Observations on the Arrangement of the Apocalypse adopted by former Commentators.

In pursuance of the plan I have laid down, not to advance any thing new without a reference to the opinions of those who have before written on the same subject, I ought in this place to consider the arrangement of the Apocalypse adopted by former commentators.

The Apocalypse consists, as is allowed by all, of a series of seven Seals, and of seven Trumpets; of a little separate Book or Codicil, and of a series of seven Vials; the series of seven Seals being more particularly divided between the sixth and seventh, as is also the series of the seven Trumpets; and the little separate Book, containing a remarkable period of 1260 years.

In order to obtain the true interpretation of the Apocalypse, it must be previously necessary to understand in what way these several parts are connected with each other. This inquiry is a subject perfectly distinct from the interpretation of the prophecies, and is confined to the discovery of notices in the text, pointing out these connexions.

The remarks of Whiston on this subject, in his Essay on the Revelations, written in the year 1706, are so excellent, that I cannot for, bear giving an extract from it of some length.

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He thus commences the Second Part of his work, containing his minute interpretation of the phecies.

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"Having already laid down and established "the principal foundations necessary to be known, before we can at all understand the particular prophecies of this book, and having withal settled the order and series of all "its visions from characters fetched only from "the book itself, or from the parallel book of Daniel, without any dependence on particu"lar hypotheses and applications (which indeed ought not to be at all allowed any place there), "I am prepared to attempt a short view of the "visions and prophecies themselves. But "before I proceed, the reader must give me leave to say somewhat about that grand rule of interpretation just now hinted, which is of so great importance to the right understanding of this book; and the neglect whereof I "look upon to have been the general occasion "of almost all the errors of expositors, one

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way or other: I mean, that the order of all "the visions is to be wholly taken from the "intrinsic characters of the book itself, and not "at all to be conformed to any particular hypo"theses or explications, and that from such an "order first established, all the certainty and "evidence of future applications is to be derived; and without such order so established,

"all expositions must be precarious and uncer"tain, and only depend on the fancy and imagi"nation of every commentator. This was the

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great Mr. Mede's settled and constant judg"ment in this matter; and his attempt being built on this method, had such vast and unex"pected success, that the body of the Protestant "churches have generally declared themselves "satisfied in the greatest part of his foundations "laid down in his Clavis Apocalyptica, and I can "add with Monsieur Jurieu, that his works of "this kind have ever charmed me, and that I can find nothing like them in all the other Expositors, and I take the true reason to be (besides his extraordinary judgment in the Scripture in general, his impartiality, and the extraordinary blessing of God upon his labours), that he laid the foundation right by "the exact observance of this method, as far as "possibly he could; and that he would not "venture a particular application of any visions, "till by the demonstration of his synchronisms "he had fixed the order and series of them all "beforehand; and it is to be lamented, that "his example has never since been rightly fol "lowed by any."

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The principal discovery of Mr. Mede, relative to the arrangement of the Apocalypse, was the synchronism between the termination of the

period of the sixth Trumpet in the Sealed Book, and the period of 1260 years in the Opened Book; in other points his arrangement seems to have been defective, for he neither considered the Seals and Trumpets as running parallel to each other, nor the seven Vials as being subdivisions of the seventh Trumpet; the latter defect in his plan was corrected by Whiston, who clearly proved all the seven Vials to be included in the seventh Trumpet; the arrangement of Mede, thus improved by Whiston, has been, I apprehend, that most generally adopted by all commentators since his time, and was as follows: first, the seven Seals; secondly, the seven Trumpets, being supposed subdivisions of the last Seal; and thirdly, the seven Vials of Wrath, being subdivisions of the seventh Trumpet. The termination of the period of 1260 years, contained in the Little Opened Book, synchronizing with the division between the sixth and seventh Trumpets.

The erroneous idea that the seven Trumpets were contained in the seventh Seal, arose from the description of the sounding of these Trumpets following immediately the mention of the opening of the seventh Seal*; it not being understood that the opening of the seventh Seal was here mentioned at the end, and not,

*Rev. viii. 1 and 6.

as is the case with every other Seal, at the beginning of its period; the reason of which singular circumstance has already been explained*. And the true meaning of the Silence of half an Hour, which intervenes before the sounding of the Trumpets †, and intimates a break in the order of prophecy, and a recommencement of the subject from the earliest period, being overlooked.

The proof that the seven Vials are subdivisions of the seventh Trumpet, is shewn by Whiston nearly in the same manner as in the preceding pages of this work ‡.

The synchronism between the end of the period of the 1260 years, and the termination of the period of the sixth Trumpet (or, what is the same thing, the first sounding of the seventh), is thus stated by him in his 15th proposition;

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"The six first Seals, and the six first Trumpets are all over before "the end of the 1260 years of Antichrist's reign; and the seventh Trumpet or seven "Vials contained in it, follow immediately after "that time, and are cotemporary with the first ages of Our Saviour's Kingdom succeeding "to it."

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* See page 23, first paragraph.

See page 31-32.

† Rev. viii. 1 and 2.

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