16. And the four and twenty elders which sat, &c. See Notes on [ch. iv. 4]. ¶ Fell upon their faces, and worshipped God. Prostrated themselves before him—the usual form of profound adoration. See Notes on ch. v. 8–14.
17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, [363]which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and [364]hast reigned.
17. Saying, We give thee thanks. We, as the representatives of the church, and as identified in our feelings with it (see Notes on [ch. iv. 4]), acknowledge thy goodness in thus delivering the church from all its troubles, and having conducted it through the times of fiery persecution, thus establishing it upon the earth. The language here used is an expression of their deep interest in the church, and of the fact that they felt themselves identified with it. They, as representatives of the church, would of course rejoice in its prosperity and final triumph. ¶ O Lord God Almighty. Referring to God as all-powerful, because it was by his omnipotent arm alone that this great work had been accomplished. Nothing else could have defended the church in its many trials; nothing else could have established it upon the earth. ¶ Which art, and wast, and art to come. The Eternal One, always the same. See Notes on [ch. i. 8]. The reference here is to the fact that God, who had thus established his church on the earth, is unchanging. In all the revolutions which occur on the earth, he always remains the same. What he was in past times he is now; what he is now he always will be. The particular idea suggested here seems to be, that he had now shown this by having caused his church to triumph; that is, he had shown that he was the same God who had early promised that it should ultimately triumph; he had carried forward his glorious purposes without modifying or abandoning them amidst all the changes that had occurred in the world; and he had thus given the assurance that he would now remain the same, and that all his purposes in regard to his church would be accomplished. The fact that God remains always unchangeably the same is the sole reason why his church is safe, or why any individual member of it is kept and saved. Comp. Mal. iii. 6. ¶ Because thou hast taken to thee thy great power. To wit, by setting up thy kingdom over all the earth. Before that it seemed as if he had relaxed that power, or had given the power to others. Satan had reigned on the earth. Disorder, anarchy, sin, rebellion, had prevailed. It seemed as if God had let the reins of government fall from his hand. Now he came forth as if to resume the dominion over the world, and to take the sceptre into his own hand, and to exert his great power in keeping the nations in subjection. The setting up of his kingdom all over the world, and causing his laws everywhere to be obeyed, will be among the highest demonstrations of divine power. Nothing can accomplish this but the power of God; when that power is exerted nothing can prevent its accomplishment. ¶ And hast reigned. Professor Stuart, “and shown thyself as king”—that is, “hast become king, or acted as a king.” The idea is, that he had now vindicatedhis regal power (Rob. Lex.)—that is, he had now set up his kingdom on the earth, and had truly begun to reign. One of the characteristics of the millennium—and indeed the main characteristic—will be that God will be everywhere obeyed; for when that occurs all will be consummated that properly enters into the idea of the millennial kingdom.
18 And the nations [365]were angry, and thy wrath is come, and [366]the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou [367]shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, [368]small and great; and shouldest destroy them which [369]destroy the earth.
18. And the nations were angry. Were enraged against thee. This they had shown by their opposition to his laws; by persecuting his people; by slaying his witnesses; by all the attempts which they had made to destroy his authority on the earth. The reference here seems to be to the whole series of events preceding the final establishment of his kingdom on the earth; to all the efforts which had been made to throw off his government and to crush his church. At this period of glorious triumph it was natural to look back to those dark times when the “nations raged” (comp. Ps. ii. 1–3), and when the very existence of the church was in jeopardy. ¶ And thy wrath is come. That is, the time when thou wilt punish them for all that they have done in opposition to thee, and when the wicked shall be cut off. There will be, in the setting up of the kingdom of God, some manifestation of his wrath against the powers that opposed it; or something that will show his purpose to destroy his enemies, and to judge the wicked. The representations in this book lead us to suppose that the final establishment of the kingdom of God on the earth will be introduced or accompanied by commotions and wars which will end in the overthrow of the great powers that have opposed his reign, and by such awful calamities in those portions of the world as shall show that God has arisen in his strength to cut off his enemies, and to appear as the vindicator of his people. Comp. Notes on ch. xvi. 12–16; xix. 11–26. ¶ And the time of the dead, that they should be judged. According to the view which the course of the exposition thus far pursued leads us to entertain of this book, there is reference here, in few words, to the same thing which is more fully stated in ch. xx., and the meaning of the sacred writer will, therefore, come up for a more distinct and full examination when we consider that chapter. See Notes on ch. xx. 4–6, 12–15. The purpose of the writer does not require that a detailed statement of the order of the events referred to should be made here, for it would be better made when, after another line of illustration and of symbol (ch. xi. 19, xii.–xix.), he should have reached the same catastrophe, and when, in view of both, the mind would be prepared for the fuller description with which the book closes, ch. xx.–xxii. All that occurs here, therefore, is a very general statement of the final consummation of all things. ¶ And that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants. The righteous. Comp. Mat. xxv. 34–40; Re. xxi., xxii. That is, in the final winding-up of human affairs, God will bestow the long-promised reward on those who have been his true friends. The wicked that annoyed and persecuted them will annoy and persecute them no more; and the righteous will be publicly acknowledged as the friends of God. For the manner in which this will be done, see the details in ch. xx.–xxii. ¶ The prophets. All who, in every age, have faithfully proclaimed the truth. On the meaning of the word, see Notes on [ch. x. 11]. ¶ And to the saints. To all who are holy—under whatever dispensation, and in whatever land, and at whatever time, they may have lived. Then will be the time when, in a public manner, they will be recognized as belonging to the kingdom of God, and as being his true friends. ¶ And them that fear thy name. Another way of designating his people, since religion consists in a profound veneration for God, Mal. iii. 16; Job i. 1; Ps. xv. 4; xxii. 23; cxv. 11; Pr. i. 7; iii. 13; ix. 10; Is. xi. 2; Ac. x. 22, 35. ¶ Small and great. Young and old; low and high; poor and rich. The language is designed to comprehend all, of every class, who have a claim to be numbered among the friends of God, and it furnishes a plain intimation that men of all classes will be found at lastamong his true people. One of the glories of the true religion is, that, in bestowing its favours, it disregards all the artificial distinctions of society, and addresses man as man, welcoming all who are human beings to the blessings of life and salvation. This will be illustriously shown in the last period of the world’s history, when the distinctions of wealth, and rank, and blood shall lose the importance which has been attributed to them, and when the honour of being a child of God shall have its true place. Comp. Ga. iii. 28. ¶ And shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. That is, all who have, in their conquests, spread desolation over the earth, and who have persecuted the righteous, and all who have done injustice and wrong to any class of men. Comp. Notes on ch. xx. 13–15.
Here ends, as I suppose, the first series of visions referred to in the volume sealed with the seven seals, ch. v. 1. At this point, where the division of the chapter should have been made, and which is properly marked in our common Bibles by the sign of the paragraph (¶), there commences a new series of visions, intended also, but in a different line, to extend down to the consummation of all things. The former series traces the history down mainly through the series of civil changes in the world, or the outward affairs which affect the destiny of the church; the latter—the portion still before us—embraces the same period with a more direct reference to the rise of Antichrist, and the influence of that power in affecting the destiny of the church. When that is completed (ch. xi. 19, xii.–xix.), the way is prepared (ch. xx.–xxii.) for the more full statement of the final triumph of the gospel, and the universal prevalence of religion, with which the book so appropriately closes. That portion of the book, therefore, refers to the same period as the one which has just been considered under the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the description of the final state of things would have immediately succeeded if it had not been necessary, by another series of visions, to trace more particularly the history of Antichrist on the destiny of the church, and the way in which that great and fearful power would be finally overcome. See the Analysis of the Book, part V. The way is then prepared for the description of the state of things which will exist when all the enemies of the church shall be subdued; when Christianity shall triumph; and when the predicted reign of God shall be set up on the earth, ch. xx.–xxii.
CHAPTER XII.
ANALYSIS OF CH. XI. 19, XII.
This portion of the book commences, according to the view presented in the closing remarks on the last chapter, a new series of visions, designed more particularly to represent the internal condition of the church; the rise of Antichrist, and the effect of the rise of that formidable power on the internal history of the church to the time of the overthrow of that power, and the triumphant establishment of the kingdom of God. See the Analysis of the Book, part V. The portion before us embraces the following particulars:—
(1) A new vision of the temple of God as opened in heaven, disclosing the ark of the testimony, and attended with lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail, ch. xi. 19. The view of the “temple,” and the “ark,” would naturally suggest a reference to the church, and would be an appropriate representation on the supposition that this vision related to the church. The attending circumstances of the lightnings, &c., were well fitted to impress the mind with awe, and to leave the conviction that great and momentous events were about to be disclosed. I regard this verse, therefore, which should have been separated from the eleventh chapter and attached to the twelfth, as the introduction to a new series of visions, similar to what we have in the introduction of the previous series, ch. iv. 1. The vision was of the temple—the symbol of the church—and it was “opened” so that John could see into its inmost part—even within the veil where the ark was—and could have a view of what most intimately pertained to it.