(Matt. xi. 13;) and in the efficacy of his satisfaction rendered to
divine justice, for which the Father gave him credit from the fall of
man. (Rom. iii. 25.)--So many erroneous views have been taken, and false
interpretations given of this chapter in particular, as of the
Apocalypse in general, that the Divine Spirit calls special attention
here to the rise, reign and ruin of the beast of the sea. The prophetic
description of this beast in an especial manner is of such importance to
instruct, and thereby sustain and comfort, the suffering disciples of
Christ, that he causes his servant John to pause, as it were, and allow
the reader to reflect. Indeed, wherever a note of attention is thus
given, we may be sure that something "hid from the wise and prudent" is
intended. Accordingly, it were endless to follow the vagaries of even
learned men dealing out their "private interpretations" of this chapter.
Yet the understanding of its general outlines was at the bottom of the
Reformation by Luther, his colleagues and successors. Elsewhere,
however, we may take occasion to notice how vague, and inadequate, and
bold, were some of their conceptions; all going to show the
seasonableness of the solemn admonition,--"If any man have an ear, let
him hear."--The beast is to be treated as he dealt with the victims of
his cruelty. He is justly doomed to captivity and death. "The beast was
taken and--cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone," (ch.
xix. 20.) "Tophet is ordained of old." It was used by the prophets as a
figure of hell. (Is. xxx. 33.) To this place, whence there is no
redemption, this monstrous beast was to be consigned, as predicted by
the prophet Daniel, (vii. 11,)--"The beast was slain, and his body
destroyed, and given to the burning flame."--In the protracted contest
of 1260 years with this imperial power, "the patience and the faith of
the saints" were exemplified. Faith and patience would be more severely
tried in this case than in any other; as the period of persecution was
to be of much longer continuance than any that had preceded since the