The seven Spirits, would seem to be irrelevantly placed between the Father and the [pg 025] Son,—the place always occupied by the Holy Spirit, when spoken of in connection with them,—if they were merely seven angels. Grace would also seem to be irreverently invoked from such,—its presence being implied where it is invoked,—unless they are expressive of the Holy Spirit, in which grace is inherent, and from whom it may be communicated; as it may not be from angels. Seven is a full and perfect number, and it may be here used because in another place “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne” are symbolic of “the seven Spirits of God,” (4:5); which, if angels, would be expressly named, as in other inspired explanations,—as they are in that of the stars, 1:20. A burning flame is often used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Thus, when God would make a covenant with Abraham, and the victims between which the covenanting parties were to pass, were divided, the presence of God was symbolized by “a burning lamp that passed between those pieces,” Gen. 15:17. And the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, was manifested by “cloven tongues, like as of fire,” which “sat upon each of them,” Acts 2:3. In Zechariah 3:9, we read of the symbol of a stone laid before Joshua, that on it were engraved “seven eyes,” which “are the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro, through the whole earth,” (Zech. 4:10);—an expressive figure of [pg 026] God's Omniscience. The same is symbolized in Rev. 5:6, by the “seven eyes” of the Lamb.
Jesus Christ is the faithful Witness. He “was faithful to him that appointed him,” (Heb. 3:2); and he was given as a Witness to the people, a Leader and Commander to the people, Isa. 55:4. He is the “first-begotten of the dead,” having “risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept,” 1 Cor. 15:20: he is “declared to be the Son of God, with power according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead,” Rom. 1:4. He is “the Prince of the kings of the earth,” the “King of kings and Lord of lords,” 19:16; “all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him,” Psa. 72:11. He hath shown how he “loved us,” by giving himself for us, (Gal. 2:20); and hath cleansed his people from all sin, not “by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us,” Heb. 9:12. He has redeemed us to God “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation,” Rev. 5:9. He is the one who is to come in the clouds of heaven, in resplendent majesty, to reward his saints, and to destroy those who destroy the earth, 11:18. The announcement that he “cometh with clouds” is as if John had said that what he was commanded to write, was a revelation of the events which were to precede and usher in that coming.
Christ's Annunciation.
“I John, your brother, and partner in the affliction, and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the island called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, like that of a trumpet, saying, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it to the seven congregations, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”—Rev. 1:9-11.
This gives a clue to the date of the Apocalypse. It was written when John was in the Isle of Patmos: “It is the general testimony of ancient authors, that St. John was banished into Patmos in the time of Domitian, in the latter part of his reign, and restored by his successor, Nerva. But the book could not be published till after John's release, and return to Ephesus, in Asia. Domitian died in 96, and his persecution did not commence till near the close of his reign.”—Dr. Clarke.
“Domitian, having exercised his cruelty against many, and unjustly slain no small number of noble and illustrious men at Rome, ... at length established himself as the successor of Nero, in his hatred and hostility to God. He was the second that raised a persecution against us. In this persecution, it is handed down by tradition, that the apostle and evangelist, John, ... was condemned to dwell on the island of Patmos. Irenæus, indeed, in his fifth book against the heresies, [pg 028] where he speaks of the calculation formed on the epithet of Antichrist, in the above-mentioned Revelation of John, speaks in the following manner respecting him: ‘If, however, it were necessary to proclaim his name (i.e. Antichrist's), openly at the present time, it would have been declared by him who saw the Revelation, for it was not long since it was seen, but almost in our own times, at the close of Domitian's reign.’ ”—Eusebius.
Prof. Stuart, who dissents from the opinion, admits that “a majority of the older critics have been inclined to adopt the opinion of Irenæus, viz.: that it was written during the reign of Domitian, i.e., during the last part of the first century, or in A. D. 95 or 96.”—Com. Apoc., V. I., p. 263.
John's adherence to the word and testimony of Christ, had caused his banishment—as others “were slain—for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held,” (6:9); and whose living again and reigning with Christ, was subsequently shown John in a vision, 20:4.
John was in the spirit; i.e., he was in a state of prophetic ecstasy, in which he was, as it were, caught away from a realization of the actual and the present, and shown “the things which must be hereafter.” It was on the “Lord's day,” the first day of the week, which was so called because on that day the Lord arose from the dead. It was a day [pg 029] which has been observed by all Christians in especial remembrance of that event. John does not appear to have anticipated any such announcement, until he was suddenly startled from his meditation by a voice in trumpet tones, announcing itself by the titles of Christ, and commanding him to write to the churches what he saw. Hearing the voice, he turned to see who had spoken to him, and beheld a