The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 208

The European Union in Prophecy
the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great
fear fell upon them which saw them." Revelation 11:2-11.
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. (See Appendix
note for page 54.) 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." Matthew 24:22. 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 candlesticks standing before the God of the earth." "Thy word,"
said the psalmist, "is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Revelation 11:4;
Psalm 119:105. 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 prophecy a thousand two hundred and three-score 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. (See Appendix.) 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,
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