"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." (vers. 11, 12.) It was after this translation to heaven, that the Apostle beheld that great multitude which no one could number, from all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, stand before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. He beheld this great multitude, this cloud of witnesses, who had come of the great tribulation; and he heard their song, ascribing THE SALVATION to God and to the Lamb! On this event transpiring, on this great deliverance being effected, and not before, the second woe will be past! the Ottoman empire falls! and behold!—oh, behold! THE THIRD WOE COMETH QUICKLY! From this it will be perceived that I consider the words above quoted, viz. the 11th and 12th verses, as expressly asserting a translation to heaven! and as affording therefore the strongest and most direct confirmation of the explanation I have given to the seventh chapter; and that the two deliverances are one. Most of the arguments that have been brought forward to prove the one, will likewise prove the other; and therefore to those arguments I would, in the first place, direct my readers' attention; and, in connection with them, request * See ch. vii. his further attention to the few additional remarks on what is before us. I would notice, as a preliminary observation, one remarkable peculiarity in the first twelve verses of this chapter-and that is, that although highly symbolical, like the other prophecies of this book, yet they are given in the way of narrative, not of vision : and that this narrative, in the various particulars we have considered, enters not only into the detail of the mournful outward circumstances of the Lord's people, but into the very essence of their life, strength, security, and privileges; closing with this their final triumph. In endeavouring to ascertain the precise meaning of the resurrection and ascension of the two witnesses, we ought not to keep out of our minds for a moment, that it is an event which is to happen immediately preceding the dreadful sounding of the seventh trumpet, and, as hath been already in several places explained, the consequent utter ruin of the ten kingdoms. They must therefore signify something that can comport with such a state of things. Whatever the deliverance is, and a very great and complete one it will be, it must be one that will rise above all the horrors of the seventh trumpet! And as if to mark its completeness the more, it is set in the highest contrast with that event. But we must proceed to particulars. It is first said, that at the end of the three years and an half of their sufferings, "the spirit of life from God entered into them; and they stood upon their feet." To perceive the full force of these words we must look back to where it is said, that they have been made war against, and overcome, and KILLED and their dead bodies have lain publicly exposed, and not suffered to be put into graves! I have explained on these words that the death here spoken of is not a literal death, but must be such a death as a church can suffer. In like manner must we consider the life to be such a resuscitation as a church can enjoy. As the former appears to signify the entire silencing or extinction of all profession whatever of the religion of the Gospel, attended with circumstances of extreme contempt and ignominy; so the mention of their standing upon their feet, not through any favour of man, but by "the Spirit of life from God" entering into them, carries with it the idea, that in the first instance, at the end of the three years and an half, they will, through some wonderful divine interposition, rise into favour and into power-that is, that they will not only recover their former position, "standing again upon their feet," but in a manner and in an attitude which will cause great fear to fall upon those who see them! The expression, "the Spirit of life FROM GOD," is very strong, and, I consider, has a remarkable fulness of meaning. It is the same as is used in Gen. vii. 22, according to the marginal reading, "All in whose nostrils was the breath of life died." It ought to convey to us, whom it so personally and so nearly concerns, an inexpressibly delightful and cheering feeling, that let the enemies of truth and revelation-the enemies of Christ and his saintsvent their impious rage as they may, and conceive, with that infidel Voltaire, that they have at length crushed that which is to them so great a torment, yet that their rage is vain, and their triumph but short. The Lord's witnesses shall be re-animated with the Spirit of life from God, and stand upon their feet, to the inexpressible confusion and dread of those who hate them; and even in this respect the Lord will vindicate his injured servants. But a higher award, a nobler triumph than any earthly honour, enjoyment, or any earthly privileges, awaits them! They not only rise again into existence and to consideration, and that to the utter confusion of their enemies; but intimation, in some clear, unequivocal manner, is given them FROM HEAVEN. They heard, it is said, a loud voice from heaven, that they are to ascend thither; for this loud voice, in whatever way it is conveyed, said unto them, "Come up HITHER." There is room for no mistake here, with regard to the language used:—the voice was from heaven! the heaven of heaven where God resides! and it will bear no other meaning. It can be no political heaven; not only this word as used in other places forbids the idea, but the circumstances which surround it render it impossible. The political heaven, or ruling powers, consists of those who have been the cause of all the church's * Rev. x. 4: xiv. 2, 13. sufferings, and they now behold its resurrection to political life with "great fear," and therefore cannot have contributed to it. But as if to shew that political honour cannot be meant by this great and loud call from heaven, the former verse, as above explained, shews they have already attained it. What follows, therefore, must be something of a totally distinct and infinitely more glorious nature. وو "AND THEY ASCENDED UP TO HEAVEN IN A CLOUD, AND THEIR ENEMIES BEHELD THEM. If it were possible to imagine this to be a political ascension, the last expression," their enemies beheld them," appears quite superfluous-because this would be a matter of course, and, as such, would not be noticed here. It implies further, that those who were before their enemies are still their enemies. It must be, therefore, that this expression refers to an extraordinary scene; to that most extraordinary scene which it was inferred, in a former part of this work,* must take place, from the whole phraseology of the 7th chapter, viz., A TRANSLATION ΤΟ HEAVEN! All the interpretations there given, to which the reader is again referred, is here fully confirmed by this one assertion, " And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud!" In the language of the 7th chapter we will again follow them; for it is a thing most delightful to dwell upon. "I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations, and kindreds * See chap. vi. |