Christian Classics
‹ System of Doctrines, contained in Divine Relation, Explained and Defended. Shewing Their Consistence and Connexion with Each Other. Vol. I.
Contents
Section VI. Concerning Saving Faith. · Part 1Section VI. Concerning Saving Faith. · Part 2Section VI. Concerning Saving Faith. · Part 3Section VI. Concerning Saving Faith. · Part 4Section VII. On the Sinner's Justification by Faith in Christ. · Part 1Section VII. On the Sinner's Justification by Faith in Christ. · Part 2Section VII. On the Sinner's Justification by Faith in Christ. · Part 3Section VIII. On the Covenant of Grace.Section IX. The Manner of the Dispensation of the Covenant of Grace, and the Preaching of the Gospel.Section X. That all true Believers, do persevere in Faith and Holiness, to the End of Life, and cannot fail of eternal Salvation.Section XI. Concerning Believers’ Assurance of Salvation.Section XII. On the Doctrine of Election.Section XIII. Whether any of the Redeemed arrive to Perfect Holiness in this Life.Section XIV. Concerning Death; a Separate State; the General Resurrection and Judgment; and the eternal State of Happiness or Misery. · Part 1Section XIV. Concerning Death; a Separate State; the General Resurrection and Judgment; and the eternal State of Happiness or Misery. · THE GENERAL JUDGMENT.Section XIV. Concerning Death; a Separate State; the General Resurrection and Judgment; and the eternal State of Happiness or Misery. · IMPROVEMENT.Section I. General Observations concerning the Church of Christ.Section II. Concerning the Officers of a Church.Section III. On the Public Institutions y Ordinances and Worship oj the Church. · Part 1Section III. On the Public Institutions y Ordinances and Worship oj the Church. · Part 2Section III. On the Public Institutions y Ordinances and Worship oj the Church. · Part 3Section III. On the Public Institutions y Ordinances and Worship oj the Church. · Part 4Section III. On the Public Institutions y Ordinances and Worship oj the Church. · Part 5Section III. On the Public Institutions y Ordinances and Worship oj the Church. · Part 6Section III. On the Public Institutions y Ordinances and Worship oj the Church. · Part 7Section III. On the Public Institutions y Ordinances and Worship oj the Church. · Part 8Section III. On the Public Institutions y Ordinances and Worship oj the Church. · Part 9Section IV. Concerning the Discipline of the Church.Chap. VI. On Christian Practice. · Part 1Chap. VI. On Christian Practice. · REFLECTIONS.Chap. VI. On Christian Practice. · CONCLUSION.A Treatise on the Millennium.Dedication.Introduction.Section I. In which it is proved from Scripture, that the church of Christ in to come to a state of prosperity in this world, which it has never yet enjoyed; in which it will continue at least a thousand years. · Part 1Section I. In which it is proved from Scripture, that the church of Christ in to come to a state of prosperity in this world, which it has never yet enjoyed; in which it will continue at least a thousand years. · Part 2Section I. In which it is proved from Scripture, that the church of Christ in to come to a state of prosperity in this world, which it has never yet enjoyed; in which it will continue at least a thousand years. · Part 3Section II. In which it is considered, in what the Millennium will consist, and what will be the peculiar happiness and glory of that day, according to Scripture. · Part 1Section II. In which it is considered, in what the Millennium will consist, and what will be the peculiar happiness and glory of that day, according to Scripture. · Part 2Section II. In which it is considered, in what the Millennium will consist, and what will be the peculiar happiness and glory of that day, according to Scripture. · Part 3Section II. In which it is considered, in what the Millennium will consist, and what will be the peculiar happiness and glory of that day, according to Scripture. · Part 4Section III. In which is considered which thousand years of the world will be the Millennium, and when it will begin.Section IV. In which is considered, what events are to take place, according to Scripture Prophecy, before the beginning of the Millennium, and to prepare the way for it. · Part 1Section IV. In which is considered, what events are to take place, according to Scripture Prophecy, before the beginning of the Millennium, and to prepare the way for it. · Part 2Section IV. In which is considered, what events are to take place, according to Scripture Prophecy, before the beginning of the Millennium, and to prepare the way for it. · Part 3Section IV. In which is considered, what events are to take place, according to Scripture Prophecy, before the beginning of the Millennium, and to prepare the way for it. · Part 4Section IV. In which is considered, what events are to take place, according to Scripture Prophecy, before the beginning of the Millennium, and to prepare the way for it. · Part 5Section IV. In which is considered, what events are to take place, according to Scripture Prophecy, before the beginning of the Millennium, and to prepare the way for it. · Part 6

Samuel Hopkins · 43 of 48

Section IV. In which is considered, what events are to take place, according to Scripture Prophecy, before the beginning of the Millennium, and to prepare the way for it. · Part 1

In which is considered, what events are to take place, according to Scripture Prophecy, before the beginning of the Millennium, and to prepare the way for it.

BY attending to the events predicted, which are to take place before the Millennium, and which are to introduce it, farther evidence will come into view, that it will not commence long before the beginning of the seventh thousand years of the world; nor much later; and therefore, that it will be in that thousand years, and begin about two hundred years from the end of the 18th century.

The seven vials or cups, which contained the seven last plagues, or remarkable judgments, which are to be executed upon the beast and his adherents, and upon the world of mankind, are to be poured out during the time of the reign of the beast, and the existence of the false church of Rome; and which will issue in the destruction of the beast, and of that church. This is evident from the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of the Revelation. The first vial respects the beast and his followers, and brought sore calamities upon them, expressed in the following words: “And there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them who worshipped his image.” A number of these vials must have been already poured out, as the beast has existed above a thousand years already; and therefore the effects of the last vial, which include his utter destruction, will not reach much more than two hundred years from this time; and consequently these effects will soon begin to take place, if they have not already began in some measure. For as the pouring out or running of the seven vials, is limited to the 1260 years of the continuance of the beast, there are not 200 years for each vial; and some may run longer, and others a shorter time of this space.

Some acquaintance with the history of the calamitous events which have taken place, answering to the prophetic description under those vials which have been poured out, is necessary in order to know how and when it has been fulfilled, and how many vials appear to have already run out, and which is now running. Mr. Lowman has taken pains to show from many credible historians, that the remarkable calamitous events which have taken place, and which have especially affected the beast and his followers, and brought great and distressing evils upon them, have answered to the evils and events described in prophetic language, under the successive five first vials of wrath: And there appears to be satisfactory evidence that the judgments predicted under these vials, have already been executed on antichrist, and his supporters and followers: And that the reformation began by Luther, and the remarkable events attending it was the judgment predicted by the pouring out of the fifth vial, to be inflicted on the beast and the church of Rome. This vial was to be poured out on the seat, or, as it is in the original, the throne of the beast—“And his kingdom was full of darkness, and they gnawed their tongues for pain.” When the protestant reformation came on, protestants wad light, had discerning and wisdom, prosperity and joy: But the Pope and his followers suffered great vexation and anguish, every event turned against them, their light was turned into darkness, their policy and counsels by which they had prospered and obtained their ends before, were now turned into foolishness; and they were baffled and confounded, and their attempts to suppress the northern heresy, as they called it, and to crush the protestants, proved abortive, and turned against themselves in a remarkable manner. And those events proved like a lasting, painful sore to them, from which they have not recovered to this day. “And they blasphemed the God of heaven, because of their pains and their sores, and not of their deeds.” They blasphemed God, by attributing what took place in favour of truth and the cause of Christ, to the exertions and obstinacy of wicked men, and calling the truths of the gospel and , espoused and propagated by the reformers, the delusions and works of Satan, and treating the reformation, and the work of God, as if it were the work of the devil. They also blasphemed the God of heaven, by persisting in their gross idolatry, worshipping and images, in the face of the light exhibited by the reformers, which idolatry is called blasphemy in the Bible. And the famous council of Trent, which was called by the Pope at that time, and sat eighteen years, were so far from complying with the reformation, that they anathematized the persons, doctrines and practices, by which it was introduced and supported. And formed decrees in favour of the power and tyranny of the Pope, and the superstition and idolatry of the church of Rome, and in some instances went beyond any thing that had ever been decreed by any council before, in favour of these abominations. “Thus they not of their evil deeds.”

This vial began to be poured out near the beginning of the sixteenth century, in the year 1517, when Luther began to oppose the wickedness of the church of Rome, and the power and evil practices of the Pope: And from that time, the influence and power, or throne, of this man of sin, has been diminishing, and he is in a great measure deposed, and has fallen almost to the ground from that high throne, and unlimited power in church and slate, to which he had, before that, aspired and risen. As it is near three hundred years since the fifth vial was poured out, there is good reason to conclude, that the sixth vial began to be poured out, and has been running from the latter end of the last century, at least, i.e. for an hundred years or more; that it is near run out, and the seventh and last vial will begin to run early in the next century. Whether this be so or not, may be determined with greater and more satisfactory evidence, by attending to the prophetic description of the events which are to take place under those vials. And as the sixth vial is supposed to be now running, there is reason to pay a more particular and careful attention to the prophetic language, by which the events under this vial are expressed, that the meaning may be understood, and applied to the events which are pointed out, so as to be clearly discovered, and the signs of these times be discerned by all who will properly attend to this interesting subject.

“And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates: And the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.” Ancient Babylon was a type of the antichristian church of Rome. By that, the church of Israel was afflicted and reduced to a state of captivity seventy years, until it was taken by Cyrus and Darius, whose kingdoms were east of Babylon. So the church of Christ has fallen under the power of this antichristian church, and power is given to the beast to make war with the , and to overcome them, and to continue forty two months: Therefore, the church of Rome is called Babylon in the Revelation.

The river Euphrates ran through Babylon, under the walls of the city, and a wide and deep moat, filled with water from the river, encompassed the city on the outside of the walls; so that the river was not only a defence to the city, but afforded a supply of water and fish, and other provisions, brought into it by water carriage. Cyrus, who came against Babylon with an army of Medes and Persians, took the city, by turning the water of the river from the usual channel, in which it went under the walls of the city, and ran through it, and dried up the water in that channel, by which a way was opened for his army to pass into the city under the walls in the dried channel, where the river used to run. Accordingly the army marched in, and look the city in the night, when the inhabitants were either asleep, or intoxicated with drinking, as that was the time of a great festival. In that night the king of Babylon was slain, and Cyrus took the kingdom for his uncle Darius, the Mede.

In this prophecy there is an allusion to this manner of taking Babylon, by Darius and Cyrus, the kings of the east. The church of Rome is the antitype of Babylon. By the kings of the east, are meant those, whoever they may be, who are, or shall be enemies to the church of Rome, and wish to reduce and destroy it, and shall be made the instruments of it; as the eastern kings took Babylon, by drying up the river Euphrates. The riches and power of the Pope and the church of Rome, and whatever serves as a defence and support of that church, answer to the river Euphrates in old Babylon; and the removal of those is meant by drying up the river; which will prepare the way for the enemies and opposers of this church, to take possession of it, and destroy it.

The river, in tins sense of it, has been drying up for a century or more, while this sixth vial has been running; and there have been more remarkable instances of it in this century, some of which have been mentioned above, by which the riches of the church of Rome are greatly diminished, and she is stripped and becoming poor: And the power and influence of the Pope is become very small and inconsiderable, and he is but little regarded by those who once worshipped him; and the way is fast preparing for the Pope and his church to be hated, made desolate, and burnt with fire.”

John goes on to relate a farther vision which he had of events which are to take place under this vial, in the following words: “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, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. And he gathered them together into a place, called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon.” This is the first time that the false prophet is mentioned: And it appears from what is said of this false prophet, in the twentieth verse of the nineteenth chapter, that he is the same with the second beast, which is described in the thirteenth chapter, by which is meant the hierarchy of the church of Rome, or the Pope and his clergy, in their ecclesiastical capacity, claiming to have the sole jurisdiction, and to be infallible dictators in every thing that relates to christian faith and practice. The beast, as distinguished from the false prophet here, is the civil power of the Roman empire, with which the Pope is invested, which he has claimed and exercised, by which he became a beast.

The dragon is the devil, who is represented as a powerful, invisible agent, having a great hand in all the wickedness in the world, and has set up and animates the beast and false prophet, making them instruments to answer his ends, being the spirit who works with all his power and deceptive cunning, in these children of disobedience; and who are his children in a peculiar sense. These spirits are therefore the numerous spirits of devils who unite in one design, working miracles or wonders, as the word in the original is sometimes rendered, which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world; that is, to all men who dwell on the earth, great and small, high and low. What is the tendency and effect of these invisible, evil spirits, what they design and do accomplish, when thus let loose, and suffered to go forth into all the world, there can be no doubt. They will corrupt the world, and promote all kinds of wickedness among men, to the utmost of their power and skill, and excite mankind to rise against God and the Redeemer, and oppose and despise all divine institutions and commands; and, at the same time, to hate and destroy each other, and attempt to gratify every hateful lust of the flesh and of the mind, without restraint.

If any distinction is to be made between those evil spirits which are united in this same design, and like frogs pervade all places and assault all men, as the frogs did the Egyptians, in their attempts to seduce and corrupt them; especially those who live in the christian world; that which comes out of the mouth of the dragon promotes , and influences and persuades men to renounce all religion; especially that which is inculcated in the Bible. The spirit which proceeds from the mouth of the beast inspires men with a spirit, by which they are strongly attached to the things and enjoyments of this world, and eagerly pursue them; either by gratifying their fleshly appetites and lusts, in beastly uncleanness, and intemperance in eating and drinking, frolick and wantonness; or by indulging an avaricious spirit, which leads to all kinds of unrighteousness, and oppression of each other, according to their power and opportunity: Or they eagerly pursue the honours of the world, in the gratification of pride and haughtiness, striving to outshine others in dress and high living, or in distinguished posts of honour. And though some persons under the influence of the spirit of the beast are more inclined to some one of these, and others to another; yet the same person will often pursue them all, and seek to gratify the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And all these will prevail more and more, under the influence of the spirit of the beast; and at the same time promote and are promoted by that. The spirit which comes out of the mouth of the false prophet is a spirit of false religion and delusion, by which false doctrines and gross errors in principle and practice are imbibed and propagated.

These spirits of devils unite and are agreed in one design, to promote all kind of vice and wickedness among men, and to as great a degree as they possibly can, leading them to and impiety, and an endless train of gross errors and delusions, in matters of religion; and hurrying them on in a greedy pursuit of the enjoyments of this world, in the indulgence of their lusts, and the gratification of their love of their own selves, and their pride, in the practice of injustice and oppression, living in malice and envy, hating and speaking evil of one another, and engaging in fierce contention, cruel and destructive war, and murder. By this the world in general will be in arms against God, and his Son; and they will be gathered and knit together, as one man, in open war with heaven, and all the friends of Christ on earth. This is doubtless meant by these spirits of devils, going out into the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. It is not meant, that they shall be gathered into one place on this globe, or any where else; but that they shall be united with one heart in the same cause of sin and Satan, against God, and his revealed truth and ways, in whatever part of the earth they live; and thus take arms, and rise in open rebellion, provoking the Almighty to battle, and, in a sense, challenging him to do his worst. Thus they will be as really gathered to the battle, as an army are gathered together to engage in battle with another army, or to besiege a city.

“And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Armageddon is the mountain of Megiddo, at the foot of which the memorable battle was fought between the Canaanites, the enemies of Israel—and Barak, and the army under him, when Sisera and his host were defeated and utterly destroyed; which was a complete overthrow of the Canaanites, and issued in the final deliverance of Israel from their yoke and power. This was a type of the total defeat and overthrow of the enemies of Christ and his church, which will issue in the peace and prosperity of the church in the Millennial state. This is intimated in the concluding words of the song of Deborah and Barak, in which this victory and deliverance is celebrated. “So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord: But let them who love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.” There is therefore an allusion to the type, in this prophecy of the event which was typified by it, viz. the overthrow of all the combined enemies of Christ and his church, in the battle of that great day of God Almighty. It cannot be reasonably inferred from this prediction, that there will be a decisive battle between Christ and his followers, and their enemies, in any particular place. All that is signified by these words is, that as Jabin king of Canaan gathered together a great army under Sisera, to fight with the God of Israel and his people, at the foot of the mountain of Megiddo; who were there overthrown and destroyed in battle, when “they fought from heaven, the stars in their courses fought against Sisera:” So by the agency of the spirits of devils, under the superintendance and direction of divine , the world of mankind in general, and especially those in Christendom, will be so corrupted and obstinately rebellious, in ail kinds, and the greatest degrees of wickedness, as to be united, and, in this sense, gathered together, all armed in a spiritual war against God, his cause and people. And their being full and they ripe for the battle, God will arise as a man of war, and in his contend in battle with them, till they be utterly destroyed from the face of the earth. Thus “The wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs, they shall consume: Into smoke shall they consume away,” and by this, way shall be made for the to inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

But this battle is to come on under the next vial, which is the seventh and last. When mankind shall be prepared and gathered together, by the great degree of all kinds of wickedness, while God has been waiting upon them, even to , in the use of very powerful, and all proper means to reclaim and reform them, he will arise to battle, and by doing terrible things in , will manifest and display his awful displeasure with them, for their great wickedness, and obstinacy in rebellion against him; and the events will then take place which are predicted under the seventh vial.

“And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air: And there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying. It is done.” This vial being poured out into the air, denotes that it should affect and destroy Satan’s kingdom, and his followers in the world in general, who is the prince of the power of the air. And the voice from heaven, saying, It is done, is a prediction that the events under this vial, by which the battle before mentioned is to be carried on and completed, will utterly destroy the interest and kingdom of the devil in the world, and finish the awful scene of divine judgments, on the antichristian church, and the wicked world in general. The prophecy then goes on to give a general and summary account of the battle of that great day, from the seventh verse to the end of the chapter, and the great and marvellous effects it will have upon great Babylon, i.e. the church of Rome, and upon the nations of the world in general. There will be the greatest convulsions and resolutions in the political and moral world, that have ever been, attended with awful judgments upon men; which are predicted in prophetic language. “And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.”—“And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: And great Babylon came into remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.” The great city, and great Babylon, seem to be one and the same thing, the church of Rome. In the next chapter, this same false church is called “Babylon the great,” and “The great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” What is meant by this city being divided into three parts will be better known, when the prediction shall be accomplished. It doubtless intends, that which shall break the antichristian church into pieces, and will issue in the ruin of it, the fatal blow being struck. Perhaps it intends a division and opposition among those who have been the members and supporters of that church, by which this spiritual Babylon shall fall, or which shall hasten on the ruin of It; as a kingdom divided against itself, cannot stand, but is brought to desolation. In the prophecy of this kingdom of antichrist by Daniel, in the latter end of it, he says, “The kingdom shall be divided; and by this it shall be partly broken.

“And the cities of the nations fell.” Divine judgments, and a peculiar measure of wrath shall fall upon the christian world, in which the antichristian kingdom has been set up; but the rest of mankind shall share in the calamity of that day, and be punished for their wickedness, to which this expression seems to have respect. The cities of the nations of the world are their strength, defence and pride. These shall be demolished and wholly taken away, that they shall no more be able to tyrannize over one another. The pride and power of Mahometans and nations, shall be made to cease by a series of divine judgments. “The day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low. And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low, in that day. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their ; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” The same is predicted in the following words: “1 have cut off the nations, their towers are desolate; I have made their streets waste, that none passeth by: Their cities art destroyed, so that there is no man, there is none inhabitant. Therefore wait upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: For my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.” These words doubtless have reference to the events which were to take place under the sixth and seventh vials, when the nations and kingdoms of the world are to be gathered, and God will rise up to battle, to the prey, and pour upon them his indignation, even all his fierce anger, for their obstinate continuance in sin and rebellion against him; and all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of his jealousy; and thus the cities of the nations shall fall; the nations shall be cut off; their towers made desolate, and their cities destroyed.

The prophecy under the seventh vial goes on. “And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: And men blasphemed God, because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” There is reference in those words to the destruction of the Canaanites, in the great and terrible battle, when the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them, and they died, and there were more that died with hailstones, than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword. And God says to Job, “Hast thou seen the treasures of hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war.” Therefore, when great judgments and awful destruction of men are predicted, they are represented by storms of great hail. “Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail, and a destroying storm, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies. The Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of devouring fire, with scattering and tempest and hailstones.” “Say unto them who daub with untempered mortar, that it shall fall: There shall be an overflowing shower, and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall, and a stormy wind shall rent it. I will even rent it with a stormy wind in my fury: And there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it. And I will plead against him with pestilence, and with blood, and I will ram upon him, and his bands, and upon many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone.” All these passages. will doubtless have their ultimate and most complete fulfilment, under the seventh vial, and in the same sore calamities and judgments which are predicted in the words under consideration, by the great hail which fell on men out of heaven. The hailstones are represented as weighing an hundred pounds, which is the weight of a talent, to denote the greatness of the judgments and destruction predicted, the sore and awful distresses which shall come on men: “For the plague thereof was exceeding great.” These judgments will not reform the obstinate enemies of God, on whom they shall fall; they will be exasperated and blaspheme God the more, until they are utterly destroyed, and swept off from the earth; agreeably to the prophecy “which may be considered as referring ultimately to this dreadful scene. “And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: And it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. And they shall look unto the earth; and behold, trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish: and they shall be driven into darkness.”

This battle is more particularly described in the nineteenth chapter, from the beginning of the eleventh verse, to the end of the chapter. “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he who sat upon him was called faithful and true, and in doth he judge and make war.” This person is farther described, by which he appears to be the Lord Jesus Christ. “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” This does not mean, that the inhabitants of heaven, or the on earth, will join in a visible army, and personally fight with the enemies of Christ and his church, and destroy them: But only that these shall join with Christ and be on his side, when he shall arise in his , and by his power destroy his and their enemies. In this sense, all heaven will be with him, when he shall come forth to battle in his , and execute his wrath upon men, in awful successive judgments, in which the angels may be used as invisible instruments of his vengeance: And he will do all this, in answer to the prayers of his church on earth, and in their cause, to vindicate and deliver them, and prepare the way for the prosperity of his church on earth. That he will be the great invisible agent in this battle, appears from the following words: “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron: And he treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” This is the battle of that great day of God Almighty. This awful scene proceeds and is yet farther described: “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven. Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both small and great.” This is a strong, figurative, prophetic expression of the great slaughter and terrible destruction of mankind, when God Almighty shall come forth to battle, and manifest his hot displeasure and terrible wrath, in the judgment he will inflict on them. The representation of this battle, and the issue of it goes on, and “I John saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together, to make war against him who sat on the horse, and against his army.” These are the same who are mentioned, chap. xvi. 14, 16, as gathered together to the battle of that great day of God Almighty, the meaning of which has been explained. And in this war and battle, the beast and the false prophet were taken and destroyed, with their adherents. “And the remnant were slain with the sword of him who sat upon the horse, which sword proceedeth out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” By the remnant, are meant the rest of mankind, who by their sins make war with Christ, and are not included in the beast and false prophet, and their followers, who belong to the kingdom of antichrist. Their being slain by the sword which proceeded out of the mouth of Christ, does not mean their , but their falling victims to his vengeance, which is expressed by the fowls being filled with their flesh.