3. THE TWO Revelation 11:3-14 3 And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.--Forty-two months, verse 2, and 1,260 days refer to the same period. This shows that months were counted as having thirty days. Three important things are mentioned in this verse: the witnesses, the time they were to prophesy, and the manner of their prophesying. Since the word witness means one who testifies, to prophesy simply means to give their testimony. They are further described in the next verse. 4 These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the Lord of the earth.--Expositors generally agree that what is said about the two witnesses is probably the most difficult passage in the whole book of Revelation. The theories suggested are hopelessly contradictory. One commentator (Alford) says: "No solution has ever been given of this portion of the prophecy." Some say that Enoch and Elijah are meant; others suggest Moses and Elijah. But no plausible reason has been assigned by anyone why Old Testament prophets should be referred to in a passage which clearly refers to a time subsequent to the great Roman apostasy. Most of the interpretations offered are not only indefinite in fact, but lack any evidence of showing that they fit the time necessarily required. This, of course, is fatal to them. Several expositors understand the two witnesses to mean the Bible--that is, the Old and New Testaments. This view appears to be the only one with enough plausibility to merit serious consideration. That the things stated harmonize with the facts of Bible power and influence during the long, dark night of papal domination preceding the Reformation is evidence that this view is most probably correct. To these facts we now give consideration. The two witnesses are said to be "two olive trees and the two candlesticks." This certainly means that the witnesses are symbolically represented by the olive trees and candlesticks. The purpose of a candlestick is to give light. (Matthew 5:15.) Anything that gives light may figuratively be called a candlestick. For that reason the seven churches (Revelation 1:20) are called candlesticks. For exactly the same reason David referred to God's word as a "lamp unto my feet, and light unto my path." (Psalms 119:105.) As lampstands (marginal translation) could only give light through the oil they contained, so the things which furnished the oil are also called the witnesses. In Zechariah 4:2-14 there is a similar symbol, but of one candlestick with seven lamps. The olive trees emptied their oil into the lampstands. They are explained to mean the two anointed ones. (Verse 14.) Zerubbabel is told that what he would accomplish would not be by might (an army) or by power, but by Jehovah's Spirit. (Verse 6.) In plain, simple words the meaning is that just as the oil supplied to the lampstands by the olive trees gave the light, so what he did would be by direction of the Spirit of God. So in the text in Revelation the thought is that the light given by the Bible is due to the fact that it was spoken by men inspired by God's Spirit. Since the candlestick which lighted the tabernacle stood in the holy place in front or before the mercy seat where God met the high priest in the atonement service, so here these candlesticks are represented as "standing before the Lord of the earth." This would, at least, imply that their testimony had God's approval. That is certainly true of the Bible. The word "witness" means one who testifies, and testimony is what is said. The two divisions of the Bible are called the Old and New Testaments. Hence, they are witnesses in the sense that they present God's testimony. Being two distinct parts of the testimony, they fit the requirements of this symbol. As already suggested, taking the 1,260 days literally--three and one-half years--would not be sufficient time for such momentous things as the symbol indicates; hence, the yearday theory, which means 1,260 years, seems a necessity. The text does not say that the witnesses testified only 1,260 years, but they testified that long "clothed in sackcloth." They had testified before that period began and again after they were killed and came to life. "In sackcloth" means that their testimony was hampered by dangerous obstacles in a dark and gloomy time. For true Bible teaching there have been no more mournful conditions than when the papal power virtually ruled the world. Possessing only handmade copies of the Scriptures was a natural handicap against their distribution. The teaching of the apostate church that only papal interpretations were authoritative naturally closed the door against personal study of the word. Bitter persecutions against those who refused submission to the Pope's authority completes the picture of gloom. Prophets clothed in sackcloth was a most appropriate symbol of the Bible struggling against such terrific odds. Naturally all apostasies rise gradually, and fixing a definite date for their commencement is difficult and often impossible. It is certain that the great apostasy foreseen by Paul (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12) began in the full sense when the "man of sin" was fully developed. That such a development was a real "antichrist"--against Christ--is an undoubted truth. Evidently the beginning of this great apostasy was the beginning of the 1,260-year period. According to the general admission of church historians the first and basic departure from apostolic teaching was exalting one elder above the others and making him "the Bishop" of the congregation. This soon led to extending his authority over other congregations. This again led to ascribing superior authority to bishops of congregations in prominent cities. At this time they were called patriarchs. The contest for supremacy finally narrowed down to Rome and Constantinople, with Rome gaining the Victory. Two dates especially have been urged as the time to place the beginning--A.D. 533 and 606. However, if no exact date can be fixed, the general facts are the same. Elliott's commentary (Vol. III, p. 151) says that during the century A.D. 430 to 530 the Roman Papacy "incipiently assumed that principle of domination over the ten kingdoms of Western Christendom, as well as of usurpation of Christ's place in the church, blasphemy against God, and hostility to God's saints, by which it was afterwards more fully characterized." This gradual development of the man of sin is indicated in the following facts: Rome being the capital of the empire would naturally suggest the supremacy of her patriarch. Constantinople being the eastern capital naturally led to a rivalry for this honor. At the council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451) the Legates of Leo, patriarch of Rome, proclaimed him "head of all churches." In two councils at Rome, A.D. 494 and 495, the Roman bishop was declared to have "authority over the whole church." In A.D. 533 Justinian, the emperor of the eastern part of the empire, issued a decretal letter solemnly recognizing the Roman bishop as "head of the churches." The foregoing facts have been gleaned from Elliott's commentary, Vol. III, pp. 151 to 160. For reasons to be given in the notes on verses 8-13 A.D. 533 is accepted as the probable time to date the beginning of the 1,260-year period. In A.D. 588 the patriarch of Constantinople, John the Faster, assumed the title of "Universal Bishop." Gregory the Great, who was at that time patriarch of the church at Rome, sent John and the emperor each a letter condemning their use of the title. Notwithstanding this condemnation, in A.D. 606 Boniface III induced Phocas, who reached the Roman throne through murder, to transfer the title from John the Faster to himself. This is probably to be considered hut a wicked confirmation of the decree issued by Justinian in A.D. 533. The incident of A.D. 606 is reported by church historians generally. 5 And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies; and if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed.--The Old and New Testaments as God's two witnesses, though testifying for 1,260 years in sackcloth, were to have God's protection and finally prevail. Their enemies, therefore, were to be devoured. Fire proceeding out of their mouth cannot be taken literally. God said to the prophet Jeremiah: "Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them." (Jeremiah 5:14.) The evident meaning is that those who were enemies or rejected God's word would be punished finally as his word taught. The warning is repeated for emphasis with the statement that such enemies are to be killed "in this manner"--the manner God's word prescribes. 6 These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy:--This language is probably an allusion to what was said about Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1 and James 5:17-18. Withholding rain probably means that those who rejected or perverted the testimony of God's word would be deprived of blessings during the time of their wicked career as well as receive final condemnation. and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire.--The language here is doubtless an allusion to what Moses did in bringing plagues upon Pharaoh and the rebellious Egyptians. (Exodus 7:17-20.) Again, we note that there is no reason for this language to be understood literally. That many calamities came upon the enemies of the true church during the long period of papal domination is, of course, certain. But since this text does not explain the things meant by these symbolic expressions, we do not attempt any definite application. However, the calamities came upon them as often as the witnesses desired--that is, just when in God's providence it was appropriate. 7 And when they shall have finished their testimony,--This does not mean the final end of their testimony, but the end of the testifying in sackcloth which resulted in their symbolic death. As subsequent verses show they came to life again, and of course continued their testimony. the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them.--From Daniel 7:3; Daniel 7:17; Daniel 7:23 we learn that "beast" represents a king or kingdom. The Greek word rendered "beast" means a wild and vicious animal. Here it must refer to some antichristian institution, for it fights against the two witnesses whom God raised from the dead and exalted to heaven. The beast here, we are sure, refers to the great apostasy described by Paul as the "man of sin"; plainly, it means the papacy. This will appear more certain as we examine references to the beast in subsequent chapters. (See 13:1 and 17:3.) From 20:2, 3 we learn that the abyss is the proper abiding place of Satan ; hence, the beast coming up out of the abyss indicates some unchristian institution under the influence of the devil because it came into existence by his power. The sad part of the picture here is that this devilish power or institution was to overcome the witnesses and kill them. Since we have decided the witnesses symbolize the word of God, killing them means the suppression of their testimony for a time; or, that they were to be rejected as true witnesses by some kind of. legal enactment. As A.D. 533 has been shown to be the most probable time to date the beginning of the 1,260 years, the end of that period when the witnesses were to be slain would be 1793. If about that time the word of God was legally abolished, we have what fits the symbol perfectly, and additional proof that the dates accepted are correct. Just as the "man of sin"--the papacy--was developed gradually, so the Protestant Reformation which broke the strangle hold of that "beast" cane into existence gradually. All revolutions and apostasies arise that way. That the Reformation began in reality with Martin Luther in the sixteenth century is generally conceded, though preliminary work was done by others. Wickliffe in England in 1360 "appealed from the Pope to the word of God"; in the next century John Huss in Bohemia attacked "the scandalous lives of the clergy," and may be termed the "John the Baptist of the Reformation." (D'Aubigné's Reformation, Vol. I, p. 92.) But the Reformation really began with Martin Luther in Germany when he made his attack upon the sale of Indulgencies, the iniquitous barter, endorsed by the Pope, in which exemption from the penance prescribed for sin was sold for cash. On October 31, 1517, Luther posted his ninety-five propositions on the church door at Wittenberg, which was the most daring blow against papal authority that had ever been struck. It introduced perhaps the greatest religious struggle known to history to settle the momentous question--shall God's word (the two witnesses) be accepted as supreme authority, or shall mankind bow in subjection to a humanly originated papacy? From this time till the end of the 1,260 years the battle raged with fury, though the witnesses had already been testifying in distressing times. Killing the witnesses means either the complete destruction of the Bible or its suppression for a time. Verse 11 shows the latter to be what is meant. This could he done either by legally refusing to allow it read, or proclaiming it false. The French Revolution introduced the "Reign of Terror," during which citizens were executed by the hundreds without justice or mercy. The nation was drenched in blood. The National Convention from 1792 to 1795 was a seething mass of the most revolting crimes. In 1793 in the convention Liberty and Reason had been celebrated as the real worship; "the ancient faith had been abjured"; the calendar had been changed and the traditions attached to it destroyed; the "Convention had substituted a divinity created in their own image" "for the supreme God of religious faith." (Guizot's France, Vol. VI, pp. 189, 190, 250.) Truly, God's witnesses may be declared legally dead under such circumstances. Since the "beast"--the papacy--caused the witnesses to testify in sackcloth, it may also be charged as indirectly causing their death, because France was up to that time dominated by Catholicism. 8 And their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.--Leaving dead bodies to lie unburied in the street is both disrespectful and contemptible. This symbolic vision, as John saw it, indicates the great contempt which infidels who had decreed the abolishment of God would show for the Bible. The bodies lying in the street may also indicate that they could not get rid of the Bible though they officially rejected it. Since it was France that decreed the death of the witnesses, if the "great city" is to be taken literally it would refer to Paris, the capital. But elsewhere in this book the great city is used symbolically to indicate papal Rome. (See 14:8; 17:18; 18:10.) In the last passage Babylon is used figuratively to represent the apostate church. Here we are told that spiritually the great city is also called "Sodom and Egypt"--that is, both of these cities are typical of it. Sodom represents corruption and Egypt bondage. Papal Rome, then, held its subjects in spiritual corruption and bondage. When France turned infidel and rejected God's word that was spiritually crucifying Jesus afresh. (Hebrews 6:6.) Being a Catholic country, the witnesses were slain within the boundaries dominated by the papacy. The great city then probably refers spiritually to that apostate church rather than to any special earthly city. 9 And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. --The legal abolishment of God's word was such a daring and unprecedented act that peoples from all nations would be amazed as they looked upon the situation--doubtless wondering whether the Bible would ever again be received as a supreme law. Here the year-day theory is probably the correct view. If so, the time is three and a half years. The French "Convention" continued for a little more than three years. The Constitution of 1793 was declared inapplicable and described as having been "dictated by tyranny," "accepted by terror," "an organized anarchy." (Guizot's France, Vol. VI, p. 235.) The new constitution was accepted in 1795. Refusing to allow dead bodies to be buried indicates that some individuals may have been in favor of the Bible during that brief reign of terror, but the madness of the people prevented any chance to accept or practice its teaching. 10 And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry; and they shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. --Human weakness and sin make wicked people rejoice when their opposers. are overcome. They are here represented as manifesting their joy by sending gifts one to another. This is a very natural way of expressing joy. The Bible condemns sin in most unsparing terms and it is no surprise that those who substituted liberty and reason for its divine precepts should rejoice at its legal suppression. It is not necessary to say that this language applied to all the earth, but only to that nation where the death of the witnesses was proclaimed. Nothing is more tormenting than condemnation coming from a divine source. Men may laugh at the Bible, yet they feel most deeply the sting of its rebukes. 11 And after the three days and a half the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet ; --As God's power alone can raise a dead body, John declares that the bodies stood up because God sent the breath of life into them. So the word could testify only because it was the language of the Spirit of God hence, when the Bible had been given liberty to testify again, it was attributed to God's giving them life. This symbolically is represented by the witnesses standing on their feet. The French National Convention lasted a little more than three years. Before ending in 1795 it "restored public worship." (Standard History of the World, Vol. VII, p. 3399.) In 1797 Napoleon concluded a treaty of peace with Pope Pius VI. (Ibid., p. 3412.) This was about three and one-half years after the French Convention dethroned God and the Bible by decreeing the worship of Liberty and Reason. But, if the exact dates of the beginning and ending of the three and a half years cannot be fixed, the general facts here are substantial proof that the proper application of the symbol has been made. and great fear fell upon them that beheld them.--To witness such a bodily resurrection would produce great fear upon those who saw it. This appeared to John in the vision. It indicates a profound fear that would naturally affect the people when the Bible was again received as the authoritative word of God. The wicked would tremble; the righteous would have a deeper respect for things divine. 12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld them.--Clearly these are symbolic words. The picture is what John saw; what it represents is a different thing. John heard the call for raised witnesses to come up hither, and saw them ascend to heaven in a cloud. If we are correct in saying the witnesses represent the word of God, then their exaltation means their restoration as heaven's authoritative teachers. Their enemies beheld the witnesses ascend, which indicates that the infidel influences that attempted the destruction of the Bible were unable to prevent its return to its rightful place as authority. 13 And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand persons: and the rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.--In the vision John saw an earthquake shake down a tenth part of the city and kill seven thousand, but it is not to be applied literally, for a real earthquake would not likely destroy exactly one-tenth and kill just seven thousand. That one-tenth might refer to one of the kingdoms composing the great Roman Empire is certainly possible, but more probable that it should refer to a large, but indefinite, part of spiritual Babylon--the papal church--as the part affected. Symbolically the earthquake indicates a great commotion among men, either political or religious. The principles of the Reformation which had been working for more than two centuries were strengthened by religious toleration and the freedom of Bible study. When these principles of Protestantism came against the Catholic church, it produced the mightiest religious commotion in history. In the symbol John saw seven thousand killed. The number seven is conceded by practically all expositors to mean perfection or completeness. If to be so applied here, it would indicate that the Reformation, which restored the Bible to the people, would so completely destroy the papal power that no one would be forced to bow to her mandates. Subsequent history shows that to be the fact. That such a commotion with such results would produce profound fear of God is a natural conclusion. The words probably do not mean that mankind would fear in the sense of all rendering obedience, but rather in attributing such wonderful things to divine power. 14 The second Woe is past: behold, the third Woe cometh quickly.--Verses 12-14 are a very brief description of many centuries. After the exaltation of the witnesses to heaven--the Bible given back to the people by the Reformation--their testimony has been available, and will continue to be till Jesus returns for the judgment. As in the case of the apostasy, so the Reformation was a gradual work. The seeds were planted when the Bible began to be translated into various languages; the militant fight began when Martin Luther defied the Pope of Rome; it was finished when Protestantism with an open Bible was a recognized fact by the world in general. All that is involved in the church's history from that time till Jesus comes again is comprehended in verses 12-14, but no detailed visions are given to cover this period. An entirely different series of emblems begin with 11:19. Here is the distinct division be tween the two grand parts of Revelation. In the latter half of the book is recorded the millennium or binding of Satan (20 :1-6) which, though briefly expressed, must come in the interval between the Reformation and the final judgment. Regardless of what view is taken of the binding of Satan, the fact that it is referred to as a thousand years shows it must be a long period. That the struggle in defense of Christianity against the apostate church has been going on since the Reformation freed the Bible for general study is evident to all. This study we are still allowed to pursue without serious restraint, which is no mean proof that we are now in the midst of that period called the millennium. See notes on the text of that passage.