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. And after three days and a 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."(385)

The periods here mentioned--"forty and two months," and "a thousand two
hundred and threescore days"--are the same, alike representing the time in
which the church of Christ was to suffer oppression from Rome. The 1260
years of papal supremacy began in A.D. 538, and would therefore terminate
in 1798.(386) At that time a French army entered Rome, and made the pope a
prisoner, and he died in exile. Though a new pope was soon afterward
elected, the papal hierarchy has never since been able to wield the power
which it before possessed.

The persecution of the church did not continue throughout the entire
period of the 1260 years. God in mercy to His people cut short the time of
their fiery trial. In foretelling the "great tribulation" to befall the
church, the Saviour said, "Except those days should be shortened, there
should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be
shortened."(387) Through the influence of the Reformation, the persecution
was brought to an end prior to 1798.

Concerning the two witnesses, the prophet declares further, "These are the
two olive-trees, and the two candle-sticks standing before the God of the
earth." "Thy word," said the psalmist, "is a lamp unto my feet, and a
light unto my path."(388) The two witnesses represent the Scriptures of
the Old and the New Testament. Both are important testimonies to the
origin and perpetuity of the law of God. Both are witnesses also to the
plan of salvation. The types, sacrifices, and prophecies of the Old
Testament point forward to a Saviour to come. The Gospels and Epistles of
the New Testament tell of a Saviour who has come in the exact manner
foretold by type and prophecy.

"They shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed
in sackcloth." During the greater part of this period, God's witnesses
remained in a state of obscurity. The papal power sought to hide from the
people the Word of truth, and set before them false witnesses to
contradict its testimony.(389) When the Bible was proscribed by religious
and secular authority; when its testimony was perverted, and every effort
ma