God's people, who rebuked Balaam, Num. 22: 22-35.

From all this it is fully apparent, that not only the Jews, but other nations have their guardian angels; that not only the Saviour, and the saints, but little children even, had or have their guardian angels. Acts 12: 7-15 develops the manner in which this subject was viewed by the Jews in common life, in a very vivid manner.

(4) Angels are employed as special ministers for executing divine justice. Many of the passages already referred to under the last head,