Of the four first apocalyptic trumpets. THE seven apocalyptic trumpets may be divided into the four, which prepare the way for the revelation of the man of sin; and the three, which comprehend the whole history of the Apostasy in its dominant state. both in the Fast and in the West, and which are styled woe-trumpets. The silence at the opening of the se- venth seal indicates the anxious expectation of the troubles about to be produced by the sounding of the trumpets, By the sounding of the four first trumpets, he, that letted or prevented the revelation of the man of sin, is taken out of the way. p. 3. 1. At the sounding of the first trumpet, the northern nations, 4. At the sounding of the fourth, the Roman empire, considered as one great whole, experiences an eclipse of its power and splendor, by the downfall of its western half. p. 21. II. Statement of the grounds, on which this explanation of the four first trumpets is adopted in preference to that of Bp. Newton. p. 23. Of the three last apocalyptic trumpets, or, as they are peculiarly styled, the three woe-trumpets. THE prophecy here divides itself into two distinct lines, treating severally of the eastern and western branches of the great Apostasy. The first of the three woe-trumpets describes the commencement of the dominance of the two-fold Apostasy: the second second represents it in the zenith of its power, until the primary and only partial manifestation of Antichrist: the third exhibits its downfall, displaying at the same time the multiplied horrors of the harvest and the vintage of the Lord, or the uncontrouled reign of the atheistical king and his subsequent destruction along with the other enemies of God. p. 27. CHA P. IX. Concerning the effects of the two first woe-trumpets in the East. AT T the sounding of the fifth trumpet, or the first woetrumpet, in the East, the apostate star Sergius opens the door of the bottomless pit, and lets out the impos tor Mohammed with his Saracenic locusts. p. 30. 7 2. At 2. At the sounding of the sixth trumpet, or the second woetrumpet, the four sultanies of the Turkish horsemen are loosed from the river Euphrates; and, in due sea-. son, slay the third part of men, or subvert the Constantinopolitan monarchy. p. 37. CHAP. X. Contents of the little book-History of the western Apostasy under the three woe-trumpets. THE little book comprehends the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth, chapters of the Revelation. The chapters, in point of chronology, run parallel to each other, forming a complete history of the western Apostasy. p. 46. 1. The first describes the prophesying of the witnesses during the 1260 years. p. 47. 2. The second describes the war of the infernal dragon with the mystic woman the Church, during the same pe riod. p. 48. 3. The third describes the actions of the two apocalyptic beasts during the same period. p. 48. 4. The fourth describes the internal state of the true Church. during the same period, and the harvest and the vintage of God's wrath. p. 49. The contents therefore of the little book may be properly divided into five sections: 1. The prophesying of the witnesses; 2. The war of the dragon with the woman; 3. The history of the ten-horned beast of the sea; 4. The history of the twohorned beast of the earth; 5. The collateral history of the true Church, of the Reformation, and of the harvest and vintage of God's wrath. p. 50. SECT. SECT. I. Concerning the prophesying of the two witnesses. I. THE little book commences with the year 606, or with the beginning of the first woe-trumpet. What is meant by measuring the temple, and not measuring the outer court of the Gentiles. p. 51. II. Prophetic character of the two witnesses. p. 53. 1. They cannot be any two individuals. Neither are they the Old and New Testaments. Bp. Newton is perfectly right in the spirit, though not quite accurate in the letter, of his interpretation of their character. They are certainly two churches. Throughout the whole Apocalypse, the idea of a twofold Church of Christ is constantly preserved: the Church before, and the Church after, the advent of our Lord. The two witnesses literally represent these two Churches, forming jointly the faithful Church general: but spiritually they mean the mystical children of the universal Church, those that are Israelites indeed. p. 54. 2. The circumstance of their being said to prophesy is no objection to the supposition, that they symbolize all God's faithful witnesses during the prevalence of the Apostasy. In what sense they shut up heaven, and smite the earth with plagues, during the time of their prophesying. p. 58. ` 3. In what sense they are said to have only one mouth. p. 61: III, Nature of the death, revival, and ascension, of the two witnesses. p. 62. 1. Their death. p. 63. (1.) Their death denotes their ceasing to be witnesses. p. 63. (2.) The time of their death is, when they are drawing near to the close of their prophesying, but before the soundjng of the seventh trumpet. p. 64. 3 3.) The |