ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the defining marks which Owen identified in what he believed to be such special appearances of the hand of God. A number of these providential signs occurred on the battlefield, but Owen also pointed to what he believed to be other significant providences in the spheres of politics and religion. Owen's prophetic preaching offered an interpretation of such events by placing them within his particular eschatological framework. Several biblical images and motifs loom large in his explanation of what he held to be a divine visitation: the 'vengeance of the temple'; the measuring of the temple and the restoration of true worship; a period of transitional shaking; and dissolutions that usher in a new heaven and earth. The chapter also explore some of the rhetorical functions of these motifs in identifying and interpreting providentially significant events.
