LECTURE TWENTY-SIXTH. CHAP. 12: 1, 2. The Sunclad Woman-The Church in its Entirety-Signifi- LECTURE TWENTY-SEVENTH. CHAP. 12: 3, 4. pp. 271-292 The Great Red Dragon-His Tail-His Heads and Horns— The Man-child-The Visible and Invisible Church-Man- LECTURE TWENTY-NINTH. CHAP. 12: 6-12. pp. 317-341 The War in Heaven-The Forces Marshalled-Occasion of The Flight of the Woman-Condition of the Church and the LECTURE THIRTY-FIRST. CHAP. 13: 1-10. pp. 366 386 The Beast from the Sea-The Antichrist—The Individuality LECTURE THIRTY-SECOND. CHAP. 13: 11, 12. The Beast from the Earth-Counterfeit Trinity-The False LECTURE THIRTY-THIRD. CHAP. 13: 13-18. pp. 413-431 The False Prophet, continued-His Miracles-His Argu- pp. 437-460 THE APOCALYPSE. LECTURE SEVENTEENTH. SILENCE IN HEAVEN-ITS MEANING AND DURATION THE SEVEN ANGELS OF GOD'S PRESENCE-THE HIGHEST CREATED BEINGS-ECONOMY OF THE HEAVENS-THE SEVEN TRUMPETS SIGNIFICANCE OF TRUMPETS ORIGINALS OF THE ANCIENT RITES-"ANOTHER ANGEL"-REASONS FOR REGARDING HIM AS THE SAVIOUR-WHY THE PRAYERS OF SAINTS ARE HERE OFFERED-THEIR GREAT BURDEN-THEIR ACCEPTANCE-THE POWER OF PRAYER-THE FIRE OF JUDGMENT-WHY MEN ARE DAMNED-THE FIRE CAST INTO THE EARTH-ITS EFFECTS-A VINDICATION OF THE STUDY OF THESE THINGS. REV. CHAP. 8:1-5. (Revised Text.)-And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in the heaven, as it were half an bour. And I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him many incenses, that he might offer [them] for [or with] the prayers of all the saints on the altar of gold before the throne. And the smoke of the incenses went up for [or with the prayers of the saints, out of the hand of the angel, in the presence of God. And the angel took the censer and filled it out of the fire of the altar, and cast into the earth; and there followed thunderings, and lightnings, and voices, and an earthquake. TH HERE has been a somewhat protracted silence in the continuity of these lectures. In breaking that silence this evening, we come upon another ( 13 ) VOL. II. 30 silence-a silence in heaven. The rapt apostle is still in heaven. What he describes is viewed altogether from a heavenly point of observation. The subject is still the ongoing of the judgment. The roll, which was taken up amid thrills of celestial adoration, is still in the hands of the Lamb. He has broken six of its seals, and the action resulting we have considered. The breaking of the only remaining one, and the most momentous of them all, now comes before us. It will occupy us for some time before it is finally disposed of. Even the seven trumpets and the seven vials come under it. The immediate sequences of the breaking of it, we have in the text, in which we observe I. A MYSTERIOUS SILENCE IN HEAVEN. II. SEVEN ANGELS OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE. III. ANOTHER Angel offerRING THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS. To God, then, let us look for grace to understand these things according to the intent of the record, giving praise to His holy Name forever and ever. When the first seal was broken, a voice like thunder was heard, saying, Go! It was the same at the opening of the three succeeding ones. At the breaking of the fifth, there was a great cry from beneath the altar. And when the sixth was broken, a fearful tremor ran through the whole frame of nature, filling the earth with consternation. But, at the opening of the seventh, not a voice is heard; not a motion is seen; an awful pause ensues, and all heaven is silent. A little while ago everything was ringing with triumphant exultation over the multitude which no man could number, but now silence takes the place of songs, and everything is mute and motionless. This silence, nevertheless, has made a good deal of noise in the world, especially among commentators. It would be difficult to find another point upon which there have been so many different and discordant voices. Indeed, Hengstenberg gives it as the general rule, that when expositors come to this silence they break out into all sorts of contradictory conjecture. Though the marks of historic continuity are as distinct as it is possible to make them, some take this silence as a full stop to the chain of apocalyptic predictions, and so treat what follows as a mere rehearsal, in another form, of what had preceded. Others regard it as a blank, leaving everything belonging to the seventh seal unrevealed, so that its action can only be known when we come to the immortal life. Some pronounce it a mere poetic invention to heighten the dramatic effect, but having no particular significance. Others treat it as a prophetic symbol of scenes and experiences in the earthly history of man; some, as the suspension of divine wrath in the destruction of Jerusalem; some, as the freedom granted to the Church under the reign of Constantine; some, as the interval of repose enjoyed by Christians between the persecutions by Dioclesian and Galerius in A.D. 311, and the beginning of the civil wars toward the end of the |