them but only that there should be a few faithful ser= vants of God in every age, who should protest against the superstitious corruptions of their times. His Lordship is perfectly right in the spirit, though not quite accurate in the letter, of his interpretation. There is so

much precision in all the numbers both of Daniel and St. John, that we ought to be very jealous of breaking down the barrier of their literal acceptation.* Scripture will ever be found the most satisfactory expositor of Scripture and such I apprehend to be the case in the present instance. Throughout the whole Apocalypse the idea of the two-fold Church of Christ is accurately preserved the Church before the advent of our Lord, and the Church after his advent; the Church founded upon the Prophets, and the Church founded upon the Apostles; Jesus Christ himself being equally the corner stone of both. Accordingly we find, in the very be-ginning of the Revelation, mention made of twenty four elders, who are represented as being in heaven, the symbol of the universal Church. Twelve of these, in allusion to the twelve Jewish patriarchs, are representatives of the pre-Christian Church and the other twelve, in allusion to the twelve Apostles, are representatives of the post-Christian Church. Whence the mystical number of God's chosen is said to be 144,000; or twelve multiplied into twelve, and afterwards again multiplied into a thousand, to shew that the pious constitute an exceeding great multitude. Whence also the symbolical city of the Lamb, or the universal Church triumphant, is described as a perfect cube of 12,000 furlongs; having twelve gates upon which are written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve foundations in which are the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. And whence lastly the faithful are represented as singing the song not only of the Lamb, but likewise of Moses the servant of God. Now, when we recollect, that the prophet begins the chapter, wherein he treats of the two

It was wisely observed by Abp. Secker, that "it doth not appear that any of the numbers in Daniel mean uncertainty." His Grace might with equal propriety have extended his remark to St. John, with a very few exceptions which explain themselves. See Rev. vii. 4. and Rev. xxi. 16, 17.

witnesses, with an account of his measuring the spiritual temple: when we further consider, that St. John's imagery of the two candlesticks, and the two olive trees, is evidently taken from Zechariah's vision of the second temple; and that he himself describes the twenty four elders as being in the figurative heaven, or the Church general, in the same manner as the candlesticks and the olive trees were placed in the temple, which is another symbol of the spiritual Church general as contradistinguished from the outer court of mere nominal Christians: when the whole of this is duly weighed, and when the undoubted fact that St. John borrows this set of hieroglyphics from the Jewish temple and its furniture is taken into the account: I think we cannot but come to the conclusion, that the twenty four elders, the twelve gates, and the twelve foundations of the new Jerusalem, the two olive trees, the two candlesticks,† and the two witnesses, all equally signify the spiritual members of the catholic Church, considered as one great whole, though made up of two component parts. Not that any of the members of the pre-Christian Church literally prophesied during the 1260 years of the great Apostacy: the prophet speaks only of men of a like spirit with themselves, the mystical children of the Church general now for ever united under its illustrious head, those who are Israelites indeed. "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and unto seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ-But, before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed-Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ JesusThere is neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And, if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."+

* Zech. iv. 2, 3, 9, 11-14.

It is evident, that the two olive trees are the same as the two candlesticks, and that they are not designed to symbolize four different particulars; because the witnesses, who are only two in number, are said to be typified not merely by the the two olive trees, but likewise additionally by the two candlesticks. Whence it will follow, that the one olive tree is the same in point of signification as the one candlestick, and the other as the other.

Gal. iii. 16, 23, 26, 28, 29.

Mr. Galloway objects, that the two witnesses cannot be those who protested against the corruptions of Popery during the 1260 years, because they were to prophecy in sackcloth; whereas none of the reformers ever pretended to the gift of prophecy, but contented themselves with being merely preachers of God's word. In making this unguarded objection, Mr. Galloway seems to have forgotten, that in the New Testament prophesying is not unfrequently used as a mere synonym of preaching or expounding.* The prophesying therefore of the two witnesses is nothing more than their zealous avowal of the principles of the Gospel; their shutting of heaven, so that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, is the shutting up the temple or spiritual Church, so that the dew of God's word and spirit should not descend upon the apostate inhabitants of the Roman earth;† and their power of smiting the earth with diverse plagues means that all the various plagues, denounced in the Apocalypse, blood, slaughter, and desolation, should, in the course of God's just judgments, be the consequence of men's slighting the warning voice of his two mystical prophets. Not that it was their wish to shut up heaven, or to call down the vengeance of the Almighty upon earth; their desire was to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins: the fire of God's wrath would never have proceeded out of their mouth they never would have had occasion to denounce his righteous indignation against sin; if they of the Apostacy would have reformed themselves, instead of hurting or persecuting the two witnesses. When it is said therefore, that they have power to shut heaven, to turn the waters into blood, to smite

See the whole of 1 Corinth. xiv. upon which Mr. Cruden very justly remarks, "This term (prophesying) is used by St. Paul for explaining Scripture, preaching, or speaking to the Church in public." See also 1 Corinth. xi. 4, 5—1 Thess. v. 20, (which the margin of the Bible refers to 1 Corinth. xiv.) and Rom. xii. 6. The use of the word in this sense probably originated from the frequent appeals made by the primitive teachers to the prophets who had prophesied of Christ. See Acts ii. 14— 37. ii. 18. iv. 10—13, 25—28. vii. 2—54. xxiv. 14. xxvi. 6—27. and xxviii. 23. See also the grounds of our Lord's own discourse with the two disciples at Emmaus, Luke xxiv. 25, 26, 27. and his subsequent address to the eleven and those that were with them. Ver. 44, 45, 46.

"Rain," says Sir Isaac Newton, "if not immoderate, and dew, and living water, are put for the graces and doctrines of the Spirit; and the defect of rain, for spiritual barrenness." Observ. on Dan, and Rev. p. 19.

the earth with plagues, and to dart from their mouth consuming fire; these expressions must all be understood, not in a causal, but in a consequential, sense for the commission, given to the two figurative prophets, is, in point of its proper mode of interpretation, exactly analo gous to the charge which God delivered to Isaiah : "Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.' In perfect strictness of speech, Isaiah was no more able to inflict the plague of spiritual stupidity; than the two prophets of the Apocalypse were, that of spiritual barrenness and natural calamities. Both the passages must be explained exactly upon the same principle: the judgments, which these prophets were severally impowered to inflict, were not caused by them as active agents, but were the consequence of their ministry being slighted. In this sense we are authorised by inspired authority to interpret the charge given to Isaiah :† consequently, by a parity of reasoning, we are at liberty to explain the powers, committed to the two apocalyptic prophets, in a similar manner.‡

It is not unworthy of remark, that the two witnesses are described as having only one mouth.§ This circumstance at once shews that they are mystical, not literal, characters; and serves to demonstrate the propriety of the foregoing explanation. The pre-Christian and the post-Christian Church, forming jointly the Church general, have but one mouth, testifying and declaring the same simple road to salvation through the alone sacrifice of Christ. In the strictly scriptural words of the Anglican church already cited, "although the ancient patriarchs were not named Christian men, yet was it a Christian faith that they had; for they looked for all benefits of God the Father, through the merits of his Son Jesus Christ, as we do now. This difference is

* Isaiah vi. 10.

+ See Matt. xiii. 15. and Acts xxviii. 27.

It is very justly remarked by Bp. Newton, when commenting upon this very passage, that "in Scripture language the prophets are often said to do those things, which they declare and foretell.”

$ Rev. xi. 5.

between them and us, that they looked when Christ should come, and we be in the time when he is come."

"And, when they shall draw near to the close of their testimony,† the beast, that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in a street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they, that dwell upon the earth, shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 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. 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."

Prophecy, as it might be naturally expected, dwells only upon great and prominent circumstances; were it otherwise constructed, the whole world could not contain the volumes, which it would occupy. We must consider therefore, what circumstance in the history of the two witnesses, which occurred before the sounding of the seventh trumpet, is of a sufficiently definite nature to occasion this very peculiar mention of it.

The same sound doctrine is set forth in the article; "The Old Testament is not contrary to the New: for both in the Old and New Testament everlasting life. is offered to mankind by Christ, who is the only Mediator between God and man, being both God and man." Thus have the two witnesses only one mouth, with which they unanimously protest against the host of mediators venerated by them of the Apostacy.

Such is certainly the proper translation of the Aorist TX. The subjunc tive mood of the first Aorist generally bears a kind of future signification: and the context amply shews, that such must be its meaning in the present instance. The witnesses were to prophesy during the whole 1260 years, which are commensurate with the two first woe-trumpets and the greatest part of the third. At the time of this event, they were only under the second woe-trumpet: (See Rev. xi. 7-12. and 14, 15.) consequently they could not bave finished their testimony, as our translation erro neously represents them to have done; because they were to continue prophesying to the very end of the 1260 years. "Cum finituri sint testimonium suum (sic enim ólav Tik vertendum, non de præterito, cum finierint.) Mede's Comment. Apoc. in loc. See Rev. xi. 7—12, 15.