there were lightnings, and thunderings, and voices.' So again before the sounding of the seven trumpets, viii. 5. there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake:' and with as much reason they are made in this place the signs and preludes of the revelations and judgments, which are to follow. It is no just objection, that a new subject is supposed to begin with the conjunction and; for this is frequent in the style of the Hebrews; some books, as Numbers, Joshua, the two books of Samuel, and others, begin with Vau or and; and the same objection would hold equally against beginning the division with the first verse of the next chapter.

CHAPTER XII.

She is clothed

of Jesus Christ

St. John resumes his subject from the beginning, and represents the church, ver. 1, 2. as a woman, and a mother bearing children unto Christ. with the sun,' invested with the rays the Sun of righteousness; having Jewish new-moon, and festivals as well as all sublunary things, under her feet; and upon her head a crown of twelve stars,' an emblem of her being under the light and guidance of the twelve apostles. 'And

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the moon,' the

she being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.' St. Paul hath made use of the same metaphor, and applied it to his preaching and propagating of the gospel in the midst of tribulation and persecution, Gal. iv. 19. My little children of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you.' But the words of St. John are

much stronger, and more emphatically express the pangs, and struggles, and torments, which the church endured from the first publication of the gospel, to the time of Constantine the great, when she was in some measure eased of her pains, and brought forth a deliverer. Mr. Whiston carries the comparison farther. (Essay on the Revelation, Part 3. Vision 3.) "For as the time of gestation from the conception to the birth in women with child, is known to be 40 weeks or 280 days; so it is as well known, that from the first rise of our Saviour's kingdom at his resurrection and ascension, A.D. 33, till the famous proclamation and edict, for the universal liberty and advancement of Christianity, by Constantine and Lucinius, A.D. 313, which put an end to the pangs of birth in the heaviest persecution that ever was then known, was exactly 280 years," reckoning according to the prophetical account, a day for a year. At the same time there appeared,' ver. 3. a great dragon ;' which is the well known sign or symbol of the Devil and Satan, and of his agents and instruments. find the kings and people of Egypt, who were the great persecutors of the primitive church of Israel, distinguished by this title in several places of the Old Testament; Psal. lxxiv. 13. Isa. li. 9. Ezek. xxix. 3. and with as much reason and propriety may the people and emperors of Rome, who were the great persecutors of the primitive church of Christ, be called by the same name, as they are actuated by the same principle. For that the Roman empire was here figured, the characters and attributes of the dragon plainly evince.

We

He is a great red dragon:' and

purple or scarlet was the distinguishing colour of the Roman emperors, consuls, and generals; as it hath been since of the popes and cardinals. His 'seven heads,' as the angel afterwards, xvii. 9, 10. explains the vision, allude to the seven mountains upon which Rome was built, and to the seven forms of government, which successively prevailed there. His 'ten horns' typify the ten kingdoms, into which the Roman empire was divided; and the 'seven crowns upon his heads,' denote, that at this time the imperial power was in Rome, the high city, as Propertius describes it, seated on seven hills, which presides over the whole world. 'His tail' also, ver. 4. drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth;' that is, he subjected the third part of the princes and potentates of the earth: and the Roman empire, as we have seen before, is represented as the third part' of the world. He stood before the woman, which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born:' and the Roman emperors and magistrates kept a jealous watchful eye over the Christians from the beginning. As Pharaoh laid snares for the male children of the Hebrews, and Herod for the infant Christ, the son of Mary; so did the Roman dragon for the mystic Christ, the son of the church, that he might destroy him even in his infancy. But notwithstanding the jealousy and envy of the Romans, the gospel was widely diffused and propagated, and the church brought many children unto Christ, and in time such as were promoted to the empire. She brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron,' ver. 5. It

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was predicted, that Christ should rule over the nations, Psal. ii. 9. 'Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel;' but Christ, who is himself invisible in the heavens, ruleth visibly in Christian magistrates, princes, and emperors. It was therefore promised before, to Christians in general, ii. 26, 27. • He that overcometh, and keepeth my words unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations (and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers) even as I received of my Father.' But it should seem that Constantine was here particularly intended, for whose life the dragon Galerius laid many snares, but he providentially escaped them all; and notwithstanding all opposition, was caught up unto the throne of God,' was not only secured by the divine protection, but was advanced to the imperial throne, called 'the throne of God,' for Rom. xiii. I. there is no power but of God; the powers that be, are ordained of God.' He too ruleth all nations with a rod of iron;' for he had not only the Romans, who before had persecuted the church, under his dominion, but also subdued the Scythians, Sarmatians, and other barbarous nations, who had never before been subject to the Roman empire: and as the learned Spanheim informs us, there are still extant medals and coins of his with these inscriptions, the subduer of the barbarous nations, the conqueror of all nations, every where a conqueror, and the like. What is added, ver. 9. of the woman's flying into the wilderness for a thousand two hundred and threescore days' is said by way of prolepsis or an

ticipation. For the war in heaven between Michael and the dragon, and other subsequent events, were prior in order of time, to the flight of the woman into the wilderness: but before the prophet passeth on to a new subject, he giveth a general account of what happened to the woman afterwards, and entereth more into the particulars in their proper place.

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It might reasonably be presumed, that all the powers of idolatry would be strenuously exerted against the establishment of Christianity, and especially against the establishment of a Christian on the imperial throne and these struggles and contentions between the Heathen and the Christian religions are represented, ver. 7. by war in heaven' between the angels of darkness and angels of light. Michael was, Dan. x. 21. xii. 1. the tutelar angel and protector of the Jewish church. He performs here the same office of champion for the Christian church. He and the good angels, who are sent forth,' Heb. i. 14. to minister to the heirs of salvation,' were the invisible agents on one side, as the devil and his evil agents were on the other. The visible actors in the cause of Christianity were the believing emperors and ministers of the word, the martyrs and confessors; and in support of idolatry were the persecuting emperors and heathen magistrates, together with the whole train of priests and sophists. This contest lasted several years, and the final issue of it was, ver. 8, 9. that the Christian prevailed over the heathen religion: the Heathens were deposed from all rule and authority, and the Christians were advanced to dominion and empire in their stead. Our Saviour