5. And the angel, which I saw stand upon the sea, and upon the earth,
lifted up his hand to heaven,

6. And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven,
and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are
therein, that there should be time no longer.

7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall
begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath
declared to his servants the prophets.

Vs. 4-7.--The attitude assumed by the Angel of the covenant is very
impressive, instructive and exemplary:--"his hand lifted up to heaven."
This is the external attitude of solemnity most becoming the jurant when
performing the act of religious worship, the oath. Abraham, in the
presence of the king of Sodom, used the same form, appealing to the
"Lord, the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth." (Gen. xiv.
22.) "Kissing the book" has no example in all the Bible; hence it is
unquestionably of heathen, and so of idolatrous origin and tendency. No
Christian can thus symbolize with heathens, without so far "having
fellowship with devils" as really as in eating in their temples. (1 Cor.
x. 21.)

The matter of the Angel's oath is,--"that there should be time no
longer." Here it is humbly suggested that our excellent translators are
faulty as in ch. iv. 6, already noticed. Neither the original Greek
text, nor the coherence of the symbolic narrative, will sustain or
justify the version. John, like all pious people, when he heard the
lion's voice, followed by the "seven thunders," was filled with solemn
awe, anticipating the coming dissolution of all things. It was not the
only instance of his weakness and misapprehension, (ch. xix. 10;) nor is
this infirmity peculiar to the apostle John; for we find other disciples
mistaking "the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in his
own power." (2 Thess. ii. 1-3.) These Thessalonians had misapprehended
the language of Paul in his first epistle to them, when speaking of the
end of the world. (1 Thess. iv. 15-17.) To relieve the anxieties of the
Thessalonians, relative to the apprehended and sudden coming of the
Lord, Paul wrote again to correct their mistake; so it may be supposed
that the Angel interposed this solemn assurance to his servant John, for
the like purpose, of allaying his forebodings. The words in the
original, literally translated, stand thus: "That the time shall not be
yet." That is, the "time