426 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And another angel came out from the altar,.... Where are the souls of the martyrs of Jesus, Revelation 6:9 and whom this angel is thought by some to represent, in his address to him that had the sharp sickle, crying for vengeance on the wicked of the earth, who had shed their blood: the allusion seems to be to the altar of burnt offerings, where...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth,.... Before "upon the earth", when the harvest was gathered in, the wheat being on the earth, but not belonging to it; but here "into the earth", the vine being the vine of the earth, rooted in it, and natural to it: and gathered the vine of the earth; the Arabic version reads, "of the whole...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the winepress was trodden without the city,.... The beloved city, the new Jerusalem, into which none of the wicked will enter, and without which are dogs, c. Revelation 20:9. The allusion may be, as Dr. Lightfoot thinks, to the olive presses, which were without the city of Jerusalem, from whence Gethsemane had its name, whither our Lord went,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Revelation 15 This chapter is a preparation to the pouring out of the seven vials, and contains a vision of the seven angels in heaven that should do this work, of a chorus of harpers on this occasion, and of the same seven angels coming out of the temple, and receiving the vials, in order to execute their commission. The vision of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous,.... This chapter is a preparation to the pouring out of the seven vials, as Revelation 16:1 is to the sending of the seven epistles, and Revelation 2:1 to the seven seals and seven trumpets: the vision is called a "sign", because what was seen was significative of future events; a sign of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mingled with fire,.... Not baptism, but rather the blood of Christ, which may be compared to a sea, for its abundant virtue and efficacy in cleansing from all sin; and to a sea "of glass", since in it are clearly seen free justification, full pardon, peace and reconciliation; and may be said to be "mingled...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God,.... Not that in Deuteronomy 32:1 but that in Exodus 15:1 and the sense is, either that they observed the law of Moses, which he as a servant in the Lord's house faithfully delivered, and kept it distinct from the Gospel, and did not blend them together, as in the times before; or rather, that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Who shall not fear thee, O Lord,.... At this time the people of the Jews shall seek after Christ, and fear him and his goodness; the forces of the Gentiles shall be brought into Zion, whose heart shall then fear, and be enlarged; the fear of the Lord will be in all places, and in all men, both Jews and Gentiles, Hosea 3:5 and glorify thy name? by...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And after that I looked,.... That is, after John had seen the above vision, he looked again, and saw what follows: and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened; this does not refer to heaven itself, the antitype of the holy of holies, which is opened by the blood of Christ, by which he himself has entered, and his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the seven angels came out of the temple,.... By which it appears, that they are such who are of, or belong to the church of Christ; and are either ministers, or members of churches, who will be the executioners of God's wrath upon the beast, and his followers; some copies, and the Complutensian edition, read, "out of heaven": having the seven...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And one of the four beasts,.... Or living creatures: now we hear of them, as of the four and twenty elders, under the blowing of the seventh trumpet, Revelation 11:16 with which this vision is contemporary; these living creatures are the ministers of the Gospel; [See comments on Revelation 4:6] and this was one, or the first of them, who was like...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the temple was filled with smoke,.... Not with the smoke of false doctrine and superstition; that comes out of the bottomless pit, this from God, Revelation 9:2 and besides, Gospel churches will grow purer and purer, while the seven angels are pouring out the vials: but rather this may be understood of judicial blindness and hardness of heart,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Revelation 16 This chapter gives an account of the pouring out of the seven vials by the angels; their orders for it are in Revelation 16:1. The first angel pours out his vial on the earth, the effect of which is a noisome and grievous sore upon the followers of antichrist, and the worshippers of his image, Revelation 16:2. The...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I heard a great voice out of the temple,.... The church, which in the preceding chapter is said to be opened; this was either the voice of God, whose temple the church is, and where he dwells, and who, has power over these plagues, Revelation 16:9 and who, when he is about to bring judgments on the earth, is said to roar out of Zion,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the first went,.... The Arabic and Ethiopic versions read, "the first angel", and who undoubtedly is meant, who readily and cheerfully obeyed the orders given him, as did the rest; by this angel cannot be meant Pope Adrian, as Lyra, a Popish interpreter, imagines; for a pope would never hurt the worshippers of the beast, as this angel does;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea,.... Not literally; and so does not design the stagnation of it, which it is thought will be before the general conflagration; see Amos 7:4 nor is it to be understood of the sea of this world, and the men of it, who are like a troubled sea; but rather of Popish doctrines and councils, which are...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the third angel poured his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters,.... Which also is not to be literally understood of a stagnation of them, before the burning of the world; nor of the destruction of Popish fleets and navies, such as the Spanish armada in 1588, and others since; but rather of Popish writings, of the most learned and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I heard the angel of the waters say,.... So we read in Jewish writings (t) of an angel that was שרא דימא, "the prince of the sea", and of angels that were over the waters, and others over fire (u); though here is designed not one of the מלאכי מים "angels of the water", that presided ove the waters, as another over fire; [See comments on...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,.... Which shows that rivers and fountains cannot be literally understood, but men are designed, wicked and bloody men; and it is notorious to all, how much of the blood of the saints, of the preachers of the Gospel, of the prophets and witnesses, have been shed in Italy, Savoy, and other places...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I heard another out of the altar say,.... That is, another angel that came out of the altar; see Revelation 14:18 and who represents the souls under the altar, whose blood had been shed by the above persons; compare with this Revelation 6:9 though, there, such whose blood had been shed by Rome Pagan are described; the Ethiopic version calls...