they do not appear on earth; they are simply the conductors of the
Revelation. God never commissions his people on earth to perform such
great judgments upon their persecutors as the temporal judgments of the
seven last plagues will be shown to be; but, on the contrary, he has
given them the express command not to avenge themselves, but to suffer
wrong. He himself lays exclusive claim to this prerogative, saying,
"Vengeance is _mine_; I will repay, saith the Lord." Rom. 12:19.

As soon as the subject of the plagues is introduced and before they are
poured out, the narrative suddenly changes and a short history of God's
redeemed saints is given. This, perhaps, thus occurs for two reasons--to
assist us in fixing the chronology of the events described and to
encourage us with the thought that, even while the awful judgments of
God are being "made manifest" upon the haughty oppressors of earth, God
has a chosen people who have "gotten the victory over the beast, and
over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name."
They stand upon the "sea of glass, having the harps of God"--a symbol of
melody and praise--and sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.
The song of Moses was that sung by the Israelites when they had escaped
to the further side of the Red Sea, thus securing perfect deliverance
from their enemies. So, also, this company of worshipers sing a great
song of deliverance--deliverance from the beast and his image. In
chapters 4 and 5 John saw the great host redeemed before the apostasy
standing on this sea of glass, singing the song of redemption--the song
of the Lamb--but this company are enabled to sing another song as
well--the song of deliverance--for they have "gotten the victory over
the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of
his name." Halleluiah! "Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God
Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints."

As before stated (chap. 8:3), the heavenly world as opened up to John
appeared symbolized after the sanctuary of the temple. By "the temple of
the tabernacle of the testimony," out of which the seven angels came
fully prepared for their work, is meant the most holy place of the
sanctuary, called "the tabernacle of the testimony" because there was
deposited in it, beneath the wings of the cherubim, the ark of the
testimony, or God's covenant. It was therefore as from the most holy
place of the sanctuary--fro