ut from the heavenly, and
the scene is laid upon earth; therefore we must look to the history of
the church to find its fulfilment in some distinguished agencies
appearing for the defence of Christ and his truth. The cloud, rainbow,
face as the sun, and feet as pillars of fire, are doubtless intended to
set forth their beautiful, benignant character, and to show that the
angel is not such an one as those that were bound in the river
Euphrates. This one has the bow of covenant promise upon his head, and
his face shines as the sun.

Where, then, in the history of God's true church do we find the agencies
corresponding to the symbol? We find them in the _holy ministry_ that he
has raised up and is now sending forth to preach the pure gospel and to
declare the speedy sounding of the seventh trumpet and the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ to earth again.

"Lo, the angel now is standing on the sea and on the land;
How his voice the air is rending as to God he lifts his hand!
What an awful, awful message! Help us, Lord, this truth to see:
When the seventh trumpet thunders, then shall time no longer be.

"One more trumpet yet to summon us before the judgment seat,
Then the time of our frail planet will be said to be complete.
How the wicked will be wailing and the righteous overjoyed
When with fire the heav'ns are burning and the earth shall be destroyed!"

This angel "set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the
earth," that his lion-like voice might be heard over all the world. This
shows that the earth (the Apocalyptic earth--the territory of the Roman
empire) was not the only place where the message was to be borne; it was
to be sounded upon the sea, which would indicate its promulgation among
all nations.

When his mighty voice sounded, "seven thunders uttered their voices";
and when about to record what they said, John was commanded to "seal up
those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not." The
fact that they were not to be recorded shows that they were to
constitute no part of this Revelation. John evidently thought so at
first; for they had the appearance of revelation, something clothed with
divine authority, but they were not to be delivered to the church. What,
then, were they? The most probable supposition is, that they were things
that God for some reason did not choose to have revealed. Their sayings
may have described events just prior to the end so perfectly