Revelation 16:3

ive command. Verse 2 A noisome and grievous sore - This is a reference to the sixth Egyptian plague, boils and blains, Exo 9:8, Exo 9:9, etc. Verse 3 As the blood of a dead man - Either meaning blood in a state of putrescency, or an effusion of blood in naval conflicts; even the sea was tinged with the blood of those who were slain in these wars. This is most probably the meaning of this vial. These engagements were so sanguinary that both the conquerors and the conquered were nearly destroyed; every living soul died in the sea. Verse 4 Upon the rivers and fountains of waters - This is an allusion to the first Egyptian plague, Exo 7:20; and to those plagues in general there are allusions throughout this chapter. It is a sentiment of the rabbins that "whatever plagues God inflicted on the Egyptians in former times, he will inflict on the enemies of his people in all later times." See a long quotation on this subject from Rabbi Tanchum in Schoettgen. Verse 5 The angel of the waters - The rabbins attribute angels, not only to the four elements so called, but to almost every thing besides. We have already seen the angel of the bottomless pit, Rev 9:11, and the angel of the fire, Rev 14:18. The angel of the earth is spoken of in Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 13, 2, and is called Admael. They have also an angel that presides over the grass; another that presides over the cattle which feed upon the grass. They say that God employed the angel of the sea to swallow up the waters at the creation, that the dry land might appear. He disobeyed, and God slew him; the name of the angel of the sea is Rahab. See Baba bathra, fol. 74, 2. It is plain from several places that the writer of the Apocalypse keeps these notions distinctly in view. Verse 6 Thou hast given them blood to drink - They thirsted after blood and massacred the saints of God; and now they have got blood to drink! It is said that when Tomyris, queen of the Scythians, had vanquished Cyrus, she cut off his head and threw it into a vessel of blood, saying these words: Satia te sanguine, quem sitisti, cujusque insatiabilis semper fuisti; "Satisfy thyself with blood, for which thou hast thirsted, and for which thy desire has been insatiable." See Justin. Hist., lib. i. c. 8. This figure of speech is called sarcasm in rhetoric. "Sarcasmus with this biting taunt doth kill: Cyrus, thy thirst was blood; now drink thy fill." Verse 8 Poured out his vial upon the sun - Mr. Robert Fleming, more than one hundred years ago, in his View of Scripture Prophecy, supposed that the sun here meant the French empire, and conjectured that this vial would be poured out on that empire about the year 1794. And it is remarkable that in 1793 the French king was beheaded by the National Assembly; and great and unparalleled miseries fell upon the French nation, which nearly extinguished all their nobility, and brought about a war that lasted twenty-three years, and nearly ruined that country and all the nations of Europe. Verse 9 They repented not - No moral national amendment has taken place in consequence of the above calamities in that unhappy country, nor indeed any of those nations engaged against her in that long and ruinous contest, which has now terminated, (1817), without producing one political, moral, or religious advantage to herself or to Europe. Verse 10 The seat of the beast - Επι τον θρονον του θηριου· Upon the throne of the wild beast. The regal family was smitten by the fourth vial; they did not repent: then the fifth angel pours out his vial on the throne of the wild beast, or antichristian idolatrous power. Was full of darkness - Confusion, dismay, and distress. Verse 11 Blasphemed the God of heaven - Neither did they repent; therefore other judgments must follow. Some think that the sun was Vitellius, the Roman emperor, and that his throne means Rome; and the darkening refers to the injuries she sustained in her political consequence by the civil wars which then took place, from which she never entirely recovered. Others apply it all to papal Rome, and in this respect make out a very clear case! Thus have men conjectured, but how much nearer are we to the truth? Verse 12 Upon the great river Euphrates - Probably meaning the people in the vicinity of this river; though some think that the Tiber is intended. The water thereof was dried up - The people discomfited, and all impediments removed. The kings of the east - There seems to be an allusion here to the ruin of Babylon by Cyrus, predicted by the Prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah 50:1-51:64. But what city or people is pointed out by this Babylon it is in vain to conjecture. Verse 13 Three unclean spirits - Perhaps false teachers, called afterwards spirits of devils, which persuade the kings of the earth by lying miracles to come forth to the place of general slaughter, Rev 16:14, Rev 16:16, Some good critics apply this to Vespasian, and his pretended miracles. See the account in Tacitus, lib. iv. c. 81. Verse 15 Behold, I come as a thief - Here is a sudden but timely warning to put every man on his guard, when this sudden and generally unexpected tribulation should take place. Keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked - Here is a plain allusion to the office of him who was called the prefect or overseer, of the mountain of the temple. His custom was to go his rounds during the watches of the night; and if he found any of the Levites sleeping on his watch, he had authority to beat him with a stick, and burn his vestments. See Middoth, fol. 34, 1, and Tamid. fol. 27, 2; 28, 1. Such a person being found on his return home naked, it was at once known that he had been found asleep at his post, had been beaten, and his clothes burnt; thus his shame was seen - he was reproached for his infidelity and irreligion. Verse 16 Armageddon - The original of this word has been variously formed, and variously translated. It is הר־מגדון har-megiddon, "the mount of the assembly;" or חרמה גדהון chormah gedehon, "the destruction of their army;" or it is הר־מגדו har-megiddo, "Mount Megiddo," the valley of which was remarkable for two great slaughters: one of the Israelites, 2Kgs 23:29, the other of the Canaanites, Jdg 4:16; Jdg 5:19. But Mount Megiddo, that is Carmel, is the place, according to some, where these armies should be collected. But what is the battle of Armageddon? How ridiculous have been the conjectures of men relative to this point! Within the last twenty years this battle has been fought at various places, according to our purblind seers and self-inspired prophets! At one time it was Austerlitz, at another Moscow, at another Leipsic, and now Waterloo! And thus they have gone on, and will go on, confounding and being confounded. Verse 17 Poured out his vial into the air - To signify that this plague was to be widely diffused, and perhaps to intimate that pestilences and various deaths would be the effect of this vial. But possibly air in this place may have some emblematical meaning. It is done - It is said, Rev 10:7, that in the days of the seventh trumpet the mystery of God should be finished; so here we find it completed. Γεγονε· All's over! Fuimus Troes! Ilium fuit! Once there were Trojans, and they had a city; but now all are extinct. Verse 18 A great earthquake - Most terrible commotions, both civil and religious. Or a convulsion, shaking, or revolution. Verse 19 The great city - Some say Jerusalem, others Rome pagan, others Rome papal. The cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath - Alluding to the mode of putting certain criminals to death, by making them drink a cup of poison. See on Heb 2:9 (note). Verse 20 Every island fled away - Probably meaning the capture of seaport towns, and fortified places. Verse 21 A great hail - about the weight of a talent - Has this any reference to cannon balls and bombs? It is very doubtful; we are all in the dark in these matters. The words ὡς ταλαντιαια, as a talent, are used to express something great, excessively oppressive; as νοσηματων ταλαντιαιων, terrible diseases, not diseases of the weight of a talent. See Rosenmuller. Introduction The judgment of the great whore, which sits on many waters, Rev 17:1, Rev 17:2. Her description, name, and conduct, Rev 17:3-6. The angel explains the mystery of the woman, of the beast, etc., Rev 17:7-18. This chapter is, on several accounts, very important, and particularly as it appears to explain several of the most remarkable symbols in the book. The same author who has written so largely on the twelfth and thirteenth chapters, has also obliged me with his interpretation of this chapter. Not pretending to explain these things myself, I insert this as the most elaborate and learned exposition I have yet seen, leaving my readers at perfect liberty to reject it, and adopt any other mode of interpretation which they please. God alone knows all the secrets of his own wisdom. Verse 1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters - That idolatrous worship is frequently represented in Scripture under the character of a whore or whoredom, is evident from numerous passages which it is unnecessary to quote. See 1Chr 5:25; Ezekiel 16:1-63; 23:1-49, etc. The woman mentioned here is called a great whore, to denote her excessive depravity, and the artful nature of her idolatry. She is also represented as sitting upon many waters, to show the vast extent of her influence. See on

The Seven Vials. ( a. d. 95.) 1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. 2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. 3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. 7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. We had in the foregoing chapter the great and solemn preparation that was made for the pouring out of the vials; now we have the performance of that work. Here observe, I. That, though every thing was made ready before, yet nothing was to be put in execution without an immediate positive order from God; and this he gave out of the temple, answering the prayers of his people, and avenging their quarrel. II. No sooner was the word of command given than it was immediately obeyed; no delay, no objection made. We find that some of the best men, as Moses and Jeremiah, did not so readily come in and comply with the call of God to their work; but the angels of God excel not only in strength, but in a readiness to do the will of God. God says, Go your ways, and pour out the vials, and immediately the work is begun. We are taught to pray that the will of God may be done on earth as it is done in heaven. And now we enter upon a series of very terrible dispensations of Providence, of which it is difficult to give the certain meaning or to make the particular application. But in the general it is worth our observation that, 1. We have here a reference and allusion to several of the plagues of Egypt, such as the turning of their waters into blood, and smiting them with boils and sores. Their sins were alike, and so were their punishments. 2. These vials have a plain reference to the seven trumpets, which represented the rise of antichrist; and we learn hence that the fall of the church's enemies shall bear some resemblance to their rise, and that God can bring them down in such ways as they chose to exalt themselves. And the fall of antichrist shall be gradual; as Rome was not built in one day, so neither shall it fall in one day, but it falls by degrees; it shall fall so as to rise no more. 3. The fall of the antichristian interest shall be universal. Every thing that any ways belonged to them, or could be serviceable to them, the premises and all their appurtenances, are put into the writ for destruction: their earth, their air, their sea, their rivers, their cities, all consigned over to ruin, all accursed for the sake of the wickedness of that people. Thus the creation groans and suffers through the sins of men. Now we proceed to, (1.) The first angel who poured out his vial, v. 2 . Observe, [1.] Where it fell— upon the earth; that is, say some, upon the common people; others upon the body of the Romish clergy, who were the basis of the papacy, and of an earthly spirit, all carrying on earthly designs. [2.] What it produced— noisome and grievous sores on all who had the mark of the beast. They had marked themselves by their sin; now God marks them out by his judgments. This sore, some think, signifies some of the first appearances of Providence against their state and interest which gave them great uneasiness, as it discovered their inward distemper and was a token of further evil; the plague—tokens appeared. (2.) The second angel poured out his vial; and here we see, [1.] Where it fell— upon the sea; that is, say some, upon the jurisdiction and dominion of the papacy; others upon the whole system of their religion, their false doctrines, their corrupt glosses, their superstitious rites, their idolatrous worship, their pardons, indulgences, a great conflux of wicked inventions and institutions, by which they maintain a trade and traffic advantageous to themselves, but injurious to all who deal with them. [2.] What it produced: It turned the sea into blood, as the blood of a dead man, and every living soul died in the sea. God discovered not only the vanity and falsehood of their religion, but the pernicious and deadly nature of it—that the souls of men were poisoned by that which was pretended to be the sure means of their salvation. (3.) The next angel poured out his vial; and we are told, [1.] Where it fell— upon the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; that is, say some very learned men, upon their emissaries, and especially the Jesuits, who, like streams, conveyed the venom and poison of their errors and idolatries from the spring-head through the earth. [2.] What effect it had upon them: It turned them into blood; some think it stirred up Christian princes to take a just revenge upon those that had been the great incendiaries of the world, and had occasioned the shedding of the blood of armies and of martyrs. The following doxology ( v. 5, 6 ) favours this sense. The instrument that God makes use of in this work is here called the angel of the waters, who extols the righteousness of God in this retaliation: They have shed the blood of thy saints, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy, to which another angel answered by full consent, v. 7 .

The second poured out his phial upon the sea - As opposed to the dry land. And it become blood, as of a dead man - Thick, congealed, and putrid. And every living soul - Men, beasts, and fishes, whether on or in the sea, died.

And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea. So the second trumpet, ( Rev 8:8,) "And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood." For the meaning of this as a symbol, Rev 8:8. And it became as the blood of a dead man. "Either very bloody, like a mangled corpse, or else coloured, as it were, with the dark and almost black blood of a dead man."--Prof. Stuart, in loc. The latter would seem to be, most probably, the meaning; implying that the ocean would become discoloured, and indicating that this was the effect of blood shed in great quantities on its waters. In Rev 8:8 it is, "the sea became blood;" here the allusion to the blood of a dead man would more naturally suggest the idea of naval conflicts, and of the blood of the slain poured in great quantities into the deep. And every living soul died in the sea. In Rev 8:9, it is said that "the third part of the creatures that were in the sea died, and the third part of the ships were destroyed." Here the destruction is more general; the calamity is more severe and awful. It is as if every living thing --πασαψυχηζωσα--had died. No emphasis should be put on the word soul here, for the word means merely a creature, a living thing, an animal, Acts 2:43, 3:23, Rom 13:1, 1Cor 15:45. See Rob. Lex. sub voce, c. The sense here is, that there would be some dreadful calamity, as if the sea were to be changed into dark blood, and as if every living thing in it were to die. In inquiring into the proper application of this, it is natural to look for something pertaining to the sea, or the ocean, ( Rev 8:8-9,) and we should expect to find the fulfilment in some calamity that would fall on the marine force, or the commerce of the power that is here referred to--that is, according to the interpretation all along adopted, of the Papal power; and the proper application, according to this interpretation, would be the complete destruction or annihilation of the naval force that contributed to sustain the Papacy. This we should look for in respect to the naval power of France, Spain, and Portugal, for these are the only Papal nations that have had a navy. We should expect, in the fulfilment of this, to find a series of naval disasters, reddening the sea with blood, which would tend to weaken the power of the Papacy, and which might be regarded as one in the series of events that would ultimately result in its entire overthrow. Accordingly, in pursuance of the plan adopted in explaining the pouring out of the first vial, it is to be observed that immediately succeeding, and connected with, the events thus referred to, there was a series of naval disasters that swept away the fleets of France, and that completely demolished the most formidable naval power that had ever been prepared by any nation under the Papal dominion. This series of disasters is thus noticed by Mr. Elliott, iii. 329, 330: "Meanwhile the great naval war between France and England was in progress; which, from its commencement in February, 1793, lasted for above twenty years, with no intermission but that of the short and delusive peace of Amiens; in which war the maritime power of Great Britain was strengthened by the Almighty Providence that protected her to destroy everywhere the French ships, commerce, and smaller colonies; including those of the fast and long-continued allies of the French, Holland and Spain. In the year 1793, the greater part of the French fleet at Toulon was destroyed by Lord Hood; in June, 1794, followed Lord Howe's great victory over the French off Ushant; then the taking of Corsica, and nearly all the smaller Spanish and French West India islands; then, in 1795, Lord Bridport's naval victory, and the capture of the Cape of Good Hope; as also soon after of a French and Dutch fleet, sent to retake it; then, in 1797, the victory over the Spanish fleet off Cape St. Vincent, and that of Camperdown over the Dutch; then, in succession, Lord Nelson's three mighty victories--of the Nile in 1798, of Copenhagen in 1801, and, in 1805, of Trafalgar. Altogether in this naval war, from its beginning in 1793, to its end in 1815, it appears that there were destroyed near 200 ships of the line, between 300 and 400 frigates, and an almost incalculable number of smaller vessels of war and ships of commerce. The whole history of the world does not present such a period of naval war, destruction, and bloodshed." This brief summary may show, if this was referred to, the propriety of the expression, "The sea became as the blood of a dead man;" and may show also that, on the supposition that it was intended that these events should be referred to, an appropriate symbol has been employed. No language could more strikingly set forth these bloody scenes. (a) "sea" Rev 8:8 (b) "blood" Ex 7:17-20 Verse 4. And the thir