11:1, 2 – “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. 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.”

A reed is the stem of the tall-growing grasses: flexible, nevertheless, quite straight. And, it is important to note that bending, flexing the reed, does not really shorten its length. This has a deep spiritual import!

The purpose for this reed, as expressed, is to measure the temple and the altar. Undoubtedly, we are to recognize this measuring reed (rod) as a symbol for the Word of God, and its measuring unit, love! Surely, it has been noted that God’s Word decrees that those who would please the heavenly Father, must love Him, with all their heart, soul and might. (Deut. 6:5) The measuring is not to determine the size of any literal Temple, but really who, by this divine standard, constitute God’s “sanctuary” class – those who love Him so fervently, as like Jesus, to delight in His will. (Psa. 1:1, 2; 40:8)

Love – The Law of the New Creation

“Love is the fulfilling of the Law, and where Love reigns every item and every feature of the divine arrangement will be sought after and heartily obeyed to the best of the ability of the creature; not of constraint, but of joy, of love.

“Such love for God and his righteousness the New Creation professed at consecration; and Love there became its Law, and it is firmly bound by the Law of Love – even unto death.” (F367)

The “altar” is not Christ Jesus, per se; though he did prove beyond any doubt, his great love for God, and THE WORD of God (Heb. 10:7; Phil. 2:7-9); but rather the ransom doctrine – the chief tenet of the faith of the justified believers. Are there not many who profess having the faith that justifies, yet have never really accepted the only true sacrifice for sin – that made on Calvary’s cross? Thus will the use of this reed clearly show which is the true “sanctuary” class – those recognizing but this one “altar.” (Heb. 13:10)

In passing, it is interesting to note that this “John” class, is specifically told not to measure the “court,” “but the court which is without the temple leave out.” (Rev. 11:2)

Note:

“The Tabernacle of old, had but a single court, known as the “holy place,” where only the Levites had the right of access, save that any Israelite might enter it to bring his sacrifice to the priest to be offered for him. And, it is reasonable to suppose that Israel’s first Temple (Solomon’s) as well as its second Temple (Zerubbabel’s – built to replace Solomon’s after the latter’s destruction), each had but the single court to correspond to that of the ancient Tabernacle. However, Israel’s third Temple was built by Herod the Great, and it had a number of courts – the Court of the Gentiles, the Court of the Women, the court of the Israelites, and the Court of the Priests. It was in this latter, that the altar of burnt-offerings, and the laver stood. Gentiles, while permitted to enter the Court of the Gentiles, were virtually forbidden to trespass even into the Court of the Women under penalty of death. Since there is no Scriptural basis for these other courts, we are considering the reference of Rev. 11:2, to the “court which is without the temple” to be to a “holy place” such as was identified with the Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple, which could be contaminated – desecrated by “Gentile” feet! This would not necessarily be true of the so-called “Court of the Gentiles” where it was quite in order for both Gentiles and unclean Jews to enter. (See Edersheim, The Temple, p. 22; also The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, p. 244)

The Court of the Gentiles

“Passing out of these ‘colonnades,’ or ‘porches,’ you entered the ‘Court of the Gentiles,’ or what the Rabbis called ‘the Mount of the House.’ … This was called the Chol, or ‘profane’ place, to which Gentiles had access. Here must have been the market for the sale of sacrificial animals, the tables of the money-changers, and place for the sale of other needful articles.” (Edersheim – Life & Times of Jesus the Messiah, p. 244)

“The great Court of the Gentiles, which formed the lowest or outer enclosure of the Sanctuary, was paved with the finest variegated marble. According to Jewish tradition, it formed a square of 750 feet. Its name is derived from the fact that it was open to all – Jews or Gentiles – provided they observed the prescribed rules of decorum and reverence.” (Edersheim – The Temple, p. 22)

It seems evident that this “John” class was here called upon to recognize that many who stand as “professors” in this “court” are not “Israelites indeed,” but merely “Gentiles” (heathens, pagans, as it were); and since the “angel” spoke more particularly of the “abomination of desolation,” these were to recognize it for just what it really is – that which for 42 months (1260 “days” – years, from A.D. 539 – A.D. 1799) stood “in the holy place” (Matt. 24:15) wearing down the saints (Rev. 13:5-7) – treading under foot, this “holy city” (the sanctuary class) where God was loved with all the heart, soul and might.

Thus, in measuring the “altar” by way of this “reed,” the Sanctuary class has been able to see that any teaching (the Mass, or other) which detracts from, or makes less important to the atonement, the one and only sacrifice of Jesus, is contrary to the WORD of GOD! Thus –

“… the meaning of ransom began to be appreciated, as it was seen that he who knew no sin was treated as the accursed; that, being willingly substituted in our stead, he was made a curse for us, treated as a sinner for us, and died, the just for the unjust.

“Thus, finally, the great system and network of defiling error, which began with the taking away of the continual sacrifice, was removed; and, the Sanctuary being relieved or cleansed of it, the value of the

‘continual sacrifice’ of Jesus was seen in renewed freshness and beauty and power.

“… A company, a few, had been relieved from the defiling error; and to these few, God has been adding daily of those who are fully under his leading and taught of him.” (C118)

11:3 – “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three- score days, clothed in sackcloth.”

The Two Witnesses

“But we rejoice to know that – not withstanding the conflict of creeds and the unchristian conduct of multitudes of professed Christians, and of the so- called Christian nations, all Christian missionary effort among the heathen peoples has not been in vain, but that here and there the seeds of divine truth have dropped into good and honest hearts and brought forth the fruits of righteousness and true Christian character. Such fruits, however, cannot be credited to the creeds, but to the Word and spirit of God, despite the confusion of human creeds. The Lord refers to the Old and New Testament Scriptures as ‘My two witnesses’ (Rev. 11:3), and faith- fully they have borne their testimony to every nation.” (D258)

Since this is a prophetic vision, given by the Lord unto his servant John (Rev. 1:1, 10, 19), the Lord now speaks to him of certain events, then, yet in the future: particularly of the period of Papal supremacy – the 42 months (Rev. 11:2), or 1260 days (Rev. 11:3), corresponding to the 3-1/2 years of Daniel’s prophecy (Dan. 12:7). The Lord indicated, that despite the restraint, his Two Witnesses – the Old and the New Testaments, would be empowered to prophesy (teach), even though garbed in sackcloth (dead languages).

“Numbers and power were in the hands of the forsakers of the covenant, who became joined to the empire; and the faithful few were persecuted – hunted, imprisoned, racked, tortured, and put to death in hundreds of revolting forms, as the pages of history plainly attest, and as here foretold by the prophet, who said, ‘Yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity and by spoil – days.’ … The length of time this persecution was to continue is not stated here (Dan. 11:34), except that it will be concluded, at the Time of the End. From other Scriptures we learn that it was a period of 1260 years, which ended with A.D. 1799, a date noted by Daniel and the Revelator as well as in history.

“‘Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help.’ The full period of the persecutor’s (Papacy’s) power, 1260 years, would not end until 1799; but before its end God granted a little help through the Reformation movement, which, though at first it rather increased persecution, afterward gave comfort and protection to those falling because of fidelity to God’s Word. The Reformation prevented the complete crushing of the truth from the world. But, alas! with the little help came the ‘flatterers’ again. As soon as persecution began to abate the adversary resorted to the same device, by which he had formerly succeeded in corrupting and degrading the church, to now overcome the reform movements, Kings and princes began to give honors and titles to Protestants and to unite with Protestantism; and this led to serious results and deflection from the covenant, as we read: ‘But many shall cleave to them with flatteries; and some of them of understanding (leaders, reformers, teachers, who had been able to instruct many concerning Papacy’s errors) shall fall; to try them (the faithful few) and to purge and make them white’.” (C37)

“Poor souls! they had been trying to serve God faithfully in the midst of the lurid flames of persecution, clinging to the cross of Christ when almost every other truth had been swept away, and courageously endeavoring to emancipate God’s ‘Two Witnesses’ (the Old and New Testaments) which had so long been bound, and which prophesied only under the sackcloth of dead languages. (Rev. 11:3)” (C122)

Translations into living languages did appear during this period of Papal power: a copy of the Gospels in the French language, possibly about A.D. 1160, found its way into the hands of Peter Waldo; an English translation of the Bible appeared about A.D. 1380, and for which John Wycliffe was condemned as a heretic; and about A.D.1534, Luther’s Bible in the German language appeared. Thus were God’s Two Witnesses empowered to prophesy, during the period in which the “abomination of desolation” (Dan. 11:31; 12:11) exercised its great power.

The Bible (O.T. and N.T.) Proscribed

“In the days of Papal power, the possession or reading of the Bible was treated as a criminal offence. The art of printing and the general revival of learning resulting therefrom, about the sixteenth century, secured the resurrection of the Bible from the sepulcher of dead languages where Antichrist had long kept it hidden, forbidding the translating of it under severe penalties. And when an awakening spirit of independence began to scatter it in living languages among the people, Bible-burning was no uncommon thing; and long and loud were the merciless curses that issued from the Vatican against the presumptuous sinners who dared to translate, publish or read the Word of God.” (B319)

11:4 – “These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.”

In Rev. 11:4 two “candlesticks” are mentioned, and nothing is said about lamps, their number, etc. Could it be that reference here is to the two Israels of God – the typical (fleshly), and the antitypical (spiritual); both of which, in a sense, have been God’s light bearers by virtue of the Spirit of Truth imparted to them?

One olive tree, the Old Testament, has been the source of that Holy Spirit of Truth to the fleshly Israel; and the other olive tree, the New Testament, has been the source of that Holy Spirit of Truth to the spiritual Israel. Both Testaments were proscribed during the period of Papacy’s supremacy, the 42 months (the 1260 days), and both Israels were persecuted; but the Two Witnesses remained faithful, while the two Israels served as God’s channels of the enlightening influences of the Truth.

That both olive trees – the Old and the New Testaments are channels of the Spirit of the Truth to the “Sanctuary” class is reflected in the prophecy of Zechariah (Zech. 4:2, 3, 14), where one “candlestick” with seven lamps is described.¹ It had seven pipes and a single bowl, to the left and right of which stood the two olive trees. (Zech. 4:2, 3) Undoubtedly, this single “candlestick” represented the Church (made up of both Jews and Gentiles (Rom. 3:29; 9:24; Eph. 3:6) as light bearers in all its seven stages of development, whose source of enlightenment is the holy Spirit of God, issuing forth from the Old and the New Testaments, represented by the two olive trees.

“The golden candlestick (literally, lamp) with seven branches (or burners) is the same as that which, in the typical Tabernacle and Temple, shed the only light of ‘The Holy.’ The same seven lamps … are brought to our attention in the book of Revelation (chap. 1:20), and there explained to symbolize the church of Christ during the present time. The seven represents perfection or completeness; hence as a whole the lamp-stand represents all the true saints or light-bearers in all the various phases of … development. (Rev. 2:1, 5)

“The oil represents the holy Spirit which, burning in the true believers, causes the illumination of the sanctified in Christ Jesus.

“The two olive trees from which the olive oil proceeds to the seven lamps we understand to be typical of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments – God’s two witnesses. The holy Spirit is ‘the spirit of the truth’; and God’s Word is truth!” (R1491:1)

The Two Candlesticks of Revelation 11:4!

In Zechariah’s prophecy (Zech. 4:2, 3, 7-11), reference is made to but a single (one) Candlestick (lampstand); whereas in the Revelation (chap. 11:4), bearing upon the identical matter – two Candlesticks are mentioned.

We believe, of course, that the Church of this Gospel age – while this side of the “Veil,” has been just such a Candlestick, light-bearer, though not unto the world of mankind; but rather unto those who as the priesthood of God, have served within the “Holy” – in the “secret place of the Most High.” (See T115 and Psa. 91:1) Thus, the “olive trees” would most aptly represent the Old Testament and the New Testament, from or by way of which, the holy Spirit (represented by the olive oil) flowed into it, as the source of its enlightening influence and power. (See R244:4; 1491:1)

The reference to the two Candlesticks in the Revelation (chap. 11:4) therefore, must be to this and another; and, in a sense, fleshly Israel has been a light-bearer, if you please, especially during the ages past. And thus do we read:

“… this prophecy respecting the Golden Candle- stick, etc., to natural Israel at the time was properly understood to mean that they were to be God’s light bearers amongst all the nations of the world, and that God himself would see to the supply of light which they would shed forth. And all that was true of natural Israel for centuries; they were God’s light-bearing nation, and undoubtedly their influence in the world hindered a greater degradation than might otherwise have occurred. The nations furthest away from them and the light which God placed in them and which shone out from them were the nations which became the most degraded, while the nations nearest them and their light were the nations which went downward least rapidly…

“We remember that … in his last message to the church, our Lord pictures seven golden candlesticks or lampstands separated from one another, and explains that these represented the seven stages or epochs of the church symbolized by the seven congregations of Asia. The seven lampstands united in one represented, therefore, the church as a whole from first to last, its every member complete, the number seven representing completeness. (Rev. 1:12, 13, 20; 2:1)” (R3650:3, 6)

In harmony with this, we read:

“… from these two Kingdoms (even before Jehovah’s glory rests upon them, to make them his channels of blessings to the world of mankind) has proceeded all ‘the light of the world’ during all the darkness of the past: for are not these the representatives of the Old and the New Testaments, the old and the new Covenants? Do not these correspond to the Lord’s two witnesses and the two olive trees of Zech. 4:3, 11, 12 distinctly mentioned in Revelation (chap. 11:4) in that these two parts of the mountain symbolize the outcome of those covenants, the results of the witnessing – the Kingdom in its heavenly and its earthly phases?” (D651)

1 See “Special Treasures” Book: “The Golden Candlestick of Zechariah 4”

* * * * *

“In one of the visions of Zechariah, (chap. 4) he saw a golden lampstand between two olive trees from which through golden pipes flowed the needed oil. The angel explained that these lamps did not burn by human wisdom or knowledge, ‘not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit; saith the Lord of hosts.’ The prophet was further told that ‘these are the two anointed ones, (Hebrew, sons of oil) that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.’ This helps us to understand the symbol of the two witnesses in Revelation (chap. 11:4), for it is written, ‘these are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.’ Thus we perceive they are the Old and New Testaments; the sources of light from which the church, (the spiritual channel) must draw her supply of oil. These witnesses were to be clothed in sackcloth (symbolic of mourning and probably of the clothing in a dead language – Latin) during 1260 years, while they testified for God. They were killed in the Babylonian city Rome – and exposed in one of her ten streets – France – during the three and one half years (1793 and onward). Since then, they have been caught up to heavenly places in symbolic language – a position of honor and power, and translated into nearly every tongue have witnessed to all nations as Jesus foretold.” (R244:4)

11:5 – “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.”

The Greek word θέλει here rendered “will” might more correctly have been rendered “desire” (Emphatic Diaglott), or “wishes” (Marshall); either of which implies a measure of wilfulness. This wilfulness, however, may not be particularly directed against the Word of God, yet lessening its influence upon those who were to be blessed by it. Thus, Papacy, while considering itself the “cham- pion” of the Bible, proscribed it, kept it away from the masses, purposely, wilfully, in fear of losing its hold over them. In this, Papacy was assisted by the civil powers – an illicit relationship, scripturally termed “fornication.” This did “hurt” the Two Witnesses, and divine judgment was immediately registered against the system. The punishment, however, was temporarily deferred, to allow time for repentance (Rev. 2:21); and because this grace was received in vain, the fiery indignation of God is ultimately administered and this enemy of the Two Witnesses is utterly destroyed. (Rev. 2:22, 23; 18:8)

11:6 – “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.”

In the Old Testament, we have brought to our attention two witnesses – prophets, who served the fleshly Israel, and, who, like the Two Witnesses – the Old and the New Testaments – which now serve the spiritual Israel (Rev. 11:3, 6), were representatives of Jehovah God; and like them, were “empowered” to shut heaven so that there would be no rain; turn waters into blood; bring plagues upon the land! These were Elijah and Moses respectively, the same two that appeared in the vision on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:3; Mark 9:4), speaking to Jesus about the death he was soon to accomplish on Calvary! (Luke 9:30, 31) Elijah bore the testimony to Ahab, and brought a drought upon the land for 3-1/2 years (1 Kings 17:1; Luke 4:25; Jas. 5:17); Moses bore testimony to Pharaoh, turned water into blood (Exod. 7:17-21), and caused plagues to be visited upon the land of Egypt. (Exodus chapters 8-12)

These two “witnesses” in a sense, correspond to one of the Two Olive trees (Zech. 4:11; Rev. 11:3); viz., the Old Testament, whose canon had to that time not been completed; but they were, as it were, living units of that “Word” which Jesus in his day designated, “the Scrip- tures.” (John 5:39; Luke 24:44)

There is a correspondency between the 3-1/2 years during which there was no rain in the days of Ahab and Jezebel, and the 42 months (1260 days) during which the Two Witnesses to spiritual Israel (the Old and the New Testaments) were clothed in “sackcloth.” (Rev. 11:6) During the period between A.D. 539 and A.D. 1799 (1260 years) when the antitypical Ahab (the civil powers), married, as it were, to the antitypical Jezebel (the Papacy) reigned, and the true Church was driven into the wilderness condition (Rev. 12:6), there was a “drought” (Amos 8:11), i.e., spiritual truth with its blessed refreshment was at a minimum!

“Not only is Jezebel referred to in Revelation as symbolizing a corrupt church system, inculcating false doctrines amongst the Lord’s nominal people, (Ahab, her husband, as representing the civil power and Elijah typical of the saintly class of the church), but let us also note that the time of no rain was also typical, as mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Four times is this same period of three and a half years referred to as the period in which the true saints of God were hidden from the eyes of the world in general, in the wilderness condition. And during the same period there was a great drought and famine, spiritually, amongst the people. Those three and a half years in Revelation are styled three and a half times; and again twelve hun- dred and sixty days; and again forty-two months. (Rev. 14:14; 12:6; 11:3; 13:5)” (R4741:2)

TThe “Drouth”

“That long period when the true church was eclipsed by the success of Babylon, marked the time of great spiritual drouth.… During that long period the Word of God, the Bible, was suppressed and neglected …

“It was during that dark time that there was a famine in the land … not a famine for bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine for the hearing of the Word of the Lord. (Amos 8:11, 12) According to the Bible those 1260 years of drouth began with the year 539 A.D., when ecclesiastical power attained persecuting ability, and ended in 1799 A.D., as its persecutions came to an end, at the time of Napoleon’s great victory, when the pope was taken prisoner to France.” (R5741:6; 5742:1)

The empowering of these Two Witnesses – the Old and the New Testaments – to smite the earth, was not merely for the period during which they were clothed in “sack- cloth” but, “for as often as they will.” Therefore, we ought not be surprised if in the period since A.D. 1799, the “waters of truth” have again, for some, become more and more repulsive – figuratively, “turned to blood.”

“… the first plague which came upon the Egyptians was the turning of all the waters of Egypt into blood – the river, ponds, etc., so that the Egyptians could not drink the water, but digged for themselves wells near the river. As the water represents truth, the thought conveyed would be that from the worldly standpoint very soon all truth will become repulsive – every feature of truth connected with the divine plan as represented in the Word of God will become abhorrent; and the digging of wells would seem to imply that, rejecting the Word of God, the world (Christendom – Churchianity) will seek for truth in various ways of their own.” (R4060:4)

11:7, 8 – “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 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.”

The term “bottomless pit” well describes the source of all that is evil and iniquitous. It is the abyss out of which belch forth the diabolical teachings of the “higher criticism” – modernism and the agnostic theologies. (See Rev. 9:2, 3) It might well be called the abode of Satan himself; yea, his very workshop! It is not surprising then, that John saw a creature come forth out of it, a beast, to make war and overcome the Two Witnesses (the Scriptures)! These “Witnesses” had given a faithful testimony during all of the Ephesus and Smyrna periods. But by A.D. 325, some opposition manifested itself, when creed-making came to the fore. This too, was a machination of the Devil. The “Witnesses” however, continued their testimony into the Pergamos period (A.D. 325-1378), wherein Satan’s great masterpiece the Abomination of Desolation, (the Papacy) was finally exalted in A.D. 539. (Dan. 11:31; Matt. 24:15) Immediately the “drought” began. The beast (the Papacy) arose out of that “bottomless pit” and began to make war against the Two Witnesses; and prevailed!

As already suggested, originally the Scriptures were in the living language of the people; and they who could and would read them, were blessed. However, this beastly institution soon changed this, for the Two Witnesses were now “clothed” in sackcloth – able to speak only through a dead language, Latin, which only a few could read, and still fewer could understand.

“… who among Bible students does not know that as that system increased in power and influence, all who dissented from its teachings were treated as heretics, cast out of society, threatened, tortured, or persecuted unto death? Who that is acquainted with history is ignorant of the fact that the Bible, which in the first two centuries was loved and cherished by all Christians as the sole guide in spiritual matters, was gradually lost sight of and buried in the rubbish of Papal superstition? And from the twelfth century to the sixteenth, even amongst the clergy of the Church of Rome it was scarcely known. Nay more – the Bible was taught to be pernicious and a dangerous book for the people to have access to; so that the great mass of people looked for their knowledge of the Christian religion to come from the debauched clergy of Rome.” (The Revelation of Jesus Christ – R. E. Streeter, Vol. 1, p. 520)

And so long as there were those who could “hear” the “Witnesses” and proclaim the message of God to others, they were not really slain (dead), despite the fact of their being proscribed, and their proponents circumscribed. But the time came when practically all proponents had been silenced. It was then, when for 3-1/2 “days” the Two Witnesses, for lack of proponents, were “dead.” This seems to have been the period from the day when the Fifth Lateran Council informed Pope LEO X, that there was no longer any opposition to the Church – May 5, 1514, to the day when Martin Luther tacked his 95 Theses to the door of the church at Wittenberg, October 31, 1517, exactly 3-1/2 years!

“It is a curious historical coincidence that, at the Fifth Lateran Council, May 5, 1514, no witness (not even the Moravians who were summoned) testified for the truth, as Huss and Jerome (of Prague) did at Constance; an orator ascended the tribunal before the representatives of Papal Christendom and said, ‘There is no reclaimant, no opponent.’ Luther, on October 31, 1517, exactly three and a half years afterwards, posted up his famous thesis on the church at Wittenberg.” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Commentary)

“The day of the ninth session of the Lateran Council, when the proclamation above referred to was made, was, as we have seen May 5, 1514; the day of Luther’s posting up his theses at Wittenberg (the well-known epoch of the beginning of the Reformation), was October 31, 1517. ‘Now from May 5, 1514 to May 5, 1517, are three years; and from May 5, 1517 to October 31 of the same year 1517, the reckoning is … in all 180, or half of 360 days, that is half a year; so that the whole interval is precisely to a day three and a half years.’ (Elliott, II, p. 402, 403) But without insisting on this very minute accuracy anyone can see, and all must be prepared to admit that, on the supposition that it was intended by the spirit of God to refer to these events, this is the language which would be used; or, in other words, nothing would better represent this state of things than the declaration that the witnesses would be ‘slain,’ and would be suffered to ‘remain unburied’ during this period of time, and that at the end of this period, a public testimony would be borne again for the truth, and against the abominations of Papacy, as if ‘the spirit of life from God should again enter them, and they should stand upon their feet’. (Rev. 11:11)” (The Revelation of Jesus Christ – Streeter, Vol. 1, p. 526)

Thus were the Two Witnesses (the Old and the New Testaments) “slain,” in that their proponents were completely silenced. And their “dead bodies” were left “unburied” lying in the midst of the street of the “great city” (religious community); whose name is both Sodom and Egypt; where also the Lord was crucified. Let it be remembered that it was the religionists, who not recognizing the Messiah (Isa. 53:1; John 1:11) had him crucified by the Gentiles. (Psa. 22:16; Matt. 20:18, 19; 23:22) Thus was the nominally Jewish Church the “great city” in Jesus’ day; and its Gospel age counterpart is the nominally Christian Church (Christendom) the “great city” in which our Lord has again been crucified, by way of both the doctrine of the Mass, and the suppression of divine Truth! To this “city” the name Sodom may well be applied because of its likeness to the ancient city from whence Lot needed to be delivered (Gen. 19:1-17); and though in the Revelation this “city” is called by a different name – Babylon, the cry is still the same, “Come out of her, my people.” (Rev. 18:4) And the name “Egypt” is also Scripturally applied to this “city,” because its “Pharaoh” has sought to keep God’s people sojourning within it, in perpetual ignorance and bondage – too overworked, and too tired, to even contemplate the “three days’ journey into the wilderness.” (Exod. 3:18) – the spring-board into the promised Canaan!

Christendom = Sodom

“When we learn that Babylon is doomed, and hear the Lord’s message, ‘Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues,’ it is indeed like the voice of the messengers who hastened Lot and his family out of Sodom, saying, ‘Stay not in all the plain; escape for thy life; escape to the mountain lest thou be consumed; look not behind thee.’ (Gen. 19:17)

“The illustration is heightened when we remember that Christendom is ‘that great city (Babylon) which spiritually is called Sodom.’ (Rev. 11:8)” (D607)

The 3-1/2 “days” – years!

In R244:4 W. I. Mann, suggested that these 3-1/2 “days” – commenced in A.D. 1793. It is possible that he erred in this, not seeing clearly at the time that the years of the French Revolution were not particularly slanted against the Two Witnesses (the Old and the New Testament), but rather retributively, against the Papacy, which had so passionately endeavored to silence them, and to thwart their proponents.

“The careful Bible student will see from this record of the historian that instead of this being a suppression of the Scriptures and of evangelical testimony – the death of Christ’s Witnesses – it was a judgment on Papacy and the great apostate Church. It will be noted that even this was local in its effects – confined to France alone.” (The Revelation of Jesus Christ – Streeter – Vol. 1, p. 531)

11:9,10 – “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 bodies to be put in graves. 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.”

A Seventh Day Adventist’s Comments on Rev. 11:9

“The language of this verse describes the feelings of other nations beside the one committing the outrage on the witnesses. They would see what war infidel France had made on the Bible, but would not be led nationally to engage in the wicked work, nor suffer the murdered witnesses to be buried or put out of sight among themselves, though they lay dead three days and a half … in France. No, this very attempt on the part of France served to arouse Christians everywhere to put forth new exertions in behalf of the Bible, as we shall see presently.” (Uriah Smith – Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation, p. 502)

Rev. 11:10

“This denotes the joy those felt who hated the Bible, or were tormented by it. Great was the joy of infidels everywhere for awhile, but the ‘triumphing of the wicked is short;’ so was it in France, for their war on the Bible and Christianity well nigh swallowed them all up. They set out to destroy Christ’s ‘Two Witnesses,’ but they filled France with blood and terror, so that they were horror-struck at the result of their own wicked deeds, and were soon glad to remove their impious hands from the Bible.” (Uriah Smith – Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation, p. 502)

But, note our comments as follows – Many of the rank and file of this apostate Church (its membership), did not want the Bible done away with completely (“buried”); but were satisfied to have it devitalized! They would still have it serve as a charm or fetish against evil! However, they did rejoice in the fact that it was proscribed (“slain” – “dead”): for it was now possible for them to call themselves “Christians” without even making any endeavor to attain those high and noble ideals which the Bible held forth. These ideals, consecration, dedication and self-denial, as proclaimed, not by the Church, but by the Bible’s now silenced proponents, and their rebuke, had been in the nature of torment to these. Therefore, they now revelled in an “authorized” (Church sanctioned) freedom: they rejoiced, and made merry, and exchanged gifts with each other.

11:11,12 – “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.

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.”

As suggested, the “three and an half days” (3-1/2 “prophetic” days – years), ended on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther tacked his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg, and the Reformation was on!

It is true, numerous attempts at reformation had previously been made; and the Bible had been translated into French (about A.D. 1160), and English (about A.D. 1380). Yet all of these had been more or less effectively thwarted by the Papacy, so that at the time of the Fifth Lateran Council, there were no “reclaimants.” Huss and Jerome of Prague, were among the many, who as proponents of the “Two Witnesses” had been silenced in death. (Dan. 11:33) The proclamation at the time was:

“There is an end to resistance to Papal rule and religion; there is none to oppose. The whole body of Christendom is now subjected to its head, that is to thee, Leo X.” (May 5th, 1514)

But the time had now come for the “Spirit of life from God” to enter again into the Two Witnesses – proponents were beginning to arise (Dan. 11:34), and Martin Luther became their champion; so much so that Leo’s successor, Pope Adrian VI, in a communication to the Diet of Nuremberg (A.D. 1523) declared:

“The heretics, Huss and Jerome, seem now to be alive again in the person of Luther.”

Nevertheless, the warfare of Papacy against the Two Witnesses continued; nor did it really cease until about A.D. 1799 (the end of the 1260 days); but never again did the “beast” prevail to utterly overcome or suppress and silence them completely! The revitalization of these Two Witnesses is borne out by their many proponents since Oct. 31, 1517: Luther, Melancthon, Zwingli, Calvin, Farel, Reuchlen, Latimer, Ridley, Knox, etc.

It was as if the Two Witnesses had heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Come up thither.” And they gradually ascended to their rightful place, one of exaltation. This caused their enemies to fear. They responded with what is called the “counter-reformation” and in time even went so far as to translate the Scriptures out of the dead tongue (Latin) into a modern one – English!

“When Wycliffe published his translation, Pope Gregory sent a bull to the Oxford University condemning the translation as ‘run into a detestable kind of wickedness.’ Tyndale’s translation was also condemned; and when Luther published his German translation, Pope Leo X issued a bull against him. Nevertheless, the work went grandly and steadily forward: the Bible was to have a complete resurrec- tion, and was destined to shed light upon men of every nation and language. Slowly the Church of Rome came to realize this, and resolved, therefore, to permit the translation of Scriptures into modern languages, by Catholic translators, accompanied with Catholic notes. These, however, were not to be given to the people, except where there was danger of their receiving the Protestant translations. The Rhemish translation declares this.

“The following show the character of some of the Notes of the Rhemish translation – which, however, is in recent years being superseded by the Douay translation, very similar, but with less pointed notes. A note on Matt. 3 reads: ‘Heretics may be punished and suppressed; and may, and ought, by public authority, either spiritual or temporal, to be chastised or executed.’ One on Gal. 1:8 reads: ‘Catholics should not spare their own parents, if heretics.’ On Heb. 5:7 the note reads: ‘The translators of the Protestant Bible ought to be translated to the depths of hell.’ And on Rev. 17:6 the comment reads: ‘But the blood of Protestants is not called the blood of saints, no more than the blood of thieves, man-killers, and other malefactors, for the shedding of which, by the order of justice, no commonwealth shall answer’.” (B319)

This “resurrection” heavenward (place of exaltation) was gradual, and reached its fullness only at the end of the 1260 “days,” when their “sackcloth” fell off completely and the Bible Societies began the circulation of Bibles in the languages of the day. The “cloud” referred to (Rev. 11:12), was the ever increasing number of witnesses (proponents).

The Rheims and Douay Versions of the Bible

“It was not until Queen Elizabeth’s reign that members of the Romanist party found it expedient to translate the Bible into the vernacular ‘for the more speedy abolishing … of false and impious translations put forth by sundry sects’.” (Preface to the Rheimish Version) (Encyclopedia Britannica [1942], Article: Bible, English, Vol. 3, col. 2, par.1)

“By 1582 even the Roman Catholic Church had been driven to undertake an English version of the Bible. This was not due to any desire to place the Scriptures in the hands of the laity. They were there already, and the Romish Church, with its usual astuteness, set itself to minimize what it considered an evil. A New Testament in English was prepared and printed at Rheims, bearing the date 1852.… Moreover, it was only a secondary translation, since the text followed was the Vulgate. Although this is the case, and although no mention is made of any indebtedness to earlier versions, examination proves that on even this translation the earlier Protestant versions exerted great influence. The Old Testament portion did not appear until 1609-1610.

“In the Rheims and Douay version the English is naturally ecclesiastical rather than popular.” (The Illustrated Bible Treasury – Richard Lovett, M.A. -p.18)

The “1260 days” (Symbolic)

Rev. 11:9, 11 – “And they of the people and kindred tongues and nations, shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. … And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet.”

The following excerpts were gleaned from The Revelation of Jesus Christ – Streeter, Vol. 1, p. 526:

“The remarkable coincidence in regard to time – supposing that¹ three years and a half are intended – will be seen from the following statement. The day of the ninth session of the Lateran Council, when the proclamation above referred to was made, was, as we have seen, May 5, 1514; the day of Luther’s posting up his theses at Wittenberg (the well-known epoch of the beginning of the Reformation), was Oct. 31, 1517. Now from May 5, 1514, to May 5, 1517, are three years; and from May 5, 1517, to Oct. 31, of the same year, 1517, the reckoning in days is … in all 180, or half of 360 days, that is half a year; so that the whole interval is precisely to a day three and a half years.” Elliott II, p.402, 403.

“Some Adventists, also others more recently, who quote from Smith’s Thoughts on Daniel and The Revelation, have applied the three and one half days (years) as beginning in 1793 and ending three and one half years after. The quotation from this work on prophecy is as follows:

“In 1793, a decree passed the French Assembly suppressing the Bible. Just three years after, a resolution was introduced into the Assembly superseding the decree, and giving toleration to the Scriptures. That resolution lay on the table six months, when it was taken up, and passed without a dissenting vote. Thus, in just three years and a half the witnesses ‘stood upon their feet’.” (Uriah Smith)

See The Revelation of Jesus Christ – Streeter, Vol. 1, p. 529, last two paragraphs)

11:13 – “And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain the names of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.”

The tenth part of the “city” (Christendom), i.e., France (one of the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s image – Dan. 2:31-45) fell in the day when 7000 names, titles, etc., were dropped, deleted, from the nation’s roster, in the revolution whose violence, rapine, murder, etc., left a small remnant to glorify the God of heaven.

Shortly before the 1260 “days” (Rev. 11:3) ended, in fact, incidental to the bringing of the period to its close, there occurred what the Scriptures here call a “great earthquake.” It was in the “same hour” as it were, that the Two Witnesses (the Old and the New Testaments) were being “resurrected” to that position of honor, which they could, however, not fully attain until this period had ended (i.e., after A.D. 1799). This “earthquake” which visited retribution upon the Papacy, was the French Revolution, which began in A.D. 1789.

“In the symbolic language of Revelation, the French Revolution was indeed a ‘great earthquake’ – a social shock so great that all ‘Christendom’ trembled until it was over.” (D531)

“The more deeply the French Revolution is considered, the more manifest is its preeminence above all the strange and terrible things that have come to pass on this earth.… Never has the world witnessed so exact and sublime a piece of retribution …

“The Nation which abolished and proscribed Christianity, which dethroned religion in favor of reason, and enthroned the new goddess at Notre Dame in the person of a harlot, must needs have been afflicted by a very unreasonable and very corrupt form of Christianity. The people that waged a war of such utter extermination with everything established, as to abolish the common forms of address and salutation, and the common mode of reckoning time, that abhorred ‘you’ as a sin, and shrank from ‘monsieur’ as an abomination, that turned the weeks into de- cades, and would know the old months no more, must surely have had good reason to hate those old ways from which it pushed its departure into such minute and absurd extravagance.

1 Note: If we consider the 3 ½ “days” of Rev. 11:11 to be 3-1/2 “days” of symbolic “years”; and that the period begins with the establishment of the “Abomination of Desolation” in A.D. 539 (see C77), then the period will end 1260 years later, A.D. 1799, the beginning of “the time of the end.” (B272; C40, 42) (539 + 1260 = 1799)

“In no work of the French Revolution is this, its retributive character, more strikingly or solemnly apparent than in its dealings with the Roman Church and Papal power. It especially became France, which after so fierce a struggle had rejected the Reformation, and perpetuated such enormous crimes in the process of rejection, to turn its fury against that very Roman Church on whose behalf it had been so wrathful … to abolish Roman Catholic worship, to massacre multitudes of priests in the streets of her great towns, to hunt them down through her length and breadth, and to cast them by thousands upon a foreign shore, just as she had slaughtered, hunted down and driven into exile hundreds of thousands of Protestants … to carry the war into the Papal territories, and to heap all sorts of woes and shames upon the defenseless Popedom.… The excesses of revolutionary France were not more the punishment than the direct result of the excesses of feudal, regal, and Papal France.

“In one of its aspects the Revolution may be de- scribed as a reaction against the excesses, spiritual and religious, of the Roman Catholic persecution of Protestantism. No sooner had the torrent burst forth than it dashed right against the Roman Church and Popedom.… The property of the church was made over to the state; the French clergy sank from a proprietary to a salaried body; monks and nuns were restored to the world, the property of their orders being confiscated; Protestants were raised to full religious freedom and political equality.… The Roman Catholic religion was soon afterwards formally abolished.

“Bonaparte unsheathed the sword of France against the helpless Pius VI.… The Pontiff sank into a dependent.… Berthier marched upon Rome, set up a Roman Republic, and laid hands upon the Pope. The sovereign pontiff was borne away to the camp of infidels … from prison to prison, and was finally carried captive into France. Here … he breathed his last, at Valence, where his priests had been slain, where his power was broken, and his name and office were a mockery and a byword, and in the keeping of the rude soldiers of the commonwealth, which had for ten years held to his lips a cup of such manifest and exceeding bitterness.… It was a sublime and perfect piece of retribution, which so amazed the world at the end of the eighteenth century; this proscription of the Roman Church by the very French nation that slaughtered myriads of Protestants at her bidding; this mournful end of the sovereign pontiff, in the very Dauphine so consecrated by the struggles of the Protestants, and near those Alpine valleys where the Waldenses had been so ruthlessly hunted down by French soldiers; this transformation of the ‘States of the Church’ into the Roman Republic; and this overthrow of territorial Popedom by that very French nation, which, just one thousand years ago, had, under Pepin and Charlemagne, conferred these territories.” (T. H. Gill – The Papal Drama)

“France is one of the ‘ten horns’ that gave ‘their power and strength unto the (papal) beast’; or is one of the ten kingdoms that arose out of the Western empire of Rome, as indicated by the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s image, the ten horns of Daniel’s beast (Dan. 7:24), and John’s dragon. (Rev. 12:3) France, then, was ‘a tenth part of the city,’ and was one of the strongest ministers of papal vengeance; but in this revolution it ‘fell,’ and with it fell the last civil messenger of papal fury. ‘And in the earthquake were slain of men (margin, names of men, or TITLES of men) seven thousand.’ France made war, in her revolution of 1793-98 and onward, on all titles of nobility. It is said by those who have examined the French records, that just seven thousand titles of men were abolished in that revolution.” (Uriah Smith – Thoughts on the Revelation)

The French Revolution

“Though the religious reformation movement throughout Europe had severely shaken Papacy’s influence, yet the reformed churches had so closely imitated her policy of statecraft, affiliation with earthly empires, and claims of clerical authority over the people (that the ‘clergy’ constitute a special and divinely appointed rulership in the world), that the first effect of that reformation became greatly modified, and left the people and the civil rulers largely under superstitious and unwholesome veneration formerly concentrated upon Papacy alone. But the political reform witnessed during this Nineteenth Century, dating particularly from 1799, the ‘Time of the End,’ though very different from the former, is none the less a reformation. The revolution and independence of the American colonies – the successful establishment of a prosperous Republic, a government by the people and for the people, without the interference of either royalty or priestcraft – had set a new lesson before the now awakening people, who for so many centuries had slumbered in ignorance of their God-given rights, supposing that God had appointed the church to the supreme rulership of earth, and that they were bound to obey those kings and emperors sanctioned by the church, no matter how unjust their demands, because he declared them to be appointed by God, through her.

“… Finally, oppressed by priestcraft, royal extravagance, etc., augmented by repeated failures of the crops, which impoverished and almost famished them, the people of France arose in desperation and accomplished that most terrible revolution which lasted for fourteen years, from 1789 to 1804.

“Of course, such a reaction from such a cause would be to infidelity. France suddenly became thoroughly infidel under the influence of Voltaire and his associates, who deluged the country with their writings, hurling contempt and ridicule upon Christianity, or rather upon the apostate Church of Rome, which was the only Christianity with which the French people were acquainted. They pointed out its falsehoods, its absurdities, its hypocrisies, its immoralities, its cruelties and all its wickedness, until the French people became inflamed in their zeal to exterminate Catholicism and all religion as they had formerly been zealous to uphold it. And miserable, deluded France, for a thousand years completely under the influence of the Papacy, supposing that the real Christ and not the Antichrist had been her despicable master, cried out in the words of Voltaire, ‘Down with the wretch’; and their efforts to down the execrable Antichrist resulted in all the horrors of the French Revolution – a wonderful illustration of retributive justice when viewed with the dreadful massacres of St. Bartholomew’s day, and similar occasions incited and rejoiced over by the Papacy.

“Infidel France suddenly rose in its might, destroyed the Bastile, issued its declaration of the rights of man, executed the king and queen and declared war against all kings and sympathy with all revolutionists everywhere.… The French renounced Christianity, and confiscated all the vast estates and revenues of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the estates of the king and nobility.” (C51)

The “remnant” referred to is not the church (many of whom may have been slain in the hysteria of the times), but most likely, those not having any religion whatsoever, who, being spared, were grateful for life, and longed for law and order, with the assurance of peace and happiness, and who were undoubtedly instrumental in bringing about the overthrow of the revolutionary elements, establishing, as it were, thereby, something, somewhat better! This “remnant” proved the desire of men for

higher and nobler things, which man in his fallen condition, could not possibly bring about. In this, the “remnant” unconsciously glorified God – the God of the heavens (Psa. 76:10), who in His own due time will bring to pass “the desire of all nations” (Hag. 2:6, 7) – the Kingdom on earth, in which His will will be done, as it is in heaven. (Matt. 6:10)

“‘And the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.’ Their God-dishonoring and Heaven-defying work filled France with such scenes of blood, carnage, and horror, as made even the infidels themselves tremble, and stand aghast; and the ‘remnant’ that escaped the horrors of that hour ‘gave glory to God’ – not willingly, but the God of heaven caused this ‘wrath of man to praise him,’ by causing all the world to see that those who make war on heaven make graves for themselves; thus glory redounded to God by the very means that wicked men employed to tarnish that glory.” (Uriah Smith – Thoughts on the Revelation)

11:14 – “The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.”

The first woe – the spirit of modernism (Rev. 9:1-11), which by casting doubt upon the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, took away from the “inhabiters of the earth” (Rev. 8:13), some of the peace and comfort which the Word of God had previously been able to instill.

The second woe – the spirit of revolution against the old established order (Rev. 11:13), caused Christendom all over the earth to tremble, and fear “for after looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” (Luke 21:26)

And now, the third woe, was to come quickly; and this it did after a period of about 75 years – in October of

A.D. 1874, with the sounding of the seventh trumpet!

11:15 – “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.”

Sounding of the “Seventh Trumpet”

“To our understanding the last trump, the seventh of the series of symbolical trumpets began in 1874 … its sound is to continue until the close of the Millennial age, a thousand years.” (R2982:4)

“Its beginning we understand was in 1878, and its termination will be a thousand years future from that date.” (R2992:6)

The Seventh Trump (Rev. 8:2 and 11:15)!

“… the Trumpet of Jubilee was to be sounded when the Jubilee Year began, to proclaim liberty through- out all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof. (Lev. 25:10) The antitype is ushered in with the sound of the (symbolic) ‘Seventh Trumpet,’ the ‘Trump of God,’ the ‘Last Trump’.” (B197)

“… we … recognize that the seven trumpets of Revelation are symbolical, and not literal … this seventh trumpet – ‘The Last Trumpet’ – ‘The Trump of God,’ – is as much symbolic as were its predecessors, and marks a much larger and more important fulfillment than any of them. Its fulfillment extends through a period of 1000 years; its events mark and coincide with all the various features of the Millennial reign of Christ. Its beginning, we understand, was in 1878, and its termination will be a thousand years future from that date. It will be ‘sounding’ for all that time – during which its events will be in process of accomplishment.” (R2992:6)

The “Trumpets”

“They are each said to sound, and Sir Isaac Newton, Clark, and all commentators of note agree that five or six of these trumpets are in the past. They have been fulfilled in events upon the earth, each covering a period of time. They certainly must all sound¹ before the resurrection, for that is under the seventh.” (R580:1)

Like unto the six which preceded it, the seventh angel represents the coincidence of time and circumstances (B151), suitable to the ushering in of something new and different! This one was identified with the “seventh trumpet” (Rev. 11:15); the “last trump” (1 Cor. 15:52); the “trump of God” and the second presence of Christ Jesus. (1 Thes. 4:16)

“The propriety of calling the ‘seventh,’ or ‘last trump,’ the ‘trump of God,’ is evident, too, when we remember that the events mentioned under the preceding six trumpets of Revelation refer to humanity’s doings, while the seventh refers specially to the Lord’s work, and covers the ‘Day of the Lord.’ Since the preceding six trumpets were symbols – it would be a violation of reason and common sense to expect the seventh the last of the series, to be a literal, audible sound on the air. And not only so, but it would be out of harmony with the Lord’s general methods, as well as with those statements of Scripture indicating the secrecy of his coming; for a thief never sounds a trumpet to announce his arrival.

“The seven trumpets of Revelation are all symbolic, and represents seven great periods of time and their events.… we find ourselves today in the midst of the very events which mark the sounding of the seventh trumpet. The great voices, the increase of knowledge, the angry nations, etc., taken in connection with time prophecies, establish this as a fact. Many events are yet to transpire before this seventh or last trumpet ceases to sound; as, for instance, the rewarding of the saints and prophets, the resurrection of all the dead, etc. In fact, it covers the entire period of the Millennial reign of Christ, as indicated by the events which are to transpire under it. (Rev. 10:7; 11:15, 18)” (B147, 148)

“The ‘great trumpet’ we understand to be the anti-typical ‘trumpet of Jubilee,’ the ‘seventh trumpet,’ as symbolic as the preceding six (Rev. 11:15-18), none of which ever made any literal sound. It has been symbolically sounding since October 1874, and will continue to the end of the Millennium. With the beginning of this trumpet began the ‘harvest’ and the reaping and separating, which must continue until the ‘elect,’ the ‘wheat,’ are all gathered out of the present heavens (ecclesiastical systems) unto the Lord.” (D601)

The “Mighty Angels” – Who or What are they?

“The ‘mighty angels,’ messengers, or agents of his power, are various, and may properly be understood as applying to and including all the various agencies, animate and inanimate, which shall be used by our Lord in the overthrow of the evil systems of the present, and in the chastisement of evildoers.” (B 151)

The “Seventh Messenger” and “Babylon is Fallen” (in 1879)

“This rejection of the nominal – Babylon – Church by the Lord seems to be illustrated in the picture of the Church in its seven stages. (Rev. 3:16) The seventh or last, boasting of her being rich, increased in goods, etc., is pronounced by the Lord poor, naked, miserable, wretched and blind, and is spewed from his mouth. Once she was the mouthpiece of God; he spoke and taught through her, but now she is spewed out. ‘Babylon is fallen.’ Who cannot recognize that Babylon is now falling in the esteem of the world, which points to its children as more honor- able, honest and faithful than the many Pastors and great ones in the church, of whose fall into great sins we hear almost daily.” (R46:2)

At the beginning of this period, the “seventh messenger” (Rev. 3:14), appeared upon the scene, giving the Lord’s message to the Laodicean church – of her rejection – “thou art neither cold nor hot … I will spew thee out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15,16); and admonished those of the Lord’s people still in “Babylon” to come out of her, so as not to be partakers of her sins, nor receive of the plagues to be visited upon her. (Rev. 18:4)

1 See “The Ten Egyptian Plagues” page 165

With regard to the “great voices in heaven,” which at the very beginning were to announce that the time had come for the establishment of the Kingdom, this Laodicean messenger, declared:

“… we are not to expect them to be angelic shoutings in the sky, nor mutterings of thunder … the voices are symbolic as well as the trumpets, and in this direction we look for the fulfillment of this declaration which must be due at about the present time, if we are correct in our understanding of the prophetic teachings to the effect that the kingdom power of Messiah was assumed in 1878, and that the King has since been ordering the events which will shortly bring about the great time of trouble, the angry nations, and the wrath of God manifesting itself in their destruction, as nations and institutions – not as people, though, undoubtedly, many human lives will be sacrificed in that trouble.

“… we are not to expect that the voices under the Seventh Trumpet, proclaiming the kingdom, will be any more than human voices and human agents. Nor should we expect them to be other than the voices of those who have some measure of light in respect to the times in which we are now living, the harvest time, the time of the establishment of the kingdom. Those who utter these voices declaring that the ‘kingdom [dominion] of this world, has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ’ must of necessity be such as have first learned this fact from some quarter.

“We might say that the volumes of Millennial Dawn have to some extent been such voices, announcing the kingdom, and giving the reasons for believing that it began to be established in 1878; that it will reach full establishment (soon) … that ultimately it shall bless all the families of the earth. These voices have been circulated here and there throughout the whole civilized world. These voices have been uttered, and to some extent heard, in the symbolic heavens, the nominal church.” (R2994:3)

There are also the voices which have arisen by virtue of the circulation of the “volunteer” literature:

“These ‘voices’ … ‘great voices’ in the sense of being widespread and in the sense of exercising considerable influence – they have been heard by many.” (R2993:5, 2994:3)

Slowly, but surely (though not too willingly) the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our Lord (Jehovah), and of his Christ, which latter kingdom will be an everlasting one.

“The nations will be ruled by force, irresistible force, until righteous order is established by a general submission; – every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess divine power and glory, and outward obedience will be compulsory. As it is written, ‘He shall rule the nations with a rod of iron, and as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers.’

(Rev. 2:27) This smiting and breaking properly belongs to the Day of Vengeance, and though the power and rod will still remain throughout the Millennial age, their use will probably be unneces- sary, as all open opposition will be thoroughly rebuked in the great time of trouble. As the Prophet represents the matter, God in this smiting-time will be saying to babbling, clamoring, self-assertive humanity – ‘Be still! and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the peoples, I will be exalted in the earth.’ (Psa. 46:10) It will, however, be the work of the entire Millennial age to ‘lay justice to the line and righteousness to the plummet’ in all the little and great affairs of each individual of the race, all of whom will thus be ‘taught of God’ through his ‘elect’ Servant of the Covenant, the great Prophet, Priest and King (head and body): Prophet in the sense of teacher, King in the sense of governor, Priest in the sense of mediator who, having redeemed, is the advocate of the people and the dispenser of divine favor. The offices are united: ‘Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedek’ – who was a priest upon his throne – (Heb. 7:17; Zech. 6:13; Acts 3:22; Deut. 18:15)” (D636)

“… primarily it is the Kingdom of the Father, which rules over all (Matt. 13:43; 26:29); but the Father has voluntarily proposed to place the dominion of earth for a thousand years under the full charge of a Viceroy, a Vicegerent – Christ and his bride exalted to the divine nature and majesty–to subjugate and destroy evil and to lift up all who will come to full harmony with the Father under the gracious conditions of the New Covenant. In a secondary sense it will include the earthly ministers or ‘princes’ who will be its visible representatives among men. In a still wider sense it will include all those who, when they recognize its establishment, will render to it loyal submission and devotion –both Jews and Gentiles. In the widest sense it will gradually include all subjects who obey its laws, while all others will be destroyed. (Acts. 3:23; Rev. 11:18)” (D642)

The Kingdom –“The earth is the Lord’s”

“When the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof, it will not be because all the kingdoms of this world will have been converted to God and purified, and their kings permitted to reign by the grace of God, as they now claim to do, and because all the now restless masses of men will have become docile and submissive to the present governing powers; but it will be as the prophet declares, because God will have ‘founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods.’ That is, the present earth, or social organization, and the present heavens, or ruling powers, will have passed away, and the new earth will be established upon the ruins of the old. When the waves of the restless sea-element of society shall have arisen in their might and overwhelmed the whole present social order, so that the wild and stormy sea of anarchy shall prevail everywhere, then, amidst the wreck and ruin, the desolation and universal despondency and despair, the voice of Jehovah will be heard, saying, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’ (Psa. 46:10) And out of the wild commotion of that stormy sea God will bring order and peace.

“Instead of this restless sea of humanity The will found the new earth, the new order of things; yea, he will firmly establish it upon (in place of) the floods; there he will establish his kingdom ‘which cannot be moved.’ (Heb. 12:28) And he will set his king upon his holy hill of Zion and give to him the nations for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. (Psa. 2:6, 8) Then, indeed, shall the King, the Lord’s anointed, reign in righteousness and princes shall decree justice (Isa. 32:1); and in consequence there shall be abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. (Psa. 72:7)

“There will then be but one kingdom [mountain or hill] in all the world – the kingdom of God; and his anointed will be king in all the earth in that day. (Zech. 14:9) This hill or kingdom of the Lord is that to which the Psalmist refers when he raised the question, ‘Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who shall stand in his holy place?’ To ascend into the hill is to come into his kingdom as loyal and obedient subjects, as true citizens, worthy of all its blessings and privileges; and not as aliens and foreigners, having no part or lot in the common interests and inheritance of all the true and loyal people of God, viz., eternal life and all its blessings of righteousness, peace and everlasting joy. Who indeed shall be counted worthy thus to ascend into the mountain of the Lord? ‘And who shall stand in his holy place?’ The reference here is to the antitype of the typical temple of God, which standing upon the top of Mount Zion, prefigured the glorious true temple, the church of the living God, in kingdom power and glory. Who shall stand in that holy place in that age of glory and blessing now so near at hand? – who shall be counted worthy to reign with Christ in his kingdom?” (R3113:3; 3114:1)

11:16, 17 – “And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, 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.”

As already suggested (Rev. 4:4), these “four and twenty elders” sitting, as it were, before God, represent the testimonies concerning the Kingdom, as given by Enoch, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Job, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and John the Baptist (24 in all), which testimonies so long ignored, despised and rejected, with this change of dispensation, find themselves being vindicated. For this, they now render thanks to him who “was” once the man Christ Jesus; who, for his faithfulness unto death, “is” now highly exalted to the divine nature; and who “is to come” to the fullness of his glory as the Prophet, Priest and King, with the restoration of mankind to the glory once lost in Eden. In John’s apocalyptic vision, the reign is already begun.

“And art to come”

The clause “and art to come” which appears in the Authorized (KI) Version, is omitted in the best and most reliable of the ancient manuscripts; and for this reason, is not found in any of the more modern translations. It is possible that the clause is spurious – an interpolation! However, since it is very consistent with the tenor of the Scriptures (Rev. 1:4; 4:8), and what follows in the text is in harmony with the thought (“because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned” – meaning, of course, that the Lord had already begun his “takeover” which would eventuate in the ultimate glory of his accomplished mission) we have ventured to comment on the same. It will be recalled that Bro. Russell with regard to the passage in Rev. 20:5 – “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished” (also considered spurious) said … “the repudiation of this clause is not essential to the ‘Plan’.”

11:18 – “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.”

Time of Trouble – God’s WratTh

“Daniel the prophet (Dan. 12:1) also refers to this ‘curse’ or time of trouble with which this Gospel Age will end. He speaks of it as ‘a time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation,’ and tells us that it will occur at the second coming of Christ, when He shall ‘stand up,’ assume authority in the beginning of His reign. The same thought is given us in Revelation, where we are distinctly told that our Lord will take unto Himself His great power and reign, and at that time the nations will be angry and God’s wrath will come upon them, and they shall be broken in pieces as a potter’s vessel under the rule of Messiah’s ‘iron rod’ of inflexible justice. (Rev. 11:15-18) The Apostle Paul also notes the coming of this ‘curse’ as a sure thing, and declares that our Lord, at His second advent, shall be revealed ‘in flaming fire, taking vengeance’ – symbolic fire, it is true – a symbol of the destructive force which will be exercised against everything that shall oppose the laws of Messiah’s Kingdom. Again he tells us: ‘The fire of that day shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.’ (2 Thes. 1:8; 1 Cor. 3:13)” (OV324)

“The Scriptures identify this trouble with Messiah’s taking to Himself His Kingdom power and beginning his reign. (Dan. 12:1; Rev. 11:18) Thank God! The intimation of the Scriptures are that the conflict of that time will be short. It must, however, last long enough to teach humanity a lesson never to be forgotten – that God and His arrangements must stand first and must be obeyed, if blessing is sought.” (OV321)

“Those who expect the Millennial kingdom to come as a result of present efforts, under the order of society now prevailing, and who believe that the world is gradually approaching the Millennium by an evolutionary process, should carefully consider this word of the Lord through the Prophet.… The Prophet declares that when Messiah shall take the reigns of government, his first step will be to judge the poor, and to reprove the rich in equity, in the interests of the meek of the earth. How could this be possible if equity had already prevailed by a gradual process, so that there were no poor and no rich, and so that all had become meek? Other Scriptures in harmony with this testimony of the Prophet Isaiah show that the very work which our Lord is to do at the beginning of his reign will be to correct the wrongs then prevailing. Our Lord himself implies that the earth will be far from being a blessed condi- tion at his second advent, when he asks the question, ‘When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find The Faith on the earth?’ (Luke 18:8) The Revelator also gives no uncertain testimony on this subject. He says: ‘And the seventh angel sounded: and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.… 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 to thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, small and great, and shouldest destroy them that corrupt the earth.’ (Rev. 11:15-18)” (R5573:3)

Ere this, it will have been noted that the events recorded in the Revelation, do not all follow sequential order; that frequently there is a “cut-back” in which the selfsame period may be covered but from a different viewpoint. Accordingly, in Rev. 11:15-18, particular stress is laid upon such events as are to mark the end of the Gospel age: the anger of the nations; their becoming the kingdoms of our Lord by way of the destruction of the old order; the establishment of the new; the glorification of the saints; the resurrection of the ancient worthies (prophets, etc.); the judgment of the world of mankind during the Millennium; and the ultimate destruction of the incorrigible – those “which destroy the earth.”

The closing period of the Gentile Times (which ended in A.D. 1914) was marked with great efforts on the part of the nations, to establish universal peace! This, of course, was a vain thing (Psa. 2:1-5), for how could they expect to accomplish this without accepting the King of Peace – Melchizedek – whom Jehovah had raised up for the holy hill (the Kingdom-to-be). This King will break these nations into pieces with a rod of iron (divine authority and control), as is outlined in Psa. 2:6-9; Rev. 2:27.

A Peace Palace had been erected at The Hague (Netherlands). Then sudden destruction was ushered in with World War I, involving 29 nations! Indeed, the nations were angry. Nor were they ready for the reestablishment of Israel as a nation! This great cataclysm was, however, followed by a period of “comparative” peace, for the war was merely the first of a number of labor (travail) pangs (1 Thes. 5:3) that would eventuate in the birth of the new order – the Kingdom of God, in which both righteousness and peace were to be established. (Heb. 7:2)

“… the Scriptures tell us that about the time of the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet, certain great events, enumerated in our text, will begin to take place…

‘The nations were angry, thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged.’ The church are the first to receive their judgment, the decision in their case; for the world God has appointed a thousand-year day. (Acts 17:31; 2 Pet. 3:8) ‘And that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets (the ancient worthies) and to the saints (all the holy ones), and them that fear thy name, small and great.’ All this latter class – the world of mankind – will be judged, will have the decision passed upon them, according to the way in which they will conduct themselves under the Millennial conditions. And thou shalt ‘destroy them that corrupt the earth.’ If this verse contains so much that a thousand years will be required for its fulfillment, the same may be true of other Scriptures.

“Through the testimony of God’s Word we understand that the resurrection began in 1878; not that we saw anything by the natural sight of the eyes, but that through the eyes of our understanding we recognized that the time had come for that great transaction, the first resurrection, as far as the sleeping saints were concerned; and we understand that there commenced the time mentioned by the writer of Revelation, when he declared, ‘Blessed are they who die in the Lord, from henceforth,’ marking a particular time, before which it would not be a blessing to die, but after which it would be a blessing. ‘From henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.’ (Rev. 14:13)

“That particular time came, we believe, in 1878; then, not only the apostles were awakened, but all the faithful in Christ Jesus, all the sleeping members of the body of Christ. That was the beginning of the resurrection of the body of Christ – the Lord judging among his people first, before the judgment of the world. He foretold that when he would come he would call his own servants and reckon with them – not with the world – giving reward to those of his church who had gone before, giving them part in the first resurrection, and then after- ward dealing with us, ‘who are alive and remain,’ so that each one of us who are of the Lord’s people, may at death be ‘changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,’ during the sounding of the last trumpet – the seventh.

“At present the nations show such bitterness toward each other, such a desire to conquer and destroy one another, that they are determined to continue the war, even if it result in the loss of their own wealth, the destruction of their own homes, and of one another. The spirit of competition, which was supposed to have died, had only been covered up for a little while; and the spirit of the adversary is still there. Although they are called Christian nations, they have not received the Spirit of the Lord; they have not received the spirit of meekness, gentleness, long-suffering, brotherly kindness and love, the fruits of the Holy Spirit; but on the contrary, the spirit which St. Paul says consists of hatred, wrath, strife, murder – the works of the flesh and the devil. For this reason they are angry and have involved them- selves in the present turmoil.

“Our text proceeds to say, ‘And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,’ that they should receive their proper rewards and punishments, and be righteously dealt with, is closely associated with this time of angry nations. The whole dead world will be dealt with during that thousand years of Christ’s reign. The object of that dealing is that he ‘should give reward to his servants the prophets,’ beginning at the proper time. Their reward is that they are to be the earthly princes in the kingdom, in all the earth. ‘And to the saints.’ The saints will be changed in the first resurrection, ‘right early in the morning.’ (Psa. 46:5, margin) ‘Them that fear thy name, small and great,’ shows the reward of all those who will come into harmony with the Lord during the thousand years – this pictures the blessing of restitution coming to all mankind. These blessings they are to receive as they show their obedience to him in all things.

“What will the consummation be? ‘And shouldest destroy them which destroy (or corrupt) the earth.’ Those that give forth corrupting influence and that refuse to come into harmony with righteousness during the thousand years will be destroyed from amongst the people. Nothing will be left of them. Everything evil will be destroyed, root and branch; only the righteous will prevail throughout all eternity. All having sympathy with unrighteousness will be destroyed. We see, then, that the entire Millennial age will be needed to accomplish the work outlined in our text. It is not to be suddenly accomplished; we are not to expect a sudden fulfillment of that work.” (R5563:3; 5566:5; 5567:6)

11:19 – “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.”

Not long after the beginning of the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet, when the sleeping saints shall have been raised to resurrection glory, and when all the still remaining saints shall, one by one, also have been “changed” (1 Cor. 15:42) to the Lord’s own glorious likeness – the Temple class will have been completed, and will be constituted the new heavens (2 Pet. 3:13), or powers of spiritual control. In these “heavens” mankind will eventually be privileged to “see” (by mental percep- tion) (T85) that the Ark of His Covenant (Testament) is the glorified Christ (Head and body). (T121)

Thus –

“when the work of reconciliation is complete, God will recognize the world of mankind, and place his sanctuary among men. Then will be fulfilled that which was written: The Tabernacle of God [God’s dwelling, the glorified Church] is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be [become] his people; and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things [the reign of Satan, sin and death] are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. (Rev. 21:3-5).” (T76)

However, in the beginning of the Millennial age, while the kingdoms of this world are being forced to give way –to becoming the kingdoms of our Lord (the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness – 2 Pet. 3:13) there will be “lightnings” – the diffusion of knowledge; “voices” – contentions for knowledge and liberty; “thunderings” – controversies; and “an earthquake” – social upheavals, anarchy, etc.; and “great hail” – the dissemination of hard, sharp and distressing truth!