Part II, Chapter 2, 1

Of the relation which the Apocalypse of John has to the Book of the Law of Moses, and to the worship of God in the Temple.

The Apocalypse of John is written in the same style and language as the Prophecies of Daniel, and has the same relation to them that they have to one another, so that all of them together make only one complete Prophecy; and in like manner it consists of two parts, an introductory Prophecy and its Interpretation.

The Prophecy is divided into seven successive parts by the opening of the seven seals of the book that Daniel was commanded to seal up; and hence it is called the Apocalypse or Revelation of Jesus Christ. The time of the seventh seal is subdivided into eight successive parts by the silence in heaven for half an hour, and by the seven trumpets sounding in succession: and the seventh trumpet sounds for the battle of the great day of God Almighty, by which the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ, and those who destroyed the earth are destroyed.

The Interpretation begins with the words, "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the Ark of his Testament," and continues to the end of the Prophecy. The Temple is the scene of the visions, and the visions in the Temple relate to the feast of the seventh month: for the feasts of the Jews were types of things to come. The Passover related to the first coming of Christ, and the feasts of the seventh month to his second coming: his first coming being therefore over before this Prophecy was given, the feasts of the seventh month are here only alluded to.

On the first day of that month, in the morning, the High Priest dressed the lamps: and in allusion to it, this Prophecy begins with a vision of one like the Son of man in the High Priest's habit, appearing as it were in the midst of the seven golden candfor fear thaticks, or opposite the midst of them, dressing the lamps, which appeared in his right hand like a rod of seven stars: and this dressing was performed by the sending of seven Epistles to the Angels or Bishops of the seven Churches of Asia, which in the early times illuminated the Temple or the universal Church. These Epistles contain admonitions against the approaching Apostasy, and therefore relate to the times when the Apostasy began to work strongly, before it prevailed. It began to work in the Apostles' days, and was to continue working until the man of sin was revealed. It began to work in the disciples of Simon, Menander, Carpocrates, Cerinthas, and such men as had imbibed the metaphysical philosophy of the Gentiles and the Cabalistic Jews, and were therefore called Gnostics. John calls them Antichrists, saying that in his days there were many Antichrists. But these, being condemned by the Apostles and their immediate disciples, put the Churches in no danger during the opening of the first four seals. The visions at the opening of these seals relate only to the civil affairs of the heathen Roman Empire. For so long the apostolic traditions prevailed, and preserved the Church in its purity: and therefore the affairs of the Church do not begin to be considered in this Prophecy before the opening of the fifth seal. She began then to decline, and to need admonitions; and therefore she is admonished by these Epistles, until the Apostasy prevailed and took its place, which was at the opening of the seventh seal. The admonitions therefore in these seven Epistles relate to the state of the Church in the times of the fifth and sixth seals. At the opening of the fifth seal, the Church is purged from hypocrites by a great persecution. At the opening of the sixth, that which hindered is taken out of the way, namely the heathen Roman Empire. At the opening of the seventh, the man of sin is revealed. And to these times the seven Epistles relate.

The seven Angels to whom these Epistles were written correspond to the seven Amarc-holim, who were Priests and chief Officers of the Temple, and had jointly the keys of the gates of the Temple and of the Treasuries, together with the direction, appointment, and oversight of all things in the Temple.

After the lamps were dressed, John saw the door of the Temple opened; and by the voice as it were of a trumpet he was called up to the eastern gate of the great court, to see the visions: and look, a throne was set, namely the mercy seat upon the Ark of the Testament, which the Jews regarded as the throne of God between the Cherubim, Exod. xxv. 2. Psal. xcix. 1. And he who sat on it had the appearance of Jasper and Sardine stone, that is, of an olive color, the people of Judea being of that color. And, the Sun being then in the East, a rainbow was about the throne, the emblem of glory. And round about the throne were twenty-four seats, answering to the chambers of the twenty-four Princes of the Priests, twelve on the south side and twelve on the north side of the Priests' Court. And upon the seats sat twenty-four Elders, clothed in white garments, with crowns on their heads, representing the Princes of the twenty-four courses of the Priests, clothed in linen. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings, and voices, namely the flashes of the fire upon the Altar at the morning sacrifice, and the thundering voices of those who sounded the trumpets and sang at the eastern gate of the Priests' Court; for these being between John and the throne appeared to him as proceeding from the throne. And there were seven lamps of fire burning in the Temple before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God, or the Angels of the seven Churches, represented at the beginning of this Prophecy by seven stars. And before the throne was a sea of glass clear as crystal; the bronze sea between the porch of the Temple and the Altar, filled with clear water. And in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four Beasts full of eyes before and behind: that is, one Beast before the throne and one behind it, appearing to John as in the midst of the throne, and one on either side in the circle about it, to represent by the multitude of their eyes the people standing on the four sides of the people's court. And the first Beast was like a lion, and the second was like a calf, and the third had the face of a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. The people of Israel in the wilderness encamped round about the tabernacle, and on the east side were three tribes under the standard of Judah, on the west were three tribes under the standard of Ephraim, on the south were three tribes under the standard of Reuben, and on the north were three tribes under the standard of Dan, Numb. ii. And the standard of Judah was a Lion, that of Ephraim an Ox, that of Reuben a Man, and that of Dan an Eagle, as the Jews affirm. Hence were framed the hieroglyphics of Cherubim and Seraphim, to represent the people of Israel. A Cherub had one body with four faces, the faces of a Lion, an Ox, a Man, and an Eagle, looking toward the four winds of heaven without turning about, as in Ezekiel's vision, chap. i. And four Seraphim had the same four faces with four bodies, one face to each body. The four Beasts are therefore four Seraphim standing on the four sides of the people's court: the first on the eastern side with the head of a Lion, the second on the western side with the head of an Ox, the third on the southern side with the head of a Man, and the fourth on the northern side with the head of an Eagle: and all four together signify the twelve tribes of Israel, out of whom the hundred forty and four thousand were sealed, Apoc. vii. 4. And the four Beasts had each of them six wings, two to a tribe, in all twenty-four wings, answering to the twenty-four stations of the people. And they were full of eyes within, or under their wings. And they do not rest day and night, or at the morning and evening sacrifices, saying, "Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." These animals are therefore the Seraphim, who appeared to Isaiah¹ in a vision like this of the Apocalypse. For there also the Lord sat upon a throne in the temple; and the Seraphim, each with six wings, cried, "Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts." And when those animals give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits upon the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four Elders go into the Temple, and there fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for you have created all things, and by your pleasure they are and were created." At the morning and evening sacrifices, as soon as the sacrifice was laid upon the Altar, and the drink offering began to be poured out, the trumpets sounded, and the Levites sang in turn three times; and each time the trumpets sounded, the people fell down and worshiped. The people therefore worshiped three times; to express which number the Beasts cry "Holy, holy, holy": and the song being ended, the people prayed standing, until the solemnity was finished. Meanwhile the Priests went into the Temple, and there fell down before him who sat upon the throne, and worshiped.

And John saw, in the right hand of him who sat upon the throne, a book written within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals, namely the book which Daniel was commanded to seal up, and which is here represented by the prophetic book of the Law laid up on the right side of the Ark, as it were in the right hand of him who sat on the throne: for the festivals and ceremonies of the Law, prescribed to the people in this book, foreshadowed those things which were predicted in the book of Daniel; and the writing within and on the back side of this book relates to the concurrent prophecies.² And none was found worthy to open the book but the Lamb of God. And look, in the midst of the throne and of the four Beasts, and in the midst of the Elders, that is, at the foot of the Altar, stood a lamb as it had been killed, the morning sacrifice; having seven horns, which are the seven Churches, and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four Beasts and the twenty-four Elders fell down before the Lamb, each of them having harps, and golden bowls full of fragrance, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, "You are worthy to take the book, and to open the seals of it: for you were killed, and by your blood you redeemed us to God out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and you have made us, to our God, Kings and Priests, and we shall reign on the earth." The Beasts and Elders therefore represent the early Christians of all nations; and the worship of these Christians in their Churches is here represented under the form of worshiping God and the Lamb in the Temple: God for his benefaction in creating all things, and the Lamb for his benefaction in redeeming us with his blood: God as sitting upon the throne and living forever, and the Lamb as exalted above all by the merits of his death. And I heard, says John, the voice of many Angels round about the throne, and the Beasts and the Elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was killed to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying, "Blessing, honor, glory, and power, be to him who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever." And the four Beasts said, "Amen." And the twenty-four Elders fell down and worshiped him who lives forever and ever. This was the worship of the early Christians.

It was the custom for the High Priest, seven days before the fast of the seventh month, to stay constantly in the Temple and study the book of the Law, so that he might be fully versed in it by the day of expiation, when the service, which was various and intricate, was to be performed entirely by himself; part of which service was reading the Law to the people: and to encourage his study, certain Priests were appointed by the Sanhedrin to be with him during those seven days in one of his chambers in the Temple, and there to discuss the Law with him, read it to him, and remind him to read and study it himself. His opening and reading of the Law during those seven days is alluded to in the Lamb's opening of the seals. We are to understand that those seven days begin in the evening before each day; for the Jews began their day in the evening; and the solemnity of the fast begins in the morning of the seventh day.

The seventh seal was therefore opened on the day of expiation, and then there was silence in heaven for half an hour. And an Angel, the High Priest, stood at the Altar, having a golden Censer; and there was given him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the Saints, upon the golden Altar which was before the throne. The custom on other days was for one of the Priests to take fire from the great Altar in a silver Censer; but on this day for the High Priest to take fire from the great Altar in a golden Censer: and when he had come down from the great Altar, he took incense from one of the Priests who brought it to him, and went with it to the golden Altar: and while he offered the incense, the people prayed outside in silence, which is the silence in heaven for half an hour. When the High Priest had laid the incense on the Altar, he carried a Censer of it burning in his hand into the Most Holy Place before the Ark. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the Saints, ascended before God out of the Angel's hand. On other days there was a certain measure of incense for the golden Altar: on this day there was a greater quantity, for both the Altar and the Most Holy Place, and therefore it is called much incense. After this the Angel took the Censer, and filled it with fire from the great Altar, and cast it into the earth; that is, by the hands of the Priests who belong to his mystical body, he cast it to the earth outside the Temple, for burning the Goat which was the Lord's lot. And at this and other accompanying sacrifices, until the evening sacrifice was ended, there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake; that is, the voice of the High Priest reading the Law to the people, and other voices and thunderings from the trumpets and temple music at the sacrifices, and lightnings from the fire of the Altar.

Of the relation which the Apocalypse of John has to the Book of the Law of Moses, and to the worship of God in the Temple.

The Apocalypse of John is written in the same style and language as the Prophecies of Daniel, and it relates to them the way they relate to one another, so that all of them together make one complete Prophecy. In the same way it has two parts: an introductory Prophecy and its Interpretation.

The opening of the seven seals of the book that Daniel was commanded to seal up divides the Prophecy into seven parts in order, and from this it is called the Apocalypse or Revelation of Jesus Christ. The time of the seventh seal is divided into eight parts in order: the silence in heaven for half an hour, and then the seven trumpets sounding one after another. The seventh trumpet sounds for the battle of the great day of God Almighty, when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ, and those who destroyed the earth are destroyed.

The Interpretation begins with the words, "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the Ark of his Testament," and it runs to the end of the Prophecy. The Temple is the scene of the visions, and the visions in the Temple concern the feast of the seventh month, because the feasts of the Jews were shapes of things to come. The Passover stood for the first coming of Christ, and the feasts of the seventh month for his second coming. His first coming was already over before this Prophecy was given, so the feasts of the seventh month are only referred to here.

On the first day of that month, in the morning, the High-Priest trimmed the lamps. In connection with this, the Prophecy begins with a vision of one like the Son of man in the High-Priest's clothes, standing in the middle of the seven golden candfor fear thaticks, or right across from their middle, trimming the lamps, which appeared like a rod of seven stars in his right hand. This trimming was carried out by sending seven Epistles to the Angels or Bishops of the seven Churches of Asia, which in the early times gave light to the Temple or the universal Church. These Epistles warn against the coming Apostasy, so they concern the times when the Apostasy began to work hard, and the time before it took over. It began to work in the days of the Apostles, and it would keep working until the man of sin was revealed. It began in the disciples of Simon, Menander, Carpocrates, Cerinthas, and men like them who had taken in the metaphysical philosophy of the Gentiles and the Cabalistic Jews, and were for that reason called Gnostics. John calls them Antichrists, saying that in his days there were many Antichrists. But the Apostles and their own disciples condemned these people, and that left the Churches in no danger while the first four seals were being opened. The visions at the opening of those seals concern only the civil affairs of the pagan Roman Empire. As long as that lasted, the Apostolic traditions held and kept the Church pure, so the affairs of the Church are not considered in this Prophecy before the fifth seal is opened. The Church then began to decline and to need warnings, so these Epistles warn it until the Apostasy won out and took its place at the opening of the seventh seal. The warnings in these seven Epistles therefore concern the state of the Church in the times of the fifth and sixth seals. At the opening of the fifth seal, a great persecution purges the Church of hypocrites. At the opening of the sixth, whatever was holding things back is taken out of the way, namely the pagan Roman Empire. At the opening of the seventh, the man of sin is revealed. The seven Epistles belong to these times.

The seven Angels to whom these Epistles were written correspond to the seven Amarc-holim, who were Priests and chief Officers of the Temple. Together they held the keys of the gates of the Temple and of the Treasuries, and they directed, appointed, and oversaw everything in the Temple.

After the lamps were trimmed, John saw the door of the Temple open, and a voice like a trumpet called him up to the eastern gate of the great court to see the visions. And look, a throne was set: that is, the mercy-seat on the Ark of the Testament, which the Jews treated as the throne of God between the Cherubims, Exod. xxv. 2. Psal. xcix. 1. The one who sat on it looked like Jasper and Sardine stone, that is, olive-colored, and the people of Judea were that color. The Sun was then in the East, and a rainbow was around the throne, the emblem of glory. Around the throne were four and twenty seats, answering to the chambers of the four and twenty Princes of the Priests, twelve on the south side and twelve on the north side of the Priests Court. On the seats sat four and twenty Elders, clothed in white clothing, with crowns on their heads, representing the Princes of the four and twenty courses of the Priests, clothed in linen. Out of the throne came lightnings and thunderings and voices: the flashes of the fire on the Altar at the morning-sacrifice, and the thundering voices of those who sounded the trumpets and sang at the eastern gate of the Priests Court. Since these were between John and the throne, they looked to him as if they came from the throne. In the Temple, before the throne, were seven lamps of fire burning. These are the seven spirits of God, or the Angels of the seven Churches, shown at the start of this Prophecy by seven stars. Before the throne was a sea of glass clear as crystal: the brazen sea between the porch of the Temple and the Altar, filled with clear water. In the middle of the throne, and around the throne, were four Beasts full of eyes in front and behind: one Beast in front of the throne and one behind it, which to John appeared as in the middle of the throne, and one on each side in the circle around it, so that the multitude of their eyes represented the people standing on the four sides of the people's court. The first Beast was like a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had the face of a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. In the wilderness the people of Israel camped around the tabernacle: on the east side were three tribes under the standard of Judah, on the west three tribes under the standard of Ephraim, on the south three tribes under the standard of Reuben, and on the north three tribes under the standard of Dan, Numb. ii. The standard of Judah was a Lion, that of Ephraim an Ox, that of Reuben a Man, and that of Dan an Eagle, as the Jews say. From this were formed the pictures of Cherubims and Seraphims, to represent the people of Israel. A Cherubim had one body with four faces: the faces of a Lion, an Ox, a Man and an Eagle, looking toward the four winds of heaven without turning around, as in Ezekiel's vision, chap. i. Four Seraphims had those same four faces with four bodies, one face to each body. So the four Beasts are four Seraphims standing on the four sides of the people's court: the first on the east side with the head of a Lion, the second on the west side with the head of an Ox, the third on the south side with the head of a Man, and the fourth on the north side with the head of an Eagle. Together the four stand for the twelve tribes of Israel, out of whom the hundred forty and four thousand were sealed, Apoc. vii. 4. Each of the four Beasts had six wings, two for a tribe, twenty and four wings in all, answering to the twenty and four stations of the people. They were full of eyes within, or under their wings. They do not rest day and night, or at the morning and evening-sacrifices, saying, "Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." These animals are therefore the Seraphims who appeared to Isaiah¹ in a vision like this of the Apocalypse. There too the Lord sat on a throne in the temple, and the Seraphims, each with six wings, cried, "Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts." When those animals give glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the four and twenty Elders go into the Temple and there fall down before the one who sits on the throne. They worship the one who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for you have created all things, and by your pleasure they are and were created." At the morning and evening-sacrifices, as soon as the sacrifice was laid on the Altar and the drink-offering began to be poured out, the trumpets sounded and the Levites sang in turn three times. Every time the trumpets sounded, the people fell down and worshiped. So the people worshiped three times, and to express that number the Beasts cry Holy, holy, holy. When the song was over, the people prayed standing until the ceremony was finished. Meanwhile the Priests went into the Temple and there fell down before the one who sat on the throne and worshiped.

John saw, in the right hand of the one who sat on the throne, a book written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals: the book which Daniel was commanded to seal up, and which is represented here by the prophetic book of the Law kept on the right side of the Ark, as if in the right hand of the one who sat on the throne. The festivals and ceremonies of the Law, set down for the people in this book, were pictures of the things predicted in the book of Daniel, and the writing inside and on the back of this book relates to the Prophecies that run at the same time.² And no one was found worthy to open the book except the Lamb of God. And look, in the middle of the throne and of the four Beasts, and in the middle of the Elders, that is, at the foot of the Altar, stood a lamb as if it had been killed: the morning-sacrifice. It had seven horns, which are the seven Churches, and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the book from the right hand of the one who sat on the throne. When he had taken the book, the four Beasts and the four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb, each of them with harps and golden bowls full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints. They sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the book and open its seals, for you were killed, and with your blood you have redeemed us to God out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. You have made us, for our God, Kings and Priests, and we will reign on the earth." So the Beasts and Elders stand for the early Christians of all nations, and the worship of these Christians in their Churches is shown here in the form of worshiping God and the Lamb in the Temple: God for his gift in creating all things, and the Lamb for his gift in redeeming us with his blood. God sits on the throne and lives forever, and the Lamb is lifted above all by the merits of his death. And I heard, says John, the voice of many Angels around the throne, and the Beasts and the Elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands. They said with a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb that was killed to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." Every creature in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, and in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing, honor, glory, and power be to the one who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever." The four Beasts said, "Amen." The four and twenty Elders fell down and worshiped the one who lives forever and ever. This was the worship of the early Christians.

By custom, the High-Priest stayed in the Temple for the seven days before the fast of the seventh month and studied the book of the Law, so that he would know it perfectly by the day of expiation. On that day the whole service, which was varied and complicated, had to be performed by him, and part of it was reading the Law to the people. To help him study it, the Sanhedrim appointed certain Priests to be with him during those seven days in one of his rooms in the Temple, where they discussed the Law with him, read it to him, and reminded him to read and study it himself. The Lamb's opening of the seals points to this opening and reading of the Law during those seven days. We should understand that those seven days begin in the evening before each day, because the Jews began their day in the evening, and that the solemnity of the fast begins on the morning of the seventh day.

So the seventh seal was opened on the day of expiation, and then there was silence in heaven for half an hour. An Angel, the High-Priest, stood at the Altar with a golden Censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all Saints on the golden Altar in front of the throne. On other days the custom was for one of the Priests to take fire from the great Altar in a silver Censer, but on this day the High-Priest took fire from the great Altar in a golden Censer. When he came down from the great Altar, he took incense from one of the Priests who brought it to him and carried it to the golden Altar. While he offered the incense, the people prayed outside in silence, and that is the silence in heaven for half an hour. When the High-Priest had laid the incense on the Altar, he carried a Censer with it burning in his hand into the most holy place in front of the Ark. The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the Saints, rose before God out of the Angel's hand. On other days there was a set measure of incense for the golden Altar, but on this day there was a greater quantity for both the Altar and the most holy Place, so it is called much incense. After this the Angel took the Censer, filled it with fire from the great Altar, and cast it to the earth: that is, through the hands of the Priests who belong to his mystical body, he cast it to the earth outside the Temple, for burning the Goat which was the Lord's lot. At this and the other sacrifices that went with it, until the evening-sacrifice was ended, there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake: the voice of the High-Priest reading the Law to the people, other voices and thunderings from the trumpets and temple music at the sacrifices, and lightnings from the fire of the Altar.