July 6, 2023 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Ted N.C. Wilson, President, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Welcome friends, to our continuing journey through the book, The Great Controversy, by Ellen White. In our previous video, we saw how the prophecies of Revelation 11 foretold events leading up to the French Revolution. Today, we will continue that study, and I believe you will be amazed to see how exactly prophecy was fulfilled!
In looking at Revelation 11, we pick up in verse 7 and continue with verses 8 and 10:
“When they,” that is the two witnesses of the Old and New Testament we talked about in our previous video, “When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. . . . And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.”
So, what does this passage mean, and how does it apply to the French Revolution? Well, to begin with, it is important to remember that this prophetic language is symbolic—it is not referring to literal Sodom or Egypt, but what these places symbolize. Notice that the passage says “the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. . .”
We are told in The Great Controversy that “Of all nations presented in Bible history, Egypt most boldly denied the existence of the living God and resisted His commands” (The Great Controversy, p. 269).
You might remember how Pharoah boldly declared, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2). This, my friends, is atheism, and the nation represented by Egypt would give voice to a similar denial of the claims of the living God and would manifest a similar spirit of unbelief and defiance.
The “great city” described in Revelation 11 is also compared spiritually to Sodom. Literal Sodom was well-known for breaking God’s law and especially for its immoral conduct and sexual practices.
Ellen White writes, “According to the words of the prophet . . . a little before the year 1798 some power of satanic origin and character would rise to make war upon the Bible. And in the land where the testimony of God’s two witnesses should thus be silenced, there would be manifest the atheism of the Pharaoh and the licentiousness of Sodom.” She then declares, “This prophecy has received a most exact and striking fulfillment in the history of France” (The Great Controversy, p. 269).
It was during the French Revolution, in 1793, that an official legislative body unanimously renounced the belief and worship of God. We read that “France stands apart in the world’s history as the single state which, by the decree of her Legislative Assembly, pronounced that there was no God, and of which the entire population of the capital, and a vast majority elsewhere . . . danced and sang with joy in accepting the announcement” (The Great Controversy, p. 270).
In Revelation 11:8 we read, “And their dead bodies,” referring to the Scriptures, “will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.”
What does this phrase mean, “where also our Lord was crucified?” We read that “This specification of the prophecy was also fulfilled by France. In no land had the spirit of enmity against Christ been more strikingly displayed . . . In the persecution which France had visited upon the confessors of the gospel, she had crucified Christ in the person of His disciples” (The Great Controversy, p. 271).
For centuries, the blood of martyrs was shed in France—the Waldenses, the Albigenses, and the brave Huguenots—all attempted to bring the light of the gospel into their country, but they were “counted as outlaws . . . and hunted down like wild beasts” (The Great Controversy, p. 271).
Persecution of the Protestants in France culminated under Louis XIV. A devout Catholic who was known as “The Sun King,” Louis XIV approved what became known as the “St. Bartholomew Massacre”—one of the bloodiest and most ruthless massacres of all time. In that terrible slaughter, which lasted seven days in Paris, and then, by special order of the king extended into the provinces and was carried on for two months. In the end, 70,000 of God’s faithful people perished—young and old, rich and poor, men, women, and children.
We are told that when the news of the massacre reached Rome, there was great rejoicing. “The cannon of St. Angelo thundered forth a joyous salute; and bells rang out from every steeple; bonfires turned night into day” (The Great Controversy, p. 273).
The stage was now set for the bloody French Revolution. The Bible tells us in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” The same master spirit that urged on the St. Bartholomew Massacre also led in the scenes of the Revolution.
But even in the darkest night, God does not forget His people. His Word was not silenced forever. As we will see in our next video, His light arose from the ashes and went on to shine more brilliantly than ever, bringing hope and courage into the lives of millions.
I invite you to pray with me just now.
Father in heaven. Give us. Continue good understanding of how, when people avoid and nullify the Word of God, that terrible results will take place. Lord, help us to accept your Word, to accept your instruction to us in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, and to understand that you have precious messages for us. Directly from the throne room of Heaven. Guard and care for each of us spiritually and in every other way, so that we can, along with many others in the past, stand for Bible truth regardless of what we face. Thank you for hearing us. In Jesus’ name, we ask it. Amen.