A Brief Commentary on the Apocalypse

by Sylvester Bliss

The court without the temple, was that to which the Gentiles had access, and beyond which their entrance was prohibited. Devout foreigners were there permitted to pay their devotions to the God of heaven. As the Gentiles must symbolize those who are not Christians, the occupants of the outer court, must be the congregation—the nominal worshippers who throng the outer courts of the Lord, in distinction from the true worshippers. Such were to have free and unrestricted access to the places of Christian worship.

The holy city is that in which the temple is situated, and must embrace the church as a whole, subjected to Gentile rule. Its being trodden under foot, indicates that the civil polity under which the church would subsist, [pg 119] should, during the period specified, be under the control of those who worship only in the outer court.

The forty and two months, is a period of time, corresponding with the thousand two hundred and three score days of the verse following, the time and times and half a time of Rev. 12:14, and the corresponding periods of Rev. 12:6; 13:5; Dan. 7:25; and 12:7; symbolizing a period of twelve hundred and sixty years, according to the almost unanimous opinion of Protestant writers.

This period does not commence with this epoch, but began with the subjection of Christianity to the power of the civil arm, which was to continue during the time predicted,—notwithstanding the reädjustment of the temple-worship,—when Christians should cease to be responsible to any human tribunal for the orthodoxy of their faith.

During the same period, also, power to prophesy, though shrouded in sackcloth, was to be given to:

Christ's Two Witnesses.

“And I will give charge to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive-trees, and the two lamp-stands, standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any one wisheth to injure them, fire proceedeth from their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if anyone wisheth to injure them, he must thus be killed. These [pg 120] have power to shut heaven, that it may not rain in the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they wish. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the wild beast that ascendeth out of the abyss will make war with them, and will overcome them, and kill them. And their dead body will lie on the wide street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And those of the people, and tribes, and tongues, and nations, will see their dead body three days and a half, and will not allow their dead body to be put into a tomb. And those, who dwell on the earth, will rejoice over them, and exult, and send gifts to each other; because these two prophets tormented those, who dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell on those, who saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them, Ascend here! And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake seven thousand names of men were slain: and the remnant became terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past away; behold, the third woe cometh quickly.”—Rev. 11:3-14.

The two witnesses are not symbolically exhibited, but are referred to by an elliptical metaphor, and are explained to be the “two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks.” Therefore, they are not two living men, as some suppose, shown to John in vision, symbolizing analogous agents; but their nature is to be determined by a consideration of the olive-trees and candlesticks which symbolize them.

Candlesticks symbolize churches. Thus [pg 121] the Saviour said to John: “The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches,” 1:20. When “men light a candle,” they put “it on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house,” Matt. 5:15. The candlestick does not originate, but sustains the light in a position to be seen and exert a beneficial influence. It is thus that the church is said to be “the light of the world,” and is required to let her light “shine before men,” Ib. vs. 14-16,—i.e. She is to disseminate the light committed to her; and in so doing, she becomes a witness for Jesus.

The church comprises all the holy persons who have lived on earth, and is symbolized by two candlesticks, corresponding to the two dispensations of its existence. Those who lived under the former dispensation, are called “a great cloud of witnesses,” Heb. 12:1. Of Christ, “give all the prophets witness,” Acts 10:43. They constitute the voice of the church in that age. Under the gospel dispensation, also, Christ had chosen witnesses of himself. He said to his disciples, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth,” (Ib. 1:8); and they said, “We are his witnesses,” Ib. 5:32. “We are witnesses of all things which he did, ... witnesses chosen before of God,” (Ib. 10:39-41);—“his [pg 122] witnesses unto the people,” Ib. 13:31. They and their successors have “testified and preached the word of the Lord,” (Ib. 8:25), overcoming “by the word of their testimony,” (Rev. 12:11),—many of them being “slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held,” 6:9. The church, one in all ages, symbolized by the two candlesticks, is thus a witness of Jesus.