and a living faith in the church, are the two candlesticks.
The two witnesses are described as being clothed in sackcloth. Sackcloth, in oriental countries, is made of hair, and worn as a penitential dress, indicative of deep grief, either for some evil committed, or for the loss of some beloved friend or eminent person. Thus, on the death of Abner (2 Sam. iii. 31), "David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him. Gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner." The prophesying of the witnesses in sackcloth is in consequence of the desolation of the church, the two divine principles of charity and faith being nearly dead, and love and truth prefer their claims to the Christian world almost in vain. The testimony of the two witnesses is thus rejected; the union of goodness and truth is dissolved; and all that is holy and true is described by the dead bodies of the two witnesses lying in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Literally, our Lord was not crucified either in Sodom or Egypt, but spiritually He was, and alas! still is. For Sodom is the lust of dominion grounded in self-love, while Egypt is representative of the pride of science and self-derived intelligence. Thus was the Lord spiritually crucified in Sodom and Egypt, though literally the scene of that awful event was Calvary.
To this day the two witnesses—goodness and truth—are, as to externals, as to their bodies, lying dead in spiritual Sodom and Egypt. Look at the two great contending parties of the present day, and the fact is obvious. The lust of power and dominion, and the arrogance with which it is displayed, shew at once that
