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But, though the obvious grammatical arrangement of the passage requires this conclusion, still it is possible so to view it, that the death of the witnesses shall be esteemed future, notwithstanding the second woe has past, and notwithstanding the third woe is

come.

To accomplish such a purpose, it will be necessary to throw into a parenthesis all that portion of the prophecy, which is delivered from the fourth to the thirteenth verse inclusively. When this is done, we may interpret the parenthetic portion proleptically; supposing it to be here introduced, not in chronological relation to the subsequently mentioned departure of the second woe and arrival of the third woe, but only with a view to preserve the entire prophecy respecting the two witnesses unbroken and continuous. By such an arrangement therefore, the fourteenth verse will be made immediately to follow the fourth. Whence it will appear, that the second woe is declared to be past, not so soon as the great earthquake shall have overthrown the tenth part of the city, but at some indefinite time after the witnesses shall have commenced their sackcloth prophesying of 1260 days.

According to this possible arrangement, the prophecy will display itself under the following aspect.

“Chap. xi. 1. And there was given 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. 2. But the

court, which is without the temple, leave out, and

measure

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measure it not for it is given unto the Gentiles; " and the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty " and two months. 3. And I will give power unto

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my two witnesses; and they shall prophesy a thou"sand two hundred and three score days clothed in "sackcloth. 4. These are the two olive-trees and "the two candlesticks standing before the God of "the earth.

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(5. And, if any man will hurt them, fire pro"ceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their "enemies and, if any man will hurt them, he must "in this manner be killed. 6. These have power

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to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their "prophecy: and they have power over the waters "" to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will. 7. And, "when they shall have finished (or when they shall "be a finishing) their testimony, the wild beast, that "ascendeth out of THE ABYSS, shall make war "against them, and shall overcome them, and shall "kill them. 8. And their dead bodies shall lie in "the broad place of the great city, which spiritually " is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord

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was crucified. 9. And they of the peoples 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. "10. And they, that dwell upon the earth, shall rejoice over them, and shall make merry, and shall "send gifts to one another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

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“ 11. And,

11. And, after three days and a half, the spirit of "life from God entered into them; and they stood

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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 there was a great earthquake; and "the tenth part of the city fell and in the earth"quake were slain seven thousand names of men; "and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory "to the God of heaven.)

"14. The second woe is past: behold, the third woe cometh quickly. 15. And the seventh angel "sounded."

(2.) Now, according to such an arrangement of the prophecy, the passing of the second woe does not chronologically follow the great earthquake which overthrows the tenth part of the city, but it occurs at some indefinite time after the witnesses have commenced their sackcloth ministration: and, in favour of this arrangement we may urge no less than two of those nicely connecting links, by which the inspired apostle is wont to chain together designedly parallel though graphically disjoined passages of the Apocalypse.

One of the supposed links I have already noticed, when I made it the basis of an argument in favour of the yet future death of the witnesses.

The beast, that slays those witnesses, is the beast

that

that ascendeth from THE ABYSS*: but the beast, that ascendeth from THE ABYSS, is the now defunct Roman beast in his yet future state of revival or reexistence: therefore the death of the witnesses must be yet future also.

This is the first of the supposed links: and the second is equally conspicuous when once it is pointed

out.

The witnesses are figuratively said; according to the usual phraseology of prophecy, which ascribes positive action to those ministers of God who literally and really do nothing more than denounce his judgments: the witnesses are figuratively said, in the course of their sackcloth preaching during the 1260 days, to turn the waters into blood and to smite the earth with all plagues §. Now this turning of the waters into blood, and this smiting of the earth with all plagues, are effected during the effusion of the seven vials; which introduce the seven last plagues, which turn the waters both of the sea and of the rivers into blood, and which grievously smite and harass the earth ||. Hence, as the witnesses are to prophesy in sackcloth 1260 days, and as these events take place in the course of their prophesying; the six first vials, and the commencing plague of the seventh, must be included within the period of the 1260 days: and hence likewise, since these events

* Rev. xi. 7.

↑ See Gen. xxvii. 37. xlix. 7. Rev. xv. 1, 7, 8. xvi. 1, 2,

+ Rev. xvii. 8, 11. Isaiah vi. 10.

3, 4, 8, 10, 17, 18.

Rev. xi. 6.

Occur

occur before the death of the witnesses *, and since they also occur during the effusion of the vials; it will follow, that the death of the witnesses does not take place until after the seventh vial shall have begun to flow. But, if it then takes place, it must both be effected by the beast which ascends from THE ABYSS in his yet future state of re-existence, agreeably to the indication of the first connecting link and it must likewise take place precisely at the end of the 1260 days; for, since the turning of the waters into blood and the smiting of the earth with all plagues at once occur during the lapse of the 1260 days and during the effusion of the six first vials, it is plain, that the 1260 days cannot expire until the seventh vial shall have commenced, agreeably to the monitory voice from the temple It is done t. In this case, the ambiguous aorist in the seventh verse of the eleventh chapter ought to be translated, as it stands in our common version, when they shall have FINISHED.

I have now fairly laid before the reader the arguments on each side of the question: and he will probably agree with me in thinking, that the matter can only be determined by the event.

(3.) Yet, whether the death of the apocalyptic witnesses be past or future, we have reason to expect, that, in some mode or another, the Church of Christ will undergo a thorough purgation before the final overthrow of the Antichristian faction and the

* Compare Rev. xi. 6 with xi. 7.

VOL. III.

L

t Rev. xvi. 17.

commence

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