s great city,
that of the false prophet, God's people were long held in captivity; but
its spiritual overthrow was to be accomplished by the drying up of the
Euphrates of its defenses, that the way of the kings of the East might
be prepared.[12]

[Footnote 12: Applying the Euphrates (an object from nature) as a symbol
of ecclesiastical affairs in this manner appears to be in violation of
the laws of symbolic language laid down; but we should bear in mind the
fact that events of whatever nature connected with the history of God's
chosen people in the old dispensation are of themselves proper symbols
of similar events in the New Testament dispensation. Thus the temple,
altar, candle-sticks, incense, holy city, etc., of the former
dispensation, although of themselves objects from nature, are
nevertheless clearly used to represent affairs of the church, because of
their former significance as connected with the people of God. The fact
that the great city of this chapter is spiritual Babylon (see verse 19)
is positive proof that the river Euphrates is here applied in the proper
manner.]

To the Hebrews the term _east_ had a much more extensive signification
than with us, to whom its only distinction is that it is the point of
the sun's rising. But beyond this, it was to the Jews the cardinal point
of the compass to which they naturally looked first. Their temple was
built toward the east, its principal entrance being in that direction.
The most powerful and enlightened kingdoms of the world lay to the east
of Judea, and they included them all under the general term, sons or
children of the East (Orientals) and kings of the East, comprehending
not only Arabia and the lands of Moab and Ammon, but also Armenia,
Assyria, Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Chaldea. Travelers from these
countries would all enter Judea from the east, and they were considered
Orientals. These nations were also distinguished for their proficiency
in science and learning. The Magi, or wise men of the East, came to
worship the infant Jesus at Jerusalem. They were eminent in the science
of astrology, which was considered the greatest science of that day. The
East, therefore, was looked to for wise men; and it is a noticeable fact
that the pathway of science, of literature, and of empire has ever been
from that direction, so as to have passed into a proverb, "westward the
star of empire holds its way." "The kings of the East," then, employed
as a symbol of thi