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coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns, like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon." The first beast, ver. 1, appeared to St. John rising out of the sea, because it was the figure of a great empire, or a great emperor, viz. Antichrist: this second beast, therefore, rising out of the earth, denotes a private man. And he had two horns, like a lamb; horns are an emblem of strength or power, and these two horns signify the power of speech, and the power of false miracles, with which this man is endued. These powers are similar, but only in appearance, to those which the true Lamb, or Jesus Christ, eminently possessed; the miracles of this new man or second beast being no more than impostures, works performed by the intervention of the devil; and his speech, though eloquent and engaging, is artful, hypocritical, malicious, and deceitful; for he speaks like a dragon, or like the devil that deladed Eve. This man is the false prophet, as St. John calls him in chap. xix. 20, and other places, that attends Antichrist, is his principal agent, and, like him, receives all his power from the devil. St. Irenæus mentions him thus: "St. John, in the Apocalypse, speaking of Antichrist's attendant, whom he calls the false prophet, says, he spoke like a dragon, and executed all the power of the former beast in his sight," &c. as in the following verse. Adv. Hær. 1. v. c. 28. V. 12. And he executed all the power of the former beast in his sight: and he caused the earth, and them that dwell therein, to adore the first beast, whose wound to death was healed." The false prophet, to enhance the credit of his master, will perform in his presence the same wonders that Antichrist himself is capable of doing, and thus will prevail on them that dwell on the earth, to adore the first beast, whose wound to death was healed, that is, Antichrist, who had been mortally wounded, and cured. Perhaps also from the expression, he caused the earth to adore the first beast, it may be inferred, that the false prophet by his enchantments will make the inanimate beings, such as trees and other things, appear to pay a kind of homage to Antichrist.

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V. 13. "And he did great signs, so that he made also fire come down from heaven unto the earth in the sight of men." Such then will be the power of the false prophet, that he will make fire come down from the sky, by the help of the devil. What we read in the book of Job," says St. Ambrose, "that the 'devil brought down fire from heaven by the divine permission, he will do the same in the last days by his instru ments, Antichrist and Antichrist's followers."

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signal elevation by the power and management of the devil, seem to form a subject of great astonishment to the world, and the chief inducement to idolatry; for it is here said, the inhabitants of the earth (whose names are not written in the book of life) shall wonder, seeing the beast, that was, and is not, and yet is; and again and all the earth was in admiration after the beast. Above, v. 3. But here the servants of God ought to admire the divine bounty and providence, and may receive comfort, from what is here added, that the beast or idolatrous Antichristian empire will soon go into destruction— we now likewise see appear in the course of the Apocalyptical history that remarkable personage, the Antichristian emperor, who is the seventh and last head of the idolatrous Roman empire, conformably to what we were admonished to expect, in chap. 17. v. 10, five (of the heads) are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come: and when he is come, he must remain a short time. See page 103. Happy indeed for

mankind that he must remain but a short time.

To return to the issue of the battle fought in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, between the Antichristian emperor's army and that of his enemies, we saw him, as it were mortally wounded, then cured by Satan, and soon re-appearing at the head of his troops, upon which follows almost a general defection of the people, and of his enemies, who came over to his party. In consequence of this, we suppose that the small remainder of the adverse army flies before him, and he enters Jerusalem.

And now we are arrived, as we conceive, at the period when this ambitious and impious hero declares himself for mally Antichrist, that is, enemy to Christ. Enraged, on one side, at his having been wounded and thrown into the jaws of death, perhaps by Christian troops; enraged again by the defection of the Jews from him, who before had owned him for their Messiah, but whom he finds now become Christians, and renouncing all connexion with him, looking upon him as the most audacious and basest of impostors: on the other hand, elated by his extraordinary cure, and seeing himself guarded and supported by the whole power of the devil, and multitudes all around him acknowledging the same, he swells with the spirit of pride and arrogance, with which he is inspired by Satan, who has entered into him. He thinks himself all-powerful. In these satanic dispositions he resolves to acknowledge no superior, in heaven or on earth; and in that view he proceeds to a temple in Jerusalem, some Christian

Church, which he enters, and there extolling his own supreme authority, his dominion, his unlimited power over every thing, he proclaims himself God, and ordains divine homage and worship to be paid to his person. This we learn from St. Paul, who thus speaks of him: "The man of sin, the son of perdition, who opposeth and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God,* showing himself as if he were God,"† 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4.

* In the Greek, "He sitteth in the temple of God as God.".

+ Would not one suspect that the devil has suggested the titles usually assumed by the sultans or Turkish emperors of Constantinople, viz. "God upon earth, the shadow of God, the giver of all earthly crowns," &c.; as thus these emperors anticipate in some measure what belongs to their last successor, Antichrist, who will arrogate to himself the real deity and power expressed by these titles.

I shall here add a copy of such like assuming titles, translated verbatim from the Arabic language, as appears in the following assent for the armistice agreed on and sent by the Grand Vizier to his Excellency Count Peter Alexander Romanzow:

"Firmly relying upon the assistance of the only, indivisible, one God, to whom nothing is comparable, and who created all things, and declared and revealed his divine will through the great Mahomet." Amen.

"The most righteous, and most powerful, and great emperor and sultan, created to this dignity by the eternal election of the Almighty; gifted with the imperial and philanthropic qualities for exhibiting the welfare and prosperity of the holy state of Mecca; and invested with the highest power, and reigning over an infinite multitude of nations, both by land and sea; who is the wisest among the righteous sultans, the most deservedly elected, and worthiest among all the regents; Sovereign Lord and Ruler over all the princes in the world; the only legislator and sovereign, chosen to it out of the most serene pedigree in the world; all his servants, that is to say, all the inhabitants of the world, return him hearty thanks for the least grace he shows to them, and especially for the grace he shows to them by the present declaration, through me, Mahomet, his unworthy servant and slave. Whereas, the extreme need and misery of his subjects, which are intrusted to him, by the eternal Creator himself, went to his heart. According to his imperial philanthropy, be all the world witness, and learn, morals. How violent the love for his subjects, being in his most noble heart, by thus condescending, through the great love he bears towards his servants, to agree upon the present armistice: He declares, before the eyes of the wise and virtuous men, whom he has made free, and exempted from their servitude, that, had it been possible, according to his honour and glory, he would have laid before them the circumstances and events which have pleased God and the great Mahomet, and which have been the cause of breaking the peace between the everlasting Ottoman empire and the Russian inhabitants. After which unreasonable and unclear behaviour in the eyes of God from the Russian side, the sovereign of the globe, my master, lighted the fire of war; but, alas! what homicide and bloodshed on both sides hath there been during these last four or five years?

"And although it has been predestinated so to be in the eternal council of God, yet as it requires a reconciliation through the great prophet Mahomet, and seeing that at last the most famous prince, the greatest of the princes who believe in JESUS, the only elected man of the people of the Messiah, the only decider of the business and rights of the nations of Nazareth, to whom my master allows glory and majesty during his pious will; the high, the happiest governor, and emperor of Germany, and likewise the king of Prussia, the end of both which princes, so that they may be led into the way of salvation; and they having looked into the terrible bloodshedding, and written constantly to their minister, residing at the court of the

He thus imitates, but far surpasses in arrogance, Caius Cali gula and other Roman emperors, his ancient predecessors who impiously claimed to themselves divine honours.

From the above passage of St. Paul, some have inferred that Antichrist will rebuild the great temple of Jerusalem. But, if that temple is ever to be rebuilt, probably it will not be done until after the ravages and persecution of Antichrist, according to that prophecy of Daniel: "And there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end," ix. 27. Besides, one may observe that in the New Testament the great temple of Jerusalem is always expressed by the Greek word IEPON, and a common temple or church by the word NAOE, as in the present passage of St. Paul; which gives us reason to think, that the apostle does not here speak of the great temple.

However that may be, Antichrist proceeds to forbid any other deity to be acknowledged but himself, and prohibits all worship of the Supreme Being, all exercise of the Christian religion, and particularly the sacrifice of the altar, because Christ is there personally adored as God. These presumptuous extravagancies, were, in general, foretold by the prophet Daniel. From the time," says he, "when the continual sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination unto desolation

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most illustrious Porte, to cry for mercy before the most brilliant and glorious throne of my master, whose unworthy slave I am. And as it was at the same time the most ardent wishes and longing from the throne of the glorious princess who is so high esteemed by the princes who believe in Jesus, who reigns over many nations of Nazareth, and governs the people of the Messiah with honour, and with heroic mind; and who acknowledges her errors and unjust contrivances against the most illustrious Porte, namely, the empress of Russia, whose end also be blessed, and may she be led into the way of salvation! What a glory for the great and high, mighty, just, wise, and virtuous sultan, to see all the nations of Europe represented by the ministers of the princes surrounding his throne, and sighing for his gracious will! but not to gain the favour of all those princes, nor yet influenced by their power or magnificence, hath been the cause of his gracions will; for nothing but the love for his subjects in particular, and for mankind in general, hath he declared his most pious and gracious will to agree upon an armistice, as a beginning and the first stone to peace and harmony, which he having thus accepted of, the whole world is rejoiced, and the nations bring him thanks to his most glorious throne; and to me, his unworthy slave, he gave a full power, to which I have appointed one of the members of the highest divan, the president of the college of Revillon, a commander of six regiments of horse, the most worthy Sen Abdal Rerim Effendi, whose glory may increase! who sent to me the nine articles of it after it was agreed upon: and as I found them consisting with the honour, glory, and magnificence of my master, whose unworthy slave I am, and who gave me full power to give my assent in his gloriful name, therefore I say, with joy and praise to God, and to the great prophet Mahomet, he may continue the peace among mankind, and increase the glory of the wisest and most just sultan, &c.

shall be set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred ninety days," xii. 11. The continual or daily sacrifice of the altar, is here said to be taken away; and the abomination unto desolation is set up, that is, the abominable worship of a man is set up in the place of that of God. A similar impiety and abomination was formerly practised by the idolatrous king and implacable enemy of the Jews, Antiochus Epiphanes, who "forbade holocausts and sacrifices and atonements to be made in the temple of God-and set up the abominable idol of desolation* upon the altar of God." 1 Maccab. i. 47, &c. 57. We seem to be also forewarned of Antichrist's abomination, as we observed under the sixth seal, by our Saviour himself, when he said: "When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, he that readeth, let him understand: Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains." Matth. xxiv. 15, 16. Upon these words of our Saviour St. Chrysostom speaks thus: For three years and six months the Christian sacrifice must be taken away by An tichrist, and the Christians flying away before him into the deserts, there will be no one to frequent the Church, or to offer the oblation to God." Homil. 49. in Matth. 24.

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It is worth our notice what we further learn from the above-cited passage of Daniel, that from the time when the daily sacrifice will be suppressed, and the abomination set up, there will be a thousand two hundred and ninety days, to the end of Antichrist's persecution, which Daniel had spoken of in the preceding verse. That persecution will last three years and a half, as we shall see hereafter. Hence, then, if the year be supposed to consist of 365 days, three years and a half make 1278 days, which the number 1290 exceeds by twelve; so that there will be an interval of twelve days between the time when Antichrist sets himself up for God in the temple, and the beginning of his persecution. But this interval will be thirty days, if the year be reckoned only of 360 days, or forty-two months of thirty days each, which round way of counting is usual with the prophets.

As therefore a most cruel persecution is soon to follow, and all sorts of other means will likewise be employed by that monster of iniquity, Antichrist, to force the worship of his pretended divinity upon the world, the Almighty sends a most strong and pathetic admonition to mankind to warn them against that seduction: "And I saw," says St. John, “another * The statue of Jupiter Olympius.

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