Chapter IV: Part 4

“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 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.

The _open book_ in 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.

His _position_—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.

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

The _responsive thunders_, unlike the single voice of the angel, are multitudinous and discordant; and consequently symbolize errors. Their _following_ so 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’S _readiness to write_ what the seven thunders uttered, shows that what they uttered was _professedly_ in harmony with the truths previously announced, and that men would be liable to be deceived, by their promulgation.

His being _forbidden_ by 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 of GOD, and of the testimony of JESUS CHRIST,” which JOHN bare record of.

The _subsequent oath_ of 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 had _antedated_ and presented in an _unscriptural_ form.

His further announcement that it would be fulfilled under the sounding of the “seventh trumpet,” and that then the mystery of GOD should 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 of GOD—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 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 prophesy _again_ before 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 of LUTHER in 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 of GOD in _this world_, and _before 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 make physical war on the Papal ecclesiastics. He denounced LUTHER, 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 that GOD spake to them in person, instructing them how to act. They professed the most extravagant doctrines, setting aside both LUTHER and 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 of GOD would commence, and the saints possess the earth. Those who adhered to LUTHER, 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 of CHRIST, and not by the sword of man. The following extracts are from MR. LORD:

“The pretences of the Anabaptists to inspiration were in like manner denounced by 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 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,(1) and 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 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 of CHRIST’S kingdom. 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,(2) the secret of GOD will 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 did PAUL correct the Thessalonian brethren, when he wrote to them in his second epistle not to be shaken in mind, as that the day of the LORD was then impending, 2 Th. 2:2.

The Bible, was, at this epoch, first opened to the common people. Before, it was only found in languages which they were entirely ignorant of. It was translated by LUTHER into 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.

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, 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, 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 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 body _will lie_ on 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 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 a _witness_ for 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 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 a _witness_ of 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 are _the_ two 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 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 which _testify_ [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 a _witness_ unto 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 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 “of _olive-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 prophesy _again_ before 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: “Your children shall wander in the wilderness forty _years_ ... after the number of the _days_ which 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 thee _each 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 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 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 “_spiritually_ called Sodom,” some understand that it is a “spiritual Sodom,” &c., which would be a contradiction of terms; others understand that it is called _figuratively_ by 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,” 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, in _all_ the 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.’ 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 and _prophetic_ distinction 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, nearly _eight 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 day of June, 1797, three and a half years from the abolition of the Bible and religious worship, CAMILLE JOURDAN, in the _Council of Five Hundred_, brought up the memorable report on the _Revision 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 the _Scriptures_ to be translated into nearly all known languages, and carried by the _living preacher_ to 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 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 perfect number. Well might the remnant be affrighted, and hasten to give glory to the GOD of 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 Seventh Trumpet.

“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in
heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world hath become the kingdom
of our Lord, and of his Anointed; and he will reign for ever and
ever. And the twenty-four elders, who sat before God on their
thrones, fell on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We thank
thee, O Lord God Almighty, who art, and who wast, because thou
hast taken to thyself thy great power, and reigned. And the
nations were enraged, and thy wrath is come, and the season of the
dead, when they should be judged, and a reward should be given to
thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to those who
fear thy name, small and great; and when thou shouldest destroy
those, who destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in
heaven, and the ark of his covenant in his temple appeared, and
there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an
earthquake, and great hail.”—Rev. 11:15-19.

The seventh, like the preceding trumpets, marks an epoch from which an era dates. “The days of the voice of the seventh angel” (10:7), are indicative of a period of time to follow its sounding, in which will be fulfilled the events predicted of that era.

The voices in heaven, which immediately follow its sounding, are prophetic utterances of events then to transpire; and are distinct from the response of the elders. When Christ “shall be revealed from heaven,” he will be accompanied “with his mighty angels,” 2 Thess. 1:7. He will descend “with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God,” (1 Thess. 4:16); and the shout is evidently that of the attending angels, symbolized by those voices, which will announce the revolution which is to be made in the empire of the earth, and of the substitution of the kingdom of God in the place of human governments.

The kingdom here established, is the long promised consummation, foretold by prophets, and anticipated by saints of every age. It is that predicted by Daniel, when he says: “In the days of these kings shall the GOD of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Dan. 2:44. He also “saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.... And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” _Ib._ 7:13, 14, 27. It is that referred to in the simple petition, “Thy kingdom come” (Matt. 6:10), which was to be the great object of our prayer till the final consummation; which the disciples thought was to appear immediately, when they journeyed towards, and were nigh to, Jerusalem, and which misapprehension the Saviour corrected by the parable of a nobleman going into a far country to receive for himself kingly authority, and to return, Luke 20:12. It is that respecting which they inquired, as the SAVIOUR was about to be taken from them, if he would at that time restore it to Israel, (Acts 1:6); and to which the apostle refers, when he declares to TIMOTHY that the Lord JESUS CHRIST will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and kingdom, 2 Tim. 4:1.

“Thy kingdom come! Thus, day by day We lift our hands to God and pray; But who has ever duly weighed The meaning of the words he said?”

This kingdom is to be an eternal kingdom: “He will reign for ever and ever.” This is in accordance with the declaration in Daniel, that “the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even for ever and ever,” Dan. 7:18. To its eternity Nathan testifies when he says to David, “Thy house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever,” 2 Sam. 7:16. Though this was spoken to David, it was to be fulfilled in Christ; for we read in Luke (1:32, 33), “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” It is predicted in Isaiah, that “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end; upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth, even forever,” Isa. 9:6, 7. To the Son the Father saith, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever,” (Heb. 1:8); and the blood-washed throng ascribe to him “glory and dominion for ever and ever,” 1:5, 6.

“Thy kingdom come! O day of joy, When praise shall every tongue employ; When hate and strife and war shall cease, And man with man shall be at peace. Jesus shall reign on Zion’s hill, And all the earth with glory fill; His word shall Paradise restore, And sin and death afflict no more. God’s holy will shall then be done By all who live beneath the sun; For saints shall then as angels be, All changed to immortality.”

The four-and-twenty elders,—symbolizing those who are redeemed “out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation,” 5:8, 9,—at the establishment of the kingdom, are to be made “kings and priests,” and are to “reign on the earth,” 5:10. They are “saints of the Most High,” who are to “take the kingdom,” and possess it “forever.” With the announcement of its establishment, they immediately respond with glad hosannas, which spontaneously and unitedly burst forth from the enraptured hosts of the ransomed ones, as they find themselves clothed upon with immortality, and in the joyful presence of their Lord. They are raised from the dead at this epoch; or are among the living who will then be translated, as says the apostle:

“Behold I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, _at the last trump_,”—the last of the seven;—“for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

The nations who are angry, will be the nations out from whom the righteous are taken, and who are left to the recompense of their reward;—“when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe,” 2 Thess. 1:7-10.

The heathen had raged, and the people imagined a vain thing. The kings of the earth had set themselves, and the rulers taken counsel against the Lord, and against his anointed. Now the time of their anger is to end: the time for the exercise of the wrath of Jehovah upon them, has arrived, and they are filled with fear, consternation, and shame. The time has come when the dead are to be avenged,—when those who had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held, whose souls under the altar during the fifth seal, cried with a loud voice, saying,

“How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (6:10) find their expectations answered, and the destroyers, or perverters of the earth, in like manner perverted and destroyed. This winds up the kingdom of Satan on earth; his reign terminates, and his subjects are banished. The absence of all the wicked, with the transfiguration of all the righteous living and resurrection of the just, leave for subjects only those who have passed the period of their probation, and are introduced into the everlasting kingdom of God.

The opening of the temple in heaven, and the presentation of the Ark of the Covenant, symbolize the unfolding of the mystery, in which the administration of God may have been shrouded, making apparent all which may have been inexplicable in his dealings with men; and rendering evident the verity of his promises to his chosen ones.

The voices, lightnings, thunders, earthquake, and hail, are appropriate symbols of the plagues which will fall upon the wicked. These are fearfully depicted in the Scriptures. God says to Job, “Hast thou seen the treasures of hail which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war,” 38:22, 23. Judgment then will be laid “to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies. The Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones,” Isa. 28:17.

This prepares the way for the purification of the earth as foretold by Peter (2 Pet. 3:12, 13), the restitution of all things (3:21), the new heavens and new earth (21:1), the descent of the saints (21:2), and the kingdom of God on the earth, 21:3. Assuming the correctness of the view here given, how near to the time now present does it seem to fix the consummation!

“So shall the world go on, To good malignant, to bad men benign, Under her own weight groaning: till the day Appear, of respiration to the just, And vengeance to the wicked; at return Of him—thy Saviour and thy Lord: Last in the clouds from heaven, to be revealed In glory of the Father, to dissolve Satan, with his perverted world; then raise From the conflagrant mass, purged and refined, New heavens, new earth, ages of endless date, Founded in righteousness, and peace, and love, To bring forth fruits, joy, and eternal bliss.”—_Milton._

“The world shall burn, and from her ashes spring New heavens and earth, wherein the just shall dwell, And after all their tribulations long, See golden days, fruitful of golden deeds, With joy and love triumphing, and fair truth.”—_Ib._

The Woman and Dragon.

“And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the
sun, and the moon was under her feet, and on her head a crown of
twelve stars; and she, being with child, cried, travailing in
birth, and pained to be delivered. And another sign appeared in
heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten
horns, and seven diadems on his heads. And his tail dragged the
third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and
the dragon stood before the woman, who was about to be delivered,
to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth
a male child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and
her child was snatched up to God, and to his throne. And the woman
fled into the desert, where she hath a place there prepared of
God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and
sixty days.”—Rev. 12:1-6.

With this chapter commences a new series of events, extending through the entire gospel dispensation; the former series being terminated by the events of the last trumpet.

The heaven, where these great “wonders” are exhibited, must symbolize the theatre of their fulfilment—the station to be occupied by the agents symbolized, which must be as conspicuous as heaven is relatively high above the earth.

The woman, according to the use of the symbol in other places, must be a representative of the church. As the harlot on a scarlet-colored beast (17:3), is a symbol of a corrupt and apostate church, so a virtuous woman is a chosen symbol of the true church.

The “Jerusalem which is above is the mother” of all true Christians (Gal. 4:26); she is also “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (21:9); and “the remnant of _her seed_,” are those “which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ,” v. 17. Her robe of light, her position above the moon, and her crown of stars, indicate her greatness and glory.

The epoch symbolized, as appears from the relative position of the woman and dragon, is evidently just prior to the first advent of the Messiah, when his coming was eagerly anticipated and ardently desired by the church, and the Roman power had thereby been excited to jealousy.

The church is the same in all ages, comprising only the true people of God; all of whom will have part in the first resurrection, 20:6. The Jewish church was continued by the breaking off of unbelieving branches, and the grafting in of believing Gentiles with believing Jews, who alike partake of the root and fatness of the same olive-tree, Rom. 11:17.

Previous to the first advent, the Jewish church occupied a high political position, above that of the inferior officers of state, and was in the enjoyment of imperial favor. Patriarchs and prophets—the messengers of the church—were stars in her crown of rejoicing, 1:20. From the utterance of the prediction that the woman’s seed should bruise the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15), the coming of the promised deliverer was the great desire of the church. Even Eve exclaimed, at the birth of her first-born (_literally_), “I have gotten _the_ man from the Lord,” Gen. 4:1. For his coming,

“Kings and prophets waited long But died without the sight.”

They “inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow,” 1 Pet. 1:10, 11. “Many righteous men desired” to see his day (Matt. 13:17); Abraham rejoiced and was made glad at its prospect, when in the distant future (John, 8:56); and Hezekiah lamented that because of death he should not see “the Lord in the land of the living,” Isa. 38:11.

The seventy weeks indicated to the Jews the time of “the Messiah, the Prince,” Dan. 9:26-27. When these were near their termination, to the pious and devout Simeon who was “waiting for the consolation of Israel,” it “was revealed by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ,” Luke 2:25, 26. And the opinion was so general, that when the _Baptist_ preceded him, “the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ or no,” Luke 3:15. This expectation is testified to by the Jewish historians Philo and Josephus; and it was that which so troubled Herod, when wise men came, saying, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” Matt. 2:1-3.

The belief that some remarkable personage was about to appear in Judea, was not confined to Palestine, but extended to Egypt, Rome, Greece, and wherever the Jews were scattered abroad. Says Suetonius, a Roman historian: “An ancient and settled persuasion prevailed throughout the East, that the Fates had decreed some one to proceed from Judea, who should attain universal empire.” And Tacitus, another Roman historian, says: “Many were persuaded that it was contained in the ancient books of their priests, that at that very time the East should prevail, and that some one should proceed from Judea, and possess the dominion.”

The great red dragon sustains a relation to the woman, analogous to that sustained by the nondescript beast (of Dan. 7:7), to the saints of the Most High; and his position respecting the man-child is like that of the exceeding great horn (Dan. 8:9), to the Prince of princes, Dan. 8:25. Like the beast referred to, the dragon has ten horns; and its characteristics indicate that it also symbolizes the Roman empire,—“the fourth kingdom upon earth,” Dan. 7:23. The dragon is a monster serpent. “That old serpent” who seduced Eve (Gen. 3:5), “called the devil” (Matt. 4:1-12), and “Satan” (2 Cor. 2:11), “who deceiveth the whole world,” is an appropriate representative of Rome.