LECTURES

ON

THE APOCALYPSE.
BY

RO. YLAND,
PBIISIDBNT OP BICHllOND COLLBG,

"Glorious thiDga are spoken of thee, 0 city of God."-P,. 87: 3.

RICHMOND:
WORTHAM & COTTRELL, 208 MAIN STREET.
1857.

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Entered according to act of Congress, In the year 1857, by

ROBERT RYLAND,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court, for the Eastern District of Virginia.

H.K. Er.LYSOi', Printer, 147 Main Street.

PREFACE.
THE author of the following Lectures lays no
claim to originality in the views which they ex
press. He has read several learned works on the
Apocalypse, and has not hesitated to adopt their
sentiments and language, without formal notice,
whenever they have approved themselves to his
judgment. Especially is he indebted to the very
able exposition of Mr. David N. Lord, whose in
terpretation he has generally adopted throughout
the following pages. Indeed, he advises those
who have the means to purchase and the leisure
to read that work, not to examine this at all, but
to proceed at once with the more original and ex
tended investigation. It i apparent, then, that
his design is to present to the general reader, in
a cheap and condensed form, the substance of what
is contained in treatises less accessible to him.
The spirit of the age calls for cheap literature. A
Look that sells at seventy-five cents, is bought and

iv

PREFACE.

read by ten times more persons than an octavo of

superior merit, which costs two dollars.

With him

it is a very small thing who shall gain the reputa

tion of authorship, provided the Word of God be
explained, and His truth be widely diffused.

If

these ends be attained by the following pages, the

whole purpose of their publication will have been
accomplished.

INTRODUCTION.
TBE distinguishing characteristic of the .Apocalypse is, that it
foreshadows what it reveals, not by words, like ordinary prophe
cies, but by representative agents and phenomena exhibited to
the senses of the Apostle. These representatives are called
symbols. The first thing to be studied, then, in order to a cor
rect understanding of this book, is the lato of symlxilic represen
f.aticn. We cannot suppose that the Spirit of God employs, in
an arbitrary and irregular manner, either words or things to re
veal trnth to man. Th;re must be some fixed and uniform
principle of interpretation, which should guide the student in
all his inquiries. What, then, is this principle, as applied to
the explanation of symbols? We answer, analogy. .And what
is analogy ? It is not a direct resemblance between the repre11entation and that which it is used to represent-but it is a
resemblance of their relations to other things. Thus, a seed is
not like an egg in shape or substance, but it is analogous to it,
because it bears a relation to the producing plant, or to the
future germ, similar to the relation which the egg sustains to
the parent bird, or to the future nestling. .A.nal,ogy, then, i8 the
resemblance of relations. This principJe, we conceive, lies at the
foundation of all correct exposition .of the .Apocalypse. When-

vi

INTRODUCTION.

ever any object in nature, animate or inanimate, or any fictitious

creature, employed to symbolize any thing future, it bears an
analogy to that which is symbolized. This principle is suscep
tible of many modifications. I will mention a few.
1. The symbol is usually selected from species or orders
diffferent from those to which the thing symbolized belongs.
Thus, a ferocious wild beast denotes a dynasty of slaughtering
kings-to whom it sustains an analogy-and not some other
wild beast, to which it might have only a direct resemblance.
A sea represents a vast multitude of persons united under one
government, while fountains and streams flowing into that sea,
symbolize tributary communities.
2. When the object to be described has nothing to correspond
with it, either in the ideal or actual world, it is always introduced
in its own name and character. Thus the Martyr-Souls, the
Deity, the Incarnate Word, and Satan, are mentioned in their
appropriate persons. Where no befitting symbol can be found,
none is used, but descriptions are given to indicate the nature
of the beings mentioned. The agencies exerted by those beings,
as seen in vision, and the uses ascribed to their several in,;ignia,
are, however, to be considered symbolical.
8. When intelligent and living creatures are employed as
symbols, they represent intelligent agents-never the mere
qualities of such agents. In like manner, causes represent
causes, effects denote effects, and actions correspond with ac
tions. The several elements of the symbol thus stand for the
corresponding parts of that which is symbolized.
4. The names of the symbols are their literal and proper
names, not metaphorical titles and descriptions. This is man-

INTRODUCTION.

vii

ifest from the circumstance that the acts and qualities ascribed.
to them are suited to their nature-a circumstance that never
characterizes the metaphor.
6. In some instances, agents that represent men denote, not
individuals, but an order and succession of agents, acting in the
same relations and exerting a similar agency. The offices they
sustain, and the agencies and periods specified or them, justify
this construction.
Our limits will not allow a more minute statement of the va
rious modifications to which the great principle of analogy is
subject, but these are regarded as the most important. See D.
N. L?rd's Theol. and Lit. Journal, Vol. I., No. 2, 1848.
What, now, is the proof of the correctness of this principle?
We answer, the interpretations of the symbds given by the Son ,.
of God and the attending angels. "The seven star3 are the
angels-messengers-of the seven churches, and the seven can
dlesticks are the seven churches." Rev. 1: 20. As the star
gives light, so it is a suitable representative of a goapel teacher;
and as the lamp-stand holds up the light, so it symbolizes a
church, who sustains the teacher. In like manner, the "seven
lamps of fire burning before the throne, are the seven Spirits of
God," (chap. 4: 5,) because the office of the lamp, like that of
the Spirit, is to illumine. The seven heads of the wild beast are
explained to be seven kings, and the ten horns to be ten kings.
Chap. 17: 10-12. In vs. 15, the waters are explained to be
peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues; and in vs.
18, the woman is said to be the great city which reigueth over
the kings of the earth. In the prophecies of Daniel we learn
that the four great beasts which the prophet saw were four

I:NTBODUC'lION.
klDga or dynasties which ahould arise out of the earth-7: 17.
In the nm vision the ram with two horns seen by the prophet
is explained to be the kings of Media and Persia, and the rough
goat to be the king of Grecia-8: 21, 22. Other examples
might be adduced of the same kind. In all these cases the sym
bols selected bear a striking analogy to the objects for which
they stand. Our inferanoe, therefore, is, that the symbols of the
Bible which are 'left tJJilJw,ut interpretation, must be e:,;pounded
acemding ft> fAe same genera], lato. IC this conclusion be pro
notlllced illogical, we ask the objector, with all sincerity and hu
mility, to show us a better way. Until that request be granted,
we shall hold to the principle of analogy, as the only safe guide
to the exposition of this most remarkable book.

LECTURE FIRST.
REVELATIONS, CHAPTERS I., II., III.
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew
unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent
and signified it by his angel unto his servant John : who bare record
of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all
things that he saw. Blessed u he that readeth, and they that hear
the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written
therein: for the time ia at hand. John to the seven churches which
are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and
which was, and which is to come ; and from the seven spirits which
are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ, toho u the f&.l"thful wit
ness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of
the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in
his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his
Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they
auo which pierced him ; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail be
cause of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the begin
ning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and
which is to come, the Almighty. I John, who also am your brother,
and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Je
sus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God,
and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the
Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, say
ing, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou
seest, write in a book, and send il unto the seven churches which are
in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and
unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto La. odicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being

10

LECTURE FIRST.

turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven
candlesticks one like unto the Son of mlUl, clothed with a garment
down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His
bead and Ma hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and bis
eyes were as.a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they
burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And
he had in his right hand seven stars : and out of his mouth went a
sharp two-edged sword : and bis countenance toiu as the sun sbineth
in hie strength. And when I saw him, I fell at bis feet as dead. And
he laid his right band upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the
first and the last: I am be that liveth, and was dead ; and, behold, I
am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Write the things which thou bast seen, and the things which are, and
the things which shall be hereafter; the mystery of the seven stars
which thou awest in my right hand, and the seven golden candle
sticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches : and
the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
Be,,. i: 1-20.

Vs. 1. The book takes its title from the first

word in this verse. It is sometimes called the
Apocaly-pse, a word of Greek origin, but of the
same import with revelation. All scripture is a
"revelation " of the divine will, but this is pecu
liarly so, because it discloses things future, and of
rare importance. The title of the prophecy was
obviously prefixed after the visions were written,
while the visions themselves were written succes
sively, as they were beheld. It is necessary to dis
tinguish between the knowledge of Christ as a
divine person, and that which he possesses as the
Prophet of his church. In the one sense he knows
all things-in the other, he receives his messages
from his Father, and delivers them to his people ..
In this latter sense he knew not the day of the