of David saith he They that render evil for good are mine Adversaries because I follow the thing that good is Oh what a dreadful account will these Enemies have when neither the wonderful Providences of God nor notable Disappointments nor Reformation nor Holiness in Churches and Saints can by any means turn them from their Enmity and opposition even against God himself And thus much for the explication of this 12th verse Let me add a few Uses and conclude USES 1. We are shewed that when the Witnesses are risen God calls them after a while to an higher pitch of Reformation I say After a while For their Resurrection as you have heard is gradual and when they are arrived so far that they stand upon their feet and have attained to some strength and stability then God calls them by a great Voice from Heaven to Come up higher and to approach nearer unto Heaven God doth not raise up his Witnesses that now they should sit down and content themselves to live as they did before the Resurrection is the first degree of Glory and God doth now expect that they should live above the world What the Apostle saith Col. 3.1 may well be applyed to the purpose in hand If ye be risen with Christ seek those things which are above Churches must now reform and be rising up nearer and nearer towards Heaven and so it must be also with Families and Persons Especially Ministers Churches and Church-members must be advancing forward and pressing after an higher point of holiness and conformity to the Gospel for the Witness and testimony lyeth especially among these And God calls from Heaven to them with a loud voice to ascend Surely if the Churches and Saints were at their set pirch God would not say to them as here he doth Come up hither It is not therefore â—â—ough that they are riâ—on from the dead and have the spirit of life in them but they must also â—and upon their feet stand fast grow strong and 〈◊〉 last ascend 〈◊〉 ward They must now grow and encreaâ—â— * 1 King 22.35 as the â—ame word in the Original is rendred both to ascend and increase they must be going and growing †2 â—â—am â— 1â— as it is said of David when he came to the Kingdom And doth God call from Heaven take heed then that 〈◊〉 refuâ—e not him that speaketh for how shall they escape who tuâ—h awa from him that speaketh from Heaven As for publick and general Reformation God calls aloud this day for it but it is our duty to leave that unto our Superiours As for our selves we shall be left wholly without excuse if we take up our stand and â—ndeavour not to ascend yet higher As touching others 〈…〉 not this Voice nor will they hear it when it shall hereafter come to 〈…〉 great Voice for they are like the People who stood close by Christ when there came a voice from Heaven Joh. 12.28 saying unto him I have both gloâ—â—â—ed my Name and will glorify it again which when the standers by heard they said that it Thundered It seemeth therefore that it was a very great voice and yet the matter spoken was hidden from them Others said An Angel spake unto him how beit Christ tells them That voice came for their sakes but you see they understood it not But let us hear what the Lord speaketh for we have this day a voice from Heaven though the great Voice is not as yet come Let us hear what is come and though it be but a still small voice yet God is in it and therefore let us wrap our faces in our mantles fear God and obey his voice For surely God calls now for a more full Reformation in the Churches and more exact walking according to Gospel-pattern and why should we stay till the great voice cometh When that cometh the Witnesses will hear as the Text declareth as much as to say Till then they will not hear at least be so attentive For thus God calls and calls and few will hear that at last he is fain to call with a loud voice In the mean while it is the sin of such who are thus dull of hearing Do not therefore say as sometimes the Jews did concerning the building of the Temple The time is not yet come so the great voice hath not as yet spoken but if there be any thing of a Resurrection-spirit in us let us live at an higher rate and far above our slain selves Surely when the Witnesses are risen from the dead whether it be done or as yet to come they will preach and speak and pray and partake of Ordinances and buy and sell and converse at a Resurrection-rate especially when once they begin to stand upon their feet and to be warmed with the Spirit of life from God in them And God will go on with a further Reformation before the 7th Trumpet soundeth yea you see that he calls for ascending higher immediately before the coming of the Earthquake saying as sometimes â—â—shua to the Israelites Josh 3.5 Sanctify your selves for to morrow God will do wonders among you Make hast get ye up with all speed and stand clear of the Earthquake 2. We are further informed That when the Witnesses are risen they shall not dye again they are now beyond any more slaughters And as it is said of Christ in another kind so it may be said of his Witnesses Christ being raised from the dead Rom. 6.5 dyeth no more And as there was Counsel in the former point of Information so there is Comfort in this The Testiomony of Jesus after its Resurrection shall live for ever that as Christ saith of his own death and Resurrection his Testimony may speak likewise I am be that liveâ—h and was dead Rev. 1.18 and behold I am alive for evermore The joy and mirth of the Beast at the slaughter of the Witnesses could not keep them down from rising again nor shall their fears and griefs and wrath and indignation at their Resurrection prevail to slay them a second time This is great mercy and not a little comfort When the Israâ—lites rose up out of their boudage in Egypt they rose as you have heard by degrees and were not compleatly risen till they came up out of the Red Sea and though all the power of Egypt pursued them to reduce them to their former servitude and to slay them once again they could not prevail God would not suffer Pharaoh and his host to come near them but he interposeth by the Pillar of cloud between them as if he should say You shall as soon slay me as them not an hair of their heads shall perish Yea but shall not the Witnesses meet with oppositions and exercises from the men of the world after their Resurrection Yes they may have many attempts made against them to destroy them for even to their very Ascension as you see here in the Text they have their
is partly civil the Witnesses being deprived of their liberty and free exercise of their Religion by humane Laws and Constitutions whereupon their death becomes also partly spiritual in that their Spirits faint and fail so far that they are bereft of spiritual Life and Courage the spirit of Life is greatly withdrawn from them and they are possessed with great fear and faintness And that this is the manner of their death appeareth in that upon their Resurrection it is said that the spirit of life from God entred into them which clearly signifieth that during their slaughter they were deprived of spiritual life and activity You see then what kind of death this of the Witnesses is partly civil and partly spiritual civil as to the outward means slaying spiritual as to the inward man slain And if it be thus then we are not to account the great slaughter of the Saints in other Countries viz. Germany Holland France Piedmont England in those Marian days to be this slaughter of the Witnesses because those slaughters were properly such in a literal sence and the Saints so slain were buried in a proper sence 2. The Text telleth us * Rev. 11.7 that the Witnesses must finish or be in finishing their Testimony before they can be slain that is they must be finishing it 1. As to the time or period of their prophesying viz. at the end of 1260 years a day being put for a year 2. As to the matter of their Testimony or the thing to be witnessed by them And therefore begin the Epocha and rise of their Prophesying where you will you fail in the commencement thereof if the 1260 years do not determine and conclude in the finishing of the matter of the Testimony which is to be insisted upon as much as the period and conclusion of it And from hence again I gather that all your former slaughters in other Countries cannot be that mentioned here Rev. 11.7 because the Testimony of Jesus was not materially finished in any of them no nor in finishing When therefore is this Testimony finished 〈◊〉 Aâ—â— as to the matter of it When the whole Office of Christs Mediatorship is testified unto that is not only his Prophetical and Priestly but also his Kingly Office When Antichrist wrought as it were under ground during the sounding of the four first Trumpets he opposed the Person of Christ by those ancient blasphemous heresies of the Arrians Nestorians Eutichyans Macedonians c. But since the sounding of the first Wo-Trumpet he hath more especially opposed his Mediatorship which the Witnesses have still asserted to this day And this Testimony of theirs must be complete and conformable also to that of Christ himself who finished his Testimony * 1 Tim. 6.13 when he witnessed a good Confession before Pontius Pilate And what was that Confession You may see in Joh. 18 33-38 where he asserteth and avoucheth his Spiritual Kingdom before the Roman Governor and therein he finished his Testimony for he was put to death upon that very account as appeareth hereby in that when Pilate said unto the Jews * Joh. 19.6 7 12. Take ye him and crucifie him for I find no fault in him Say the Jews We have a law and by our Law he ought to die because he made himself the Son of God I say this did not move Pilate at all but rather affright him from medling with Christ and cause him to attempt his release for Christ must not die upon the confession only of his Person that he was the Son of God When the Jews therefore perceived that this would not prevail with Pilate they cryed out saying If thou let this man go thou art nor Caesars Friend whosoever maketh himself a King speaketh against Caesar Ay now Pilate is put hard to it and sits down again upon his Judgment-Seat and saith to the Jews Behold your King But they cried out Away with him away with him Crucifie him Pilate saith unto them Shall I crucifie your King The Chief Priests answered We have no King but Caesar Then Pilate delivered him to be Crucified The Jews were weary enough as we know of the Roman Yoke and had no cordial zeal for Caesar save only when he comes into competition with Christ who must dye upon the point of his Kingly Power and Government where his Testimony was finished And upon the same Confession must the Testimony of his Witnesses be completed And hence again I conclude that all the former slaughters in other Countries cannot be upon this very account the slaughter of the Witnesses spoken of Rev. 11.7 because those that suffered dyed not upon this Confession 3. When the Witnesses are slain it is the act of the Beast as the same Text tells us which word Beast as applyed to Antichrist you shall sometimes find mentioned in the Revelations * Rev. 1â— 1 4 with 11. as distinct from the two horned Lamb that speaks like a Dragon †Rev. 17.7 sometimes you will find the Beast distinguished from the Woman that sits upon him * Rev. 16.13 1â— 2â— another time you will find him distinguished from the false Prophet And when you find it thus then by the Beast we are to understand the secular power of Antichrist and by the two horned Lamb the Woman and the false Prophet we are to understand his Ecclesiastical But when we find the word Beast mentioned alone as it is in the slaughter of the Witnesses then it holds forth his complex Power both Civil and Ecclesiastical This being so you here find this complicated Power of the Beast in the slaughter of the Witnesses who must be slain by both these Powers And though the Ecclesiastical is included in the word Beast when it stands alone yet the Secular Power hath the preheminence therein For it may so fall out that when the Witnesses are to be slain there may not be so much power in the High Priest and his Followers as to do it of themselves their former Power perhaps may be diminished insomuch that they must crave the help of the secular Officers to perform this work for them like as the chief Priest and Elders did of Pilate and this civil power must exert it self and make Laws and Decrees for the slaughter of the Witnesses It is therefore the Civil or Secular Power implyed here more immediately in the Beast that must commit this slaughter True the earnest Votes fervent Affections and utmost Endeavours of the two horned Lamb the scarlet Whore and false Prophet will be found in this Slaughter as the Ecclesiastical Power was accessary to the killing of Christ Personal but as it was Pilate's Secular Power that struck the great stroke so must the Secular Power be especially the Instrument in the death of the Witnesses 4. There must be a * Rev. 11.7 particular eminent and signal War waged with the Witnesses by the Beast when they are to be slain For there is a clear
no humane help nor Arm of Flesh imployed in their Resurrection this shall be wrought only by the Spirit of Life from God entring into them Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit saith the Lord. If any liberty should be procured by force which ought not to be it will not prosper nor will any attempts that way The Resurrection of the Witnesses shall be like a Resurrection wrought only by the omnipotent hand of Heaven even by him in whose power alone it is to raise the dead and to call things that are not as though they were It is true indeed when the Earthquake cometh which followeth soon after the Ascension of the Witnesses there will be great Concussions in that Country whatever it is where the Witnesses must be slain but who shall be the Authors of them and Actors in them I do not know but as for the Resurrection it self it shall be effected immediately by the Spirit of Life from God who will certainly blast all humane attempts by Conspiracies and Insurrections in order or rather disorder to the Resurrection of the Witnesses Men were as good go about the raising of the dead out of their Graves as to raise the slain Witnesses by humane endeavours When the Israelites were e'en upon the point of their Resurrection out of Egypt which was not complete till they arose out of the Red Sea Ex. 15. compared with Rev. 15.2 3. what saith Moses to them * Exod. 14.13 14. Fear not stand still and see the salvation of God The Lord shall fight for you and ye shall hold your peace And yet the Israelites at that time were †Exod. 13.18 harnessed marshalled and prepared with Arms and they used them not long after this their Resurrection * Exod. 17.9.13 against the Amalekites at Rephidim but at their Resurrection there must not be a Sword drawn nor a stroke struck but as Jahaziel said to Jehosaphat and the men of Judah * 2 Chr. 20.17 Ye shall not need to fight in this Battel set your selves stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord with you Thus should I live to the Time and in the Street of the Resurrection of the Witnesses would I say and as Moses also said to the Israelites who would needs go up uncalled and fight against the Canaanites * Numb 14.41 Wherefore now do ye transgress the Commandment of the Lord But it shall not prosper Go not up for the Lord is not among you that ye be not smitten before your enemies Yet they would presume and go up but the Amalekites and Canaanites smote them and discomfited them even unto Hormah * Ex. 17. When they had a call to fight against the Amalekites they conquered them but when they will fight with them uncalled they are smitten by them Quest II. VVhat if we should see such a Slaughter as symbolizeth much with that here ver 7 8 c. And yet when the three years and half are ended there appeareth little or nothing in view agreeable to such a Resurrection as the Text here holdeth forth ver 11 12 Answ HEre lyeth the difficulty that as I said in answer to the former Question the last time I dare not be positive in determining whether the Witnesses are slain or not only I laid before you what the Scripture saith concerning their slaughter and left it to you to consider And the same course I shall take at present in answer to this Question But before I come to the Answer I shall premise a Position or two 1. That there must not only be a Resurrection of the slain Witnesses but such a Resurrection alâ—o as is here described for the Scripture cannot be broken It is not enough that there is an answerableness of things in the death of the Witnesses to prove their Slaughter but there must be the like in their Resurrection also or we can conclude nothing Every Slaughter hath not been the Sâ—â—nghtâ—r and so every Resurrection is not that Resurrection And to hold forth that which is like the death of the Witnesses but to fall in the Resurrection will not amount to satisfaction 2. This Resurrection of the Withesses must be homogeneal and of the same kind with the Slaughter 〈◊〉 If the slaughter be partly civil and partly spiritual so must also the Resurrection be and not proper and literal for those Bodies can never rise from a natural death which were never deprived of their natural lives These Positions premised I proceed to the Answer 1. Negatively I shall not answer as some have done who say that after three days and 〈◊〉 the witnesses shall arise but how soon after it is not said 〈…〉 not answer thus for this were ponere Resurrectionem 〈…〉 smite Resurrection without an determination of time and â—o to what purpose would the Text in hand â—â—rve Or what comfort thould we have from it more than this that there shall come a time when the witnesses shall arise For as Martha said to Christ of her dead Brother 〈◊〉 I know that he shall arise again iâ— the Resurrection at the last day all her doubt was whether Christ would raise him then John 11.24 Even â—o might we say of the slain Witnesses if their Resurrection here had 〈◊〉 been mentioned at all We know that they shall rise againâ— yea but when shall they arise After three days and aâ— half saith the Text therefore the time is determined For in these words there is the Epâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 Oâ—â—â—inal or beginning of time from whence the Reâ—urrection doth commerce and proceed i. 〈◊〉 presently after the expiration of the said 〈◊〉 of their death For the time of their Witnessing had 1. It s Epoâ—â—â—â— though 〈◊〉 dark and difficult to discover it 2. It s Continuance 〈…〉 like manner the time of their slaughter hath 1. 〈…〉 and â—egiâ—ning and term from whence to reckon and 2. It s 〈…〉 câ—â—â—â—ance vâ—z three years and an half And shall not 〈…〉 â—â—ction also have a certain fixed beginning God is very punâ—â—â—◠〈…〉 as to his times and seasons though our darkness knows not how to discern it as you may see Exod. 12.40 41 42. It came to pass at the end of the 430 years even the self same day it came to pass that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the Land of Egypt It is a night to be much observed c. it is doubled and trebled to shew us Gods exactness in keeping time 2. I shall not answer according to that Notion of some others concerning three years and half i. e. three years say they and half three years for the words in the Original are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. say they after three days and half leaving out the word an so that they reckon the time to be three years and half three years i. e. four years and an half But this answer will not hold For 1. There are three notable Numbers in
the Revelations relating to the sufferings of the Church viz. 1260 days and 42 months and time times and half a time i. e. three years and an half For so many days are so many months and so many months are so many years a day being put for a year so that there is a singular answerableness in these numbers and therefore if we extend the three days and an half i. e. three years and an half to four years and an half we break the proportion and correspondence that is between these three numbers 2. How will this notion hold if at the end of four years and an half there should be no more shew of a Resurrection than there was at the end of three years and an half I come therefore to an Affirmative Answer First There are several Resurrections mentioned in the Scriptures 1. The Resurrection of the Soul from the death of Sin to the life of Grace 〈◊〉 5.25 Eph. 2.1 2. The Resurrection of the Body at the coming of Christ 1 Thess 4.16 And theâ—e two Resurrections are in instanti or in a very short and quick time as it is said of that great change 1 Cor. 15.52 In thâ—â—twinkling of 〈◊〉 3. There is the Resurrection of the Jews at their Conversion â—for so it is calied Ezâ—k 37.12 13 14. Rom. 11.15 4. The Resurrection of the Witnesses in my Text. And these two last are not so peedy as the two former but have their gradual Process and â—eâ—â—ral â—ucceeding steps For as touching that of the Calling or Resurrection of the Jâ—ws 1. There is a noise 2. A shaking Ezek. 37 7.-11 3. A coming together of Bone to Bone 4. Sinews and Flesh coming upon them and skin â—â—veâ—ing them 5. The breath of Life coming into them 6. Their 〈◊〉 upon their feet as an exceeding great Army So for the raiting of the 〈…〉 1. The Spirit of Life from God entreth into them 2. They fraud upon their feet 3. They hear a great voice from Heave saying Come up hither Secondly I answer that the Resurrection of the Witnesses seems to answer to the coming of the Children of Israel our of Egypt for spiritual Babylon is called spiritual Egypt ver 8. Which Deliverance was a kind of Resurrection as appears from the resemblance there made to Abraham in a vision Gen. 15.9 10 11. Now the Children of Israel arose our of their bondage by degrees for their Resurrection was not complete till they rose out of the Red Sea and sang the song of Moses Ex. 15. For till then they were not quite free from the â—â—yptians They made several steps out of Egypt to the other side of the Red Sea viz. from Rameses to Succoth from Succoth to Etham from Etham to Pihahireth from Pâ—hahiroth to the red Sea Numb 33 5-9 And therefore that remarkable day spoken of Exod. 12.40 41 42. is not to be understood of Israels complete Resurrection but that day was remarkable for the beginning of it 3ly There is a great Analogy between literal and spiritual Babylon and the coming of Gods people out of that and of the rising of the Witnesses and their deliverance from this Now the people of God arose gradually out of literal Babylon For 1. When the seventy years of their captivity were fulfilled Jer. 29 10.-15 the Text tells us that they must call upon the Lord and go and pray to him and seek him and search for him with all their hearts and then he would be found of them then they should do it i. e. at the end of the 70 years This then was their first motion in their Resurrection they must first of all rise upon their knees And Daniel did his part in this Calling Praying Seeking Searching And when did he do it In the second year of Darius the Son of Ahasuerus of the seed of the Medes in which he was made King over the Realm of the Chaldeans Dan. 9.1 This then was after the accomplishment of the 70 years because the Kingdom of the Chaldeans was now at an end For note what Jeremy saith It shall come to pass when 70 years are accomplished that I will punish the King of Babylon and that Nation saith the Lord for their iniquity c. Jer. 25.12 It is apparent therefore that the 70 years were now ended and that the time of the Jews deliverance was come and yet you see after that very time did Daniel thus call pray seek and search This I say is remarkable as also that after this time it was that our Lord Jesus Christ the Angel of the Covenant made intercession for the deliverance of his people Zach. 1.12 Saith he O Lord of hosts how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the Cities of Judah against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years God therefore seemed to delay a while some may say after the 70 years were ended that our Lord Jesus saith How long when the years were expired Yea but God did not delay one moment Hab. 2.3 for the Jews Resurrection was now begun for they were upon their knees and Christ was interceding for them and in them The Spirit of Life from God acted this way in them in their first motion their rising was somewhat like as when a man riseth out of his bed and falls down upon his knees by his Bed-side and prayeth If any man now should enquire and say is such a man risen it might truly be affirmed that he is so though he be down upon his knees at present Isa 26 1â—9 It was prophesyed of the coming of the Jews out of Babylon that their dew should be as the dew of the herbs and that the earth should cast forth her dead Their Resurrection out of Babylon should be like the Resurrection of Herbs in Spring which arise out of the earth by degrees And also when they did come out of Babylon they came not out all at once but at several times some of them in the first year of King Cyrus upon the Proclamation which he made Ezr. 1. Others in the Reign of Artaxerxes came out with Ezra the Scribe Neh. 2. 7.7 which was 13 years after Ezra's coming forth Neh. 2.1 with Ezr. 7.7 8. Ezr. 7.1 Others with Nehemiah in whose days also the bondage was not quite ended Neh. 9.36 37. So that it was upon that account also a kind of gradual Resurrection or coming forth It is true there was liberty of returning granted by Proclamation in the first year of King Cyrus but there fell in certain impediments that hindred both the speedy progress of their coming forth and also of their carrying on of Religion when they were come unto Jerusalem for fear was upon them Ezr. 3.3 and much opposition they met with for some years for the people of the Land weakned the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in building and hired Councellors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days
A DISCOURSE CONCERNING The Witnesses Relating to the TIME PLACE and MANNER of their being Slain BY WILLIAM HOOKE late Preacher of the Gospel LONDON Printed by J. Astwood for Thomas Cockeril at the Three Legs in the Poultrey over against the Stocks-Market 1681. Quest I. Whether the Witnesses are Slain I Dare not be definitive and peremptory in making answer hereunto being conscious to much darkness in my self about the understanding and unfolding matters Apocalyptical and knowing also that there are many difficulties attending the Answer of this Question I shall therefore humbly lay before you what the Scripture speaketh and leave it to you to consider and conclude as the Lord shall help you And in order to what I shall say there is something that I would premise and it is this That in the slaughter of the Witnesses there is that which carrieth a great analogy and proportion to the death of Christ the consideration whereof will much help us in the Answer of the Question but I mean not a complete and adequate proportion but as to many remarkable Particulars The sufferings of the Church are a great part of the subject matter of this Book of the Revelations especially under the Seals and Trumpers till you come to the last Wo which is objectated chiefly on Antichrist And these Sufferings were partly under the Pagan Roman Empire partly under Rome Antichristian and the sufferings of the Saints under both are the sufferings of Christ mystical and are so expressed as bearing a great proportion and likeness with the sufferings of Christ personal The first of these sufferings of Christ mystical we find Rev. 12.1 2 3. c. where it is said The Woman being with Child cryed travelling in Birth and pained to be delivered The Woman here is the Church and the Child that she travelleth with is her Seed which is Christ mystical whose Sufferings by the great Red Dragon i. e. the Devil in the Roman Pagan Empire do in many things * Mr. Dâ—â—â— on Rev. 1â— as a Learned Interpreter hath observed allude to the sufferings of Christ personal when he was born 1. In that Christ was a Child born of a Woman under many outward wants so as the condition of the Church is commonly 2. In that Herod did watch to destroy Christ so loon as he was born and as Paraoh several times called a Dragon sought to destroy the Jews Male-Children as soon as they came into the world 3. As Christ when he was born was soon put to flee into Aegypt with his Mother so it is here with the Church and her seed they flee into the Wilderness 4. The foresaid Author affirmeth that the time of Christs being in Aegypt was three years and an half which in the mistery is the time of the Church her Wilderness condition For Christ as my Author affirmeth was born in the thirtieth year of Herods Reign but he fled not presently but was first circumcised and his Mother purified after which also Herod sought to destroy the young Children in and about Bethlehem This took up some part of Herods thirty first year and Christ returned out of Aegpyt immediately after Herods death who reigned thirty four years 5. As Herod vented his malice upon the Bethlehemitish Infants after the flight of Christ so doth the Devil here vent his malice upon the Church her seed after her deliverance and flight 6. As Christ was still preserved till he had finished the work committed to him notwithstanding all the opposition he met with but after that he suffered and was slain even so it happeneth to the seed of the Church Thus you see how the sufferings of Christ mystical under Rome Pagan do in many things answer to the sufferings of Christ personal Secondly Let us consider the other part of the sufferings of Christ Mystical under Rome Antichristian and we shall see their conformity to the sufferings of Christ Personal especially in and about his death It is said you know * Rev. 11.8 that the doad Bodies of the Witnesses shall lye in the Street of the great City which is spiritually called Sodom and Aegypt where also our Lord was crucified Which last words are added not only to discover under what power the Witnesses should be slain viz. that of Rome spiritually called Sodom and Aegypt but also to shew us the conformity that should be between the slaughter of Christ and his Witnesses And yet we must not expect a complete analogy and proportion between them for in some Circumstances they differ but in several material ones they do agree 1. Christ preacheth forty two Months literally taken the witnesses prophesie as long taking forty two months * Numb 14.34 Ezek. 4.6 prophetically and mystically 2. Christ is slain when he had finished his Testimony and could not by any means be slain before so it is with the Witnesses Rev. 11.7 3. Christ is slain by the * Rev. 11.8 with Luk. 18.32 33. Gentiles grammatically and properly so taken and the Witnesses are slain by the * Rev. 11.2 7. Gentiles metaphorically so taken 4. Christ arose after three days figuratively taken i. e. part being put for the whole His Witnesses arise after three days and an half prophetically taken i. e. three years and an half 5. Christ's Sepulchre was guarded to keep him down in his Grave and hinder his Resurrection * Mat. 27.64 which his enemies could not bear the thoughts of In like manner the enemies of the Witnesses endeavour to keep them down by power and so to bury them but that they are hindered that they might never rise again 6. When Christ was crucified presently beginneth the Jews Passeover where his Enemies rejoyced together and made merry because Christ who had tormented them was crucified * Rev. 11.10 Even thus deal the Enemies of the Witnesses when they are slain 7. Christ arose notwithstanding the Soldiers who guarded his Sepulchre and when he arose they were wofully skared at the sight of him * Rev. 11.11 Even so it is at the Resurrection of his Witnesses 8. When Christ arose there was a great Earthquake properly so called So not long after the Resurrection of the Witnesses there is * Rev. 11.13 a great Earthquake mystically and metaphorically so called This Analogy thus premised I shall express to you what the Scripture saith concerning the slaughter of the Witnesses that you may make your Collections from it as the Lord shall help you 1. The * Rev. 2â— 8 9. Text seemeth to hold forth such a slaughter of the Witnesses as is partly civil and partly spiritual For were the slaughter literal and proper the enemies of the Witnesses would not have endured their dead Bodies to have lyen so long unburied in the Street because of the noisomness thereof nor would Kindreds and Tongues and Nations have hindered their burial from the Principle of mere Humanity And therefore this their death must be of another kind and that