We have already had occasion to advert to the typical character of the great Euphrates, ($219.) We last saw this river in its full power, sending forth its myriads of horsemen, (Rev. ix. 15–21,) and we supposed it to represent a means of propitiation of human device; an opposite of the pure river of the water of life in the midst of the street of the holy city, (Rev. xxii. 1, 2.) We suppose it still to be the same, and, accordingly, to be a typical figure, nearly parallel with that of the rivers and fountains of the earth: that is, as these rivers, &c., are to the earth, so is the Euphrates to Babylon. The earth, the kingdom of the beast, and this proud city being different figures, and each affording a different series of figures, illustrating the same system of false doctrine; each of them possessing features of such illustration peculiar to themselves.

And the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared ;'or, according to the Greck, that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared. The figure, as we have remarked, is borrowed from the successful incursion of the Medes and Persians into Babylonia; but the spiritual allusion must be to certain precursors of the rising of the Sun of righteousness,-certain truths of the gospel, destined by their influence to supersede the fallacies represented by the wonderful power of the beast, and the delusions of the false prophet.

As the last blow of the earthly system was that of showing its sun, or the action of its sun, to be of a destructive rather than of a saving character; and as the last blow to the kingdom of the beast exhibited that kingdom as one of darkness, and that system as one devoid of righteousness; so the preparatory blow to the destruction of this same system, represented as a great city, is to manifest its destitution of any propitiatory or atoning power. In the subsequent part of the Apocalypse we have further particulars of this proud city; at present we only know that her fall is determined upon, as proclaimed Rev. xiv. 8; and we now see the preparation made for this crisis by the drying up of her river. So, in speaking of a doctrinal system of salvation, the manifestation of its entire fallacy may be said to be prepared, when its only pretended provision of atonement or propitiation is manifested to be destitute of the requisite means of cleansing the sinner from the guilt of his transgressions. Such a manifestation we may suppose to be effected by a just exhibition of the wrath of God, showing the utter impossibility of any adequate means of appeasing that wrath, other than the atonement provided through the vicarious suffering of a divine Redeemer.

These kings of the east, primarily the two powers of Media and Persia, may be supposed to represent two leading doctrines of the gospel, in effect performing the part of forerunners of the manifestation of Jesus, as the Sun of righteousness:-preparing the way for the exhibition of the Saviour in his true character as the Lord our righteousness, and as the only source of the

spiritual light, (his own imputed perfection,) prophetically alluded to, Luke i. 78, as the day-spring from on high. These doctrines of truth, whatever they may be, cannot overcome, it may be presumed, the false system represented by Babylon, or by the kingdom of the beast, so long as that system boasts itself of an atoning provision equal to the emergency. This error, therefore, must first be detected and exposed, before these two elements in contemplation can be brought to bear upon the general system of delusion.

Vs. 13, 14. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs (come) out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, (which) go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, το gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Καὶ εἶδον ἐκ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ δράκοντος καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος του θηρίου καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος του ψευδοπροφήτου πνεύματα τρία ἀκάθαρτα ὡς βάτραχοι· εἰσὶ γὰρ πνεύματα δαιμονίων ποιοῦντα σημεῖα, ἃ ἐκπορεύεται ἐπὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς τῆς οἰκουμένης όλης, συν αγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης τῆς μεγάλης τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ παντοκράτορος.

§ 365. And I saw,' &c.-The word come is supplied in our common version. The apostle did not see these spirits coming out, but he saw them as already out, knowing whence they came; apparently one spirit from each of these mouths. The more correct reading would be, And I saw out of the mouth, &c., three spirits unclean as frogs;—that is, unclean as frogs are unclean. Frogs were Levitically unclean, because they belong to a class of animals in the waters without either fins or scales, (Lev. xi. 9– 12.) They are of a mixed character-amphibious animals-capable of living both upon the land and water; they inhabit watery places, but the water of these places is stagnant and impure: they thus represent elements of doctrine peculiar to a mixed system of propitiation, as of something partly the work of man and partly the work of God. A system of atonement of this character, is unclean and offensive in the sight of God; its pretended means of ablution being wholly inadmissible as means of salvation-like frogs, Levitically fit neither for sustaining life or for sacrifice.

and

These evils spirits, coming as they do from the mouths of the dragon, &c., we may presume to be doctrines; unclean, because their purport tendency is to establish claims or pretensions of merit, of the unclean or mixed character alluded to. An unclean doctrine must come from an impure source, so the uncleanness of these spirits seems to be given as a reason for their coming from the mouths of these evil principles. The mouth of the dragon is the mouth of the accuser; the unclean doctrine from this source must be one of an accusing character, tending to sustain the action of the law, or to maintain the continuance of the legal economy, upon which the power of accusation necessarily depends. The doctrine

from the mouth of the beast, we suppose to be of the blasphemous character of which the heads of the beast bore the name; its mouth, as it is said also, Rev. xiii. 5, speaking great things and blasphemies; that is, tending to place the element of self upon an equality with God. The doctrine from the mouth of the false prophet, may be taken to be the lying language of misinterpretation; such a literal or carnal construction of the word of revelation, as tends to create an image of self-righteousness, and cause it to become an object of idolatrous worship, akin to the worship of self, (the beast.)

The sight of these unclean spirits might be considered a consequence of the pouring out of the sixth vial; a just exhibition of the wrath of God, tending to show these spirits in their true character; we are inclined, however, to consider the direct action of this vial confined to the drying up of the Euphrates the coming forth of these unclean spirits being an indirect consequence, not merely of the effusion of the sixth vial, but of that of all the preceding vials.

The crisis is now approaching when the great contest is to be commenced. The dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, with the kings or powers of the earth on one side; the Intercessor, with the powers from the risings of the sun, (the kings of the east,) on the other. The operations attending the pouring out of all the preceding vials, have been approximating towards this issue; the last, the drying up of the great river, having the most direct application to it. The three allied anti-Christian powers may be supposed to contemplate the anticipated trial with more than ordinary anxiety; they are now sending out their emissaries with the view of summoning all their resources for a last effort; and this especially, because, the Euphrates being dried up, the opportunity is now presented for the precursors of the Sun of righteousness to advance unobstructed. To this final contest allusion may be made in the prophecies concerning Cyrus, (Is. xliv. 28, and xlv. 1.) The restoration of the Jews from their Babylonish captivity being the temporal allusion, while the restoration of the truths of the gospel peculiar to the covenant of grace, from their captivity under the reign of error, is the spiritual allusion. The Medes and Persians. as nations, by the conquest of Babylon ushering in the power of Cyrus— Darius the Mede succeeding Belshazzar, the last of the dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar, about A. M. 3448; and Cyrus succeeding Darius the Mede about nine years aftrwards.-(Vid. Calmet and others.)

§ 366. For they are the spirits of devils, (demons, πreiμara daíμotor,) working miracles,' or making signs. Our common version makes no distinction here between the Greek terms διάβολος and δαίμων, although the first signifies strictly an accuser, and is so rendered 2 Tim. iii. 3, and Titus

ii. 3;* while the last is expressive of an unclean spirit, or something the opposite of a messenger of truth. Among the Greeks, the term demon was used both in a good and a bad sense, (Rob. Lex. 133,) εὐδαίμων, κακοδαί μov; but in the Jewish sense it is uniformly the appellation of an unclean spirit, something of an idolatrous character; as even the tutelary geniuses of the Greeks must have been so considered by the Hebrews. The apostle Paul speaks of certain doctrines of demons, 1 Tim. iv. 1, to which heed would be given in latter times; a departure from the faith, tending, as appears from the context, to the setting up of certain pretended meritorious observances of man as objects of trust, in opposition or in place of that trust which should be reposed in the living God, the Saviour of all men. These spirits, unclean as frogs, we suppose may be something of the same character; that is, they are spirits or doctrines carrying with them great appearance of plausibility, working miracles or signs in the sight of men, tending to maintain the empire of self, and to ascribe to the creature the glory due to his Creator and Saviour. Babylon, it appears, (Rev. xviii. 2,) was especially manifested to be the habitation of such demons; so the apostle James associates the term devilish (demoniacal, daporóds) with the terms earthly and sensual, iniyetos, yrzzi, which we should render literal and carnal, natural or physical, as opposed to spiritual. The accuser, beast, and the false prophet, accordingly make use of these carnal weapons or doctrines, to summon the powers of the earthly system for the great contest in contemplation.

the

Which go forth unto the kings of the earth,' &c.-We suppose these kings of the earth to be opposites of the kings from the risings of the sun. As the king of Babylon may be supposed to have sent forth his emissaries, summoning to his aid all the tributary powers over which he had a control; corresponding with which figure, the dominion of Babylon was hyperbolically said, in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, to extend to the end of the earth, Dan. iv. 22; and, consequently, its auxiliaries might appropriately be spoken of as the kings of the earth and of the whole world.

And of the whole world.'-According to our common version, there would seem to be two classes of powers here-the kings of the earth, and the kings of the whole world; but some copies of the Greek omit the words rendered of the earth; confining the action of these unclean spirits to their influence upon one class only-the kings of the whole world. This whole world (oixovurns öns) is apparently the same as that spoken of Rev. iii. 10, "I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, which is to come upon

*This term, it is true, is rendered in these passages with the adjunct false; but we have already shown in what sense the devil is not a false accuser, (§ 282,) and there is nothing in the Greek term with which the idea of falsehood is necessarily associated.

the whole world ;" and the same as that said to have been deceived or misled by the accuser, (Rev. xii. 9.) An economy the opposite of that spoken of, Heb. i. 6, as the world into which the first-begotten was brought according to the purpose of God, when he said, "Let all the angels of God worship him ;" and the opposite of that termed, Heb. ii. 5, “the world to come;" but the same economy as that of which all the kingdoms are said to have been claimed by Satan, (the accuser,) as peculiarly his, Luke iv. 5; and the same as that rendered by the term the earth, Luke xxi. 26; to which allusion is made Heb. xii. 27, where the great change in contemplation is that of a change from the dispensation of works to the dispensation of grace. The kings of the earth, or of this economy, can be no other than principles dependent upon the legal dispensation, or something of that character.*

To gather them together to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. The contest here alluded to, we suppose to be that described Rev. xix. 17, 21, where it will more properly come under our consideration. The sixth vial brings us only to a knowledge of the preparations making for this battle; it does not afford us an account of the engagement itself: it informs, however, of the period when it is to take place—the great day of God Almighty-which can be no other day than that elsewhere denominated the day of the Lord, a period repeatedly alluded to both in the Old and New Testaments.

V. 15. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed (is) he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they

see his shame.

Ιδού, ἔρχομαι ὡς κλέπτης, μακάριος ὁ γρηγορῶν καὶ τηρῶν τὰ ἱμάτια αὑτοῦ, ἵνα μὴ γυμνὸς περιπατῇ καὶ βλέπωσι τὴν ἀσχη

μοσύνην αὐτοῦ.

*The Greek term olzovuarn (world) is sometimes employed in the New Testament in a physical sense, as applying to this whole sphere of earth; sometimes in a political sense, as the Roman empire, and sometimes in the spiritual sense in which we here understand it.

In common parlance, the Roman empire was probably frequently spoken of in the time of the apostles, as the whole world; but we think the allusions in the Apocalypse are to the state of things under the Chaldean empire, and not to that under the Roman, and this for several reasons-amongst others, that empire, with its capital, appears to have been brought into existence for a typical purpose. Its history was well known, and will always be well known, to all familiar with the scriptures of the Old Testament; and the employment of the Chaldean capital, Babylon, as a figure, in the odious light in which she is presented, could give no offence to the ruling powers in the early ages of Christianity, nor furnish any unnecessary cause of persecution;-a precaution which accords especially with the prominent feature of Christian doctrine, inculcating submission to the existing government, in all matters not pertaining directly to the discharge of religious duty.