church were swept away almost without resistance. The good things of this world,—birth, rank, wealth, fine clothes and elegant manners,-became worldly perils, and worldly disadvantages. The people waged a war of such extermination with everything established, as to abolish the common forms of address and salutation, and the common mode of reckoning time, abhorred 'you' as a sin, and shrank from 'monsieur' as an abomination, turned the weeks into decades, and would know the old months no more. The demolished halls of the aristocracy, the rifled sepulchres of royalty, the decapitated king and queen, the little dauphin so sadly done to death, the beggared princes, the slaughtered priests and nobles, the sovereign guillotine, the republican marriages, the Meudon tannery, the couples tied together and thrown into the Loire, and the gloves made of men's and women's skins: these things are most horrible." (T. H. Gill, The Papal Drama.)—D537. Three days and an half.-See Rev. 11:11.

And [shall not] suffer NOT their dead bodies to be put In [graves] A GRAVE.—On the contrary, this very attempt "served to arouse Christians everywhere to put forth new exertions in behalf of the Bible."-Smith.

11:10. And they that dwell upon the earth.-The people of France, then infidels, without any hopes except for the present poor earth-life.

[Shall] rejoice over them, and make merry.-Literally fulfilled when the Assembly proscribed the Scriptures.

And [shall] send gifts one to another.-Literally fulfilled, the gifts being expressions of joy over the sudden "liberty," "a custom usual in times of festivity.-Neh. 8:10, 12; Esth. 9:19, 22."—Cook.

Because these Two Prophets tormented.-By continuing to proclaim the coming Reign of Christ and His Church. Them that dwelt on the earth.-The classes whose hopes and destinies are earthly.

11:11. And after three days and an half.-Three years and one half.

The Spirit of life from God entered into Them.-In a symbolic sense They were "raised from the dead."—Ezek. 37:5, 9, 10, 14.

And They stood upon Their feet. See Ezek. 37:10. "In 1793, a decree passed the French Assembly suppressing the Bible. Just three years after, a resolution was introduced into the Assembly superseding the decree, and giv ing toleration to the Scriptures. That resolution lay on the table six months, when it was taken up, and passed without a dissenting vote. Thus, in just three years and a half, the Witnesses 'stood upon their feet.'"-Smith.

And great fear fell upon them which saw them.-"Nothing but the appalling results of the rejection of the Bible, could have induced France to take her hands off these Witnesses." (Smith.) "In the light of the foretold character of coming events of this battle, we may regard the French Revolution as only the rumbling of distant thunder, giving warning of an approaching storm; as a slight tremor preceding the general earthquake shock; as the premonitory click of the great clock of the ages, which gives notice to those already awake that the wheels are in motion, and that shortly it will strike the midnight hour which will end the present order of affairs and usher in a new order, the Year of Jubilee, with its attendant com. motion and changes of possession."-D535.

In comments on Rev. 3:14, reasons are given for antici pating the deliverance of the Little Flock about Passover, 1918 [possibly on the Passover day, as a result of activi ties by the tribe of Dan. (Jer. 8:16.)] There we noted the Lord's use of the half-week principle. In this proph ecy, we have the same principle. The French Revolution is Divinely provided as a picture of events now at hand, and we therefore expect three and a half years of proscription of the Truth, from the spring of 1918 to the fall of 1921. This will give the Great Company splendid opportunities for martyrdom and allow another three and a half years, to the spring of 1925, for the world to think the matter over, by which time, doubtless, they will be quite ready to listen to the voice that speaketh from Heaven.-Heb. 12:19.

11:12. And they heard a great voice from HeavenThe voice last referred to the Lord Jesus Himself, the "voice," the "Word," of the Heavenly Father.

Saying unto them, Come up hither. "The Two Witnesses of God, the Old and New Testaments, ascended to heaven, the place of honor and power, as the Scriptures symbolically represent the matter."-Z.'15-199.

And they ascended up to heaven.-"The British and Foreign Bible Society (which has distributed 230,000,000 copies of the Bible) was established in 1803; the New York Bible Society in 1804; the Berlin-Prussian Bible Society in 1805; the Philadelphia Bible Society in 1808; and the American Bible Society (127,000,000 copies dis tributed) in 1817. Bibles by the million, in over 300 languages, are published yearly and sold at low prices, and many thousands are given away to the poor. It is difficult to estimate the wide influence of this work. Its quiet teaching is the greatest of all levelers and equalizers.”C51.

In a cloud. In a time of trouble, the French Revolution. The exaltation which the Word of God received as a result of the French Revolution is as nothing compared with the exaltation which awaits it after the "Time of Trouble such as was not since there was a nation."

And their enemies beheld them.-As the enemies of the Word of God were compelled by the stern logic of events to consent to its restoration in the French time of trouble, so the Lord's enemies, and the enemies of His Church, will be compelled to submit to the Reign of Truth when their forces have been exhausted in the Battle of the great Day of God Almighty.-Luke 19:27; Isa. 54:11-17. 11:13. And the same hour was there a great earthquake. "In the symbolic language of Revelation, the French Revolution was indeed a 'great earthquake’—a social shock so great that all 'Christendom' trembled until it was over; and that terrible and sudden outburst of a single nation's wrath, only a century ago, may give some idea of the fury of the coming storm, when the wrath of all the angry nations will burst the bands of law and order and cause a reign of universal anarchy. In fact, the French Revolution seems referred to by our Lord in His Revelation to John on Patmos as a prelude to, and an illustration of, the great crisis now approaching."— D531.

The French Revolution lasted ten and a half years, from June 17th, 1789, when the Assembly began its reign, until Napoleon seized the government and caused himself to be appointed First Consul, November 9th, 1799. This coincides well with the thought previously expressed (Rev. 7:3) that all phases of Babylon will not be disposed of until about ten and a half years from the fall of 1914. The Assembly was in control from the first, but did not execute the king until January 21st, 1793, three years and one-half from the time the trouble started. The Assembly continued in control until June 25th, 1795, six years from the time the trouble began, when the government was intrusted to five persons under the name of the Directory. It was on October 4th of the same year that Napoleon cleared the streets of Paris of the mobs, and from that point onward his star began to rise. Some interesting developments in connection with the setting up of the Kingdom may occur in 1920, six years after the great Time of Trouble began. It would not be strange If this were so, when we recall that after forty years wandering in the wilderness the Israelites came into possession of the land of Canaan after a further six years. As these matters are still future we can but wait to see.

We anticipate that the "earthquake" will occur early in 1918, and that the "fire" will come in the fall of 1920.1 Kings 19:11, 12; Z.'98-207, 208.

And the tenth part of the city fell.-The French part of Christendom; one of the ten toes of the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar; one of the ten horns of Daniel's beast and John's dragon.-Dan. 2:41-43; 7:24; Rev. 12:3.

And in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand. "And by the earthquake were destroyed seven thousand names of men." (Diaglott.) “France made war, in her revolution of 1793-98, on all titles of nobility. It is said by those who have examined the French records, that just seven thousand titles of men were abolished in that revolution."-Smith.

For

And the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of Heaven.-"Their God-dishonoring and Heavendefying work filled France with such scenes of blood, carnage, and horror, as made even the infidels themselves tremble, and stand aghast; and the 'remnant' that escaped the horrors of that hour 'gave glory to God-not willingly, but the God of Heaven caused this 'wrath of man to praise Him,' by causing all the world to see that those who make war on Heaven make graves for themselves; thus glory redounded to God by the very means that wicked men employed to tarnish that glory. the statistics and many of the foregoing thoughts on the Two Witnesses, we are indebted to an exposition of the subject of The Two Witnesses, by the late George Storrs." (Smith.) "And here I gratefully mention assistance rendered by Brothers George Stetson and George Storrs, the latter the Editor of The Bible Examiner, both now deceased. The study of the Word of God with these dear brethren led step by step into greener pastures and brighter hopes for the world."-Pastor Russell's Autobiography. Z.'16-170.

11:14. The second woe is past.-In the narrative of Chapter XI are briefly summed up the three most important events of the Time of the End. Between the French Revolution and the great Time of Trouble occurs a most significant event, which leads up to and is the direct cause of the great Time of Trouble. That event is the second woe. It is described in detail in Rev. 9:14-21. But for this the great Time of Trouble would never have been necessary (Mal. 4:6); but it is necessary now, as necessary as was the Flood in Noah's day, and for the same reason to rid the earth of the progeny of the evil spirits, the "abominations of the earth."-Rev. 17:5; 9:13.

And, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.-The third woe is the Reign of the Lord begun, with its attendant upsetting of the present order. The woes are visited upon those interested in maintaining the present order of things, who would like to retain indefinitely the advantages they have obtained. "The battle of this great Day of God Almighty will be the greatest revolution the world has ever seen. Behold, how, even now, the searchlight of general intelligence is discovering the secret springs of political intrigue, financial policies, religious claims, etc., and how all are brought to the bar of judgment, and by men, as well as by God, declared right or wrong as judged by the teachings of the Word of God."-D541.

11:15. And the seventh angel.-Pastor Russell. See Rev. 3:14; 10:7.

Sounded: "We find the 'shout,' the 'voice of the Archangel' and 'the trump of God' all symbols, and now in process of fulfillment." (B149, 197.) "The 'great trumpet' we understand to be the antitypical 'trumpet of Jubilee,' as symbolic as the preceding six, none of which ever made any literal sound. It has been symbolically sounding since October, 1874, and will continue to the end of the Millennium."-D601; Rev. 10:7.

And there were great voices in heaven.-"These voices have been uttered, and to some extent heard, in the symbolic heavens, the nominal church. For some years past a 'volunteer work' has been steadily progressing amongst the brethren-the work of rendering assistance to the members of the Household of Faith still in Babylon, still in darkness respecting the Lord, His true Character, His true Plan, and respecting the nearness of His Kingdom."-Z.'02-118.

Saying, The [kingdoms] KINGDOM of this world [are] IS become the [kingdoms] KINGDOM of our Lord, and of His Christ. "The volunteer matter prepared for this present year (the issues of our journal for February 15 and March 15) had already been prepared before we thought of how wonderfully this year's distribution will agree with the declaration of our text. Here will be a million voices proclaiming throughout the nominal Church (symbolic heavens) the great message of this present time; namely, the Second Presence of our Lord as the reaper of the Harvest of the Gospel Age, gathering the 'wheat' into the 'garner,' destroying the tares (as tares-not as human beings) and establishing His glorious Kingdom upon a firm foundation of righteousness and equity, for the blessing of every creature."-Z.'02-119.