Chapter 6

The declining health and last illness of S. Severus, inflamed the wild ambition, and black and blackening passions of Caracalla. He attempted, more than once, to shorten Severus’ life, and with as little success, to excite a mutiny among the troops. Severus deliberated, and threatened, but was too fondly parental to punish his son and colleague in the throne; and this last, and only instance of mercy he was ever guilty of, was more fatal to the empire than a long series of cruelty. At length he expired at York in Britain, A.D.

The voice made proclamation of a denarius the choinix of the wheat. There are various opinions concerning the choinix. The English version uses the word in its widest sense for measure of capacity, without defining the capacity. In Ezek.

John says, that when he saw this vision of the third seal, he heard "a voice in the midst of the Four Living Ones." Voice is sometimes used in scripture in the sense of the signification, or the thing signified

The rider of the black horse may be known by his badge. John saw one sitting upon him "holding in his hand a balance.” The other riders of the first and second seals were identified by their badges — the bow and the great dagger; and so must this of the third by the balance, which is his.

While it is true, that black is used in scripture in connection with scarcity and famine; I am satisfied that in this third seal famine is not indicated by the color of the horse. The reader will therefore be so good as to run his pen through the word "famine” in line 16 of our “Chronological Tableau of the Apostasy,” on page 428, Vol. 1.

Such is the expressive heiroglyphic by which the Spirit "signified" to "his servants" the nature of the situation which should succeed the period in which they would “slay one another," and "a great machaira" would appear to aggravate the strife. The Lamb also opens this third seal. It is an opening, not to give exit to blessedness upon Roman society; for that is not the nature of a seal; but, to loose those evils upon the world, which would be calamitous to pagan, Jew, and

Vol. 1, pp. 428, 439

The Pergamian with all its evils merging ink) the worse I'hyatiran degree of apostasy. Christians so-called, as intensely nominal and worldly as sectarians of the nineteenth century. The prophetess Jezebel, and “the Satan," their representatives in the third century — Apoc. 2:20,24.

A.CT 111. — SEAL-PERIOD THIRD
Apoc. 6:5 ,6

Commodus, the imperial sword-bearer of the Roman empire, was not poinarded, but strangled to death. He was succeeded by Pertinax, the praefect of Rome, a senator of consular rank, and conspicuous for his merit. He was chosen emperor by the Praetorian Guards, whose praefect, Laetus, had procured the murder of Commodus, and his election by the military. The election was ratified by the Senate, A.D. 193, which at the same sitting branded the memory of Commodus with eternal infamy.

“It was given to him (the rider) to take the peace from the earth. ” “The earth" in this place cannot be the earth wherever men dwell, comprehending what we term Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Australasia. The last two were unknown to the ancients; and may therefore certainly be excluded from “the earth" having relation to events being transacted in their time.

“And there was given to him (the rider) a great dagger.” So I render the words, kai edothe auto machaira megale. In the English Version, machaira megale is rendered a great sword. My objection to this is, that in the symbolization of the Fourth Seal the sword<