Jerusalem they will be slain, ver. 7. 8. and in the street of this city shall their dead bodies lie unburied for three days and an half; after which they will be raised to life again, and be invited up to heaven, to which they will visibly ascend in a cloud, in the sight of their enemies. ver. 12. And in the same hour there will be a great earthquake, which will demolish a great part of the city, and kill seven thousand men, ver. 13; which event finishes the sixth trumpet or second woe. Immediately the seventh trumpet will sound and the Millennium commence, the first part of which will be a reign of terror to the wicked nations, ver. 18. 19. xix. 1-21, and of triumph to the saints who shall take the kingdom and possess it, even the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, and they shall reign with Christ upon the earth. Dan. vii. 18. 27. Rev. v. 10. xx. 4. 5th. The fifth record of this important period is in Rev. xii. 6. 14. and here it includes a space in which some renowned woman is fed and nourished in the wilderness during a season of severe persecution, which is occasioned by the immediate agency of Satan just before he is bound; for he has "great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." ver. 12. This woman cannot represent the church-the saints who are given into the hand of the little horn, Dan. vii. 21. 25. to be persecuted and worn out by oppression, because she has a place of safety provided for her by God himself: and two wings as of a great eagle are given to her, that she might fly to it, "where she is nourished for a time, times, and half a time from the face of the serpent." Rev. xii. 14. It is evident that the effort of the dragon to drown, or injure the woman utterly failed, for it is recorded that "the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth." ver. 16. From the whole, it does not appear that the woman was injured at all, after her flight into the wilderness. 6th. The sixth and last mention of this interesting period is in Rev. xiii. 5. where it is applied to the sea monster having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the names of blasphemy. ver. 1. This wild beast represents the civil power perverted from its ligitimate object and made a monster of oppression, as exemplified in the Roman state, which aimed at universal tyranny. This object will be accomplished by the power of Satan, ver. 2. 4. and the combination of the ten kings. xvii. 13. To this beast of civil despotism, power will be given πολεμον ποιῆσαι “to make war forty two months," and this war will be with God and his saints. The second beast arising out of the earth, chap. xiii. 11. is ecclesiastical tyranny, as exemplified in the church of Rome, that mother of harlots. Political tyranny alone could not accomplish all its diabolical purposes without the aid of ecclesiastical tyranny. These two powers united by legal enactments, and mutual interest, will accomplish all that is predicted of them in this chapter, and other parts of the sacred volume. "The beast with two horns like a lamb exerciseth all the power of the first beast, and maketh war with the saints," and prevails against them for the same period as asserted by the prophet Daniel, vii. 21. 25. Towards the close of their career, the predicted events will take place, which will be immediately before the second advent, as recorded in the xiv. chapter of Revelation. Mat. This important prophetic period of three years and an half, will be such a time of trouble as never has been, and never will be again. See Dan. xii. 1. Joel ii. 2. xxiv. 21. Mark xiii. 19 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the signs of the second advent will appear. "There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming upon the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. Then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Luke xxi. 25-27. with Mat. xxiv. 29. Mark xiii. 24. The prophetic times will be literal, the signs in the heavens and the earth will be literal, and the second Advent will be as literal as the first. Hear the testimony of the angels, who witnessed his ascension. "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Acts i. 11. TABLE II. A Table of all the principal prophetic periods as they occur in the Sacred Scriptures. Gen. i. 14. And let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years. vi. 3. Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. vii. 4. For yet seven days and I will cause it to rain xv. 13. They shall afflict them four hundred years. thine head. xli. 27. 36. Food shall be for store to the land against Exod. viii. 10. And he said, to-morrow. ix. 5 To-morrow, the Lord shall do this thing. x. 4. xii. 40. 41. Four hundred and thirty years. Num. xi. 19. 20. Ye shall not eat one day nor two days nor five days; neither ten days, nor twenty days, but even a whole month. xiv. 33. 34. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years—after the number of the Josh i. 11. For within three days shall ye pass over this Jordan. vi. 3. 4. Ye shall compass the city about once, thus 1. Kings xvii. 1. There shall not be dew nor rain these 1 |