personification of the Deity, God manifest in Christ, on which account it is that he falls down to worship; for we cannot suppose him intentionally to have bowed down to worship any other being than God.*

Vs. 11-13. And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; and he that sat upon him (was) called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge True, and in righteousness he doth judre and make war. His eyes (were) as a fame of fire, and on his head (were) many crowns [diadems]; and he had a name written, that no man knew but himself. And he (was) clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and his name is called

The Word of God.

Καὶ εἶδον τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνεωγμένος, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος λευκός, καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπ ̓ zai αὐτὸν καλούμενος πιστὸς καὶ ἀληθινός, καὶ ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ κρίνει καὶ πολεμεῖ· οἱ δὲ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ὡς φλόξ πυρός, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ διαδήματα πολλά· ἔχων ὄνομα γεγραμμένον, ὃ οὐδεὶς οἶδεν εἰ μὲ αὐτός, καὶ περιβεβλημένος ἱμάτιον βεβαμ μένον αἵματι· καὶ καλεῖται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτ τοῦ· ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ.

$429. "And I saw heaven opened."-We are now to carry our thoughts back to the state of things as they appeared on the pouring out of the sixth vial, (Rev. xv. 14-16.) We then left the kings of the earth gathered together, as in battle array, in a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. The gathering was brought about through the instrumentality of the spirits unclean as frogs from the mouths of the dragon, of the beast, and of the false prophet; but the efficient cause of the assemblage was the purpose of the Almighty God. We were then told, too, that He (the Lord) was to come as a thief—that is, to meet these powers of the earth in the battle of the great day. After this, our attention was called to the effects of the pouring out of the seventh vial-the earthquake, the thunder, and the hail, the fall of the cities of the nations, and the falling asunder of the three parts of the great city. All these may be considered concomitants of the preparation for the great battle, adding, as we may imagine, desperation to the purpose of the kings, whose cities are thus overthrown, and whose subjects are blaspheming God on account of the exceeding great plague of the hail.

We were not however then made acquainted with the arrangements of the force to be brought against these kings; we could only presume that such

* This verse should have closed the chapter; the recital of the destruction of the false system, represented by the Harlot and Babylon, having here terminated with the choral scene of rejoicing, in which a summary view is taken of the blessed results of this triumphant manifestation of truth. We consider the seventh and eighth verses of this chapter as bringing us up to the eve of the marriage celebration, for which the Lamb's bride is said to be prepared; nearly equivalent in the process of development to the first and second verses of the twenty-first chapter.

arrangements were in preparation. Nor did we then learn the character and power of the champion destined to lead this opposing force; we were only admonished that his coming would be sudden and unexpected.

In this stage of the revelation, our minds were summoned away with the apostle to the wilderness; and we have since been occupied with the episodical narrative of the decline and fall of Babylon in the duplex charracter under which she has been placed before us. We suppose, figuratively speaking, her final destruction, unless the two figures are equivalents, to synchronize with the issue of the great battle now about to be witnessed, although in the account we have had of her no allusion at all is made to that battle. If we were to sketch a representation of the scene as we suppose it should be depicted, while we place in front of the picture the rout of the forces under the command of the Beast, and the victorious career of the Rider of the white horse, we should give in the background a view of the burning city, with the smoke of its ruins, amidst the lamentations of the spectators, rising up forever and ever.

On former occasions the apostle had seen a door opened in heaven-he had seen the temple and the tabernacle opened in heaven, and he had seen different exhibitions as from heaven, or in heaven; but this is the first time in which he tells us that he saw heaven opened. This expression we accordingly consider the designation of an extraordinary revelation or development of truth.

Henceforth (andor), from this time, it was said to Nathaniel, ye shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. To see heaven opened is, we apprehend, as before suggested, ($114,) to enjoy a spiritual discernment of the whole view of divine government presented by revelation. To see the angels of God ascending and de scending upon (concerning) the Son of man, is to enjoy a like discernment of the gradual development of the mystery of Jesus; as to see the Son of man descending from heaven, is to see Jesus in his true character as the Lord our righteousness. So we may consider the opening of heaven, in the present passage, to be a revelation of the character and attributes of Christ as he is here described, under the figure of a warlike champion issuing forth to a contest, of the result of which He has no occasion to be doubtful.

§ 430. And behold a white horse," &c.-At the opening of the first seal (Rev. vi. 2) a white horse was also seen, and he that sat upon him was said to go forth armed with a bow and furnished with a victor's crown, conquering and to conquer. In the present case, although the rider is dif ferently described, we can have little doubt but that the two figures refer to the same champion. In both, the sustaining power, the horse, is of the same appearance; this animal being the war-horse or charger, (§ 146,) and, as such, a part of the equipment or armour of the combatant. In this, as

in the first case, we suppose the white horse to represent the power of divine righteousness; this righteousness being the same, whether exercised in the work of salvation, or exhibited in the manifestation of that work. The sinner is saved, and saved only through the intervention of the merits of Christ, by the imputation of which he is justified in the sight of God; and the error of self-justification-the error of the whole system of the reign of self-is to be overcome by a just exhibition of the process of this intervening righteousness.

There are two kinds of contest contemplated in this Apocalypse, in which Christ is engaged, as we have before intimated: one in which the element of propitiation overcomes the powers of the law. Here he is more particularly represented as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world; although he is also represented, in the war in heaven, as Michael the conqueror of the accuser-overcoming the power of the accuser, and overcoming the powers of the law, being nearly equivalent figures. The other contest is that, in which the manifestation of the truths pertaining to this salvation is to overcome all opposite errors upon the subject, and especially the errors represented by the kingdom of the beast, (self,) and of all connected with the monster.

This last contest we suppose to be that in which the rider of the white horse is now about to engage; the exhibition of the saving power of divine righteousness being as necessary to overcome the errors of self-exaltation, as the exercise of that righteousness in behalf of the sinner is necessary to overcome the powers of condemnation: accordingly, the figure of the white horse is equally appropriate in both representations.

C

And he that sat upon him (was) called Faithful and True.'—That is, such are his attributes; his name being spoken of afterwards—as it is said, 1 John i. 9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The faithfulness and even the justice of Christ (of God in Christ) is manifested by his fulfilment of his own free and gracious promises of pardon. An unjust magistrate might induce the confession of a criminal by promises of mercy, and afterwards use that confession against him for his ruin. But Jesus is faithful. He calls upon the sinner to unburden himself of his guilt by a free admission of it, and he has promised rest (relief) to all who thus lay their burden at his feet.

He is true he is the truth itself. In Christ there is a fountain opened for the washing away of all sin and uncleanness, and all that come unto this fountain shall be washed and cleansed. This is the truth as it is in Jesus; and to come unto Christ, is to come to this truth-to come to that which is pre-eminently true.

As in any ordinary contest between two contending parties as to the

validity of their rights, it is all-important that they should each establish a character for veracity; so here the champion is represented to be going forth to a contest (a contest in effect between truth and error) with the important qualification of a character of fidelity and truth-so much so as to be known especially by the title, "Faithful and True."

'And in righteousness he doth judge and make war.'-Or with, by means of (v) righteousness or justice, shall he discriminate and contend; for it is a polemical exhibition that is about to be made; as it is said, Is. xxviii. 17, "Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet." As the plummet in the hand of the architect, so is righteousness with this combatant the instrument or means of discrimination-not only of judging, but of manifesting judgment. The effect of exhibiting the character and nature of true righteousness, is to show the deficiency of all that comes short of it; so, by showing the extent of that righteousness which the law requires, the impossibility of fulfilling this legal requisition by human merits is exhibited, and the call for bringing in an everlasting righteousness is made manifest.

§ 431. His eyes (were) as a flame of fire.'-The figure of the champion is here identified with the form of the Son of man seen in the midst of the golden candlesticks, Rev. i. 13; his eyes of flame (§ 30) indicating instruments of trial: the eyes of Him that looketh upon the heart-of Him who trieth the motive of the action, as well as the deed itself.

'And on his head (were) many crowns;' or rather, diadems, (§§ 272, 294;)—the word translated many signifying not merely several, but a large number, a multitude. The dragon bore seven diadems, the beast ten, the rider of the white horse a multitude. The two first had certain limited tokens of sovereignty; the tokens or evidences of supreme power of the last are unlimited, infinite. A warrior going forth upon his charger could not be spoken of as seated upon a throne. In place of this figure, therefore, the infinite number of his diadems sets forth his attribute of sovereignty; and this attribute is one of the weapons by which he maintains the contest, and obtains the victory: he could not do either without it. So, without a just exhibition of the sovereignty of God, the truth of salvation by grace cannot be manifested, nor the errors of self-justification overcome.

'And he had a name written, that no man [no one] knew but himself.’— Not his own name, but a name perhaps peculiarly cherished and known only to him. His own name is expressly announced in the next verse. The diadem was a band or fillet, capable of having a name embroidered upon it. We suppose, although it is not so expressed, this name to be written upon the multitude of diadems—the same name upon all of them; as the beast from the sea had the one name of blasphemy upon his seven heads. The

name blasphemy, was characteristic of the pretensions of the beast: the name upon these diadems must characterize something intimately connected with these numerous evidences of sovereignty. There may be an allusion to this name in the prediction, Isaiah lxii. 2, 3: " And thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name;" the wearing of this name in the diadem being also a figure equivalent to that indicated by the expression, Is. xlix. 16: "I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." So the high priest was to bear not his own name, but the names of the children of Israel upon his two shoulders, (Ex. xxviii. 9-12, and 21.) There may be also an allusion to the same name, Jer. xxxiii. 16, as the name granted to the peculiar object of divine favour. As the name, however, is declared to be known only to Him who knoweth all things, we cannot be expected to define it. On the other hand, we do not suppose the mention of it to have been introduced without the design of encouraging our investigations with respect to it. The name, as well as its opposite, that of the beast, must remain for the present untold.

§ 432. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood.'-Some light may be thrown on this passage by comparing it with a corresponding picture presented by the prophet Isaiah, (Is. lxiii. 1–4.)

"Who is he that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength?

"I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.

"Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him

that treadeth in the wine-fat?

"I have trodden the wine-press alone; and of the people [nations or Gentiles, to oror, Sept.] there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprin kled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come."

It seems strange that He who thus speaks of himself as mighty to save, should immediately afterwards declare his determination to destroy, and this with vengeance and fury; while, at the same time, the reason given for this exhibition of wrath is, that the year of the redeemed has come. We can adopt no other construction than that of supposing this vengeance to be directed, not against the sinner, (the subject of redemption,) but against the principles of error misrepresenting the work of this redemption; and thus throwing a stumbling-block in the way of disciples, and robbing God of the glory especially due to Him as a Saviour.

This appears more distinctly by referring to a previous passage, (Is. lix. 14-17,) where the prevalence of error is particularly the subject of com