Psalm 119:105 KJV, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
Revelation 11:1-5 KJV, “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. 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. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 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.”
EG White, SOP Vol 4, 1884, pp. 188-189, “THE suppression of the Scriptures under the dominion of Rome, the terrible results of that suppression, and the final exaltation of the word of God, are vividly portrayed by the prophetic pencil. To John the exile on lonely Patmos was given a view of the 1260 years during which the papal power was permitted to trample upon God’s word and oppress his people. Said the angel of the Lord: ‘The holy city [the true church] shall they tread under foot forty and two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.’ The periods here mentioned are the same, alike representing the time in which God’s faithful witnesses remained in a state of obscurity.
The two witnesses represent the Old and New Testament Scriptures. 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.
‘These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.’ Said the psalmist, ‘Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.’
The papal power sought to hide from the people the word of truth, and set before them false witnesses to contradict its testimony. When the Bible was proscribed by religious and secular authority; when its testimony was perverted, and every effort made that men and demons could invent to turn the minds of the people from it; when those who dared proclaim its sacred truths were hunted, betrayed, tortured, buried in dungeon cells, martyred for their faith, or compelled to flee to mountain fastnesses and to dens and caves of the earth,—then indeed did the faithful witnesses prophesy in sackcloth.
But men cannot with impunity trample upon the word of God. The Lord had declared concerning his two witnesses, ‘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.’ The meaning of this fearful denunciation is set forth in the closing chapter of the book of Revelation: ‘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. 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.”
We will hear another testimony and we will continue to study the book of Revelation 5:9 via Zoom tomorrow (Saturday) at 11am US Eastern Daylight Saving Time. Have a wonderful preparation day.
Sincerely in the Blessed Hope.