fifty undoubtedly intended to take Elijah prisoner, that Ahaziah might wreak his vengeance on him, for the insulting message Elijah had sent him. 2 Kings. i. 6. But they were killed by fire. The 250 men that gathered themselves together against Moses, perhaps meditated his death-certainly intended his overthrow; and they were also consumed by fire. And the beast from the bottomless pit, that shall slay these witnesses, shall himself be cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone-Rev, xix. 20. Thus whosoever will hurt them, will be killed by the same element of destruction which overwhelmed their former opponents.

Now, the description given of these two witnesses is completed. The reader will judge for himself which system of interpretation is to be preferred,-that which adheres to the plain obvious import of the language, and seeks its meaning not in the regions of fancy, but in the sober relation of facts, or that which gives the reins to the imagination, and allows it to make any selection out of the whole chamber of its imagery, in which it can discover some faint resemblance to the simple truth which it rejects. To say that the Two Testaments have now or ever had "power to shut up heaven, turn water to blood, and smite the earth with plagues as often as they will," is to say that for which there is no authority whatever, no shadow of proof in either sacred or profane history. If, then, they have not these powers, they are not the Two Witnesses. Neither are the Waldenses nor Albigenses-nor would they ever have had this honour conferred upon them, had not a system of prophetical interpretation arisen which seemed anxious to make faith in the word of God as easy as possible, and to accomplish its object, stripped it of every thing marvellous by the simple method of renouncing the literal sense, and deciding that words of plain and well defined meaning should henceforth be regarded as metaphors, and their interpretation be figurative. This point being gained, and imagination called upon to apply those new principles of Hermaneutics, she amuses herself with brilliant displays of illustration,—dazzles and bewilders the unthinking

multitude, but not instructs them, and not unfrequently brings the word of God into contempt. Alas! that so much darkness and obscurity should be brought upon the best of books by a false system of interpretation.

Let us now consider the ministry of these two servants of God, together with their martyrdom and final departure out of the world. 1. The nature of their ministry: this declared v. 3. They shall prophecy, i. e. not merely declare events shortly to take place, but preach righteousness also. They shall especially seek to convince their brethren, that Jesus of Nazareth, whom their fathers slew, and hanged on a tree, but whom God raised from the dead, and set at His own right hand in the heavenly places, is the Messiah promised in the holy Scriptures that he will soon appear in glory to take vengeance on all them who know not God, and obey not His Gospel, and set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, Dan. ii. 44. They will then exhort them with all earnestness to seek his favor, by a timely repentance and faith; to kiss the Son lest He be angry, and they perish in the way when He cometh forth out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity. But as Paul "who mightily convinced the Jews out of the Scriptures, showing that Jesus was the Christ," found them "slow to believe what their prophets had written," so these two witnesses will find that the stubborn unbelief of eighteen centuries will hardly yield to the testimony of those who have come from the world of spirits; they will therefore afflict their souls before God, for the unbelief of their brethren, and put on the outward badge of humiliation and grief, viz. sackcloth v. 3, which the prophets under O. T. frequently wore in seasons of threatening danger, or spiritual declension.

2. The duration of their ministry is next declared, v. 3. a thousand two hundred and sixty days. A very important question here arises, viz.-whether these are literal or prophetical days. A prophetical day is a year, Ezek. iv. 6; a literal day twentyfour hours. How can we decide which is intended. We here apply that great principle of interpretation,

that key which unlocks many mysteries, viz., depart not from the literal sense unless driven from it by neces sity; or in other words, do not make metaphors or symbols out of plain expressions, unless the first and simplest meaning of them is either contrary to other parts of the word of God, or impossible in itself. Now 1260 literal days, or three and an half years in the first and simplest meaning of the words convey a very natu ral and reasonable idea. That the period of their ministry should be limited, is in perfect accordance with the past. Christ's was limited, and was, as is generally believed, three and a half years. John Baptist's was limited, and was probably of about the same duration, and in this short time they each accomplished a great work. Why then should three and a half years, or 1260 literal days be deemed too short a period for Moses and Elias to fulfil their important embassy of witness bearing, and at the close of the present dispensation, to sound the midnight cry, Behold the bridegroom cometh? Certainly if literal persons are intended by these two witnesses (as we think has been satisfactorily shown) then literal days best comports with the period assigned them to finish their testimony. Three and a half years of laborious and useful service has often been perform ed by men as witness bearers for God; but 1260 years never has been by any individual. Does not, then, the history of the past unite with the first and plainest rule of interpretation, to decide in favour of literal days?

This period having expired, these faithful servants of God are called upon to seal their testimony with their blood, v. 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." This verse introduces several topics of grave consideration. Who is this beast? From whence does he come? Why does he make war on these two witnesses? The last of these enquiries leading more directly to the exposition of the succeeding verses, we will endeavour to reply to first. To the question, then, Why does the beast make war on these two witnesses? we reply, The first reason is contained

in verse 10, "because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” And here we must pause for a moment to notice a further confirmation of the opinion we have already expressed, that these two witnesses are literal persons. In addition to the personal powers ascribed to them in verse 6, "to shut up heaven," &c., personal official titles are here applied; they are called Prophets. Now this title is never applied, in the Scriptures, to an impersonal object. Prophets, in Scripture language, always mean men, never mere things; and when these two witnesses are expressly declared to be prophets, and to do the work of prophets, is it not making almost as cruel a war upon them as the beast does, to strip them of that literal existence with which the Holy Ghost has clothed them, and reduce them to non-entities?-if this is not "handling the word of God deceitfully," then we are at a loss to know when this sin can be committed.

But how will these two witnesses, now declared to be prophets, torment them that dwell on the face of the earth? We answer, by the exercise of the powers ascribed to them, verse 6, "to shut up heaven that it rain not," to turn water to blood, and afflict with plagues, &c. We can hardly suppose that the sacred writer would have been so particular in noticing the fact that these two witnesses possessed these powers if they never were to be exercised, but always to lie dormant within them; but they having formerly possessed them, and exercised them, and still possessing them, and perhaps on this account having been deemed the most suitable persons to despatch on their extraordinary mission, the record of this fact is very important: it furnishes them with their credentials. As Christ, in Luke iv. 16 -21, referred the Jews to Isaiah lxi. 1-3, and said, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears," so so may these Two Prophets, in the exercise of their powers, refer to this very prophecy in confirmation of their mission and as evidence that their testimony should be received. And why should it be thought more strange that Elijah should chastise an ungodly enemy at this time with famine, the necessary consequence of

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drought, than at a former time? He punished Ahab in this manner for his unprecedented wickedness. Ahab withstood him and he shut up heaven against him, and by the powerful testimony he bore for God and against Baal, (1 Kings xviii. 30-40,) proved a real tormentor to Ahab, so that this monster of wickedness, sensible that the disasters which befel him proceeded from Elijah, charged him with being a troubler of Israel. (1 Kings xviii. 17.) Or why should it be thought a strange thing that Moses should deal with this beast at this time, as he formerly did with Pharaoh-afflict him with plagues one after another? Moses continually insisted that Jehovah was the only true God, and by the proof he furnished of this this, and the plagues he brought, proved also Pharaoh's tormentor. Here then is a reason why this beast should make war on these two prophets, their tormentors; expecting by their death to be relieved from their testimony, and escape the further infliction of their judgments: so Pharaoh and Ahab reasoned, and therefore sought the lives of their tormentors; and it is not therefore surprising that this beast, a greater monster still in iniquity, should, reasoning in the same manner, make war upon them.

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But how mysterious are the ways of God, and His Judgments past finding out." He who formerly rescued these prophets from the vengeance of incensed potentates, now delivers them up to the infuriated rage of the most vehement and virulent of all his foes. "The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war upon them and overcome them and kill them." v. 7. That such language as this should ever have been pressed into the service of those who maintain that the two witnesses are the two Testaments, seems almost incredible. What? the word of God overcome and slain! "All flesh is grass, &c., the grass withereth, but the word of the Lord endureth forever." If this be the written word, as from the suc ceeding clause, " and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you," seems to intended, then who will maintain that this has ever been unwritten? The papal church, however great her sin in perverting the