Shalom, everyone, this is Amir Tsarfati. This is a live teaching on the topic of "The Two Witnesses" in the book of Revelation. I will be very honest with you. It's been on my mind for the longest time but what really drove me to do it as fast as possible, online even, and not waiting for a sort of an opportunity to travel to a conference or a church, and film it there, is when I was watching on the internet the following thing. I was actually, allow me to share it with you. I was watching a street preacher that was in that new autonomous zone in the heart of Seattle, Washington, and all he did is preach the good news. He was attacked by the mob and they choked him, and they literally could have killed him if he didn't take himself out of there as soon as possible. These were the people that were demonstrating and protesting violence against people. What we saw there was interesting. He didn't come to say anything but to preach the good news to people that are walking in the darkness. What you saw there is that all of them were not able to withstand the truth of the Gospel, and they were not willing to even stand there and protest like they claim they can do. And they physically violently attacked him. And that led me to of course, come to the conclusion that we're not that far from the day where the world will absolutely refuse to hear anything from anyone regarding the gospel. And the world will take pleasure in killing anyone that is preaching the gospel and the world will be proud of it. Give gifts to one another when a person who preaches the gospel is dead. You're probably saying, Amir, what are you talking about? This sounds too surreal. Well, let me then tell you that this evening the topic will definitely be about this scenario that is going to take place. It's not if, it's when. Because God by his grace revealed to the Apostle John the future events in our world. This is how I want to start. I want you to all understand that God gifted us all with the gift of knowledge of his Word, simply by reading it. But also, he wants us to understand the times and the seasons in which we live. God is not a God that is hiding his plans from his children. God, in fact in Isaiah 46 verse 9 and 10 he says, "Remember the former things of old. For I am God and there is no other. For I am God and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure." God declares the end from the beginning. God is, through the prophets, telling all of us even today things that are not yet done. God wants His children to know. He doesn't want them to go to psychics, to some fortune-tellers. He doesn't want us to go to some people reading cards, or the palm of your hand, or in the bottom of a cup of coffee. God has it all there in his Word and He wants His children to know His Word. And this is why the book of Revelation is such a gift to all of us. Because do you know what? We often tend to think that it can't get worse than this. Pandemic, violence, complete apathy regarding the gospel. We think that people have lost their minds. We look at the eruption of the earth of volcanoes. We look at earthquakes, we look at tornadoes, we look at hurricanes. We see world leaders that have lost their mind. We really see wars and rumors of wars, and we think to ourselves it cannot get worse than this. And God is telling all of us, hold on guys. I'm going to take your soon out of here because it will get way worse than what you see right now. This is why the book of Revelation is so important and that's why it's such a gift to all of us. This is why in Revelation 1:3 the Bible says, "Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near." The Bible is basically telling us, look there are things in this book that you need to know, and there are things especially for us in the first 3 chapters that we need to even keep. God is warning the churches and God is also later on telling us what's going to happen once we will be taken up. What this world is going to look like, and what He is going to do in order to reach out to this world, even when we're not here. I want to just quickly take you from chapter 1 to the chapter we're going to deal with which is Chapter 11. Because Chapter 11 is not out there, "out of nowhere", it starts with chapter one of the book of Revelation. That gives us a look behind the curtain, and we get basically a glimpse of who is truly in charge of world events and that is Jesus Christ, of course. In chapter 2 and chapter 3 we see how He's shaping up the church. How Jesus sends messages to the churches in Asia to get their house in order, and by the way, each and every one of these 7 churches could speak to churches that exist today. Some of them are religious ones that they don't even have the Holy Spirit. Some started well and ended up bad; Some are really truly godly. I mean there's so many of them. You can go all the way to chapter 2 and chapter 3 and you'll see the church of Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos, Thyatira, Philadelphia. There are 7 of them and every one of them: One has lost their love, the other one is fixed on the attractiveness of suffering, the defending truth in a culture of lies to Pergamon, finding a moral compass to the church of Thyatira, reviving a dead church to Sardis. Find us faithful, Lord, when He speaks to the Church of Philadelphia, and the church that makes Jesus sick is the church of Laodicea. So he has a special message to all of us, even through those letters to the 7 churches. After Chapter 3 in the book of Revelation the church is conspicuous by its absence. I mean, we really, that's it. Up to chapter 4, the church is mentioned 19 times, and from chapter 4 through chapter 20, which is the great white throne of judgment, the church is not mentioned even one single time. The normal reaction is to inquire as to the destination and location of the church during this period. And it certainly is not in the world. It has been removed from earth, and this is exactly why chapter 4 describes how John had a journey to heaven. He's caught up, "rapturo, harpazo," he's caught up all the way to heaven to learn and write about that which was, is, and what is going to come. John, listen, John was the one that was like a spy sent to the future to report to all of us what is really going to happen. All we need to do today is read the book of Revelation and we will know exactly what this world is going to be like. Interesting because in chapter 5, the scene that John is finding himself in is where the Lion and the Lamb which is only Him, the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb that was slain. Only He has the authority to open the 7 seals and bring judgment on the earth, judgment on earth. We're not destined to the judgment. We're not destined to the wrath of God, having the blood of Jesus on the post of our heart, when the judgment is passing over us. So there is going to come judgment. From chapter 6, the beginning of troubles. God brings his judgment by opening the 7 seals of the scrolls one at the time. And if that's not enough we see that John is not taking us chronologically. Many times, John would see something, describe it, and then go back a few chapters later to talk about it in detail. So in Chapter 7, he speaks of 144,000 Jewish evangelists that will call upon people for repentance, and keep that in mind, because they will be in the latter part of the tribulation. But then of course he speaks of ecological disasters as the first 4 trumpets sound and God creates that disaster. Then chapter 9 speaks of a human holocaust when the last 3 trumpets sound. God basically spares the ecology but brings tremendous misery on the unbelieving population of the earth. Chapter 10 prepares us for that bittersweet moment: A) There is a way for people maybe to repent but God knows how much they are not going to, at least most of them will not. There's a bittersweet moment, John takes a little scroll and eats it. The scroll is sweet as honey in his mouth but then sour in his stomach as a sign of this judgment to come. Then we make it to chapter 11 and, ladies and gentlemen, let's read the first 14 verses. "Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod, and the angel stood saying, 'Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it. For it has been given to the Gentiles and they will..." They will remember that "They will tread the holy city underfoot for 42 months. And I will give power to my two witnesses and they will prophesy 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the 2 olive trees and the 2 lamp stands standing before the God of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in that manner. And these have power to shut heaven and that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy. And they have power over waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with all plagues all as often as they desire. When they have finished their testimony..." Remember that name, 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 then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies 3.5 days and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another. Because these two prophets tormented those who dwelt on the earth. And now after the 3.5 days, the Breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud and their enemies saw them. And in the same hour, there was a great earthquake and 1/10th of the city fell in the earthquake, 7,000 people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. ... Ladies and gentlemen, we just read an unbelievable portion of scriptures. Do you understand what I just read? I just read of a tremendous event that is mentioning, ladies and gentlemen, it's mentioning 2 people that are known in that Scripture as 2 witnesses. The Bible speaks of them speaking prophetically, prophecy, and the Bible speaks of them giving testimony, the word of their testimony. It is 2 people who are obviously speaking moved by the Holy Spirit because only prophets who are moved by the Holy Spirit can really communicate that which God wants people to know, even in the future. And in 2 Peter Chapter 1 verses 20 and 21 tell us that. And then I want you to understand folks that for the longest time we tried to figure who are these two people. I know that many of you may be online right now trying to figure, okay, who does Amir think that these 2 witnesses are? I want to tell you something my opinion means nothing here because we need to look into the scriptures. We need to consider the fact that God chose not to tell us their names. We know that there are people of God. We know that they speak the Word of God. We know that they speak the testimony of Jesus. We know that they have a word of prophecy. We know that they're sent to a specific group of people, at a specific time, specific location. We know that God is in the business of having them standing there. We know that God is allowing them to also protect themselves during the time that was assigned to them. We know that they had supernatural powers. We know that God is there even allowing them to be overtaken by the beast, the Antichrist. And we know that even their death will not be the end because 3.5 days later they will be resurrected. And they will be ascending to heaven right in front of the eyes of all the inhabitants of the city at that time. And we see a great revival or at least some revival, a measure of revival, happening as the result of it. So we are asking ourselves this evening who could they be? Now we have to remember if God wanted us, us, I'm talking about us, the believers today in 2020. If God wanted us to know exactly who they are? He would have written their names, that's a given. When God wants us to know someone's name, he gives us that somebody's name. Maybe, and I'm only saying maybe, their names were not important because they are going to show up right in front of people that wouldn't care much about them, anyway. That wouldn't listen to them, anyway. That wouldn't consider them, who they were, at the time. So my point is we cannot conclude that we know exactly who they are but I am willing to consider 2 options here. Of course, most scholars will suggest either Enoch and Elijah, or Moses and Elijah. Enoch and Elijah simply because they never died. They never saw corruption. We know that Enoch in Genesis 5:21-24, Enoch lived 65 years only and he begot Methuselah, and after he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years. So it's 365, isn't that interesting? Like a whole year. And watch this, "And had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were 365 years and Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him." "He walked with God and [poof] he was not for God took him." That's Enoch. We know about Elijah exactly and later on, we'll read it in a few seconds. But what makes most scholars suggest that it's not Enoch and Elijah, because it's not about who did not die because obviously, these two are going to die eventually. What most scholars believe that it actually could be Moses and Elijah is what we see that is described when it comes to these two people. First of all, the miracles that they will perform. We're talking about destroying their enemies with fire, withholding rain, turning water into blood, striking the earth with plagues. These are similar to judgments that were inflicted in the Old Testament by both Moses and Elijah. I would like to take you to 2 Kings Chapter 1:10-12 and by the way, it goes beyond that. We know that the king of Israel sent people to Elijah. It's the same king who actually consulted Baalzebub and yet he sent people to Elijah. So Elijah answered and said to the captain of the 50 that was sent to him, "If I'm a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50 men and fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50 men. So Elijah answered and said to them, later on another time, 'If I'm a man of God let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50 men.' " That's another captain of 50, "... and fire came down and consumed him and his 50." So we know that. In 1 Kings 17, "Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead said to Ahab, 'As the Lord God of Israel lives before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years except at my word.'" Isn't that Interesting, God gave Elijah the authority, "... except at my word," he said. And of course, the Bible says even in James Chapter 5:17, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain. And it did not rain on the land for three years and six months." It was something that was known. Ladies and gentlemen, in Revelation 11:6, "These have power to shut heaven so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy, and they have power over waters to turn them into blood. Isn't that interesting? I'm taking you now to Exodus chapter 7 to Moses, "Thus says the Lord, 'By this you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that are in the rivers shall die and the rivers shall stink. And the Egyptians will loath to drink the water of the river. And then the Lord spoke to Moses, 'Say to Aaron take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over the streams, over the rivers, over their ponds, and over their pools of water that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone. And Moses and Aaron did so just as the Lord commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters which were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. The fish there in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. So the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hard. He refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning when he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river's bank to meet him, The rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand, and you shall say to him, 'The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you saying, Let my people go that they may serve me in the wilderness. But indeed, until now you would not hear. Thus says the Lord, by this you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand and they shall be turned into blood." So we see that. We see that not only that Elijah withheld rain, that Elijah had fire coming from heaven. Also, we know that in 1 Kings Chapter 18, Elijah was praying when the prophets of Baal and Asherah and fire came from heaven there. 2 Kings 1, we see Moab, we read that by the way, we read all of that about the fire that came. And "Thus says the Lord, 'Because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore, you shall not come down from the bed which you have [gone] up. I read from 2 Kings 1 verses 1 to 14, I just wanted you to understand that. Now let me move on. Both the Old Testament and Jewish tradition expected Moses and Elijah to return in the future. Malachi Chapter 4:5 says, "Behold I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." Deuteronomy 18, "The Lord, your God, will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear. I will raise up for them a prophet like you [like Moses] from among their brethren and will put my words in his mouth. And he shall speak to them all that I command." Of course, these are prophetic verses about Jesus himself. But I just want you to know that in the Jewish mindset and in the Old Testament it was known to the Jewish people that a prophet has to come. And you will know that because in John Chapter 1:21, "They asked [John], 'What then, are you Elijah and he said I am not... Excuse me, they asked John. And then, "Are you the prophet? Are you the prophet? And he answered, no. Of course, John could not testify of himself as the prophet. He came in the spirit of Elijah. John 6:14, "Those men they had seen the signs that Jesus did and said, "This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world.'" They didn't understand the Messiah and the Messiahship. They thought it is the prophet. Now whether they thought it's Elijah or Moses that should come, or someone like Moses, remember? But they often thought Jesus is "the prophet". In John 7:40, "Therefore many from the crowd when they heard these sayings, they said, 'Truly this is the prophet, and others said, 'This is the Christ.'" So they... Some say it's the one that's supposed to come, the prophet; Some say, no, that's the Messiah. Matthew 11:14, "And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come," speaking of John the Baptist. Luke 1:17, "He will also go before him in the spirit in the power of Elijah, [regarding John] and to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." So we can see that there was an expectancy in the minds of the Jewish people. And I repeat that, in the minds of the Jewish people, for the return for the comeback of either Moses or Elijah. And both Moses and Elijah, now I move to point number 3. Both of them, they probably represented the law and the prophets. They appeared with Jesus at the transfiguration and that probably the preview of the second coming. Matthew 17:3, "And behold Moses and Elijah appeared to Him, talking with Him. Number 4. Both left the earth in a very unusual way. Elijah never died. We know he was transported to heaven in a fiery chariot. 2 Kings chapter 2:11-12, Elisha is walking with his master, Elijah, "And then it happened that they continued and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire and separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven and Elisha saw it and he cried out, 'My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and its horsemen.' So he saw him no more and he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces." He was devastated, his mentor just left him all alone here, and he was amazed by this unbelievable sight of... Literally, folks, you may not want to hear but it's a rapture of Elijah. Deuteronomy 34, let's talk about Moses. "Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, [He did die but watch this] according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him [God buried him] in a valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor but no one knows his grave to this day." By the way, the Muslims think that they know. In the Judean Desert there is a place called Nabi Musa, they think he's buried there but no one knows. Biblically, no one... Not only that, in Jude verse 9, Jude, there's only one chapter. Verse 9, "Yet Michael, the archangel, in contending with the devil when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you.'" Isn’t that amazing that Satan not only wanted to kill Moses while he was still alive, but even was fighting over the dead body of Moses. Over the body of Moses, unbelievable. We know Hebrews Chapter 9:27, "And it is appointed for men to die once, but after this comes the judgment." We know that and we understand, folks, that we can clearly see how judgment is coming. And maybe that will explain to us what these two witnesses are all about. We understand there are two men with supernatural powers and a clear message. Zechariah 4 says in verses 1 to 14, "I further answered and said to him, 'What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?' And then he answered me and said, 'Do you not know what these are? And I said, 'No my lord.' So he said, 'These are the two anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.'" So we see something very interesting. Zachariah is speaking, of course, at the time about Zerubbabel and Joshua, the leader of Israel coming back to the land and the high priest at the time. But we can clearly see that there is a connecting of the lamps to the trees. It's very interesting. Because it's intended to depict basically a constant spontaneous automatic supply of oil flowing from the olive trees into the lamps, and that symbolizes, ladies and gentlemen, the truth that God will not bring salvation, blessing, from human power. But by the power of the Holy Spirit and this is why we know that Zechariah said what he said, "Not by might, nor by power but by my Spirit, says the Lord." These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands that are standing before the Lord of the earth. Interesting. Olive trees and lamp stands symbolize the light of revival since the olive oil was commonly used in lamps, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to read to you also from, not only Zechariah but also continue to Revelation 1 to 5. So we're talking about the two olive trees and the two lamp stands standing before the God of heaven. We see that, okay, these two, if they're just like Zerubbabel and Joshua, what Zechariah talked about, when we see that God gives them power, God gives them that oil, God gives them that anointing. What for? It's of course to somehow speak to the hearts of who? Who? And we're going to examine that right now. Let’s try to understand. We try to understand what they are all about. But why are they? In order to have a just trial, there have to be witnesses. I'm saying this is exactly why we're talking about two of them. Deuteronomy 17:6 says, "Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses. He shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness." God is basically saying, do you know what? If you don't accept me, if you don't repent, you probably deserve death obviously. But here I give you two witnesses, and they have a word of testimony, and they have a word of prophecy, and they get their power from Me and their anointing from Me. And if you hear from them, your trial is going to look different. Deuteronomy 19:15, "One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits. By the mouth of two or three witnesses, the matter shall be established." Ladies and gentlemen, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, "Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall one will lift up the companion, but woe to him who is alone when he falls for, he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together they will keep warm but how can one be warm alone?" Of course, this speaks of a couple. It speaks of some sort of a holy matrimony between a male and a female. But it also speaks of the value of a couple, of a value of being together. "The one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him, and a 3-fold cord is not quickly broken." As I said we're talking about some sort of unbroken structure, if God is in the center, of course. Matthew 18:16, "But if he will not hear, take with you 1 or 2 more, that by the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses every word may be established." In John 8:17, "It is also written in your law," Jesus is telling those Pharisees. You say that I testify of myself. No, Me and the Father, we are together. "It is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true." 2 Corinthians 13:1, "This will be the third time I'm coming to you." He's saying, the third time I'm coming to you. "By the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established." If that's not enough, what about the elders? What about accusations against him? That's why the Bible says in 1 Timothy 5: 19, "Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from [what?] two or three witnesses." Hebrews 10:28 says, "Anyone who has rejected... Moses' law, dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses." Ladies and gentlemen, now we understand that God is sending two witnesses. It's witnesses because what they are saying is going... and what they're doing is going to play a role in a trial. There is a trial coming. It is appointed upon man once to die and then comes the judgment. And God doesn't want people to be lost. God doesn't want people to die. God doesn't want people to be completely lost. So he's sending them two that are powerful, that are anointed, that are holy. And where is it, now comes a very important point, where is it? Ladies and gentlemen, it's in Jerusalem. It's not just in Jerusalem, it's right there with the temple is. It's not just where the temple is, there is an altar there. They sacrifice sacrifices. Ladies and gentlemen, there is no temple in Jerusalem today. It cannot be right now. There has to be some future event that will allow the Jews to build the temple and renew their sacrificial ceremonies. We know exactly what is going to happen to allow that to go on, and that is of course that 7-year peace treaty. Why do we know that? Because in the book of Daniel it says that that Antichrist, that prince of that great nation that will come, he will increase, you say confirm a covenant for one week, for seven years. And in the halfway, he will stop the sacrifices. In other words, there has to be sacrifices; There has to be a temple. And at the very middle, [boom] he will put an end to it. Why? Because, hey, stop sacrificing to God. Look, the entire description that we have here is of people in Jerusalem. The temple is the temple of God; The sacrificial altar is there. It doesn't say a word about the Antichrist; It doesn't say a word, I mean, being worshipped there. And it doesn't say a word about no longer having sacrificial ceremonies - the opposite. In that utopia of the Jews thinking that they're okay with God, and the temple is standing, and this altar is active. Two people sent by God, sent from God, to the nation of Israel to the city of Jerusalem, and they're telling them the testimony of Jesus, the prophecy. And they're telling them, look what you're doing here is wrong. This is not it. You need to repent. I mean go to Isaiah Chapter 1. I remember when I came to faith that was the first prophet that I read and my heart broke. When I read Isaiah Chapter 1, God in the first 18 verses, God is telling the people of Israel, you have created a religion I never asked you to. Why are you bringing to me all these sacrifices? Why are you celebrating all these festivals, and Sabbaths, and new moons, and all of that? I hate it; My soul hates it. I cannot stand you doing all of this, and not walking with me, and don't have repentance in you. I want you to wash yourself; I want you to repent. I want you to receive a new heart, a new spirit. Now, let's reason together. Now let's see if your sins are not going to be white as snow. You see God is saying, I don't want religion. I don't need this temple and this altar, if you don't really understand your need for a savior, for salvation, for repentance, for redemption. This is not of me and from me. Can you imagine the Jewish people, after 2000 years finally they have a temple, finally they have a sacrifice? Finally, they worship on the Temple Mount. Can you imagine two people are coming and telling them, "This is wrong." Of course, they will hate them. They are in Jerusalem. They are in the temple. They see the sacrifices. We understand that after 3.5 years of intense testimony. You guys, you have to understand for all of those who believe that the Christians should stay for the first 3.5 years? Guys, don't think for a second that these first 3.5 years will be so peaceful. People will celebrate the death of these two witnesses because of the affliction that is going to come upon them during those 3.5 years, because of these two witnesses. The judgment begins already: God is already sending plagues, and sending things, and turning water into blood, and stopping the rain, and fire will consume people when they come against these two people. Folks, people around the world will celebrate the death of these two witnesses. That means that it must have been terrible for them, terrible to hear these things and terrible to experience those things. So you're telling me that the first 3.5 years will be great? And guess who's coming after 3.5 years, after 1260 days? The beast, the Antichrist, almost in a way, Satan incarnated. And what is he going to do? This is when, remember, he's going to put an end. It's the same one that puts an end to the sacrificial ceremonies. It's the same one that puts an end to all of this but not because he thinks that they must repent. But he wants them to stop worshipping God and worship him as God. The last thing he needs is two witnesses that are telling everyone that they must repent, and they must worship Jesus, and come to the Lord through Him. So what is he doing? He's killing them. And he's dragging their bodies, there's nowhere to bury them. and 3.5 days of celebration all around the world. There's no way the church is here. There's no way the church has any substantial portion here when the whole world is just like this. I need you to understand, folks. This is all happening when the Bible, in this particular story, is giving us 2 time-frames. Both: Each equal to 3.5 years. When he speaks of the latter part of the Gentiles that are taking over the city, that's when Israel is no longer there and they're fleeing to the desert. In Chapter 12, that woman that gave birth to that baby, to the Messiah, basically. Ladies and gentlemen, for 1260 days the 2 prophets are standing there, the 2 witnesses of standing there. But for 42 months later on the Gentiles will tread over this city. And that isn't it interesting that both 1260 days and 42 months speak of 3.5 biblical years each. Together you get the seven years tribulation. We know that. We know that because... Look, this is exactly something that fits the prophecy of Daniel in chapter 9, speaking of this 70 weeks, we all know. Daniel said or at least the angel said to Daniel, "70 weeks were determined upon your nation, your people, and your city." And he said, first of all there will be 7 and 62, and when that is over, Messiah will come in and he will be cut off. He will be killed. And then he is talking about the last week, the 70th week. Now may I just remind you all for those of you don't know, a week in the biblical prophecy of Daniel, means a period of seven years. A year in the Jewish calendar is consisting of 360 days. We are following the lunar calendar, not the solar one. Thus it's 360; Therefore 1260 days or exactly 3.5 years. And 42 months are exactly 3.5 years. And 42 months equal to 1260 which means that these two are creating a 7-year period. Ladies and gentlemen, you must understand. Sir Robert Anderson in his book, "The Coming Prince," and he wrote it in the late 1800s. He calculated that from the moment the decree to rebuild Jerusalem was given, only in Nehemiah Chapter 2, by King Artaxerxes. We know that that decree, ladies and gentlemen, started the countdown of the first 69 weeks. 69 weeks, it means 69 X 7 X 360 days. It gives you 173,880 days from the day Nehemiah got the decree to go and rebuild the city to the day Jesus rode the donkey and entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, April 6th 32 AD. That was the week before Passover; That was the exact date. You see when God is not giving us a day or an hour, don't try to figure it out, and don't try to guess. We don't need to know. But when God wants us to know a specific day, and a specific hour, and a specific month, and a specific year, He is telling us. It's by the day. We know that. if you think that the rapture will take place in the middle of the tribulation? That means you know exactly when the rapture is going to take place because you just count 1260 days from the beginning, from the peace treaty. If you think that the rapture will take place right after the tribulation, you know when it is because you have exactly seven years. The only time, the only way, when the rapture is still unknown to people the day, or the hour, or the year is when it's before. Ladies and gentlemen, again we have to understand the time period, we have to understand that. It's important that you understand that because this is it. We are already out. Israel signed a peace. Israel has a temple. Israel has an altar. The Jewish people are in euphoria. They believe that's it; They're good with God. And God says, no you're not. This is not my temple. This is not of me. You are in a dead religion just as you were when I sent Isaiah and he wrote chapter 1. You need to repent. And it's amazing. It's amazing. So we see that the two witnesses came to Israel. The whole world felt them but they came to Jerusalem. They talked to Israel. They came to see the temple. They came to see the altar. They measured that part. Wow! Isn't that amazing that God is not done with Israel. We're out of here. I always said that the tribulation is for Israel's salvation. God when he opened the door for the Gentiles for 2000 years, then comes a point where we're out of here, and God is back dealing with Israel. Yes, every time God is dealing, whether it's with the church or with Israel, it affects the whole world. And I want you to know, ladies and gentlemen, I want you to know that God is dealing with Israel. The whole world understands, the whole world celebrates the death of these two. And you need to know... You need to know that the most important thing in this entire chapter is not who they were. It's not their identity by name; It's the message that they brought. You see, people think that God is in the business of judging and killing and cursing and punishing. It cannot be further from the truth. I'm reading from Ezekiel 18:20-24, "The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all my statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live." God is not saying you have to be perfect. God is saying you have to be someone who repents. You have to acknowledge your sinful nature; You have to repent. You have to get back to my ways, and you will not die, surely you will not die. It reminds me of the Garden of Eden when he said to them, "If you touch that tree you will surely die." God is telling us, "I don't want you to die and if you do this you will surely die. But if you do that you will surely not die." I mean what else do you want? The God, the Creator of heaven and earth is telling you: A is good; B is not good. A will give you life; B will give you death. And you go to take B and you are then complaining? Look what He says, "None of the transgressions which he has committed... ... "None of the transgressions which he had committed shall be remembered against him." If you turn away if you repented. "Because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" God says, do I have any pleasure in any death? Do you think I want the wicked to die? "Says the Lord God and not that he should turn from his ways and live. But when the righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live?" Sin brings death! Not God brings death: Sin brings death. And God knows that it brings death. That's why he says, stay away from it! "All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty, and the sin which he has committed because of them he shall die." If you die, it's because of your own sin, not because of God. Don't put the blame on God. God is faithful, loving, and just. For that there will be always witnesses. And if that's not the two witnesses in the first part of the tribulation, then it's 144,000 in the latter part of the tribulation. But there's always someone that will bring forth the message of righteousness, repentance, forgiveness, love, compassion, and life. But if you choose to turn away. Look that preacher in Chaz, in Seattle, he came to tell them, hey, you have to choose life. I watched today a day video. A black policeman comes to a lady who is protesting and he says, lady, it's not racism, it's sin that's the problem." ... Look I'm a cop and I'm a black man. The problem, he's saying, is the guys who killed George Floyd, they killed him because it's a sin. It's not about his color. More white men were killed by policemen, than black men. Are you kidding me? It's sin. It was a murder. It has nothing to do with... Look, no matter how you turn it around. Racism is sin. There is no systematic racism in America. There is sin in America, and there is sin in Israel. And there will be sin in Jerusalem, where? Right there in the temple. Just as much as God loves those sinners today when he sends them a preacher and look what they do to him. God loves the people in Jerusalem when we're out of here and he sends them 2 witnesses. How sad it is that the only time they're going to listen to them is after they resurrected. That resurrection will be followed with by an earthquake, and the death of 7,000. Only then they will take them seriously, and then they will give glory to the God of heaven that's what the Bible says. And that's the Jews, and that's in Israel, and that's in Jerusalem. The rest of the world, the Bible says, if you read Revelation Chapter 16, every time a bowl was poured and the sun-scorched the people, they, knowing that God can stop it, they did not repent or give glory to God but they blasphemed His name. Thankfully 1/3 of Israel, Jewish people are going to flee, once they understand that these two men actually spoke the truth, and the beast is actually now replacing God in that temple as if he is God. They'll flee to a place that God prepared for them. For how long? Read chapter 12, for 1260 days. When it comes to Israel he speaks with the days. When it came to the Gentiles treading the city, He speaks with the months, 42 months. Wow. Ladies and gentlemen, the message is clear. God wants you to repent, to be forgiven, and to have life, and life in abundance. Today is the day of salvation and my challenge for you all is this. Are you his witnesses? Do you know the Bible says in Isaiah Chapter 43, in Isaiah Chapter 43 verse 10, the Bible says that Israel, they are the witnesses of God. And then in Acts Chapter 1 verse 8, the church, the disciples, "Go, you are my witnesses. But when the church is gone, they're not witnesses anymore here. And Israel is blind to think that the temple is their solution. They cannot witness, so God is sending witnesses. When Israel is finally sobering up and fleeing to the desert, and he's sending 144,000 of the tribes of Israel to preach to Israel, and of course, whoever else will listen. God is not done with his nation. God wants them to repent. When they will come back to the land, and they will look at Him as He is descending with us, according to Zechariah 14 and Zechariah 12. The Bible says in Zechariah 12, they looked at Him whom they pierced and they will mourn and they will cry and they will repent. Zechariah 14 will describe that final war that will end the tribulation. That war that you guys call, Armageddon, but it will be actually in Jerusalem. And the Lord will come and His feet will stand on Mount of Olives and behold the Lord comes. Thus the Lord comes and all his saints are coming with Him, and that's all of us. And that's when all Israel will be saved. And that's when the times of the Gentiles will come to an end as Romans Chapter 11 says. When the 42 months of the Gentiles treading over the holy city will be over. Remember Israel has already gone to the desert. So the first 3.5 years they are in Jerusalem thinking that they worship God and two witnesses are telling them it's not the right way. Then they finally understand, they did a mistake. They flee to the desert where they're being preached to. Do you know that in the 1960s there was a group of Christians that came to Israel and from Israel they took the bus across to Jordan, 1966, that was before the Six Days War. And they went all the way to Petra in Jordan where we believe the Jews will hide for the last 3.5 years And they were hiding Hebrew Old and New Testaments there. In all of the caves of Petra today there are Hebrew Old and New Testaments. Because I believe the Antichrist will not allow any Bible anywhere. How will they know? There will be those witnesses. And now you know the secret. There are thousands of Bibles that are hidden over there all in Hebrew. My goodness, so amazing. By the way, I didn't know that until a few days ago when one of the elders of our congregation who met them told me about it. Ladies and gentlemen, today is the day of salvation. Are you His witnesses today or will you need those witnesses in the future? If you're not a believer today, I don't think that you will be once when the rapture take place. The Bible says ... in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2 that because people rejected the love of the truth that might save them, God then sent them strong delusion. Don't reject Him. God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son. He wants people to have eternal life. He wants to give them life. Jesus is the life, the truth, and the way. He is life. God wants people to choose life. He told Moses, here I put before you: Evil and good; Death and life. He says, Choose life. It's a choice and you can make that choice today. Father, we pray today as we study this amazing piece of information about the future 2 witnesses in Jerusalem, that will come to the nation of Israel to tell them how wrong they are playing religion and not really repenting. And the whole world will be affected by them. Father, we pray the people will understand. Let him who have ears and eyes understand, and see, and hear, that which the Spirit has to say. Father, I pray that you who began the good work in so many people, you will be faithful to complete it. I pray that anyone who hears this message will be shaken to his core, to understand that today he needs to make up his mind. Father, we understand through just a glance at your Word in the book of Revelation, we understand how terrible life is going to be upon this world. How people will wish that they could die, but death will just run away from them. They will look for it. And Father, here you are giving us life and you want us not to be destined to this wrath. And to be taken out of here because you promised. But you're about to send Jesus to receive us unto himself, so where He is we will also be. We thank you and we bless you for your promises to the church. We also pray that Israel will open their eyes as many as possible now to avoid this situation of so much persecution that is about to befall, where 2/3 of them will die, and one last third, as Zechariah 13 says, will be taken through the fire and be refined. We thank you, Father, for your Word and for your message. And we pray that in Jesus precious name. Amen. Amen Thank you. God bless you and share this message with as many as you can. God bless you and shalom from Galilee. Bye-bye.
