A.D. 312 — Controversy between Donatists and Church, and commencement of persecution. Witnessing in sackcloth (mourning) commences.
1260— Forty-two months of Witnessing in persecution.
1572— Massacre of St. Bartholomew—commencement of the war of v.7.
1598 — Edict of Nantes: measure of success to the witnesses: privileges granted them.
1685 — Revocation of the Edict of Nantes—Death of the Witnesses.
105 — Rome celebrates the death of the witnesses (a lunar 372 days, v.9, representing 105 normal days) during which the bodies lie in the street of the city.
1790— The French Revolution: the political revival of the witnesses.
—Publishers
“three days and a half,” during which they were to continue politically dead, though not buried, or excluded from the observation of their merciless destroyer. Peter Jurieu, a Huguenot pastor, whose work, entitled, “The Accomplishment of the Scripture Prophecies,” was published in English two years after the Revocation, 178 years ago, treating on the Resurrection of the Witnesses; the Fall of the Tenth of the City; and so forth, says: “It is a truth which must be held as certain (being one of the keys of the Revelation) that the City, the Great City, signifies, in this book, not Rome alone, but Rome in conjunction with its empire; the name of this great city is Babylon.” “This being supposed and proved, that the city is the whole Babylonish and Antichristian empire, it must be remembered, that this empire of Antichrist is made up of Ten Kingdoms, and of ten kings, who must give their power to the beast. A tenth of the city fell, i.e., one of these ten kingdoms which make up the Great City, the Babylonish empire, shall forsake it.” “Now, what is this tenth of the city which shall fall? In my opinion we cannot doubt that it is France.” The “kings who yet remain under the empire of Rome must break with her, leave her solitary and desolate. But who must begin this last revolt? It is most probable that France shall.” “Seeing the tenth of the city which must fall is France, this gives me some hopes that the death of the two witnesses hath a particular relation to this kingdom. It is the street, or place of this City, i.e., the most fair and eminent part of it. The witnesses must remain dead upon this street, and upon it they must be raised again. And as the death of the witnesses and their resurrection hath a relation to the kingdom of France, it may well fall out, that we may not be far distant from the time of the resurrection of the witnesses, seeing that the three years and a half of their death, are either begun, or will begin shortly.
“I lay not down the exact time of the resurrection of the witnesses. I do not say it shall be exactly in such a year; for I have declared, and do still declare, that I know not from what time God shall please to begin the reckoning of the three years and a half; but I strongly hope that God intends to begin it at the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, but this does not arise to a full assurance.”