rned after the kingdoms
of this world--is a _rejection of the divine government of God_
just as the appointment of a king in the Old Testament times was a
rejection of God's plan of governing Israel. In this sense God's two
witnesses have been openly ignored and rejected in Protestantism as
well as in Romanism and the ancient churches of the East, and man-made
creeds and systems of government substituted in their stead. They are,
therefore, represented as slain, although of course a certain amount
of respect is still shown them in that they are not suffered to be
wholly put out of sight.

[Sidenote: The witnesses resurrected]

"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. 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. 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. The second woe is past; and, behold,
the third woe cometh quickly" (verses 11-14).

The resurrection of the witnesses doubtless signifies a time of
reformation and implies its true character. If the death of the
witnesses was the result of ecclesiasticism and false teaching, their
resurrection must signify a final triumph over ecclesiasticism and the
restoration of primitive Christianity under the direct authority
and government of God. Even omitting all details in this complex
description, we can scarcely avoid the conclusion that if the general
description given in this chapter means anything, it means the
restoration of Christianity before the end of time to the condition in
which it existed before the apostasy.

[Sidenote: The time prophecy]

The time prophecy "three days and a half" is difficult to explain
except in the light of clearly ascertained historical facts. The term
"day" is of itself very indefinite, being used in the Scriptures
to designate periods of different length. In the description under
consideration it evidently can not signify the ordinary 24-hour day
nor yet the year-day; for it covers the Protestant period
following the 1,260-year reign of Romanism and preceding the Last
Reformation--the same period of time covered by the second beast of
Revelation 13.