as should reasonably be expected. And therefore I am inclined to agree with Bishop Newton, that the final conflict of the beast with the witnesses, their death and resurrection, may be yet to come. The 1260 years, beginning from the Saracene invasion, are not yet elapsed; and in a prophecy, of which parts only are yet fulfilled, there must remain difficulties. Ver. 14. The second woe is past; &c.] The second woe appears, from this passage and its context, to be under the sixth Trumpet; and to be included in the period of 1260 years, which contains the greater part of the Mahometan and Papal times. But where is the third woe? Certainly not under that Trumpet; for it is here stated to "come, when the second woe is ended." But this woe ends with the completion of the sixth Trumpet: for, immediately after this declaration, that the third woe is coming, the seventh Trumpet sounds. The times, in which we now live, seem to be those of the latter end of the sixth Trumpet. I fear therefore that we must be led to conclude that the third woe or last dreadful conflict, in which the Christian cause shall suffer, is yet to come. More will be said on this subject, when the prophecy, which seems to foretel it, shall be explained *. ↑ See note, ch. xvi. 13. towards the end. PART THE APOCALYPSE, &c. PART IV. SECTION I. The Sounding of the seventh Trumpet. 45 ΚΑΙ ὁ έβδομος Copos ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισε, καὶ ἐγένοντο φωναί μεγάλαι ἐν τῷ ἐρανῷ, λέγοντες" Εγένετο ἡ βασιλεία τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, καὶ το Χριςᾶ αὐτῷ, καὶ βασιλεύσει εἰς τὰς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. 16Καὶ οἱ εἴκοσι τέσ σαρες πρεσβύτεροι οἱ ἐνώπιον τῷ Θε καθήμενοι ἐπὶ τὸς CHAP. XI. VER. 15-to the end. 15And the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The "kingdom of the world "is become our Lord's, "and his Anointed's ; "and he shall reign for 16" ever and ever." And the twenty-four elders, who were sitting before God upon their thrones, fell upon their faces, and worshipped Spórus autāv, iπe-17 God,saying; "We give "thanks to thee, O "Lord, the Almighty "God, which art and "hast been; because "thou hast taken unto "thee thy great power, "and hast reigned. 18" And the nations σαν ἐπὶ τὰ πρό σωπα αὑτῶν, καὶ προσεκύνησαν τῷ 17 Θεῷ, Λέγοντες" Ευτ χαρις μέν σοι, Κύ ὁ Θεὸς ὁ πανω τοκράτως, ὁ ὤν, ριε rörisïanpas τὴν δύναμίν σε τὴν "were wrathful, and 15And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever 16and ever. And the four-and-twenty elders which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and 17 worshipped God, Say ing, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast 18reigned. And the nations were angry, and ἔθνη ὠργίσθησαν, καὶ ἦλθεν ἡ ὀργή σε, καὶ ὁ καιρὸς τῶν νεκρῶν, κριθῆναι, καὶ δῆναι τὸν μισθὸν τοῖς δέλοις σε τοῖς προφήταις καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις καὶ τοῖς φο βυμένοις τὸ ὄνομά σε τοῖς μικροῖς κα τοῖς μεγάλοις, κ διαφθεῖξαι τις δια φθείροντας τὴν γῆν. 19 Καὶ ἠνοίγε ὁ ναὸς TO DE in ἐξανῶ, καὶ ὤφθη ή κιβωτός τῆς δια θήκης αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ ναῷ αὐτῷ· καὶ ἐγέ νοντο αςραπαὶ κα φωναὶ καὶ βρονταὶ καὶ σεισμὸς καὶ χάλαζα μεγάλη. "thy wrath is come, 66 Saints, and to those God was opened in Ver. 15. And the seventh angel sounded, and there. were loud voices in heaven, saying; &c.] The sound of the seventh Trumpet was become an object of expectation. It was the last Trumpet, the sabbatical one, which, after a long period of warfare, should bring rest and peace to the Church. The angel had solemnly declared, that "in the days of the voice of "the seventh angel, the mystery of God should be "finished *." Immediately therefore as the sound of this Trumpet is heard, heavenly voices hail the happy time, and announce the triumphant reign of God and of his Anointed. The twenty-four elders join the heavenly chorus, anticipating the joyful event, even before it is disclosed in prophetical vision. Thus the scene is suddenly removed from earth to heaven; where the same apparatus, and the same heavenly ministers appear, surrounding the throne of God, as in the fourth chapter. Ver. 18. The nations were wrathful.] This agrees with the opening of that august prophecy of our Lord's kingdom, in the second Psalm: Why do "the nations so furiously rage?" &c. The same subject is also magnificently displayed in the 110th Psalın. Ib. The season of the dead, for judgment to take place.] The received translation expresses that the dead are to be judged at this time. But this does not appear the whole import of the original: for, before the great day of retribution, when the literally dead shall be raised from their graves, and appear before the judgment-scat, (as in ch. xxii. 12.) another kind of judgment is to be expected; that by which the inequalities in the distribution of justice are, under the earthly reign of Christ, to be rectified. Κρισιν τοις έθνεσι επαίγελει, " He shall utter judgment to the nations," was the prophetic designation of our Lord* All judgment was committed to him" by the Father f; and his right to exercise it, took place from his crucifixion : but this judgment was suspended for a time, I gas aula pe§, and was not to be exercised, in plenitude of power, till the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled ; and this judgment, though not perfected in all its parts before Matt. xii. 18. 4 Acts viii. 33. + John v. 22. John xii. 31. the the great and last day, (which is also comprehended under this Trumpet,) yet, is first to be displayed, in the destruction of the corrupt worldly powers, and the restoration of a purer religion and morality. This display of Christ's judgment on earth we shall yet behold under this Trumpet; and the jubilant songs of the heavenly choir evidently refer to it. "The "time of the dead," may likewise signify (in that metaphorical sense in which the word death, &c. is frequently used) the time when pure Religion, dead and buried, as it had been with the witnesses, shall revive and flourish. But no final opinion can be passed on an unfulfilled prophecy, before the event shall direct the interpretation. Ver. 19. The ark of his covenant was seen in his Temple.] "The Ark of the Covenant" (the sacred coffer, so called, because it contained the tables of the Covenant, into which God had deigned to enter with the ancient Church) was deposited in the "tabernacle, called the holiest of all *." This interior part of the temple, accessible under the law to none but the high-priest, is now opened; and the ark is exhibited to view. Jesus Christ, the only Highpriest, and Mediator of the New Covenant, who had here deposited his New Covenant of Mercy, even "the everlasting Gospel;" who had broken down the partition excluding the Gentiles from its benefits; who alone could enter the Holy of Holies; grants it to be exhibited. As the walls of the idolatrous Jericho fell before the ark of the Old Covenant, so will the corrupt Babylon before this. But that which seems more immediately to be signified under this exhibition, is the restoration of the Gospel; of the Christian Religion, |