Part 13 (1/2)
Two things prominently brought out in these symbols should be remembered, however--first, that even during the reign of the beast and his image, G.o.d had true people who were carefully distinguished in the prophecy as those whose names were written in the book of life and who would not ”wors.h.i.+p the image of the beast”; and second, that the symbolic scene now being considered represents these saved individuals as gathered out into one company with the Lamb on Mount Zion, before the end of time. The ill.u.s.tration is that of the joyful Israelites who made their return to Zion after the fall of literal Babylon, where they were long held in captivity. This is the ill.u.s.tration and the prophetic description; therefore we may rest a.s.sured that just as truly as time revealed the rise of the papal and Protestant systems, as set forth in the symbols of the Revelation, just so surely will there come _before the end of time_ a revival of pure, apostolic Christianity, a reformation in which the true people of G.o.d will take their stand outside of all forms of the apostasy and carry the full gospel of the Son of G.o.d to ”every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.”
We have traced in prophetic symbolism the four epochs of the Christian dispensation represented respectively by the star-crowned woman, the leopard-beast, the two-horned beast, and the redeemed company gathered together with the Lamb on Mount Zion. The papal period, represented by the leopard-beast, continued for 1,260 years, its universal sway terminating with the sixteenth century reformation. The length of the Protestant reign following is not stated in this series.
[Sidenote: The two witnesses]
Let us now return to the description of the two witnesses given in Revelation 11. We have already considered the first part of that symbolic description pertaining to the 1,260 years during which the holy city was to be trodden under foot and the two witnesses were to prophesy in sackcloth; and we have shown that this description is exactly parallel with the prophecy that set forth the period of the papal supremacy. But the description continues, covering the era of modern sects and leading up to the work of a final reformation.
After describing the 1,260-year prophecy of the two witnesses, the narrative continues: ”And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 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. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 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” (Rev. 11:7-10).
[Sidenote: The witnesses slain]
This intricate picture of symbolical imagery is placed chronologically just after the 1,260-year reign of Romanism and hence it was to meet its fulfilment during the Protestant era. It describes in the most graphic and realistic manner the evil characteristics and tendencies of the sect-system. I have already shown that in the primitive church the two witnesses--the Word and the Spirit of G.o.d--were the real vicars of Christ, giving both character and government to the universal church of G.o.d on earth. We have also seen that with the rise of human ecclesiasticism the reign of the Word and Spirit ended in so far as the Church of Rome was concerned. The same is true also of Protestantism. The establishment of man-made creeds and the concentration and centralization of church power and governmental authority in human hands--a church-rule patterned after the kingdoms of this world--is a _rejection of the divine government of G.o.d_ just as the appointment of a king in the Old Testament times was a rejection of G.o.d's plan of governing Israel. In this sense G.o.d's two witnesses have been openly ignored and rejected in Protestantism as well as in Romanism and the ancient churches of the East, and man-made creeds and systems of government subst.i.tuted in their stead. They are, therefore, represented as slain, although of course a certain amount of respect is still shown them in that they are not suffered to be wholly put out of sight.
[Sidenote: The witnesses resurrected]
”And after three days and an half the spirit of life from G.o.d 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. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the G.o.d of heaven. The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly” (verses 11-14).
The resurrection of the witnesses doubtless signifies a time of reformation and implies its true character. If the death of the witnesses was the result of ecclesiasticism and false teaching, their resurrection must signify a final triumph over ecclesiasticism and the restoration of primitive Christianity under the direct authority and government of G.o.d. Even omitting all details in this complex description, we can scarcely avoid the conclusion that if the general description given in this chapter means anything, it means the restoration of Christianity before the end of time to the condition in which it existed before the apostasy.
[Sidenote: The time prophecy]
The time prophecy ”three days and a half” is difficult to explain except in the light of clearly ascertained historical facts. The term ”day” is of itself very indefinite, being used in the Scriptures to designate periods of different length. In the description under consideration it evidently can not signify the ordinary 24-hour day nor yet the year-day; for it covers the Protestant period following the 1,260-year reign of Romanism and preceding the Last Reformation--the same period of time covered by the second beast of Revelation 13.
The events of the Protestant period naturally divide it into shorter epochs of about a century each in length. The historian D'Aubigne, who wrote about 1835, noticed this distinction and referred to it in his famous History of the Reformation. These are his words: ”It has been said that the three last centuries, the sixteenth, the seventeenth, and the eighteenth may be conceived as an immense battle of _three days_' duration. We willingly adopt this beautiful comparison ... the first day was the battle of G.o.d, the second the battle of the priest, the third the battle of Reason. What will be the fourth? In our opinion the confused strife, the deadly contest of all these powers together TO END IN THE VICTORY OF HIM TO WHOM TRIUMPH BELONGS.”--Book XI, Chap. 9.
”Three days and a half,” or three hundred and fifty years, after the formation of the first Protestant creed, in 1530, G.o.d began to reveal special light and truth on his Word and to cause a great awakening, which is gradually resulting in the rejection of human ecclesiastical rule, the recognition of the primitive government of G.o.d, and the restoration of all the pure truths of the Word of G.o.d.
Another point in the prophecy under consideration a.s.sists us in fixing the chronology of the reformation predicted. The ”great earthquake”
stands closely a.s.sociated with the time of the resurrection and exaltation of the witnesses. The principles of interpreting symbols would lead us to identify this earthquake as a mighty political convulsion destructive in its nature, and yet one that would be overruled for the furtherance of Christ's kingdom--a convulsion that would also terminate the destructive reign of the ”second woe.” I can not here digress to give proofs, but there is no doubt that the second woe of Revelation (see chap. 9:13-20) signifies the political dominancy of the Ottoman Empire. This power, const.i.tuting the political backbone of Mohammedanism, has indeed been a most serious woe upon the inhabitants of the earth and an obstacle in the path of true missionary progress. With these facts before us, we can clearly see that the earthquake was the great European War and that we are now living in the time when a special reformation is due.
[Sidenote: Another important series]
Another parallel series of prophecies covering the same ground and terminating at the same point will bring the subject of the Last Reformation to a grand climax. I have shown that the religious powers described in Revelation 13 as two beasts were also termed Babylon. We shall now give a more particular description of this ant.i.type of the Old Testament Babylon. The Euphratean city--Babylon--the proud metropolis of the Chaldean monarchy, combined in itself the corruptions and wickedness of the world and then filled up the measure of its sins by destroying the temple in Jerusalem and leading into captivity the chosen people of G.o.d. When John wrote, however, this ancient city was no more. It had long since been destroyed, and it has never been rebuilt to this day. Even the Arab refuses to pitch his tent among its lonely, serpent-infested ruins. The city to which the apostle alludes in these prophecies must therefore refer, not to ancient Babylon, but to some other a.n.a.logous power which was yet to arise and of which the old Babylon was a type.
OUTLINE OF PARALLEL PROPHECIES SHOWING FOUR ECCLESIASTICAL EPOCHS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Apostolic
The Medieval Period
Era of Modern
The Last Period
Sects
Reformation ----------------+---------------------+----------------+------------------- DRAGON
LEOPARD-BEAST
TWO-HORNED
FALL OF Rev. 12:3, 4,
Rev. 13:1-10
BEAST
BABYLON 7-17
Rev. 13:11-18
Rev. 14:1-9 ----------------+---------------------+----------------+------------------- PURE WOMAN
WOMAN SECLUDED IN
144,000 ON MOUNT Rev. 12
THE WILDERNESS
ZION
Rev. 12:6
Rev. 14:1-6 ----------------+---------------------+----------------+------------------- TEMPLE AND
HOLY CITY TRODDEN
TWO WITNESSES
WITNESSES TRUE WORs.h.i.+P
DOWN
SLAIN
RESURRECTED Rev. 11:1
Rev. 11:2
Rev. 11:7-10
Rev. 11:11-14 ----------------+---------------------+----------------+-------------------
GREAT BABYLON
HARLOT