And there was given me a reed
like unto a rod: and the angel
stood, saying, Rise, and measure
the temple of God, and the
altar, and them that worship
therein.
2. But the court which
is without the temple leave out, and
measure it not; for it is
given unto the Gentiles: and the holy
city shall they tread under
foot forty and two months.
3. And I will give power
unto my two witnesses, and they shall
prophesy a thousand two hundred
and threescore days, clothed in
sackcloth.
4. These are the two
olive-trees, and the two candlesticks
standing before the God of
the earth.
5. And if any man will
hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their
mouth, and devoureth their
enemies: and if any man will hurt
them, he must in this manner
be killed.
6. These have power to shut heaven,
that it rain not in the days of their prophecy:
and have power over waters to turn them to blood,
and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as
they will.
The two principal objects of this
vision is the city of Jerusalem with its holy temple
and worshipers, and two witnesses prophesying for twelve
hundred and sixty days. These are not objects
from the natural world; therefore we may conclude
that we have not here to do with political events,
while the character of the symbols point us with certainty
to the history of the church.
There is a possibility that the speaker
here is not the angel of the preceding chapter; for
the words in verse 1 “and the angel stood”
may be an interpolation, they being found in very
few manuscripts. See the Revised Version and
the Emphatic Diaglott, Greek and English. If not,
then he must be the angel through whom the Revelation
was given. Chap 1:1; 22:8. Whether the
angel is the same as the one in the preceding chapter
or not, it is evident that that series of prophecy
ends with chapter 10, and that he here introduces
a new line of events running over the entire gospel
dispensation, in which John as an active agent
in the panoramic vision still stands as a symbol of
the people of God, who, in striking contrast with
the blind devotees of an apostate church, are commanded
to “measure the temple of God, and the altar,
and them that worship therein.” The temple
with its altar and court and the holy city itself,
here used as symbols, are representative of something
analagous, and refer to no other than the outward,
visible church of God with its doctrines and worshipers.
Its measurement is designed to show how far it conforms
to the true church; while the rod is a symbol of the
revealed will of God, by which the measurement is brought
as to a true standard.
By noticing briefly the arrangement
of the temple and the purposes to which the different
apartments were put, we shall be able to understand
better the design of this vision. The temple proper
consisted of two apartments. In the first stood
the altar of incense and other things; in the second,
the ark of the covenant, etc. The priests
officiated in the first apartment regularly, while
into the second went the high-priest alone once every
year. This, Paul informs us, was a shadow of a
greater and more perfect tabernacle. Heb 9:1-11;
8:2. The altar that is mentioned and that John
was to measure is a symbol of the great cardinal doctrine
of the church the atonement and mediation
of Christ. He was the sacrifice made for sin,
through whom we have redemption and access unto God.
John was also told to measure those who worshiped therein the
officiating ministers in the sanctuary who
were thus made symbols of the ministers and the teachers
in the church. To measure the temple of God,
then, was to ascertain the great doctrines taught in
the Scriptures and symbolized by the sanctuary, the
altar, and the priests; namely, the doctrines of the
New Testament concerning God as the supreme lawgiver,
the atonement of Jesus Christ as the only ground for
justification, and the ministers whom he appointed
to officiate in his church.
These are the great principles corrupted
by the Papacy. Instead of the one supreme God,
we find another in the temple of God, “showing
himself that he is God.” Christ
was not recognized as the supreme and only head of
the church; but instead the Pope claimed the title
of universal head and legislated supreme, while his
decrees and anathemas were accepted as from Jehovah
himself. Christ was not regarded as the only
mediator between God and man, but the virgin Mary and
the saints were exalted to share the mediatorial throne,
the mother being more honored than the Son. Penance,
counting of beads, works of supererogation, were believed
to be more effectual in obtaining forgiveness of sin
than living faith in our only Redeemer. Finally,
in place of the humble ministers of Christ whom he
appointed to officiate in his church, there were haughty
lords and rulers, making the most extravagant claims
to power and authority over the minds and consciences
of men. The court of the temple was the space
outside of the sanctuary occupied by the congregation
while the worship within was conducted by the priests.
John was told to leave this out and measure it not;
for it was given to the Gentiles to tread under foot,
or profane, for the space of forty and two months,
or twelve hundred and sixty days. In the estimation
of a Jew, the Gentiles were all idolaters and outside
of God’s covenant favor. As a symbol, then,
we are to understand that the great body of worshipers
thus brought to view are not the true children of God
at all, but are, as it were, uncircumcised, idolatrous
Gentiles, having no connection whatever with the great
head of the church and no part in the covenant of
his mercy. The whole city of Jerusalem was to
be given over to this profane multitude and by them
desecrated for forty-two months, denoting that this
great company of worshipers was to constitute the visible,
external church during the period specified. It
is as though the city of Jerusalem were occupied by
the idolatrous heathen, and the Jews driven out as
aliens. These Gentiles, then, were to constitute
the one great (so-called) universal church the
Church of Rome.
Forty and two months, or twelve hundred
and sixty days, are symbolic time, signifying twelve
hundred and sixty years, during which time the power
of apostasy was to reign supreme over the minds of
men. The same period is also referred to frequently
in subsequent chapters. It is necessary, then,
for us to ascertain at what period of time the church
was given over to a profane multitude that was not
the true people of God. Some have supposed that
this must refer to the time when Popery became fully
established. Such, however, could not be the case
(although the time-period includes that important
event); for the power of apostasy was greatly developed
centuries before the final supremacy of the Popes
was established, and was necessary in order to prepare
the way for their exaltation. The Popes obtained
their authority by degrees. In A.D 606 the emperor
Phocas conferred the title “Universal Bishop”
upon the Pope of Rome. In A.D 756 the Pope became
a temporal sovereign. Yet the power of Papal
usurpation did not reach the summit until the reign
of the impious Hildebrand, who succeeded to the Popedom
in A.D 1073, under the title of Gregory VII.
But according to the symbols before us, we must look
for a period not so much when the Popes were enabled
to definitely enforce their arrogant claims, as when
the ministry became corrupted and when the inhabitants
of the city, or the devotees of the visible church,
became a profane multitude entirely estranged from
the covenant of promise. The usurpations
of the ministry that accompanied this great change
in the external church have been considered already
under the symbols of chapter VI. This mighty transformation
to a church containing nothing but uncircumcised Gentiles
was fully accomplished during the latter half of the
third century, from which date we must look for the
true disciples of the Lord as entirely separate from
the hierarchy. A few quotations from standard
and ecclesiastical histories will show this important
epoch in the rise of the Papacy that plunged the world
into almost universal apostasy.
“The living church retiring
gradually within the lonely sanctuary of a few solitary
hearts, an external church was substituted in its place,
and all its forms were declared to be of divine appointment.
Salvation no longer flowing from the Word, which was
henceforward put out of sight, the priests affirmed
that it was conveyed by means of the forms they had
themselves invented, and that no one could obtain it
but by these channels.... The doctrine of the
church and the necessity of its visible unity, which
had begun to gain ground in the third century,
favored the pretensions of Rome.”
“At the end of the third century
almost half the inhabitants of the Roman empire, and
of several neighboring countries, professed the faith
of Christ. About this time endeavors to preserve
a unity of belief, and of church discipline, occasioned
numberless disputes among those of different opinions,
and led to the establishment of an ecclesiastical
tyranny.” Encyclopædia of Religious Knowledge.
Concerning the Roman diocese, the
Encyclopædia Britannica says, Before the termination of the third century
the office was held to be of such importance that its succession was a matter of
interest to ecclesiastics living in distant sees.
Almost proportionate with the extension of Christianity was
the decrease in the church of vital piety. A philosophizing spirit among the
higher, and a wild monkish superstition among the lower orders, fast took the
place in the third century of the faith and humility of the first Christians.
Many of the clergy became very corrupt, and excessively ambitious. In
consequence of this there was an awful defection of Christianity.
“We have found it almost necessary
to separate, and indeed widely to distinguish the
events of the two first, from those of the third century,
for nearly at this point we are disposed to place the
FIRST CRISIS in the internal history of the church.”
Waddington’s Church History.
“This season of external prosperity
was improved by the ministers of the church for the
exertion of new claims, and the assumption of powers
with which they had not been previously invested.
At first these claims were modestly urged, and gradually
allowed; but they laid a foundation for the encroachments
which were afterwards made upon the rights of the
whole Christian community, and for lofty pretensions
to the right of supremacy and spiritual dominion....
Several alterations in the form of church government
appear to have been introduced during the third century.
Some degree of pomp was thought necessary....
The external dignity of the ministers of religion
was accompanied by a still greater change in its discipline....
Many of the Jewish and Pagan proselytes ... languished
in the absence of ceremonies which were naturally adapted
to the taste of the unreflecting multitude, while
the insolent infidel haughtily insisted upon the inanity
of a religion which was not manifested by an external
symbol or decoration. In order to accommodate
Christianity to these prejudices, a number of rites
were instituted; and while the dignified titles of
the Jewish priesthood were through a compliance with
the prejudices of that people, conferred upon the
Christian teachers, many ceremonies were introduced
which coincided with the genius of Paganism.
The true gospels were taught by sensible images, and
many of the ceremonies employed in celebrating the
heathen mysteries were observed in the institutions
of Christ, which soon in their turn obtained the name
of mysteries, and served as a melancholy precedent
for future innovations, and as a foundation for that
structure of absurdity and superstition which deformed
and disgraced the church.”
This “season of external prosperity”
mentioned by Rutter began with the accession of Gallienus
to the imperial throne in A.D 260. Up to this
time the hand of persecution had been raised against
the church almost incessantly; but from 260 until
the reign of Diocletian persecution almost ceased,
during this space of about forty years. But this
period also marked the greatest decline in spiritual
things and a marvelous development of the hierarchy.
Speaking of the bishop of Rome in these times, Dowling
says, “He far surpassed all his brethren in the
magnificence and splendor of the church over which
he presided; in the riches of his revenues and possessions;
in the number and variety of his ministers; in his
credit with the people; and in his sumptuous and splendid
manner of living.” History of Romanism,
.
Ammianus Marcellinus, a Roman historian,
who lived during these times, adverting to this subject,
says: “It was no wonder to see those who
were ambitious of human greatness, contending with
so much heat and animosity for that dignity, because
when they had obtained it, they were sure to be enriched
by the offerings of the matrons, and of appearing abroad
in great splendor, of being admired for their costly
coaches, and sumptuous feasts, outdoing sovereign
princes in the expenses of their table.”
This led Proetextatus, a heathen, who was praefect
of the city, to say, “Make me bishop of Rome,
and I’ll be a Christian too!”
Speaking of the period now under consideration,
Eusebius, “the father of church history,”
“mentions one Paul, who was at this time bishop
of Antioch; who lived in luxury and licentiousness,
and who was a teacher of erroneous doctrines, and
usurped so great authority that the people feared
to venture to accuse him. In the conclusion of
the same chapter in which this is found, he shows
that after a general council was held at Antioch,
this Paul was excommunicated and robbed of his bishopric
by the bishops of Rome and Italy; from this it appears
that they possessed an authority still greater than
that usurped by Paul.” The following are
his words: “Paul, therefore, having thus
fallen from the episcopate, together with the true
faith as already said, Domnus succeeded in administration
of the church at Antioch. But Paul being unwilling
to leave the building of the church, an appeal was
made to the emperor Aurelian, who decided most equitably
on the business, ordering the building to be given
up to those whom the Christian bishops of Italy and
Rome should write.” Eccl. History,
Book VII, Chap 30. The Encyclopædia Britannica says that this council at
which Paul was excommunicated was held probably in the year 268, and that
Paul continued in his office until the year 272, when the city was taken by the
emperor Aurelian, who decided in person that the church-building belonged to the
bishop who was in epistolary communication with the bishops of Rome and Italy.
The above extracts show not only the
development of error in the church, but also the great
power already obtained by the hierarchy. Geo.
Fisher says, “The accession of Constantine [A.D 312] found the church so
firmly organized under the hierarchy that it could not lose its identity by
being absolutely merged in the state.
In the year A.D 270 Anthony, an Egyptian,
the founder of the monastic institution, fixed his
abode in the deserts of Egypt and formed monks into
organized bodies. “Influenced by these eminent
examples [Anthony, Hilarion, et al.] immense
multitudes betook themselves to the desert, and innumerable
monasteries were fixed in Egypt, Ethiopia, Lybia and
Syria. Some of the Egyptian abbots are spoken
of as having had five, seven, or even ten thousand
monks under their personal direction; and the Thebias,
as well as certain spots in Arabia, are reported to
have been literally crowded with solitaries.
Nearly a hundred thousand of all classes, it is said,
were at one time to be found in Egypt.... Although
the enthusiasm might be at a lower ebb in one country
than in another, it actually affected the church
universal, so far as the extant materials of ecclesiastical
history enables us to trace its rise and progress....
The more rigid and heroic of the Christian anchorets
dispensed with all clothing except a rug, or a few
palm leaves round the loins. Most of them abstained
from the use of water for ablution; nor did they usually
wash or change the garments they had once put on; thus
St. Anthony [the founder of this order] bequeathed
to Athanasius a skin in which his sacred person had
been wrapped for half a century. They also allowed
their beards and nails to grow, and sometimes became
so hirsute, as to be actually mistaken for hyaenas
or bears.” Hist. of Romanism, pp.
88, 89. Reader, what was the condition of the
so-called church in A.D 270 that could make the introduction
of such abominations possible? Although many
more historical quotations on this point might be
added, I will conclude with the two following extracts
from Joseph Milner.
“We shall, for the present,
leave Anthony propagating the monastic dispositions,
and extending its influence not only into the next
century, but for many ages after, and conclude this
view of the state of the third century, with
expressing our regret that the faith and love of the
gospel received toward the close of it a dreadful blow
from the encouragement of this unchristian practise.
“Moral, and philosophical, and
monastic instructions will not effect for men what
is to be expected from evangelical doctrine. And
if the faith of Christ was so much declined (and its
decayed state ought to be dated from about the
year 270), we need not wonder that such scenes as Eusebius hints at without
any circumstantial details took place in the Christian world.
After reading the foregoing statements
of historians, the reader will, I believe, agree with
me that the year 270 is a consistent date to mark
the time when the visible external church was wholly
given over to the profane multitude of uncircumcised,
idolatrous Gentiles to tread under foot. Measuring
forward the allotted period of twelve hundred and sixty
years brings us to the exact date of the first Protestant
creed (the Augsburg Confession) in A.D 1530.
We must point to this date both for the end of Rome’s
universal spiritual supremacy and for the rise of
Protestantism. D’Aubigne, in his History
of the Reformation, when he comes to this period,
says: “The conflicts hitherto described
have been only partial; we are entering upon a new
period, that of general battles. Spires (1529)
and Ausburg (1530) are names that shine forth with
more immortal glory than Marathon, Pavia, or Marengo.
Forces that up to the present time were separate,
are now uniting into one energetic band.”
Book XVIII, Chap 1. “The first two books
of this volume contain the most important epochs of
the reformation the Protest of Spires, and
the Confession of Augsburg.... I determined on
bringing the reformation of Germany and German Switzerland
to the decisive epochs of 1530 and 1531.
The history of the reformation, properly so called,
is then in my opinion almost complete in those countries.
The work of faith has there attained its apogee:
that of conferences, of interims, of diplomacy
begins.... The movement of the sixteenth century
has there made its effort. I said from the very
first, It is the history of the reformation and not
of Protestantism that I am relating.” D’Aubigne,
Preface to Vol. V.
The next important object in the vision
is the “two witnesses” that prophecied
in sackcloth. From the description given, it would
appear at first that these witnesses were active intelligent
agents; and as such, belonging to the department of
human life, they would symbolize the church, the number
two denoting the ministry and the people of God.
But the church is already symbolized in this chapter,
the angel representing the ministry, as in the preceding
chapter, and John, who is clearly one of the symbolic
agents in this vision, representing the church; therefore
the two witnesses must be representative of something
else. Since the actions ascribed to them are
drawn from the department of human life, it is evident
that their interpretation is to be found in connection
with the affairs of the church. By way of explanation,
verse 4 represents them to be “the two olive-trees,
and the two candle-sticks standing before the God
of the earth,” although it is not stated that
any olive-trees and candle-sticks were shown in this
prophetic vision. In this reference is made to
the fourth chapter of Zechariah, where two olive-trees
are represented as standing one on each side of a golden
candle-stick, distilling into it their oil for light.
When asked for the signification of the two olive-trees
and the candlestick, the angel answered, “This
is the Word of the Lord ... by my Spirit,
saith the Lord.” Ver 6. That the
Word of God and the Spirit of God are special witnesses
is proved by many texts. Jesus said, “Search
the Scriptures ... they are they which testify
of me.” John 6:39. “This gospel
of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world
for a witness unto all nations.”
Mat 24:14. “The Holy Ghost also is a witness.”
Heb 10:15. “The Spirit itself beareth
witness.” Rom 8:16. “It
is the Spirit that beareth witness.”
1 John 5:6. It is the Spirit acting in conjunction
with the Word of God that gives spiritual life, through
regeneration, unto men, and which opens their understanding
that they may know the things of Go Cor
2:9-15.
God may have given us the explanation
that these two witnesses were the same as the olive-trees
and the candle-sticks to prevent our being led astray
with the supposition that they were actually intelligent
agents. (I speak humanly.) Accepting this statement,
the actions of these witnesses here described can
be explained only by the figure of speech known as
Personification, by which it is proper, under certain
conditions, to attribute life, action, and intelligence
to inanimate objects. Thus, the blood of Abel
is said to have cried from the ground. Gen 4:9,
10. “The stone shall cry out of the wall,
and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.”
Hab. 2:11. “The hire of the laborers
... which is of you kept back by fraud crieth:
and the cries ... are entered into the ears of the
Lord of Sabaoth.” Jas 5:4. “The
mountains and the hills shall break forth before you
into singing, and all the trees of the field shall
clap their hands.” Isa 55:12. I would
not attempt to vary from the general order and explain
these two witnesses by the figure of personification,
were it not for the fact that the two olive-trees
and the two candle-sticks are here given as a means
of explanation; and trees and candle-sticks, we know,
are not active, intelligent agents, and consequently
do not necessarily symbolize such.
To “hurt” the Word and
Spirit of God is to oppose, corrupt, or pervert their
testimony and to turn people away from them; and the
judgments of Heaven are pronounced in that Word and
by that Spirit against such as turn away from the
truth unto fables. They shall have their part
in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.
Rev 20:15; 22:8. It is also said of them:
“These have power to shut heaven, that it rain
not in the days of their prophecy: and have power
over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the
earth with all plagues, as often as they will.”
This indicates the fact that these were God’s
own special witnesses sent in his name and by his
authority, as were the prophets of old. Elijah
shut up heaven by prayer; Moses called down the plagues
upon Egypt; and these were God’s attestations
that they were his divinely commissioned servants.
So these two witnesses had power to shut heaven and
to smite the earth with plagues, not literally, but
herein is symbolically set forth the fact that they
were God’s appointed agents, even though despised
and rejected, like Elijah in the midst of apostate
Israel and Moses amid idolatrous Egypt, yet, like
them, with the seal of Heaven upon their ministry.
In the beginning of this dispensation
these two witnesses were the vicars of Christ in his
church upon earth. The word of God and the Spirit
of God were the Governors of his people. At that
time they had perfect freedom of action among the
children of God; but when the apostasy arose, the
governing power of the Word and Spirit of God in the
church was gradually usurped by the rising hierarchy,
until, finally, men had entire authority in what was
called the visible church. This was brought about
when, to quote Mosheim’s words, the bishops grasped
the power and authority “to prescribe authoritative
rules of faith and manners.” D’Aubigne
explains it thus: “Salvation no longer flowing
from the Word, which was henceforward put out
of sight, the priests affirmed that it was conveyed
by means of the forms they had themselves invented,
and that no one could attain it except by these channels....
Christ communicated to the apostles, and these to the
bishops, the unction of the Holy Spirit; and
this Spirit is to be procured only in that order of
succession.... Faith in the heart no longer connected
the members of the church, and they were united by
means of bishops, archbishops, popes, mitres,
canons and ceremonies.” History of
the Reformation, Book I, Chap 1. Thus, the Word
and Spirit of God as the true vicars of Christ in
his church were finally expelled from what was looked
upon as the one visible church, and with them the true
worshipers also were driven out; and nothing remained
in the public view except the great company of profane
idolaters already referred to. The same is referred
to in a subsequent chapter as the flight of the true
church into the wilderness, where, hidden from sight,
she had a place prepared of God for twelve hundred
and sixty days. So after all, God had a true
church during the Dark Ages a people that
stood in opposition to the abounding corruption and
iniquity of the church of Rome; a people that rejected
the established hierarchy and gave heed to the Word
and Spirit of God. But their numbers were so
few, comparatively, that the operations of the two
witnesses were greatly limited; hence they are represented
as being clothed in sackcloth, a symbol of melancholy
and mourning.
Among those who opposed the teachings
of that apostate church were the Cathari, Poor Men
of Lyons, Lombards, Albigenses, Waldenses, Vaudois,
etc. The name Waldenses and Albigenses have
frequently been loosely applied to all the bands of
people that passed under various titles in different
countries and that opposed the doctrines and ecclesiastical
tyranny of Rome. Speaking of the twelfth century,
Bowling says: “There existed at that dark
period, when ’all the world wondered after the
beast,’ a numerous body of the disciples of Christ,
who took the New Testament for their guidance and
direction in all the affairs of religion, rejecting
the doctrines and commandments of men. Their appeal
was from the decisions of councils, and the authority
of popes, cardinals, and prelates, to the law and
the testimony the words of Christ and his
holy apostles.” History of Romanism. Egbert, a monkish writer of that age, speaking
of them, says that he had often disputed with these
heretics, “a sort of people,” he adds,
“who are very pernicious to the Catholic faith,
which, like moths, they corrupt and destroy.
They are armed,” says he, “with the
words of Scripture which in any way seem to favor
their sentiments, and with these they know how to
defend their errors, and to oppose the Catholic truth.
They are increased to great multitudes throughout
all countries, to the great danger of the church [of
Rome].”
For lack of space, an extensive history
of these interesting people can not be given; but
a few references to them by their most inveterate
enemies, the Papists themselves, are of such importance
that I can not pass them by unnoticed. The testimony
given by Evervinus, a zealous Catholic, in a letter
he wrote to the celebrated Bernard, at the beginning
of the twelfth century, relative to the doctrine and
manners of these so-called heretics, is exceedingly
valuable. Says he: “There have lately
been some heretics discovered among us, near Colonge
[sic: Cologne], of whom some have, with satisfaction
returned again to the church. One that was a
bishop among them, and his companions, openly opposed
us, in the assembly of the clergy and laity, the lord-archbishop
himself being present, with many of the nobility, maintaining
their heresy from the words of Christ and his apostles.
But, finding that they made no impression, they desired
that a day might be fixed, upon which they might bring
along with them men skilful in their faith, promising
to return to the church, provided their teachers were
unable to answer their opponents; but that otherwise,
they would rather die than depart from their judgment.
“Upon this declaration, having
been admonished to repent, and three days allowed
them for that purpose, they were seized by the people,
in their excess of zeal, and committed to the flames!
and, what is most astonishing, they came to the stake
and endured the torment not only with patience, but
even with joy. In this case, O holy father, were
I present with you, I should be glad to ask you, how
these members of Satan could persist in their heresy
with such constancy and courage as is rarely to be
found among the most religious in the faith of Christ?”
He then proceeds: “Their
heresy is this: They say that the church (of
Christ) is only among themselves, because they alone
follow the ways of Christ, and imitate the apostles,
not seeking secular gains.... Whereas they say
to us, ’Ye join house to house, and field to
field, seeking the things of this world.’...
They represent themselves as the poor of Christ’s
flock, who have no certain abode, fleeing from one
city to another, like sheep in the midst of wolves,
enduring persecution with the apostles and martyrs:
though strict in their manner of life abstemious,
laborious, devoted, and holy ... living as men
who are not of the world. But you, say they,
lovers of the world, have peace with the world, because
ye are in it. False apostles, who adulterate the
word of God, seeking their own things, have misled
you and your ancestors. Whereas, we and our fathers,
having been born and brought up in the apostolic doctrine,
have continued in the grace of Christ, and shall continue
so to the end.... They affirm that the apostolic
dignity is corrupted by indulging itself in secular
affairs, while it sits [professedly] in St Peter’s
chair. They do not hold with the baptism of infants,
alleging that passage of the gospel, ’He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved.’
They place no confidence in the intercession of saints
and all things observed in the church, which have not
been established by Christ himself, or his apostles,
they pronounce to be superstitious. They do not
admit of any purgatory fire after death, contending,
that the souls of men, as soon as they depart out of
the bodies, do enter into rest or punishment ... by
which means they make void all the prayers and oblations
of the faithful for the deceased.... I must inform
you also, that those of them who have returned to our
church, tell us that they had great numbers of their
persuasion, scattered almost everywhere.... And
as for those who were burnt, they, in defense they
made of themselves, told us that this heresy had been
concealed from the time of the martyrs [by which
is meant the early period of Christianity] and that
it had existed in Greece and other countries.”
Although Bernard began a strenuous
opposition to these people, still he testifies:
“If you ask them of their faith, nothing can
be more Christian-like; and if you observe their conversation,
nothing can be more blameless, and what they speak
they make good by their actions.... As to life
and manners, he circumvents no man, overreaches no
man, does violence to no man. He fasts much and
eats not the bread of idleness; but works with his
hands for his support.”
Claudius, archbishop of Turin, who
joined in hunting and persecuting them to the death,
writes, “Their heresy excepted, they generally
live a purer life than other Christians.”
Again, “In their lives they are perfect, irreproachable,
and without reproach among men, addicting themselves
with all their might to the service of God.”
The sum and substance of their offense
is mentioned by Cassini, a Franciscan friar, where
he says, “That ALL THE ERRORS of these Waldenses
consisted in this, that they denied the church of Rome
to be the holy mother church, and would not obey
her traditions.”
In conclusion I quote from the celebrated
Roman Catholic historian Thuanus. He states their
tenets as follows: “That the church of Rome,
because it renounced the true faith of Christ, WAS
THE WHORE OF BABYLON ... that consequently no obedience
was to be paid to the Pope, or to the bishops
who maintain her errors; that a monastic life was the
sink and dungeon of the church, the vows of which
[relating to celibacy] were vain ... that the orders
of the priesthood were marks of the great beast mentioned
in the Apocalypse; that the fire of purgatory, the
solemn mass, the consecration days of churches, the
worship of saints, and propitiations for the
dead, were the devices of Satan.” Lib.
VI, Sec 16, Lib. XXVII. The chief offense
of these so-called heretics seems to have been that
they denounced the Pope as “Antichrist”
and the apostate church of Rome as “the Babylonish
harlot.”
7. And when they shall
have finished their testimony, the beast
that ascendeth out of the
bottomless pit shall make war against
them, and shall overcome them,
and kill them.
8. And their dead bodies
shall lie in the street of the great
city, which spiritually is
called Sodom and Egypt, where also
our Lord was crucified.
9. And they of the people
and kindreds and tongues and nations
shall see their dead bodies
three days and an half, and shall
not suffer their dead bodies
to be put in graves.
10. And they that dwell
upon the earth shall rejoice over them,
and make merry, and shall
send gifts one to another; because
these two prophets tormented
them that dwelt on the earth.
11. And after three days
and an 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.
At the expiration of the twelve hundred
and sixty years the scene changes. The prophecy
of the witnesses in their sackcloth state, hidden
away from sight in the wilderness, ends, and they are
now brought out into public view but only
to be killed. Their slaughter takes place at
the hands of the beast. When we come to consider
chapter XIII, we shall see that the Papacy is described
as a beast reigning for forty-two months, or twelve
hundred and sixty years, after which time another
beast possessing great power and authority appears
on the scene. This second beast is Protestantism,
and through it the murder of the two witnesses at
the close of the Papal supremacy in the vision before
us was effected.
It would seem, by the similarity of
statement that the beast “ascendeth out of the
bottomless pit,” that the slaughter of the witnesses
was effected by the Papal beast (Chap 17:7, 8); but
the Mohammedan delusion also is said to have proceeded
from “the bottomless pit.” Chap 9:1,
2. The expression bottomless pit is doubtless
used merely to signify the source of certain powers
in contradistinction to the heavenly source from which
others proceeded. Although the Papal beast is
said to have originated in the bottomless pit, the
second beast also doubtless proceeded from the same
source, for he possessed many of the characteristics
of the former, and caused the earth to worship the
first beast. That
he was not of heavenly origin is shown by the statement
that he came up “out of the earth.”
Chap 13:11. But the direct proof that it was
the Protestant beast, and not the Papal beast although
the same expression as to its origin is used concerning
it that slew the two witnesses, is found
in the fact that the reign of the first, or Papal,
beast was limited to forty two months (Chap 13:5),
corresponding to the twelve hundred and sixty years
in which the witnesses prophesied in the vision before
us; while it was after the close of this period,
at the time when the second, or Protestant, beast
arose (Chap 13:11), that the witnesses were slain.
To many this may seem a hard saying;
but I request that the matter be given the most careful
attention in the light of prophecy and divine truth.
It is true that the Sixteenth Century Reformation at
first brought the witnesses out of the wilderness
of seclusion where they had remained during the long
night of Romanism and exhibited them to the public
view; but when thus placed upon exhibition, they were
soon robbed entirely of their position as the Vicars,
or Governors, of God’s church. Since creed
and sect-making first began, the Word and Spirit have
not possesed governing power and authority in Protestantism;
but men have usurped that place and prescribed authoritative
rules of faith and practise for the people. The
principles of Higher Criticism have so far pervaded
the realm of sectarian theology that a vast number
of the clergy no longer regard the Bible as the inspired
word of God to man, but simply as a remarkable piece
of religious literature recording the natural development
of the religious consciousness among a peculiarly
sensitive race of people. Protestantism certainly
has placed the Bible on the dissecting table and dismembered
it in a manner wholly unknown before. While Protestants
will not for a moment allow the blessed Book to be
hidden out of sight put “into graves” still
they will not grant it that place it should occupy
as the sole discipline of faith, so it is a dead letter
to them. That all-glorious doctrine of Bible unity,
which fills the whole New Testament, strikes a deathblow
to all the carnal divisions and institutions of sectarianism;
and so with one accord they unite in fighting it.
“Oh, the good old blessed Bible! we could not
do without it,” say they; yet, as everybody knows,
they are governed by the discipline and laws that
they or their representatives have formulated.
Thus, the Word and Spirit of God are brought under
the public gaze, only to be treated with such indignity
in God’s sight, and killed; while infidels look
on, and tauntingly remark, “Either the religion
of to-day is no Christianity, or the Word of God is
a lie.”
In the beginning of this dispensation
the church of God not only consisted of all those
who were spiritual, but constituted a visible, organic
body as well, made up of numerous local congregations
that were separate in the management of their internal
affairs, yet interrelated with each other, and were
directed by humble pastors, who were, in reference
to each other, equal. The Word of God was
their only discipline, and the Spirit of God, their
great Teacher and Guide. Thus, the two witnesses
were active in their official position, in the public
view, as the Vicars or Governors of the church of God
on earth. When, however, men usurped the place
of these Vicars by ignoring the Spirit and rejecting
the Word and making their own rules of faith, the effect
was a national hierarchy the church of Rome,
which for twelve hundred and sixty years stood in
the public view. Yet the two witnesses were still
alive, though driven into obscurity and “clothed
in sackcloth”; for they still acted in their
official position in the congregations of the medieval
Christians already referred to, who resisted the doctrines
of men and clung tenaciously to the simple, primitive
form of church government and allowed the Spirit and
Word authority supreme.
But during the Protestant era Christians
the world over became identified with the various
sects, hence were representing to the world the beast
power instead of the true church. Thus, during
the Protestant period, the church of God, in its
organic form, was not represented anywhere on
earth; for its members were scattered among those who
were “worshiping the beast and his image.”
Hence the two witnesses, during this era, had no place
to operate in their official capacity as the Governors
of God’s church and are therefore represented
as slain. The government of Protestant sects
is not effected by the Word and Spirit; for the institutions
themselves are of human origin, and men are their
law-makers and governors.
When the two witnesses are deprived
of their governing power and the rules and disciplines
of men substituted in their place, a decline into
worldliness is the invariable result. This has
been the case repeatedly in sectarianism. In
fact, Protestantism, as a component part of that great
city Babylon, has so given herself over to “revellings,
banquetings, and abominable idolâtries,”
that a voice from heaven has declared her to be “the
habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit,
and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”
Chap 18:2. Witness the shows, festivals, frolics,
grab-bag parties, kissing bees, cake-walk lotteries,
and other abominations unnumbered, that are carried
on without shame, under the guise of religion, in the
high places of this modern Babylon! If the Word
of God with the full power and authority of his Spirit
could be turned in upon them, it would be like the
torment of fire; but no, it is dead to them, and they
rejoice and make merry and continue in “the
same excess of riot.”
In the description before us, this
city of sectarianism in which the two witnesses are
slain is “spiritually [or mystically] called
Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.”
It is a mystical Sodom, Egypt and Jerusalem a
Sodom for wickedness and lewdness, an Egypt for the
captivity and oppression of God’s people, and
a Jerusalem for the crucifying of the Son of God afresh
and putting him to an open shame. Thus, this
city mystically combines the wickedness of the three
most wicked places on earth Sodom, Egypt,
and Jerusalem. These facts we shall notice more
particularly hereafter.
But these two witnesses were not always
to remain trampled under foot in the streets of great
Babylon; for a time came when “the spirit of
life from God entered into them, and they stood upon
their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw
them.” In this is portrayed the reformation
which is now taking place in the world. About
the year A.D 1880 God began to raise up holy men
and women whom he commissioned to preach the everlasting
gospel of the kingdom again; and they went forth in
his name calling upon God’s people everywhere
to come “out of all places where they had been
scattered in the cloudy and dark day” (Ezek
34:12) and to take up their abode in the one true church
of Jesus Christ, his body, independent of all sectarianism
and the creeds and disciplines of men. In this
assembly of the faithful, gathered out of all nations,
no man nor set of men attempts to form laws or regulations
for the supervision of spiritual affairs; but with
one consent they humbly bow before the only true Lawgiver
(Jas 4:12), and say, “The government shall
be upon his shoulder” (Isa 9:6); and the Word
and Spirit of God have perfect control of his saints.
Halleluiah! They can preach, teach, and believe
every word of truth placed in the Sacred Volume, without
a conference or discipline of men forbidding.
Standing upon this apostolic platform of eternal truth,
they hurl the thunders of divine judgment against
the hidden works of darkness, causing the graceless
devotees of fallen Babylon to quake with fear and to
“gnaw their tongues for pain.”
After the resurrection of these witnesses,
a voice from heaven is heard, saying, “Come
up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a
cloud; and their enemies beheld them.”
This ascension to heaven in the presence of their
enemies, which according to this chapter occurred before
the end of time, has reference undoubtedly to their
great exaltation. “Thy greatness is grown,
and reacheth unto heaven.” Dan 4:22.
We see that in this text a similar expression signifies
great exaltation. So this work is destined to
assume such proportions that the people of earth may
have the privilege of seeing the truth. In the
preceding chapter John, as a symbol of the church
at this time, under the living ministry symbolized
by the rain-bow angel, was told that he “must
prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and
tongues, and kings.” Verse 11.
The signification of the time-period
of three days and a half claims our attention next.
According to the foregoing explanation, it will be
seen that the writer applies it as three centuries
and a half, or three hundred and fifty years from
A.D 1530 to A.D 1880. It will be necessary
to adduce strong reasons for thus applying it.
In the first place, the time-prophecies of the Bible
are by no means confined to the year-day manner of
interpretation. Many times in the Old Testament
the expression occurs, “And it shall come to
pass in that day,” which expression is
admitted by all to have reference to the gospel day,
or the entire gospel dispensation. When the church
of Philadelphia was promised deliverance from the
hour of temptation which was to come upon all
the world (Chap 3:10), no one supposes that a short
period of only one week is specified. The rulers
of the ten kingdoms were to “receive power as
kings one hour with the beast” (Chap
17:12), which expression will be shown later to really
cover many years. We might point out many such
exceptions were it necessary.
Again, it was the beast that came
up at the expiration of the twelve hundred and sixty
years, or Protestantism, that slaughtered the witnesses,
and we could not expect their resurrection during the
reign of Protestantism, which every one will admit
was longer than three and one-half years, according
to the year-day application. The events as they
have developed prove that it was just three and one-half
centuries before Protestantism was entirely ignored
and the Spirit and Word recognized as the sole Governors
in the church of God. Besides, the general trend
of events following the formation of Protestantism
naturally divide the succeeding centuries into separate
periods. The first (sixteenth) was a fierce conflict
for the establishment of Protestantism; the second
(seventeenth) was a violent reaction, wherein the
church of Rome nearly triumphed over her hated opposers;
while the third (eighteenth) is specially noted in
history as the period of infidelity or reason.
This division of time was so noticable that D’Aubigne,
who wrote about A.D 1835, in his famous History of
the Reformation, refers to it in the following remarkable
language: “It has been said that the three
last centuries, the sixteenth, the seventeenth, and
the eighteenth, may be conceived as an immense battle
of three days’ duration. We willingly adopt this beautiful
comparison.... The first day was the battle of God, the second the battle of the
priest, the third the battle of Reason. What will be the fourth? [1830-1930] In
our opinion, the confused strife, the deadly contest of all these powers
together, TO END IN THE VICTORY OF HIM TO WHOM TRIUMPH BELONGS.
The writer is thankful to God that
he is permitted to see the fourth day ending “in
the victory of Him to whom triumph belongs.”
And may we, my brethren, be grateful to our dear Lord
that it is our privilege to have part in this glorious
reformation of divine truth that is now sweeping over
the world and gathering the elect together for the
soon-coming of the Savior.
13. And the same hour was there
a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the
city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men
seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted,
and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14. The second woe is
past; and, behold, the third woe cometh
quickly.
At the time the witnesses reach their
greatest exaltation, a great earthquake takes place
upon earth, and the tenth part of the city falls.
The nature of the symbol would point us to some political
upheaval. Since the great city of Babylon is
composed of different divisions (as will be seen hereafter),
it is a matter of doubt as to which part of the city
is here referred to; but most probably that of the
hierarchy as embraced in one of the ten divisions
or kingdoms. Since the fulfilment of this prediction
is yet future, I speak with hesitation and wait for
the event to make all clear. It is probable, however,
that either in this political revolution, or about
that time, the Ottoman power will be overthrown; for
immediately the announcement is made, “The second
woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.”
15. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven,
saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of
his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and eVer
16. And the four and
twenty elders, which sat before God on
their seats, fell upon their
faces, and worshipped God,
17. Saying, We give thee
thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art,
and wast, and art to come;
because thou hast taken to thee thy
great power, and hast reigned.
18. And the nations were angry,
and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead,
that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest
give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to
the saints, and them that fear thy name, small
and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy
the earth.
19. And the temple of God was opened
in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the
ark of his testament: and there were lightnings,
and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and
great hail.
The seventh angel that here sounded
is the third woe-angel, and according to the description
before us, ushers in the general judgment. When
the temple of God was opened that this mighty event
might take place on earth, there were “lightnings,
and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and
great hail.” Wondrous commotions took place
in the world, for kingdoms and empires were all overthrown,
and Jesus Christ was the only king remaining, and
his mission was to raise the dead that they might
be judged, to give reward to the prophets and saints,
and to banish with everlasting destruction those that
corrupted the earth. The description itself is
too plain to need further comment.
“The temple of God” that
was opened in heaven is to be understood as symbolical
(as explained in Chap 6:9), and not literal.
In other words, the heavenly world appeared to John
symbolized after the sanctuary of the temple on earth.
Chap 15:5-8; 16:1, 7, 17, etc. This is proved
clearly by the fact that, when the real heaven, the
future home of the redeemed, is described, John says,
“I saw no temple therein.”
Chap 21:22.
Before dismissing the visions of this
chapter, I wish to call attention to one more point
hitherto referred to that of parallelism
and contrast. While we have the history of the
church apostate described by the treading down of
the holy city, we have also, in immediate contrast
and running parallel therewith, a history of the true
church existing during the same period of twelve hundred
and sixty years, although it was in a sackcloth state.
And while the reign of Protestantism is described
as a period during which the two witnesses were in
one sense dead, we have in immediate contrast a history
of the last great reformation, in which the spirit
of life from God again enters these same witnesses,
and they stand upright on their feet, to the consternation
of all their adversaries. Amen.