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 done." This voice, mentioned in v. I, now proclaims the defeat of Antichrist and the destruction of his empire.

18. The lightnings flashing and the thunders rolling in heaven are symbols of divine judgments. The great earthquake is the social upheaval following the fall of Antichrist.

Perhaps the thunder and lightning, and the hail mentioned below should be taken literally like the disturbance of the elements described in Exodus: "The Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning running along the ground: and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. And the hail and fire mixed drove on together: and it was of so great bigness, as never before was seen in the whole land of Egypt."

19. The great city (Jerusalem) is divided into three sections by yawning chasms caused by the earth quake. A similar punishment befell Jerusalem after the death of the two witnesses when one-tenth of the city was destroyed and seven thousand persons perished. The rending of the rocks by an earthquake at the time of our Lord's death upon the cross warrants the belief that these later disturbances will be actual upheavals of the earth.

In a figurative sense the division of the city may