est give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them who fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them who destroy the earth."

Who can believe, that these two portions of proph ety do not relate to precisely the same period and event? Both introduce the Millennium. Both describe the battle of that great day of God, in the same figures. And there is no appearance, that the description of the seventh trumpet contains any thing more than what is contained in the seventh vial. If it were designed to contain all the vials, or if the whole period of the vials were then future; how could the voices in heaven proclaim, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ? This does not appear to be one of those prophecies which speak of things far future, as though they were present. To suppose it, is to destroy the very occasion of the joys of the heavenly hosts there noted. Their joys were, that the time for the introduction of the Millennium had actually arrived. They well knew before, that this joyful event was future, and certain, and would arrive in due time. This they knew every time they turned their thoughts upon it. And were their peculiar joys (expressed at the sounding of the seventh trumpet) occasioned only by a new turning of their attention to that subject, which was still far future? A thing which they had done millions of times before! How could this afford them any new source of joy? But let themselves decide the question. Do they not decide, that the occasion of their peculiar joy is the actual introduction of the blessed millennial glory? The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. The same thing, which is expressed upon the effusion of the seventh vial; "It is done."

In Rev. x, it appears to be decided, that the seventh trumpet does not contain the whole period of the vials;

but is the same with the seventh vial. The seven thunders had uttered their voices; or the wars and rumors of wars, attendant on the rise of Antichrist, had been heard. The Angel now, (verses 5, 6,) as though to correct the mistake of those, who will now imagine, that the third woe has already commenced; and to check the impatience of the saints for the coming of Christ; as well as to assure them, that it should be in due time; lifts up his hand to heaven, and swears, with unusual formality and solemnity, that, Xpovos OUN ECTRI ETI; the time shall not be yet: Or, the time shall not be prolonged. And he adds; But in the days of the seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished; as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. In this passage several things are decided:

1. At the time of the seven thunders uttering their voices, the seventh trumpet, or third woe, is still fu ture. In the preceding chapter the effects of the first and second wo-trumpets are described. In this xth chapter, instead of going on to a description of the third wo-trumpet, as would seem to be natural, and as he does in the course of the following chapter, a notable intervening event is introduced, by the crying of a mighty Angel with a loud voice; and by seven thunders uttering their voices.

The

Thunder is a striking emblem of war.* And seven shocks of thunder, breaking at once, must be a striking emblem of an unprecedented scene of wars. import of this figure was sealed up, till it should be fulfilled. Then it was no doubt to be understood. These seven thunders, we may apprehend, have been heard in the wars of our day, attending the rise of the Antichristian Beast; and the formation of his horns. Our blessed Lord, when predicting his coming,† foretold that there should be wars and rumors of wars, which are but the beginning of sorrows; but the end he says "is not by and by;" or is not yet: As the Angel in this chapter swears, that the time is not yet, or immediate. + Mat. xxiv; Mark xiii; Luke xxi.

* See Isa. xxix, 6.

ly. These two passages, no doubt, relate to the same period and thing. And when the great events of the seven thunders, which must be viewed as opening a new era of affairs, commence, instead of introducing the events of the third woe, (as some would, from the greatness and terrors of the scenes, naturally expect,) the Angel announces, that the seventh trumpet is still future; that it shall not be quite yet; or shall not be long deferred. The great events of the seven thunders then, are not the seventh trumpet.*

2. In verse 7, we learn, that at the beginning of the seventh trumpet, when the Angel shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, precisely the same idea with that in chap. xvi, 17; where upon the pouring out of the seventh vial into the air, the great voice from the temple of Heaven announces; It is done. But surely if the mystery of the prosperity and triumphs of the enemies of God, is finished, in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound; his beginning to sound must be at a later date, than the introduction of the period of the vials! It must be the same with the seventh vial; which does indeed finish the mystery of iniquity. If the beginning of the seventh Angel to sound, or the commencement of the third woe, be but the introduction of the period of the vials, how could the Angel of the covenant announce, that when the seventh Angel shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished? The assertion would be utterly untrue; as would the assertion in chap, xi, 15, upon the sounding of the seventh trumpet before noted, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ. Do not these Scriptures, viewed in this connexion, demonstrate that the seventh trumpet and the seventh vi al relate to the same event?

3. The seventh trumpet, we here learn, relates to the great event, which God of old revealed to the prophets. But in the days of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be

* See remarks upon this, in the treatise upon the fifth vial.

finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. What great events of these last days did God of old abundantly reveal to his servants the prophets in Israel? The event of the seventh vial, the destruction of the final and mystical Babylon, to prepare the way for God's Israel to build their millennial Jerusalem, was abundantly revealed of old to God's servants the prophets. The battle of that great day was very much by them predicted; as may be seen in the second and following sections in chapter iii of this dissertation. And lest any should say that that event, so much predicted in the ancient prophets, comprises all the vials, as they have conceived that the seventh trumpet comprises them; we find the dreadful event restricted, in Rev. xvi, 14, to the seventh vial: To gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. What great day? That great day so well known, as abundantly revealed in the prophetic parts of the Word of God. This clause, (applied to the seventh vial) forcibly implies, that this vial is that very event, so abundantly predicted in the prophets, that God would gather the nations, and assemble the kingdoms, and pour out upon them his indignation, even all his fierce anger; and the whole earth should be devoured with the fire of his jealousy. And that he would destroy the sinners thereof out of it. The minor events of the preceding vials probably were not much known in the prophets of the Old Testament. But the decisive event of the seventh vial was well known in the writings of the ancient prophets. And the predictions of this event can by no means admit, that the judgments of all the vials are included in that tremendous scene, called the day of the Lord. For it is ever represented, not as a long series of judgments, occupying some centuries; but as of short duration;-a decisive event;-a day that burns as an oven;-a gathering of the nations to the valley of Jehoshaphat, where God will soon decide the controversy with his enemies. "He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness, because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth." These remarks are not to insinuate, that the interesting event

of that day of the Lord will be accomplished literally in one day; nor in one battle. It may be a work of months, if not years. But it is to be short, and of the most decisive kind;-too short and decisive, to be viewed as comprising all the vials. It can comprise only the sev enth; which is accordingly called, "the battle of that great day of God Almighty; as being an event well known in the prophets. Yet the passage, Rev. x, 6, under consideration, decides that the seventh trumpet (the third woe) is the very same with that day of the Lord, in the prophets; which in fact fulfils the seventh vial. "But in the days of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." Here we learn, that the seventh trumpet does not comprise all the vials; but only the seventh. For the seventh trumpet is the very event noted in the prophets. Yet the seventh vial is "the battle of that great day of God Almighty," so well known in the prophets. Thus the seventh trumpet and seventh vial are fulfilled in the same event. The first concludes the septenary, or number seven, found in the first general division of the prophetic part of the Revelation; and the last concludes the septenary found in the last general division; as will appear in the next chapter, and on the first chart there exhibited. The idea, that the seventh trumpet and seventh vial are the same, is of some importance. It goes to decide that the notable judgment of the third woe is future of the sixth vial.

It is ascertained, in section i, chapter ii, of this book, that the reign of sin, under the gospel, or the time preceding the Millennium, was probably to be about 2000 years. In the course of this period, beside a variety of other judgments, there were to be three notable ones, called woes, as well as trumpets. The first of these took place about the close of the first third of the above 2000 years, as all expositors agree. The second woe took place about the close of the second third of the 2000 years, as is likewise agreed. The Turks were clearly committing their ravages, in the former part of the fourteenth century. What then does anal