any one of those which have been advanced. Yet this seems to be an appropriate place to state, in few words, what principles it is designed to pursue in the interpretation of the remainder of the book. (1) It may be assumed that large portions of the book relate to _the future_; that is, to that which was future when John wrote. In this all expositors are agreed, and this is manifest indeed on the very face of the representation. It would be impossible to attempt an interpretation {133} on any other supposition, and somewhere _in_ that vast future the events are to be found to which the symbols here used had reference. This is assumed, indeed, on the supposition that the book is _inspired_――a fact which is assumed all along in this exposition, and which should be allowed to control our interpretation. But assuming that the book relates to the future, though that supposition will do something to determine the true method of interpretation, yet it leaves many questions still unsolved. Whether it refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, on the supposition that the work was written before that event, or to the history of the church subsequent to that; whether it is designed to describe events minutely, or only in the most general manner; whether it is intended to furnish a _syllabus_ of civil and ecclesiastical history, or only a very general outline of future events; whether the _times_ are so designated that we can fix them with entire certainty; or whether it was intended to furnish any certain indication of the periods of the world when these things should occur;――all these are still open questions, and it need not be said that on these the opinions of expositors have been greatly divided. (2) It may be assumed that there _is_ meaning in these symbols, and that they were not used without an intention to convey some important ideas to the mind of John and to the minds of his readers――to the church then, and to the church in future times. Comp. Notes on ch. i. 3. The book is indeed surpassingly sublime. It abounds with the highest flights of poetic language. It is Oriental in its character, and exhibits everywhere the proofs of a most glowing imagination in the writer. But it is also to be borne in mind that it is an _inspired_ book, and this fact is to determine the character of the exposition. _If_ inspired, it is to be assumed that there is a _meaning_ in these symbols; an idea in each one of them, and in all combined, of importance to the church and the world. Whether we can ascertain the meaning is another question; but it is never to be doubted by an expositor of the Bible that there _is_ a meaning in the words and images employed, and that to find out that meaning is worthy of earnest study and prayer.