in the epistle of Jude respecting this, which has very greatly perplexed commentators, viz, that Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil about the body of Moses, durst not bring a railing accusation against him, but only said, "The Lord rebuke thee." The wonder is, what the strife between the Prince of Angels and the Prince of Devils could be about, especially in relation to the body of Moses; and it has been supposed that the devil claimed that the body of Moses should, like the bodies of all others who have sinned, be committed to the earth, that it might undergo corruption; for perhaps he disbelieved or was ignorant of the doctrine of the resurrection; but that Michael disposed of it in another way, and that it has, by his power, ever since continued just as it was when the spirit departed from it, or has since been reanimated, and is now with the body of Elias; and that "these two anointed ones are still standing before the God of the whole earth," waiting for their commission to go and prophesy twelve hundred and sixty days in sackcloth and ashes. Certainly, at the transfiguration, Moses appeared with Elijah; and, if Moses is one of the two Witnesses, shall appear again with him to testify against the Man of Sin, and prepare the world for the second coming of the Saviour.

Almost all who admit that these two Witnesses are TWO PERSONS, admit that Elijah shall be one of them. His claim to this honor rests upon no less a foundation than a "Thus saith the Lord." The last verse of the Old Testament, the farewell declaration of God to the Jews, is this, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day

of the Lord, and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." From this passage of holy Scripture it was, that the disciples asked our Lord, "How say the scribes that Elias must first come ?" Christ replied, "Elias truly cometh first, and restoreth all things." John the Baptist had come in the spirit and power of Elias; but when he (i. e., John the Baptist,) was asked whether he was the Christ, he said no ; whether he was Elias, he answered, no; whether that Prophet spoken of by Moses, Deuteronomy, xviii. 15, he again replied, no; and when asked who he was, he said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord," as saith the Prophet Esaias, chapter xl. 3. Now the Prophet Malachi, iv. 5, to which John did not refer, prophesied of Elijah's coming before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, but the Prophet Esaias, xl. 3, of John the Baptist. There appears, therefore, to be an harbinger of the second coming as well as of the first spoken of in Prophecy; and the Prophecy of Malachi, which foretells the Prophet Elijah's coming, evidently refers to the second advent, which is the "great and dreadful day of the Lord, when He will come in flaming fire, to take vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of Christ."*

* Many have been sadly perplexed with the seeming contradiction between John the Baptist's positive denial that he was Elias, John, i. 21, and our Lord's equally positive assertion that he was, Matthew, xi. 14. Certainly we can not suppose that our Lord intended to assert that the son of Zecharias and Elisabeth, who was born only six months before His own incarnation, was Elijah the Tishbite, who was carried up into heaven more than

But some one will inquire, can it be supposed that so great a wonder as this will ever be witnessed on this earth, that two men, who have been so long separated from the living, and from the scenes of earth, shall again mingle with both? We answer, this is not more incredible than many other things that have taken place. An angel appeared to Lot, to warn him of the destruction of Sodom, that he might make his escape, and why should not two messengers be sent, at a period of such impending judgments, to warn the Jews of the coming of Him who will destroy Antichrist and all his followers with an awful overthrow? Such interpositions of Divine mercy have been frequent, as the history of the Church will show. Is it more incredible that Moses and Elias should appear just before the second coming of Christ, to bear witness for Him, than that they did appear at His first coming on the mount of Transfiguration ?

But it is asked, why Moses and Elias particularly, rather than any other two then living? We answer, there

seven hundred years before. What, then, was his meaning? Was it not the same with that which the angel declared to his parents before his birth, Luke, i. 17, "he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias?" If so, then the question arises, Does this interpretation so exhaust the Prophecy of Malachi, (which foretells a personal coming of the Prophet Elijah,) that it was entirely fulfilled in John the Baptist's ministry, both in letter and spirit? or that it was fulfilled only in spirit, leaving the letter to be realized at some future period? If the latter, then there may be an Elias of the second coming, the veritable Tishbite himself, and there is no contradiction between the declaration of our Lord and that of His forerunner.

John's referring to Isaiah's prediction, and applying it (instead of Malachi's) to himself, seems also to show that he understood Isaiah's man to be a different person from Malachi's, acknowledging that he was the former's, but denying that he was the latter's. Thus both harmonize.

never were two prophets who enjoyed so great a reputation among the children of Israel as these two-Moses to the whole nation, and Elijah especially to the ten tribes, and there are none whose witness for truth and against error would be so powerful as theirs. They know Christ, (the true Messiah) for they saw Him on mount Tabor, and hence know the MAN of SIN to be Antichrist and a false Messiah. But even if we could not conceive of uny special reasons why they should be appointed Christ's witnesses against Antichrist, and be the harbingers of His second advent, yet if divine wisdom can see a sufficient cause, what are we, that we should reply against God?

Let us now proceed to consider the ministry of these two Witnesses, its duration, and its consequences to them. 1. They shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth and ashes. The time which is mentioned in days is three years and a half, about the same period as John the Baptist's ministry, and the same as our Lord's. It is also the same period as Antichrist's reign. 2. They shall be clothed in sackcloth and ashes, to denote the calamities of the times, and their deep affliction at the abounding wickedness. John the Baptist was clothed in camel's hair and had a leathern girdle, and his meat was locusts and wild honey. He had to contend against the false teaching of the scribes and doctors of the law, and the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, and finally fell a victim to his faithfulness in protesting against sin in high places. Moses and Elias will encounter a delusion greater than any that has ever yet appeared, viz., the artful pretension of an impostor and a

pretender to be the true Messiah, supported by signs and lying wonders. It appears that the two Witnesses, to prove their divine mission, will work some miracles, when Antichrist, to meet them on their own ground, will do the same. If they make fire to come down from heaven, he will do the same. This is an old device of Satan, viz., to counterfeit miracles.

When Moses first went in unto Pharaoh and showed the signs of his authority, the magicians (for a time) counterfeited them with their enchantments, but finally relinquished the contest and acknowledged it was the finger of God. So Antichrist, full of the power of Satan, will dispute the ground step by step with these two Witnesses. If they make fire to come down from heaven, he will do the same. Vide Revelations, xiii. 14. If they at last do something which he can not imitate, he will employ a new argument against them, the ultima ratio regum, the sword. So says the Prophecy, "the Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them and kill them." Pharaoh sought to do this to Moses, and Ahab to Elijah, but they escaped that time, only, it would seem, to fall at a future period by the hand of a more terrible foe. While Herod slew John the Baptist, and Pilate Christ.

The martyrdom of these two Witnesses shall take place in that city whose streets have been stained by the blood of martyrs for many ages, and of which Christ said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee." When slain, we are informed, verse 8, their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called