is exhibited to us with strong colours by the prophet Jeremy: Howl, ye shepherds," says he, "and cry: and sprinkle yourselves with ashes, ye leaders of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and dispersion are accomplished, and you shall fall like precious vessels. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the leaders of the flock to save themselves," xxv. 34, 35. But this persecution was to be distinguished in a particular manner by the martyrdom of the two great messengers of Christ, his two witnesses, Henoch and Elias. Their Saviour and master had assigned them 1260 days, or three years and a half, to prophecy or to perform the function of his special ministers; during which time he screened them. from all attempts of Antichrist and other enemies. But that period being now elapsed, he withdraws that special protection from them, and requires that they shall finish their work by sealing it with their blood. He therefore delivers them over into the power of Antichrist.

Chap. xi. 7. And when they (the two witnesses) shall have finished their testimony," says St. John, "the beast, that ascendeth out of the abyss, shall make war against them, and shall overcome them and kill them." Henoch and Elias then having finished their testimony, or time appointed them to give testimony to Christ by their preaching, they are to be put to death by order of Antichrist, who is impelled to it by Satan, the beast that ascendeth out of the abyss, or bottomless pit.

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V. 8. And their bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, which is called, spiritually, Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord also was crucified." Their dead bodies lie exposed in the streets of the great city, which is Jerusalem, as appears by what is added, where their Lord was crucified; and our Saviour had said: "it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem." Luke xiii. 33. Jerusalem is styled, spiritually or mystically, Sodom and Egypt: Sodom, because, as that city was burned by fire from heaven for its iniquities, so was Jerusalem doomed by heaven to be burned by the Romans in consequence of its crucifying its Lord. Jerusalem is also styled Egypt, in allusion to the persecutions the Jews suffered under the Pharaohs in Egypt, and which they will suffer in a more severe manner at Jerusalem under Antichrist.

V. 9. "And they of the tribes, and peoples, and tongues, and nations, shall see their bodies for three days and a half: and they shall not suffer their bodies to be laid in sepulchres. V. 10. "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 upon the earth. For three days and a half the bodies of Henoch and Elias will remain exposed to the sight of an infinite multitude of people from all nations of the earth, who will be then in Jerusalem: nor will they suffer the bodies to be buried, for the hatred they will have conceived to the two holy prophets. Those that dwell on the earth, or the bad sort of people, will every where rejoice at their death, and will send presents to congratulate one another on being freed from such importunate preachers, and from the dreadful effects of their miraculous powers. But,

V. 11. "And after three days and a half," continues St. John, "the spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that saw them.

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V. 12. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them: come up hither. And they went up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them." Here we see the Almighty hand raising the two dead heroes to life; and they are called to the reward of their labours, a happy immortality; their enemies seeing them with astonishment mount into heaven. In fine,

V. 13. 66

And at that hour there was made a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and there were slain in the earthquakes names of men seven thousand: and the rest were cast into fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven." At the time that the two resuscitated martyrs will ascend to heaven, an earthquake will happen, which will throw down a tenth part of the city of Jerusalem, and destroy seven thousand of Antichrist's adherents, who deserve no more than the mere name of men. But those that remain will be struck with terror, will acknowledge the hand of the Almighty in this dreadful event, and, deserting the wicked party, will be converted to God. Such will be the glorious triumph of Henoch and Elias. It will happen some time before the close of the persecution; because the period of their ministry is the same in length with that of the persecution, viz. three years and a half, and they had employed some share of their time in converting the Jews before the persecution commenced.

Whether some nations of Africa will revolt from the dominion of the Antichristian tyrant, or whatever else will be the provocation, it seems that he will himself also carry his arms into that country. This appears from a passage of the

prophet Daniel, which St. Jerom and some other ancient interpreters have so understood.

Chap. xi. 40.

And at the time prefixed," says Daniel, the king of the south (the king of Egypt) shall fight against him, and the king of the north (Antichrist) shall come against him like a tempest, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with a great navy, and he shall enter into the countries, and shall destroy, and pass through.

V. 41. “And he shall enter into the glorious land, and many shall fall: and these only shall be saved out of his hand Edom and Moab, and the principality of the children of Ammon

V. 42. And he shall lay his hand upon the lands: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

▼ 43 "And he shall have power over the treasures of gold, and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt: and he shall pass through Lybia and Ethiopia." During these

Matt.

V. 44. And tidings out of the east, and out of the north shall trouble him: and he shall come with a great multitude to destroy and slay many." Antichrist will be alarmed with things out of the east and out of the north, probably of nations revolting against him, as the sixth age is full of such confusion, according to that of our Saviour: "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." rur. 7. The exasperated tyrant will therefore leave Africa, and proceed with his prodigious army into Asia, the provinces of which lie to the east and north of Egypt, and there he will destroy and say many. He is yet in the full gale of prosperity, and therefore will bear down all before him. Among his present Asiatic expeditions, it seems he will vent his rage a second time against Jerusalem. Provoked, perhaps, that such a number of his partisans had perished in the earthquake which happened at the triumph of Henoch and Elias, and that the rest had deserted him to become the servants of God, he will lay siege to Jerusalem, and take it, as we learn from the prophet Zachary

Chap. xiv. 1. Behold the days of the Lord shall come, and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee.

V. 2. And I will gather all nations to Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses shall be rifled, and the women shall be defiled: and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the rest of the people shall not be

Or one of his generals.

taken away out of the city." On this occasion the prophet informs us that some Jews will be found in Antichrist's army; for he says, v. 14, “And even Juda shall fight against Jerusalem."

Antichrist thus goes on, regaling himself with the destruction and havoc he makes every where, and drenching himself with the blood of martyrs. But, notwithstanding all the miseries of war, famine, pestilence, &c. that at this period like a torrent poured in upon mankind, notwithstanding the unparalleled tyranny of the furious beast, notwithstanding that these excessive calamities are known to proceed from the avenging justice of an angry God; still, who would believe it the wicked remain incorrigible, and those that have basely sunk into the abomination of idolatry, take not warning to retrieve themselves, but continue hardened in their iniquity. For thus speaks St. John,

Chap. ix. 20. "And the rest of the men, who were not slain by these plagues, did not do penance from the works of their hands, that they should not adore devils, and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk.

V. 21.

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Neither did they penance from their murders, nor from their sorceries, nor from their fornications, nor from their thefts."

Antichrist having, by the strength of his armies and by the assistance of the infernal associates, borne down all opposition, we may now view him raised up to the pinnacle of human glory, to the summit of power. He reigns the greatest monarch the world ever saw, and a short period of time has carried him through all his conquests, and placed him upon a throne that commands the whole earth. He has prevailed upon or compelled a great part of mankind to adore him as a god, and of those that refused he has sacrificed an infinite number to his rage and jealousy. But, unhappy being! now approaches the period which the Supreme Being, the Almighty, has fixed to his dominion. The three years and a half allowed him to tyrannize over mankind, are now expiring. And it had been pronounced: "judgment shall sit, that his power may be taken away, and be broken in pieces, and perish even to the end." Dan. vii. 26. Intoxicated however with pride and power, and stimulated by Satan, he pursues his former resolution to suffer no rival, but to contend for superiority with the Sovereign of heaven, contemning what he had heard from the Christians, that all power shall be wrested from him by Christ, and him

shall be found written in the book of life, as St. John has just told us; which indicates, that few will stand the trial and gain the crown of martyrdom, in comparison to the number of those who will give up the cause.- -Then Daniel asked,

V. 6. How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? V. 7. "And I heard," says he, "the man, that was clothed in linen, that stood upon the waters of the river, when he had lifted up his right hand, and his left hand to heaven, and had sworn by Him who liveth for ever, that it should be unto a time, and times, and half a time.”

Here, then, the answer is given in the most solemn manner, and God called to witness, (which shows the importance of the thing,) that this dreadful period will last for a time, and times, and half a time, or three years and a half. That by the expression of a time, the prophet means a year, appears from another passage, where the same prophet, speaking of the sentence the Almighty had passed upon Nabuchodonosor, he says: "They shall cast thee out from among men, and thy dwelling shall. be with cattle and with wild beasts, and thou shalt eat grass as an ox, and shall be wet with the dew of heaven and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." Dan. iv. 22. The seven times here fixed for the duration of that proud king's punishment are acknowledged by all interpreters to mean seven years. The same period of three years and a half, as we have before observed, is given to the persecution by St. John, when he says: And the holy city they shall tread under foot two and forty months." Apoc. xi. 2. Here it is expressed in months, and again in the same manner: "and power was given to him (Antichrist) to do two and forty months." Apoc. xiii. 5. We likewise see the same period expressed in days for the duration of Henoch's and Elias's preaching, which may be naturally supposed to equal the time of the Church's oppression: "And I will give unto my two witnesses and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty dava." Apoc. xi. 3. In fine, Daniel, speaking of the Church's sufferings at this time, says: from the time when the continual sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination unto desolation shall be set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days," xii. 11. Upon which St. Jerom writes thus:-" Therefore from the time that the continual sacrifice shall be taken away, and that Antichrist, being master of the world, shall prohibit the worship of God,

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