and be cast down. When his representative rises against the witnesses and representatives of the Lord—these two anointed ones—they are cast down and killed, and taken to heaven where the glory and the Lamb yet were: it was the last external public act of testimony—whether for the dispensation or the crisis; and therefore had definitely the character attached to it when prophetic witness had place in it,—the prevalence of evil externally, and suffering of the witness,—their rest and refuge being above.
Thus, the beast out of the bottomless pit does not seem to be the agent against the witnesses, till the three years and a half of their testimony are finished, though, as to their condition, they were in sackcloth. When the announcement of the last woe comes, heaven estimates it as the signal for the earthly kingdom coming; and the Church, anticipative, as having the mind of Christ, gives thanks to the Lord God Almighty, who, in the continuity of His being and counsel, was now taking His power: and therefore she anticipates all the results. The Elders only speak here; for the things were not in vision in their completeness or principles: but it was the actual anticipation of the facts, as now coming in—as having the mind of Christ.
It would seem that the last woe had a wider
