Revelation 17:1 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Revelation 17:1.— The former vision represented a very afflicted state of the church; the true worshippers of God, few in number, driven out from society, flying into desart places for safety from persecution, prophesying in sackcloth, in a state of oppression and mourning, and often put to death for their testimony to the truth: yet the time of this afflicted state is limited to 1260 years; at the end of which period the oppressive persecuting power shall be destroyed; and purity, truth, and righteousness, which were oppressed and persecuted, shall flourish in a state of great safety, peace, and happiness. This is a much longer period of prophesy than either of the foregoing. To make the true meaning of it more clear, one of the angels who poured out the cup of God's wrath, is sent to St. John as a messenger, more fully to explain it; and we may justly look upon his interpretation as a sure key, which will warrant an application of the several representations; and so far as an angel from heaven explains it, we may be satisfied we have the true meaning of it: so that by the help of this explication in the prophesyitself, we have a sure interpretation of some of the more important parts of the vision, and of such as will make the interpretation of the rest very likely and probable.