(7) And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever. (8) And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
We have heard nothing of those beasts since the opening of the vision at the fourth Chapter, to the seventh, excepting once at the, fourteenth; but now here is one of them coming forward again, to give the seven vials, full of God's wrath, to the seven angels. The beasts, and the angels or messengers, are acting as servants on those high occasions; and, as they all are said to come forth from the temple, it plainly shows, that the judgments to be poured from these vials, on the seat of the beast and false prophet, will be from the Church.
I do not think it necessary to enlarge on this part of the prophecy, as what is here said is only by way of preparation to what is to follow, under the ministry of the vials. The temple filled with smoke should seem to refer to what is said of the Lord's house by Isaiah, Revelation 6:4. It cannot, I think, as some have supposed, refer to the heresies with which the Church was beset; for those heresies are from without, whereas the smoke here is within. Moreover, it is said, that the temple was filled with smoke, from the glory of the Lord; a decided proof, in my view, that the smoke cannot refer to heresies of any kind. But I leave the Reader to his own conclusions upon the subject, under the grace of God,