The dragon stood before the woman, to devour her man-child as soon as it was born; or, in other words, he set in motion every engine of his vast power, in order to destroy the Gentile Church in its infancy. The birth of the man-child which follows, and his being caught up to the throne of God, have already been considered, though not in the exact order of the prophetical narration.

After the birth of the man-child, the woman fled into the wilderness, to a place prepared of God, where she was to be fed a thousand two hundred and threescore days. The sojourning of the woman in the wilderness, indicates her being in a state of concealment and invisibility, and also of spiritual barrenness, no longer bringing forth spiritual children. Her nourishment in the wilderness is to be like that of Israel; she is to be fed with heavenly mannathe word and ordinances of Christ. But the woman is to be no longer seen of men, and is to act no open part in the world. The period during which she is to continue in her wilderness condition is twelve hundred and sixty prophetical days, which is the same with the time, times, and half a time, or three years and a half, afterwards mentioned; and likewise the same as the forty-two months during which the Gentiles were to occupy the holy city, and the twelve hundred and sixty days of the prophesying of the witnesses.

History proves that this vision has received its accomplishment. Shortly after the conversion of the Roman empire to the profession of the faith of Christ, the visible Church quite altered its appearance. As a community, it seemed to possess none

of its former features, but became universally corrupted. True religion receded from the eyes of men, and was at length professed and practised only in secret. The change was gradual, and was not completely effected till the spiritual power of the Popes had attained to some maturity. But it then was so complete that no Christian Church or community could be discerned, which possessed any resemblance to that woman who was clothed with the sun, and had the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars upon her head. The woman had fled into the wilderness.*

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"And there was war in heaven, Michael and his "angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not, neither "was their place found any more in heaven. And "the dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called "the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole "world: he was cast out into the earth, and his

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angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud "voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, "and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and "the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our "brethren is cast down, which accused them before "our God day and night. And they overcame him "by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of "their testimony; and they loved not their lives "unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, "and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters

* "L'esprit du Christ n'etait plus reconnaissable dans la constitution de l'eglise chretienne d'occident au quinziem esiècle." Villers, p. 26.

"of the earth and of the sea; for the devil is come "down unto you, having great wrath, because "he knoweth that he hath but a short time."*

Two different interpretations have been given of this passage. Mede and Bishop Newton, with most of the older writers suppose that the war of Michael and the dragon in heaven, describes the struggles between Christianity and Paganism during the first three centuries, which ended inthe expulsion of Paganism from the imperial government of Rome. As a consequence of this opinion, they maintain, that the first mention made of the flight of the woman into the wilderness, in ver. 6th, is in the way of prolepsis, or anticipation, and that her actual removal thither, does not take place, till after the dragon is cast out of heaven.

The second class of interpreters, among whom are Mr. Faber and the late Mr. Andrew Fuller, conceive that the war of Michael is subsequent to the retreat of the woman, and denotes the contest between the principles of light and darkness in the Christian Church, during the prophetical period of 1260 years, and that the fall of Satan from heaven to earth, indicates the victory obtained by the true Church at the Reformation.

In the former edition of this work, I adopted the last of these expositions; but, having been led carefully to reconsider the subject, I have found myself obliged entirely to abandon that opinion. For, upon applying to this passage, the fifth general rule of interpretation laid down in the preface,† I could

* Rev. xii. 7—13.

†The rule here alluded to is the one adopted from Mr.

not but see that the 6th verse, in which it is said that "the woman fled into the wilderness," corresponds in point of time with the 14th verse, in which we are again told, that "to the woman were given "two wings as of a great eagle, that she might fly "into her place in the wilderness."* Now, as we arrive at the flight of the woman, in the lastmentioned clause, after the narrative of the war in heaven, and the fall of the dragon to the earth, it may hence be deduced, that this war precedes the retreat of the woman, into her wilderness state. According to this view, the synchronisms of the first fourteen verses of the chapter, must be arranged in the manner following.t

Fraser, and very much of the arrangement of the Apocalypse seems to hang upon a strict attention to this invaluable canon of interpretation.

* Mr. Faber, Sacr. Cal., vol. iii. p. 153, gets rid of the argument founded on this correspondence by placing ver. 14th in a parenthesis; but I deem this to be an unwarrantable license, tending to introduce confusion into the prophecies of this book, by depriving us of some of its great landmarks; and, moreover, directly at variance with the order of the prophetic narrative, the 15th verse being evidently connected with what is said in the 14th, as to the flight of the woman, which necessary connexion negatives the supposed parenthetical position of verse 14th.

There is, if I mistake not, a chronological argument against the interpretation of Mr. Faber which at once overthrows it. The dragon, as is admitted on all sides, is the devil enthroned in the Roman empire. But from the circumstance of the diadems, the symbols of imperial authority, being on the seven heads, and not the ten horns, of the dragon, I conclude, with positive certainty, that the vision belongs to a period in chronology, when the empire was not yet divided into ten kingdoms by the Gothic incursions and overthrow. After the rise

of the ten kingdoms the diadems are no longer on the heads but on the horns. This argument has already been stated in a former page (see p. 183), but I think it necessary again to draw the attention of the reader to it in this place.