p. 7 | Notes on Important Eras of Fulfilling Prophecy

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 18, 1912

Notes on Important Eras of Fulfilling Prophecy

The Hand of God in History — No. 16

Notes on Important Eras of Fulfilling Prophecy

The "Two Witnesses"

ONE of the outlines of prophecy covering the 1260 years of papal supremacy, deals particularly with the warfare of the evil one against the Holy Scriptures.

The great apostasy was a turning away from the Word of God to human tradition. The Scriptures bore constant witness to the departures from the truth. As the "man of sin" stood revealed, exactly answering to the description of the prophecy, it was only natural that the apostate church should seek to hide away from the common people this divine witness to its fallen character.

But, though for the allotted period the saints and times and law of the Most High fell under the persecuting and perverting power of the Papacy, the witness of the Holy Scriptures among the people could never be wholly silenced. The Lord Jesus had declared in the revelation to John concerning this period of papal supremacy: —

"And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days [the 1260-year period], clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth." Rev. 11: 3, 4.

These two living witnesses to Christ are manifestly the Old and New Testaments. In the days of his first advent Christ said of the Old Testament witness: "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." John 5: 39. And now in apostolic days Inspiration had given the further witness of the New Testament. These are the two ever-living witnesses of Jesus. They are the olive-trees pouring forth the oil of divine grace; for the Scriptures are "the word of his grace." These are the two light-giving candlesticks; for the Holy Scriptures are the lamp unto the feet and the light unto the path.

In the further description of the two witnesses, additional features are given, identifying them with the word of the Lord spoken by inspiration through his prophets: —

"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." Verses 5, 6.

It was the word of the Lord, by his servants, that in old time shut the heavens from rain, turned water into blood, smote the earth with plague, and brought down the consuming fire. And that living word of God will assuredly in the last day speak the condemnation of all who fight against it. "He that rejecteth me," said Jesus, "and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 12: 48. Then shall "that wicked," the "man of sin," be consumed "with the spirit of his mouth" — the living word that is sharper than any two-edged sword.

With one voice the Holy Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments, bore witness for the Lord Jesus and against apostasy all through the dark days of papal rule. Power was given to these two witnesses to endure. Their enemies could never destroy them; for they are "the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." 1 Peter 1: 23.

But they bore their testimony clothed in sackcloth, or mourning. Truth was being trodden underfoot. The Papacy was wearing out "the saints of the Most

High." Friends of the Bible were put to the torture and the death. Copies and portions of the Book itself were diligently sought out and burned.

The church council of Toulouse (southern France), held in the year 1229, forbade the people to possess the books of the Old and New Testaments in their own tongue. Inquisition was made for any portions of Scripture hidden in the homes of the people. But still the light was never quenched, nor the voices of the witnesses silenced. One frank old Inquisitor, Reinerius, has told how the Waldensian, or Vaudois, missionaries carried the treasure of the blessed Word to the people when it meant death to the missionary if caught by agents of the Inquisition. He says: —

"The heretics cunningly devise how they may insinuate themselves into the familiarity of the noble and the great; and this they do in manner following: They exhibit for sale, to the lords and ladies, rings and robes, and other wares which are likely to be acceptable. When they have sold them, if asked whether they have any more goods for sale, one of these traveling pedlers will answer: I have a jewel far more precious than these, which I will readily give you, if you will secure me against being betrayed to the priests. The security being pledged, the heretic then proceeds to say: I possess a brilliant gem from God himself; for through it man comes to the knowledge of God; and I have another, which casts out so ruddy a heat that it forthwith kindles the love of God in the heart of the owner. In like manner proceeds he to speak of all his other metaphorical gems. Then he recites a chapter from Scripture or from some part of our Lord’s discourses."

The reader will recognize in this account the basis of Whittier’s poem of the "Vaudois Teacher." A few of the poet’s lines we must quote alongside these of the ill-natured Inquisitor. After the pilgrim trader from the Alpine valleys has effected a sale to the lady of the castle, he says: —

" 'O lady fair, I have yet a gem which a purer luster flings Than the diamond flash of the jeweled crown on the lofty brow of kings,— A wonderful pearl of exceeding price, whose virtue shall not decay, Whose light shall be as a spell to thee and a blessing on thy way!' 'The lady glanced at the mirroring steel where her form of grace was seen, Where her eye shone clear, and her dark locks waved their clasping pearls between; 'Bring forth thy pearl of exceeding worth, thou traveler gray and old, And name the price of thy precious gem, and my page shall count thy gold.' 'The cloud went off from the pilgrim's brow, as a small and meager book, Unchased with gold or gem of cost, from his folding robe he took. 'Here, lady fair, is the pearl of price, may it prove as such to thee! Nay—keep thy gold—I ask it not, for the Word of God is free.'"

Sometimes the very paper leaves of the Holy Book seemed instinct with life, as providentially the printed page was guided here and there to bear the witness. We are told how, in the days of Bible burning in Hungary, a zealous count gathered out of his estate all the Bibles and Scripture portions to be found. They were heaped up in a pile in his courtyard, while he sat in state to watch the flames consume the precious volumes.

As the fire leaped upward, a gust of wind swept in and caught up one of the curling leaves, dropping it, with edges blackened and scorched, into the count’s lap. As he looked down upon it, his eyes read the words, —

"For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord endureth forever."

Startled and dismayed by the accusing voice from heaven at such a moment, he rose from his chair and forsook the courtyard.

W. A. S. (To be concluded)