(Revelation 11:7-11)
After Jan Huss was burned at the stake in 1415, all of Bohemia was outraged, and an army of Hussites continued his testimony.
In 1467, a devout group of Hussites called the Unity of the Brethren mustered the courage to declare its separation from the Catholic Church, and they selected three brothers as the ministers of their new church. These three new ministers rebaptized all the brethren in the meeting.
Fearing that the common people would not accept the new ministers without proper apostolic authority, the brethren asked the Waldensian bishop Stephan to ordain them. The Waldensians believed that his succession as a bishop could be traced back to the time of the apostles.1Mike Atnip, The Birth, Life, and Death of the Bohemian Revival, pg 72-73
John said that “when [the two witnesses] have finished their testimony, the beast that came up from the abyss will make war with them and overcome them and kill them.”2Rev 11:7
John said they would be killed in full view of all, and “those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days.”3Rev 11:9 On August 19, 1467, Bishop Stephan was burned at the stake in Vienna,4Joseph Muller, Geschichte Der Bohmischen Bruder, Vol 1, pg. 135 and the Moravian brethren were scattered and hunted like deer in the forest of Bohemia.5Mike Atnip, The Birth, Life and Death of the Bohemian Revival, pg 79 The grace of God came when Archbishop Jan Rokycana died on February 22, 1471. One month later, King George Prodebrady died, and the opposition stopped. George Prodebrady was succeeded by Vladislaus. All the imprisoned members of the brethren were set free, public services began, and the new independent church prospered. This occurred three and a half days, or years, after the death of Bishop Stephan.
John said, “After three and a half days they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon all who watched them.”6Rev 11:11
This ended the “time, times, and half a time” in the hand of the beast: 3 ½ years, 1,278 days as years from the time that the bishop of Rome exalted himself as high as Christ.
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