fixed for the existence of the world, is and he is now going to put an end to it *.

The seventh Trumpet sounds.

now expired, Upon which,

Chap. xi. v. 15. And the seventh Angel sounded the Trumpet: and there were great voices in heaven, saying: the kingdom of this world is become our Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall reign for ever and ever. Amen.

V. 16. And the four and twenty Ancients, who sit on their seats in the sight of God, fell on their faces, and adored God,

V. 17. Saying: We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who art, and who wast, and who art to come: because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and thou hast reigned,

V. 18. And the Nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldst render reward to thy servants the Prophets, and the Saints, and to them that fear thy name, little and great, and shouldst destroy them who have corrupted the earth.

V. 19. And the temple of God was opened in heaven: and the ark of his testament was seen in his temple, and. there were lightnings, and voices †, and an earthquake, and great hail.

On the sounding of the seventh trumpet, which follows on the Almighty concluding the communication of his councils, all the heavenly choirs break out into acclamations and applause, saying: The kingdom of this world is become our Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall reign for ever and ever: or, praise be to the Lord, be

That such are, in part, the Divine intimations on this occasion, may be collected from the applauses of the heavenly choirs expressed in the following Trumpet-As upon the opening of the seventh Seal the period of the world finishes, it is just that at that time the wise and bountiful economy of Christ, through the whole government of his Church, should be acknowledged. For that reason Benediction, or praise, was solemnly offered to the Lamb, Apoc. v. 12.—See page 18. t In the Greek, who destroy the earth.

Here the Greek text adds, thunderings..

cause he is going to take possession of all the kingdoms of the earth, &c. Thus they acknowledge, it is time that he should suffer no longer any human power to reign; but that he, Omnipotent, with his eternal Son, the Christ, should assume all dominion and sway for ever. Then the four and twenty ancients, v. 16, 17, whom we saw from the beginning sitting round the throne of God, fall down prostrate before the Almighty, and offering their homage, give him thanks also for assuming all power into his hands, as belonging solely to himself, who is, who was, and who is to come, that is, who is the beginning and end of all things, who was the Creator, is the conservator, and will come presently as the judge, of all mankind. The ancients continue to say: the nations were angry, v. 18; mankind in different ages abandoned thee, their God, rebelled against thee, and set up the infamous worship of idols; they endeavoured to exterminate thy holy name from the earth, and they waged war against thy people; but thy wrath is come, and it is just it should now at last overtake them, and punish them according to their deserts. We are glad the time of the dead is come, that they should be judged, &c. the course of human nature has run a sufficient period; it is now fit and just, that judgment should be passed upon the whole race of men, that your faithful servants may receive the full reward they have deserved, and your enemies be destroyed, or a final period be put to the efforts of the wicked, who are labouring to subvert your holy worship, and again to corrupt mankind. Thus the whole company of angels and saints express their approbation of the divine decrees and declarations, which the Almighty had condescended to communicate to them.

Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of his testament, or covenant, was seen in his temple, v. 19. This passage alludes to the sanctuary or holy of holies of the temple in Jerusalem, which was kept shut and contained the ark of the covenant. That ark was ordered by Almighty God to be thus kept as a monument and testimony of the covenant he had made with the Jews. And as the opening of the sanctuary at Jeru

salem, when the veil that hung before it, was rent in two at our Saviour's death, showed that the Jewish covenant was then fulfilled and terminated; so here, the temple, or Sanctuary of God in heaven, is opened, and the ark of his covenant with the whole human race, is exposed fully to view, to indicate that God has now fulfilled his covenant, or all his engagements with mankind relative to this world, which is therefore now to be put an end to.

We had heard the Angel that stood upon the sea and land, Apoc. x. 5, 6, solemnly proclaim, that at the sounding of the seventh Trumpet, time shall be no more. The Trumpet has sounded, and here then is finishing the period of time allotted for the existence of the world. The destruction of the whole frame of the universe follows, and is ushered in by the terrifying alarms mentioned above: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail, v. 19. Upon which immediately

The seventh Vial of the wrath of God is poured out.

Chap. xvi. v. 17. And the seventh Angel poured out his Vial upon the air, and there came a great voice out of the temple from the throne, saying: It is done.

V. 18. And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and there was a great earthquake, such an one as never had been since men were upon the earth, such an earthquake, so great.

V. 19. And the great city was divided into three parts: And the cities of the Gentiles fell. And great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the indignation of his wrath.

V. 20. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

V. 21. And a great hail like a talent came down from heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God for the plague of the hail: because it was exceeding great.

The seventh Vial is poured upon the air, which lies between the earth and the heavens, to indicate that the judgments of God are going to fall upon both the hea vens and the earth, that is, on the whole system of the

creation. And there came a great voice out of the temple, v. 17, from the throne, where sits the Almighty, saying, It is done: all is over; this is the last hour; time shall be no more. Then follow the dreadful calaAnd there were lightnings, V.

mities of the last hour. 18, and voices, and thunders, and there was a great earthquake, such an one as never had been seen since men were upon the earth, such an earthquake, so great. Here is enough to strike all the living at that time with dread, horror, and consternation. We saw the same sort of disasters happen at the sounding of the Trumpet, but here they are renewed and aggravated to the most terrible degree. The heavens echo with the loudest and most terrifying thunder; the sky is rent in every part with most dreadful flashes of lightning; and the whole air resounds with horrible voices or noises. The earth is shaken from its foundations with an earthquake, such as has never been felt before, nor has ever entered into man to imagine such an one. The whole compages or fabric of the world is unhinged, and falls to pieces. All is confusion, wreck, and ruin. The great city of Jerusalem, v. 19, is split into three parts, and the other cities of the world fall all to the ground. But such is the weight of God's anger against the great Babylon, that is, the two Babylons, viz. pagan Rome and pagan Constantinople, or against the heathen Roman emperors and their people, and against Antichrist and his people, for their impiously opposing the worship of him to give place to idolatry, and for their spilling so much of the blood of his faithful servants: such, I say, is the weight of God's anger against them, that they stand as the principal detestable object in his sight, and he now resolves to make them drink the full cup of the wine of the indignation of his wrath, by completing the measure of their punishment, in dooming their bodies, together with their souls, to burn in the most scorching flames of fire and sulphur for ever.

Such is the general concussion caused by the abovementioned earthquake, that all the islands immediately vanish, v. 20, being perhaps either sunk in the deep, or thrown against the continent; and of the mountains,

some tumble to pieces, and are levelled with the surface of the earth, by the same cause; others burst out into volcanoes, and by their internal fire are dissolved and melted into a fluid matter*. Then follows a storm of hail, v. 21, infinitely exceeding what had ever been heard of: the hailstones are of the weight of a talent, or fourscore pounds; which doubtless must kill a great number of people. But, notwithstanding such a shocking catastrophe-strange!-many will persist obstinate in their wicked dispositions, will not yield to turn their hearts to repentance and sue for pardon in these last moments, but will even complete their impiety by blaspheming God for these calamities which they suffer.

As all mankind are sentenced to die, those that are not carried off by the disasters just mentioned, will probably be dispatched by the fire which will go before the Son of man when he comes to Judgment: for so it seems to be specified by the Royal Psalmist, with other circumstances relating to this terrible day: A fire shall go before him, the Lord: and shall burn his enemies round about. His lightnings have shone forth to the world: the, earth saw and trembled. The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord; at the presence of the Lord all the earth. The Heavens declared his justice, and all people saw his glory. Psalm xcvi. And again, in another place: The earth shook and trembled: the foundations of the mountains were troubled and were moved, because he, the Lord, was angry with them. There went up a smoke in his wrath: and a fire flamed from his face: coals were kindled with it. He bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under his feet,And the Lord thundered from Heaven, and the Highest gave his voice, hail and coals of fire. And he sent forth his arrows, and he scattered them: he multiplied lightnings and troubled them. Then the fountains of water appeared, and the foundations of the world were discovered. Psalm xvii. It is plain that many of the dreadful events and convulsions of nature here expressed, are

Before, we saw the islands and mountains moved out of their places, Apoc. vi. 14, but here they entirely disappear.