The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 264

HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-H.-" My t'WO witnesses." Following on the reception of the li~tle bQoit from the !lllgel's hand, the seer. is direc~d to measure the temple of G,od, pie altar, 'and the worshippers. The outer court is not t.o be measured; for it, with the lioly cit,, is to be trampled underfoot forty-two months. During this period ( or & .like period) ·thiire are to be two witnesses for God, clothljd- in sackcloth, who, though tJiey have power with God,. are .slighted by men ; against them a great onrush is to be m,ade. · They ate sUen~e4, and that effectually, by being put to death. The honour of burial 'is not to be th~i(s: . This the world, refuses~ Rejoicing that it has stilled their disturb~ voice~, tluilr~ies are to lie exposed, and the helplessness of their cause is· to be :the subject of' :me~iment and ridicule. But lo I after ii period of three days and a hil.1(, tlley agaih come ·,:O life, to the terror of their persecutors. Their ascension followe· on their rilsurr~tion. As they have been made partakers of the sufferings.of Christ; so also ll,l'~ they of the glory that should follow. What does all this signify? 1:)ean Alford declares that ~ 110lution has 88 yet 1,een given of it. The late Bishop M Mancl;i.ester (Dr. Fraser) says, "I have no interpretation of this vision, nor any but tb:e most v~ue. e.p.d general key to its meaning.~ 1 Those who regard the tenth chapter 88 indioati;v'! qf tne RefQnnation look at this o?e as pointing out the ma~ featu~es .of_ th~ ,l!Foo.h wqf.~p. should follow it. We readily, 88 we have often done m previous honiilies, reeogi:nze the correspondence- between prophecy and event. This is what we Diigh't 'expect, But the correspondence is not such as to warrant us in saying that this or that event ~ is fuW.ment of the Word, althouah it may be a partial one. Nor is it in any 9ne'.s power fo decide when the twefve hundred and sixty days begin. II they represent 811 many years, and are, according to the prophecy, t.o follow on from the eYe~t& in the preceding chapter, and if. those ev1mts signify the Reformation, then '#)ere· are twelve hundred and sixty years to follow on the Reformation. In other wor~ lfe are at least seven hundred, or nine hundred years from the end. But w~ h"ve;long ago given up this, sort of attempt to assign dates, as at once impractJcable and'.' unprp- fitable,' _We see in the chapter before us a sym,bolic setting-forth of that whi<;h ie e-y;er, ever fii\lilling itself :JMin and again before our eye.1 It; is a stay t.o our faith to 1t~y the ptinciples here disclosed. , . · ,.. J: THE EXTENT. A.ND LIMIT 011' ,THE TBUE 0mm.oH 011' GoD ARE OLEA.BLY DEFil'[JD. on~ (Vers. l, 2.) At the time of this prophecy the literal t~mple wl,'S no more. The h9ly cit:y was defiled by the ".abominl\tion of desolation." Then the true temple,~\' true holy city, existed in "the Church of the living God.11 The outer enclosure is,~pt t.o -~ reckoned as a part of the temple in this divinely appointed remeasurement.: -~ thiii most impressively sets forth the fact that Zion's external buildings cov~r , ~m;ih wit½r.'spaoe than the real heart-worshippers whom God will own. Tkere nu,iy 'be.,~d there are, large massea of people at the outer fringe of our Christian service.s. ' 'B~t, ii 1 Snpplement to the Oambridge ~ . October 22, 1884. . : , , ,, ·: ,, ,;,,a• 1 .. The gospel has elevated the histozy and pJ.aoes of the past into a grand allegorr, ,u.il, bziea.thed int.o their dead namea the lit'11 of au Her-applicable &ymboliam" (Bishop ·Oaqion1er, tn loo.). !96 THE REVELATION OJ' BT. JOHN THE DIVINE. [OH. :u. 1-19.