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Living Creatures or Cherubim "full of eyes within," or filled with the Holy Spirit, who are in the midst of the throne and round about the throne, and cease not day or night in their ascriptions of holiness to Christ, from whom all their holiness is derived, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come," (Rev. iv. 6-8); while the Church on earth, in a state of humiliation, and not yet armed with power, are represented in the xivth chapter of the Apocalypse, by the symbol of the 144,000, out of all the tribes of Israel, standing on mount Sion," itself an emblem of the Church; and as forming one portion of the Church universal, they are said to sing their new, or extemporaneous, song of thanksgiving "before," i.e. in the presence of, the four Living Creatures and Elders, or of the glorified Saints in heaven, but not as being armed with power; for we may remark that throughout the Apocalypse the cries for vengeance, which bring down judgments upon the earth, always proceed from the Church of the martyrs in heaven (Rev. vi. 9, 10; viii. 3, 5; xi. 16—18; xiv. 17, 18), who also pour out the vials of wrath, which destroy the earth (Rev. xv. 7); while the prayers of the Church on earth are only for the merciful interpositions of our Lord, (Rev. xiv. 15.) 1 Cor. xv. 43.

Again we find that the ark thus preceded by the armed men, and by seven priests blowing seven trumpets of rams'-horns, compassed the city for seven days, making one circuit each day, with the exception of the last, when they compassed it seven times; and at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, "Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city."-" So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people

shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city."-In conformity to which type, consisting as it does of a double septenary, or of six days, during each of which one circuit was made round the walls of the city, followed by a seventh day in which seven circuits were made, we find, in the first of the two parallel divisions of the Apocalypse, six seals followed by a seventh seal subdivided into seven vials; and in the second, six trumpets followed by a seventh trumpet subdivided into seven thunders; each seal being parallel to its trumpet, and each vial to its thunder. And again in Rev. viii. 2, at the commencement of one of these parallel divisions of the Apocalyptic history, we find a representation of seven angels, designated as those "which stood before God" as members of the Church in heaven in their priestly office, that is, who like the seed of Aaron stand before God to minister in the holy office, and to whom are given seven trumpets; by the sounding of which, the seven periods of judgments are introduced which conclude with the fall of Babylon; and the last of these periods is subdivided by the seven thunders, which equally with the voices of the trumpets, as being the most sublime sounds that are known, indicate the voices of the Church in heaven, announcing, in the exercise of their prophetic office, the judgments which are about to be brought upon the world: and when the last of the seven thunders has been heard, or (which is the same thing) when the last of the seven vials has been poured out, a great voice proceeds from the throne of Christ, saying "It is done," and there are great voices also of the Church in heaven, and thunderings, and lightnings accompanied by an universal and final earthquake by which the kingdoms of this world are

overthrown; for it is said, in the description given of this last judgment, that "the great city was divided into three parts; and the cities of the nations fell; and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath."

The analogy which has thus been found to exist between the two histories with respect to their introductory visions or glorious manifestations of Christ to his servants-to their representations of the Church of Christ in the exercise of power and holiness in heaven, and in a state of humiliation upon earth-and to the division of their times into the periods of two successive septenaries, will be found to extend itself also throughout the remainder of these narratives, or to the acts of the spies and unarmed men of Israel previous to the fall of the city of Jericho on the one hand, and to the preparatory labours of the Church on earth previous to the great destruction at Armageddon, as described in the xivth chapter of the Apocalypse, on the other; the comparison between which portions of the respective narratives will form the subject of the next letter.

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LETTER VII.

The preparatory work of the spies or unarmed men of Israel previous to the destruction of Jericho, compared with that of the Church on earth preparatory to the general destruction at Armageddon.—Recapitulation of the several points of resemblance between the fall of Jericho and the fall of the Apocalyptic Babylon.

In order to complete the comparison between the fall of the city of Jericho, as narrated in the book of Joshua, and the destruction of the kingdoms of this world, as described in the Apocalypse, I would observe, that the Church of the Israelites at the time of sending out the spies, previously to the destruction of this city, had passed through their wilderness state, and were upon the borders of Canaan, about to take possession of their inheritance; being also called, in reference to this period of their history, the first fruits unto God. "I remember the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness in a land that was not sown, Israel was holiness unto the Lord and the first fruits of his increase, (Jer. ii. 2, 3). So in the Apocalypse, the Church having been brought, in the xiiith chapter, through the forty-two months of its wilderness state, is represented in the xivth chapter by the "hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel," who are called also "the first fruits unto God, and unto the lamb."-(Rev. vii. 4, xiv. 3, 4.)

The first act of the spies or the unarmed men of Israel preparatory to the fall of Jericho was to visit the house. of Rahab; of whom it is said, that she "perished not

with them that believed not, when she received the spies in peace," (Heb. xi. 31), and who is therefore set forth as an example of those who shall be saved by faith, amidst the universal destruction of the ungodly; and who testified her belief in the coming judgments, and in the almighty power of God, saying, "I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror hath fallen upon us; for we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea for you, and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon, and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed; and as soon as we heard these things our hearts did melt because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath," (Josh. ii. 9-11.) Rahab and the children of Israel being thus made alike to represent the true Church of Christ. So in the Apocalypse the same Church, who in chap. vii. and xiv. are represented by the sealed tribes of Israel, are described, chap. xi. 13, as that remnant who were affrighted by the judgments of God manifested in the first earthquake of the little opened book which marked the termination of the 1260 years of its wilderness state, and "gave glory to the God of heaven;" and the first work of this Church (equally represented by the remnant and the tribes of Israel) preparatory to the battle of Armageddon is the sending forth the Gospel to every nation, throughout the whole world; as described by the flight of the angel “in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people; saying, with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters," Rev. xiv. 6, 7.