“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: 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” (Revelation 11:1,2).
It will be noticed that while this symbolic scene is an entirely new one, it nevertheless is in close connection with the vision we have been considering. Let us therefore have before the mind the essential features of the
vision recorded in chapter 10.
- The sudden and startling appearance in the Apocalyptic scenery of the mighty rainbow-encircled angel (messenger), represents Christ acting in behalf of his Church in the most critical period of her history — the opening of the Sixteenth Century — the fulfillment of the vision continuing on to the end of the age.
- The little opened book in the hand of this mighty messenger we found to be a symbol of the Word of God, which had been lost sight of for centuries because of Papal influences.
- The messenger placing his feet upon the sea and land, teaches that at this time Christ would in a very special sense exert his power in controlling the affairs of the earth in the interests of his Church.
- His cry, as when a lion roars, represents Christ speaking through his true followers of that time, and since, against the prevailing apostasy in the Church.
- The resultant “seven thunders” represents controversies in the religious world, the utterances of which St. John was forbidden to record.
- The receiving of the little book from the angel, and the eating of it by St. John describes in symbol the receiving in a special sense the Word of God afresh by true followers of Christ.
- The second commission to disseminate the Message and to give a world- wide witness to the Truth, we found to have its complete fulfillment in modern times.
St. John in this, as in the previous vision of eating the “little book” and prophesying before many peoples, nations, etc., represents the Lord’s consecrated at the time of the vision’s fulfillment. The command to measure the temple, etc., is given by the same one who told him to eat the “little book” — the mighty angel of Revelation 10:1 (compare Revelation 11:3). That which St. John now beheld was Jerusalem, its temple, courts, and worshipers, all of which are employed in the vision as symbols.
It will be evident to the Bible student that before we can understand what the things are that are referred to in the vision, it will be necessary to become familiar with the typical nature of Jerusalem, its temple, courts, and worshipers. These are among the things referred to by the Apostle Paul as “shadows of good things to come” (Hebrews 10:1). In other words, the temple, courts, altar, worshipers, and the sacrifices and services performed in connection with the Jewish worship were Divine types of the various features of the great Plan of salvation, called in this vision, “the mystery of God” (Revelation 10:7). A digesting of the knowledge of this Divine Plan was typified in St. John’s eating the contents of the “little book.”
In the vision we are now considering, another phase of the work to be performed by the true followers of Christ is pictured, and the work covers the same period as that of the previous chapter — from the Reformation down to the present time. In a general way, as applicable to the true Church, the vision describes the work to be done as that of determining exactly the meaning of all matters pertaining to the Christian religion, as Christ’s sacrifice, the terms of membership into the true Church, the consecration and sacrifice of Christ’s Body members, and the relation of all these things to the human family at large. The occasion for such a work to be done was that the professing Church on earth had become apostate.
The Papacy had perverted the Scriptural teaching concerning the Lord’s Memorial Supper, claiming that it is a real sacrifice, termed by them the sacrifice of the Mass; thus the teaching is that every time the Mass is celebrated Christ is sacrificed afresh, and this was constituted an essential article of faith. They had changed the simple office of ministering servants into a priesthood, thus perverting the Scripture teaching that the priesthood is made up of all consecrated believers. The Papal altar had almost entirely replaced the pulpit. Every truth that was originally committed to the Apostles had been perverted, indeed counterfeited. “It has been by means of a counterfeit Christianity that Satan has through the Papacy resisted the spread of true Christianity. The Papacy has its counterfeit high priest, the Pope; its counterfeit sacrifice, the Mass; its counterfeit Bible, tradition; its counterfeit mediators, the virgin, the saints and angels; the forms have been copied, the realities set aside. Satan inaugurated and developed a system, not antagonistic to Christianity, but a counterfeit of it; and as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so (that is by imitation) he has withstood Christ.” All except those whose names were written in heaven were deceived.
The first thing that is related in the vision is that the Apostle was given a reed like unto a rod, with which he was to measure the temple, etc. The rod seems to be a symbol of the revealed will of God concerning His Plan contained in the Bible. It was to typify or foreshadow this, that the temple, etc., was constructed, and its services and sacrifices instituted. The rod being given to St. John is designed to teach, therefore, that a clear understanding of the various features of the Divine Plan would, during the period covered by the vision, be gradually unfolded to the Lord’s consecrated, the wise of the holy people. And the Prophet, in a vision referring to the Millennial morning, has expressed a similar thought: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee” (Isaiah 60:1). Likewise the poet has summed up the matter:
“Daughter of Zion! awake from thy sadness!
Awake! for thy foes shall oppress thee no more;
Bright o’er the hills dawns the day-star of gladness,
Arise! for the night of thy sorrow is o’er.”
Divine Truths Adjusted and Set in Order
The altar mentioned in the vision seems to refer to the altar of sacrifice in the inner court, sometimes called the holy place. This does not mean that the golden altar in the “holy” is to be omitted in the symbolic measurement; this would be included in the measurement of the temple and of the worshipers, who performed services at this golden altar, indeed at the golden candlestand and golden table as well. It should be kept in mind that while this work symbolized by measuring the temple, etc., began in the days of the Reformation, it was not finished, it did not reach a culmination, until the present time. Mr. Russell’s exposition of this feature will be found to be most interesting:
“The revelation of God’s Word, as now made to the John class, is a more perfect measure than it ever was before. We have many excellent translations, some of them from very ancient manuscripts. … And by these, as well as numbers of valuable helps, such as English, Greek, and Hebrew Concordances, a more perfect understanding of the text can be had, as well as of correlative passages, than was ever before possible to either learned or unlearned. The injunction to the John class is, ‘Rise [arouse yourselves to an important work, requiring all your effort], Measure the Sanctuary. Test, try, prove, by the rule given you, the sanctuary of truth — the position you occupy as the Lord’s “royal priesthood.” Prove all things, hold fast that which is good, and reject all not up to the measure of your rod.
“Not only measure the doctrines in which the Church is standing, but measure those who worship therein. … Let the Word of God be the only rule of faith, doctrine, teaching, and also the rule of practice. …
“But he was also to measure the altar — and, beloved, we have in this little work been endeavoring to measure it. To the surprise of many (joyfully we hope) we have seen the size of the altar to be a hundredfold longer and broader than we had before supposed. Yes, once we supposed that Jesus had provided only for the ‘little flock’; but now we find since the rod is put into our hands, that Jesus Christ by the grace of God tasted death for every man — to be testified in due time, and to prove of practical value and benefit to all. Once in our ignorance, misguided by the creeds of men, framed in the Dark Ages, we supposed that all probation would cease with this Gospel Age — that the “little flock” only would be saved. But now we measure it by our rod, and learn that while yet sinners, God so loved the world as to give His only begotten Son to die on their behalf and as their ransom.
“And by means of this knowledge afforded in measuring the sanctuary and altar, we have come to ‘trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men — especially of them that believe.’ And now, while seeking the great, grand prize of our (believers) High Calling to the Divine nature, we can rejoice in the love of God in the general salvation of mankind, and their restoration to the perfection of humanity — in due time. Oh, the length and breadth, the height and depth of the love of God which passeth all understanding.
“Again, it was while we were engaged in measuring the altar, that we came to see more fully what sacrifice is expected of those who have consecrated to become followers in the footsteps of Jesus. We have covenanted to become dead with him — living sacrifices — if we might be of the Royal Priesthood and reign with him in the Millennial Age of glory to the Church and blessing to the world.”
Measuring the golden altar would have to do especially with the unfolding of the various truths symbolized by that altar in connection with the services of the holy. These truths would be Christ’s intercession, the prayer life of the consecrated, the acceptableness of the services and sacrifices of the consecrated through Christ’s holy and perfect offering and intercession.
Measuring the worshipers (Levites and Priests) would signify making clear the call, the consecration, the sacrifice, and the present and future work and privileges of the antitypical priests, the prospective joint-heirs with Christ. Measuring the temple itself would include the unfolding of the truth concerning the two conditions of the consecrated, namely the present earthly and the future heavenly state, represented in the two apartments of the temple.
The command to leave out the court in this measurement is designed to teach that the religious systems existing at the time the vision would meet its fulfillment would be nominal systems cast off from favor. This will be clearly seen when we call to mind that the Gentiles of the Jewish Age, when these typical scenes were being enacted, were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise and had no part in the service only as they became proselytes. These, in the vision under consideration, being in possession of the court, would show that cast-off systems are referred to.
“There is undoubtedly reference here [says Mr. Barnes] to the ‘court of the Gentiles,’ as it is called among the Jews — the outer court of the temple to which the Gentiles had access, and within [beyond] which they were not permitted to go. To an observer this would seem to be a part of the temple [precincts], and the persons there assembled a portion of the true worshipers of God; but it was necessarily neither the one nor the other. In forming an estimate of those who, according to the Hebrew notions, were true worshipers of God, only those would be regarded as such who had the privilege of access to the inner court, and to the altar. In making such an estimate, therefore, those who had no nearer access than that court, would be omitted; that is, they would not be reckoned as necessarily any part of those who were regarded as the people of God. They occupied it, not as the people of God, but as those who were without the true Church, and who did not appertain to its real communion. This would find a fulfillment if there should arise a state of things in the Church in which it would be necessary to draw a line between those who properly constituted the Church and those who did not; if there should be such a condition of things that any considerable portion of those who professedly appertained to the Church ought to be divided off as not belonging to it, or would have such characteristic marks that it could be seen that they were strangers and aliens. Now this will apply with great propriety to the manner in which Papacy was regarded by the Reformers, and should be regarded at all time.”
In the Reformation, as well as down the centuries since, efforts measurably successful have been made to obtain a knowledge of the truths symbolized by the sanctuary, altar, etc., but Bible students today know that a full knowledge was not given during this time; indeed, was not given until the present Harvest time, when it is ours to realize a cleansed sanctuary.
In the foregoing, it would seem that we have abundant testimony as to the fulfillment of this part of the vision respecting the measuring of the temple of God.
The Holy City Trodden Forty-Two Months
“And the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months” (Revelation 11:2).
The picture before us in this symbol is that of the nations (Gentiles) treading under foot the holy city forty-two months. To understand what is symbolized by the holy city, it will be necessary to keep in mind that the symbol must be explained in harmony with Jerusalem’s association with and relation to the typical Jewish temple and its worshipers. In Revelation 21, the holy city, the New Jerusalem, is, as explained there, a symbol of the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife, that is, the glorified Church in her future exaltation and reign with Christ. In the vision we are now considering, however, the symbol of the holy city is not employed in this way, but rather is used in connection with the Church’s earthly state, its period of witnessing and suffering for the truths of the Gospel. The fact that the holy city is associated with and related to the Jewish typical temple and worship necessitates that we discover the divinely appointed relationship that Jerusalem of old sustained to the typical temple and services as performed in the typical dispensation, the Jewish Age. In considering it from this standpoint, we discover that Jerusalem, the holy city, was the divinely appointed seat of authority, the center from which the Divine instruction, the word of God, went forth, which word of command was to control in the affairs of Israel in olden times. Thus the Prophet referring to the operation of God’s Kingdom in the future dispensation declares, “the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
In the light of these facts, therefore, we believe the holy city, used as a symbol by the Revelator in relation to the Church’s experiences during this Gospel Age, would signify the place of the Truth, the Message, the Word of God — in other words, the Sanctuary or citadel of holy Truth. As further elucidating this point and in confirmation of the same, we quote the language of two expositors of modern times who give much evidence of not only a very comprehensive knowledge of history, but of a deep insight into the visions of St. John:
“The holy city was the city in which the ancient temple stood, and the priests and daily worshipers resided, and to which those dwelling elsewhere went to offer homage. The prediction, therefore, that the court without should be given to the Gentiles, and that they should tread the holy city forty-two months, denoted that they should constitute the congregation of visible worshipers during that period, and exercise the civil polity under which the church should subsist; and as during the continuance of the [typical] temple the Gentiles were aliens from God and idolaters in contradistinction from the Jews who were His covenant people, it denotes that the visible should be an apostate and idolatrous church during that period, and give occasion thereby for the testimony of the witnesses against false teachers and usurping rulers. This is seen also from the fact that the Gentiles have belonged to the visible Church and constituted it for a much longer period than the forty-two months. There has been no purely Jewish Church since the first ages. The relation, therefore, in which the Gentiles were to constitute the Church during that period, was not literally as Gentiles in opposition to Jews, but as apostates from God in contradistinction from true worshipers” (D. N. Lord).
The words of Mr. Barnes are in full confirmation of the foregoing:
“The statement that the holy city was to be trodden under foot, verse 2 … must mean that the true Church would thus be trodden down by those who are described as ‘Gentiles.’ So far as pure religion was concerned; so far as appertained to the real condition of the Church and the pure worship of God, it would be as if the whole holy city where God was worshipped were given into the hands of the Gentiles, and they should tread it down, and desecrate all that was sacred for the time here referred to. Everything in Rome at the time of the Reformation, would sustain this description.”
Our next inquiry logically is with regard to the forty-two months. Are we to understand this to refer to literal or symbolical time? We answer, the very fact that it is used in connection with a symbolic vision would seem to be sufficient evidence that symbolical time is referred to. Another evidence that this is correct is that the vision refers to the earthly, preparatory state of the Church — a time during which it has seemed to be God’s purpose to hide, in a large measure at least, an understanding of prophetic visions until the events symbolized in the visions would, to a considerable extent, have unfolded themselves in history.
Another evidence, and one that cannot be successfully controverted, is that the fulfillment of the vision is associated with great events of past history — events which require the use of symbolical time. In this connection we call attention to the fact that the same mystical period of time is employed in the prophecies of Daniel, although stated in a different form, namely a “time, times and the dividing of time” (Daniel 7:25). Its use in this prophecy of Daniel is in connection with a politico-religious power, symbolized by a “little horn” that comes up after and among the “ten horns” of the fourth beast of Daniel’s vision. It is agreed by all historical students of Daniel and Revelation that the beast referred to represents the Roman Empire; and its ten horns represent the divisions of that Empire which took place in the fourth and fifth centuries.
There is also a general agreement that the “little horn,” in connection with which this mysterious number (time, times, and a half) is used, is the Papacy, its rise occurring about 539 AD. The prophecy states that the saints (the Lord’s consecrated ones) would be given into his hand for “a time, times and a half,” which interpreted, symbolically, would represent twelve hundred and sixty years — a “time,” representing 360 years; “times,” (two) representing 720 years; and “a half,” 180 years; the sum of which is 1260 years. Indeed, in the vision we are considering, we have it so stated: “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth” (verse 3). The period referred to in the prophecy of Daniel in which it is stated that the saints should be given into his (Papacy’s) hand for this length of time, ended in 1799, when the Papacy ceased to have power to persecute Christ’s true followers.
The same great evil power and the same period of time are doubtless referred to in the vision we are now considering. The meaning then of the statement, “the holy city shall they tread forty-two months,” is that during a period of twelve hundred and sixty years, the Sanctuary, the Truth, and the things pertaining to the true worship, would become perverted and trodden down of the nations, the civil powers, the ten kingdoms over which the Papacy would exert a controlling influence; and the saints of God in their efforts to proclaim the truths of the Scriptures would be out of favor with both the civil and religious powers. Other prophecies show, however, that before the 1260 years run their full course, there would be a revolt on the part of some of these kingdoms from Papal control (see Revelation 11:13, 17:16).