316 evelattonoftl e alpaca lypfe. CA P.11: to4e hewers ofWood,that is,hedid from,that day appoint them tohew wood ; fee Chap.i. r. But we muft not faay,the fentence in the office of prophecying, as if they thould prophetic for the fpace of thefe dayes alone, which yet is their perpetual! funetion , but that they fhould doe this throughout this time clothed infackcloth. The anci- ent Fathers that lived fartherremote from the event of things, did think that thefe two witneffes ivere Enoch and Elias, and that they fhould come and fight with .flntichrift inthe endof the world. But we that have feen the matter long since accompliffaed, may deter- mine for a certainty, that the Holy Ghoft had another mannerof meaning then this. The Popith teacherscatch greedily atthis opini- on of the Fathers , and make great account of it, thrultingit upon theworld, as if it were fomeOracle, andno marvel!, feeing it Both withdrawmen from theconfederation of thofe thingF,which are to be feen with their eyes at this prefentday,and this is that only thing that they long and labour greatly to effea in all their expotitions. But the explainingof thefe things , as the words do particularly lay thembefore us , will be enough to confute the peevithnefs of thefe men. To difpatch all therefore in a word; wee doe gather and judge, that thefe two Prophets are the Holy Scriptures,and the afern- blies of thefaithfull; wee will yeeld a reafon of this judgement of ours afterwards in the dcfcriptionof thefe witneffes. And yet there is nonun that may not at the firft fight behold, how fit bothof thefe' are for this office of being witneffes. The Scriptures do bear Witneffe of the truth , Ioh.5.39. And the Saints sloe.celebrate the power of God, andfpeak of his goodnefr, as it is everyWherein the Pfalnes. The Scriptures have a perfon given themafterthat manner of fpeaking, after which the adjure&s are fignifiedby their-fubje&s, as A!iofevfor the LaW,&e. Then which kind of (peaking, nothing is Moreufiall. TheSon was the Type of the Scriptures formerly in this book but Peeing here thould be mentionmade oftheirfighting,dying,and ref :,eg etgaine,it was needful togive thema perfon that might be capableof thefe things ; whence cometh-this new manner ofexprefíing an old matter. The time during. which they tbould prophefie is determi- ned in a thoufand tWohundred& threefcore days,which is the felffame fpace altogether with the4a.moneths aforé fpokenof; wherfore then lothhe thus divide it into fmall pieces by days, &doth notdeclare it rather by moneths in grofs asbefore?Namely,for this reafon,becaufe this office ofprophécying is fuch,that a man miifl bend himfelfto it con- tinually without any intermillion, not quarterly 4. times throughout the
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