in those days will be the God of a great part of the earth. But when my translation is accepted, the mystery vanishes, and the true meaning is obvious. The earth is Asia, particularly the Holy land, and the God of this earth the secular power which holds dominion over it; as the civil authorities are often termed, Exod, XXII, 8, 28. Ps. LXXXII, 1. Joh. x, 34. These two witnesses or churches, have been placed or established by the hand of Heaven, against the will and wishes of the infidel prince of that country, and are supported in their protestations and claims to the Holy land, before him, and in the presence of his power, by an auspicious Providence. It is yet worthy of remark, that the word as eslasas, quæ posita sunt, is the participle of the perfect tense, referring to past time, which may signify, that the commencement of these churches was prior to the time which is considered the present in this prophecy, and that they had already existed for some time before opposition was offered; but as they were clothed in sackcloth, of low condition and mourning for the sad state of their nation and the Church, the God of the earth took little notice of them.

mission, in

St.

Verse 5. If any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies. Hitherto we have explained the proper object of their which they were typified in Zerubbabel and Joshua, and the success with which their efforts will be crowned. John now continues to relate the opposition they will have to combat, the sufferings they shall undergo upon their first establishment, and the marvellous deeds which they will perform in the execution of their appointment. In this they are compared with Moses & Aaron, with Elijah & Elisha at particular times and states of the church of God; all of which had to oppose oppressive enemies in times of great peril, when even the existence of the church was threatened with impending ruin. Moses and Aaron were the Lord's instruments, in the redemption of Israel from the

Egyptian servitude, where the church of God could not have existed any longer. Elijah and Elisha were sent when the people of God forsook Jehovah, and worshiped Baal in the days of Ahab, who was a type of Antichrist. Some expositors take these wonderful deeds of the witness-' es in a figurative sense, which is not obvious to my mind. They will surely have the power to establish their commission by miracles, and to punish those who injure them. For why should God grant a power to the antitypes inferior to that given to Moses and Elijah, who are here considered the types of these witnesses, and whose commissions are as important, at least as that of Elijah?

And if any man will hurt them. The Greek word adrzew, which is here rendered to hurt, signifies to injure with injustice, to hurt an innocent man; and the expression in the original dean adins, to injure an innocent person wilfully and designedly in his name, property, doctrines, office or life. The particular injuries here spoken of, may be made evident by a more minute investigation of the circumstances of the types, at the times alluded to in this place. At the request of Moses, 250 persons were destroyed by fire, who had been guilty of mutiny against himself and Aaron, in order to obtain the priesthood, Numb. XVI, 3. 10. 29. 35. Elisha called fire from heaven, and consumed the captains with their fifties, who had been sent to take him prisoner. II Kings 1, 9. 10. 11. 12. Although it is said of the witnesses, that the fire proceedeth out of their mouth, yet this is not to be understood otherwise of them, than in the above instances; for it is quite a common figure in the Old Testament, and among the Asiatics to this day, which denotes words, speech, or short sentences expressed by the mouth. Deut. XVI, 6. Math. XVIII, 16. II Cor. xIII, 1. Prov. IV, 24. chap. xx, 15. Luke XIX, 22. The sense is, that these two witnesses will possess the miraculous power to call forth fire from heaven upon their enemies, and that they pos

sess this power in the same degree, and to the same purpose; wherefore they are spoken of, as if they had but one mouth, or because they do it by a joint prayer. These allusions to Moses and Elijah in the account of the witnesses, are not intended to refer us only to a resemblance of miracles between these men of God, but also to a likeness of causes and occurrencies, by which they were induced and authorized to exercise such power. For, with an impartial judge, only equal degrees of guilt merit equal punishment. We may then safely conclude that there will be a mutiny during the restoration of the Jews like the rebellion of Korah, and a falling away from the Lord Jesus, as in the days of Elijah, by which these witnesses are brought into great distress; and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These judgments will fall on reprobate Jews, and the following ones on the infidel inhabitants of that country at the time.

Verse 6. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy and have power over waters to

:

turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the

beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

The same miracles which Moses and Aaron wrought before Pharoah, and some of the very judgments by which the Lord punished the Egyptians, in order to deliver his people from the thraldom under. Pharoah, and bring them unto the land of promise; the same will be inflicted on the Mahommedans in Palestine by the instrumentality of these two witnesses, in order to redeem his country again out of their power, for the benefit of his people. Thus the lords of that country will be compelled to leave it, which will create in them a most inveterate enmity against the Jews. Rain has always been seldom in Palestine, and the country was mostly supplied by heavy

dews; but when they shut heaven, as Elijah did, James v, 17. the earth will not be moistened at all. That they actually exercise the power given them in this respect, is evident from the 5th and 10th verses. The power of these two witnesses is truly great and wonderful; the four elements seem to be at their command. They call forth fire from nature, control the atmosphere, turn the waters of that country to blood, and smite the earth with all

plagues. See Exod. VIII. IX. X. XII. It is in their pow- .

er to inflict these judgments, as often as they will, which is not said even of Moses. But though the infidel possessors of Palestine mostly fly from such a dreadful scene of judgments, and suffer the two witnesses to establish themselves with their adherents in the country; yet many of them shall soon return, unwilling to relinquish their claim, as we shall see in the remaining part of this prophecy.

Verse 7. And when they shall have finished their testi-. mony. During the time of their testimony they are invincible; but now at the close of the 1260 days, when the second Advent of the Lord is so near at hand, they are about finishing it; for the Lord will now accomplish his eternal designs, by a supernatural manifestation of himself.

The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them. Of this beast we have a description in chap. x111, and chap. XVII, where I shall treat the subject more at large, according to its importance. It may be sufficient here to say, that it is one and the same beast, which first arises out of the sea, and in his last stage out of the bottomless pit, and that these authors are very much mistaken, who do not distinguish between the bottomless pit and the sea. It is in its last stage, when it wages war against the witnesses, after its ascension from the abyss, and at the termination of the period of the dominion of the Gentiles in the Holy city. From

this passage it is evident, that in those days, the beast out of the bottemless pit has possession of the Holy land, and that the power of the Turks will be then annihilated, at least in Palestine; though it does not appear that the beast has its residence there, or any where near its confines, but rather that he has conquered that country in a late expedition. I shall show in its proper place, that this beast is the last and most formidable power, which the Lord Jesus will conquer by a preternatural manifestation of himself in terrible majesty.

Shall make war against them. Here it must appear evident beyond contradiction, that these witnesses are heads and leaders of two churches-of two numerous and powerful communities; for surely, the beast from the bottomless pit would not make war against two single persons, unsupported by numerous adherents. But what idea shall we form of the army of the beast, waging a war of extermination against such extraordinary messengers of heaven, and their pious followers? His officers and men must be an army of infidels, like himself, or their consciences would prevent their serving in so wicked a cause. The beast it would seem, expected great opposi tion, which induced him to come upon them, like Pharoah against the Israelites, with a large army.

And shall overcome them. It appears from concurring prophecies in Daniel, Zechariah and Joel, that the adherents of the witnesses will actually defend themselves on this occasion: as also the verb Nixaw, vinco, to conquer, by its position before the words και αποκτενει αυτός would lead us to understand an engagement, in which the witnesses will be taken prisoners, and their followers dispersed. On this occasion the witnesses either do not exercise their miraculous power, as was the case with their Saviour before the Sanhedrim and Pilate, or else the infernal power of the beast is superior to what the Lord