Revelation 15
DOYLYRevelation 15:2
- — and there fell a noisome and grievous sore] The first vial is poured out “upon the earth,” as the hail and fire of the first trumpet, chap. viii. 7, “were cast
upon the earth.” It produces “a noisome and grievous sore,” and in this respect resembles the sixth plague of Egypt, Exod. ix. 10. Bp. Newton.
In the prophetic style, both publick and private vices, and their consequences, are frequently compared to bodily distempers. Pyle.
Revelation 15:3
- And they sing the song of Moses] As the Israelites sang the praises of God for their deliverance at the Red sea, in a hymn composed by Moses, so these saints, having obtained a greater deliverance and salvation by Christ, sang a hymn of praise, in the same spirit with that of Moses. Lowman.
Anno DOMINI 94. The seven vials of God’s wrath. The angels pour out their vials. Anno DOMINI 96. b Ps. 165. 17. c Jer. 10. 7. Almighty; b just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
- — and it became as the blood of a dead man:] Became as congealed blood, so that no creature could live in the sea. The description seems taken from the plagues of Egypt; in one of which, Exod. vii. 30, 31, “all the waters were turned to blood,” &c. The general meaning of these figurative expressions seems to point out some very great mortality and slaughter. Lowman.
Revelation 15:5
- — the angel of the waters] It was a prevailing opinion in the East, that a particular angel preceded over the waters, as others did over other elements and parts of nature. Mention was before made, chap. xiv. 18, of “the angel who had power over fire.” Bp. Newton.
Revelation 15:6
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And the seven angels came out &c.] The seven angels come out of the temple, to denote that their commission is immediately from God; clothed, like the high priest, but in a more august manner, “in pure and white linen,” to signify the righteousness of these judgments, and “having their breasts girded,” to shew their readiness to execute the Divine commands, “with golden girdles,” as emblems of their power and majesty. Bp. Newton.
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— thou hast given them blood to drink:] Thou hast inflicted on them the punishment they have so justly deserved, and given them blood to drink, by a plentiful effusion of their own. Lowman.
Revelation 15:7
- And one of the four beasts gave &c.] One of the four living creatures, chap. iv. 6, delivered into their hands the vials or vessels, the symbols of the judgments which they were to execute. Pyle.
Revelation 15:8
- And the temple was filled with smoke] In the same manner as the tabernacle, when it was consecrated by Moses, Exod. xl. 34, and the temple, when it was dedicated by Solomon, I Kings viii. 10, were both filled with a cloud and the glory of the Lord, so that neither Moses nor the priests could enter therein: a further proof of the majestic presence and extraordinary interposition of God in the execution of these judgments. Bp. Newton.
Chap. XVI. ver. 1. — saying to the seven angels, — pour out &c.] In obedience to the Divine command, the seven angels come forth to “pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth;” and as the trumpets were so many steps and degrees of the ruin of the Roman empire, so the vials are of the ruin of the Roman church. Bp. Newton.
- And the fourth angel—upon the sun:] As the fourth trumpet affected “the sun,” chap. viii. 12, so likewise the fourth vial is “poured out upon the sun.” An intense heat ensues, and men blaspheme, &c. Whether by this intense heat of the sun be literally meant, uncommon sultry seasons, scorching and withering the fruits of the earth, and producing pestilential disorders; or, figuratively, a most tyrannical and exorbitant exercise of arbitrary power, by those who may be represented as