will recollect the interpretation which was -given of it on its first appearance. Whenever the fame hieroglyphic or symbol occurred, it hath always been used in the fame fense, which is a ftrong proof that it hath been rightly interpreted. It will also appear in the commentary, that the fymbols and hieroglyphics are used in the fame fenfe in the prophecies of Ifaiah, of Jeremiah, of Ezekiel, of Daniel, of Hofea, of Paul, and of Peter, in which they are used by John in this book.

The book of Revelation confifts of two great or general divifions. These are made by Chrift himself, when, chap. i. 19. he faid to John, "Write the things which thou hast "feen, even the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.”

ist, The things which are," or the hiftory of things which were then in exiftence. Chap. i. is a general introduction to the whole book, and chap. ii. and iii. are the hiftorical part, relating to the present state of the feven Chriftian churches then in Afia.

And, 2d, "The things which fhall be hereafter," or prophecies of future events. These fill up all the remainder of the book,

from

from the beginning of the fourth chapter. The prophecies of this book are of that fpecies which is called vifion. This is the cleareft kind of prophecy. It is like the teftimony of the fenfe of fight. The impreffions were made upon the mind of John by the Spirit of God, in the fame way, and of the fame nature with thofe which would have been made, if he had actually feen with his bodily eyes the very objects themselves, which are reprefented by the various vifions which are narrated in this book.

These prophecies were revealed to John in fourteen diftinct and fucceffive vifions: But they seem to have been all communicated to him in the fame place, the isle of Patmos, and in the space of one Lord's day. In chap. i. 9, 10, 11, he exprefsly fays that he was in the isle of Patmos, and that it was on the Lord's day, when he saw the visions which he was commanded to write in a book, and to fend to the feven churches in Afia. That book, as is fhewn in the commentary, is the whole book of the Revelation. In no part of that book does he mention any other place or time, in which any of these visions

were

were made to him. He repeatedly specifies the particular fcenes of particular vifions: Such for inftance, as chap. x. 2. "his right "foot upon the fea, and his left foot on the

earth; chap. xiii. 1. "the fand of the fea;" chap. xiv. 1. "Mount Zion;" chap. xvii. 3. "the wildernefs;" and chap. xxi. 10. a great and high mountain." But, as is fully fhewn in the commentary, all these fcenes represent the particular times when the events predicted in these particular vifions fhall actually happen, and neither the times nor places in which these visions appeared to John.

The following are the fourteen vifions, into which the prophecies of this book are divided, as they appeared in fucceffion to the mind of John in the fpace of one day.

VISION FIRST, narrated in chap. iv. v. vi. which contains the general introduction to the prophecies of this book, the opening of the fealed book in general, and the opening of the fix feals in particular.

VOL. I.

b

VISION

VISION SECOND, narrated in chap. vii. which contains the fealing of the fervants of God.

VISION THIRD, narrated in chap. viii. and ix. which contains the founding of the fix trumpets.

VISION FOURTH, narrated in chap. x. which contains the little opened book, and the general introduction to the prophecies, which refpect the hiftory of the world and of the church, from the year of Christ 756 to the end of the world.

VISION FIFTH, narrated in chap. xi. which contains the two witneffes prophefying in fackcloth.

VISION SIXTH, narrated in chap. xii. which contains the woman in the wildernefs, and the red dragon.

VISION SEVENTH, narrated in chap. xiii. which contains the beaft with feven heads

and

and ten horns, with crowns upon his horns, and the name of blafphemy upon his heads.

VISION EIGHTH, narrated in chap xiv. which contains the Lamb standing upon Mount Zion, and the introduction to the fall of Babylon.

VISION NINTH, narrated in chap. xv. and xvi. which contains the feven vials and feven last plagues.

VISION TENTH, narrated in chap. xvii. which contains the woman fitting upon the fcarlet coloured beast.

VISION ELEVENTH, narrated in chap. xviii. which contains the fall of Babylon.

VISION TWELFTH, narrated in chap. xix. which contains the marriage of the Lamb.

VISION THIRTEENTH, narrated in chap. xx. which contains the reign of Christ for a thousand years on earth.