Chapter 8

All the vagaries of the various sects of heretics were connected with an expectation of the immediate establishment of CHRIST’S kingdom. That the seven thunders gave utterance to such an expectation, is evident from the response of the angel, when he lifted up his hand to heaven and with the solemnity of an oath, by Him who liveth forever, affirmed that “_the time should not yet be_;” but that “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he delays to sound,(2) the secret of GOD will be finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets.” Why such an annunciation at this stage of the vision? It must be to correct a misapprehension which would exist at a corresponding time in its fulfilment, respecting the immediate appearance of the kingdom. Thus did PAUL correct the Thessalonian brethren, when he wrote to them in his second epistle not to be shaken in mind, as that the day of the LORD was then impending, 2 Th. 2:2.

The Bible, was, at this epoch, first opened to the common people. Before, it was only found in languages which they were entirely ignorant of. It was translated by LUTHER into their own language, and thus made accessible. The art of printing, discovered at about that time, enabled all who wished, to avail themselves of its unsealed contents. They feasted on the words of inspiration, which were sweeter to them than honey, or the honey-comb. But afterwards, they had to endure bitterness for the sake of the Gospel. Divisions and subdivisions followed, parties multiplied, and heresies abounded, accompanied with bitter and mischievous discussions, and fierce and rancorous contentions. These being based on the understanding which the several parties attached to portions of scripture, were fitly symbolized by the bitterness that followed the eating of the book. At this time, also, was revived a system of religious teachings which has gone forth into many lands.

The reörganization of the church at this epoch, is next symbolized.

The Measuring Reed, Temple, &c.

“And there was given me a measuring reed like a rod, and it was said, Arise, and measure the temple of God, (and the altar,) and those who worship in it. But the court which is without the temple, leave out, and measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles: and they will tread the holy city under foot forty-two months.”—Rev. 11:1, 2.

These symbols are evidently taken from the temple and altar of Jewish worship, and represent corresponding analogies under the Christian dispensation.

To measure anything, is to examine and take notice of its parts and proportions; and that by which it is measured, is the standard or rule to which it should conform.

The temple, is a proper symbol of the church of God; which is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Corner Stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord,” Eph. 2:20, 21.

At the epoch of the Reformation, the nominal church was subjected to the scrutiny of the word of God; and its pretensions were measured by the scriptural rule. The reformers found the Man of Sin, “as God sitting in the temple of God,” (2 Thess. 2:4); and they had to re-model their church relationship, in accordance with the pattern presented in the New Testament. This involved the consideration of what constituted the church,—its organization, its ministry, its sacraments, and its membership,—their mutual relation to God, and to each other.

The altar, must symbolize the sacrifice and atonement of Christ,—the “altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle,” Heb. 13:10. The great question, of justification by faith in the death of Christ, was the rallying cry of the Reformation. The fundamental principles of Christian truth were then unfolded anew, and the doctrines of the Papacy, including the sacrifice of the mass, were rejected as contrary to Bible teachings.

The worshippers in the temple, who were to be measured by the same rule, are Christians. All who were to be recognized as such, were to give evidence of conformity to the Bible standard. Regeneration by the Holy Ghost, was held by the reformers to be necessary to church membership. The Papists required only baptism and confirmation.

The court without the temple, was that to which the Gentiles had access, and beyond which their entrance was prohibited. Devout foreigners were there permitted to pay their devotions to the God of heaven. As the Gentiles must symbolize those who are not Christians, the occupants of the outer court, must be the congregation—the nominal worshippers who throng the outer courts of the Lord, in distinction from the true worshippers. Such were to have free and unrestricted access to the places of Christian worship.

The holy city is that in which the temple is situated, and must embrace the church as a whole, subjected to Gentile rule. Its being trodden under foot, indicates that the civil polity under which the church would subsist, should, during the period specified, be under the control of those who worship only in the outer court.

The forty and two months, is a period of time, corresponding with the thousand two hundred and three score days of the verse following, the time and times and half a time of Rev. 12:14, and the corresponding periods of Rev. 12:6; 13:5; Dan. 7:25; and 12:7; symbolizing a period of twelve hundred and sixty years, according to the almost unanimous opinion of Protestant writers.

This period does not commence with this epoch, but began with the subjection of Christianity to the power of the civil arm, which was to continue during the time predicted,—notwithstanding the reädjustment of the temple-worship,—when Christians should cease to be responsible to any human tribunal for the orthodoxy of their faith.

During the same period, also, power to prophesy, though shrouded in sackcloth, was to be given to:

Christ’s Two Witnesses.

“And I will give charge to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive-trees, and the two lamp-stands, standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any one wisheth to injure them, fire proceedeth from their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if anyone wisheth to injure them, he must thus be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it may not rain in the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they wish. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the wild beast that ascendeth out of the abyss will make war with them, and will overcome them, and kill them. And their dead body _will lie_ on the wide street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And those of the people, and tribes, and tongues, and nations, will see their dead body three days and a half, and will not allow their dead body to be put into a tomb. And those, who dwell on the earth, will rejoice over them, and exult, and send gifts to each other; because these two prophets tormented those, who dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell on those, who saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them, Ascend here! And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake seven thousand names of men were slain: and the remnant became terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past away; behold, the third woe cometh quickly.”—Rev. 11:3-14.

The two witnesses are not symbolically exhibited, but are referred to by an elliptical metaphor, and are explained to be the “two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks.” Therefore, they are not two living men, as some suppose, shown to John in vision, symbolizing analogous agents; but their nature is to be determined by a consideration of the olive-trees and candlesticks which symbolize them.

Candlesticks symbolize churches. Thus the Saviour said to John: “The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches,” 1:20. When “men light a candle,” they put “it on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house,” Matt. 5:15. The candlestick does not originate, but sustains the light in a position to be seen and exert a beneficial influence. It is thus that the church is said to be “the light of the world,” and is required to let her light “shine before men,” _Ib._ vs. 14-16,—_i.e._ She is to disseminate the light committed to her; and in so doing, she becomes a _witness_ for Jesus.

The church comprises all the holy persons who have lived on earth, and is symbolized by two candlesticks, corresponding to the two dispensations of its existence. Those who lived under the former dispensation, are called “a great cloud of witnesses,” Heb. 12:1. Of Christ, “give all the prophets witness,” Acts 10:43. They constitute the voice of the church in that age. Under the gospel dispensation, also, Christ had chosen witnesses of himself. He said to his disciples, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth,” (_Ib._ 1:8); and they said, “We are his witnesses,” _Ib._ 5:32. “We are witnesses of all things which he did, ... witnesses chosen before of God,” (_Ib._ 10:39-41);—“his witnesses unto the people,” _Ib._ 13:31. They and their successors have “testified and preached the word of the Lord,” (_Ib._ 8:25), overcoming “by the word of their testimony,” (Rev. 12:11),—many of them being “slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held,” 6:9. The church, one in all ages, symbolized by the two candlesticks, is thus a _witness_ of Jesus.

The two olive-trees, symbolize the other witness, which must sustain a relation to the church, analogous to that sustained by the olive-trees to the candlesticks. The declaration, that the witnesses are _the_ two olive-trees and candlesticks, implies the existence of some previous symbolization, where those objects and their relation to each other are presented. And the connection shows clearly that reference is made to the vision, wherein Zechariah beheld “a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof; and two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof,” Zech. 4:2, 3. The relation which the olive-trees sustain to the candlestick, is shown by the questions of the prophet: “What are these, my Lord?” (_Ib._ v. 4); “What are these two olive-trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? What be these two olive-branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?” _Ib._ vs. 11, 12. The office of the olive-trees, was to supply the candlestick with oil which alone enabled them to give light. The oil of the olive-tree, was burned before the Lord continually. The light committed to the church, is the truth of God’s word. And thus the angel explains the meaning of the olive-trees: “This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel,” (_Ib._ v. 6); “These are the two anointed ones [_mar_, sons of oil], that stand by the Lord of the whole earth,” _Ib._ v. 14. And this expression, corresponding with that in Rev. 11:4, shows that this vision of Zechariah is the one referred to, and that it is explanatory of the witnesses.

The Scriptures, as well as the church, testify of Christ: “Search the Scriptures,” said the Saviour, speaking of those then written; “they are they which _testify_ [or bear witness] of me,” (John 5:39); and of the New Testament, he said: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a _witness_ unto all nations,” Matt. 24:4. Like two olive-trees supplying the candlesticks with oil, the Scriptures of the Old, and of the New Testament give light to the church, and testify of Christ. They stand on either side of him,—the one beginning with the creation and pointing to a Messiah to come, testifying of him by types and shadows; and the other looking back to the death and resurrection of Christ, and cheering the heart of the believer by the evidence of his second coming at the end of the world. Thus stood within the oracle of the temple the two cherubim, which Solomon made “of _olive-tree_,” and whose wings met over the ark of the covenant: “He set the cherubim within the inner house, and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house,” 1 Kings 6, 27. Thus symbolized, the Scriptures and the church are Christ’s two witnesses.

To prophesy, is to make known the truths of God. Thus, at the epoch of the Reformation, they were to prophesy _again_ before many peoples, and nations, and tongues and kings, 10:11. It was to enable the witnesses to do this, that the necessary power was to be given them.

Sackcloth, is a symbol of humiliation and sorrow; and the witnesses being thus clothed, indicates that during the time specified, they should be in a despised and oppressed condition.

The one thousand two hundred and sixty days, symbolize years. God said to Israel, after the evil report of the twelve spies: “Your children shall wander in the wilderness forty _years_ ... after the number of the _days_ which ye searched the land,” Num. 14:33, 34. And to Ezekiel, “This shall be a sign to the house of Israel: Lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it, ... for I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days.... And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee _each day for a year_,” Ezek. 4:3-6.

This period of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, is not the whole time in which the witnesses prophesy, but marks the duration of their prophesying in sackcloth. It commenced when the light of the Bible began to be obscured by the secondary place which was accorded to it in the estimation of the Papal church, and the living witnesses were no longer permitted to preach the gospel in its purity.

In A. D. 533, the Emperor Justinian, wrote a letter to the Pope declaring him to be “the head of all the holy churches,” and subjecting to his control “all the priests of the whole East.” By the edicts and mandates of Justinian, who was master of the Roman world, the supremacy of the Pope received the fullest sanction; and the highest authorities among the civilians and annalists of Rome, refer to these as evidence of the right of the Pope to the title of “Universal Bishop,” and date it from A. D. 533. p. 200.

With this supremacy, the power of the Papacy commenced. The Bible was permitted only in a dead language, and the faithful Christian was obliged to seek refuge in the wilderness. False doctrines obscuring the Bible, and persecuting enactments oppressing the church, clothed the witnesses in sackcloth; and thus only did they testify, till the power of the papacy was broken.

Fire proceeded out of their mouth, when they made known the fiery judgments predicted in the Scriptures against all their enemies. And they shut heaven, smite with plagues, turn water to blood, &c., when, in accordance with the inspired record, are fulfilled the predictions which, in various places, are thus symbolized.—See Rev. 15:6; 16:4, &c.

The finishing of their testimony, refers to the termination of the sackcloth period,—twelve hundred and sixty years from A. D. 533; _i.e._ in 1793,—if the former date is correct.

The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, is that on which, in a subsequent vision, the woman is seated, 17:7, 8. John saw this beast arise out of the sea, (13:1); and the subsequent exposition given of it, will show that it symbolized the civil power of the Roman empire in its divided form.—See p. 169. As the ten kingdoms constitute the beast, what is done by any of these kingdoms, is done by the beast. France was one of the more prominent of these kingdoms, and at one period, under Napoleon, controlled the greater portion of the whole.

To war against the witnesses, is to oppose, resist, and endeavor to crush them; and to overcome them, is to be successful in such efforts.

To kill, when used symbolically and applied to Christians, is to cause them to apostatize—producing spiritual death, 9:5. When applied to the Scriptures, it can only denote their prohibition.

The great city, as shown in connection with Rev. 16:19, p. 290, is the Roman hierarchy:—symbolized by Babylon, and “spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.” By being thus “_spiritually_ called Sodom,” some understand that it is a “spiritual Sodom,” &c., which would be a contradiction of terms; others understand that it is called _figuratively_ by those names, and deduce from it an argument for spiritualizing the Scriptures; but the use of the word “_spiritually_,” it is believed, will not sanction any such meaning. It occurs only in two other passages:—in Rom. 8:7, to be “spiritually minded,” is to have a mind in accordance with the will of the Spirit; and in 1 Cor. 2:14, things “spiritually discerned,” signifies that they are discerned by the aid of the Spirit. The great city, then, is called by the Spirit, “Sodom and Egypt;” and is so called because of her licentiousness and idolatries, and her subjecting the saints to bondage. To crucify the Lord afresh, is to apostatize from his teachings, Heb. 6:6.

In 1793, twelve hundred and sixty years from the date of the Papal supremacy, the Bible was abolished in France, by the solemn decree of the government, which declared that the nation acknowledged no God. A copy of the Bible could not be found in a single bookstore in Paris. Inquiry also was made for it in Rome, in _all_ the book establishments of that city, and the invariable reply was, that it was prohibited. All the churches of Paris were shut, and the church plate was declared the property of the nation. Professors of religion, at the same time, in large numbers openly apostatized and embraced infidelity. Says Dr. Croley:—

“On the 1st of November, 1793, Gobet, with the republican priests of Paris, had thrown off the gown and abjured religion. On the 11th, a ‘grand festival,’ dedicated to ‘Reason and Truth,’ was celebrated instead of divine service in the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, which had been desecrated, and been named, ‘the Temple of Reason;’ a pyramid was erected in the centre of the church, surmounted by a temple, inscribed, ‘To Philosophy.’ The torch of ‘Truth’ was on the altar of ‘Reason,’ spreading light, &c. The National Convention, and all the authorities, attended at this burlesque and insulting ceremony. In February, 1794, a grand fête was ordered by the convention, in which hymns to Liberty were chanted, and a pageant in honor of the abolition of slavery in the colonies, was displayed in the ‘Temple of Reason.’ In June another festival was ordered—to the Supreme Being: the God of Philosophy. But the most superb exhibition was the ‘general festival,’ in honor of the republic. It was distinguished by a more audacious spirit of scoffing and profanation than the former. Robespierre acted the ‘high-priest of Reason’ on the day, and made himself conspicuous in blasphemy. He was then at the summit of power,—actual sovereign of France.”

The dead bodies of the witnesses, would be their existence in that prohibited condition, when, in France, neither the Scriptures, nor the church showed any symptoms of life. In the street, would be the conspicuous and public manner in which indignities should be heaped on them. France had been one of the principal states yielding homage to the Roman church. Surrounding nations beheld, but would not permit the extermination of the Bible and Christianity.

The French made merry over their blasphemous work. Says Dr. Croley:—

“A very remarkable and _prophetic_ distinction of this period, was the spirit of frenzied festivity which seized upon France. The capital, and all the republican towns, were the scene of civic feasts, processions, and shows of the most extravagant kind. The most festive times of peace under the most expensive kings were thrown into the shade by the frequency, variety, and extent of the republican exhibitions. Yet this was a time of perpetual miseries throughout France. The guillotine was bloody from morn till night. In the single month of July, 1794, nearly _eight hundred persons_, the majority, principal individuals of the state, and all possessing some respectability of situation, were guillotined in Paris alone. In the midst of this horror, there were twenty-six theatres open, filled with the most profane and profligate displays in honor of the ‘triumph of reason.’ ”

In Lyons a Bible was tied to the tail of an ass and dragged in a procession through the streets of that city. Thus they rejoiced over the supposed end of religion in France; and congratulated themselves that the terrors of God’s word, and the church would no more torment them.

“After three days and a half,” would be that number of years from the suppression of Christianity in November, 1793. On the 17th day of June, 1797, three and a half years from the abolition of the Bible and religious worship, CAMILLE JOURDAN, in the _Council of Five Hundred_, brought up the memorable report on the _Revision of the Laws Relative to Religious Worship_, by which France gave permission to all citizens to buy or hire edifices for the free exercise of it; repealing all opposing laws, and subjecting those to a heavy fine who should in any way impede or interrupt any religious service. The Bible and the church again stood erect, to the dismay of all who had rejoiced over their overthrow. Those two witnesses were again in a position to resume their testimony.

They were not only to be thus restored, but were to be elevated far above their former position. Since that epoch, have been made all those great efforts to evangelize the world, by means of missionary, tract, Bible, and other benevolent societies, which have caused the _Scriptures_ to be translated into nearly all known languages, and carried by the _living preacher_ to the ends of the earth. The very room in which Voltaire uttered his famous prediction—that “the time would arrive when the Bible would be regarded only in the light of an old curiosity,”—is now used for a Bible depository, and is “piled to the ceiling with that rare old book.” Copies of the Bible have been multiplied a million fold, and scattered broadcast over the earth. The other witness,—the church, has since then, also, been greatly magnified. In this age of missions and Bibles, the number of believers has been greatly multiplied; and missionaries have penetrated all lands. The last half-century has been distinguished for its wonderful revivals; and the servants of the cross have “prophesied [or testified] again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings,” 10:11.