Page:Mahometanism in its relation to prophecy - or, an inquiry into the prophecies concerning antichrist, with some reference to their bearing on the events of the present day (IA mahometanisminit00philrich).pdf/256

 trees and the two candlesticks. Moreover, when in the next verse it says, "And if any one will hurt them, fire shall come out of their mouths and shall devour their enemies," that may refer to the power of anathema which is vested in the clergy, and to the power of inflicting excommunication and other spiritual censures. And when in the next verse the Prophet continues, "These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, and they have power over waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues as often as they will," this may refer to the power which our Lord vested in the clergy, and which he called the "power of binding," or of "retaining sin;" the power of interdict, which history records to have been often exercised by the popes and other great bishops over whole provinces and kingdoms; a power very properly symbolized by such expressions as "shutting heaven," "turning the waters into blood," and "striking the earth with plagues," to say nothing of the miraculous powers which have been vested in many holy bishops and priests, who literally did what the text describes.

But in the seventh verse we come to what we regard as the prophecy of a tremendous persecution, which these witnesses, that is, the whole