The Measuring of the Temple and the Two Witnesses
Questions
1. After the bitter disappointment in 1844, what commission was given the church?
Revelation 10:11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
2. From that time what solemn work has been going forward in heaven?
Daniel 8:14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
Revelation 14:6; 10:7 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
3. To what place is the faith of Israel directed in this hour of God’s judgment?
Hebrews 8:1-2 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Revelation 11:19, 3:8 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. 3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
4. What, then, must be a special aim of the Gospel message in this time?
Answer: To call attention to the work going forward in the temple of God in Heaven and to the means of grace by which to meet the standard, or measure, of the judgment.
5. What view in John’s vision shows that this was the very message assigned the church after 1844?
Revelation 10:11, 11:1 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. 11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
6. What is the standard of measurement in the temple and service of God?
Revelation 1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, 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.
Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Note: The standard of measurement that must be met by those who would worship in the heavenly temple is the standard of the temple itself-eternal righteousness and truth. It is summed up in Christ, who is the truth, and the mystery of the Gospel is to bring the members of the church “unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” His measure is the measure of the perfect law of God, which is in his heart. Psalms 40:7-8. Heaven itself is measured by this standard, hence those who are to enter there must also meet it, not unaided and alone, but hid in Christ.
Psalms 40:7-8 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, 8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
7. A) What was to be left out in measuring?
B) What would the nations do?
C) What period of time is mentioned?
D) Is it previously referred to in prophecy?
Revelation 11:2 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.
Note: The Gentiles (nations, R. V.) could not enter the inner court of the earthly temple. The nations are of this world, not of the world to come, with which this measuring work is dealing. Not all the powers of earth can help a man to meet the standard. Romans 8:7-8. The introduction of earthly powers, treading down the truth of God, here leads to reference to that forty-two months or 1,260 days (literal years) of papal rule, spoken of in Daniel 7:25. This historic period began in 538 and ended 1798.
Romans 8:7-8 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
8. Was God to be left without witness in those days?
Revelation 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
9. Who are these witnesses?
Revelation 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Note: The figure is borrowed from Zechariah 4:6, where the olive trees and the candlesticks are explained to be “the Word of the Lord.” Also Psalms. 119:105; John 5:39. Through all the Dark Ages, the Scriptures, the Old and the New Testaments, testified for God. Because of this the enemy sought to burn the Word and keep it from the people. And all through these dark days God found men and women ready to hold forth the Word at the peril of life itself.
Zechariah 4:1-6 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, 2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: 3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
Psalms 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
10. What power have the witnesses to maintain their testimony?
Revelation 11:5-6 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. 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.
Note: Man can not destroy the Scriptures completely, no matter how much effort they put forth, for they fight, not against the man who bears it only, but against that Almighty God who stands behind the dim unknown keeping watch above His own! God maintained His own Word. When He speaks judgments and warnings, none can turn aside the word. See Revelation. 22:18, 19. In facing Bible truth men are not dealing with a common book, to be lightly accepted or rejected. Also the complete fulfillment of these verses will be when the wicked are all destroyed at the last day. See the last few chapters of Revelation.
Revelation 22:18-19 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
11. What experience came to these witnesses as the long prophetic period drew to a close?
Revelation 11:7 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.
12. Where is this said to take place?
Revelation 11:8 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.
13. What was seen in fulfillment of this prophecy?
Answer: The infidel attack upon the Bible in the French Revolution.
Note: In the days of papal supremacy the Bible was kept in obscurity, as in sackcloth. But those days were shortened, and the light was shining out from the Word. “According to the words of the prophet, then, a little before the year 1798, some power of Satanic origin and character would rise to make war upon the Bible. And in the land where the testimony of God’s two witnesses should thus be silenced, there would be manifest the atheism of the Pharaoh [“Who is Jehovah, that I should obey His voice?”], and the licentiousness of Sodom.”—Great Controversy, p. 268. It was fulfilled in the formal repudiation of God and the Bible by revolutionary France in 1793. Bibles were burned and every sacred institution turned to mockery. Afresh they crucified the Lord in seeking to blot out His truth.
14. What was the attitude of other peoples?
Revelation 11:9 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.
15. Why did infidelity hate the Word of God and rejoice at silencing it?
Revelation 11:10 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.
Compare 1 Kings 22:8 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
16. Were the two witnesses permanently silenced?
Revelation 11:11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Note: Frightened by the fearful scenes that followed the decree suppressing the Bible in 1793, the assembly revoked the decree just three and a half years later!
17. What followed this infidel effort to overthrow the two witnesses?
Revelation 11:11-13 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 12 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. 13 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 God of heaven.
Note: The lesson taught by the bloody scenes of revolution startled men. From that time dates the Modern era of Bible circulation. Soon came the Bible societies and the Protestant missionary movement, putting the Bible into all the leading languages of earth, and exalting and glorifying it before the eyes of all. The shock, as of an earthquake, shattered France, one of the ten kingdoms (the Franks) of divided Rome. The marginal reading in verse 13, “names,” or titles of men, suggests the titles of nobility that were abolished in the French Revolution.
18. What lesson is there for us in these historical efforts, first of papal and then of infidel powers, to suppress the Word of God?
Matthew 24:33-35 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Isaiah 40:8-10 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. 9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! 10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
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