Chapter 6

This sixth seal is a prophetic summary of what is more particularly related in the twelfth chapter, concerning the Woman, her man child, the Dragon, and the war in the heaven between the symbolical Michael and his angels on the one side; and the great red Dragon and his angels, on the other. I shall, therefore, follow the apocalyptic arrange­ment, and defer entering into details until I arrive at that chapter. A few things, however, may be presented here of a general character.

“The Sun became black as sackcloth of hair.” As the sun is the great source of the electrical glory and power of the solar system, it is said in scripture, to “rule the day. ” The moon and the stars become visible to us by the reflection of his beams. Their light or glory is borrowed; and when he is darkened, they also are in eclipse.

The earthquakes of the Apocalypse are not concussions of the ground from the subterranean, but popular convulsions. In ch.

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah and Root of David, who prevailed to unroll the apocalyptic scroll, and to loose the previous seals opened this, the Sixth also. He had executed judgment on his own “Holy Nation” (1 Pet.

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The “Little Strength” of the Philadelphian State exhausted, and Laodiceanism fully established. Persecution having ceased, and “the Catholics,” as nominal Christians were now called, being in high favor with the authorities, they say, “We are rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing” — Apoc. 3:17. Being “lukewarm,” the Spirit “spues them out of his mouth.”

At the commencement of this period, A.D.

In the answer given by the Spirit to the emblematic souls underneath the altar, the professors of Christianity still alive and contemporary with the fifth seal period, are divided into two classes — the one the fellowservants, and the other the brethren, of the de­ceased souls. The brethren are fellowservants, but all the fellow­servants were not brethren — even as christadelphians are Christians, but all Christians so-called are not christadelphians.

Such was the style of address put into the mouths of the souls underneath the altar by the Spirit — ho Despotes ho hagios kai ho alethinos. This is the only place in the Apocalypse where the word Despotes occurs; in the twenty-two other places where the word Lord is found it is

“When he opened the fifth seal, 1 saw underneatn the Altar the souls of them who had been slain” — tas psuchas ton esphagmenon. Clerical metaphysicians, with rare exceptions, declare these hierogly­phic souls seen by John in vision to be the disembodied immortal spirits of saints with Christ in heaven.

“And there were given to them each white robes," says John, stolai leukai. These were symbolically given to the souls already slain, and reposing underneath the Altar of Sacrifice.