And their faces were as the faces of men.—They were not “Born of the spirit” as they supposed.
9:8. And they had hair as the hair of women.—“If a woman have long hair it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.” (1 Cor. 11:15.) The Church's glory is her wedding robe, the robe of Christ's righteousness. It is to the credit of old-time Methodists that they trusted for salvation in the precious blood of Christ.
And their teeth were as the teeth of lions.—Lions are able to chew and swallow almost anything. When the conference at Baltimore in 1787 turned John Wesley's Superintendent into a Bishop, the Methodist people swallowed it all; and to this day most of them really believe that their clergy are a Divinely appointed institution, despite the fraud perpetrated.—Joel. 1:4-6.
9:9. And they had breastplates.—“Breastplates of righteousness.”—Eph. 6:14.
As it were breastplates of iron.—An iron breastplate would be a good one but an “as-it-were” breastplate would need examination. It was not uncommon for old-time Methodists to deceive themselves into thinking they [pg 159] had not sinned for years. Those who had such breastplates wore the “As-it-were” variety.
And the sound of their wings.—When engaged in “getting the power”.—Rev. 9:3.
Was as the sound of chariots.—The noisiest vehicles known in the Revelator's day.
Of many horses running to battle.—The old-time Methodist hell-fire revival was in days gone by the noisiest place on earth, excepting the camp-meeting. Those good old days have long since gone.
9:10. And they had tails.—Followers—class-leaders.
Like unto scorpions.—The old-time class-leader was an invaluable adjunct of the Methodist Church. Upon him devolved the duty of requiring each probationer to attend the class-meeting and report his spiritual progress weekly, whether he had made any or not. After each report it was the class-leader's duty to squirt in a little more of the poisonous doctrines from the two orifices referred to in comments on Rev. 9:3. From the “heaven” orifice came the doctrine “If you are good you will go to Heaven when you die”—and from the “hell” orifice came the message “If you are bad you will go to hell when you die.” It was all very simple. Everybody was simple in those days.