The Rainbow Angel.

The Rainbow Angel.“And I saw another mighty angel descending from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and the rainbow was over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book opened: and he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land. And shouted with a loud voice, as a lion roareth: and when he shouted, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up those things, which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land, raised his hand to heaven, and swore by him who liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things in it, and the earth, and the things in it, and the sea, and the things in it, that the time should not yet be; but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he will sound, the secret of God will be finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets. And the voice, which I heard from heaven, spoke with me again, and said, Go, take the little book, which is opened in the hand of the angel, who standeth on the sea and on the land. And I went away to the angel, and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said to me, Take, and eat it up; and it will make thy stomach bitter, but in thy mouth, it will be sweet as honey. And I took the little book from the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it my stomach was bitter. And he said to me, Thou must prophesy again concerning many people, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”—Rev. 10:1-11.This angel, like those in corresponding passages, must symbolize a body of men, whose importance is indicated by the might and splendor of the symbol.His descent from heaven, the cloud, the rainbow, the sun-like face, and the fire-like feet of the Mighty Messenger, attest the heaven-inspired[pg 109]origin of his utterances. His“eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace,”would not be given to one who came to announce other than heaven-inspired truths.Theopen bookin the hand of the angel, fixes the chronology of the fulfilment of this vision at an epoch when the Scriptures cease to be a closed and sealed book, and the people are permitted to have free access to them.Hisposition—one foot resting on the sea, and one on the land—attests the universality of the movement which is to date from that epoch.His lion voice, must symbolize the manner in which would be announced the great truths, at which the whole world would be startled.Thesinglenessof his cry, is also symbolic of the simplicity of the truth, which is never symbolized by discordant multitudinous sounds.Theresponsive thunders, unlike the single voice of the angel, are multitudinous and discordant; and consequently symbolize errors. Theirfollowingso immediately on the shout of the angel, shows the proximity of their promulgation to the utterance of the truths to which they are responsive.John'sreadiness to writewhat the seven thunders uttered, shows that what they uttered wasprofessedlyin harmony with the truths previously announced, and that men[pg 110]would be liable to be deceived, by their promulgation.His beingforbiddenby the cloud-robed angel, to write what they uttered—while he was commanded to“seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book”(22:10),—shows that their utterances were not heaven-inspired, and constituted no part of“the word ofGod, and of the testimony ofJesus Christ,”whichJohnbare record of.Thesubsequent oathof the angel, by Him who liveth forever, that“the time is not yet,”shows that those thunders, however erroneous in their form manner and connection with other errors, had respect to some great event foretold in Scripture; but which the thunders hadantedatedand presented in anunscripturalform.His further announcement that it would be fulfilled under the sounding of the“seventh trumpet,”and that then the mystery ofGodshould be finished in the manner foretold to his servants the prophets, shows that the great event, the time of which was“not yet,”—i.e., under the sixth trumpet, was the coming of the kingdom ofGod—the fifth universal empire; that at a period anterior to the time when it might rationally be expected, it would be proclaimed in a form repugnant to the teachings of the prophets; and that when thus heralded, it would be met by the party uttering the heaven-inspired truths, with the denial[pg 111]that the time had arrived, and by arguments to show its true nature and epoch, under the seventh trumpet.The command to take and eat the little book, shows that its contents were such as the soul might feed on; which should be sweet to the believer's taste, but would subject him to bitter persecution. And the announcement that they were to prophesyagainbefore many nations and peoples and tongues and kings, marks this as the commencement of an era when the Gospel should again begin to go forth into distant lands.All of the above particulars harmonize in the time of the reformation ofLutherin the sixteenth century, and with no other epoch. The great truths then promulgated, of which“justification by faith”was the cardinal one, electrified the whole world, as the loud roaring of a lion would startle the passer-by. These were immediately responded to by the multitudinous errors of the Anabaptists and others, who thought to set up the kingdom ofGodinthis world, andbefore the resurrection, by putting to death the ungodly and sparing only the saints.As in all efforts for good Satan is careful to attempt a counterfeit, or to mingle impure elements to the injury of the truth, so in the Reformation there were false reformers.Thomas Munzer, and others, in 1525, incited vast numbers on the borders of the Danube to[pg 112]make physical war on the Papal ecclesiastics. He denouncedLuther, also, with the same violence that he did the Pope. In his mad attempt to slay the ungodly, he took possession of Muhlhausen, appointed a new city council, pillaged the houses of the rich, proclaimed a community of goods, and committed various excesses; but they were finally defeated in a pitched battle, with a loss of from five thousand to seven thousand killed. Others succeeded him, teaching thatGodspake to them in person, instructing them how to act. They professed the most extravagant doctrines, setting aside bothLutherand the Bible. The former did not go near far enough for them; and the latter was in their view insufficient for man's instruction, who could only be taught of God. They taught that the world was to be immediately devastated; and no priest or ungodly person be left alive; and that then the kingdom ofGodwould commence, and the saints possess the earth. Those who adhered toLuther, united with him in bearing a faithful testimony against such extravagances, adhered to the written word, denounced new revelations, and showed from the Bible that Antichrist was to be overthrown by the personal advent ofChrist, and not by the sword of man. The following extracts are fromMr. Lord:“The pretences of the Anabaptists to inspiration were in like manner denounced by[pg 113]Melancthon.‘The Anabaptists, infatuated by the devil, have boasted a new species of sanctity, as though they had left the earth, and ascended to the skies; and given out, moreover, that they enjoy extraordinary inspiration. But as the pretence was hypocritical, and designed merely to subserve appetite and ambition, they soon plunged into debauchery, and then excited seditions, and undertook to establish a New Jerusalem, as other enthusiasts have often attempted. A like tragedy was formerly acted at Pepuza in Phrygia, which fanatical prophets denominated the new Jerusalem.’“He also refuted by the Scriptures, the expectation of the Anabaptists of the immediate establishment of Christ's millennial kingdom. He regarded the term Antichrist as denoting both the Mohammedan empire and the Papacy, and held that they were not to be overthrown till the time of the resurrection of the dead, and that a considerable period was to pass before that event.‘God showed to Daniel a series of monarchies and kingdoms, which it is certain has already run to the end. Four monarchies have passed away. The cruel kingdom of the Turks, which arose out of the fourth, still remains, and as it is not to equal the Roman in power, and has certainly, therefore, already nearly reached its height, must soon decline, and then will dawn the day in which the dead shall be recalled to[pg 114]life.’He then repeats the saying ascribed to Elias, that six thousand years were to pass before the advent of Christ; two thousand before the law, two under the law, and two under the gospel; and proceeds to show that four hundred and fifty-eight years were, therefore, to intervene before the advent of the Redeemer, the destruction of Antichrist, and the establishment of the kingdom of the saints.‘It is known that Christ was born about the end of the fourth millenary,1and one thousand five hundred and forty-two years have since revolved. We are not, therefore [in 1542], far from the end.’“These views corresponding so conspicuously with the symbol, continued to be repeated by a crowd of writers, till at the distance of sixty-seven years from the death of Melancthon, the celebrated Joseph Mede published his‘Clavis Apocalyptica,’in which he showed from the coincidence of the periods of the wild beast and the witnesses, that the advent of the Redeemer, and the destruction of the anti-Christian powers were not to be expected until twelve hundred and sixty years had passed from the rise of the ten kingdoms, and that near one hundred of them, therefore, were still to revolve. As that period expired and the knowledge of the prophecy advanced, the[pg 115]catastrophe of the wild beast was referred to a later time. Many recent expositors regard the twelve hundred and sixty years as having reached their end in 1792; and most refer the fall of the anti-Christian powers to the last half of the present, or the beginning of the next century.”—Ex. of Apoc., pp. 238-240.All the vagaries of the various sects of heretics were connected with an expectation of the immediate establishment ofChrist'skingdom. That the seven thunders gave utterance to such an expectation, is evident from the response of the angel, when he lifted up his hand to heaven and with the solemnity of an oath, by Him who liveth forever, affirmed that“the time should not yet be;”but that“in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he delays to sound,2the secret ofGodwill be finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets.”Why such an annunciation at this stage of the vision? It must be to correct a misapprehension which would exist at a corresponding time in its fulfilment, respecting the immediate appearance of the kingdom. Thus didPaulcorrect the Thessalonian brethren, when he wrote to them in his second epistle not to be shaken in mind, as that the day of theLordwas then impending, 2 Th. 2:2.The Bible, was, at this epoch, first opened[pg 116]to the common people. Before, it was only found in languages which they were entirely ignorant of. It was translated byLutherinto their own language, and thus made accessible. The art of printing, discovered at about that time, enabled all who wished, to avail themselves of its unsealed contents. They feasted on the words of inspiration, which were sweeter to them than honey, or the honey-comb. But afterwards, they had to endure bitterness for the sake of the Gospel. Divisions and subdivisions followed, parties multiplied, and heresies abounded, accompanied with bitter and mischievous discussions, and fierce and rancorous contentions. These being based on the understanding which the several parties attached to portions of scripture, were fitly symbolized by the bitterness that followed the eating of the book. At this time, also, was revived a system of religious teachings which has gone forth into many lands.The reörganization of the church at this epoch, is next symbolized.The Measuring Reed, Temple, &c.“And there was given me a measuring reed like a rod, and it was said, Arise, and measure the temple of God, (and the altar,) and those who worship in it. But the court which is without the temple, leave out, and measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles: and they will tread the holy city under foot forty-two months.”—Rev. 11:1, 2.[pg 117]These symbols are evidently taken from the temple and altar of Jewish worship, and represent corresponding analogies under the Christian dispensation.To measure anything, is to examine and take notice of its parts and proportions; and that by which it is measured, is the standard or rule to which it should conform.The temple, is a proper symbol of the church of God; which is“built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Corner Stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord,”Eph. 2:20, 21.At the epoch of the Reformation, the nominal church was subjected to the scrutiny of the word of God; and its pretensions were measured by the scriptural rule. The reformers found the Man of Sin,“as God sitting in the temple of God,”(2 Thess. 2:4); and they had to re-model their church relationship, in accordance with the pattern presented in the New Testament. This involved the consideration of what constituted the church,—its organization, its ministry, its sacraments, and its membership,—their mutual relation to God, and to each other.The altar, must symbolize the sacrifice and atonement of Christ,—the“altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle,”Heb. 13:10. The great question,[pg 118]of justification by faith in the death of Christ, was the rallying cry of the Reformation. The fundamental principles of Christian truth were then unfolded anew, and the doctrines of the Papacy, including the sacrifice of the mass, were rejected as contrary to Bible teachings.The worshippers in the temple, who were to be measured by the same rule, are Christians. All who were to be recognized as such, were to give evidence of conformity to the Bible standard. Regeneration by the Holy Ghost, was held by the reformers to be necessary to church membership. The Papists required only baptism and confirmation.The court without the temple, was that to which the Gentiles had access, and beyond which their entrance was prohibited. Devout foreigners were there permitted to pay their devotions to the God of heaven. As the Gentiles must symbolize those who are not Christians, the occupants of the outer court, must be the congregation—the nominal worshippers who throng the outer courts of the Lord, in distinction from the true worshippers. Such were to have free and unrestricted access to the places of Christian worship.The holy city is that in which the temple is situated, and must embrace the church as a whole, subjected to Gentile rule. Its being trodden under foot, indicates that the civil polity under which the church would subsist,[pg 119]should, during the period specified, be under the control of those who worship only in the outer court.The forty and two months, is a period of time, corresponding with the thousand two hundred and three score days of the verse following, the time and times and half a time of Rev. 12:14, and the corresponding periods of Rev. 12:6; 13:5; Dan. 7:25; and 12:7; symbolizing a period of twelve hundred and sixty years, according to the almost unanimous opinion of Protestant writers.This period does not commence with this epoch, but began with the subjection of Christianity to the power of the civil arm, which was to continue during the time predicted,—notwithstanding the reädjustment of the temple-worship,—when Christians should cease to be responsible to any human tribunal for the orthodoxy of their faith.During the same period, also, power to prophesy, though shrouded in sackcloth, was to be given to:Christ's Two Witnesses.“And I will give charge to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive-trees, and the two lamp-stands, standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any one wisheth to injure them, fire proceedeth from their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if anyone wisheth to injure them, he must thus be killed. These[pg 120]have power to shut heaven, that it may not rain in the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they wish. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the wild beast that ascendeth out of the abyss will make war with them, and will overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodywill lieon the wide street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And those of the people, and tribes, and tongues, and nations, will see their dead body three days and a half, and will not allow their dead body to be put into a tomb. And those, who dwell on the earth, will rejoice over them, and exult, and send gifts to each other; because these two prophets tormented those, who dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell on those, who saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them, Ascend here! And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake seven thousand names of men were slain: and the remnant became terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past away; behold, the third woe cometh quickly.”—Rev. 11:3-14.The two witnesses are not symbolically exhibited, but are referred to by an elliptical metaphor, and are explained to be the“two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks.”Therefore, they are not two living men, as some suppose, shown to John in vision, symbolizing analogous agents; but their nature is to be determined by a consideration of the olive-trees and candlesticks which symbolize them.Candlesticks symbolize churches. Thus[pg 121]the Saviour said to John:“The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches,”1:20. When“men light a candle,”they put“it on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house,”Matt. 5:15. The candlestick does not originate, but sustains the light in a position to be seen and exert a beneficial influence. It is thus that the church is said to be“the light of the world,”and is required to let her light“shine before men,”Ib.vs. 14-16,—i.e.She is to disseminate the light committed to her; and in so doing, she becomes awitnessfor Jesus.The church comprises all the holy persons who have lived on earth, and is symbolized by two candlesticks, corresponding to the two dispensations of its existence. Those who lived under the former dispensation, are called“a great cloud of witnesses,”Heb. 12:1. Of Christ,“give all the prophets witness,”Acts 10:43. They constitute the voice of the church in that age. Under the gospel dispensation, also, Christ had chosen witnesses of himself. He said to his disciples,“Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth,”(Ib.1:8); and they said,“We are his witnesses,”Ib.5:32.“We are witnesses of all things which he did, ... witnesses chosen before of God,”(Ib.10:39-41);—“his[pg 122]witnesses unto the people,”Ib.13:31. They and their successors have“testified and preached the word of the Lord,”(Ib.8:25), overcoming“by the word of their testimony,”(Rev. 12:11),—many of them being“slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held,”6:9. The church, one in all ages, symbolized by the two candlesticks, is thus awitnessof Jesus.The two olive-trees, symbolize the other witness, which must sustain a relation to the church, analogous to that sustained by the olive-trees to the candlesticks. The declaration, that the witnesses arethetwo olive-trees and candlesticks, implies the existence of some previous symbolization, where those objects and their relation to each other are presented. And the connection shows clearly that reference is made to the vision, wherein Zechariah beheld“a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof; and two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof,”Zech. 4:2, 3. The relation which the olive-trees sustain to the candlestick, is shown by the questions of the prophet:“What are these, my Lord?”(Ib.v. 4);“What are these two olive-trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? What be these two olive-branches which[pg 123]through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?”Ib.vs. 11, 12. The office of the olive-trees, was to supply the candlestick with oil which alone enabled them to give light. The oil of the olive-tree, was burned before the Lord continually. The light committed to the church, is the truth of God's word. And thus the angel explains the meaning of the olive-trees:“This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel,”(Ib.v. 6);“These are the two anointed ones [mar, sons of oil], that stand by the Lord of the whole earth,”Ib.v. 14. And this expression, corresponding with that in Rev. 11:4, shows that this vision of Zechariah is the one referred to, and that it is explanatory of the witnesses.The Scriptures, as well as the church, testify of Christ:“Search the Scriptures,”said the Saviour, speaking of those then written;“they are they whichtestify[or bear witness] of me,”(John 5:39); and of the New Testament, he said:“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for awitnessunto all nations,”Matt. 24:4. Like two olive-trees supplying the candlesticks with oil, the Scriptures of the Old, and of the New Testament give light to the church, and testify of Christ. They stand on either side of him,—the one beginning with the creation and pointing to a Messiah to come, testifying of him by types[pg 124]and shadows; and the other looking back to the death and resurrection of Christ, and cheering the heart of the believer by the evidence of his second coming at the end of the world. Thus stood within the oracle of the temple the two cherubim, which Solomon made“ofolive-tree,”and whose wings met over the ark of the covenant:“He set the cherubim within the inner house, and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house,”1 Kings 6, 27. Thus symbolized, the Scriptures and the church are Christ's two witnesses.To prophesy, is to make known the truths of God. Thus, at the epoch of the Reformation, they were to prophesyagainbefore many peoples, and nations, and tongues and kings, 10:11. It was to enable the witnesses to do this, that the necessary power was to be given them.Sackcloth, is a symbol of humiliation and sorrow; and the witnesses being thus clothed, indicates that during the time specified, they should be in a despised and oppressed condition.The one thousand two hundred and sixty days, symbolize years. God said to Israel, after the evil report of the twelve spies:[pg 125]“Your children shall wander in the wilderness fortyyears... after the number of thedayswhich ye searched the land,”Num. 14:33, 34. And to Ezekiel,“This shall be a sign to the house of Israel: Lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it, ... for I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days.... And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed theeeach day for a year,”Ezek. 4:3-6.This period of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, is not the whole time in which the witnesses prophesy, but marks the duration of their prophesying in sackcloth. It commenced when the light of the Bible began to be obscured by the secondary place which was accorded to it in the estimation of the Papal church, and the living witnesses were no longer permitted to preach the gospel in its purity.In A. D. 533, the Emperor Justinian, wrote a letter to the Pope declaring him to be“the head of all the holy churches,”and subjecting to his control“all the priests of the whole East.”By the edicts and mandates of Justinian, who was master of the Roman world, the supremacy of the Pope received the fullest sanction; and the highest authorities[pg 126]among the civilians and annalists of Rome, refer to these as evidence of the right of the Pope to the title of“Universal Bishop,”and date it from A. D. 533. p.200.With this supremacy, the power of the Papacy commenced. The Bible was permitted only in a dead language, and the faithful Christian was obliged to seek refuge in the wilderness. False doctrines obscuring the Bible, and persecuting enactments oppressing the church, clothed the witnesses in sackcloth; and thus only did they testify, till the power of the papacy was broken.Fire proceeded out of their mouth, when they made known the fiery judgments predicted in the Scriptures against all their enemies. And they shut heaven, smite with plagues, turn water to blood, &c., when, in accordance with the inspired record, are fulfilled the predictions which, in various places, are thus symbolized.—See Rev. 15:6; 16:4, &c.The finishing of their testimony, refers to the termination of the sackcloth period,—twelve hundred and sixty years from A. D. 533;i.e.in 1793,—if the former date is correct.The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, is that on which, in a subsequent vision, the woman is seated, 17:7, 8. John saw this beast arise out of the sea, (13:1); and the subsequent exposition given of it, will show that it symbolized the civil power of the[pg 127]Roman empire in its divided form.—See p.169. As the ten kingdoms constitute the beast, what is done by any of these kingdoms, is done by the beast. France was one of the more prominent of these kingdoms, and at one period, under Napoleon, controlled the greater portion of the whole.To war against the witnesses, is to oppose, resist, and endeavor to crush them; and to overcome them, is to be successful in such efforts.To kill, when used symbolically and applied to Christians, is to cause them to apostatize—producing spiritual death, 9:5. When applied to the Scriptures, it can only denote their prohibition.The great city, as shown in connection with Rev. 16:19, p. 290, is the Roman hierarchy:—symbolized by Babylon, and“spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.”By being thus“spirituallycalled Sodom,”some understand that it is a“spiritual Sodom,”&c., which would be a contradiction of terms; others understand that it is calledfigurativelyby those names, and deduce from it an argument for spiritualizing the Scriptures; but the use of the word“spiritually,”it is believed, will not sanction any such meaning. It occurs only in two other passages:—in Rom. 8:7, to be“spiritually minded,”is to have a mind in accordance with the will of the Spirit; and in 1 Cor. 2:14, things“spiritually discerned,”[pg 128]signifies that they are discerned by the aid of the Spirit. The great city, then, is called by the Spirit,“Sodom and Egypt;”and is so called because of her licentiousness and idolatries, and her subjecting the saints to bondage. To crucify the Lord afresh, is to apostatize from his teachings, Heb. 6:6.In 1793, twelve hundred and sixty years from the date of the Papal supremacy, the Bible was abolished in France, by the solemn decree of the government, which declared that the nation acknowledged no God. A copy of the Bible could not be found in a single bookstore in Paris. Inquiry also was made for it in Rome, inallthe book establishments of that city, and the invariable reply was, that it was prohibited. All the churches of Paris were shut, and the church plate was declared the property of the nation. Professors of religion, at the same time, in large numbers openly apostatized and embraced infidelity. Says Dr. Croley:—“On the 1st of November, 1793, Gobet, with the republican priests of Paris, had thrown off the gown and abjured religion. On the 11th, a‘grand festival,’dedicated to‘Reason and Truth,’was celebrated instead of divine service in the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, which had been desecrated, and been named,‘the Temple of Reason;’a pyramid was erected in the centre of the church, surmounted by a temple, inscribed,‘To Philosophy.’[pg 129]The torch of‘Truth’was on the altar of‘Reason,’spreading light, &c. The National Convention, and all the authorities, attended at this burlesque and insulting ceremony. In February, 1794, a grand fête was ordered by the convention, in which hymns to Liberty were chanted, and a pageant in honor of the abolition of slavery in the colonies, was displayed in the‘Temple of Reason.’In June another festival was ordered—to the Supreme Being: the God of Philosophy. But the most superb exhibition was the‘general festival,’in honor of the republic. It was distinguished by a more audacious spirit of scoffing and profanation than the former. Robespierre acted the‘high-priest of Reason’on the day, and made himself conspicuous in blasphemy. He was then at the summit of power,—actual sovereign of France.”The dead bodies of the witnesses, would be their existence in that prohibited condition, when, in France, neither the Scriptures, nor the church showed any symptoms of life. In the street, would be the conspicuous and public manner in which indignities should be heaped on them. France had been one of the principal states yielding homage to the Roman church. Surrounding nations beheld, but would not permit the extermination of the Bible and Christianity.[pg 130]The French made merry over their blasphemous work. Says Dr. Croley:—“A very remarkable andpropheticdistinction of this period, was the spirit of frenzied festivity which seized upon France. The capital, and all the republican towns, were the scene of civic feasts, processions, and shows of the most extravagant kind. The most festive times of peace under the most expensive kings were thrown into the shade by the frequency, variety, and extent of the republican exhibitions. Yet this was a time of perpetual miseries throughout France. The guillotine was bloody from morn till night. In the single month of July, 1794, nearlyeight hundred persons, the majority, principal individuals of the state, and all possessing some respectability of situation, were guillotined in Paris alone. In the midst of this horror, there were twenty-six theatres open, filled with the most profane and profligate displays in honor of the‘triumph of reason.’”In Lyons a Bible was tied to the tail of an ass and dragged in a procession through the streets of that city. Thus they rejoiced over the supposed end of religion in France; and congratulated themselves that the terrors of God's word, and the church would no more torment them.“After three days and a half,”would be that number of years from the suppression of Christianity in November, 1793. On the 17th[pg 131]day of June, 1797, three and a half years from the abolition of the Bible and religious worship,Camille Jourdan, in theCouncil of Five Hundred, brought up the memorable report on theRevision of the Laws Relative to Religious Worship, by which France gave permission to all citizens to buy or hire edifices for the free exercise of it; repealing all opposing laws, and subjecting those to a heavy fine who should in any way impede or interrupt any religious service. The Bible and the church again stood erect, to the dismay of all who had rejoiced over their overthrow. Those two witnesses were again in a position to resume their testimony.They were not only to be thus restored, but were to be elevated far above their former position. Since that epoch, have been made all those great efforts to evangelize the world, by means of missionary, tract, Bible, and other benevolent societies, which have caused theScripturesto be translated into nearly all known languages, and carried by theliving preacherto the ends of the earth. The very room in which Voltaire uttered his famous prediction—that“the time would arrive when the Bible would be regarded only in the light of an old curiosity,”—is now used for a Bible depository, and is“piled to the ceiling with that rare old book.”Copies of the Bible have been multiplied a million fold, and scattered broadcast over the earth. The[pg 132]other witness,—the church, has since then, also, been greatly magnified. In this age of missions and Bibles, the number of believers has been greatly multiplied; and missionaries have penetrated all lands. The last half-century has been distinguished for its wonderful revivals; and the servants of the cross have“prophesied [or testified] again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings,”10:11.The same hour, is the time of the slaughter of the witnesses. Its epoch was to be marked by a great political revolution, which, in the Apocalypse, is symbolized by an earthquake. In the year in which Christianity was suppressed by France, they beheaded their king, abolished the monarchy, and entirely revolutionized the government. In the reign of terror following, the best blood of the nation was shed like water, and no man of influence could consider his life secure. Men, women and children were dragged before the revolutionary tribunals, had their accusations read to them, and were immediately condemned, and hurried off in crowds without a trial, to be shot, drowned or beheaded. At Lyons thirty-one thousand persons were thus slain; at Nantes thirty-two thousand,—and throughout France in proportion. The number thus slain, has been estimated at over one million,—a number hardly credible, and which might well be symbolized by seven thousand—a[pg 133]perfect number. Well might the remnant be affrighted, and hasten to give glory to theGodof heaven, by the restoration of that book, the setting aside of which had involved them in such dire calamities.The tenth of the city which fell, must be the tenth of the Roman hierarchy, which is symbolized by the city. With the suppression of religion, the Catholic church was prohibited, with all others. France was one of the ten kingdoms, and the overthrow of the church in France, would be the fall of one-tenth of that city.Thus passed the second woe—the prelude to the third woe, which cometh quickly.

The Rainbow Angel.“And I saw another mighty angel descending from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and the rainbow was over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book opened: and he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land. And shouted with a loud voice, as a lion roareth: and when he shouted, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up those things, which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land, raised his hand to heaven, and swore by him who liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things in it, and the earth, and the things in it, and the sea, and the things in it, that the time should not yet be; but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he will sound, the secret of God will be finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets. And the voice, which I heard from heaven, spoke with me again, and said, Go, take the little book, which is opened in the hand of the angel, who standeth on the sea and on the land. And I went away to the angel, and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said to me, Take, and eat it up; and it will make thy stomach bitter, but in thy mouth, it will be sweet as honey. And I took the little book from the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it my stomach was bitter. And he said to me, Thou must prophesy again concerning many people, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”—Rev. 10:1-11.This angel, like those in corresponding passages, must symbolize a body of men, whose importance is indicated by the might and splendor of the symbol.His descent from heaven, the cloud, the rainbow, the sun-like face, and the fire-like feet of the Mighty Messenger, attest the heaven-inspired[pg 109]origin of his utterances. His“eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace,”would not be given to one who came to announce other than heaven-inspired truths.Theopen bookin the hand of the angel, fixes the chronology of the fulfilment of this vision at an epoch when the Scriptures cease to be a closed and sealed book, and the people are permitted to have free access to them.Hisposition—one foot resting on the sea, and one on the land—attests the universality of the movement which is to date from that epoch.His lion voice, must symbolize the manner in which would be announced the great truths, at which the whole world would be startled.Thesinglenessof his cry, is also symbolic of the simplicity of the truth, which is never symbolized by discordant multitudinous sounds.Theresponsive thunders, unlike the single voice of the angel, are multitudinous and discordant; and consequently symbolize errors. Theirfollowingso immediately on the shout of the angel, shows the proximity of their promulgation to the utterance of the truths to which they are responsive.John'sreadiness to writewhat the seven thunders uttered, shows that what they uttered wasprofessedlyin harmony with the truths previously announced, and that men[pg 110]would be liable to be deceived, by their promulgation.His beingforbiddenby the cloud-robed angel, to write what they uttered—while he was commanded to“seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book”(22:10),—shows that their utterances were not heaven-inspired, and constituted no part of“the word ofGod, and of the testimony ofJesus Christ,”whichJohnbare record of.Thesubsequent oathof the angel, by Him who liveth forever, that“the time is not yet,”shows that those thunders, however erroneous in their form manner and connection with other errors, had respect to some great event foretold in Scripture; but which the thunders hadantedatedand presented in anunscripturalform.His further announcement that it would be fulfilled under the sounding of the“seventh trumpet,”and that then the mystery ofGodshould be finished in the manner foretold to his servants the prophets, shows that the great event, the time of which was“not yet,”—i.e., under the sixth trumpet, was the coming of the kingdom ofGod—the fifth universal empire; that at a period anterior to the time when it might rationally be expected, it would be proclaimed in a form repugnant to the teachings of the prophets; and that when thus heralded, it would be met by the party uttering the heaven-inspired truths, with the denial[pg 111]that the time had arrived, and by arguments to show its true nature and epoch, under the seventh trumpet.The command to take and eat the little book, shows that its contents were such as the soul might feed on; which should be sweet to the believer's taste, but would subject him to bitter persecution. And the announcement that they were to prophesyagainbefore many nations and peoples and tongues and kings, marks this as the commencement of an era when the Gospel should again begin to go forth into distant lands.All of the above particulars harmonize in the time of the reformation ofLutherin the sixteenth century, and with no other epoch. The great truths then promulgated, of which“justification by faith”was the cardinal one, electrified the whole world, as the loud roaring of a lion would startle the passer-by. These were immediately responded to by the multitudinous errors of the Anabaptists and others, who thought to set up the kingdom ofGodinthis world, andbefore the resurrection, by putting to death the ungodly and sparing only the saints.As in all efforts for good Satan is careful to attempt a counterfeit, or to mingle impure elements to the injury of the truth, so in the Reformation there were false reformers.Thomas Munzer, and others, in 1525, incited vast numbers on the borders of the Danube to[pg 112]make physical war on the Papal ecclesiastics. He denouncedLuther, also, with the same violence that he did the Pope. In his mad attempt to slay the ungodly, he took possession of Muhlhausen, appointed a new city council, pillaged the houses of the rich, proclaimed a community of goods, and committed various excesses; but they were finally defeated in a pitched battle, with a loss of from five thousand to seven thousand killed. Others succeeded him, teaching thatGodspake to them in person, instructing them how to act. They professed the most extravagant doctrines, setting aside bothLutherand the Bible. The former did not go near far enough for them; and the latter was in their view insufficient for man's instruction, who could only be taught of God. They taught that the world was to be immediately devastated; and no priest or ungodly person be left alive; and that then the kingdom ofGodwould commence, and the saints possess the earth. Those who adhered toLuther, united with him in bearing a faithful testimony against such extravagances, adhered to the written word, denounced new revelations, and showed from the Bible that Antichrist was to be overthrown by the personal advent ofChrist, and not by the sword of man. The following extracts are fromMr. Lord:“The pretences of the Anabaptists to inspiration were in like manner denounced by[pg 113]Melancthon.‘The Anabaptists, infatuated by the devil, have boasted a new species of sanctity, as though they had left the earth, and ascended to the skies; and given out, moreover, that they enjoy extraordinary inspiration. But as the pretence was hypocritical, and designed merely to subserve appetite and ambition, they soon plunged into debauchery, and then excited seditions, and undertook to establish a New Jerusalem, as other enthusiasts have often attempted. A like tragedy was formerly acted at Pepuza in Phrygia, which fanatical prophets denominated the new Jerusalem.’“He also refuted by the Scriptures, the expectation of the Anabaptists of the immediate establishment of Christ's millennial kingdom. He regarded the term Antichrist as denoting both the Mohammedan empire and the Papacy, and held that they were not to be overthrown till the time of the resurrection of the dead, and that a considerable period was to pass before that event.‘God showed to Daniel a series of monarchies and kingdoms, which it is certain has already run to the end. Four monarchies have passed away. The cruel kingdom of the Turks, which arose out of the fourth, still remains, and as it is not to equal the Roman in power, and has certainly, therefore, already nearly reached its height, must soon decline, and then will dawn the day in which the dead shall be recalled to[pg 114]life.’He then repeats the saying ascribed to Elias, that six thousand years were to pass before the advent of Christ; two thousand before the law, two under the law, and two under the gospel; and proceeds to show that four hundred and fifty-eight years were, therefore, to intervene before the advent of the Redeemer, the destruction of Antichrist, and the establishment of the kingdom of the saints.‘It is known that Christ was born about the end of the fourth millenary,1and one thousand five hundred and forty-two years have since revolved. We are not, therefore [in 1542], far from the end.’“These views corresponding so conspicuously with the symbol, continued to be repeated by a crowd of writers, till at the distance of sixty-seven years from the death of Melancthon, the celebrated Joseph Mede published his‘Clavis Apocalyptica,’in which he showed from the coincidence of the periods of the wild beast and the witnesses, that the advent of the Redeemer, and the destruction of the anti-Christian powers were not to be expected until twelve hundred and sixty years had passed from the rise of the ten kingdoms, and that near one hundred of them, therefore, were still to revolve. As that period expired and the knowledge of the prophecy advanced, the[pg 115]catastrophe of the wild beast was referred to a later time. Many recent expositors regard the twelve hundred and sixty years as having reached their end in 1792; and most refer the fall of the anti-Christian powers to the last half of the present, or the beginning of the next century.”—Ex. of Apoc., pp. 238-240.All the vagaries of the various sects of heretics were connected with an expectation of the immediate establishment ofChrist'skingdom. That the seven thunders gave utterance to such an expectation, is evident from the response of the angel, when he lifted up his hand to heaven and with the solemnity of an oath, by Him who liveth forever, affirmed that“the time should not yet be;”but that“in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he delays to sound,2the secret ofGodwill be finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets.”Why such an annunciation at this stage of the vision? It must be to correct a misapprehension which would exist at a corresponding time in its fulfilment, respecting the immediate appearance of the kingdom. Thus didPaulcorrect the Thessalonian brethren, when he wrote to them in his second epistle not to be shaken in mind, as that the day of theLordwas then impending, 2 Th. 2:2.The Bible, was, at this epoch, first opened[pg 116]to the common people. Before, it was only found in languages which they were entirely ignorant of. It was translated byLutherinto their own language, and thus made accessible. The art of printing, discovered at about that time, enabled all who wished, to avail themselves of its unsealed contents. They feasted on the words of inspiration, which were sweeter to them than honey, or the honey-comb. But afterwards, they had to endure bitterness for the sake of the Gospel. Divisions and subdivisions followed, parties multiplied, and heresies abounded, accompanied with bitter and mischievous discussions, and fierce and rancorous contentions. These being based on the understanding which the several parties attached to portions of scripture, were fitly symbolized by the bitterness that followed the eating of the book. At this time, also, was revived a system of religious teachings which has gone forth into many lands.The reörganization of the church at this epoch, is next symbolized.The Measuring Reed, Temple, &c.“And there was given me a measuring reed like a rod, and it was said, Arise, and measure the temple of God, (and the altar,) and those who worship in it. But the court which is without the temple, leave out, and measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles: and they will tread the holy city under foot forty-two months.”—Rev. 11:1, 2.[pg 117]These symbols are evidently taken from the temple and altar of Jewish worship, and represent corresponding analogies under the Christian dispensation.To measure anything, is to examine and take notice of its parts and proportions; and that by which it is measured, is the standard or rule to which it should conform.The temple, is a proper symbol of the church of God; which is“built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Corner Stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord,”Eph. 2:20, 21.At the epoch of the Reformation, the nominal church was subjected to the scrutiny of the word of God; and its pretensions were measured by the scriptural rule. The reformers found the Man of Sin,“as God sitting in the temple of God,”(2 Thess. 2:4); and they had to re-model their church relationship, in accordance with the pattern presented in the New Testament. This involved the consideration of what constituted the church,—its organization, its ministry, its sacraments, and its membership,—their mutual relation to God, and to each other.The altar, must symbolize the sacrifice and atonement of Christ,—the“altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle,”Heb. 13:10. The great question,[pg 118]of justification by faith in the death of Christ, was the rallying cry of the Reformation. The fundamental principles of Christian truth were then unfolded anew, and the doctrines of the Papacy, including the sacrifice of the mass, were rejected as contrary to Bible teachings.The worshippers in the temple, who were to be measured by the same rule, are Christians. All who were to be recognized as such, were to give evidence of conformity to the Bible standard. Regeneration by the Holy Ghost, was held by the reformers to be necessary to church membership. The Papists required only baptism and confirmation.The court without the temple, was that to which the Gentiles had access, and beyond which their entrance was prohibited. Devout foreigners were there permitted to pay their devotions to the God of heaven. As the Gentiles must symbolize those who are not Christians, the occupants of the outer court, must be the congregation—the nominal worshippers who throng the outer courts of the Lord, in distinction from the true worshippers. Such were to have free and unrestricted access to the places of Christian worship.The holy city is that in which the temple is situated, and must embrace the church as a whole, subjected to Gentile rule. Its being trodden under foot, indicates that the civil polity under which the church would subsist,[pg 119]should, during the period specified, be under the control of those who worship only in the outer court.The forty and two months, is a period of time, corresponding with the thousand two hundred and three score days of the verse following, the time and times and half a time of Rev. 12:14, and the corresponding periods of Rev. 12:6; 13:5; Dan. 7:25; and 12:7; symbolizing a period of twelve hundred and sixty years, according to the almost unanimous opinion of Protestant writers.This period does not commence with this epoch, but began with the subjection of Christianity to the power of the civil arm, which was to continue during the time predicted,—notwithstanding the reädjustment of the temple-worship,—when Christians should cease to be responsible to any human tribunal for the orthodoxy of their faith.During the same period, also, power to prophesy, though shrouded in sackcloth, was to be given to:Christ's Two Witnesses.“And I will give charge to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive-trees, and the two lamp-stands, standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any one wisheth to injure them, fire proceedeth from their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if anyone wisheth to injure them, he must thus be killed. These[pg 120]have power to shut heaven, that it may not rain in the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they wish. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the wild beast that ascendeth out of the abyss will make war with them, and will overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodywill lieon the wide street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And those of the people, and tribes, and tongues, and nations, will see their dead body three days and a half, and will not allow their dead body to be put into a tomb. And those, who dwell on the earth, will rejoice over them, and exult, and send gifts to each other; because these two prophets tormented those, who dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell on those, who saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them, Ascend here! And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake seven thousand names of men were slain: and the remnant became terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past away; behold, the third woe cometh quickly.”—Rev. 11:3-14.The two witnesses are not symbolically exhibited, but are referred to by an elliptical metaphor, and are explained to be the“two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks.”Therefore, they are not two living men, as some suppose, shown to John in vision, symbolizing analogous agents; but their nature is to be determined by a consideration of the olive-trees and candlesticks which symbolize them.Candlesticks symbolize churches. Thus[pg 121]the Saviour said to John:“The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches,”1:20. When“men light a candle,”they put“it on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house,”Matt. 5:15. The candlestick does not originate, but sustains the light in a position to be seen and exert a beneficial influence. It is thus that the church is said to be“the light of the world,”and is required to let her light“shine before men,”Ib.vs. 14-16,—i.e.She is to disseminate the light committed to her; and in so doing, she becomes awitnessfor Jesus.The church comprises all the holy persons who have lived on earth, and is symbolized by two candlesticks, corresponding to the two dispensations of its existence. Those who lived under the former dispensation, are called“a great cloud of witnesses,”Heb. 12:1. Of Christ,“give all the prophets witness,”Acts 10:43. They constitute the voice of the church in that age. Under the gospel dispensation, also, Christ had chosen witnesses of himself. He said to his disciples,“Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth,”(Ib.1:8); and they said,“We are his witnesses,”Ib.5:32.“We are witnesses of all things which he did, ... witnesses chosen before of God,”(Ib.10:39-41);—“his[pg 122]witnesses unto the people,”Ib.13:31. They and their successors have“testified and preached the word of the Lord,”(Ib.8:25), overcoming“by the word of their testimony,”(Rev. 12:11),—many of them being“slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held,”6:9. The church, one in all ages, symbolized by the two candlesticks, is thus awitnessof Jesus.The two olive-trees, symbolize the other witness, which must sustain a relation to the church, analogous to that sustained by the olive-trees to the candlesticks. The declaration, that the witnesses arethetwo olive-trees and candlesticks, implies the existence of some previous symbolization, where those objects and their relation to each other are presented. And the connection shows clearly that reference is made to the vision, wherein Zechariah beheld“a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof; and two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof,”Zech. 4:2, 3. The relation which the olive-trees sustain to the candlestick, is shown by the questions of the prophet:“What are these, my Lord?”(Ib.v. 4);“What are these two olive-trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? What be these two olive-branches which[pg 123]through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?”Ib.vs. 11, 12. The office of the olive-trees, was to supply the candlestick with oil which alone enabled them to give light. The oil of the olive-tree, was burned before the Lord continually. The light committed to the church, is the truth of God's word. And thus the angel explains the meaning of the olive-trees:“This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel,”(Ib.v. 6);“These are the two anointed ones [mar, sons of oil], that stand by the Lord of the whole earth,”Ib.v. 14. And this expression, corresponding with that in Rev. 11:4, shows that this vision of Zechariah is the one referred to, and that it is explanatory of the witnesses.The Scriptures, as well as the church, testify of Christ:“Search the Scriptures,”said the Saviour, speaking of those then written;“they are they whichtestify[or bear witness] of me,”(John 5:39); and of the New Testament, he said:“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for awitnessunto all nations,”Matt. 24:4. Like two olive-trees supplying the candlesticks with oil, the Scriptures of the Old, and of the New Testament give light to the church, and testify of Christ. They stand on either side of him,—the one beginning with the creation and pointing to a Messiah to come, testifying of him by types[pg 124]and shadows; and the other looking back to the death and resurrection of Christ, and cheering the heart of the believer by the evidence of his second coming at the end of the world. Thus stood within the oracle of the temple the two cherubim, which Solomon made“ofolive-tree,”and whose wings met over the ark of the covenant:“He set the cherubim within the inner house, and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house,”1 Kings 6, 27. Thus symbolized, the Scriptures and the church are Christ's two witnesses.To prophesy, is to make known the truths of God. Thus, at the epoch of the Reformation, they were to prophesyagainbefore many peoples, and nations, and tongues and kings, 10:11. It was to enable the witnesses to do this, that the necessary power was to be given them.Sackcloth, is a symbol of humiliation and sorrow; and the witnesses being thus clothed, indicates that during the time specified, they should be in a despised and oppressed condition.The one thousand two hundred and sixty days, symbolize years. God said to Israel, after the evil report of the twelve spies:[pg 125]“Your children shall wander in the wilderness fortyyears... after the number of thedayswhich ye searched the land,”Num. 14:33, 34. And to Ezekiel,“This shall be a sign to the house of Israel: Lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it, ... for I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days.... And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed theeeach day for a year,”Ezek. 4:3-6.This period of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, is not the whole time in which the witnesses prophesy, but marks the duration of their prophesying in sackcloth. It commenced when the light of the Bible began to be obscured by the secondary place which was accorded to it in the estimation of the Papal church, and the living witnesses were no longer permitted to preach the gospel in its purity.In A. D. 533, the Emperor Justinian, wrote a letter to the Pope declaring him to be“the head of all the holy churches,”and subjecting to his control“all the priests of the whole East.”By the edicts and mandates of Justinian, who was master of the Roman world, the supremacy of the Pope received the fullest sanction; and the highest authorities[pg 126]among the civilians and annalists of Rome, refer to these as evidence of the right of the Pope to the title of“Universal Bishop,”and date it from A. D. 533. p.200.With this supremacy, the power of the Papacy commenced. The Bible was permitted only in a dead language, and the faithful Christian was obliged to seek refuge in the wilderness. False doctrines obscuring the Bible, and persecuting enactments oppressing the church, clothed the witnesses in sackcloth; and thus only did they testify, till the power of the papacy was broken.Fire proceeded out of their mouth, when they made known the fiery judgments predicted in the Scriptures against all their enemies. And they shut heaven, smite with plagues, turn water to blood, &c., when, in accordance with the inspired record, are fulfilled the predictions which, in various places, are thus symbolized.—See Rev. 15:6; 16:4, &c.The finishing of their testimony, refers to the termination of the sackcloth period,—twelve hundred and sixty years from A. D. 533;i.e.in 1793,—if the former date is correct.The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, is that on which, in a subsequent vision, the woman is seated, 17:7, 8. John saw this beast arise out of the sea, (13:1); and the subsequent exposition given of it, will show that it symbolized the civil power of the[pg 127]Roman empire in its divided form.—See p.169. As the ten kingdoms constitute the beast, what is done by any of these kingdoms, is done by the beast. France was one of the more prominent of these kingdoms, and at one period, under Napoleon, controlled the greater portion of the whole.To war against the witnesses, is to oppose, resist, and endeavor to crush them; and to overcome them, is to be successful in such efforts.To kill, when used symbolically and applied to Christians, is to cause them to apostatize—producing spiritual death, 9:5. When applied to the Scriptures, it can only denote their prohibition.The great city, as shown in connection with Rev. 16:19, p. 290, is the Roman hierarchy:—symbolized by Babylon, and“spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.”By being thus“spirituallycalled Sodom,”some understand that it is a“spiritual Sodom,”&c., which would be a contradiction of terms; others understand that it is calledfigurativelyby those names, and deduce from it an argument for spiritualizing the Scriptures; but the use of the word“spiritually,”it is believed, will not sanction any such meaning. It occurs only in two other passages:—in Rom. 8:7, to be“spiritually minded,”is to have a mind in accordance with the will of the Spirit; and in 1 Cor. 2:14, things“spiritually discerned,”[pg 128]signifies that they are discerned by the aid of the Spirit. The great city, then, is called by the Spirit,“Sodom and Egypt;”and is so called because of her licentiousness and idolatries, and her subjecting the saints to bondage. To crucify the Lord afresh, is to apostatize from his teachings, Heb. 6:6.In 1793, twelve hundred and sixty years from the date of the Papal supremacy, the Bible was abolished in France, by the solemn decree of the government, which declared that the nation acknowledged no God. A copy of the Bible could not be found in a single bookstore in Paris. Inquiry also was made for it in Rome, inallthe book establishments of that city, and the invariable reply was, that it was prohibited. All the churches of Paris were shut, and the church plate was declared the property of the nation. Professors of religion, at the same time, in large numbers openly apostatized and embraced infidelity. Says Dr. Croley:—“On the 1st of November, 1793, Gobet, with the republican priests of Paris, had thrown off the gown and abjured religion. On the 11th, a‘grand festival,’dedicated to‘Reason and Truth,’was celebrated instead of divine service in the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, which had been desecrated, and been named,‘the Temple of Reason;’a pyramid was erected in the centre of the church, surmounted by a temple, inscribed,‘To Philosophy.’[pg 129]The torch of‘Truth’was on the altar of‘Reason,’spreading light, &c. The National Convention, and all the authorities, attended at this burlesque and insulting ceremony. In February, 1794, a grand fête was ordered by the convention, in which hymns to Liberty were chanted, and a pageant in honor of the abolition of slavery in the colonies, was displayed in the‘Temple of Reason.’In June another festival was ordered—to the Supreme Being: the God of Philosophy. But the most superb exhibition was the‘general festival,’in honor of the republic. It was distinguished by a more audacious spirit of scoffing and profanation than the former. Robespierre acted the‘high-priest of Reason’on the day, and made himself conspicuous in blasphemy. He was then at the summit of power,—actual sovereign of France.”The dead bodies of the witnesses, would be their existence in that prohibited condition, when, in France, neither the Scriptures, nor the church showed any symptoms of life. In the street, would be the conspicuous and public manner in which indignities should be heaped on them. France had been one of the principal states yielding homage to the Roman church. Surrounding nations beheld, but would not permit the extermination of the Bible and Christianity.[pg 130]The French made merry over their blasphemous work. Says Dr. Croley:—“A very remarkable andpropheticdistinction of this period, was the spirit of frenzied festivity which seized upon France. The capital, and all the republican towns, were the scene of civic feasts, processions, and shows of the most extravagant kind. The most festive times of peace under the most expensive kings were thrown into the shade by the frequency, variety, and extent of the republican exhibitions. Yet this was a time of perpetual miseries throughout France. The guillotine was bloody from morn till night. In the single month of July, 1794, nearlyeight hundred persons, the majority, principal individuals of the state, and all possessing some respectability of situation, were guillotined in Paris alone. In the midst of this horror, there were twenty-six theatres open, filled with the most profane and profligate displays in honor of the‘triumph of reason.’”In Lyons a Bible was tied to the tail of an ass and dragged in a procession through the streets of that city. Thus they rejoiced over the supposed end of religion in France; and congratulated themselves that the terrors of God's word, and the church would no more torment them.“After three days and a half,”would be that number of years from the suppression of Christianity in November, 1793. On the 17th[pg 131]day of June, 1797, three and a half years from the abolition of the Bible and religious worship,Camille Jourdan, in theCouncil of Five Hundred, brought up the memorable report on theRevision of the Laws Relative to Religious Worship, by which France gave permission to all citizens to buy or hire edifices for the free exercise of it; repealing all opposing laws, and subjecting those to a heavy fine who should in any way impede or interrupt any religious service. The Bible and the church again stood erect, to the dismay of all who had rejoiced over their overthrow. Those two witnesses were again in a position to resume their testimony.They were not only to be thus restored, but were to be elevated far above their former position. Since that epoch, have been made all those great efforts to evangelize the world, by means of missionary, tract, Bible, and other benevolent societies, which have caused theScripturesto be translated into nearly all known languages, and carried by theliving preacherto the ends of the earth. The very room in which Voltaire uttered his famous prediction—that“the time would arrive when the Bible would be regarded only in the light of an old curiosity,”—is now used for a Bible depository, and is“piled to the ceiling with that rare old book.”Copies of the Bible have been multiplied a million fold, and scattered broadcast over the earth. The[pg 132]other witness,—the church, has since then, also, been greatly magnified. In this age of missions and Bibles, the number of believers has been greatly multiplied; and missionaries have penetrated all lands. The last half-century has been distinguished for its wonderful revivals; and the servants of the cross have“prophesied [or testified] again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings,”10:11.The same hour, is the time of the slaughter of the witnesses. Its epoch was to be marked by a great political revolution, which, in the Apocalypse, is symbolized by an earthquake. In the year in which Christianity was suppressed by France, they beheaded their king, abolished the monarchy, and entirely revolutionized the government. In the reign of terror following, the best blood of the nation was shed like water, and no man of influence could consider his life secure. Men, women and children were dragged before the revolutionary tribunals, had their accusations read to them, and were immediately condemned, and hurried off in crowds without a trial, to be shot, drowned or beheaded. At Lyons thirty-one thousand persons were thus slain; at Nantes thirty-two thousand,—and throughout France in proportion. The number thus slain, has been estimated at over one million,—a number hardly credible, and which might well be symbolized by seven thousand—a[pg 133]perfect number. Well might the remnant be affrighted, and hasten to give glory to theGodof heaven, by the restoration of that book, the setting aside of which had involved them in such dire calamities.The tenth of the city which fell, must be the tenth of the Roman hierarchy, which is symbolized by the city. With the suppression of religion, the Catholic church was prohibited, with all others. France was one of the ten kingdoms, and the overthrow of the church in France, would be the fall of one-tenth of that city.Thus passed the second woe—the prelude to the third woe, which cometh quickly.

The Rainbow Angel.“And I saw another mighty angel descending from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and the rainbow was over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book opened: and he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land. And shouted with a loud voice, as a lion roareth: and when he shouted, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up those things, which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land, raised his hand to heaven, and swore by him who liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things in it, and the earth, and the things in it, and the sea, and the things in it, that the time should not yet be; but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he will sound, the secret of God will be finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets. And the voice, which I heard from heaven, spoke with me again, and said, Go, take the little book, which is opened in the hand of the angel, who standeth on the sea and on the land. And I went away to the angel, and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said to me, Take, and eat it up; and it will make thy stomach bitter, but in thy mouth, it will be sweet as honey. And I took the little book from the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it my stomach was bitter. And he said to me, Thou must prophesy again concerning many people, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”—Rev. 10:1-11.This angel, like those in corresponding passages, must symbolize a body of men, whose importance is indicated by the might and splendor of the symbol.His descent from heaven, the cloud, the rainbow, the sun-like face, and the fire-like feet of the Mighty Messenger, attest the heaven-inspired[pg 109]origin of his utterances. His“eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace,”would not be given to one who came to announce other than heaven-inspired truths.Theopen bookin the hand of the angel, fixes the chronology of the fulfilment of this vision at an epoch when the Scriptures cease to be a closed and sealed book, and the people are permitted to have free access to them.Hisposition—one foot resting on the sea, and one on the land—attests the universality of the movement which is to date from that epoch.His lion voice, must symbolize the manner in which would be announced the great truths, at which the whole world would be startled.Thesinglenessof his cry, is also symbolic of the simplicity of the truth, which is never symbolized by discordant multitudinous sounds.Theresponsive thunders, unlike the single voice of the angel, are multitudinous and discordant; and consequently symbolize errors. Theirfollowingso immediately on the shout of the angel, shows the proximity of their promulgation to the utterance of the truths to which they are responsive.John'sreadiness to writewhat the seven thunders uttered, shows that what they uttered wasprofessedlyin harmony with the truths previously announced, and that men[pg 110]would be liable to be deceived, by their promulgation.His beingforbiddenby the cloud-robed angel, to write what they uttered—while he was commanded to“seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book”(22:10),—shows that their utterances were not heaven-inspired, and constituted no part of“the word ofGod, and of the testimony ofJesus Christ,”whichJohnbare record of.Thesubsequent oathof the angel, by Him who liveth forever, that“the time is not yet,”shows that those thunders, however erroneous in their form manner and connection with other errors, had respect to some great event foretold in Scripture; but which the thunders hadantedatedand presented in anunscripturalform.His further announcement that it would be fulfilled under the sounding of the“seventh trumpet,”and that then the mystery ofGodshould be finished in the manner foretold to his servants the prophets, shows that the great event, the time of which was“not yet,”—i.e., under the sixth trumpet, was the coming of the kingdom ofGod—the fifth universal empire; that at a period anterior to the time when it might rationally be expected, it would be proclaimed in a form repugnant to the teachings of the prophets; and that when thus heralded, it would be met by the party uttering the heaven-inspired truths, with the denial[pg 111]that the time had arrived, and by arguments to show its true nature and epoch, under the seventh trumpet.The command to take and eat the little book, shows that its contents were such as the soul might feed on; which should be sweet to the believer's taste, but would subject him to bitter persecution. And the announcement that they were to prophesyagainbefore many nations and peoples and tongues and kings, marks this as the commencement of an era when the Gospel should again begin to go forth into distant lands.All of the above particulars harmonize in the time of the reformation ofLutherin the sixteenth century, and with no other epoch. The great truths then promulgated, of which“justification by faith”was the cardinal one, electrified the whole world, as the loud roaring of a lion would startle the passer-by. These were immediately responded to by the multitudinous errors of the Anabaptists and others, who thought to set up the kingdom ofGodinthis world, andbefore the resurrection, by putting to death the ungodly and sparing only the saints.As in all efforts for good Satan is careful to attempt a counterfeit, or to mingle impure elements to the injury of the truth, so in the Reformation there were false reformers.Thomas Munzer, and others, in 1525, incited vast numbers on the borders of the Danube to[pg 112]make physical war on the Papal ecclesiastics. He denouncedLuther, also, with the same violence that he did the Pope. In his mad attempt to slay the ungodly, he took possession of Muhlhausen, appointed a new city council, pillaged the houses of the rich, proclaimed a community of goods, and committed various excesses; but they were finally defeated in a pitched battle, with a loss of from five thousand to seven thousand killed. Others succeeded him, teaching thatGodspake to them in person, instructing them how to act. They professed the most extravagant doctrines, setting aside bothLutherand the Bible. The former did not go near far enough for them; and the latter was in their view insufficient for man's instruction, who could only be taught of God. They taught that the world was to be immediately devastated; and no priest or ungodly person be left alive; and that then the kingdom ofGodwould commence, and the saints possess the earth. Those who adhered toLuther, united with him in bearing a faithful testimony against such extravagances, adhered to the written word, denounced new revelations, and showed from the Bible that Antichrist was to be overthrown by the personal advent ofChrist, and not by the sword of man. The following extracts are fromMr. Lord:“The pretences of the Anabaptists to inspiration were in like manner denounced by[pg 113]Melancthon.‘The Anabaptists, infatuated by the devil, have boasted a new species of sanctity, as though they had left the earth, and ascended to the skies; and given out, moreover, that they enjoy extraordinary inspiration. But as the pretence was hypocritical, and designed merely to subserve appetite and ambition, they soon plunged into debauchery, and then excited seditions, and undertook to establish a New Jerusalem, as other enthusiasts have often attempted. A like tragedy was formerly acted at Pepuza in Phrygia, which fanatical prophets denominated the new Jerusalem.’“He also refuted by the Scriptures, the expectation of the Anabaptists of the immediate establishment of Christ's millennial kingdom. He regarded the term Antichrist as denoting both the Mohammedan empire and the Papacy, and held that they were not to be overthrown till the time of the resurrection of the dead, and that a considerable period was to pass before that event.‘God showed to Daniel a series of monarchies and kingdoms, which it is certain has already run to the end. Four monarchies have passed away. The cruel kingdom of the Turks, which arose out of the fourth, still remains, and as it is not to equal the Roman in power, and has certainly, therefore, already nearly reached its height, must soon decline, and then will dawn the day in which the dead shall be recalled to[pg 114]life.’He then repeats the saying ascribed to Elias, that six thousand years were to pass before the advent of Christ; two thousand before the law, two under the law, and two under the gospel; and proceeds to show that four hundred and fifty-eight years were, therefore, to intervene before the advent of the Redeemer, the destruction of Antichrist, and the establishment of the kingdom of the saints.‘It is known that Christ was born about the end of the fourth millenary,1and one thousand five hundred and forty-two years have since revolved. We are not, therefore [in 1542], far from the end.’“These views corresponding so conspicuously with the symbol, continued to be repeated by a crowd of writers, till at the distance of sixty-seven years from the death of Melancthon, the celebrated Joseph Mede published his‘Clavis Apocalyptica,’in which he showed from the coincidence of the periods of the wild beast and the witnesses, that the advent of the Redeemer, and the destruction of the anti-Christian powers were not to be expected until twelve hundred and sixty years had passed from the rise of the ten kingdoms, and that near one hundred of them, therefore, were still to revolve. As that period expired and the knowledge of the prophecy advanced, the[pg 115]catastrophe of the wild beast was referred to a later time. Many recent expositors regard the twelve hundred and sixty years as having reached their end in 1792; and most refer the fall of the anti-Christian powers to the last half of the present, or the beginning of the next century.”—Ex. of Apoc., pp. 238-240.All the vagaries of the various sects of heretics were connected with an expectation of the immediate establishment ofChrist'skingdom. That the seven thunders gave utterance to such an expectation, is evident from the response of the angel, when he lifted up his hand to heaven and with the solemnity of an oath, by Him who liveth forever, affirmed that“the time should not yet be;”but that“in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he delays to sound,2the secret ofGodwill be finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets.”Why such an annunciation at this stage of the vision? It must be to correct a misapprehension which would exist at a corresponding time in its fulfilment, respecting the immediate appearance of the kingdom. Thus didPaulcorrect the Thessalonian brethren, when he wrote to them in his second epistle not to be shaken in mind, as that the day of theLordwas then impending, 2 Th. 2:2.The Bible, was, at this epoch, first opened[pg 116]to the common people. Before, it was only found in languages which they were entirely ignorant of. It was translated byLutherinto their own language, and thus made accessible. The art of printing, discovered at about that time, enabled all who wished, to avail themselves of its unsealed contents. They feasted on the words of inspiration, which were sweeter to them than honey, or the honey-comb. But afterwards, they had to endure bitterness for the sake of the Gospel. Divisions and subdivisions followed, parties multiplied, and heresies abounded, accompanied with bitter and mischievous discussions, and fierce and rancorous contentions. These being based on the understanding which the several parties attached to portions of scripture, were fitly symbolized by the bitterness that followed the eating of the book. At this time, also, was revived a system of religious teachings which has gone forth into many lands.The reörganization of the church at this epoch, is next symbolized.The Measuring Reed, Temple, &c.“And there was given me a measuring reed like a rod, and it was said, Arise, and measure the temple of God, (and the altar,) and those who worship in it. But the court which is without the temple, leave out, and measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles: and they will tread the holy city under foot forty-two months.”—Rev. 11:1, 2.[pg 117]These symbols are evidently taken from the temple and altar of Jewish worship, and represent corresponding analogies under the Christian dispensation.To measure anything, is to examine and take notice of its parts and proportions; and that by which it is measured, is the standard or rule to which it should conform.The temple, is a proper symbol of the church of God; which is“built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Corner Stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord,”Eph. 2:20, 21.At the epoch of the Reformation, the nominal church was subjected to the scrutiny of the word of God; and its pretensions were measured by the scriptural rule. The reformers found the Man of Sin,“as God sitting in the temple of God,”(2 Thess. 2:4); and they had to re-model their church relationship, in accordance with the pattern presented in the New Testament. This involved the consideration of what constituted the church,—its organization, its ministry, its sacraments, and its membership,—their mutual relation to God, and to each other.The altar, must symbolize the sacrifice and atonement of Christ,—the“altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle,”Heb. 13:10. The great question,[pg 118]of justification by faith in the death of Christ, was the rallying cry of the Reformation. The fundamental principles of Christian truth were then unfolded anew, and the doctrines of the Papacy, including the sacrifice of the mass, were rejected as contrary to Bible teachings.The worshippers in the temple, who were to be measured by the same rule, are Christians. All who were to be recognized as such, were to give evidence of conformity to the Bible standard. Regeneration by the Holy Ghost, was held by the reformers to be necessary to church membership. The Papists required only baptism and confirmation.The court without the temple, was that to which the Gentiles had access, and beyond which their entrance was prohibited. Devout foreigners were there permitted to pay their devotions to the God of heaven. As the Gentiles must symbolize those who are not Christians, the occupants of the outer court, must be the congregation—the nominal worshippers who throng the outer courts of the Lord, in distinction from the true worshippers. Such were to have free and unrestricted access to the places of Christian worship.The holy city is that in which the temple is situated, and must embrace the church as a whole, subjected to Gentile rule. Its being trodden under foot, indicates that the civil polity under which the church would subsist,[pg 119]should, during the period specified, be under the control of those who worship only in the outer court.The forty and two months, is a period of time, corresponding with the thousand two hundred and three score days of the verse following, the time and times and half a time of Rev. 12:14, and the corresponding periods of Rev. 12:6; 13:5; Dan. 7:25; and 12:7; symbolizing a period of twelve hundred and sixty years, according to the almost unanimous opinion of Protestant writers.This period does not commence with this epoch, but began with the subjection of Christianity to the power of the civil arm, which was to continue during the time predicted,—notwithstanding the reädjustment of the temple-worship,—when Christians should cease to be responsible to any human tribunal for the orthodoxy of their faith.During the same period, also, power to prophesy, though shrouded in sackcloth, was to be given to:Christ's Two Witnesses.“And I will give charge to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive-trees, and the two lamp-stands, standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any one wisheth to injure them, fire proceedeth from their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if anyone wisheth to injure them, he must thus be killed. These[pg 120]have power to shut heaven, that it may not rain in the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they wish. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the wild beast that ascendeth out of the abyss will make war with them, and will overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodywill lieon the wide street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And those of the people, and tribes, and tongues, and nations, will see their dead body three days and a half, and will not allow their dead body to be put into a tomb. And those, who dwell on the earth, will rejoice over them, and exult, and send gifts to each other; because these two prophets tormented those, who dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell on those, who saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them, Ascend here! And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake seven thousand names of men were slain: and the remnant became terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past away; behold, the third woe cometh quickly.”—Rev. 11:3-14.The two witnesses are not symbolically exhibited, but are referred to by an elliptical metaphor, and are explained to be the“two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks.”Therefore, they are not two living men, as some suppose, shown to John in vision, symbolizing analogous agents; but their nature is to be determined by a consideration of the olive-trees and candlesticks which symbolize them.Candlesticks symbolize churches. Thus[pg 121]the Saviour said to John:“The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches,”1:20. When“men light a candle,”they put“it on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house,”Matt. 5:15. The candlestick does not originate, but sustains the light in a position to be seen and exert a beneficial influence. It is thus that the church is said to be“the light of the world,”and is required to let her light“shine before men,”Ib.vs. 14-16,—i.e.She is to disseminate the light committed to her; and in so doing, she becomes awitnessfor Jesus.The church comprises all the holy persons who have lived on earth, and is symbolized by two candlesticks, corresponding to the two dispensations of its existence. Those who lived under the former dispensation, are called“a great cloud of witnesses,”Heb. 12:1. Of Christ,“give all the prophets witness,”Acts 10:43. They constitute the voice of the church in that age. Under the gospel dispensation, also, Christ had chosen witnesses of himself. He said to his disciples,“Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth,”(Ib.1:8); and they said,“We are his witnesses,”Ib.5:32.“We are witnesses of all things which he did, ... witnesses chosen before of God,”(Ib.10:39-41);—“his[pg 122]witnesses unto the people,”Ib.13:31. They and their successors have“testified and preached the word of the Lord,”(Ib.8:25), overcoming“by the word of their testimony,”(Rev. 12:11),—many of them being“slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held,”6:9. The church, one in all ages, symbolized by the two candlesticks, is thus awitnessof Jesus.The two olive-trees, symbolize the other witness, which must sustain a relation to the church, analogous to that sustained by the olive-trees to the candlesticks. The declaration, that the witnesses arethetwo olive-trees and candlesticks, implies the existence of some previous symbolization, where those objects and their relation to each other are presented. And the connection shows clearly that reference is made to the vision, wherein Zechariah beheld“a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof; and two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof,”Zech. 4:2, 3. The relation which the olive-trees sustain to the candlestick, is shown by the questions of the prophet:“What are these, my Lord?”(Ib.v. 4);“What are these two olive-trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? What be these two olive-branches which[pg 123]through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?”Ib.vs. 11, 12. The office of the olive-trees, was to supply the candlestick with oil which alone enabled them to give light. The oil of the olive-tree, was burned before the Lord continually. The light committed to the church, is the truth of God's word. And thus the angel explains the meaning of the olive-trees:“This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel,”(Ib.v. 6);“These are the two anointed ones [mar, sons of oil], that stand by the Lord of the whole earth,”Ib.v. 14. And this expression, corresponding with that in Rev. 11:4, shows that this vision of Zechariah is the one referred to, and that it is explanatory of the witnesses.The Scriptures, as well as the church, testify of Christ:“Search the Scriptures,”said the Saviour, speaking of those then written;“they are they whichtestify[or bear witness] of me,”(John 5:39); and of the New Testament, he said:“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for awitnessunto all nations,”Matt. 24:4. Like two olive-trees supplying the candlesticks with oil, the Scriptures of the Old, and of the New Testament give light to the church, and testify of Christ. They stand on either side of him,—the one beginning with the creation and pointing to a Messiah to come, testifying of him by types[pg 124]and shadows; and the other looking back to the death and resurrection of Christ, and cheering the heart of the believer by the evidence of his second coming at the end of the world. Thus stood within the oracle of the temple the two cherubim, which Solomon made“ofolive-tree,”and whose wings met over the ark of the covenant:“He set the cherubim within the inner house, and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house,”1 Kings 6, 27. Thus symbolized, the Scriptures and the church are Christ's two witnesses.To prophesy, is to make known the truths of God. Thus, at the epoch of the Reformation, they were to prophesyagainbefore many peoples, and nations, and tongues and kings, 10:11. It was to enable the witnesses to do this, that the necessary power was to be given them.Sackcloth, is a symbol of humiliation and sorrow; and the witnesses being thus clothed, indicates that during the time specified, they should be in a despised and oppressed condition.The one thousand two hundred and sixty days, symbolize years. God said to Israel, after the evil report of the twelve spies:[pg 125]“Your children shall wander in the wilderness fortyyears... after the number of thedayswhich ye searched the land,”Num. 14:33, 34. And to Ezekiel,“This shall be a sign to the house of Israel: Lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it, ... for I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days.... And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed theeeach day for a year,”Ezek. 4:3-6.This period of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, is not the whole time in which the witnesses prophesy, but marks the duration of their prophesying in sackcloth. It commenced when the light of the Bible began to be obscured by the secondary place which was accorded to it in the estimation of the Papal church, and the living witnesses were no longer permitted to preach the gospel in its purity.In A. D. 533, the Emperor Justinian, wrote a letter to the Pope declaring him to be“the head of all the holy churches,”and subjecting to his control“all the priests of the whole East.”By the edicts and mandates of Justinian, who was master of the Roman world, the supremacy of the Pope received the fullest sanction; and the highest authorities[pg 126]among the civilians and annalists of Rome, refer to these as evidence of the right of the Pope to the title of“Universal Bishop,”and date it from A. D. 533. p.200.With this supremacy, the power of the Papacy commenced. The Bible was permitted only in a dead language, and the faithful Christian was obliged to seek refuge in the wilderness. False doctrines obscuring the Bible, and persecuting enactments oppressing the church, clothed the witnesses in sackcloth; and thus only did they testify, till the power of the papacy was broken.Fire proceeded out of their mouth, when they made known the fiery judgments predicted in the Scriptures against all their enemies. And they shut heaven, smite with plagues, turn water to blood, &c., when, in accordance with the inspired record, are fulfilled the predictions which, in various places, are thus symbolized.—See Rev. 15:6; 16:4, &c.The finishing of their testimony, refers to the termination of the sackcloth period,—twelve hundred and sixty years from A. D. 533;i.e.in 1793,—if the former date is correct.The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, is that on which, in a subsequent vision, the woman is seated, 17:7, 8. John saw this beast arise out of the sea, (13:1); and the subsequent exposition given of it, will show that it symbolized the civil power of the[pg 127]Roman empire in its divided form.—See p.169. As the ten kingdoms constitute the beast, what is done by any of these kingdoms, is done by the beast. France was one of the more prominent of these kingdoms, and at one period, under Napoleon, controlled the greater portion of the whole.To war against the witnesses, is to oppose, resist, and endeavor to crush them; and to overcome them, is to be successful in such efforts.To kill, when used symbolically and applied to Christians, is to cause them to apostatize—producing spiritual death, 9:5. When applied to the Scriptures, it can only denote their prohibition.The great city, as shown in connection with Rev. 16:19, p. 290, is the Roman hierarchy:—symbolized by Babylon, and“spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.”By being thus“spirituallycalled Sodom,”some understand that it is a“spiritual Sodom,”&c., which would be a contradiction of terms; others understand that it is calledfigurativelyby those names, and deduce from it an argument for spiritualizing the Scriptures; but the use of the word“spiritually,”it is believed, will not sanction any such meaning. It occurs only in two other passages:—in Rom. 8:7, to be“spiritually minded,”is to have a mind in accordance with the will of the Spirit; and in 1 Cor. 2:14, things“spiritually discerned,”[pg 128]signifies that they are discerned by the aid of the Spirit. The great city, then, is called by the Spirit,“Sodom and Egypt;”and is so called because of her licentiousness and idolatries, and her subjecting the saints to bondage. To crucify the Lord afresh, is to apostatize from his teachings, Heb. 6:6.In 1793, twelve hundred and sixty years from the date of the Papal supremacy, the Bible was abolished in France, by the solemn decree of the government, which declared that the nation acknowledged no God. A copy of the Bible could not be found in a single bookstore in Paris. Inquiry also was made for it in Rome, inallthe book establishments of that city, and the invariable reply was, that it was prohibited. All the churches of Paris were shut, and the church plate was declared the property of the nation. Professors of religion, at the same time, in large numbers openly apostatized and embraced infidelity. Says Dr. Croley:—“On the 1st of November, 1793, Gobet, with the republican priests of Paris, had thrown off the gown and abjured religion. On the 11th, a‘grand festival,’dedicated to‘Reason and Truth,’was celebrated instead of divine service in the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, which had been desecrated, and been named,‘the Temple of Reason;’a pyramid was erected in the centre of the church, surmounted by a temple, inscribed,‘To Philosophy.’[pg 129]The torch of‘Truth’was on the altar of‘Reason,’spreading light, &c. The National Convention, and all the authorities, attended at this burlesque and insulting ceremony. In February, 1794, a grand fête was ordered by the convention, in which hymns to Liberty were chanted, and a pageant in honor of the abolition of slavery in the colonies, was displayed in the‘Temple of Reason.’In June another festival was ordered—to the Supreme Being: the God of Philosophy. But the most superb exhibition was the‘general festival,’in honor of the republic. It was distinguished by a more audacious spirit of scoffing and profanation than the former. Robespierre acted the‘high-priest of Reason’on the day, and made himself conspicuous in blasphemy. He was then at the summit of power,—actual sovereign of France.”The dead bodies of the witnesses, would be their existence in that prohibited condition, when, in France, neither the Scriptures, nor the church showed any symptoms of life. In the street, would be the conspicuous and public manner in which indignities should be heaped on them. France had been one of the principal states yielding homage to the Roman church. Surrounding nations beheld, but would not permit the extermination of the Bible and Christianity.[pg 130]The French made merry over their blasphemous work. Says Dr. Croley:—“A very remarkable andpropheticdistinction of this period, was the spirit of frenzied festivity which seized upon France. The capital, and all the republican towns, were the scene of civic feasts, processions, and shows of the most extravagant kind. The most festive times of peace under the most expensive kings were thrown into the shade by the frequency, variety, and extent of the republican exhibitions. Yet this was a time of perpetual miseries throughout France. The guillotine was bloody from morn till night. In the single month of July, 1794, nearlyeight hundred persons, the majority, principal individuals of the state, and all possessing some respectability of situation, were guillotined in Paris alone. In the midst of this horror, there were twenty-six theatres open, filled with the most profane and profligate displays in honor of the‘triumph of reason.’”In Lyons a Bible was tied to the tail of an ass and dragged in a procession through the streets of that city. Thus they rejoiced over the supposed end of religion in France; and congratulated themselves that the terrors of God's word, and the church would no more torment them.“After three days and a half,”would be that number of years from the suppression of Christianity in November, 1793. On the 17th[pg 131]day of June, 1797, three and a half years from the abolition of the Bible and religious worship,Camille Jourdan, in theCouncil of Five Hundred, brought up the memorable report on theRevision of the Laws Relative to Religious Worship, by which France gave permission to all citizens to buy or hire edifices for the free exercise of it; repealing all opposing laws, and subjecting those to a heavy fine who should in any way impede or interrupt any religious service. The Bible and the church again stood erect, to the dismay of all who had rejoiced over their overthrow. Those two witnesses were again in a position to resume their testimony.They were not only to be thus restored, but were to be elevated far above their former position. Since that epoch, have been made all those great efforts to evangelize the world, by means of missionary, tract, Bible, and other benevolent societies, which have caused theScripturesto be translated into nearly all known languages, and carried by theliving preacherto the ends of the earth. The very room in which Voltaire uttered his famous prediction—that“the time would arrive when the Bible would be regarded only in the light of an old curiosity,”—is now used for a Bible depository, and is“piled to the ceiling with that rare old book.”Copies of the Bible have been multiplied a million fold, and scattered broadcast over the earth. The[pg 132]other witness,—the church, has since then, also, been greatly magnified. In this age of missions and Bibles, the number of believers has been greatly multiplied; and missionaries have penetrated all lands. The last half-century has been distinguished for its wonderful revivals; and the servants of the cross have“prophesied [or testified] again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings,”10:11.The same hour, is the time of the slaughter of the witnesses. Its epoch was to be marked by a great political revolution, which, in the Apocalypse, is symbolized by an earthquake. In the year in which Christianity was suppressed by France, they beheaded their king, abolished the monarchy, and entirely revolutionized the government. In the reign of terror following, the best blood of the nation was shed like water, and no man of influence could consider his life secure. Men, women and children were dragged before the revolutionary tribunals, had their accusations read to them, and were immediately condemned, and hurried off in crowds without a trial, to be shot, drowned or beheaded. At Lyons thirty-one thousand persons were thus slain; at Nantes thirty-two thousand,—and throughout France in proportion. The number thus slain, has been estimated at over one million,—a number hardly credible, and which might well be symbolized by seven thousand—a[pg 133]perfect number. Well might the remnant be affrighted, and hasten to give glory to theGodof heaven, by the restoration of that book, the setting aside of which had involved them in such dire calamities.The tenth of the city which fell, must be the tenth of the Roman hierarchy, which is symbolized by the city. With the suppression of religion, the Catholic church was prohibited, with all others. France was one of the ten kingdoms, and the overthrow of the church in France, would be the fall of one-tenth of that city.Thus passed the second woe—the prelude to the third woe, which cometh quickly.

The Rainbow Angel.“And I saw another mighty angel descending from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and the rainbow was over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book opened: and he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land. And shouted with a loud voice, as a lion roareth: and when he shouted, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up those things, which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land, raised his hand to heaven, and swore by him who liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things in it, and the earth, and the things in it, and the sea, and the things in it, that the time should not yet be; but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he will sound, the secret of God will be finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets. And the voice, which I heard from heaven, spoke with me again, and said, Go, take the little book, which is opened in the hand of the angel, who standeth on the sea and on the land. And I went away to the angel, and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said to me, Take, and eat it up; and it will make thy stomach bitter, but in thy mouth, it will be sweet as honey. And I took the little book from the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it my stomach was bitter. And he said to me, Thou must prophesy again concerning many people, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”—Rev. 10:1-11.This angel, like those in corresponding passages, must symbolize a body of men, whose importance is indicated by the might and splendor of the symbol.His descent from heaven, the cloud, the rainbow, the sun-like face, and the fire-like feet of the Mighty Messenger, attest the heaven-inspired[pg 109]origin of his utterances. His“eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace,”would not be given to one who came to announce other than heaven-inspired truths.Theopen bookin the hand of the angel, fixes the chronology of the fulfilment of this vision at an epoch when the Scriptures cease to be a closed and sealed book, and the people are permitted to have free access to them.Hisposition—one foot resting on the sea, and one on the land—attests the universality of the movement which is to date from that epoch.His lion voice, must symbolize the manner in which would be announced the great truths, at which the whole world would be startled.Thesinglenessof his cry, is also symbolic of the simplicity of the truth, which is never symbolized by discordant multitudinous sounds.Theresponsive thunders, unlike the single voice of the angel, are multitudinous and discordant; and consequently symbolize errors. Theirfollowingso immediately on the shout of the angel, shows the proximity of their promulgation to the utterance of the truths to which they are responsive.John'sreadiness to writewhat the seven thunders uttered, shows that what they uttered wasprofessedlyin harmony with the truths previously announced, and that men[pg 110]would be liable to be deceived, by their promulgation.His beingforbiddenby the cloud-robed angel, to write what they uttered—while he was commanded to“seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book”(22:10),—shows that their utterances were not heaven-inspired, and constituted no part of“the word ofGod, and of the testimony ofJesus Christ,”whichJohnbare record of.Thesubsequent oathof the angel, by Him who liveth forever, that“the time is not yet,”shows that those thunders, however erroneous in their form manner and connection with other errors, had respect to some great event foretold in Scripture; but which the thunders hadantedatedand presented in anunscripturalform.His further announcement that it would be fulfilled under the sounding of the“seventh trumpet,”and that then the mystery ofGodshould be finished in the manner foretold to his servants the prophets, shows that the great event, the time of which was“not yet,”—i.e., under the sixth trumpet, was the coming of the kingdom ofGod—the fifth universal empire; that at a period anterior to the time when it might rationally be expected, it would be proclaimed in a form repugnant to the teachings of the prophets; and that when thus heralded, it would be met by the party uttering the heaven-inspired truths, with the denial[pg 111]that the time had arrived, and by arguments to show its true nature and epoch, under the seventh trumpet.The command to take and eat the little book, shows that its contents were such as the soul might feed on; which should be sweet to the believer's taste, but would subject him to bitter persecution. And the announcement that they were to prophesyagainbefore many nations and peoples and tongues and kings, marks this as the commencement of an era when the Gospel should again begin to go forth into distant lands.All of the above particulars harmonize in the time of the reformation ofLutherin the sixteenth century, and with no other epoch. The great truths then promulgated, of which“justification by faith”was the cardinal one, electrified the whole world, as the loud roaring of a lion would startle the passer-by. These were immediately responded to by the multitudinous errors of the Anabaptists and others, who thought to set up the kingdom ofGodinthis world, andbefore the resurrection, by putting to death the ungodly and sparing only the saints.As in all efforts for good Satan is careful to attempt a counterfeit, or to mingle impure elements to the injury of the truth, so in the Reformation there were false reformers.Thomas Munzer, and others, in 1525, incited vast numbers on the borders of the Danube to[pg 112]make physical war on the Papal ecclesiastics. He denouncedLuther, also, with the same violence that he did the Pope. In his mad attempt to slay the ungodly, he took possession of Muhlhausen, appointed a new city council, pillaged the houses of the rich, proclaimed a community of goods, and committed various excesses; but they were finally defeated in a pitched battle, with a loss of from five thousand to seven thousand killed. Others succeeded him, teaching thatGodspake to them in person, instructing them how to act. They professed the most extravagant doctrines, setting aside bothLutherand the Bible. The former did not go near far enough for them; and the latter was in their view insufficient for man's instruction, who could only be taught of God. They taught that the world was to be immediately devastated; and no priest or ungodly person be left alive; and that then the kingdom ofGodwould commence, and the saints possess the earth. Those who adhered toLuther, united with him in bearing a faithful testimony against such extravagances, adhered to the written word, denounced new revelations, and showed from the Bible that Antichrist was to be overthrown by the personal advent ofChrist, and not by the sword of man. The following extracts are fromMr. Lord:“The pretences of the Anabaptists to inspiration were in like manner denounced by[pg 113]Melancthon.‘The Anabaptists, infatuated by the devil, have boasted a new species of sanctity, as though they had left the earth, and ascended to the skies; and given out, moreover, that they enjoy extraordinary inspiration. But as the pretence was hypocritical, and designed merely to subserve appetite and ambition, they soon plunged into debauchery, and then excited seditions, and undertook to establish a New Jerusalem, as other enthusiasts have often attempted. A like tragedy was formerly acted at Pepuza in Phrygia, which fanatical prophets denominated the new Jerusalem.’“He also refuted by the Scriptures, the expectation of the Anabaptists of the immediate establishment of Christ's millennial kingdom. He regarded the term Antichrist as denoting both the Mohammedan empire and the Papacy, and held that they were not to be overthrown till the time of the resurrection of the dead, and that a considerable period was to pass before that event.‘God showed to Daniel a series of monarchies and kingdoms, which it is certain has already run to the end. Four monarchies have passed away. The cruel kingdom of the Turks, which arose out of the fourth, still remains, and as it is not to equal the Roman in power, and has certainly, therefore, already nearly reached its height, must soon decline, and then will dawn the day in which the dead shall be recalled to[pg 114]life.’He then repeats the saying ascribed to Elias, that six thousand years were to pass before the advent of Christ; two thousand before the law, two under the law, and two under the gospel; and proceeds to show that four hundred and fifty-eight years were, therefore, to intervene before the advent of the Redeemer, the destruction of Antichrist, and the establishment of the kingdom of the saints.‘It is known that Christ was born about the end of the fourth millenary,1and one thousand five hundred and forty-two years have since revolved. We are not, therefore [in 1542], far from the end.’“These views corresponding so conspicuously with the symbol, continued to be repeated by a crowd of writers, till at the distance of sixty-seven years from the death of Melancthon, the celebrated Joseph Mede published his‘Clavis Apocalyptica,’in which he showed from the coincidence of the periods of the wild beast and the witnesses, that the advent of the Redeemer, and the destruction of the anti-Christian powers were not to be expected until twelve hundred and sixty years had passed from the rise of the ten kingdoms, and that near one hundred of them, therefore, were still to revolve. As that period expired and the knowledge of the prophecy advanced, the[pg 115]catastrophe of the wild beast was referred to a later time. Many recent expositors regard the twelve hundred and sixty years as having reached their end in 1792; and most refer the fall of the anti-Christian powers to the last half of the present, or the beginning of the next century.”—Ex. of Apoc., pp. 238-240.All the vagaries of the various sects of heretics were connected with an expectation of the immediate establishment ofChrist'skingdom. That the seven thunders gave utterance to such an expectation, is evident from the response of the angel, when he lifted up his hand to heaven and with the solemnity of an oath, by Him who liveth forever, affirmed that“the time should not yet be;”but that“in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he delays to sound,2the secret ofGodwill be finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets.”Why such an annunciation at this stage of the vision? It must be to correct a misapprehension which would exist at a corresponding time in its fulfilment, respecting the immediate appearance of the kingdom. Thus didPaulcorrect the Thessalonian brethren, when he wrote to them in his second epistle not to be shaken in mind, as that the day of theLordwas then impending, 2 Th. 2:2.The Bible, was, at this epoch, first opened[pg 116]to the common people. Before, it was only found in languages which they were entirely ignorant of. It was translated byLutherinto their own language, and thus made accessible. The art of printing, discovered at about that time, enabled all who wished, to avail themselves of its unsealed contents. They feasted on the words of inspiration, which were sweeter to them than honey, or the honey-comb. But afterwards, they had to endure bitterness for the sake of the Gospel. Divisions and subdivisions followed, parties multiplied, and heresies abounded, accompanied with bitter and mischievous discussions, and fierce and rancorous contentions. These being based on the understanding which the several parties attached to portions of scripture, were fitly symbolized by the bitterness that followed the eating of the book. At this time, also, was revived a system of religious teachings which has gone forth into many lands.The reörganization of the church at this epoch, is next symbolized.The Measuring Reed, Temple, &c.“And there was given me a measuring reed like a rod, and it was said, Arise, and measure the temple of God, (and the altar,) and those who worship in it. But the court which is without the temple, leave out, and measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles: and they will tread the holy city under foot forty-two months.”—Rev. 11:1, 2.[pg 117]These symbols are evidently taken from the temple and altar of Jewish worship, and represent corresponding analogies under the Christian dispensation.To measure anything, is to examine and take notice of its parts and proportions; and that by which it is measured, is the standard or rule to which it should conform.The temple, is a proper symbol of the church of God; which is“built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Corner Stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord,”Eph. 2:20, 21.At the epoch of the Reformation, the nominal church was subjected to the scrutiny of the word of God; and its pretensions were measured by the scriptural rule. The reformers found the Man of Sin,“as God sitting in the temple of God,”(2 Thess. 2:4); and they had to re-model their church relationship, in accordance with the pattern presented in the New Testament. This involved the consideration of what constituted the church,—its organization, its ministry, its sacraments, and its membership,—their mutual relation to God, and to each other.The altar, must symbolize the sacrifice and atonement of Christ,—the“altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle,”Heb. 13:10. The great question,[pg 118]of justification by faith in the death of Christ, was the rallying cry of the Reformation. The fundamental principles of Christian truth were then unfolded anew, and the doctrines of the Papacy, including the sacrifice of the mass, were rejected as contrary to Bible teachings.The worshippers in the temple, who were to be measured by the same rule, are Christians. All who were to be recognized as such, were to give evidence of conformity to the Bible standard. Regeneration by the Holy Ghost, was held by the reformers to be necessary to church membership. The Papists required only baptism and confirmation.The court without the temple, was that to which the Gentiles had access, and beyond which their entrance was prohibited. Devout foreigners were there permitted to pay their devotions to the God of heaven. As the Gentiles must symbolize those who are not Christians, the occupants of the outer court, must be the congregation—the nominal worshippers who throng the outer courts of the Lord, in distinction from the true worshippers. Such were to have free and unrestricted access to the places of Christian worship.The holy city is that in which the temple is situated, and must embrace the church as a whole, subjected to Gentile rule. Its being trodden under foot, indicates that the civil polity under which the church would subsist,[pg 119]should, during the period specified, be under the control of those who worship only in the outer court.The forty and two months, is a period of time, corresponding with the thousand two hundred and three score days of the verse following, the time and times and half a time of Rev. 12:14, and the corresponding periods of Rev. 12:6; 13:5; Dan. 7:25; and 12:7; symbolizing a period of twelve hundred and sixty years, according to the almost unanimous opinion of Protestant writers.This period does not commence with this epoch, but began with the subjection of Christianity to the power of the civil arm, which was to continue during the time predicted,—notwithstanding the reädjustment of the temple-worship,—when Christians should cease to be responsible to any human tribunal for the orthodoxy of their faith.During the same period, also, power to prophesy, though shrouded in sackcloth, was to be given to:Christ's Two Witnesses.“And I will give charge to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive-trees, and the two lamp-stands, standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any one wisheth to injure them, fire proceedeth from their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if anyone wisheth to injure them, he must thus be killed. These[pg 120]have power to shut heaven, that it may not rain in the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they wish. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the wild beast that ascendeth out of the abyss will make war with them, and will overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodywill lieon the wide street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And those of the people, and tribes, and tongues, and nations, will see their dead body three days and a half, and will not allow their dead body to be put into a tomb. And those, who dwell on the earth, will rejoice over them, and exult, and send gifts to each other; because these two prophets tormented those, who dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell on those, who saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them, Ascend here! And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake seven thousand names of men were slain: and the remnant became terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past away; behold, the third woe cometh quickly.”—Rev. 11:3-14.The two witnesses are not symbolically exhibited, but are referred to by an elliptical metaphor, and are explained to be the“two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks.”Therefore, they are not two living men, as some suppose, shown to John in vision, symbolizing analogous agents; but their nature is to be determined by a consideration of the olive-trees and candlesticks which symbolize them.Candlesticks symbolize churches. Thus[pg 121]the Saviour said to John:“The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches,”1:20. When“men light a candle,”they put“it on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house,”Matt. 5:15. The candlestick does not originate, but sustains the light in a position to be seen and exert a beneficial influence. It is thus that the church is said to be“the light of the world,”and is required to let her light“shine before men,”Ib.vs. 14-16,—i.e.She is to disseminate the light committed to her; and in so doing, she becomes awitnessfor Jesus.The church comprises all the holy persons who have lived on earth, and is symbolized by two candlesticks, corresponding to the two dispensations of its existence. Those who lived under the former dispensation, are called“a great cloud of witnesses,”Heb. 12:1. Of Christ,“give all the prophets witness,”Acts 10:43. They constitute the voice of the church in that age. Under the gospel dispensation, also, Christ had chosen witnesses of himself. He said to his disciples,“Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth,”(Ib.1:8); and they said,“We are his witnesses,”Ib.5:32.“We are witnesses of all things which he did, ... witnesses chosen before of God,”(Ib.10:39-41);—“his[pg 122]witnesses unto the people,”Ib.13:31. They and their successors have“testified and preached the word of the Lord,”(Ib.8:25), overcoming“by the word of their testimony,”(Rev. 12:11),—many of them being“slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held,”6:9. The church, one in all ages, symbolized by the two candlesticks, is thus awitnessof Jesus.The two olive-trees, symbolize the other witness, which must sustain a relation to the church, analogous to that sustained by the olive-trees to the candlesticks. The declaration, that the witnesses arethetwo olive-trees and candlesticks, implies the existence of some previous symbolization, where those objects and their relation to each other are presented. And the connection shows clearly that reference is made to the vision, wherein Zechariah beheld“a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof; and two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof,”Zech. 4:2, 3. The relation which the olive-trees sustain to the candlestick, is shown by the questions of the prophet:“What are these, my Lord?”(Ib.v. 4);“What are these two olive-trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? What be these two olive-branches which[pg 123]through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?”Ib.vs. 11, 12. The office of the olive-trees, was to supply the candlestick with oil which alone enabled them to give light. The oil of the olive-tree, was burned before the Lord continually. The light committed to the church, is the truth of God's word. And thus the angel explains the meaning of the olive-trees:“This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel,”(Ib.v. 6);“These are the two anointed ones [mar, sons of oil], that stand by the Lord of the whole earth,”Ib.v. 14. And this expression, corresponding with that in Rev. 11:4, shows that this vision of Zechariah is the one referred to, and that it is explanatory of the witnesses.The Scriptures, as well as the church, testify of Christ:“Search the Scriptures,”said the Saviour, speaking of those then written;“they are they whichtestify[or bear witness] of me,”(John 5:39); and of the New Testament, he said:“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for awitnessunto all nations,”Matt. 24:4. Like two olive-trees supplying the candlesticks with oil, the Scriptures of the Old, and of the New Testament give light to the church, and testify of Christ. They stand on either side of him,—the one beginning with the creation and pointing to a Messiah to come, testifying of him by types[pg 124]and shadows; and the other looking back to the death and resurrection of Christ, and cheering the heart of the believer by the evidence of his second coming at the end of the world. Thus stood within the oracle of the temple the two cherubim, which Solomon made“ofolive-tree,”and whose wings met over the ark of the covenant:“He set the cherubim within the inner house, and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house,”1 Kings 6, 27. Thus symbolized, the Scriptures and the church are Christ's two witnesses.To prophesy, is to make known the truths of God. Thus, at the epoch of the Reformation, they were to prophesyagainbefore many peoples, and nations, and tongues and kings, 10:11. It was to enable the witnesses to do this, that the necessary power was to be given them.Sackcloth, is a symbol of humiliation and sorrow; and the witnesses being thus clothed, indicates that during the time specified, they should be in a despised and oppressed condition.The one thousand two hundred and sixty days, symbolize years. God said to Israel, after the evil report of the twelve spies:[pg 125]“Your children shall wander in the wilderness fortyyears... after the number of thedayswhich ye searched the land,”Num. 14:33, 34. And to Ezekiel,“This shall be a sign to the house of Israel: Lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it, ... for I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days.... And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed theeeach day for a year,”Ezek. 4:3-6.This period of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, is not the whole time in which the witnesses prophesy, but marks the duration of their prophesying in sackcloth. It commenced when the light of the Bible began to be obscured by the secondary place which was accorded to it in the estimation of the Papal church, and the living witnesses were no longer permitted to preach the gospel in its purity.In A. D. 533, the Emperor Justinian, wrote a letter to the Pope declaring him to be“the head of all the holy churches,”and subjecting to his control“all the priests of the whole East.”By the edicts and mandates of Justinian, who was master of the Roman world, the supremacy of the Pope received the fullest sanction; and the highest authorities[pg 126]among the civilians and annalists of Rome, refer to these as evidence of the right of the Pope to the title of“Universal Bishop,”and date it from A. D. 533. p.200.With this supremacy, the power of the Papacy commenced. The Bible was permitted only in a dead language, and the faithful Christian was obliged to seek refuge in the wilderness. False doctrines obscuring the Bible, and persecuting enactments oppressing the church, clothed the witnesses in sackcloth; and thus only did they testify, till the power of the papacy was broken.Fire proceeded out of their mouth, when they made known the fiery judgments predicted in the Scriptures against all their enemies. And they shut heaven, smite with plagues, turn water to blood, &c., when, in accordance with the inspired record, are fulfilled the predictions which, in various places, are thus symbolized.—See Rev. 15:6; 16:4, &c.The finishing of their testimony, refers to the termination of the sackcloth period,—twelve hundred and sixty years from A. D. 533;i.e.in 1793,—if the former date is correct.The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, is that on which, in a subsequent vision, the woman is seated, 17:7, 8. John saw this beast arise out of the sea, (13:1); and the subsequent exposition given of it, will show that it symbolized the civil power of the[pg 127]Roman empire in its divided form.—See p.169. As the ten kingdoms constitute the beast, what is done by any of these kingdoms, is done by the beast. France was one of the more prominent of these kingdoms, and at one period, under Napoleon, controlled the greater portion of the whole.To war against the witnesses, is to oppose, resist, and endeavor to crush them; and to overcome them, is to be successful in such efforts.To kill, when used symbolically and applied to Christians, is to cause them to apostatize—producing spiritual death, 9:5. When applied to the Scriptures, it can only denote their prohibition.The great city, as shown in connection with Rev. 16:19, p. 290, is the Roman hierarchy:—symbolized by Babylon, and“spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.”By being thus“spirituallycalled Sodom,”some understand that it is a“spiritual Sodom,”&c., which would be a contradiction of terms; others understand that it is calledfigurativelyby those names, and deduce from it an argument for spiritualizing the Scriptures; but the use of the word“spiritually,”it is believed, will not sanction any such meaning. It occurs only in two other passages:—in Rom. 8:7, to be“spiritually minded,”is to have a mind in accordance with the will of the Spirit; and in 1 Cor. 2:14, things“spiritually discerned,”[pg 128]signifies that they are discerned by the aid of the Spirit. The great city, then, is called by the Spirit,“Sodom and Egypt;”and is so called because of her licentiousness and idolatries, and her subjecting the saints to bondage. To crucify the Lord afresh, is to apostatize from his teachings, Heb. 6:6.In 1793, twelve hundred and sixty years from the date of the Papal supremacy, the Bible was abolished in France, by the solemn decree of the government, which declared that the nation acknowledged no God. A copy of the Bible could not be found in a single bookstore in Paris. Inquiry also was made for it in Rome, inallthe book establishments of that city, and the invariable reply was, that it was prohibited. All the churches of Paris were shut, and the church plate was declared the property of the nation. Professors of religion, at the same time, in large numbers openly apostatized and embraced infidelity. Says Dr. Croley:—“On the 1st of November, 1793, Gobet, with the republican priests of Paris, had thrown off the gown and abjured religion. On the 11th, a‘grand festival,’dedicated to‘Reason and Truth,’was celebrated instead of divine service in the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, which had been desecrated, and been named,‘the Temple of Reason;’a pyramid was erected in the centre of the church, surmounted by a temple, inscribed,‘To Philosophy.’[pg 129]The torch of‘Truth’was on the altar of‘Reason,’spreading light, &c. The National Convention, and all the authorities, attended at this burlesque and insulting ceremony. In February, 1794, a grand fête was ordered by the convention, in which hymns to Liberty were chanted, and a pageant in honor of the abolition of slavery in the colonies, was displayed in the‘Temple of Reason.’In June another festival was ordered—to the Supreme Being: the God of Philosophy. But the most superb exhibition was the‘general festival,’in honor of the republic. It was distinguished by a more audacious spirit of scoffing and profanation than the former. Robespierre acted the‘high-priest of Reason’on the day, and made himself conspicuous in blasphemy. He was then at the summit of power,—actual sovereign of France.”The dead bodies of the witnesses, would be their existence in that prohibited condition, when, in France, neither the Scriptures, nor the church showed any symptoms of life. In the street, would be the conspicuous and public manner in which indignities should be heaped on them. France had been one of the principal states yielding homage to the Roman church. Surrounding nations beheld, but would not permit the extermination of the Bible and Christianity.[pg 130]The French made merry over their blasphemous work. Says Dr. Croley:—“A very remarkable andpropheticdistinction of this period, was the spirit of frenzied festivity which seized upon France. The capital, and all the republican towns, were the scene of civic feasts, processions, and shows of the most extravagant kind. The most festive times of peace under the most expensive kings were thrown into the shade by the frequency, variety, and extent of the republican exhibitions. Yet this was a time of perpetual miseries throughout France. The guillotine was bloody from morn till night. In the single month of July, 1794, nearlyeight hundred persons, the majority, principal individuals of the state, and all possessing some respectability of situation, were guillotined in Paris alone. In the midst of this horror, there were twenty-six theatres open, filled with the most profane and profligate displays in honor of the‘triumph of reason.’”In Lyons a Bible was tied to the tail of an ass and dragged in a procession through the streets of that city. Thus they rejoiced over the supposed end of religion in France; and congratulated themselves that the terrors of God's word, and the church would no more torment them.“After three days and a half,”would be that number of years from the suppression of Christianity in November, 1793. On the 17th[pg 131]day of June, 1797, three and a half years from the abolition of the Bible and religious worship,Camille Jourdan, in theCouncil of Five Hundred, brought up the memorable report on theRevision of the Laws Relative to Religious Worship, by which France gave permission to all citizens to buy or hire edifices for the free exercise of it; repealing all opposing laws, and subjecting those to a heavy fine who should in any way impede or interrupt any religious service. The Bible and the church again stood erect, to the dismay of all who had rejoiced over their overthrow. Those two witnesses were again in a position to resume their testimony.They were not only to be thus restored, but were to be elevated far above their former position. Since that epoch, have been made all those great efforts to evangelize the world, by means of missionary, tract, Bible, and other benevolent societies, which have caused theScripturesto be translated into nearly all known languages, and carried by theliving preacherto the ends of the earth. The very room in which Voltaire uttered his famous prediction—that“the time would arrive when the Bible would be regarded only in the light of an old curiosity,”—is now used for a Bible depository, and is“piled to the ceiling with that rare old book.”Copies of the Bible have been multiplied a million fold, and scattered broadcast over the earth. The[pg 132]other witness,—the church, has since then, also, been greatly magnified. In this age of missions and Bibles, the number of believers has been greatly multiplied; and missionaries have penetrated all lands. The last half-century has been distinguished for its wonderful revivals; and the servants of the cross have“prophesied [or testified] again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings,”10:11.The same hour, is the time of the slaughter of the witnesses. Its epoch was to be marked by a great political revolution, which, in the Apocalypse, is symbolized by an earthquake. In the year in which Christianity was suppressed by France, they beheaded their king, abolished the monarchy, and entirely revolutionized the government. In the reign of terror following, the best blood of the nation was shed like water, and no man of influence could consider his life secure. Men, women and children were dragged before the revolutionary tribunals, had their accusations read to them, and were immediately condemned, and hurried off in crowds without a trial, to be shot, drowned or beheaded. At Lyons thirty-one thousand persons were thus slain; at Nantes thirty-two thousand,—and throughout France in proportion. The number thus slain, has been estimated at over one million,—a number hardly credible, and which might well be symbolized by seven thousand—a[pg 133]perfect number. Well might the remnant be affrighted, and hasten to give glory to theGodof heaven, by the restoration of that book, the setting aside of which had involved them in such dire calamities.The tenth of the city which fell, must be the tenth of the Roman hierarchy, which is symbolized by the city. With the suppression of religion, the Catholic church was prohibited, with all others. France was one of the ten kingdoms, and the overthrow of the church in France, would be the fall of one-tenth of that city.Thus passed the second woe—the prelude to the third woe, which cometh quickly.

The Rainbow Angel.“And I saw another mighty angel descending from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and the rainbow was over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book opened: and he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land. And shouted with a loud voice, as a lion roareth: and when he shouted, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up those things, which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land, raised his hand to heaven, and swore by him who liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things in it, and the earth, and the things in it, and the sea, and the things in it, that the time should not yet be; but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he will sound, the secret of God will be finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets. And the voice, which I heard from heaven, spoke with me again, and said, Go, take the little book, which is opened in the hand of the angel, who standeth on the sea and on the land. And I went away to the angel, and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said to me, Take, and eat it up; and it will make thy stomach bitter, but in thy mouth, it will be sweet as honey. And I took the little book from the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it my stomach was bitter. And he said to me, Thou must prophesy again concerning many people, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”—Rev. 10:1-11.This angel, like those in corresponding passages, must symbolize a body of men, whose importance is indicated by the might and splendor of the symbol.His descent from heaven, the cloud, the rainbow, the sun-like face, and the fire-like feet of the Mighty Messenger, attest the heaven-inspired[pg 109]origin of his utterances. His“eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace,”would not be given to one who came to announce other than heaven-inspired truths.Theopen bookin the hand of the angel, fixes the chronology of the fulfilment of this vision at an epoch when the Scriptures cease to be a closed and sealed book, and the people are permitted to have free access to them.Hisposition—one foot resting on the sea, and one on the land—attests the universality of the movement which is to date from that epoch.His lion voice, must symbolize the manner in which would be announced the great truths, at which the whole world would be startled.Thesinglenessof his cry, is also symbolic of the simplicity of the truth, which is never symbolized by discordant multitudinous sounds.Theresponsive thunders, unlike the single voice of the angel, are multitudinous and discordant; and consequently symbolize errors. Theirfollowingso immediately on the shout of the angel, shows the proximity of their promulgation to the utterance of the truths to which they are responsive.John'sreadiness to writewhat the seven thunders uttered, shows that what they uttered wasprofessedlyin harmony with the truths previously announced, and that men[pg 110]would be liable to be deceived, by their promulgation.His beingforbiddenby the cloud-robed angel, to write what they uttered—while he was commanded to“seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book”(22:10),—shows that their utterances were not heaven-inspired, and constituted no part of“the word ofGod, and of the testimony ofJesus Christ,”whichJohnbare record of.Thesubsequent oathof the angel, by Him who liveth forever, that“the time is not yet,”shows that those thunders, however erroneous in their form manner and connection with other errors, had respect to some great event foretold in Scripture; but which the thunders hadantedatedand presented in anunscripturalform.His further announcement that it would be fulfilled under the sounding of the“seventh trumpet,”and that then the mystery ofGodshould be finished in the manner foretold to his servants the prophets, shows that the great event, the time of which was“not yet,”—i.e., under the sixth trumpet, was the coming of the kingdom ofGod—the fifth universal empire; that at a period anterior to the time when it might rationally be expected, it would be proclaimed in a form repugnant to the teachings of the prophets; and that when thus heralded, it would be met by the party uttering the heaven-inspired truths, with the denial[pg 111]that the time had arrived, and by arguments to show its true nature and epoch, under the seventh trumpet.The command to take and eat the little book, shows that its contents were such as the soul might feed on; which should be sweet to the believer's taste, but would subject him to bitter persecution. And the announcement that they were to prophesyagainbefore many nations and peoples and tongues and kings, marks this as the commencement of an era when the Gospel should again begin to go forth into distant lands.All of the above particulars harmonize in the time of the reformation ofLutherin the sixteenth century, and with no other epoch. The great truths then promulgated, of which“justification by faith”was the cardinal one, electrified the whole world, as the loud roaring of a lion would startle the passer-by. These were immediately responded to by the multitudinous errors of the Anabaptists and others, who thought to set up the kingdom ofGodinthis world, andbefore the resurrection, by putting to death the ungodly and sparing only the saints.As in all efforts for good Satan is careful to attempt a counterfeit, or to mingle impure elements to the injury of the truth, so in the Reformation there were false reformers.Thomas Munzer, and others, in 1525, incited vast numbers on the borders of the Danube to[pg 112]make physical war on the Papal ecclesiastics. He denouncedLuther, also, with the same violence that he did the Pope. In his mad attempt to slay the ungodly, he took possession of Muhlhausen, appointed a new city council, pillaged the houses of the rich, proclaimed a community of goods, and committed various excesses; but they were finally defeated in a pitched battle, with a loss of from five thousand to seven thousand killed. Others succeeded him, teaching thatGodspake to them in person, instructing them how to act. They professed the most extravagant doctrines, setting aside bothLutherand the Bible. The former did not go near far enough for them; and the latter was in their view insufficient for man's instruction, who could only be taught of God. They taught that the world was to be immediately devastated; and no priest or ungodly person be left alive; and that then the kingdom ofGodwould commence, and the saints possess the earth. Those who adhered toLuther, united with him in bearing a faithful testimony against such extravagances, adhered to the written word, denounced new revelations, and showed from the Bible that Antichrist was to be overthrown by the personal advent ofChrist, and not by the sword of man. The following extracts are fromMr. Lord:“The pretences of the Anabaptists to inspiration were in like manner denounced by[pg 113]Melancthon.‘The Anabaptists, infatuated by the devil, have boasted a new species of sanctity, as though they had left the earth, and ascended to the skies; and given out, moreover, that they enjoy extraordinary inspiration. But as the pretence was hypocritical, and designed merely to subserve appetite and ambition, they soon plunged into debauchery, and then excited seditions, and undertook to establish a New Jerusalem, as other enthusiasts have often attempted. A like tragedy was formerly acted at Pepuza in Phrygia, which fanatical prophets denominated the new Jerusalem.’“He also refuted by the Scriptures, the expectation of the Anabaptists of the immediate establishment of Christ's millennial kingdom. He regarded the term Antichrist as denoting both the Mohammedan empire and the Papacy, and held that they were not to be overthrown till the time of the resurrection of the dead, and that a considerable period was to pass before that event.‘God showed to Daniel a series of monarchies and kingdoms, which it is certain has already run to the end. Four monarchies have passed away. The cruel kingdom of the Turks, which arose out of the fourth, still remains, and as it is not to equal the Roman in power, and has certainly, therefore, already nearly reached its height, must soon decline, and then will dawn the day in which the dead shall be recalled to[pg 114]life.’He then repeats the saying ascribed to Elias, that six thousand years were to pass before the advent of Christ; two thousand before the law, two under the law, and two under the gospel; and proceeds to show that four hundred and fifty-eight years were, therefore, to intervene before the advent of the Redeemer, the destruction of Antichrist, and the establishment of the kingdom of the saints.‘It is known that Christ was born about the end of the fourth millenary,1and one thousand five hundred and forty-two years have since revolved. We are not, therefore [in 1542], far from the end.’“These views corresponding so conspicuously with the symbol, continued to be repeated by a crowd of writers, till at the distance of sixty-seven years from the death of Melancthon, the celebrated Joseph Mede published his‘Clavis Apocalyptica,’in which he showed from the coincidence of the periods of the wild beast and the witnesses, that the advent of the Redeemer, and the destruction of the anti-Christian powers were not to be expected until twelve hundred and sixty years had passed from the rise of the ten kingdoms, and that near one hundred of them, therefore, were still to revolve. As that period expired and the knowledge of the prophecy advanced, the[pg 115]catastrophe of the wild beast was referred to a later time. Many recent expositors regard the twelve hundred and sixty years as having reached their end in 1792; and most refer the fall of the anti-Christian powers to the last half of the present, or the beginning of the next century.”—Ex. of Apoc., pp. 238-240.All the vagaries of the various sects of heretics were connected with an expectation of the immediate establishment ofChrist'skingdom. That the seven thunders gave utterance to such an expectation, is evident from the response of the angel, when he lifted up his hand to heaven and with the solemnity of an oath, by Him who liveth forever, affirmed that“the time should not yet be;”but that“in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he delays to sound,2the secret ofGodwill be finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets.”Why such an annunciation at this stage of the vision? It must be to correct a misapprehension which would exist at a corresponding time in its fulfilment, respecting the immediate appearance of the kingdom. Thus didPaulcorrect the Thessalonian brethren, when he wrote to them in his second epistle not to be shaken in mind, as that the day of theLordwas then impending, 2 Th. 2:2.The Bible, was, at this epoch, first opened[pg 116]to the common people. Before, it was only found in languages which they were entirely ignorant of. It was translated byLutherinto their own language, and thus made accessible. The art of printing, discovered at about that time, enabled all who wished, to avail themselves of its unsealed contents. They feasted on the words of inspiration, which were sweeter to them than honey, or the honey-comb. But afterwards, they had to endure bitterness for the sake of the Gospel. Divisions and subdivisions followed, parties multiplied, and heresies abounded, accompanied with bitter and mischievous discussions, and fierce and rancorous contentions. These being based on the understanding which the several parties attached to portions of scripture, were fitly symbolized by the bitterness that followed the eating of the book. At this time, also, was revived a system of religious teachings which has gone forth into many lands.The reörganization of the church at this epoch, is next symbolized.

“And I saw another mighty angel descending from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and the rainbow was over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book opened: and he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land. And shouted with a loud voice, as a lion roareth: and when he shouted, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up those things, which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land, raised his hand to heaven, and swore by him who liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things in it, and the earth, and the things in it, and the sea, and the things in it, that the time should not yet be; but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he will sound, the secret of God will be finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets. And the voice, which I heard from heaven, spoke with me again, and said, Go, take the little book, which is opened in the hand of the angel, who standeth on the sea and on the land. And I went away to the angel, and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said to me, Take, and eat it up; and it will make thy stomach bitter, but in thy mouth, it will be sweet as honey. And I took the little book from the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it my stomach was bitter. And he said to me, Thou must prophesy again concerning many people, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”—Rev. 10:1-11.

This angel, like those in corresponding passages, must symbolize a body of men, whose importance is indicated by the might and splendor of the symbol.

His descent from heaven, the cloud, the rainbow, the sun-like face, and the fire-like feet of the Mighty Messenger, attest the heaven-inspired[pg 109]origin of his utterances. His“eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace,”would not be given to one who came to announce other than heaven-inspired truths.

Theopen bookin the hand of the angel, fixes the chronology of the fulfilment of this vision at an epoch when the Scriptures cease to be a closed and sealed book, and the people are permitted to have free access to them.

Hisposition—one foot resting on the sea, and one on the land—attests the universality of the movement which is to date from that epoch.

His lion voice, must symbolize the manner in which would be announced the great truths, at which the whole world would be startled.

Thesinglenessof his cry, is also symbolic of the simplicity of the truth, which is never symbolized by discordant multitudinous sounds.

Theresponsive thunders, unlike the single voice of the angel, are multitudinous and discordant; and consequently symbolize errors. Theirfollowingso immediately on the shout of the angel, shows the proximity of their promulgation to the utterance of the truths to which they are responsive.

John'sreadiness to writewhat the seven thunders uttered, shows that what they uttered wasprofessedlyin harmony with the truths previously announced, and that men[pg 110]would be liable to be deceived, by their promulgation.

His beingforbiddenby the cloud-robed angel, to write what they uttered—while he was commanded to“seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book”(22:10),—shows that their utterances were not heaven-inspired, and constituted no part of“the word ofGod, and of the testimony ofJesus Christ,”whichJohnbare record of.

Thesubsequent oathof the angel, by Him who liveth forever, that“the time is not yet,”shows that those thunders, however erroneous in their form manner and connection with other errors, had respect to some great event foretold in Scripture; but which the thunders hadantedatedand presented in anunscripturalform.

His further announcement that it would be fulfilled under the sounding of the“seventh trumpet,”and that then the mystery ofGodshould be finished in the manner foretold to his servants the prophets, shows that the great event, the time of which was“not yet,”—i.e., under the sixth trumpet, was the coming of the kingdom ofGod—the fifth universal empire; that at a period anterior to the time when it might rationally be expected, it would be proclaimed in a form repugnant to the teachings of the prophets; and that when thus heralded, it would be met by the party uttering the heaven-inspired truths, with the denial[pg 111]that the time had arrived, and by arguments to show its true nature and epoch, under the seventh trumpet.

The command to take and eat the little book, shows that its contents were such as the soul might feed on; which should be sweet to the believer's taste, but would subject him to bitter persecution. And the announcement that they were to prophesyagainbefore many nations and peoples and tongues and kings, marks this as the commencement of an era when the Gospel should again begin to go forth into distant lands.

All of the above particulars harmonize in the time of the reformation ofLutherin the sixteenth century, and with no other epoch. The great truths then promulgated, of which“justification by faith”was the cardinal one, electrified the whole world, as the loud roaring of a lion would startle the passer-by. These were immediately responded to by the multitudinous errors of the Anabaptists and others, who thought to set up the kingdom ofGodinthis world, andbefore the resurrection, by putting to death the ungodly and sparing only the saints.

As in all efforts for good Satan is careful to attempt a counterfeit, or to mingle impure elements to the injury of the truth, so in the Reformation there were false reformers.Thomas Munzer, and others, in 1525, incited vast numbers on the borders of the Danube to[pg 112]make physical war on the Papal ecclesiastics. He denouncedLuther, also, with the same violence that he did the Pope. In his mad attempt to slay the ungodly, he took possession of Muhlhausen, appointed a new city council, pillaged the houses of the rich, proclaimed a community of goods, and committed various excesses; but they were finally defeated in a pitched battle, with a loss of from five thousand to seven thousand killed. Others succeeded him, teaching thatGodspake to them in person, instructing them how to act. They professed the most extravagant doctrines, setting aside bothLutherand the Bible. The former did not go near far enough for them; and the latter was in their view insufficient for man's instruction, who could only be taught of God. They taught that the world was to be immediately devastated; and no priest or ungodly person be left alive; and that then the kingdom ofGodwould commence, and the saints possess the earth. Those who adhered toLuther, united with him in bearing a faithful testimony against such extravagances, adhered to the written word, denounced new revelations, and showed from the Bible that Antichrist was to be overthrown by the personal advent ofChrist, and not by the sword of man. The following extracts are fromMr. Lord:

“The pretences of the Anabaptists to inspiration were in like manner denounced by[pg 113]Melancthon.‘The Anabaptists, infatuated by the devil, have boasted a new species of sanctity, as though they had left the earth, and ascended to the skies; and given out, moreover, that they enjoy extraordinary inspiration. But as the pretence was hypocritical, and designed merely to subserve appetite and ambition, they soon plunged into debauchery, and then excited seditions, and undertook to establish a New Jerusalem, as other enthusiasts have often attempted. A like tragedy was formerly acted at Pepuza in Phrygia, which fanatical prophets denominated the new Jerusalem.’

“He also refuted by the Scriptures, the expectation of the Anabaptists of the immediate establishment of Christ's millennial kingdom. He regarded the term Antichrist as denoting both the Mohammedan empire and the Papacy, and held that they were not to be overthrown till the time of the resurrection of the dead, and that a considerable period was to pass before that event.‘God showed to Daniel a series of monarchies and kingdoms, which it is certain has already run to the end. Four monarchies have passed away. The cruel kingdom of the Turks, which arose out of the fourth, still remains, and as it is not to equal the Roman in power, and has certainly, therefore, already nearly reached its height, must soon decline, and then will dawn the day in which the dead shall be recalled to[pg 114]life.’He then repeats the saying ascribed to Elias, that six thousand years were to pass before the advent of Christ; two thousand before the law, two under the law, and two under the gospel; and proceeds to show that four hundred and fifty-eight years were, therefore, to intervene before the advent of the Redeemer, the destruction of Antichrist, and the establishment of the kingdom of the saints.‘It is known that Christ was born about the end of the fourth millenary,1and one thousand five hundred and forty-two years have since revolved. We are not, therefore [in 1542], far from the end.’

“These views corresponding so conspicuously with the symbol, continued to be repeated by a crowd of writers, till at the distance of sixty-seven years from the death of Melancthon, the celebrated Joseph Mede published his‘Clavis Apocalyptica,’in which he showed from the coincidence of the periods of the wild beast and the witnesses, that the advent of the Redeemer, and the destruction of the anti-Christian powers were not to be expected until twelve hundred and sixty years had passed from the rise of the ten kingdoms, and that near one hundred of them, therefore, were still to revolve. As that period expired and the knowledge of the prophecy advanced, the[pg 115]catastrophe of the wild beast was referred to a later time. Many recent expositors regard the twelve hundred and sixty years as having reached their end in 1792; and most refer the fall of the anti-Christian powers to the last half of the present, or the beginning of the next century.”—Ex. of Apoc., pp. 238-240.

All the vagaries of the various sects of heretics were connected with an expectation of the immediate establishment ofChrist'skingdom. That the seven thunders gave utterance to such an expectation, is evident from the response of the angel, when he lifted up his hand to heaven and with the solemnity of an oath, by Him who liveth forever, affirmed that“the time should not yet be;”but that“in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he delays to sound,2the secret ofGodwill be finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets.”Why such an annunciation at this stage of the vision? It must be to correct a misapprehension which would exist at a corresponding time in its fulfilment, respecting the immediate appearance of the kingdom. Thus didPaulcorrect the Thessalonian brethren, when he wrote to them in his second epistle not to be shaken in mind, as that the day of theLordwas then impending, 2 Th. 2:2.

The Bible, was, at this epoch, first opened[pg 116]to the common people. Before, it was only found in languages which they were entirely ignorant of. It was translated byLutherinto their own language, and thus made accessible. The art of printing, discovered at about that time, enabled all who wished, to avail themselves of its unsealed contents. They feasted on the words of inspiration, which were sweeter to them than honey, or the honey-comb. But afterwards, they had to endure bitterness for the sake of the Gospel. Divisions and subdivisions followed, parties multiplied, and heresies abounded, accompanied with bitter and mischievous discussions, and fierce and rancorous contentions. These being based on the understanding which the several parties attached to portions of scripture, were fitly symbolized by the bitterness that followed the eating of the book. At this time, also, was revived a system of religious teachings which has gone forth into many lands.

The reörganization of the church at this epoch, is next symbolized.

The Measuring Reed, Temple, &c.“And there was given me a measuring reed like a rod, and it was said, Arise, and measure the temple of God, (and the altar,) and those who worship in it. But the court which is without the temple, leave out, and measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles: and they will tread the holy city under foot forty-two months.”—Rev. 11:1, 2.[pg 117]These symbols are evidently taken from the temple and altar of Jewish worship, and represent corresponding analogies under the Christian dispensation.To measure anything, is to examine and take notice of its parts and proportions; and that by which it is measured, is the standard or rule to which it should conform.The temple, is a proper symbol of the church of God; which is“built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Corner Stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord,”Eph. 2:20, 21.At the epoch of the Reformation, the nominal church was subjected to the scrutiny of the word of God; and its pretensions were measured by the scriptural rule. The reformers found the Man of Sin,“as God sitting in the temple of God,”(2 Thess. 2:4); and they had to re-model their church relationship, in accordance with the pattern presented in the New Testament. This involved the consideration of what constituted the church,—its organization, its ministry, its sacraments, and its membership,—their mutual relation to God, and to each other.The altar, must symbolize the sacrifice and atonement of Christ,—the“altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle,”Heb. 13:10. The great question,[pg 118]of justification by faith in the death of Christ, was the rallying cry of the Reformation. The fundamental principles of Christian truth were then unfolded anew, and the doctrines of the Papacy, including the sacrifice of the mass, were rejected as contrary to Bible teachings.The worshippers in the temple, who were to be measured by the same rule, are Christians. All who were to be recognized as such, were to give evidence of conformity to the Bible standard. Regeneration by the Holy Ghost, was held by the reformers to be necessary to church membership. The Papists required only baptism and confirmation.The court without the temple, was that to which the Gentiles had access, and beyond which their entrance was prohibited. Devout foreigners were there permitted to pay their devotions to the God of heaven. As the Gentiles must symbolize those who are not Christians, the occupants of the outer court, must be the congregation—the nominal worshippers who throng the outer courts of the Lord, in distinction from the true worshippers. Such were to have free and unrestricted access to the places of Christian worship.The holy city is that in which the temple is situated, and must embrace the church as a whole, subjected to Gentile rule. Its being trodden under foot, indicates that the civil polity under which the church would subsist,[pg 119]should, during the period specified, be under the control of those who worship only in the outer court.The forty and two months, is a period of time, corresponding with the thousand two hundred and three score days of the verse following, the time and times and half a time of Rev. 12:14, and the corresponding periods of Rev. 12:6; 13:5; Dan. 7:25; and 12:7; symbolizing a period of twelve hundred and sixty years, according to the almost unanimous opinion of Protestant writers.This period does not commence with this epoch, but began with the subjection of Christianity to the power of the civil arm, which was to continue during the time predicted,—notwithstanding the reädjustment of the temple-worship,—when Christians should cease to be responsible to any human tribunal for the orthodoxy of their faith.During the same period, also, power to prophesy, though shrouded in sackcloth, was to be given to:

“And there was given me a measuring reed like a rod, and it was said, Arise, and measure the temple of God, (and the altar,) and those who worship in it. But the court which is without the temple, leave out, and measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles: and they will tread the holy city under foot forty-two months.”—Rev. 11:1, 2.

These symbols are evidently taken from the temple and altar of Jewish worship, and represent corresponding analogies under the Christian dispensation.

To measure anything, is to examine and take notice of its parts and proportions; and that by which it is measured, is the standard or rule to which it should conform.

The temple, is a proper symbol of the church of God; which is“built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Corner Stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord,”Eph. 2:20, 21.

At the epoch of the Reformation, the nominal church was subjected to the scrutiny of the word of God; and its pretensions were measured by the scriptural rule. The reformers found the Man of Sin,“as God sitting in the temple of God,”(2 Thess. 2:4); and they had to re-model their church relationship, in accordance with the pattern presented in the New Testament. This involved the consideration of what constituted the church,—its organization, its ministry, its sacraments, and its membership,—their mutual relation to God, and to each other.

The altar, must symbolize the sacrifice and atonement of Christ,—the“altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle,”Heb. 13:10. The great question,[pg 118]of justification by faith in the death of Christ, was the rallying cry of the Reformation. The fundamental principles of Christian truth were then unfolded anew, and the doctrines of the Papacy, including the sacrifice of the mass, were rejected as contrary to Bible teachings.

The worshippers in the temple, who were to be measured by the same rule, are Christians. All who were to be recognized as such, were to give evidence of conformity to the Bible standard. Regeneration by the Holy Ghost, was held by the reformers to be necessary to church membership. The Papists required only baptism and confirmation.

The court without the temple, was that to which the Gentiles had access, and beyond which their entrance was prohibited. Devout foreigners were there permitted to pay their devotions to the God of heaven. As the Gentiles must symbolize those who are not Christians, the occupants of the outer court, must be the congregation—the nominal worshippers who throng the outer courts of the Lord, in distinction from the true worshippers. Such were to have free and unrestricted access to the places of Christian worship.

The holy city is that in which the temple is situated, and must embrace the church as a whole, subjected to Gentile rule. Its being trodden under foot, indicates that the civil polity under which the church would subsist,[pg 119]should, during the period specified, be under the control of those who worship only in the outer court.

The forty and two months, is a period of time, corresponding with the thousand two hundred and three score days of the verse following, the time and times and half a time of Rev. 12:14, and the corresponding periods of Rev. 12:6; 13:5; Dan. 7:25; and 12:7; symbolizing a period of twelve hundred and sixty years, according to the almost unanimous opinion of Protestant writers.

This period does not commence with this epoch, but began with the subjection of Christianity to the power of the civil arm, which was to continue during the time predicted,—notwithstanding the reädjustment of the temple-worship,—when Christians should cease to be responsible to any human tribunal for the orthodoxy of their faith.

During the same period, also, power to prophesy, though shrouded in sackcloth, was to be given to:

Christ's Two Witnesses.“And I will give charge to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive-trees, and the two lamp-stands, standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any one wisheth to injure them, fire proceedeth from their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if anyone wisheth to injure them, he must thus be killed. These[pg 120]have power to shut heaven, that it may not rain in the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they wish. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the wild beast that ascendeth out of the abyss will make war with them, and will overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodywill lieon the wide street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And those of the people, and tribes, and tongues, and nations, will see their dead body three days and a half, and will not allow their dead body to be put into a tomb. And those, who dwell on the earth, will rejoice over them, and exult, and send gifts to each other; because these two prophets tormented those, who dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell on those, who saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them, Ascend here! And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake seven thousand names of men were slain: and the remnant became terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past away; behold, the third woe cometh quickly.”—Rev. 11:3-14.The two witnesses are not symbolically exhibited, but are referred to by an elliptical metaphor, and are explained to be the“two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks.”Therefore, they are not two living men, as some suppose, shown to John in vision, symbolizing analogous agents; but their nature is to be determined by a consideration of the olive-trees and candlesticks which symbolize them.Candlesticks symbolize churches. Thus[pg 121]the Saviour said to John:“The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches,”1:20. When“men light a candle,”they put“it on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house,”Matt. 5:15. The candlestick does not originate, but sustains the light in a position to be seen and exert a beneficial influence. It is thus that the church is said to be“the light of the world,”and is required to let her light“shine before men,”Ib.vs. 14-16,—i.e.She is to disseminate the light committed to her; and in so doing, she becomes awitnessfor Jesus.The church comprises all the holy persons who have lived on earth, and is symbolized by two candlesticks, corresponding to the two dispensations of its existence. Those who lived under the former dispensation, are called“a great cloud of witnesses,”Heb. 12:1. Of Christ,“give all the prophets witness,”Acts 10:43. They constitute the voice of the church in that age. Under the gospel dispensation, also, Christ had chosen witnesses of himself. He said to his disciples,“Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth,”(Ib.1:8); and they said,“We are his witnesses,”Ib.5:32.“We are witnesses of all things which he did, ... witnesses chosen before of God,”(Ib.10:39-41);—“his[pg 122]witnesses unto the people,”Ib.13:31. They and their successors have“testified and preached the word of the Lord,”(Ib.8:25), overcoming“by the word of their testimony,”(Rev. 12:11),—many of them being“slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held,”6:9. The church, one in all ages, symbolized by the two candlesticks, is thus awitnessof Jesus.The two olive-trees, symbolize the other witness, which must sustain a relation to the church, analogous to that sustained by the olive-trees to the candlesticks. The declaration, that the witnesses arethetwo olive-trees and candlesticks, implies the existence of some previous symbolization, where those objects and their relation to each other are presented. And the connection shows clearly that reference is made to the vision, wherein Zechariah beheld“a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof; and two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof,”Zech. 4:2, 3. The relation which the olive-trees sustain to the candlestick, is shown by the questions of the prophet:“What are these, my Lord?”(Ib.v. 4);“What are these two olive-trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? What be these two olive-branches which[pg 123]through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?”Ib.vs. 11, 12. The office of the olive-trees, was to supply the candlestick with oil which alone enabled them to give light. The oil of the olive-tree, was burned before the Lord continually. The light committed to the church, is the truth of God's word. And thus the angel explains the meaning of the olive-trees:“This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel,”(Ib.v. 6);“These are the two anointed ones [mar, sons of oil], that stand by the Lord of the whole earth,”Ib.v. 14. And this expression, corresponding with that in Rev. 11:4, shows that this vision of Zechariah is the one referred to, and that it is explanatory of the witnesses.The Scriptures, as well as the church, testify of Christ:“Search the Scriptures,”said the Saviour, speaking of those then written;“they are they whichtestify[or bear witness] of me,”(John 5:39); and of the New Testament, he said:“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for awitnessunto all nations,”Matt. 24:4. Like two olive-trees supplying the candlesticks with oil, the Scriptures of the Old, and of the New Testament give light to the church, and testify of Christ. They stand on either side of him,—the one beginning with the creation and pointing to a Messiah to come, testifying of him by types[pg 124]and shadows; and the other looking back to the death and resurrection of Christ, and cheering the heart of the believer by the evidence of his second coming at the end of the world. Thus stood within the oracle of the temple the two cherubim, which Solomon made“ofolive-tree,”and whose wings met over the ark of the covenant:“He set the cherubim within the inner house, and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house,”1 Kings 6, 27. Thus symbolized, the Scriptures and the church are Christ's two witnesses.To prophesy, is to make known the truths of God. Thus, at the epoch of the Reformation, they were to prophesyagainbefore many peoples, and nations, and tongues and kings, 10:11. It was to enable the witnesses to do this, that the necessary power was to be given them.Sackcloth, is a symbol of humiliation and sorrow; and the witnesses being thus clothed, indicates that during the time specified, they should be in a despised and oppressed condition.The one thousand two hundred and sixty days, symbolize years. God said to Israel, after the evil report of the twelve spies:[pg 125]“Your children shall wander in the wilderness fortyyears... after the number of thedayswhich ye searched the land,”Num. 14:33, 34. And to Ezekiel,“This shall be a sign to the house of Israel: Lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it, ... for I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days.... And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed theeeach day for a year,”Ezek. 4:3-6.This period of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, is not the whole time in which the witnesses prophesy, but marks the duration of their prophesying in sackcloth. It commenced when the light of the Bible began to be obscured by the secondary place which was accorded to it in the estimation of the Papal church, and the living witnesses were no longer permitted to preach the gospel in its purity.In A. D. 533, the Emperor Justinian, wrote a letter to the Pope declaring him to be“the head of all the holy churches,”and subjecting to his control“all the priests of the whole East.”By the edicts and mandates of Justinian, who was master of the Roman world, the supremacy of the Pope received the fullest sanction; and the highest authorities[pg 126]among the civilians and annalists of Rome, refer to these as evidence of the right of the Pope to the title of“Universal Bishop,”and date it from A. D. 533. p.200.With this supremacy, the power of the Papacy commenced. The Bible was permitted only in a dead language, and the faithful Christian was obliged to seek refuge in the wilderness. False doctrines obscuring the Bible, and persecuting enactments oppressing the church, clothed the witnesses in sackcloth; and thus only did they testify, till the power of the papacy was broken.Fire proceeded out of their mouth, when they made known the fiery judgments predicted in the Scriptures against all their enemies. And they shut heaven, smite with plagues, turn water to blood, &c., when, in accordance with the inspired record, are fulfilled the predictions which, in various places, are thus symbolized.—See Rev. 15:6; 16:4, &c.The finishing of their testimony, refers to the termination of the sackcloth period,—twelve hundred and sixty years from A. D. 533;i.e.in 1793,—if the former date is correct.The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, is that on which, in a subsequent vision, the woman is seated, 17:7, 8. John saw this beast arise out of the sea, (13:1); and the subsequent exposition given of it, will show that it symbolized the civil power of the[pg 127]Roman empire in its divided form.—See p.169. As the ten kingdoms constitute the beast, what is done by any of these kingdoms, is done by the beast. France was one of the more prominent of these kingdoms, and at one period, under Napoleon, controlled the greater portion of the whole.To war against the witnesses, is to oppose, resist, and endeavor to crush them; and to overcome them, is to be successful in such efforts.To kill, when used symbolically and applied to Christians, is to cause them to apostatize—producing spiritual death, 9:5. When applied to the Scriptures, it can only denote their prohibition.The great city, as shown in connection with Rev. 16:19, p. 290, is the Roman hierarchy:—symbolized by Babylon, and“spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.”By being thus“spirituallycalled Sodom,”some understand that it is a“spiritual Sodom,”&c., which would be a contradiction of terms; others understand that it is calledfigurativelyby those names, and deduce from it an argument for spiritualizing the Scriptures; but the use of the word“spiritually,”it is believed, will not sanction any such meaning. It occurs only in two other passages:—in Rom. 8:7, to be“spiritually minded,”is to have a mind in accordance with the will of the Spirit; and in 1 Cor. 2:14, things“spiritually discerned,”[pg 128]signifies that they are discerned by the aid of the Spirit. The great city, then, is called by the Spirit,“Sodom and Egypt;”and is so called because of her licentiousness and idolatries, and her subjecting the saints to bondage. To crucify the Lord afresh, is to apostatize from his teachings, Heb. 6:6.In 1793, twelve hundred and sixty years from the date of the Papal supremacy, the Bible was abolished in France, by the solemn decree of the government, which declared that the nation acknowledged no God. A copy of the Bible could not be found in a single bookstore in Paris. Inquiry also was made for it in Rome, inallthe book establishments of that city, and the invariable reply was, that it was prohibited. All the churches of Paris were shut, and the church plate was declared the property of the nation. Professors of religion, at the same time, in large numbers openly apostatized and embraced infidelity. Says Dr. Croley:—“On the 1st of November, 1793, Gobet, with the republican priests of Paris, had thrown off the gown and abjured religion. On the 11th, a‘grand festival,’dedicated to‘Reason and Truth,’was celebrated instead of divine service in the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, which had been desecrated, and been named,‘the Temple of Reason;’a pyramid was erected in the centre of the church, surmounted by a temple, inscribed,‘To Philosophy.’[pg 129]The torch of‘Truth’was on the altar of‘Reason,’spreading light, &c. The National Convention, and all the authorities, attended at this burlesque and insulting ceremony. In February, 1794, a grand fête was ordered by the convention, in which hymns to Liberty were chanted, and a pageant in honor of the abolition of slavery in the colonies, was displayed in the‘Temple of Reason.’In June another festival was ordered—to the Supreme Being: the God of Philosophy. But the most superb exhibition was the‘general festival,’in honor of the republic. It was distinguished by a more audacious spirit of scoffing and profanation than the former. Robespierre acted the‘high-priest of Reason’on the day, and made himself conspicuous in blasphemy. He was then at the summit of power,—actual sovereign of France.”The dead bodies of the witnesses, would be their existence in that prohibited condition, when, in France, neither the Scriptures, nor the church showed any symptoms of life. In the street, would be the conspicuous and public manner in which indignities should be heaped on them. France had been one of the principal states yielding homage to the Roman church. Surrounding nations beheld, but would not permit the extermination of the Bible and Christianity.[pg 130]The French made merry over their blasphemous work. Says Dr. Croley:—“A very remarkable andpropheticdistinction of this period, was the spirit of frenzied festivity which seized upon France. The capital, and all the republican towns, were the scene of civic feasts, processions, and shows of the most extravagant kind. The most festive times of peace under the most expensive kings were thrown into the shade by the frequency, variety, and extent of the republican exhibitions. Yet this was a time of perpetual miseries throughout France. The guillotine was bloody from morn till night. In the single month of July, 1794, nearlyeight hundred persons, the majority, principal individuals of the state, and all possessing some respectability of situation, were guillotined in Paris alone. In the midst of this horror, there were twenty-six theatres open, filled with the most profane and profligate displays in honor of the‘triumph of reason.’”In Lyons a Bible was tied to the tail of an ass and dragged in a procession through the streets of that city. Thus they rejoiced over the supposed end of religion in France; and congratulated themselves that the terrors of God's word, and the church would no more torment them.“After three days and a half,”would be that number of years from the suppression of Christianity in November, 1793. On the 17th[pg 131]day of June, 1797, three and a half years from the abolition of the Bible and religious worship,Camille Jourdan, in theCouncil of Five Hundred, brought up the memorable report on theRevision of the Laws Relative to Religious Worship, by which France gave permission to all citizens to buy or hire edifices for the free exercise of it; repealing all opposing laws, and subjecting those to a heavy fine who should in any way impede or interrupt any religious service. The Bible and the church again stood erect, to the dismay of all who had rejoiced over their overthrow. Those two witnesses were again in a position to resume their testimony.They were not only to be thus restored, but were to be elevated far above their former position. Since that epoch, have been made all those great efforts to evangelize the world, by means of missionary, tract, Bible, and other benevolent societies, which have caused theScripturesto be translated into nearly all known languages, and carried by theliving preacherto the ends of the earth. The very room in which Voltaire uttered his famous prediction—that“the time would arrive when the Bible would be regarded only in the light of an old curiosity,”—is now used for a Bible depository, and is“piled to the ceiling with that rare old book.”Copies of the Bible have been multiplied a million fold, and scattered broadcast over the earth. The[pg 132]other witness,—the church, has since then, also, been greatly magnified. In this age of missions and Bibles, the number of believers has been greatly multiplied; and missionaries have penetrated all lands. The last half-century has been distinguished for its wonderful revivals; and the servants of the cross have“prophesied [or testified] again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings,”10:11.The same hour, is the time of the slaughter of the witnesses. Its epoch was to be marked by a great political revolution, which, in the Apocalypse, is symbolized by an earthquake. In the year in which Christianity was suppressed by France, they beheaded their king, abolished the monarchy, and entirely revolutionized the government. In the reign of terror following, the best blood of the nation was shed like water, and no man of influence could consider his life secure. Men, women and children were dragged before the revolutionary tribunals, had their accusations read to them, and were immediately condemned, and hurried off in crowds without a trial, to be shot, drowned or beheaded. At Lyons thirty-one thousand persons were thus slain; at Nantes thirty-two thousand,—and throughout France in proportion. The number thus slain, has been estimated at over one million,—a number hardly credible, and which might well be symbolized by seven thousand—a[pg 133]perfect number. Well might the remnant be affrighted, and hasten to give glory to theGodof heaven, by the restoration of that book, the setting aside of which had involved them in such dire calamities.The tenth of the city which fell, must be the tenth of the Roman hierarchy, which is symbolized by the city. With the suppression of religion, the Catholic church was prohibited, with all others. France was one of the ten kingdoms, and the overthrow of the church in France, would be the fall of one-tenth of that city.Thus passed the second woe—the prelude to the third woe, which cometh quickly.

“And I will give charge to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive-trees, and the two lamp-stands, standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any one wisheth to injure them, fire proceedeth from their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if anyone wisheth to injure them, he must thus be killed. These[pg 120]have power to shut heaven, that it may not rain in the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they wish. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the wild beast that ascendeth out of the abyss will make war with them, and will overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodywill lieon the wide street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And those of the people, and tribes, and tongues, and nations, will see their dead body three days and a half, and will not allow their dead body to be put into a tomb. And those, who dwell on the earth, will rejoice over them, and exult, and send gifts to each other; because these two prophets tormented those, who dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell on those, who saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them, Ascend here! And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake seven thousand names of men were slain: and the remnant became terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past away; behold, the third woe cometh quickly.”—Rev. 11:3-14.

The two witnesses are not symbolically exhibited, but are referred to by an elliptical metaphor, and are explained to be the“two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks.”Therefore, they are not two living men, as some suppose, shown to John in vision, symbolizing analogous agents; but their nature is to be determined by a consideration of the olive-trees and candlesticks which symbolize them.

Candlesticks symbolize churches. Thus[pg 121]the Saviour said to John:“The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches,”1:20. When“men light a candle,”they put“it on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house,”Matt. 5:15. The candlestick does not originate, but sustains the light in a position to be seen and exert a beneficial influence. It is thus that the church is said to be“the light of the world,”and is required to let her light“shine before men,”Ib.vs. 14-16,—i.e.She is to disseminate the light committed to her; and in so doing, she becomes awitnessfor Jesus.

The church comprises all the holy persons who have lived on earth, and is symbolized by two candlesticks, corresponding to the two dispensations of its existence. Those who lived under the former dispensation, are called“a great cloud of witnesses,”Heb. 12:1. Of Christ,“give all the prophets witness,”Acts 10:43. They constitute the voice of the church in that age. Under the gospel dispensation, also, Christ had chosen witnesses of himself. He said to his disciples,“Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth,”(Ib.1:8); and they said,“We are his witnesses,”Ib.5:32.“We are witnesses of all things which he did, ... witnesses chosen before of God,”(Ib.10:39-41);—“his[pg 122]witnesses unto the people,”Ib.13:31. They and their successors have“testified and preached the word of the Lord,”(Ib.8:25), overcoming“by the word of their testimony,”(Rev. 12:11),—many of them being“slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held,”6:9. The church, one in all ages, symbolized by the two candlesticks, is thus awitnessof Jesus.

The two olive-trees, symbolize the other witness, which must sustain a relation to the church, analogous to that sustained by the olive-trees to the candlesticks. The declaration, that the witnesses arethetwo olive-trees and candlesticks, implies the existence of some previous symbolization, where those objects and their relation to each other are presented. And the connection shows clearly that reference is made to the vision, wherein Zechariah beheld“a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof; and two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof,”Zech. 4:2, 3. The relation which the olive-trees sustain to the candlestick, is shown by the questions of the prophet:“What are these, my Lord?”(Ib.v. 4);“What are these two olive-trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? What be these two olive-branches which[pg 123]through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?”Ib.vs. 11, 12. The office of the olive-trees, was to supply the candlestick with oil which alone enabled them to give light. The oil of the olive-tree, was burned before the Lord continually. The light committed to the church, is the truth of God's word. And thus the angel explains the meaning of the olive-trees:“This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel,”(Ib.v. 6);“These are the two anointed ones [mar, sons of oil], that stand by the Lord of the whole earth,”Ib.v. 14. And this expression, corresponding with that in Rev. 11:4, shows that this vision of Zechariah is the one referred to, and that it is explanatory of the witnesses.

The Scriptures, as well as the church, testify of Christ:“Search the Scriptures,”said the Saviour, speaking of those then written;“they are they whichtestify[or bear witness] of me,”(John 5:39); and of the New Testament, he said:“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for awitnessunto all nations,”Matt. 24:4. Like two olive-trees supplying the candlesticks with oil, the Scriptures of the Old, and of the New Testament give light to the church, and testify of Christ. They stand on either side of him,—the one beginning with the creation and pointing to a Messiah to come, testifying of him by types[pg 124]and shadows; and the other looking back to the death and resurrection of Christ, and cheering the heart of the believer by the evidence of his second coming at the end of the world. Thus stood within the oracle of the temple the two cherubim, which Solomon made“ofolive-tree,”and whose wings met over the ark of the covenant:“He set the cherubim within the inner house, and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house,”1 Kings 6, 27. Thus symbolized, the Scriptures and the church are Christ's two witnesses.

To prophesy, is to make known the truths of God. Thus, at the epoch of the Reformation, they were to prophesyagainbefore many peoples, and nations, and tongues and kings, 10:11. It was to enable the witnesses to do this, that the necessary power was to be given them.

Sackcloth, is a symbol of humiliation and sorrow; and the witnesses being thus clothed, indicates that during the time specified, they should be in a despised and oppressed condition.

The one thousand two hundred and sixty days, symbolize years. God said to Israel, after the evil report of the twelve spies:[pg 125]“Your children shall wander in the wilderness fortyyears... after the number of thedayswhich ye searched the land,”Num. 14:33, 34. And to Ezekiel,“This shall be a sign to the house of Israel: Lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it, ... for I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days.... And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed theeeach day for a year,”Ezek. 4:3-6.

This period of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, is not the whole time in which the witnesses prophesy, but marks the duration of their prophesying in sackcloth. It commenced when the light of the Bible began to be obscured by the secondary place which was accorded to it in the estimation of the Papal church, and the living witnesses were no longer permitted to preach the gospel in its purity.

In A. D. 533, the Emperor Justinian, wrote a letter to the Pope declaring him to be“the head of all the holy churches,”and subjecting to his control“all the priests of the whole East.”By the edicts and mandates of Justinian, who was master of the Roman world, the supremacy of the Pope received the fullest sanction; and the highest authorities[pg 126]among the civilians and annalists of Rome, refer to these as evidence of the right of the Pope to the title of“Universal Bishop,”and date it from A. D. 533. p.200.

With this supremacy, the power of the Papacy commenced. The Bible was permitted only in a dead language, and the faithful Christian was obliged to seek refuge in the wilderness. False doctrines obscuring the Bible, and persecuting enactments oppressing the church, clothed the witnesses in sackcloth; and thus only did they testify, till the power of the papacy was broken.

Fire proceeded out of their mouth, when they made known the fiery judgments predicted in the Scriptures against all their enemies. And they shut heaven, smite with plagues, turn water to blood, &c., when, in accordance with the inspired record, are fulfilled the predictions which, in various places, are thus symbolized.—See Rev. 15:6; 16:4, &c.

The finishing of their testimony, refers to the termination of the sackcloth period,—twelve hundred and sixty years from A. D. 533;i.e.in 1793,—if the former date is correct.

The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, is that on which, in a subsequent vision, the woman is seated, 17:7, 8. John saw this beast arise out of the sea, (13:1); and the subsequent exposition given of it, will show that it symbolized the civil power of the[pg 127]Roman empire in its divided form.—See p.169. As the ten kingdoms constitute the beast, what is done by any of these kingdoms, is done by the beast. France was one of the more prominent of these kingdoms, and at one period, under Napoleon, controlled the greater portion of the whole.

To war against the witnesses, is to oppose, resist, and endeavor to crush them; and to overcome them, is to be successful in such efforts.

To kill, when used symbolically and applied to Christians, is to cause them to apostatize—producing spiritual death, 9:5. When applied to the Scriptures, it can only denote their prohibition.

The great city, as shown in connection with Rev. 16:19, p. 290, is the Roman hierarchy:—symbolized by Babylon, and“spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.”By being thus“spirituallycalled Sodom,”some understand that it is a“spiritual Sodom,”&c., which would be a contradiction of terms; others understand that it is calledfigurativelyby those names, and deduce from it an argument for spiritualizing the Scriptures; but the use of the word“spiritually,”it is believed, will not sanction any such meaning. It occurs only in two other passages:—in Rom. 8:7, to be“spiritually minded,”is to have a mind in accordance with the will of the Spirit; and in 1 Cor. 2:14, things“spiritually discerned,”[pg 128]signifies that they are discerned by the aid of the Spirit. The great city, then, is called by the Spirit,“Sodom and Egypt;”and is so called because of her licentiousness and idolatries, and her subjecting the saints to bondage. To crucify the Lord afresh, is to apostatize from his teachings, Heb. 6:6.

In 1793, twelve hundred and sixty years from the date of the Papal supremacy, the Bible was abolished in France, by the solemn decree of the government, which declared that the nation acknowledged no God. A copy of the Bible could not be found in a single bookstore in Paris. Inquiry also was made for it in Rome, inallthe book establishments of that city, and the invariable reply was, that it was prohibited. All the churches of Paris were shut, and the church plate was declared the property of the nation. Professors of religion, at the same time, in large numbers openly apostatized and embraced infidelity. Says Dr. Croley:—

“On the 1st of November, 1793, Gobet, with the republican priests of Paris, had thrown off the gown and abjured religion. On the 11th, a‘grand festival,’dedicated to‘Reason and Truth,’was celebrated instead of divine service in the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, which had been desecrated, and been named,‘the Temple of Reason;’a pyramid was erected in the centre of the church, surmounted by a temple, inscribed,‘To Philosophy.’[pg 129]The torch of‘Truth’was on the altar of‘Reason,’spreading light, &c. The National Convention, and all the authorities, attended at this burlesque and insulting ceremony. In February, 1794, a grand fête was ordered by the convention, in which hymns to Liberty were chanted, and a pageant in honor of the abolition of slavery in the colonies, was displayed in the‘Temple of Reason.’In June another festival was ordered—to the Supreme Being: the God of Philosophy. But the most superb exhibition was the‘general festival,’in honor of the republic. It was distinguished by a more audacious spirit of scoffing and profanation than the former. Robespierre acted the‘high-priest of Reason’on the day, and made himself conspicuous in blasphemy. He was then at the summit of power,—actual sovereign of France.”

The dead bodies of the witnesses, would be their existence in that prohibited condition, when, in France, neither the Scriptures, nor the church showed any symptoms of life. In the street, would be the conspicuous and public manner in which indignities should be heaped on them. France had been one of the principal states yielding homage to the Roman church. Surrounding nations beheld, but would not permit the extermination of the Bible and Christianity.

The French made merry over their blasphemous work. Says Dr. Croley:—

“A very remarkable andpropheticdistinction of this period, was the spirit of frenzied festivity which seized upon France. The capital, and all the republican towns, were the scene of civic feasts, processions, and shows of the most extravagant kind. The most festive times of peace under the most expensive kings were thrown into the shade by the frequency, variety, and extent of the republican exhibitions. Yet this was a time of perpetual miseries throughout France. The guillotine was bloody from morn till night. In the single month of July, 1794, nearlyeight hundred persons, the majority, principal individuals of the state, and all possessing some respectability of situation, were guillotined in Paris alone. In the midst of this horror, there were twenty-six theatres open, filled with the most profane and profligate displays in honor of the‘triumph of reason.’”

In Lyons a Bible was tied to the tail of an ass and dragged in a procession through the streets of that city. Thus they rejoiced over the supposed end of religion in France; and congratulated themselves that the terrors of God's word, and the church would no more torment them.

“After three days and a half,”would be that number of years from the suppression of Christianity in November, 1793. On the 17th[pg 131]day of June, 1797, three and a half years from the abolition of the Bible and religious worship,Camille Jourdan, in theCouncil of Five Hundred, brought up the memorable report on theRevision of the Laws Relative to Religious Worship, by which France gave permission to all citizens to buy or hire edifices for the free exercise of it; repealing all opposing laws, and subjecting those to a heavy fine who should in any way impede or interrupt any religious service. The Bible and the church again stood erect, to the dismay of all who had rejoiced over their overthrow. Those two witnesses were again in a position to resume their testimony.

They were not only to be thus restored, but were to be elevated far above their former position. Since that epoch, have been made all those great efforts to evangelize the world, by means of missionary, tract, Bible, and other benevolent societies, which have caused theScripturesto be translated into nearly all known languages, and carried by theliving preacherto the ends of the earth. The very room in which Voltaire uttered his famous prediction—that“the time would arrive when the Bible would be regarded only in the light of an old curiosity,”—is now used for a Bible depository, and is“piled to the ceiling with that rare old book.”Copies of the Bible have been multiplied a million fold, and scattered broadcast over the earth. The[pg 132]other witness,—the church, has since then, also, been greatly magnified. In this age of missions and Bibles, the number of believers has been greatly multiplied; and missionaries have penetrated all lands. The last half-century has been distinguished for its wonderful revivals; and the servants of the cross have“prophesied [or testified] again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings,”10:11.

The same hour, is the time of the slaughter of the witnesses. Its epoch was to be marked by a great political revolution, which, in the Apocalypse, is symbolized by an earthquake. In the year in which Christianity was suppressed by France, they beheaded their king, abolished the monarchy, and entirely revolutionized the government. In the reign of terror following, the best blood of the nation was shed like water, and no man of influence could consider his life secure. Men, women and children were dragged before the revolutionary tribunals, had their accusations read to them, and were immediately condemned, and hurried off in crowds without a trial, to be shot, drowned or beheaded. At Lyons thirty-one thousand persons were thus slain; at Nantes thirty-two thousand,—and throughout France in proportion. The number thus slain, has been estimated at over one million,—a number hardly credible, and which might well be symbolized by seven thousand—a[pg 133]perfect number. Well might the remnant be affrighted, and hasten to give glory to theGodof heaven, by the restoration of that book, the setting aside of which had involved them in such dire calamities.

The tenth of the city which fell, must be the tenth of the Roman hierarchy, which is symbolized by the city. With the suppression of religion, the Catholic church was prohibited, with all others. France was one of the ten kingdoms, and the overthrow of the church in France, would be the fall of one-tenth of that city.

Thus passed the second woe—the prelude to the third woe, which cometh quickly.

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