11.  And after three days and a half, the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

12.  And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying unto them, Come up hither.  And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

Vs. 11, 12.—­In these two verses, as in the preceding, the thoughtful reader will discern a beautiful allusion in the history of these witnesses, to the death and life of our blessed Master.  “For if they have been planted together in the likeness of his death, they shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.”  Yes, they have communion with him in death and life,—­in grace and glory.  “Nothing can separate them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus their Lord.”

“The Spirit of life from God entered into them.”  That is, God will speedily raise up successors, who, maintaining the very same principles, will be gloriously successful in putting down all rule and authority and power,” that had been in hostility to their Lord. (1 Cor. xv. 24, 25.  See Ezek. xxxvii. 11-14.) “This is the first resurrection,” to be explained by the inspired penman more fully hereafter, (ch. xx. 5.)—­As Saul feared David, and Herod John Baptist, because they were “just men and holy;” so were the wicked afraid when these witnesses arose; and, like Shimei, they justly dread the “due reward of their deeds.”  At the time referred to, “the haters of the Lord will feign submission.”—­The “great voice from heaven” inviting the witnesses to ascend, and their actual ascent, is another allusion to Christ’s exaltation.  As when “he was taken up, a cloud received him;” so here, “they ascended up to heaven in a cloud.”

It has often been the cry of the antichristian multitude,—­“The voice of the people is the voice of God.”  This cry has been iterated and reiterated, in centuries past, like that of the Ephesian worshippers of Diana; that thereby the testimony of the witnesses might be counteracted and silenced.  It has been only too often successful.  But where did flattering demagogues and haughty despots find the sentiment?  They found it engraved on the moral constitution of man by our beneficent Creator.  They found it also transcribed on the pages of objective revelation,—­the Bible.  But, like other moral and scriptural principles, it has been perverted and misapplied by the perverse ingenuity of wicked men.—­This “voice from heaven” is indeed the people’s voice:  and it is legitimate, as coming from the people, because it is first the voice of God.  The “heaven” here mentioned is the seat of civil power,—­“the ordinance of man.” (1 Pet. ii. 13.) In the times here contemplated,—­millennial times,—­the rights of men will be respected, predicated upon the rights of God, and flowing from them as inseparable.  In settling the point of title to civil sovereignty, or the eligibility of any candidate for civil office, the principle enunciated by Hushai the Archite will be found to be alone reliable:—­“Whom the Lord and this people choose.” (2 Sam. xvi. 18.) Only let the Lord have the first choice of candidates for office in both church and state, and society will be prosperous and happy. (Acts i. 23, 24; vi. 5.) The “great voice” of the 12th verse, comes from “heaven,” as the “great voices” of the 15th verse, announcing the millennium.