(Excerpts from
Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897)
Revelation Chapter
11-
VERSE 3. And I will
give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two
hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
These days are the
same as the forty-two months of the preceding verse, and refer to the period of
papal triumph. During this time, the witnesses are in a state of sackcloth, or
obscurity, and God gives them power to endure and maintain their testimony through
that dark and dismal period. But who or what are these witnesses?
VERSE 4. These are
the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the
earth.
Evident allusion is
here made to Zech. 4:11-14, where it is explained that the two olive trees are
taken to represent the word of God; and David testifies, "The entrance of
thy words giveth light;" and, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a
light unto my path."
Written testimony is
stronger than oral. Jesus declared of the Old Testament Scriptures, "They
are they which testify of me." In this dispensation, he says that his
works bear witness of him. By what means do they bear witness of him? Ever since
those disciples who were personally associated with him while on earth passed
off the stage of life, his works have borne witness of him only through the
medium of the New Testament, where alone we find them recorded. This gospel of
the kingdom, it was once declared, shall be preached in all the world for a
witness to all nations, etc.
These declarations
and considerations are sufficient to sustain the conclusion that the Old and
New Testaments, one given
p 532 -- in one
dispensation, and the other in the other, are Christ's two witnesses.
VERSE 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.
To hurt the word of
God is to oppose, corrupt, or pervert its testimony, and turn people away from
it. Against those who do this work, fire proceedeth out of their mouth to
devour them; that is, judgment of fire is denounced in that word against such.
It declares that they will have their portion at last in the lake that burneth
with fire and brimstone. Mal. 4:1; Rev. 20:15; 22:18, 19, etc.
VERSE 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 what sense have
these witnesses power to shut heaven, turn waters to blood, and bring plagues
on the earth? Elijah shut heaven that it rained not for three years and a half;
but he did it by the word of the Lord. Moses, by the word of the Lord, turned
the waters of Egypt to blood. And just as these judgments, recorded in their
testimony, have been fulfilled, so will every threatening and judgment
denounced by them against any people surely be accomplished. "As often as
they will." As often as judgments are recorded on their pages to take
place, so often they will come to pass. An instance of this the world is yet to
experience in the infliction of the seven last plagues.
VERSE 7. And when
they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the
bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill
them. 8. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the
great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord
was crucified.
"When they
shall have finished their testimony," that is, "in
sackcloth."The sackcloth state ended, or, as elsewhere expressed, the days
of persecution were shortened (Matt. 24:22), before the period itself expired.
A "beast" in prophecy, denotes a kingdom, or power. (See Dan. 7:17,
23.) The
p 533 -- question
now arises, When did the 1260-year period of the witnesses close? and did such
a kingdom as described make war on them at the time spoken of? If we are
correct in fixing upon A. D. 538 as the time of the commencement of the papal
supremacy, the forty-two months being 1260 prophetic days, or years, would
bring us down to A. D. 1798. About this time, then, did such a kingdom as
described appear, and make war on them, etc? Mark! this beast, or kingdom, is
out of the bottomless pit; it has no foundation, is an atheistical power, is
"spiritually Egypt." (See Ex. 5:2: "And Pharoah said, Who is the
Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord,
neither will I let Israel go.") Here is atheism. Did any kingdom, about
1798 manifest the same spirit? - Yes, France; in her national capacity she
denied the being of God, and made war on the "Monarchy of heaven."
"Spiritually"
this power "is called Sodom." What was the characteristic sin of
Sodom? - Licentiousness. Did France have this character? - She did; fornication
was established by law during the period spoken of. "Spiritually" the
place was "where our Lord was crucified." Was this true in France? -
It was, in more senses than one. A plot was laid in France to destroy all the
pious Huguenots; and the awful St. Bartholomew massacre, with its seventy
thousand victims, stands as an indelible blot upon the history of that country.
Thus our Lord was "spiritually crucified" in his members. Again, the
watchword and motto of the French infidels was, "CRUSH THE WRETCH,"
meaning Christ. Thus it may be truly said, "Where our Lord was
crucified." The very spirit of the "bottomless pit" was poured
out in that wicked nation.
But did France
"make war" on the Bible? - She did; and in 1793 a decree passed the
French Assembly forbidding the Bible; and under that decree, the Bibles were
gathered and burned, every possible mark of contempt was heaped upon them, and
all the institutions of the Bible were abolished; the weekly rest-day was
blotted out, and every tenth day substituted for mirth and profanity. Baptism
and the communion
p 534 --
(picture
omitted)
p 535 -- were
abolished. The being of God was denied, and death pronounced an eternal sleep.
The Goddess of Reason, in the person of a vile woman, was set up, and publicly
worshiped. Surely here is a power that exactly answers the prophecy. But let us
examine this point still further.
*******
We tend to FORGET
the past, don't we? Seriously. We talk history's horrors and let them slip
away. Sometimes we even deny them when we have proof of them. We call things staged, made up, smoke and
mirrors for political reasons. We choose to forget and yet, we know the history
was REALITY for millions and millions of people who have died since the world
began.
Reading about France
in the excerpt above it seems hard to imagine such a world, yet it is our
history. God's word, God's witnesses
truly remained and while some would have us believe that it's not even God's
word that man manipulated it according to his own designs, that's a lie.
God, for those who
have faith, God's hand is in all things. We lack comprehension especially when
things are horrific and I MEAN horrific! We can't see God's hand in the horror,
yet for reasons we CANNOT fathom, we are called to walk through the horrors of
life with God's promises our HOPE. God
worked through the Holy Spirit in arranging His word for the world to have, to
keep, to twist and turn as they will according to HIS design, giving knowledge
to all those who seek it, knowledge of truth necessary to belong to HIM should
they choose.
We are reading these
prophecies and the revelation of their truth, and by God's grace we will
understand and keep all we are called to keep.
We know His word is
truth, in Him may we find all truth!
In the name of Jesus
Christ our Lord, our Savior now and forever, in His love, His grace, His mercy,
always.
Amen.
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