by John Thomas

“ Now, no interpretation of prophecy is worth anything which is not sustained by facts; for prophecy is not a prediction of opinions, principles, or feelings, but of tangible and stubborn facts. What, then, are the facts in the case before us? ”

“ Thus, multitudes of witnesses are reduced to two; and the years of their prophesying, to days. It would have been a violation of the fitness of things to have made them testify for 1,260 years, because this is far beyond the duration of human life, which is the rule of speaking in the case. So in indicating the time of their unburied state, the real time must be expressed in accordance with the physical laws. A dead body might lie in the open air for "three days and a half" without disappearing; but not three years and a half, or three months and a half. ”

“ This empire, then, as a whole, is figuratively designated by the Spirit as Sodom and Egypt~as Sodom, because of its filthiness, and as Egypt, because of its darkness; and as Sodom and Egypt conjointly, because the fate of Sodom awaits Rome, and the judgments of Egypt, the nations that acknowledge its spiritual dominion.
The ten horns of the Roman Dragon are ten parts of this great city; the most ample of which, as will be seen by consulting a map of the Roman empire, is the realm of France. ”

“ What remains of this chapter will be occupied in explaining these words of the prophet, -- "The judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." (Dan 7:26) . The judgment sits upon the whole beast, and consists of slaying and burning. This distinction is preserved in the Apocalypse; for whilst the beast and false prophet are cast alive into a lake of fire, "the remnant," or the horns that remain, are "slain with the sword of him that sits upon the horse, which sword proceedeth out of his mouth." ”

“ A few words may be offered here respecting the time signified by "three days and a half," during which the two witnesses were deprived of political life. The Apocalypse as a whole is a miniature representation of "the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter" (Rev 1:1,19) ; that is, of things in existence while John was in Patmos, and of the things shortly to happen after he wrote, and until the setting up of the kingdom. Everything is exhibited on a smaller scale than the reality ”

“ It has fattened on the blood of the two witnesses in all countries of its dominion; and therefore the rule of the judgment is to "give them blood to drink, for they are worthy" (Rev 16:6) . This is the fate impending over Austria and all thrones which have given their power to execute the will of the Roman prophet.
But to this some may object, How can the saints execute the judgment written, (Psalm 149:5-9) seeing that the beast overcame them and killed them in the reign of Louis XIV ? It is very certain that they cannot, unless they are the subjects of a political resurrection ”

“ This great voice was the royal proclamation by which the States General were convened, and in which the witnesses took their seats as the third estate of the kingdom. They soon proved their existence there by the events which followed. They ascended to power in a portentous cloud, which burst upon the devoted heads of their enemies; and in the earthquake which followed they shook the world.
The resurrection of the Calvinist, and Secular, democracies, in the great city, constitutes a great and remarkable epoch in prophetic time. It was 1,260 years from A.D. 529. ”

“ A day of years, and a night of years, are each 360 years along; for as a day in symbolic time represents a year, or 360 days; so if the decorum of the symbol require it, each of these days may represent a year. ”