The Bible, the Spirit of Prophecy, and the Church

The Word “Testimony” in the Bible

As we look at the word “testimony” as used in the Sacred Scriptures, and examine the words in the original language that have been translated “testimony,” “witness,” “gave testimony,” or “bear witness,” in the Authorized Version, we shall find that they have several meanings. Mention might be made of the following: BSPC 104.2

1. The Ten-Commandment Law. (Exodus 31:18; Revelation 15, 5)

The word testimony is applied to the Decalogue in both the Old and the New Testament. In the Scriptures we read of the “tables of the testimony,” “the ark of the testimony,” “the tabernacle of the testimony,” “the vail of the testimony”—the “testimony” itself being the law of God as written on the two tables of stone. BSPC 104.3

2. The Law of Moses Other Than the Ten-Commandment Law

This thought of testimony in relation to the Mosaic law, is emphasized in 2 Kings 23:3 and also Nehemiah 9:34 and other scriptures. In 2 Kings 23:3 we read of “his commandments and his testimonies.” BSPC 105.1

3. The Legal Witness for or Against Another. (Deuteronomy 19:16, 18.)

The witness borne in court is called the testimony, and the person who bears such witness is said to testify. Furthermore, we read, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” 2 Corinthians 13:1 BSPC 105.2

4. The Testimony Borne Concerning Another

In this sense “testimony” is used frequently in both Testaments. One might think of such texts as John 5:39, where we read that the Scriptures “testify of me,” or John 15:27, where Jesus speaks of the disciples and says they “also shall bear witness.” BSPC 105.3

5. The Testimony Borne by the Individual Himself

“Testimony” is used with this meaning quite frequently. One might meditate on John 5:31, where definite reference is made to the witness borne by Christ Himself, both by word and by life. BSPC 105.4

6. The Messages of the Prophets

In the Old Testament days the messages conveyed by God’s servants, the prophets, to His people Israel were called testimonies. In bearing such testimonies the prophets are said to have “testified against them.” (2 Kings 17:15; Nehemiah 9:26.) This is referred to also in New Testament days. The apostle Peter, referring to the work of the prophets before the advent of the Savior, mentions the witness of the Spirit borne through the prophets when it “testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ.” 1 Peter 1:11. This is in full accord with the declaration of the same apostle when preaching before Cornelius and his household, when he declared that “to him give all the prophets witness.” Acts 10:43. BSPC 105.5

A still further reference is the one under discussion found in the Apocalypse in the passage already referred to, where the apostle John, using the expression “testimony of Jesus,” clearly defines this to be “the spirit of prophecy.” BSPC 105.6

Hence, in the foregoing classification giving references to the varied meanings of this word, it will be observed that in both the Old and the New Testament one of the meanings makes definite reference to the specific messages that come through God’s servants, the prophets, to His people. BSPC 105.7

Quite in harmony with this, A. G. Prichard gives the following definition: BSPC 106.1

“TESTIMONIES. Things to which God has borne testimony. Perhaps the word ‘intentions’ would better express its significance. God’s intentions are in the nature of the case prophetic.”—Christ in Psalm 119, p. 21. BSPC 106.2