Second advent library

cnnrs'r's azcozm comma. 275and ecclesiastical power, and that he came outpubliclywearing tvm swords. Between these two points I believeall writers iix the time ofthe church entering intoher wilderness state, " a place prepared of God, that theyshould feed her there 1260 days;" or, "to the womanweregiven two wings of a great eagle, that she mightHy into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourishedfor atime, and times, and half a. time, from theface of the serpent," Rev. xii. 6th and 14th verses ,1260 days being the same as time, times and a halfthreeyears and a half, or 1260 prophetic days-which,according to my former proof, must mean 1260 years.The question now remains to be settled, Where andwhen this wilderness state began, in order for us tounderstand the present state of the church.And first, let us inquire, What are the Scripture marksot' the beginning of this period? I answer, in the Apocalypse,xi. 2,"But the court which is without the templeleave out, and measure it not, for it is given unto theGentiles; and the hol city shall they tread under footforty-two months." 'i'his is the same time, three yearsand a half; or 1260 days, as before. A ain, Rev. xiii. 4,5, "And they worshipped the dragon, which gave powerunto the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying,Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make warwith him? And there was given him a mouth speakinggreat things and blasphemies; and powerwasgivenhim to continue forty and two months"--the very sametime mentioned again. And we learn, by this passage,that this beast, which would persecute and drive intothe wilderness the church, would receive his power fromthe dragon, -the same as in Rev. xii. 4, "stood beforethe woman, which wasready to be delivered, for todevour her child as soon as it was hom,"-and must, ofnecessity, be the Roman power. See Rev. xvii. 12, 13.'And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings,which have received no kingdom asyet; but receivepower, as onekings, hour with the beast. These haveone mind, and shall give their power and strength untothe beast." This text plainly proves that the kings ofthe Roman power gave their power and authority to