Revelation 11:1-2

THE MEASUREMENT OF THE CHURCH.

"And there was given me. reed like unto. 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."

There are several points that must be noticed: 1. Who measures? 2. The measure used. 3. What is measured?

1.. reed is given to John to be used as. measure. It is not an angel who measures, but an apostle, the sole representative of the apostles then living. The apostle is. representative of the apostolic body. It is the apostles who are to measure.

2. The measure is not. human one. John did not make it, nor did any other apostle, nor any man, or body of men. The reed was given to him. It is. divine measure. Whatever is measured is to be compared with. divine standard. There is. divine standard for measurement which was given by our Lord to the apostles. That is the New Testament of Jesus Christ.

3. The temple is to be measured. There was no temple, then standing in Jerusalem. Near twenty years before it had been destroyed, never to be restored. There was no temple of God made with human hands upon the earth. There can then be no reference to. material temple, but rather to the spiritual temple of which the tabernacle and temple were types. Every student of the Scripture knows that this spiritual temple is the Church of Jesus Christ. "Do you know," says Paul, 1 Corinthians 3:16, "that you (the church at Corinth) are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwells in you?" The temple measured is undoubtedly the congregation of God's people. But the altar is also measured. What does this signify? In the Jewish temple the altar was the place where the worship centered. Without the altar worship was impossible. The temple worship was the worship of the altar, and the altar is taken as. symbol of worship. It evidently then means that the worship of the Church shall be measured. Those that worship at the altar shall be measured also. By this divine reed the apostles shall measure the Church, the modes of worship, and the character of the worshipers. After this explanation of the meaning of terms, the significance becomes plain. This prediction will be fulfilled if, under the sixth trumpet, before the seventh is blown,. corrupted Church, corrupted during long ages of apostasy, shall be compared with some divine standard. Or, in other words, after 1453 there ought to be an effort to reform the Church, and to conform it to the New Testament. Let us ask again who shall measure the Church? Not Popes, not councils, not apostolic fathers, but the reed is given to an apostle, the living representative of the apostolic body. The twelve to whom were given twelve thrones, to judge the twelve tribes of Israel, shall also measure the Church of Jesus Christ in the day signified by the symbolism employed. How? The reed was not their own creation but was given to them. There is but one, divine measure that has ever been given. The. New Testament, written by apostles, given to them by inspiration, is the divine standard with which the Church, the worship and the worshipers, must be tested. Not the traditions of men, not the decisions of councils, not the decrees of synods, or conferences, not the creeds of any uninspired body that ever met on the face of the earth, but the standard measure, is the New Testament.

THE TRUE CHURCH.

This is not the only place where the reed is named as the appointed instrument for the measurement of the Church. If the reader will turn to the twenty-first chapter he will find that the New Jerusalem, the holy city, is measured by an angel with. golden reed. In Ezekiel, chap. 40, the prophet sees an angel measure with. reed. temple such as has never been seen by mortal vision. The temple itself is just equal to the measure, and it is composed of many chambers, all equal in size to the reed, to each other, and to the temple itself, of which they are parts! This strange symbolism, this representation of what is apparently impossible, most beautifully represents the character of the true Church, when it has reached the fullness of the divine measure, and appears as the New Jerusalem.

The whole temple is just the size, neither larger nor smaller than the reed. The true Church corresponds exactly with the divine measure of the Word. It neither adds to itself things unknown to the apostles, nor omits the things therein enjoined. As the temple of Ezekiel was composed of chambers, each of which was the same size of the temple, so the Church is composed of many congregations, each of which should correspond exactly to the measure of the whole body. These individual congregations which make up the spiritual temple, cannot therefore differ from each other in name, in creeds, in rites, in observances, as do the sects of modern times. In the true Church there will be one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one hope, one name, one practice.

The symbolism recorded by the apostle evidently describes the measurement of the Church, its worship, and of its worshipers by the divine standard of the New Testament. Our next inquiry is whether history records the fulfilment. Do we find aught in history, subsequent to 1453, which can be regarded. fulfilment of the prophecy? Earlier reformers, such as Waldo, Wiclif, and Huss, made an attempt to reform the Church, but the whole world dates the beginning of the Protestant Reformation with Luther. It was in 1517 that he nailed to the doors of the church in Wittemburg his Theses, by which he broke with Rome. It was held by the Papacy, which then lorded over Christendom, that the writings of the Fathers, tradition, and the decrees of councils were not only an additional measure, but might even set aside the Word of God. The great Reformation planted itself upon the principles maintained by Martin Luther, and the cornerstone of Protestantism is that the Bible is the only rule of faith and practice of the Christian Church.

It is true that Protestantism has not always been faithful to its own principles. Even Luther forgot them, and substituted the Augsburg Confession as. measuring reed; others adopted the Thirty-nine Articles, the Westminster Confession, or some other human standard, but the principle survived, and ever since the days of Luther men have been studying the New Testament and testing churches, rites, and professed Christians, by this divine standard. For long centuries before the era of Luther the Christian world had lain wrapped in slumber, and trusted to popes, councils, and priests, for the interpretation of the Bible, but since that day the world has awaked from its slumbers. The Bible has been wrested from the hands of the clergy and restored to the people. There have been three centuries of search for the old land-marks, long obscured by the rubbish of tradition and priestcraft. For forty-two months the Holy City had been trodden down by the Gentiles, and to tear away the ruins and discover the old paths has been the work of ages devoted to the study of the Bible.

The court without is not to be measured. The connection shows that the court of the Gentiles, which surrounded the temple on all sides, is meant. This was typical of the world, and the fact that it is not to be measured, shows that the world, and those who follow the world, whether sinners or professing Christians, do not come up to the divine standard. This outer court is said to be given to the Gentiles, and it is added that they shall tread the Holy City underfoot for forty-two months. The Holy City is. type of the Church, and this language implies its oppression for. period of twelve hundred and sixty days, or years. This period is referred to at least five times in the Bible, and. will consider its meaning at length in connection with the two witnesses, introduced in the third verse.

Revelation 11:3-6

THE TWO WITNESSES.

The third verse introduces these two witnesses, to whom power is given to prophesy in sackcloth for twelve hundred and sixty days. There has been little agreement among expositors concerning the meaning of this passage.. think, however, that. close examination will, guide the reader into the truth, and that he will find in the passage, when understood,. wonderful fulfilment of prophecy.

"And. will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy. thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 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. 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." 11:3-6.

The reader will note certain facts here stated concerning these witnesses:

1. There are two witnesses, and only two.

2. These two are witnesses. Their business is to testify to certain facts or truths.

3. The Lord says they are " my " witnesses. They testify for the Lord.

4. The Lord gives these witnesses power. "I will give power," etc.

5. They shall testify in sackcloth. This implies that they shall testify in sorrow, robed in mourning.

6. They shall do this 1260 days, or, since. day in prophecy is the symbol of. year, for. period of 1260 years.

7. These witnesses are likened to two olive trees and to two candlesticks.

8. It is stated that they shall have power to destroy their enemies.

9. Also to intercept blessings.

10. At the end of three and. half years, or 1260 days, shall be slain.

11. Shall he unburied, but after three and. half days shall rise again.

12. Shall have great power and glory and be exalted to heaven.

13. The city of sin shall then be overthrown, and

14. The kingdoms of the earth become the kingdoms, of the Lord.

There are. number of facts recorded here which must be true of the witnesses, and the business of the interpreter is simply to ascertain whether there is anything of which they are true and which would correspond with these facts.

1. The first one of the fourteen facts. have noted is that there were only two witnesses.. have lying before me an open Bible.. find that the Book of Revelation is in what is called the New Testament. The whole Bible is divided into two great divisions, which are called the Old and New Testaments. There are then two Testaments. Note further that the term testament is. word that signifies to bear witness. It is derived from. Latin word, testor, which means,. testify. The two testaments then mean simply two witnesses. We have, therefore, in the Old and New Testaments, two witnesses, whether they are those described by John or not.

2. These two witnesses of the Bible each testify of the Lord. He said to the Jews concerning the Old Testament Scriptures, "They testify of me." The Apostle John says concerning his life of the Savior, "These things were written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." One of these witnesses testifies of the Lord in type and prophecy; the other testifies by its history of facts.

3. The two witnesses are the Lord's. He gives them their power and they testify of him. Thus far the two witnesses of the Bible correspond exactly with the two witnesses of the prophecy.. will pass over some of the marks that we have already noted, for the present, but will return to them when. have considered other marks that are more apparent. The seventh mark noted above is that the witnesses are two olive trees and two candlesticks. The office of the candlestick, or rather of the lamp, for such is the meaning of the original term, is to give light. The olive tree furnished the oil needful for the lamp. The idea evidently is that the two witnesses are, like the lamp fed with olive oil, sources of light. This fact is also true of the Bible. "Thy word," says the Psalmist, "is. lamp unto the feet and. light to the path." The souls of all the saints testify to the light shed in upon them by the Word of God. The eighth mark is that the two witnesses have power to destroy. The Word of God can save and it can destroy. It can justify and it can condemn. In the Judgment the fate of men will be decided by the Word. If the reader will turn to Rev. 19:11-45, and read what is written of the conquests, triumphs, and destruction of the Word of God, he will require nothing more upon this point.

IN SACKCLOTH TWELVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY DAYS.

The two witnesses are to prophesy, or testify, in sackcloth for 1260 days. Sackcloth was, among the people of the East, the garb of mourning. It is. symbol of sorrow and of tribulation. For the long period of 1260 years the two witnesses shall testify in times of mourning, and shall be in tribulation. There shall be hindrances and restraints to their testimony. Such is the meaning of the prophecy. Does history show this to be true of the two witnesses of the Bible?

Every one knows how the facts correspond. When the Romish apostasy was developed, it took the Bible out of the hands of the people and buried it in the cells of monasteries. It was regarded as unhallowed for one not. priest to read the Scriptures. It was urged that priests only were able to interpret them. Even the priests were compelled to preach the Word just as the Church directed. When some of them were honest enough to preach what they found in the Bible, they were put to death.. whole army of martyrs, John Huss, Savonarola, Latimer, Ridley, and others, suffered because they preached faithfully what they read. During many centuries it was. crime for one of the people to have. Bible in his possession. Wherever the Bible was found it was burned, and thousands of saints were sent to the stake for no other crime than having in their possession. copy of the Word of God. In addition to all this the Bible was locked up in languages that the people did not understand. When it was read in the churches the Latin version was used, and it was the fixed policy of the Papacy that it should not be translated into living tongues. Certainly, during. long period, when the Scriptures were locked up in dead languages, and never read nor translated into the tongues spoken by the people, when it was. crime to own. Bible, and when the Bible in. living language was burnt whenever found, the two witnesses prophesied in sackcloth.

This period of mourning, during which the witnesses shall prophesy in sackcloth, is 1260 days. The same period is named in several places in this prophecy. In Daniel 7:25 it is stated that the youngest horn of the sea monster shall have dominion for. time, times, and half. time. This is understood to be. period of three and. half years, forty-two months, or 1260 days. The outer court of the Holy City shall be trodden down by the Gentiles for forty-two months, or 1260 days (verse 2). The woman was fed of God in the wilderness for 1260 days (Revelation 13:6). She was nourished. time, times, and. half time, or three and one-half years, or 1260 days (chap. 13:14). In five different passages the same period of time is named, and evidently covers in each case, the same period of the history of the Church. The day being used as. symbol for. year, we know that for 1260 years, the horn spoken of by Daniel, which speaks great words against the Most High, shall have dominion; that for the same period the Gentiles, the enemies of the saints, shall be in power; the two witnesses prophesy in sackcloth and the woman, the type of the true Church, flee into the wilderness. This remarkable period is that of the power and glory of Rome. It becomes us, once for all, to settle when this period began and when it ends.

It has been usual to begin it in A. D. 606, when the Emperor Phocas bestowed upon the Pope the title of Universal Bishop, but from this view. am compelled to dissent. The period would then end in 1866. There is nothing seen in history at that time that would correspond to the slaying of the witnesses.

The rise of the great Apostasy was gradual. Even in Paul's time the mystery of iniquity had begun to work. It is somewhat difficult to mark the exact point in this development of the Romish power, which may be regarded as the beginning of the 1260 years. It is easier to mark the end, when the witnesses were slain.. therefore selected an event which it appeared to me would be fittingly represented by the slaying of the two witnesses.. found such an event in 1793, and. then counted back from it 1260 years in order to see if. could find aught that would correspond to the beginning of such. period. This brought me to A. D. 533. What do we find at that time?

In A. D. 527 Justinian ascended the Imperial throne. Before his reign the schism had begun between the Greek and the Roman churches. He healed that schism by force in favor of Rome.. If the reader will open Gibbon, Vol. IV., p. 528, he will find an account of. terrible persecution, inaugurated by this monarch, in order to make all conform to the Papal rule. "His reign," says Gibbon, "was. uniform, yet various scene of persecution.. * Churches with their congregations were surrounded by Catholic soldiers, and the houses were burned with the congregations in them." At this period then the Church is drenched in blood in order to make the Romish power universal. The \\ witnesses certainly prophesy in mourning. What more? In A. D. 531, Justinian decreed the subjugation of the whole Church to the Roman Pope, and A. D. 533 he bestowed upon him the title of Rector Ecclesiæ, or Lord of the Church. (D'Aubigne's Reformation, Vol. 1, p. 42.)

In A. D. 533 the "Man of Sin" was certainly fully revealed. The Papacy was completely established. The secular ruler of the world sanctioned the claims of the Pope to the supremacy, declared him by edict to be absolute ruler of the Church, and supported his pretensions by. terrible persecution of all who refused to do him homage. The climax of the long series of encroachments upon the purity and freedom of the Church was reached at this time, and it is certain that when those who sought to follow the Bible rather than obey the Pope were persecuted unto death, then the witnesses began to testify in sackcloth. The prophetic period began in 533. This is shown by every mark connected with the beginning of that period. At this time the little horn was fully developed, the Holy City trodden down by Gentiles, the Church driven into the wilderness, and the two witnesses were certainly clothed in sackcloth. For these reasons then. would place the beginning of this period at this date. It remains to be seen whether the witnesses were slain 1260 years after, or in 1793. (see verses 7-12)