temple built by the Jews, after their return to the Holy Land, where, according to the prophetical appointment of Ezekiel, the worship by burnt offerings shall be again resumed, (see Ezekiel, xxxvii., xliii. v. 1, 17, 18; see also Isaiah, lxvi. 19, 23,) and there shall be but one church, and one religion, for both Jews and Gentiles. -We shall now point out to the reader the chronological order of the seals, and trumpets, and vials, as it is exhibited to us in the narrative of the Revelations. In chap. vi. we have a typical narrative in order of the first six seals. Chapters viii. and ix. detail to us the history of the seventh seal, setting forth in successive emblematical pictures the stories of its trumpets, leaving us in the middle of the story of the sixth, or second woe trumpet. In chap. x. an angel appears to inform us when the seventh trumpet shall blow; which we shall find happen in the narrative of chap. xi., at v. 15, at a time when the temple of God was opened in heaven; which latter event, again, took place, as the reader will see, immediately upon the time when the angels came out of the temple so opened, to pour out their vials of wrath upon the earth. If this be not chronological order, according to the scheme of the sealed book as we have pointed it out, we know not what chronological order is.-Exhibited in a tabular view, the chronological arrangement of the sealed large book will stand as below:

The beautiful simplicity of this common-sense arrangement, however, does not suit Mr Irving's views of interpretation. "We conclude," says he, "that Christ took to him his great power, and reigned at the opening of the seventh seal, and the blast of the seventh trumpet, or at the ending of the 1260 years, which we have shewn to be in the year 1792, the year of the French Revolution." According to Mr Irving, then, the seventh trumpet blew at the opening of the seventh seal; and, therefore, the six preceding trumpets must have formed a part of some one or more of the six preceding seals. But we ask, what will common sense, reading the eighth and ninth chapters of Daniel, say of such an arrangement as this of Mr Irving's? Will it not be bold to tell him, that not one of the seven trumpets began to blow till after the seventh seal was opened; and that the different successive portions of profane history fulfilling the different successive portions of prophetical narrative under the seven trumpets, respectively make up the whole portion of profane history and prophetical narrative comprehended under the seventh seal? Bishop Newton has, like

Mr Irving, explained the seventh seal as already accomplished; but he has escaped the necessity of perverting the simple arrangement above given, if ever, indeed, he would have done so, by interpreting the sixth seal of the time of Constantine the Great; whereas Mr Irving explains it of the history of Europe between the years 1789 and 1792,—the opening of the seventh seal, as we have quoted above, being, according to him, in the latter of these years: a very likely story, that the seventh part of a period of history beginning in the earliest ages of Christianity, and extending, even according to Mr Irving, to the year 1847 at least, should all be comprehended in a period of three years. We look upon the thing as quite preposterous. The reader, however, from several hints which we shall throw before him in our Second Dissertation, will find great reason to conclude that the seventh seal is not yet opened, and that not a single trumpet has poured forth its notes of alarum upon the earth. To give the reader some idea of Mr Irving's arrangement of the seals and trumpets and vials, we shall set it before him, like our own, in a tabular form; requesting him to keep in mind, that Mr Irving reckons the trumpets "parallel with the seals, though not exactly contemporaneous," and ranks the vials all under the seventh trumpet:

From this tabular view it will be seen at a single glance, that in the arrangement of the trumpets and vials, Mr Irving has followed two principles altogether different; whereas in ours, which has been given above, the same principle of arrangement is followed in regard to both: and so we leave our readers to judge which of the two is most consonant with the text of the Apocalypse, and that simplicity which shines so conspicuous in the works of the Almighty.

As the explication of the typical narrative of the seals is not the object of this work, which concerns more the apostacies revealed in the open little book, we must proceed straightway to the perusal of its contents.

CHAPTER X.-St John here informs us that he saw another mighty angel come down from heaven —a messenger of peace to the sons of men, the proclaimer of the era when the mystery of God should be finished-clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow upon his head, the tokens of the covenant of peace between God and the earth. This angel, says St John, had in his hand a little book open, not sealed like the larger book, because the revelations of the two Antichristian powers are more explicit in the former than in the latter. The angel set his

This

right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth. What this is designed to intimate, we know not, unless it be that the information which he is about to communicate has a relation to both the Antichristian powers the beast of chap. xiii. 1, 2, which is typical of the first, or papal, arising out of the sea; that which is typical of the second, Rev. xiii. 11, out of the earth: and the similarity of the attitude and oath of this angel, to those of the man clad in linen which was upon the waters of the river Hiddekel, and who proclaims the close of the papal period, is perhaps intended to convey to us, that the angel in this chapter reveals something concerning the Antichristian powers; for although the man clothed in linen which was upon the waters of the river Hiddekel, had not one foot upon the water and the other upon the land, yet, immediately before he makes his proclamation, two men make their appearance, one of whom stood upon the land-side of the bank (lip, shore) of the river, the other upon the water; the latter of whom, according to the version of Tremellius, asked of the man clothed in linen, how long it should be to the end of the wonders? and was answered by a formula, containing in it the elements for determining the date of the close of the papal period, whose beast arose out of the sea; the two men intimating the same thing in this case, by their standing upon land and water, as the angel in this tenth chapter intimates by standing upon land and sea. latter angel swears by an oath, from which we can gather nothing, "that there should be time no longer," (or, as Bishop Newton says it may be rendered, "the time shall not be yet;")" but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." Adopting the rendering of Bishop Newton, then, from what we have explained above we may paraphrase the revelation of the angel as follows:-Do not imagine that the close of the papal period, as revealed by the formula given by the man clad in linen which was upon the waters of the river, is the close of the prevalence of all Antichristian powers, for another power is yet to succeed to the papal, both going under the name of MYSTERY, as is intimated by the title upon the forehead of the great whore that sitteth on many waters. The power of the papal HARLOT is indeed closed at the end of the period contained in the mystical formula of chap. xii. 7, of Daniel; but the power of the ABOMINATION OF THE EARTH is yet to make its appearance-which, also, shall be finished in the days of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound. In accordance with the exposition we have here given, we have the seventh trumpet beginning to sound at chap. xi. 15, after a long narrative of acts, commencing with v. 3, and ending with v. 13 of the same; which, we will endeavour to shew, relate to the second Antichristian power, or abomination that maketh desolate, at a time when the temple of God is to be opened in heaven, Revelations, xi. 19,-at a time immediately previous to the pouring out of the seven vials, one of which, (the fifth,) as we shall shew, falls upon the seat of the beast, or the city of Rome, at a time corresponding to the beginning of v. 40 of chap. xi. of Daniel, of the narra

tive of the wilful king, which is called the "time of the end," "tempus constitutum," " temps marqué," and which closes the 1260 years, during which, as we shall shew in the exposition of the next chapter, in our Second Dissertation, the power of the abomination that maketh desolate continues to prosper and prevail: for we may observe here, that Tremellius has, at the beginning of v. 40 of chap. xi. of Daniel, not apud, but sub, there being 75 years between the end of the 1260 and that of the 1335 years, at the close of which the first resurrection is to be, when Daniel is to stand in his lot, and when the seventh vial shall be poured out, and the whole narrative of the large sealed book, as we mentioned before, shall have come to a close.-Concerning the date when the 1260 years of the supremacy of the abomination that maketh desolate shall begin to run its course, we shall speak in the second part of our work, when we come to treat of that power.

CHAPTER XI.-There is but little of this chapter which at present concerns the papal power during the period of its supremacy. "And there was given me a reed like unto a rod and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not, for it is given unto the Gentiles; and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months."The act of giving a reed to St John, telling him to measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein, is intended to intimate the consecration of these; shewing, that whilst the rest of Christendom is overrun with papal errors during the "forty and two months," there are yet a certain number dedicated to the true worship of God. The Jewish city and temple of Jerusalem is here made use of as an emblem to represent the Christian church. In the time of the Mosaic worship, the outer court of the temple was open to the Gentiles, and it is here left unconsecrated to be trodden by Christians in name, but Gentiles in real character: the "forty and two months" here mentioned is the very expression which is made use of in Rev. xiii. 5, to convey the period of domination of the papal beast described in v. 1, 2, of that chapter. As the remainder of this chapter concerns another Antichristian power than the papal, it falls to be expounded in the second part of the work.

CHAPTER XII.-This and the succeeding chapter afford two of the finest examples of typification that are to be found in the whole of the scriptures, and at the same time two of the best exercises for interpretation to the young student of prophecy. For these reasons, we shall take some pains to make them practical examples, for shewing to him the application of the true principles of the exposition of prophetical types; setting down nothing concerning them from the speculations of others, but drawing every explanation, as far as possible, from the scriptures themselves. Verse 1- "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars and she

being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” Now, we shall see immediately that it was none other than our Saviour to whom the woman is represented to have given birth; consequently, at the time when the woman is represented as travailing in birth, the twelve apostles of the Christian church had no existence. The twelve stars with which the woman was crowned while she was travailing in birth, could not be typical of things which then had no being; the stars must therefore be taken to denote the twelve tribes of Israel, and the woman to represent the true church of God, both under the Jewish and the Christian dispensations. She is a representative of the Jewish church as travailing in birth of our Saviour, because we are told by St Luke, chap. xvi. 16, that "the law and the prophets were until John; since that time the kingdom of God is preached" and the reader will see, from the first chapter of Luke, that there was but six months of difference between the age of St John the Baptist and our Saviour; and he will also see, that our Saviour did not enter upon his ministry till after St John had commenced preaching in the wilderness, at the time when Christ, Luke, iii. 23, began to be about thirty years of age." Moreover, at her feet the woman is represented with the moon, the symbol, most likely, of the ordinances of the Jewish church. We shall be nearer the truth, however, if we take the woman herself, without any accompaniment, to denote the true church in general, the light of the world, like the sun; and to understand her, along with her accompaniments of the twelve stars and moon, as a symbol of the Jewish church; for as we have her mentioned in v. 6, without any insignia, she must undoubtedly be taken to signify the true church, as we shall see, under the Christian covenant. Verse 3—" And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth; and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne." Here we have another type of something" a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads." What is the prototype of this ? What earthly power is this the representative of? We have no explanation given us in this chapter as to what the dragon is symbolical of. In Rev. xvii., however, we have an angel explaining to the evangelist the meaning of the seven heads and ten horns upon the scarletcoloured beast described there. We have no other resource, therefore, but to apply to the parts of the dragon those explanations which the angel gives to St John of the same parts of the scarlet-coloured beast. And, 1st, of the seven heads: "the seven heads," says the interpreting angel, Rev. xvii. 9, "are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth." What woman? what is the woman typical of? That great city, Rev. xvii. 18, which reigneth over the kings of the earth,- no other than the city of Rome, which standeth upon seven