Revelation 6:15 Komentář

The book of the divine counsels being thus lodged in the hand of Christ, he loses no time, but immediately enters upon the work of opening the seals and publishing the contents; but this is done in such a manner as still leaves the predictions very abstruse and difficult to be understood. Hitherto the waters of the sanctuary have been as those in Ezekiel's vision, only to the ankles, or to the knees, or to the loins at least; but here they begin to be a river that cannot be passed over. The visions which John saw, the epistles to the churches, the songs of praise, in the two foregoing chapters, had some things dark and hard to be understood; and yet they were rather milk for babes than meat for strong men; but now we are to launch into the deep, and our business is not so much to fathom it as to let down our net to take a draught. We shall only hint at what seems most obvious. The prophecies of this book are divided into seven seals opened, seven trumpets sounding, and seven vials poured out. It is supposed that the opening of the seven seals discloses those providences that concerned the church in the first three centuries, from the ascension of our Lord and Saviour to the reign of Constantine; this was represented in a book rolled up, and sealed in several places, so that, when one seal was opened, you might read so far of it, and so on, till the whole was unfolded. Yet we are not here told what was written in the book, but what John saw in figures enigmatical and hieroglyphic; and it is not for us to pretend to know "the times and seasons which the Father has put in his own power." Inf this chapter six of the seven seals are opened, and the visions attending them are related; the first seal in Rev 6:1, Rev 6:2, the second seal in Rev 6:3, Rev 6:4, the third seal in Rev 6:5, Rev 6:6, the fourth seal in Rev 6:7, Rev 6:8, the fifth seal in Rev 6:9-11, the sixth seal in Rev 6:12, Rev 6:13, etc.

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 6 This chapter contains the vision of the opening six of the seals of the sealed book, by the Lamb, and of the events following thereupon. The preparation to the vision of the first seal is in Rev 6:1; the Lamb opens it, John hears a noise like thunder, and one of the living creatures bids him come and see; upon which he saw a horse, of a white colour, and a rider on it, who is described by a bow and crown given him, and by the victory he obtained, Rev 6:2; at the opening of the second seal, the second living creature invites him as before; and he sees a horse, of a red colour, with a rider on it, described by his power, to take peace from the earth, and suffer men to kill one another, and by a great sword given him, Rev 6:3; at the opening of the third seal, the third living creature addresses him in like manner as the other; and he sees a horse, of a black colour, and a rider on it, with a pair of balances in his hands; and hears a voice from among the four living creatures, expressing dearness of provisions, and a charge not to hurt the oil and wine, Rev 6:5; at the opening of the fourth seal, the fourth living creature speaks to John, as the rest; and he sees a horse, of a pale colour, and a rider on it, described by his name, Death, by his follower, hell, or the grave, and by his power to destroy a fourth part of the earth with the sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts, Rev 6:7; at the opening of the fifth seal, John saw the souls of the martyrs, under the altar; hears their cry for vengeance; observes that white robes were given them, and that they were bid to be quiet until the slaying and suffering time of their brethren was over, Rev 6:9; at the opening of the sixth seal follow an earthquake, strange changes in the heavens, the sun becomes black as sackcloth, the moon becomes as blood, the stars fall, and the heaven itself departs, and every island and mountain are moved out of their places, Rev 6:12, the kings and great men of the earth, and even all sorts, of men, upon this, fly to the rocks and mountains to hide them from the face of God the Father, that sits upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, the opener of the sealed book; giving this as a reason for it, that the time of his great wrath was come, and none could stand before him, Rev 6:15.

And the king's of the earth, and the great men,.... The Roman emperors, and other principal magistrates, governors of provinces and cities: and the rich men; among the commonalty; these three may design perhaps more particularly the emperors, nobles, and senate of Rome: and the chief captains; or captains of thousands, that had the command of the Roman legions and the mighty men; the soldiers that were under them, men of strength, courage, and valour; and every bondman, and every freeman; which takes in all the inhabitants of the Roman empire, of every state and condition, and which was an usual distinction among the Romans: these hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains; where, through their cruel persecutions, they had forced multitudes of Christians to flee, and therefore, "lex talionis", the law of retaliation was righteously inflicted on them; and not to take notice of any other, this was remarkably true of their kings or emperors Dioclesian and Herculius Maximianus, who were emperors together, in the height of their imperial glory and grandeur, the one being at Nicomedia, and the other at Milan, did, on one and the same day, of their own accord, abdicate the empire, and divested themselves of their imperial crown and government, and retired to a private life; pretending in public, that old age, and the weight of business, were the cause, but to their friends they owned, that it was through despair, because they could not extinguish the Christian religion (p). Some ascribed this to frenzy and madness (q); but the true reason was, that the wrath of the Lamb was let into their consciences, and which they could not bear, and which obliged them to take this step, to the amazement of the whole world. Maximinus, who succeeded them, being overcome by Licinius, laid aside his imperial habit, and hid himself among the common people, and skulked about in fields and villages (r). Maxentius, another emperor, fled from Constantine, the instrument of the wrath of the Lamb, and the pouring it out upon his enemies, and fell into the river Tiber, from the Mylvian bridge, where he perished; and which was the very place in which he had laid snares for Constantine (s). (p) Contur. Magd. cent. 4. c. 16. p. 909. Vid. Eutrop. l. 9. (q) Euseb. Hist. l. 8. c. 13. & de Vita Constantin. l. 5. c. 25. (r) lb. l. 9. c. 10. (s) Ib. c. 9. & de Vita Constant. l. 1. c. 38. Vid. Aurel. Victor. de Caesaribus.

This signifies that the whole world, among the good and the saints, is going to find refuge in the church, so that made firm under [the church’s] protection it is able to endure unto eternal life, with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

And, he says, the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the powerful and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" Kings again and great men, commanders and the rich and powerful, he calls wretched demons, as those who began to oppress the earth through violence and deceit; but slaves and free men, those who excel among the demons and are subject to them. As for hiding themselves in caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and yet saying, "You will fall upon us and hide us," this is spoken figuratively; it hints at fugitives attempting to escape the punishment imposed on them by Christ. For if an invisible punishment and retribution were not inflicted upon them, what is the meaning of what was said by the prophet Isaiah concerning Christ's presence: "I have trodden the winepress alone, and among the nations there is no man with me; I have trampled them in my anger, and crushed them in my wrath, and their blood I have poured out upon the earth"? (Isa. 63:2-3) And what is the meaning of calling the God-hated [θεοστυγεῖς] demons by Matthew: "What have we to do with you, Son of God? Have you come to torment us?" (Matt. 8:29) But one might understand that these things spoken in the Revelation are not only the sufferings of demons, but also of the lawless Jews who crucified the Lord on the cross, who, being oppressed by the war against the Romans, became fugitives in the mountains and caves and the clefts of the earth, and were everywhere tormented by distress and anguish.

“The kings of the earth,” that is, those who exert power over it and possess nothing in heaven, they too shall pray with all the great and rich and with the servants of the things below and those free of the service of Christ, that they be hidden by the caves and the rocks and the mountains. For they do not want to experience the divine wrath that with divine consent will pour down upon them either at the coming of the antichrist in the form of punishments from famine and other plagues or in endless torments which are expected after the resurrection.

And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders. We understand kings as powerful people. He means to encompass every rank and condition. Besides, who but the persecutor will be kings then?

They hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains, etc. When the weaker ones seek to be strengthened by the examples of the high ones in the Church, to be fortified by their advice, and to be protected by their warnings and prayers, they figuratively ask these mountains to fall on them through their compassionate affection. For the high mountains are a refuge for the deer, and the rocks a shelter for the hedgehogs (Ps. 104:18).

And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and tribunes, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of mountains. The kings are those who govern themselves well. Likewise for the princes, who do not resist vices as well as the kings, but still do so as they can. Likewise, the tribunes have still less power than the princes, but they too nonetheless resist the Devil as they can. By the rich he means the rich in virtues, not in possessions; and by the strong also he means not the strong in body, but in mind. So these people, in the last persecution, presuming nothing of their virtues, hide themselves in the caves and dens of mountains because they seek the intercessions of saints, who are rightly called mountains because they are high in virtues and look down on earthly things, and rightly called rocks because they are strong, as they are necessarily strengthened in Christ, who is a rock. Hence the Lord says in the Gospel, Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains; [Matt. 24:16] and Solomon, The rabbit, a weak people, maketh its bed in the rock; [Variant of Prov. 30:26] and Isaiah says, They shall go into the holes of rocks, and into the caves of the earth from the face of the strength of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth. [Variant of Is. 2:19] He even tells us that one should do so, saying, Enter thou into the rock, and hide thee in a pit in the ground. [Ibid. 10] These things may also mean heavenly virtues, according to what we read in the book of Job: She abideth among the rocks, and dwelleth among cragged flints, and stony hills, where there is no access. [Job 39:28] But let us hear what the fleeing people say to either the angels or the saints.

What followed on the opening of the seven seals. The opening of the first seal; the white horse, Rev 6:1, Rev 6:2. The opening of the second seal; the red horse, Rev 6:3, Rev 6:4. The opening of the third seal; the black horse and the famine, Rev 6:5, Rev 6:6. The opening of the fourth seal; the pale horse, Rev 6:7, Rev 6:8. The opening of the fifth seal; the souls of men under the altar, Rev 6:9-11. The opening of the sixth seal; the earthquake, the darkening of the sun and moon, and falling of the stars, Rev 6:12-14. The terrible consternation of the kings and great men of the earth, Rev 6:15-17.

The kings of the earth, etc. - All the secular powers who had endeavored to support the pagan worship by authority, influence, riches, political wisdom, and military skill; with every bondman - all slaves, who were in life and limb addicted to their masters or owners. And every freeman - Those who had been manumitted, commonly called freedmen, and who were attached, through gratitude, to the families of their liberators. All hid themselves - were astonished at the total overthrow of the heathen empire, and the revolution which had then taken place.

THE OPENING OF THE FIRST SIX OF THE SEVEN SEALS. (Rev. 6:1-17) one of the seals--The oldest manuscripts, A, B, C, Vulgate, and Syriac read, "one of the seven seals." noise--The three oldest manuscripts read this in the nominative or dative, not the genitive, as English Version, "I heard one from among the four living creatures saying, as (it were) the voice (or, 'as with the voice') of thunder." The first living creature was like a lion (Rev 4:7): his voice is in consonance. Implying the lion-like boldness with which, in the successive great revivals, the faithful have testified for Christ, and especially a little before His coming shall testify. Or, rather, their earnestness in praying for Christ's coming. Come and see--One oldest manuscript, B, has "And see." But A, C, and Vulgate reject it. ALFORD rightly objects to English Version reading: "Whither was John to come? Separated as he was by the glassy sea from the throne, was he to cross it?" Contrast the form of expression, Rev 10:8. It is much more likely to be the cry of the redeemed to the Redeemer, "Come" and deliver the groaning creature from the bondage of corruption. Thus, Rev 6:2 is an answer to the cry, went (literally, "came") forth corresponding to "Come." "Come," says GROTIUS, is the living creature's address to John, calling his earnest attention. But it seems hard to see how "Come" by itself can mean this. Compare the only other places in Revelation where it is used, Rev 4:1; Rev 22:17. If the four living creatures represent the four Gospels, the "Come" will be their invitation to everyone (for it is not written that they addressed John) to accept Christ's salvation while there is time, as the opening of the seals marks a progressive step towards the end (compare Rev 22:17). Judgments are foretold as accompanying the preaching of the Gospel as a witness to all nations (Rev 14:6-11; Mat 24:6-14). Thus the invitation, "Come," here, is aptly parallel to Mat 24:14. The opening of the first four seals is followed by judgments preparatory for His coming. At the opening of the fifth seal, the martyrs above express the same (Rev 6:9-10; compare Zac 1:10). At the opening of the sixth seal, the Lord's coming is ushered in with terrors to the ungodly. At the seventh, the consummation is fully attained (Rev 11:15).

kings . . . hid themselves--Where was now the spirit of those whom the world has so greatly feared? [BENGEL]. great men--statesmen and high civil officers. rich men . . . chief captains--The three oldest manuscripts, A, B, C, transpose thus, "chief captains . . . rich men." mighty--The three oldest manuscripts, A, B, and C read, "strong" physically (Psa 33:16). in--literally "into"; ran into, so as to hide themselves in. dens--"caves."