heed; it is for believing the promise of his coming, that they have to bear the taunts of the scoffers; "for since the fathers fell Chap. iii. 4. asleep," say they, "all things continue as It Ver. 9. from the beginning of the creation." appears that the allusion here made to the fathers is because of the promises made to them respecting the inheritance of the land, which have not yet been accomplished; for only be in reply to this Peter says, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise," but is waiting for the repentance of all those to whom the apostle wrote: hence we ought, in all holy conversation and godliness, to be hastening on the coming of the day of God. But why should they wish for this? is it cause of the dissolution of the elements which will then take place? No; but on the contrary, although the elements will then be destroyed, "nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a Ver. 13. new earth;" this appears clearly to be the new heavens and new earth that will be established upon the dissolution of the old; and this, therefore, is the reason why they should be hastening on the day of God: 7, 8. When the old world "perished," it was not annihilated, but the form of its surface was changed; so the "new earth," which is promised, is not "new" as to its matter and identity, but new as to its form and condition-new by its regeneration, as man becomes a new creature by his regeneration; new somewhat in the sense in which John 1 John, ii. speaks of love being a new commandmentit is old for its matter and substance, new for the manner and circumstance of urging it; namely, after the example of Christ. The Heb. xii. 27, fashion of this world shall pass away; the things that may be shaken shall be removed, in order that the things which cannot be shaken may remain, to constitute the unmovable kingdom of the saints. 28. Ver. 19. The promise of the new heavens and earth, to which St. Peter refers, is, I believe, universally acknowledged to be that in Isa. lxv. 17, and lxvi. 22; but if so, the consumption by fire, for the prophecy concerning which St. Peter also refers us to the Old Testament, must be that mentioned Isa.lxvi. 15. in the same passage of Isaiah, between the two promises of the new creation; and it is after that destruction, according to the same passage, that the Gentiles are to be called. Hence, it must be observed, that the difficulty is not any inconsistency in the system which I have been advocating, but it is the very language of the prophet to which St. Peter refers that requires to be reconciled with itself; in other words, it is one of the "things hard to be understood," how the Lord, after he has pleaded by fire and his sword "with all flesh," will then send to those who have not heard his fame, nor seen his glory. Compare Ver. 16-19. 249 CHAPTER XII. OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. "At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholic faith."-Athanasian Creed. interpreta THE next passage which I purpose to Rev. xx. examine is Rev. xx., towards the right in- Means of terpretation of which there appear to be tion. four guides, none of which should be wholly neglected. laws. 1. The general laws of interpretation, to 1. General which the whole must be subjected. 2. Struc 2. The structure of the particular passage ture. in hand. 3. Parallel passages. 3. Parallel passages. 4. The analogy of faith; that is, our in- 4. Analogy terpretation must be consistent with plain passages of Scripture, which speak of the same events. of faith. Structure of the passage. I shall say but little upon the first head, nor shall I rest my argument upon what I do advance; for there are so many theories -and these so very different-respecting the interpretation of the Apocalypse, that I should either have to assume much to which most would not assent, or else to enter into a field of controversy more extensive than would be convenient: for the same reason I shall take this head last in order, and will commence by examining the structure of the passage. In the first four verses of the twentieth chapter of the Apocalypse, St. John relates a vision, or describes that which passed before his eyes," I saw thrones," &c. Then follows a narrative of what shall happen a thousand years afterwards; and in ver. 11 St. John proceeds again to describe what passed before his eyes. The point which I wish first to decide, is, whether the vision related in ver. 11 is in immediate connexion with the vision in ver. 4, or whether the period of a thousand years is supposed to intervene between the two visions; or, |