8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse; and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given219unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill220with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.8.And I looked, and behold a pale horse—ἵππος χλωρὸς. On thehorse, as an emblem, see Notes onver.2. Thepeculiarityof this emblem consists in thecolourof the horse, the rider, and the power that was given unto him. In these there is entire harmony, and there can be comparatively little difficulty in the explanation and application. Thecolourof the horse waspale—χλωρὸς. This word properly meanspale-green,yellowish-green, like the colour of the first shoots of grass and herbage; thengreen,verdant, like young herbage,Mar.vi.39;Re.viii.7;ix.4; and thenpale yellowish(Rob.Lex.). The colour here would be an appropriate one to denote the reign of death—as one of the most striking effects of death ispaleness—and, of course, of death produced by any cause, famine, pestilence, or the sword. From this portion of the symbol, if it stood with nothing to limit and define it, we should naturally look for some condition of things in which death would prevail in a remarkable manner, or in which multitudes of human beings would be swept away. And yet, perhaps, from the very nature ofthispart of the symbol, we should look for the prevalence of death in some such peaceful manner as by famine or disease. Theredcolour would more naturally denote the ravages of death in war; the black, the ravages of death by sudden calamity; the pale would more obviously suggest famine or wasting disease. ¶And his name that sat on him was Death.No description is given of his aspect; nor does he appear with any emblem—as sword, or spear,or bow. There is evident scope for the fancy to picture to itself the form of the destroyer; and there is just that kind of obscurity about it which contributes to sublimity. Accordingly, there has been ample room for the exercise of the imagination in the attempts to paint “Death on the pale horse,” and the opening of this seal has furnished occasion for some of the greatest triumphs of the pencil. The simpleideain this portion of the symbol is, that death would reign or prevail under the opening of this seal—whether by sword, by famine, or by pestilence, is to be determined by other descriptions in the symbol. ¶And Hell followed with him.Attended him as he went forth. On the meaning of the word here renderedhell—ᾅδης,hades—see Notes onLu.xvi.23,comp.Notes on Jobx.21, 22;Is.xiv.9. It is here used to denote the abode of the dead, considered as a place where they dwell, and not in the more restricted sense in which the word is now commonly used as a place of punishment. The idea is, that the dead would be so numerous at the going forth of this horseman, that it would seem as if the pale nations of the dead had come again upon the earth. A vast retinue of the dead would accompany him; that is, it would be a time when death would prevail on the earth, or when multitudes would die. ¶And power was given unto them.Marg.,to him. The common Greek text isαὐτοῖς—to them. There are manyMSS., however, which readαὐτῷ—to him. So Professor Stuart reads it. The authority, however, is in favour ofthemas the reading; and according to this, death and his train are regarded as grouped together, and the power is considered as given to them collectively. The sense is not materially varied. ¶Over the fourth part of the earth.That is, of the Roman world. It is not absolutely necessary to understand this as extending overpreciselya fourth part of the world.Comp.Re.viii.7–10, 12;ix.15,et al.Undoubtedly we are to look in the fulfilment of this to some far-spread calamity; to some severe visitations which would sweep off great multitudes of men. Thenatureof that visitation is designated in the following specifications. ¶To kill with sword. In war and discord—and we are, therefore, to look to a period of war. ¶And with hunger.With famine—one of the accompaniments of war—where armies ravage a nation, trampling down the crops of grain; consuming the provisions laid up; employing in war, or cutting off, the men who would be occupied in cultivating the ground; making it necessary that they should take the field at a time when the grain should be sown or the harvest collected; and shutting up the people in besieged cities to perish by hunger. Famine has been not an unfrequent accompaniment of war; and we are to look for the fulfilment of this in its extensive prevalence. ¶And with death.Each of the other forms—“with the sword and with hunger”—imply thatdeathwould reign; for it is said that “power was given tokillwith sword and with hunger.” This word, then, must refer to death in some other form—to death that seemed to reign without any suchvisiblecause as the “sword” and “hunger.” This would well denote the pestilence—not an unfrequent accompaniment of war. For nothing is better fitted to produce this than the unburied bodies of the slain; the filth of a camp; the want of food; and the crowding together of multitudes in a besieged city; and, accordingly, the pestilence, especially in Oriental countries, has been often closely connected with war. That thepestilenceis referred to here is rendered more certain by the fact that the Hebrew wordדֶּבֶר,pestilence, which occurs about fifty times in the Old Testament, is renderedθάνατος,death, more than thirty times in the Septuagint. ¶And with the beasts of the earth. With wild beasts. This, too, would be one of the consequences of war, famine, and pestilence. Lands would be depopulated, and wild beasts would be multiplied. Nothing more is necessary to make them formidable than a prevalence of these things; and nothing, in the early stages of society, or in countries ravaged by war, famine, and the pestilence, is more formidable. Homer, at the very beginning of hisIliad, presents us with a representation similar to this.Comp.Eze.xiv.21: “I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence,”דֶבֶר—Sept., as here,θάνατον. See also2 Ki.xvii.26.In regard to the fulfilment of this there can be little difficulty, if the principles adopted in the interpretation of the first three seals are correct. Wemay turn to Gibbon, and, as in the other cases, we shall find that he has been an unconscious witness of the fidelity of the representation in this seal. Twogeneralremarks may be made before there is an attempt to illustrate the particular things in the symbol. (a) The first relates tothe placein the order of time, or in history, which this seal occupies. If the three former seals have been located with any degree of accuracy, we should expect that this would follow, not very remotely, the severe laws pertaining to taxation, which, according toMr.Gibbon, contributed so essentially to the downfall of the empire. And if it be admitted to be probable that the fifth seal refers to a time of persecution, it would be most natural to fix this period between those times and the times of Diocletian, when the persecution ceased. I may be permitted to say, that I was led to fix on this period without having any definite view beforehand of what occurredinit, and was surprised to find inMr.Gibbon whatseemsto be so accurate a correspondence with the symbol. (b) The second remark is, that thegeneralcharacteristics of this period, as stated byMr.Gibbon, agree remarkably with what we should expect of the period from the symbol. Thus speaking of this whole period (A.D.248–268), embracing the reigns of Decius, Gallus, Æmilianus, Valerian, and Gallienus, he says, “From the great secular games celebrated by Philip to the death of the emperor Gallienus, there elapsed twenty years of shame and misfortune. During this calamitous period every instant of time was marked, every province of the Roman world was afflicted by barbarous invaders and military tyrants, and the ruined empire seemed to approach the last and fatal moment of its dissolution,”i.135.In regard to theparticularthings referred to in the symbol, the following specifications may furnish a sufficient confirmation and illustration: (a) The killing with the sword. A fulfilment of this, so far as thewordsare concerned, might be found indeed in many portions of Roman history, but no one can doubt that it was eminently true of this period. It was the period of thefirstGothic invasion of the Roman empire; the period when those vast hordes, having gradually come down from the regions of Scandinavia, and having moved along the Danube towards the Ukraine and the countries bordering on the Borysthenes, invaded the Roman territories from the East, passed over Greece, and made their appearance almost, asMr.Gibbon says, within sight of Rome. Of this invasionMr.Gibbon says, “This is the first considerable occasion [the fact that the emperor Decius was summoned to the banks of the Danube,A.D.250, by the invasion of the Goths] in which history mentions that great people, who afterwards broke the Roman power, sacked the Capitol, and reigned in Gaul, Spain, and Italy. So memorable was the part which they acted in the subversion of the Western empire, that the name ofGothsis frequently, but improperly, used as a general appellation of rude and warlike barbarism,”i.p.136. As one of the illustrations that the “sword” would be used by “Death” in this period, we may refer to the siege and capture of Philippolis. “A hundred thousand persons are reported to have been massacred in the sack of that great city” (Dec. and Fall,i.140). “The whole period,” saysMr.Gibbon, speaking of the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, “was one uninterrupted series of confusion and calamity. The Roman empire was, at the same time, and on every side, attacked by the blind fury of foreign invaders, and the wild ambition of domestic usurpers,”i.144. “Such were the barbarians,” saysMr.Gibbon in the close of his description of the Goths at this period, and of the tyrants that reigned, “and such the tyrants, who, under the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, dismembered the provinces, and reduced the empire to the lowest pitch of disgrace and ruin, from whence it seemed impossible that it should ever emerge,”i.158. (b) Famine: “Shall kill with hunger.” This would naturally be the consequence of long-continued wars, and of such invasions as those of the Goths.Mr.Gibbon says of this period: “Our habits of thinking so fondly connect the order of the universe with the fate of man, that this gloomy period of history has been decorated with inundations, earthquakes, uncommon meteors, preternatural darkness, and a crowd of prodigies, fictitious or exaggerated. Buta long and general faminewas a calamity of a more serious kind. It was the inevitable consequence of rapine and oppression, which extirpated the produce of the present, and the hope of future harvests,”i.p.159. Prodigies, and preternaturaldarkness, and earthquakes, werenotseen in the vision of the opening of theseal—butwarandfaminewere; and the facts stated byMr.Gibbon are such as would be now appropriately symbolized by Death on the pale horse. (c) Pestilence: “And shall kill with death.” Of the pestilence which raged in this periodMr.Gibbon makes the following remarkable statement, in immediate connection with what he says of the famine:—“Famine is almost always followed by epidemical diseases, the effect of scanty and unwholesome food. Other causes must, however, have contributed to the furious plague, which, from the year 250 to the year 265,raged without interruption in every province, every city, and almost every family of the Roman empire. During some time five thousand persons died daily at Rome; and many towns that had escaped the hands of the barbarians were entirely depopulated,”i.159. (d) Wild beasts: “And shall kill with the beasts of the earth.” As already remarked, these are formidable enemies in the early stages of society, and when a country becomes, from any cause, depopulated. They are not mentioned byMr.Gibbon as contributing to the decline and fall of the empire, or as connected with the calamities that came upon the world at that period. But no one can doubt that in such circumstances they would be likely to abound, especially if the estimate ofMr.Gibbon be correct (i.159), when speaking of these times, and making an estimate of the proportion of the inhabitants of Alexandria that had perished—which he says was more than one-half—he adds, “Could we venture to extend the analogy to the other provinces, we might suspect thatwar,pestilence, andfaminehad consumed in a few years the moiety of the human species.” Yet, though not adverted to byMr.Gibbon, thereisa record pertaining to this very period, which shows that this was one of the calamities with which the world was then afflicted. It occurs in Arnobius,Adv. Gentes,lib. i.p.5. Within a few years after the death of Gallienus (aboutA.D.300) he speaks of wild beasts in such a manner as to show that they were regarded as a sore calamity. The public peril and suffering on this account were so great, that in common with other evils this was charged on Christians as one of the judgments of heaven which they brought upon the world. In defending Christians against the general charge that these judgments were sent from heaven on their account, he adverts to the prevalence of wild beasts, and shows that they could not have been sent as a judgment on account of the existence of Christianity, by the fact that they had prevailed also in the times of heathenism, long before Christianity was introduced into the empire. “Quando cum feris bella, et proelia cum leonibus gesta sunt? Non ante nos? Quando pernicies populis venenatis ab anguibus data est? Non ante nos?” “When were wars waged with wild beasts, and contests with lions? Was it not before our times? When did a plague come upon men poisoned by serpents? Was it not before our times?” In regard to theextentof the destruction which these causes would bring upon the world, there is a remarkable confirmation in Gibbon. To say, as is said in the account of the seal, that “afourthpart of the earth” would be subjected to the reign of death by the sword, by famine, by pestilence, and by wild beasts, may seem to many to be an improbable statement—a statement for the fulfilment of which we should look in vain to any historical records. YetMr.Gibbon, without expressly mentioning the plague of wild beasts, but referring to the three others—“war, pestilence, and famine”—goes into a calculation, in a passage already referred to, by which he shows that it is probable that from these causeshalfthe human race was destroyed. The following is his estimate:—“We have the knowledge of a very curious circumstance, of some use perhaps in the melancholy calculation of human calamities. An exact register was kept at Alexandria of all the citizens entitled to receive the distribution of corn. It was found that the ancient number of those comprised between the ages of forty and seventy had been equal to the whole sum of claimants, from fourteen to fourscore years of age, who remained alive after the reign of Gallienus. Applying this authentic fact to the most correct tables of mortality, it evidently proves that above half the people of Alexandria had perished; and could we venture to extend the analogy to the other provinces,we might suspect that war, pestilence, and famine had consumed in a few years the moiety of the human species,”i.159. The historian says that it might be “suspected” from these data that one-half of thehuman race had been cut off in a few years, from these causes; in the Apocalyptic vision it is said that power was given over one “fourth” of the earth. We may remark, (a) that the description in the symbol is aslikelyto be correct as the “suspicion” of the historian; and (b) that his statement that in this period “a moiety of the race,” or one-half of the race, perished, takes away all improbability from the prediction, and gives a most graphic confirmation of the symbol ofDeath on the pale horse. If such a desolation in fact occurred, there is no improbability in the supposition that it might have been prefigured by the opening of a prophetic seal. Such a wide-spread desolation would belikelyto be referred to in a series of symbols that were designed to represent the downfall of the Roman power, and the great changes in human affairs that would affect the welfare of the church.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse; and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given219unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill220with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
8.And I looked, and behold a pale horse—ἵππος χλωρὸς. On thehorse, as an emblem, see Notes onver.2. Thepeculiarityof this emblem consists in thecolourof the horse, the rider, and the power that was given unto him. In these there is entire harmony, and there can be comparatively little difficulty in the explanation and application. Thecolourof the horse waspale—χλωρὸς. This word properly meanspale-green,yellowish-green, like the colour of the first shoots of grass and herbage; thengreen,verdant, like young herbage,Mar.vi.39;Re.viii.7;ix.4; and thenpale yellowish(Rob.Lex.). The colour here would be an appropriate one to denote the reign of death—as one of the most striking effects of death ispaleness—and, of course, of death produced by any cause, famine, pestilence, or the sword. From this portion of the symbol, if it stood with nothing to limit and define it, we should naturally look for some condition of things in which death would prevail in a remarkable manner, or in which multitudes of human beings would be swept away. And yet, perhaps, from the very nature ofthispart of the symbol, we should look for the prevalence of death in some such peaceful manner as by famine or disease. Theredcolour would more naturally denote the ravages of death in war; the black, the ravages of death by sudden calamity; the pale would more obviously suggest famine or wasting disease. ¶And his name that sat on him was Death.No description is given of his aspect; nor does he appear with any emblem—as sword, or spear,or bow. There is evident scope for the fancy to picture to itself the form of the destroyer; and there is just that kind of obscurity about it which contributes to sublimity. Accordingly, there has been ample room for the exercise of the imagination in the attempts to paint “Death on the pale horse,” and the opening of this seal has furnished occasion for some of the greatest triumphs of the pencil. The simpleideain this portion of the symbol is, that death would reign or prevail under the opening of this seal—whether by sword, by famine, or by pestilence, is to be determined by other descriptions in the symbol. ¶And Hell followed with him.Attended him as he went forth. On the meaning of the word here renderedhell—ᾅδης,hades—see Notes onLu.xvi.23,comp.Notes on Jobx.21, 22;Is.xiv.9. It is here used to denote the abode of the dead, considered as a place where they dwell, and not in the more restricted sense in which the word is now commonly used as a place of punishment. The idea is, that the dead would be so numerous at the going forth of this horseman, that it would seem as if the pale nations of the dead had come again upon the earth. A vast retinue of the dead would accompany him; that is, it would be a time when death would prevail on the earth, or when multitudes would die. ¶And power was given unto them.Marg.,to him. The common Greek text isαὐτοῖς—to them. There are manyMSS., however, which readαὐτῷ—to him. So Professor Stuart reads it. The authority, however, is in favour ofthemas the reading; and according to this, death and his train are regarded as grouped together, and the power is considered as given to them collectively. The sense is not materially varied. ¶Over the fourth part of the earth.That is, of the Roman world. It is not absolutely necessary to understand this as extending overpreciselya fourth part of the world.Comp.Re.viii.7–10, 12;ix.15,et al.Undoubtedly we are to look in the fulfilment of this to some far-spread calamity; to some severe visitations which would sweep off great multitudes of men. Thenatureof that visitation is designated in the following specifications. ¶To kill with sword. In war and discord—and we are, therefore, to look to a period of war. ¶And with hunger.With famine—one of the accompaniments of war—where armies ravage a nation, trampling down the crops of grain; consuming the provisions laid up; employing in war, or cutting off, the men who would be occupied in cultivating the ground; making it necessary that they should take the field at a time when the grain should be sown or the harvest collected; and shutting up the people in besieged cities to perish by hunger. Famine has been not an unfrequent accompaniment of war; and we are to look for the fulfilment of this in its extensive prevalence. ¶And with death.Each of the other forms—“with the sword and with hunger”—imply thatdeathwould reign; for it is said that “power was given tokillwith sword and with hunger.” This word, then, must refer to death in some other form—to death that seemed to reign without any suchvisiblecause as the “sword” and “hunger.” This would well denote the pestilence—not an unfrequent accompaniment of war. For nothing is better fitted to produce this than the unburied bodies of the slain; the filth of a camp; the want of food; and the crowding together of multitudes in a besieged city; and, accordingly, the pestilence, especially in Oriental countries, has been often closely connected with war. That thepestilenceis referred to here is rendered more certain by the fact that the Hebrew wordדֶּבֶר,pestilence, which occurs about fifty times in the Old Testament, is renderedθάνατος,death, more than thirty times in the Septuagint. ¶And with the beasts of the earth. With wild beasts. This, too, would be one of the consequences of war, famine, and pestilence. Lands would be depopulated, and wild beasts would be multiplied. Nothing more is necessary to make them formidable than a prevalence of these things; and nothing, in the early stages of society, or in countries ravaged by war, famine, and the pestilence, is more formidable. Homer, at the very beginning of hisIliad, presents us with a representation similar to this.Comp.Eze.xiv.21: “I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence,”דֶבֶר—Sept., as here,θάνατον. See also2 Ki.xvii.26.
In regard to the fulfilment of this there can be little difficulty, if the principles adopted in the interpretation of the first three seals are correct. Wemay turn to Gibbon, and, as in the other cases, we shall find that he has been an unconscious witness of the fidelity of the representation in this seal. Twogeneralremarks may be made before there is an attempt to illustrate the particular things in the symbol. (a) The first relates tothe placein the order of time, or in history, which this seal occupies. If the three former seals have been located with any degree of accuracy, we should expect that this would follow, not very remotely, the severe laws pertaining to taxation, which, according toMr.Gibbon, contributed so essentially to the downfall of the empire. And if it be admitted to be probable that the fifth seal refers to a time of persecution, it would be most natural to fix this period between those times and the times of Diocletian, when the persecution ceased. I may be permitted to say, that I was led to fix on this period without having any definite view beforehand of what occurredinit, and was surprised to find inMr.Gibbon whatseemsto be so accurate a correspondence with the symbol. (b) The second remark is, that thegeneralcharacteristics of this period, as stated byMr.Gibbon, agree remarkably with what we should expect of the period from the symbol. Thus speaking of this whole period (A.D.248–268), embracing the reigns of Decius, Gallus, Æmilianus, Valerian, and Gallienus, he says, “From the great secular games celebrated by Philip to the death of the emperor Gallienus, there elapsed twenty years of shame and misfortune. During this calamitous period every instant of time was marked, every province of the Roman world was afflicted by barbarous invaders and military tyrants, and the ruined empire seemed to approach the last and fatal moment of its dissolution,”i.135.
In regard to theparticularthings referred to in the symbol, the following specifications may furnish a sufficient confirmation and illustration: (a) The killing with the sword. A fulfilment of this, so far as thewordsare concerned, might be found indeed in many portions of Roman history, but no one can doubt that it was eminently true of this period. It was the period of thefirstGothic invasion of the Roman empire; the period when those vast hordes, having gradually come down from the regions of Scandinavia, and having moved along the Danube towards the Ukraine and the countries bordering on the Borysthenes, invaded the Roman territories from the East, passed over Greece, and made their appearance almost, asMr.Gibbon says, within sight of Rome. Of this invasionMr.Gibbon says, “This is the first considerable occasion [the fact that the emperor Decius was summoned to the banks of the Danube,A.D.250, by the invasion of the Goths] in which history mentions that great people, who afterwards broke the Roman power, sacked the Capitol, and reigned in Gaul, Spain, and Italy. So memorable was the part which they acted in the subversion of the Western empire, that the name ofGothsis frequently, but improperly, used as a general appellation of rude and warlike barbarism,”i.p.136. As one of the illustrations that the “sword” would be used by “Death” in this period, we may refer to the siege and capture of Philippolis. “A hundred thousand persons are reported to have been massacred in the sack of that great city” (Dec. and Fall,i.140). “The whole period,” saysMr.Gibbon, speaking of the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, “was one uninterrupted series of confusion and calamity. The Roman empire was, at the same time, and on every side, attacked by the blind fury of foreign invaders, and the wild ambition of domestic usurpers,”i.144. “Such were the barbarians,” saysMr.Gibbon in the close of his description of the Goths at this period, and of the tyrants that reigned, “and such the tyrants, who, under the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, dismembered the provinces, and reduced the empire to the lowest pitch of disgrace and ruin, from whence it seemed impossible that it should ever emerge,”i.158. (b) Famine: “Shall kill with hunger.” This would naturally be the consequence of long-continued wars, and of such invasions as those of the Goths.Mr.Gibbon says of this period: “Our habits of thinking so fondly connect the order of the universe with the fate of man, that this gloomy period of history has been decorated with inundations, earthquakes, uncommon meteors, preternatural darkness, and a crowd of prodigies, fictitious or exaggerated. Buta long and general faminewas a calamity of a more serious kind. It was the inevitable consequence of rapine and oppression, which extirpated the produce of the present, and the hope of future harvests,”i.p.159. Prodigies, and preternaturaldarkness, and earthquakes, werenotseen in the vision of the opening of theseal—butwarandfaminewere; and the facts stated byMr.Gibbon are such as would be now appropriately symbolized by Death on the pale horse. (c) Pestilence: “And shall kill with death.” Of the pestilence which raged in this periodMr.Gibbon makes the following remarkable statement, in immediate connection with what he says of the famine:—“Famine is almost always followed by epidemical diseases, the effect of scanty and unwholesome food. Other causes must, however, have contributed to the furious plague, which, from the year 250 to the year 265,raged without interruption in every province, every city, and almost every family of the Roman empire. During some time five thousand persons died daily at Rome; and many towns that had escaped the hands of the barbarians were entirely depopulated,”i.159. (d) Wild beasts: “And shall kill with the beasts of the earth.” As already remarked, these are formidable enemies in the early stages of society, and when a country becomes, from any cause, depopulated. They are not mentioned byMr.Gibbon as contributing to the decline and fall of the empire, or as connected with the calamities that came upon the world at that period. But no one can doubt that in such circumstances they would be likely to abound, especially if the estimate ofMr.Gibbon be correct (i.159), when speaking of these times, and making an estimate of the proportion of the inhabitants of Alexandria that had perished—which he says was more than one-half—he adds, “Could we venture to extend the analogy to the other provinces, we might suspect thatwar,pestilence, andfaminehad consumed in a few years the moiety of the human species.” Yet, though not adverted to byMr.Gibbon, thereisa record pertaining to this very period, which shows that this was one of the calamities with which the world was then afflicted. It occurs in Arnobius,Adv. Gentes,lib. i.p.5. Within a few years after the death of Gallienus (aboutA.D.300) he speaks of wild beasts in such a manner as to show that they were regarded as a sore calamity. The public peril and suffering on this account were so great, that in common with other evils this was charged on Christians as one of the judgments of heaven which they brought upon the world. In defending Christians against the general charge that these judgments were sent from heaven on their account, he adverts to the prevalence of wild beasts, and shows that they could not have been sent as a judgment on account of the existence of Christianity, by the fact that they had prevailed also in the times of heathenism, long before Christianity was introduced into the empire. “Quando cum feris bella, et proelia cum leonibus gesta sunt? Non ante nos? Quando pernicies populis venenatis ab anguibus data est? Non ante nos?” “When were wars waged with wild beasts, and contests with lions? Was it not before our times? When did a plague come upon men poisoned by serpents? Was it not before our times?” In regard to theextentof the destruction which these causes would bring upon the world, there is a remarkable confirmation in Gibbon. To say, as is said in the account of the seal, that “afourthpart of the earth” would be subjected to the reign of death by the sword, by famine, by pestilence, and by wild beasts, may seem to many to be an improbable statement—a statement for the fulfilment of which we should look in vain to any historical records. YetMr.Gibbon, without expressly mentioning the plague of wild beasts, but referring to the three others—“war, pestilence, and famine”—goes into a calculation, in a passage already referred to, by which he shows that it is probable that from these causeshalfthe human race was destroyed. The following is his estimate:—“We have the knowledge of a very curious circumstance, of some use perhaps in the melancholy calculation of human calamities. An exact register was kept at Alexandria of all the citizens entitled to receive the distribution of corn. It was found that the ancient number of those comprised between the ages of forty and seventy had been equal to the whole sum of claimants, from fourteen to fourscore years of age, who remained alive after the reign of Gallienus. Applying this authentic fact to the most correct tables of mortality, it evidently proves that above half the people of Alexandria had perished; and could we venture to extend the analogy to the other provinces,we might suspect that war, pestilence, and famine had consumed in a few years the moiety of the human species,”i.159. The historian says that it might be “suspected” from these data that one-half of thehuman race had been cut off in a few years, from these causes; in the Apocalyptic vision it is said that power was given over one “fourth” of the earth. We may remark, (a) that the description in the symbol is aslikelyto be correct as the “suspicion” of the historian; and (b) that his statement that in this period “a moiety of the race,” or one-half of the race, perished, takes away all improbability from the prediction, and gives a most graphic confirmation of the symbol ofDeath on the pale horse. If such a desolation in fact occurred, there is no improbability in the supposition that it might have been prefigured by the opening of a prophetic seal. Such a wide-spread desolation would belikelyto be referred to in a series of symbols that were designed to represent the downfall of the Roman power, and the great changes in human affairs that would affect the welfare of the church.
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the221altar the222souls of them that were slain for223the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying,224How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and225avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?11 And226white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should227rest yet for a little season, until228their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as theywere, should be fulfilled.9–11.And when he had opened the fifth seal.Notes,ch. v.1;vi.1. ¶I saw under the altar.The four living creatures are no longer heard as in the opening of the first four seals. No reason is given for the change in the manner of the representation; and none can be assigned, unless it be, that having represented each one of the four living creatures in their turn as calling attention to the remarkable events about to occur, there seemed to be no necessity or propriety in introducing them again. In itself considered, it cannot be supposed that they would be any less interested in the events about to be disclosed than they were in those which preceded. This seal pertains tomartyrs—as the former successively did to a time of prosperity and triumph; to discord and bloodshed; to oppressive taxation; to war, famine, and pestilence. In the series of woes, it was natural and proper that there should be a vision of martyrs, if it was intended that the successive seals should refer to coming and important periods of the world; and accordingly we have here a striking representation of the martyrs crying to God to interpose in their behalf and to avenge their blood. The points which require elucidation are: (a) their position—under the altar; (b) their invocation—or their prayer that they might be avenged; (c) the clothing of them with robes; and (d) the command to wait patiently a little time. (1) The position of the martyrs—under the altar. There were in the temple at Jerusalem two altars—the altar of burnt sacrifices, and the altar of incense. The altar here referred to was probably the former. This stood in front of the temple, and it was on this that the daily sacrifice was made.Comp.Notes onMat.v.23, 24. We are to remember, however, that the temple and the altar were both destroyed before the time when this book was written, and this should, therefore, be regarded merely as a vision. John saw these soulsas ifthey were collected under the altar—the place where the sacrifice for sin was made—offering their supplications.Whythey are represented as being there is not so apparent; but probably two suggestions will explain this: (a) The altar was the place where sin was expiated, and it was natural to represent these redeemed martyrs as seeking refuge there; and (b) it was usual to offer prayers and supplicationsatthe altar, in connection with the sacrifice made for sin, and on the ground of that sacrifice. The idea is, that they who were suffering persecution would naturally seek a refuge in the place where expiation was made for sin, and where prayer was appropriately offered. Thelanguagehere is such as a Hebrew would naturally use; theideais appropriate to anyone who believes in the atonement, and who supposes that that is the appropriate refuge for those who are in trouble. But while the language here is such as a Hebrew would use, and while the reference in the language is to the altar of burnt sacrifice, the scene should be regarded as undoubtedly laid in heaven—the temple where God resides. The whole representation is that of fleeing to the atonement, and pleading withGod in connection with the sacrifice for sin. ¶The souls of them that were slain.That had been put to death by persecution. This is one of the incidental proofs in the Bible that the soul does not cease to exist at death, and also that it does not cease to be conscious, or does not sleep till the resurrection. These souls of the martyrs are represented as still in existence; as remembering what had occurred on the earth; as interested in what was now taking place; as engaged in prayer; and as manifesting earnest desires for the divine interposition to avenge the wrongs which they had suffered. ¶For the word of God.On account of the word or truth of God. See Notes onch. i.9. ¶And for the testimony which they held.On account of their testimony to the truth, or being faithful witnesses of the truth of Jesus Christ. See Notes onch. i.9. (2) The invocation of the martyrs,ver.10:And they cried with a loud voice.That is, they pleaded that their blood might be avenged. ¶Saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true.They did not doubt that Godwouldavenge them, but they inquiredhow longthe vengeance would be delayed. It seemed to them that God was slow to interpose, and to check the persecuting power. They appeal therefore to him as a God of holiness and truth; that is, as one who could not look with approval on sin, and in whose sight the wrongs inflicted by the persecuting power must be infinitely offensive; as one who was true to his promises, and faithful to his people. On the ground of his own hatred of wrong, and of his plighted faithfulness to his church, they pleaded that he would interpose. ¶Dost thou not judge and avenge our blood.That is, dost thouforbearto judge and avenge us; or dost thou delay to punish those who have persecuted and slain us. They do not speak as if they had any doubt that it would be done, nor as if they were actuated by a spirit ofrevenge; but as if it would beproperthat there should be an expression of the divine sense of the wrongs that had been done them. It is not right to desire vengeance or revenge; it is to desire that justice should be done, and that the government of God should be vindicated. The word “judge” here may either mean “judgeus,” in the sense of “vindicateus,” or it may refer to their persecutors, meaning “judgethem.” The more probable sense is the latter: “How long dost thou forbear to execute judgment on our account on those that dwell on the earth?” The wordavenge—ἐκδικέω—means to do justice; to execute punishment. ¶On them that dwell on the earth.Those who are still on the earth. This shows that the scene here is laid in heaven, and that the souls of the martyrs are represented as there. We are not to suppose that thisliterallyoccurred, and that John actually saw the souls of the martyrs beneath the altars—for the whole representation is symbolical; nor are we to suppose that the injured and the wronged in heaven actually pray for vengeance on those who wronged them, or that the redeemed in heaven will continue to pray with reference to things on the earth; but it may be fairly inferred from this that there will beas reala remembrance of the wrongs of the persecuted, the injured, and the oppressed,as ifsuch prayer were offered there; and that the oppressor has as much to dread from the divine vengeanceas ifthose whom he has injured should cry in heaven to the God who hears prayer, and who takes vengeance. The wrongs done to the children of God; to the orphan, the widow, the down-trodden; to the slave and the outcast, will be as certainly remembered in heaven as if they who are wronged should plead for vengeance there, for every act of injustice and oppression goes to heaven and pleads for vengeance. Every persecutor should dread the death of the persecutedas ifhe went to heaven to plead against him; every cruel master should dread the death of his slave that is crushed by wrongs; every seducer should dread the death and the cries of his victim; every one who does wrong in any way should remember that the sufferings of the injured cry to heaven with a martyr’s pleadings, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood?” (3) The robes that were given to the martyrs:And whiterobes were given unto every one of them.Emblems of purity or innocence. See Notes onch. iii.5. Here the robes would be an emblem of their innocence as martyrs; of the divine approval of their testimony and lives, and a pledge of their future blessedness. (4) The command to wait:And it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season.That is, that they must wait for a little season before they could be avenged as they desired,ver.10. They had pleaded that their cause might be at once vindicated, and had asked how long it would be before it should be done. The reply is, that the desired vindication would not at once occur, but that they must wait until other events were accomplished. Nothing definite is determined by the phrase “a little season,” or a short time. It is simply an intimation that this would notimmediatelyoccur, or was not soon to take place. Whether it refers to an existing persecution, and to the fact that they were to wait for the divine interposition until that was over, and those who were then suffering persecution should be put to death and join them; or whether to a series of persecutions stretching along in the history of the world, in such a sense that the promised vengeance would take place only when all those persecutions were passed, and the number of the martyrs completed, cannot be determined from the meaning of their words. Either of these suppositions would accord well with what the language naturally expresses. ¶Until their fellow-servants also.Those who were then suffering persecution, or those who should afterwards suffer persecution, grouping all together. ¶And their brethren.Their brethren as Christians, and their brethren in trial: those then living, or those who would live afterwards and pass through similar scenes. ¶Should be fulfilled.That is, till these persecutions were passed through, and the number of the martyrs was complete. The state of things represented here would seem to be, that there was then a persecution raging on the earth. Many had been put to death, and their souls had fled to heaven, where they pleaded that their cause might be vindicated, and that their oppressors and persecutors might be punished. To this the answer was, thattheywere now safe and happy—that God approved their course, and that in token of his approbation they should be clothed in white raiment; but that the invoked vindication could not at once occur. There were others who would yet be called to suffer as they had done, and they must wait until all that number was completed.Then, it is implied, God would interpose, and vindicate his name. The scene, therefore, is laid in a time of persecution, when many had already died, and when there were many more that were exposed to death; and a sufficient fulfilment of the passage, so far as thewordsare concerned, would be found inanypersecution, where many might be represented as having already gone to heaven, and where there was a certainty that many more would follow. We naturally, however, look for the fulfilment of it in some period succeeding those designated by the preceding symbols. There would be no difficulty, in the early history of the church, in finding events that would correspond with all that is represented by the symbol; but it is natural to look for it in a period succeeding that represented, under the fourth seal, by Death on the pale horse. If the previous seals have been correctly interpreted we shall not be much in danger of erring in supposing that this refers to the persecution under Diocletian; and perhaps we may find in one who never intended to write a word that could be construed as furnishing a proof of the fulfilment of the prophecies of the New Testament, what should be regarded as a complete verification of all that is represented here. The following particulars may justify this application: (a) Theplaceof that persecution in history, or the time when it occurred. As already remarked, if the previous seals have been rightly explained, and the fourth seal denotes the wars, the famine, and the pestilence, under the invasion of the Goths, and in the time of Valerian and Gallienus, then the last great persecution of the church under Diocletian would well accord with the period in history referred to. Valerian died inA.D.260, being flayed alive by Sapor, king of Persia; Gallienus died inA.D.268, being killed at Milan. Diocletian ascended the throneA.D.284, and resigned the purpleA.D.304. It was during this period, and chiefly at the instigation of Galerius, that the tenth persecution of the Christians occurred—the last under the Roman power; for inA.D.306 Constantine ascended the throne, and ultimately becamethe protector of the church. (b) Themagnitudeof this persecution under Diocletian is as consonant to the representation here as its place in history. So important was it, that, in a general chapter on the persecutions of the Christians,Mr.Gibbon has seen fit, in his remarks on the nature, causes, extent, and character of the persecutions, to give a prominence to this which he has not assigned to any others, and to attach an importance to it which he has not to any other. Seevol. i.pp.317–322. Thedesignof this persecution, asMr.Gibbon expresses it (i.318), was “to set bounds to the progress of Christianity;” or, as he elsewhere expresses it (on the same page), “the destruction of Christianity.” Diocletian, himself naturally averse from persecution, was excited to this by Galerius, who urged upon the emperor every argument by which he could persuade him to engage in it.Mr.Gibbon says in regard to this, “Galerius at length extorted from him [Diocletian] the permission of summoning a council, composed of a few persons, the most distinguished in the civil and military departments of the state. It may be presumed that they insisted on every topic which might interest the pride, the piety, the fears of their sovereignin the destruction of Christianity,”i.318. Thepurposeevidently in the persecution, was, to make a last and desperate effort, through the whole Roman empire, for the destruction of the Christian religion; forMr.Gibbon (i.320) says that “the edict against the Christians was designed for a general lawof the whole empire.” Other efforts had failed. The religion still spread, notwithstanding the rage and fury of nine previous persecutions. It was resolved to make one more effort. This was designed by the persecutors to be the last, in the hope that then the Christian name would cease to be: in the providence of God itwasthe last—for then even these opposing powers became convinced that the religion could not be destroyed in this manner—and as this persecution was to establish this fact, it was an event of sufficient magnitude to be symbolized by the opening of one of the seals. (c) Theseverityof this persecution accorded with the description here, and was such as to deserve a place in the series of important events which were to occur in the world. We have seen above, from the statement ofMr.Gibbon, that it was designed for the “whole empire,” and it in fact raged with fury throughout the empire. After detailing some of the events of local persecutions under Diocletian,Mr.Gibbon says, “The resentment or the fears of Diocletian at length transported him beyond the bounds of moderation, which he had hitherto preserved, and he declared, in a series of edicts, his intention of abolishing the Christian name. By the first of these edicts the governors of the provinces were directed to apprehend all persons of the ecclesiastical order; and the prisons destined for the vilest criminals were soon filled with a multitude of bishops, presbyters, deacons, and exorcists. By a second edict the magistrates were commanded to employ every method of severity which might reclaim them from their odious superstition, and oblige them to return to the established worship of the gods. This rigorous order was extended, by a subsequent edict, to the whole body of Christians, who were exposed to a violent and general persecution. Instead of those salutary restraints which had required the direct and solemn testimony of an accuser, it became the duty as well as the interest of the imperial officers to discover, to pursue, and to torment the most obnoxious among the faithful. Heavy penalties were denounced against all who should presume to save a proscribed sectary from the just indignation of the gods, and of the emperors,”i.322. The first decree against the Christians, at the instigation of Galerius, will show the general nature of this fiery trial of the church. That decree was to the following effect: “All assembling of the Christians for the purposes of religious worship was forbidden; the Christian churches were to be demolished to their foundations; all manuscripts of the Bible should be burned; those who held places of honour or rank must either renounce their faith or be degraded; in judicial proceedings the torture might be used against all Christians, of whatever rank; those belonging to the lower walks of private life were to be divested of their rights as citizens and as freemen; Christian slaves were to be incapable of receiving their freedom, so long as they remained Christians” (Neander,Hist.of the Church, Torrey’sTrans.i.148). This persecution was the last against the Christians by the Roman emperors; thelast that was waged by that mighty Pagan power. Diocletian soon resigned the purple, and after the persecution had continued to rage, with more or less severity, under his successors, for ten years, the peace of the church was established. “Diocletian,” saysMr.Gibbon (i.322), “had no sooner published his edicts against the Christians, than, as if he had been committing to other hands his work of persecution, he divested himself of the imperial purple. The character and situation of his colleagues and successors sometimes urged them to enforce, and sometimes to suspend, the execution of these rigorous laws; nor can we acquire a just and distinct idea of this important period of ecclesiastical history, unless we separately consider the state of Christianity in the different parts of the empire, during the space of ten years which elapsed between the first edicts of Diocletianand the final peace of the church.” For this detail consult Gibbon,i.322–329, and the authorities there referred to; and Neander,Hist.of the Church,i.147–156. Respecting the details of the persecution,Mr.Gibbon remarks (i.326), “It would have been an easy task, from the history of Eusebius, from the declamations of Lactantius, and from the most ancient acts, to collect a long series of horrid and disgustful pictures, and to fill many pages with racks and scourges, with iron-hooks, and red-hot beds, and with the variety of tortures which fire and steel, savage beasts, and more savage executioners, could inflict on the human body.” It is true thatMr.Gibbon professes to doubt the truth of these records, and attempts to show that the account of the number of the martyrs has been greatly exaggerated; yet no one, in reading his own account of this persecution, can doubt that it was the result of a determined effort to blot out the Christian religion, and that the whole of the imperial power was exerted to accomplish this end. At length the last of the imperial persecutions ceased, and the great truth was demonstrated that Christianity could not be extinguished by power, and that “the gates of hell could not prevail against it.” “In the year 311,” says Neander (i.156), “the remarkable edict appeared which put an end to the last sanguinary conflict of the Christian church and the Roman empire.” This decree was issued by the author and instigator of the persecution, Galerius, who, “softened by a severe and painful disease, the consequence of his excesses, had been led to think that the God of the Christians might, after all, be a powerful being, whose anger punished him, and whose favour he must endeavour to conciliate.” This man suspended the persecution, and gave the Christians permission “once more to hold their assemblies, provided they did nothing contrary to the good order of the Roman state.” “Ita ut ne quid contra disciplinam agant” (Neander,ibid.).
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the221altar the222souls of them that were slain for223the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying,224How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and225avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?11 And226white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should227rest yet for a little season, until228their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as theywere, should be fulfilled.
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the221altar the222souls of them that were slain for223the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying,224How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and225avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And226white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should227rest yet for a little season, until228their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as theywere, should be fulfilled.
9–11.And when he had opened the fifth seal.Notes,ch. v.1;vi.1. ¶I saw under the altar.The four living creatures are no longer heard as in the opening of the first four seals. No reason is given for the change in the manner of the representation; and none can be assigned, unless it be, that having represented each one of the four living creatures in their turn as calling attention to the remarkable events about to occur, there seemed to be no necessity or propriety in introducing them again. In itself considered, it cannot be supposed that they would be any less interested in the events about to be disclosed than they were in those which preceded. This seal pertains tomartyrs—as the former successively did to a time of prosperity and triumph; to discord and bloodshed; to oppressive taxation; to war, famine, and pestilence. In the series of woes, it was natural and proper that there should be a vision of martyrs, if it was intended that the successive seals should refer to coming and important periods of the world; and accordingly we have here a striking representation of the martyrs crying to God to interpose in their behalf and to avenge their blood. The points which require elucidation are: (a) their position—under the altar; (b) their invocation—or their prayer that they might be avenged; (c) the clothing of them with robes; and (d) the command to wait patiently a little time. (1) The position of the martyrs—under the altar. There were in the temple at Jerusalem two altars—the altar of burnt sacrifices, and the altar of incense. The altar here referred to was probably the former. This stood in front of the temple, and it was on this that the daily sacrifice was made.Comp.Notes onMat.v.23, 24. We are to remember, however, that the temple and the altar were both destroyed before the time when this book was written, and this should, therefore, be regarded merely as a vision. John saw these soulsas ifthey were collected under the altar—the place where the sacrifice for sin was made—offering their supplications.Whythey are represented as being there is not so apparent; but probably two suggestions will explain this: (a) The altar was the place where sin was expiated, and it was natural to represent these redeemed martyrs as seeking refuge there; and (b) it was usual to offer prayers and supplicationsatthe altar, in connection with the sacrifice made for sin, and on the ground of that sacrifice. The idea is, that they who were suffering persecution would naturally seek a refuge in the place where expiation was made for sin, and where prayer was appropriately offered. Thelanguagehere is such as a Hebrew would naturally use; theideais appropriate to anyone who believes in the atonement, and who supposes that that is the appropriate refuge for those who are in trouble. But while the language here is such as a Hebrew would use, and while the reference in the language is to the altar of burnt sacrifice, the scene should be regarded as undoubtedly laid in heaven—the temple where God resides. The whole representation is that of fleeing to the atonement, and pleading withGod in connection with the sacrifice for sin. ¶The souls of them that were slain.That had been put to death by persecution. This is one of the incidental proofs in the Bible that the soul does not cease to exist at death, and also that it does not cease to be conscious, or does not sleep till the resurrection. These souls of the martyrs are represented as still in existence; as remembering what had occurred on the earth; as interested in what was now taking place; as engaged in prayer; and as manifesting earnest desires for the divine interposition to avenge the wrongs which they had suffered. ¶For the word of God.On account of the word or truth of God. See Notes onch. i.9. ¶And for the testimony which they held.On account of their testimony to the truth, or being faithful witnesses of the truth of Jesus Christ. See Notes onch. i.9. (2) The invocation of the martyrs,ver.10:And they cried with a loud voice.That is, they pleaded that their blood might be avenged. ¶Saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true.They did not doubt that Godwouldavenge them, but they inquiredhow longthe vengeance would be delayed. It seemed to them that God was slow to interpose, and to check the persecuting power. They appeal therefore to him as a God of holiness and truth; that is, as one who could not look with approval on sin, and in whose sight the wrongs inflicted by the persecuting power must be infinitely offensive; as one who was true to his promises, and faithful to his people. On the ground of his own hatred of wrong, and of his plighted faithfulness to his church, they pleaded that he would interpose. ¶Dost thou not judge and avenge our blood.That is, dost thouforbearto judge and avenge us; or dost thou delay to punish those who have persecuted and slain us. They do not speak as if they had any doubt that it would be done, nor as if they were actuated by a spirit ofrevenge; but as if it would beproperthat there should be an expression of the divine sense of the wrongs that had been done them. It is not right to desire vengeance or revenge; it is to desire that justice should be done, and that the government of God should be vindicated. The word “judge” here may either mean “judgeus,” in the sense of “vindicateus,” or it may refer to their persecutors, meaning “judgethem.” The more probable sense is the latter: “How long dost thou forbear to execute judgment on our account on those that dwell on the earth?” The wordavenge—ἐκδικέω—means to do justice; to execute punishment. ¶On them that dwell on the earth.Those who are still on the earth. This shows that the scene here is laid in heaven, and that the souls of the martyrs are represented as there. We are not to suppose that thisliterallyoccurred, and that John actually saw the souls of the martyrs beneath the altars—for the whole representation is symbolical; nor are we to suppose that the injured and the wronged in heaven actually pray for vengeance on those who wronged them, or that the redeemed in heaven will continue to pray with reference to things on the earth; but it may be fairly inferred from this that there will beas reala remembrance of the wrongs of the persecuted, the injured, and the oppressed,as ifsuch prayer were offered there; and that the oppressor has as much to dread from the divine vengeanceas ifthose whom he has injured should cry in heaven to the God who hears prayer, and who takes vengeance. The wrongs done to the children of God; to the orphan, the widow, the down-trodden; to the slave and the outcast, will be as certainly remembered in heaven as if they who are wronged should plead for vengeance there, for every act of injustice and oppression goes to heaven and pleads for vengeance. Every persecutor should dread the death of the persecutedas ifhe went to heaven to plead against him; every cruel master should dread the death of his slave that is crushed by wrongs; every seducer should dread the death and the cries of his victim; every one who does wrong in any way should remember that the sufferings of the injured cry to heaven with a martyr’s pleadings, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood?” (3) The robes that were given to the martyrs:And whiterobes were given unto every one of them.Emblems of purity or innocence. See Notes onch. iii.5. Here the robes would be an emblem of their innocence as martyrs; of the divine approval of their testimony and lives, and a pledge of their future blessedness. (4) The command to wait:And it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season.That is, that they must wait for a little season before they could be avenged as they desired,ver.10. They had pleaded that their cause might be at once vindicated, and had asked how long it would be before it should be done. The reply is, that the desired vindication would not at once occur, but that they must wait until other events were accomplished. Nothing definite is determined by the phrase “a little season,” or a short time. It is simply an intimation that this would notimmediatelyoccur, or was not soon to take place. Whether it refers to an existing persecution, and to the fact that they were to wait for the divine interposition until that was over, and those who were then suffering persecution should be put to death and join them; or whether to a series of persecutions stretching along in the history of the world, in such a sense that the promised vengeance would take place only when all those persecutions were passed, and the number of the martyrs completed, cannot be determined from the meaning of their words. Either of these suppositions would accord well with what the language naturally expresses. ¶Until their fellow-servants also.Those who were then suffering persecution, or those who should afterwards suffer persecution, grouping all together. ¶And their brethren.Their brethren as Christians, and their brethren in trial: those then living, or those who would live afterwards and pass through similar scenes. ¶Should be fulfilled.That is, till these persecutions were passed through, and the number of the martyrs was complete. The state of things represented here would seem to be, that there was then a persecution raging on the earth. Many had been put to death, and their souls had fled to heaven, where they pleaded that their cause might be vindicated, and that their oppressors and persecutors might be punished. To this the answer was, thattheywere now safe and happy—that God approved their course, and that in token of his approbation they should be clothed in white raiment; but that the invoked vindication could not at once occur. There were others who would yet be called to suffer as they had done, and they must wait until all that number was completed.Then, it is implied, God would interpose, and vindicate his name. The scene, therefore, is laid in a time of persecution, when many had already died, and when there were many more that were exposed to death; and a sufficient fulfilment of the passage, so far as thewordsare concerned, would be found inanypersecution, where many might be represented as having already gone to heaven, and where there was a certainty that many more would follow. We naturally, however, look for the fulfilment of it in some period succeeding those designated by the preceding symbols. There would be no difficulty, in the early history of the church, in finding events that would correspond with all that is represented by the symbol; but it is natural to look for it in a period succeeding that represented, under the fourth seal, by Death on the pale horse. If the previous seals have been correctly interpreted we shall not be much in danger of erring in supposing that this refers to the persecution under Diocletian; and perhaps we may find in one who never intended to write a word that could be construed as furnishing a proof of the fulfilment of the prophecies of the New Testament, what should be regarded as a complete verification of all that is represented here. The following particulars may justify this application: (a) Theplaceof that persecution in history, or the time when it occurred. As already remarked, if the previous seals have been rightly explained, and the fourth seal denotes the wars, the famine, and the pestilence, under the invasion of the Goths, and in the time of Valerian and Gallienus, then the last great persecution of the church under Diocletian would well accord with the period in history referred to. Valerian died inA.D.260, being flayed alive by Sapor, king of Persia; Gallienus died inA.D.268, being killed at Milan. Diocletian ascended the throneA.D.284, and resigned the purpleA.D.304. It was during this period, and chiefly at the instigation of Galerius, that the tenth persecution of the Christians occurred—the last under the Roman power; for inA.D.306 Constantine ascended the throne, and ultimately becamethe protector of the church. (b) Themagnitudeof this persecution under Diocletian is as consonant to the representation here as its place in history. So important was it, that, in a general chapter on the persecutions of the Christians,Mr.Gibbon has seen fit, in his remarks on the nature, causes, extent, and character of the persecutions, to give a prominence to this which he has not assigned to any others, and to attach an importance to it which he has not to any other. Seevol. i.pp.317–322. Thedesignof this persecution, asMr.Gibbon expresses it (i.318), was “to set bounds to the progress of Christianity;” or, as he elsewhere expresses it (on the same page), “the destruction of Christianity.” Diocletian, himself naturally averse from persecution, was excited to this by Galerius, who urged upon the emperor every argument by which he could persuade him to engage in it.Mr.Gibbon says in regard to this, “Galerius at length extorted from him [Diocletian] the permission of summoning a council, composed of a few persons, the most distinguished in the civil and military departments of the state. It may be presumed that they insisted on every topic which might interest the pride, the piety, the fears of their sovereignin the destruction of Christianity,”i.318. Thepurposeevidently in the persecution, was, to make a last and desperate effort, through the whole Roman empire, for the destruction of the Christian religion; forMr.Gibbon (i.320) says that “the edict against the Christians was designed for a general lawof the whole empire.” Other efforts had failed. The religion still spread, notwithstanding the rage and fury of nine previous persecutions. It was resolved to make one more effort. This was designed by the persecutors to be the last, in the hope that then the Christian name would cease to be: in the providence of God itwasthe last—for then even these opposing powers became convinced that the religion could not be destroyed in this manner—and as this persecution was to establish this fact, it was an event of sufficient magnitude to be symbolized by the opening of one of the seals. (c) Theseverityof this persecution accorded with the description here, and was such as to deserve a place in the series of important events which were to occur in the world. We have seen above, from the statement ofMr.Gibbon, that it was designed for the “whole empire,” and it in fact raged with fury throughout the empire. After detailing some of the events of local persecutions under Diocletian,Mr.Gibbon says, “The resentment or the fears of Diocletian at length transported him beyond the bounds of moderation, which he had hitherto preserved, and he declared, in a series of edicts, his intention of abolishing the Christian name. By the first of these edicts the governors of the provinces were directed to apprehend all persons of the ecclesiastical order; and the prisons destined for the vilest criminals were soon filled with a multitude of bishops, presbyters, deacons, and exorcists. By a second edict the magistrates were commanded to employ every method of severity which might reclaim them from their odious superstition, and oblige them to return to the established worship of the gods. This rigorous order was extended, by a subsequent edict, to the whole body of Christians, who were exposed to a violent and general persecution. Instead of those salutary restraints which had required the direct and solemn testimony of an accuser, it became the duty as well as the interest of the imperial officers to discover, to pursue, and to torment the most obnoxious among the faithful. Heavy penalties were denounced against all who should presume to save a proscribed sectary from the just indignation of the gods, and of the emperors,”i.322. The first decree against the Christians, at the instigation of Galerius, will show the general nature of this fiery trial of the church. That decree was to the following effect: “All assembling of the Christians for the purposes of religious worship was forbidden; the Christian churches were to be demolished to their foundations; all manuscripts of the Bible should be burned; those who held places of honour or rank must either renounce their faith or be degraded; in judicial proceedings the torture might be used against all Christians, of whatever rank; those belonging to the lower walks of private life were to be divested of their rights as citizens and as freemen; Christian slaves were to be incapable of receiving their freedom, so long as they remained Christians” (Neander,Hist.of the Church, Torrey’sTrans.i.148). This persecution was the last against the Christians by the Roman emperors; thelast that was waged by that mighty Pagan power. Diocletian soon resigned the purple, and after the persecution had continued to rage, with more or less severity, under his successors, for ten years, the peace of the church was established. “Diocletian,” saysMr.Gibbon (i.322), “had no sooner published his edicts against the Christians, than, as if he had been committing to other hands his work of persecution, he divested himself of the imperial purple. The character and situation of his colleagues and successors sometimes urged them to enforce, and sometimes to suspend, the execution of these rigorous laws; nor can we acquire a just and distinct idea of this important period of ecclesiastical history, unless we separately consider the state of Christianity in the different parts of the empire, during the space of ten years which elapsed between the first edicts of Diocletianand the final peace of the church.” For this detail consult Gibbon,i.322–329, and the authorities there referred to; and Neander,Hist.of the Church,i.147–156. Respecting the details of the persecution,Mr.Gibbon remarks (i.326), “It would have been an easy task, from the history of Eusebius, from the declamations of Lactantius, and from the most ancient acts, to collect a long series of horrid and disgustful pictures, and to fill many pages with racks and scourges, with iron-hooks, and red-hot beds, and with the variety of tortures which fire and steel, savage beasts, and more savage executioners, could inflict on the human body.” It is true thatMr.Gibbon professes to doubt the truth of these records, and attempts to show that the account of the number of the martyrs has been greatly exaggerated; yet no one, in reading his own account of this persecution, can doubt that it was the result of a determined effort to blot out the Christian religion, and that the whole of the imperial power was exerted to accomplish this end. At length the last of the imperial persecutions ceased, and the great truth was demonstrated that Christianity could not be extinguished by power, and that “the gates of hell could not prevail against it.” “In the year 311,” says Neander (i.156), “the remarkable edict appeared which put an end to the last sanguinary conflict of the Christian church and the Roman empire.” This decree was issued by the author and instigator of the persecution, Galerius, who, “softened by a severe and painful disease, the consequence of his excesses, had been led to think that the God of the Christians might, after all, be a powerful being, whose anger punished him, and whose favour he must endeavour to conciliate.” This man suspended the persecution, and gave the Christians permission “once more to hold their assemblies, provided they did nothing contrary to the good order of the Roman state.” “Ita ut ne quid contra disciplinam agant” (Neander,ibid.).