another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

11. "And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

12. "And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them.

13. "And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14. "The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

15. "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

16. "And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces and worshipped God,

17. "Saying, we give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

18. "And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

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19." And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.”

Reference having in the last chapter been made to

the period embraced by the history of the little book, we have now of that period a more detailed appli

cation.

1. “And there was given to me a reed like unto a rod : And the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein."

The words and the angel stood, have been introduced into the english version, but there is no authority for them in the greek text in general use, and they are omitted by GRIESBACH.. -We must, therefore, consider the voice in which the prophet hears himself addressed, when the measuring instrument is placed in his hand, to be a continuation of the same voice that he heard (verses 4, 8, of the preceding chapter) from heaven.

The temple of God-the altar-and them that worship therein are the christian church and its votaries.

2. "But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles : and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months."

The court outside the temple-the holy ground lying within the sacred precincts of the temple, immediately adjacent to the sanctuary, and (to distinguish it from the outer court of the Gentiles) called the court of the Israelites, whereon the sanctuary or temple was erected, clearly typifies the Mosaic, the foundation of the christian church.

The court is given to the Gentiles who tread it under foot-in similar words Isaiah (xviii. 7.) pro

phetically describes the sufferings which the Jews have experienced from foreign states as those of "a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled." And our Saviour, in precisely the same form of expression, predicts (Luke xxi. 24) “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."

Every month of the Hebrew year consisted of thirty days,—and 42×30=1260, consequently the number of days, prophetically years, for which it is 'declared that the holy city shall be trodden under foot is precisely equal to that for which it was predicted to Daniel (Dan. xii. 7) that the holy people should be scattered.- The holy people, in the prophecy of Daniel, and the holy city, in this apocalyptic prophecy, being the mosaic church or hebrew nation, it is plain that there is not merely a relation of equality, between the period predicted to Daniel and that here predicted to Saint John, but that both periods constitute, in fact, one and identically the same portion of time.

3." And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

4. "These are the two olive-trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth."

The prophet is here apprised that, though he is to leave out the mosaic church, and measure it not,*

* The meaning of the command to measure the temple (the christian church), and not to measure the court trodden under foot' (the mosaic church) will be explained presently.

it is, nevertheless, to keep the prophecies and attest the truth and judgments of God, and, consequently, that though its monotonous history, for the great prophetic period of 1260 years, is comprised in the brief statement of the fact, that for the whole of that period it is trodden under foot, it is, nevertheless, to be considered as one of the two great compartments of His collective church-as one of the two witnesses of His providential government, named also the two olive-trees and two candlesticks standing before him,* -the only sources, under God, of divine light to the world. It is further declared that, different as may be the histories of the two churches (and different they have been in almost all particulars), they shall in some memorable circumstances fully coincide-of which circumstances one shall be-they shall each, for an important period of 1260 years, be in a state of depression they shall prophesy clothed in sackcloth the scriptural symbol of sorrow and mourning.

5. "And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies, and if any man will hurt them he must in this manner be killed."

The two churches have also this similitude-the

*The greek word, εvwπiov, translated before means strictly— in the sight of-before the face of—in the presence of :—as lamps placed before the face of any thing exhibit it in the clearest light, so the two witness-churches of God, standing as it were in his presence, before his face,—reveal his attributes, moral and physical, and his providential government of the world, from its creation to its consummation, in the plainest light.

cppressor of either shall be assuredly punished-fire, the instrument of chastisement, is said to come out of their mouth-because the punishment inflicted on their oppressor will be in fulfilment of prophecies committed to their custody-they are said to have but one mouth, because their testimony is concurrent to the same object-the Revelation of divine Providence.

6. "These have power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophecy; and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will."

Many divine blessings will be withheld from the earth during the period wherein God's witness-churches shall be oppressed--and during that period the blood of nations shall be shed in many religious wars, civil and international.

It having been declared that each of the two churches should be in a state of depression——should prophesy clothed in sackcloth--for a period of 1260 years, the voice by which Saint John is addressed proceeds to guard him against the error of supposing that each church is to suffer for a distinct and separate period. That the period of 1260 years, the termination of which is so important to each, is identically one and the same period is shewn to him by the following facts. The termination of that period, in the history of each, shall be marked by an event of great notoriety, that shall occur in a particular country, and place each of them in an extraordinary

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