great cloud of witnesses," Heb. 12:1. Of Christ, "give all the prophets
witness," Acts 10:43. They constitute the voice of the church in that age.
Under the gospel dispensation, also, Christ had chosen witnesses of
himself. He said to his disciples, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in
Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts
of the earth," (_Ib._ 1:8); and they said, "We are his witnesses," _Ib._
5:32. "We are witnesses of all things which he did, ... witnesses chosen
before of God," (_Ib._ 10:39-41);--"his witnesses unto the people," _Ib._
13:31. They and their successors have "testified and preached the word of
the Lord," (_Ib._ 8:25), overcoming "by the word of their testimony,"
(Rev. 12:11),--many of them being "slain for the word of God, and for the
testimony which they held," 6:9. The church, one in all ages, symbolized
by the two candlesticks, is thus a _witness_ of Jesus.

The two olive-trees, symbolize the other witness, which must sustain a
relation to the church, analogous to that sustained by the olive-trees to
the candlesticks. The declaration, that the witnesses are _the_ two
olive-trees and candlesticks, implies the existence of some previous
symbolization, where those objects and their relation to each other are
presented. And the connection shows clearly that reference is made to the
vision, wherein Zechariah beheld "a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl
upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the
seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof; and two olive-trees by it,
one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side
thereof," Zech. 4:2, 3. The relation which the olive-trees sustain to the
candlestick, is shown by the questions of the prophet: "What are these, my
Lord?" (_Ib._ v. 4); "What are these two olive-trees upon the right side
of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? What be these two
olive-branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out
of themselves?" _Ib._ vs. 11, 12. The office of the olive-trees, was to
supply the candlestick with oil which alone enabled them to give light.
The oil of the olive-tree, was burned before the Lord continually. The
light committed to the church, is the truth of God's word. And thus the
angel explains the meaning of the olive-trees: "This is the word of the
Lord unto Zerubbabel," (_Ib._ v. 6); "These are the two anointed ones
[_mar_, sons of oil], th