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and lightnings, and the great hail, or how Babylon shall be divided into three parts; but the judgment of that polluted city is revealed, and the cities of the nations are judged, by which may be understood, their ecclesiastical establishments; and, also their civil governments, for such are the mountains and the islands; the mountains of the earth referring to those nations which profess Christianity; and the islands of the sea, to the heathen world. The effect of these awful dispensations, whether in the earlier, or in the latter times of the world, is ever and continually the same. Pharaoh repented not, for his heart was hardened; and so the children of the evil one, in the last days of the judgment, blaspheme because of the plagues.

CHAP. XXVII.

The Great Harlot upon the Scarlet-coloured Beast.Rev. xvii.

The warfare of the Church has been treated of, in the preceding prophecies. The destruction of her enemies, and the glories of the latter day, form the subject of those which remain. It has been seen, that the fourth great monarchy of the earth, prophesied of by Daniel, is the great persecutor of the gospel Church. That kingdom has already been seen under three different manifestations of its power; as Pagan, as imperial, and as Papal Rome: it is developed, lastly, under a new character, as atheistical and infidel Rome, and under that character it will perish. Before its end arrives, the judgment falls upon the Papacy, which is brought upon it by the progress of infidelity. And the detail of that judgment, occupies the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters of Revelations.

Rev. xvii. 1 to 6.-" And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into. the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarletcolour, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and, when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration."

After what has been already said, the general signification of this symbol will immediately present itself to the reader. He will discern the great idolatrous Church of Rome, ruling over the kings of the Latin earth, and over many peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues; glutted with the carnage of the saints, and upheld or supported by the Roman power, in its last state of ten divided kingdoms. The angel calls the attention of the apostle to the following particulars, as necessary to the understanding of the type.

Verses 7 to 18.-" And the angel said unto me, wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition; and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom.

The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet to come; and when he cometh he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth."

In chapter xii. the outward visible Church was seen flying into the wilderness, seeking, in the arms of the world, protection from the malice of her persecutor. Being nourished and supported by the hand of man in the wilderness, she forsook her first love, and became a harlot, like Aholah and Aholibah of old. In the chapter now under consideration, she is seen standing in the maturity of her corruptions, upheld by her lovers, decked in costly ornaments, glutted

and satiated with the blood of the martyrs, and having the cup of idolatry in her hand; of which cup, the kings of the earth, and all the nations, and people over whom her power is extended, have partaken without exception. Disguised and changed, as she now is, she can scarcely be recognized for the same woman, who before had been clothed with the sun of righteousness, and had the crown of twelve stars. See page 213. The name now upon her forehead is mystery, which is the leading feature of Popery, taking that word to mean, according to its vulgar acceptation, a thing absolutely unintelligible, and incomprehensible.* And it is a very remarkable coincidence, that the word μυσηριον should formerly have been engraved upon the Pope's tiara. Her name is called Babylon, which signifies mixture or confusion; and so, her abominations consist in mixing heavenly and earthly things together, in confounding law with gospel; and the Jewish, with the Christian ordinances and ceremonies, From this unhallowed association, many abominations have proceeded; and therefore is she called the mother of harlots; as giving birth to many, and to strange corruptions of doctrine, of ceremony, and of moral practice. The

* Μυστηριον signifies some sacred thing, hidden or secret, which, is naturally unknown to human reason, and is made known by the revélation of God. See Parkhurst: Lex: Gr: in Vac.

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