The Two Mighty Witnesses (#15) - December 2, 2020

all of us are familiar with the various religious groups that go door to door sharing their particular version of the christian gospel one of these groups they use bicycles to go around from neighborhood to neighborhood community to community but there's another group that just uses cars and they're fine pulling up into your driveway or parking somewhere on the street and knocking at your door to share with you their vision of god's future kingdom and we know this latter group as jehovah's witnesses in fact not too long ago i had taken marta down to the airport and when i got to the terminal from the escalators coming down off the marta platform there were some jehovah's witnesses now here's the thing about jehovah's witnesses their beliefs are deviant from scripture i'm convinced they're well intending and they're sincere but they are sincerely misguided and unless they repent of their faulty beliefs in who jesus is then to borrow terms from scripture they shall surely perish but tonight what i want you to think about with me as we look into this 11th chapter of revelation are two people i'm calling the real jehovah's witnesses the real jehovah's witnesses because the first group i mention are faulty witnesses but these are the true witnesses of jehovah god who will be used by god in the final part of the tribulation period that we're studying about in the book of revelation if you've been following along you know that the book of revelation is depicted in three sequences of seven seven seals are broken to open a scroll and then seven trumpets sound and then seven bowls are poured out and where we are right now in that progression is we are in the pause which scholars call an interlude between the sounding of the sixth trumpet and the sounding of the seventh we are in between the sixth and seventh trumpet and that's where we will pick it up beginning in the first verse of revelation chapter 11. john says 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 do not measure that for it's been given to the gentiles and here's what they're going to do the gentiles will tread the holy city under their feet for 42 months so interesting john is told to take a read to measure the the temple and this reed was a stalk that was harvested from among plants such as cattails along the shallow edges of a river and a reed was used in biblical times much in the same way we would use a yardstick or a tape measure so john was instructed here in the first verse to take a read and to start measuring the dimensions of the temple and the word that is you translated here temple refers particularly to the holy place of the temple now i thought it would be helpful for you to know there are some other places in scripture where one is told to measure something by god and that that is in zechariah chapter 2 where zechariah says that a man is told to measure jerusalem ezekiel chapter 40 where the temple of the future kingdom is measured and then we're going to see this concept appear again in revelation 21 where the new jerusalem is actually measured so this idea of measuring whether it is measuring jerusalem itself or measuring the future millennial kingdom mentioned in ezekiel or the new jerusalem or here john is told to measure a certain part of the temple this this is marking out territory that god is reserving for himself that god is putting a protection around and the temple that's being referred to here in revelation 11 might be symbolizing the temple that we have reason to believe is going to be rebuilt on the temple mount in jerusalem that will be standing during the tribulation we have strong reason to believe that a temple will be reconstructed there in jerusalem because in order for prophecy to be fulfilled the antichrist has to go in and occupy that temple and we'll talk about that later on in the book of revelation but john is told here in verse number one to measure that holy place of the temple and and he says to measure the altar and we believe this is the altar of incense which is in the holy place just outside the holy of holies and if you'd like to study that a little bit more you can just google a diagram of the temple and you can see the layout of the temple but i want you to notice that he was told to exclude from measurement the outer court and when you look at a diagram of the jerusalem temple in particular the temple that was built by herod in the time of jesus you will see that the outer court is labeled the court of the gentiles gentiles were forbidden from leaving that outer court around the temple and going into the court reserved only for for those who were truly jews in fact if a gentile were to leave the court of the gentiles and try to press deeper into the inner courts of the temple it would be punishable by by death the jews took seriously keeping the gentiles in their place in that surrounding court of the gentiles in the temple and so in this vision john is told only to measure the the inner part of the temple but not to measure the outer quarter the court of the gentiles and the reason is as we read a moment ago it's because that has been given over to gentile domination and when we look at this more closely we see that what is being implied here is that the court of the gentiles being left out of the measurement is god's way of saying i am giving jerusalem over to the domination by the gentiles that's why john is told not to mark it out with his measuring reed as if to mark it off limits for gentile domination only the inner part of the temple was measured which means protected by god in a symbolic way and in look if we look back in verse number two the last part it says the outer court has been given to the gentiles which means god was giving it over to them and they will tread the holy city under foot for 42 months now in the new king james version it says that this outer court had been given to the gentiles the new american says to the nations and what it means is to all of the nations not jewish that's what gentile really means so whether it is the word gentiles or the word nations this has to do with god giving over jerusalem to be dominated by the gentile nations which we can also call the global alliance under the reign of the antichrist but did you see the particular duration of time that is that was given to them to trample jerusalem under their feet and it was 42 months and when you look at 42 months with 12 months being in a year 42 months is exactly three and one half years that three and one half years is a very important period of time to think about because it is half of the seven year tribulation it is not the first time that this idea of three and a half years or the tribulation being broken in half appears in fact that is that comes from the old testament now some of you may remember that when daniel was receiving the message from the angel gabriel about god's remaining plan for the people of israel he used an expression called 70 weeks he said 70 weeks are appointed for your people and when we went back and studied that we saw that that week literally means from a figurative word week we literally interpret a period of seven years so uh you can go back and find in our archives the daniel study from the ninth chapter because really the truth is that the ninth chapter of daniel is the key to unlock your understanding of the book of revelation but in case you missed it i just want to narrow in on verse 27 of daniel chapter 9 where daniel was told that the antichrist is going to confirm a covenant with many for one week and we believe that means seven years but in the middle of the week and what would the middle of a seven year period be in the middle of the week that's the three and a half year point he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering so this reference in daniel to the final seven year period which would be the 70th week of the 70-week prophecy of daniel chapter 9 that 70th week is the tribulation seven years it's what the book of revelation is all about and here we see when we were reading it in verse number 2 of chapter 11 that the gentile domination of jerusalem will be concentrated into 42 months which is three and a half years when we looked in daniel chapter nine and verse 27 the angel told daniel that the antichrist was going to make a covenant we believe the covenant would be a peace treaty with israel which means he was going to enter into an agreement to protect israel to look out for israel to defend israel from any aggression from her enemies but in the middle of the week or at the halfway point he was going to violate the terms of the covenant or the peace treaty and turn on israel so you see that halfway point that was even prophesied in daniel 9 27 that three and a half year point is a watershed moment in the tribulation period because it is when israel goes from thinking that she will have the protection of this supreme leader that has built a global alliance of nations of gentile nations she's going to feel that everything is fine but he is going to turn on israel and then for the last half of the tribulation that's when israel is going to face unprecedented persecution by the family of gentile nations the global alliance so it is that last three and a half years of fierce tribulation or as we would call it the great tribulation that is being referred to here where remember what john is being told measure the inner part of the temple do not measure the outer court which is the court of the gentiles because symbolically this is god's way of saying i am giving over jerusalem to be dominated by the gentiles that happens at the halfway point and that's why he says specifically it's going to be a period of 42 months now just so you know this halfway point in the uh in the tribulation period that begins the most intense part of the tribulation for israel jesus talked about this when gentile nations would be given dominion over jerusalem he said in luke chapter 21 and verse 20 he says but when you see jerusalem surrounded by armies then know that its desolation is near so you see even jesus talked about what john is hearing about in chapter 11 and verse 2 of revelation when the gentiles will surround jerusalem with their armies jesus prophesied this and now john is having it prophesied for him in revelation 11 and verse 2. and then jesus went on to say in the 21st chapter of luke in verse 23 he says for there will be great distress in the land that's the land of israel and wrath upon this people this people would be the jews who will be living in in israel and jesus goes on to say they're going to fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all nations and look at what jesus says and jerusalem will be trampled by gentiles until the times of the gentiles are fulfilled and isn't it interesting that he said jerusalem is going to be trampled by gentiles jesus said that in luke 21 but when we look back here where we are in revelation chapter 11 verse number two look at the last part of it it says that they will tread the holy city under foot for 42 months so connecting the dots between what daniel said there's going to be a break in the commitment the antichrist made to protect israel it's going to happen midweek or three and a half years into the seven year tribulation and then jesus said intense persecution will break out against israel john is told in revelation 11 2 do not measure the outer court because it symbolically god is telling john that jerusalem will be handed over to gentile domination now we look in verse number three and in verse three of chapter 11 john is told i will give power to my two witnesses now look at that i've underlined it i will give power to my two witnesses and they will prophesy 1260 days clothed in sackcloth now because this flows obviously out of verse two what we believe is since verse number two talked about gentile domination over jerusalem for 42 months which is the last three and a half years of the tribulation we believe that these two witnesses who are going to be given power by god they're going to be doing their prophesying and their preaching during that same period of time now the trampling by the gentiles is is described as a period of time being 42 months but i want to show you the the the period of time for these witnesses is 1260 days guess what they're the same period of time 42 months referred to in verse number 4 and if you just assign 30 days to each month when you multiply 42 by 30 the total number of days in 42 months is 1260. so so you need to realize that the reference to 42 months the reference to 1260 days it's the same period of time which is the last three and a half years of the tribulation so get this antichrist turns on israel according to daniel 9 27 at the midway point of the tribulation jesus said in luke 21 the jewish people are going to face unprecedented hostilities from the world family of gentile nations and then here we see that this gentile domination will be concentrated according to revelation 11 2 into 42 months and when these two witnesses whom i'm calling the real jehovah's witnesses when god raises up these two human instruments of vital gospel witness their period of ministry will be the same last half of the tribulation when it's growing darker and darker for israel these two last days end times prophets are going to have a ministry that is going to captivate the attention of the entire world now in revelation chapter 13 john saw a beast rising up from the sea and this beast symbolized the antichrist and we're going to get there eventually but when i'm talking to you about this last half of the tribulation 42 months 1260 days when we get to chapter 13 and john sees this beast who is a symbol of the antichrist in verse number 5 of revelation 13 john writes and he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and he was given authority to continue for 42 months same period of time will the antichrist be on the scene before those 42 months yes he will obviously because in daniel 9 27 daniel was told that this guy's going to make a peace treaty with israel that he will break only at the midway point so the reason that john only sees him coming out in revelation 13 is because this is when the antichrist is going to shed his masquerade and appear for the satanically inspired anti-semite that he is as the empowered leader of this global alliance my point is 42 months 1260 days and here we see the antichrist's greatest power will be on display for 42 months according to revelation 13 5. same period of time now let's talk about these two witnesses did you see when we were reading it a moment ago it says they were clothed in sackcloth the last part of verse 3. clothed in sackcloth sackcloth of course would be something that a jewish audience would be familiar with because jewish worshipers of jehovah god or yahweh they would adorn themselves with sackcloth during periods of mourning grieving and repenting acknowledging their sin before god it was a garment made of either goats or or camel's hair just to tell you give you an example of jesus mentioning this in luke 10 13 jesus said woe to you corazine woe to you bethsaida for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in tyre and sidon in other words if they if if they had seen what you have seen they would have repented long ago sitting in what sackcloth and ashes so the reason i'm sharing that with you is just to say jesus referred to sackcloth when he was preaching why would these two witnesses be wearing sackcloth in the vision that john sees well because it is an acknowledgment that the day of final wrath has come it's not a it's not necessarily something to celebrate sackcloth they they're they are wary not only that but because we have reasonably these will be jewish witnesses preachers prophets they are wearing sackcloth perhaps to symbolize the grief that they're feeling knowing that the jewish people are going to face the fiercest opposition really in all of history in the last three and a half years of the tribulation thus sackcloth and maybe they're wearing sackcloth because of the fact that according to verse 2 of revelation 11 they they realize that jerusalem is going to be besieged by the global alliance under the antichrist and that gentile global alliance is going to have dominion over the holy city we could speculate 101 reasons why they have sackcloth but we need to comment on it because john says that these two witnesses are clothed in sackcloth let's continue though looking in verse number four there these are the two olive trees and the two lampstands 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 this manner 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 to blood and to strike the earth with all plagues as often as they desire now what i want to do is we just want to talk about these two witnesses and ask first of all ask some questions like who in the world are these guys going to be some commentators and i read a lot of commentaries when i'm you know studying for the for these messages some have called this one of the most challenging passages in the whole book of revelation because some of the questions would be are these two witnesses uh who entered the stage of last days prophecy are they literal people or as some scholars suggest they symbolize or they depict groups of people they're not actually literal preachers who will be given prominence in the last half the tribulation i am of the persuasion that these are two literal people but if they are too literal people some have suggested that perhaps they are biblical characters who come to the earth from heaven to exercise their ministry and so they leave heaven to come down and do what they're doing as john sees it depicted in revelation 11. there are some who believe that while these are two literal last days witnesses that they are not literal biblical characters but they are people who would have been born in the times in which the you know tribulation would subsequently take place and that rather than being biblical characters come down from heaven to earth these are human beings who are going to be so filled with the holy spirit and empowered with miraculous abilities by god that they're going to resemble biblical characters and not necessarily be those biblical characters they're going to operate in a similar way as biblical characters and i lean towards that interpretation now what i want to do is i i want to walk through the description of these last days two witnesses starting with what is what john says in verse number four they are the two olive trees and the two lampstands now if you read that in verse four you'd say what in the world are two olive trees and two lampstands well as i've told you before the book of revelation is saturated with old testament references and here is one such reference and this goes back all the way to the minor prophet book of zechariah when zechariah was performing his ministry it was when the jewish people had returned from their babylonian exile back into their homeland and if you remember our daniel study we talked about how they came in three successive migrations and the first one was under a man named zerubbabel but in zechariah there were two key figures in their return as well as in the spiritual revival that god gave them once they got back into the holy land and these two key figures were zerubbabel and joshua the high priest and i know this is a lot of information but it i've got to bring it out because when john says that these two witnesses who are going to play such a phenomenal part of the la of the great tribulation when they're called in verse number four the two olive trees in the two lampstands there is no escaping the fact that this comes from the prophecy of zechariah now just to tell you a little bit about zerubbabel zerubbabel was the leader who led the first wave of exiles back to jerusalem and and zerubbabel led them to put the foundation back in place for the temple which nebuchadnezzar had destroyed years earlier so he was he was a key influential person that most christians don't even know about he's got a he's got a weird sounding name but you need to know who's a rubbable is because of the role he played in getting the jews back on the path to being restored to the homeland god used him in a mighty way here's something else you need to know he is a descendant a genealogical descendant of king david so he represents the kingly line joshua the high priest in the days of zechariah's prophecy this is not joshua who succeeded moses and led the people into the promised land this is a different joshua we're talking about when the jews got back into their homeland in the first wave of migrants this joshua was the high priest who reinstated jewish worship once they got back and started rebuilding their temple from the ruins so think about it zerubbabel who represented the kingly line of israel and of course there is no kingdom of israel when the when the exiles come back these are just pitiful pilgrims returning back from years of captivity but zerubbabel represents king joshua the high priest represents priests and in those two in their role of physically leading the jewish people and spiritually leading the jewish people king and priests they foreshadowed the role that christ would fulfill as king and priest coming to us from israel so it's fascinating when you look into that but the reason that i want to bring this out is because when you go back to zechariah chapter 4 in verse number 11 zechariah is writing and he says then i answered and i said to him what are these two olive trees remember we're talking about the olive trees from verse 4 of revelation 11. well zechariah says what are these two olive trees at the right of the lamp stand at it's left then you go down to verse 14 of zechariah 4 and he said these are the two anointed ones who stand beside the lord of the whole earth so the two olive trees symbolized zerubbabel and joshua the high priest now for that to be invoked in revelation 11 and verse 4 tells us that these two witnesses are going to play a vital role not only in preaching during the days and when it will be the the most difficult in which to preach but that they are going to be crucial in preaching to the jewish people in the same way that zerubbabel led the jewish people back and joshua the high priest led them to worship the true and living god back in their homeland now the fact that this imagery is borrowed from zechariah and yet they're going to be doing these things at a time when gentile domination will characterize the whole city of israel and the land city of jerusalem in the land of israel this is fascinating to me all right so these two tribulation witnesses are being compared figuratively to zerubbabel and joshua the high priest from zechariah's prophecy you got that now let's look at the second description this this gets interesting these jokers i don't mean to be disrespectful but they breathe fire against their their aggressors their enemies they are fire breathers and we read about this there in uh verse number five now this is what i call having serious power from god in other words you don't want to mess with these two preachers these two witnesses you don't you don't want to be on their bad list now just by way of little humor having read this years ago there have been a few times where i've been in some conflicts in church life where i have wished god would give me that power to just have breath like a blowtorch and be able to just consume people who are who are being not heads in the church but god's never given me that power this power is reserved only for these last witnesses of the great tribulation so they breathe fire against their aggressors number three they have powers like two key old testament figures and it's because of this that some believe they are these old testament figures coming down from heaven to earth but whether they are those figures coming from heaven to earth or whether they just operate in a similar way we've got to look at the similarities we've already seen they have power to breathe fire against their aggressors but we're also going to see they have these two witnesses have power to bring drought they have the power to turn water into blood and they have the power to pronounce great plagues on the earth so breathe fire against their aggressors bring drought which means the heavens seal up the the supply of water no more rain drought which results in famine they have power to turn water into blood and they have power to bring about plagues let's break each one of these down first of all as we've already mentioned the power to use fire against their aggressors guess who was able to do this elijah was able to do this you remember elijah in the old testament when we read in first kings chapter 18 the big showdown between elijah and the prophets of baal he told them let's prepare the sacrifices and you pray to your god i'll pray to mine and the god who answers by fire he alone is the true and living god and you know the answer yahweh god answered by fire and and it was a it was a beautiful display of god's power so elijah was able to call down fire interesting these two witnesses can use fire to consume those who oppose them there's another example that i think is interesting in second kings there's the book opens with king ahaziah who is the king of israel he was up on the terrace of his palace and he fell through the woodwork down to the ground below and it was a serious life-threatening injury and this wicked king he was so ungodly instead of talking to yahweh god jehovah god he got his group together and said i want you to go find these false prophets these pagan gods and ask the false prophets of the pagan gods if they can beseech the gods and tell me if i'm going to live or die from this fall that i have suffered so while he's sending his guys to go inquire of these false prophets god speaks to elijah the prophet and says elijah you need to know something the wicked king is seeking the counsel of the pagan gods and i want you to go intercept his messengers and i want you to look them in the eye and i want you to tell them you've got a message for them to take back to the king are you going to talk to these prophets of the false gods because you think the true and living god is not able to give you an answer to your question well let me give you an answer to your question you're not going to recover you're going to die because your injuries are fatal so when these men went back to the king and said we ran into this preacher and the king said what do you look like they described what the what the preacher was wearing he said it's elijah it's elijah they said well here's what he said elijah said that because you're seeking counsel from false gods and you're the king of god's people israel you've offended the lord god and and god told me to tell you you're going to die so so they told him that the king said you go bring him to me because i'm going to kill him sometimes this was some intense anger the king had against the prophet who just did what god told him to do so what happened is they took a group of 50 people to go apprehend this this one preacher named elijah because he had incurred the wrath of king ahaziah so in verse number 9 of 2nd kings chapter 1 it says he sent an army captain with 50 soldiers to get the the preacher and they found elijah sitting on top of a hill and the captain said to him man of god the king has commanded you to come down with us but elijah replied to the captain if i am a man of god then let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty soldiers and then fire fell from heaven and killed them all so verse 11 says the king sent another captain with 50 men and the captain said to him man of god the king demands that you come down at once and elijah said if i'm a man of god let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men and again the fire of god fell from heaven and killed them all and then it goes on to say how a third group showed up but this time the captain was humble he said please please please man of god don't kill us don't kill us don't kill us i come in peace but i'm coming here because the king wants to see you but please don't take it out on me i'm just the messenger because he approached the man of god with humility and honor elijah didn't call down the fire the reason i'm sharing this story with you is because these two witnesses in revelation 11 are said to have the power to use fire against their opponents during this last half of the tribulation so there's power to use fire against aggressors we see that in elijah then there's the power to bring drought guess what we also see that from the ministry of elijah in not second kings but in first kings chapter 17 if you grew up in church you've heard this story but elijah was given power from god through elijah's prayer life to bring drought across the land of israel and this was when king ahab and queen jezebel were leading the country and god told elijah to pray that it would not reign and in that prayer he gave elijah the power to shut up the clouds of heaven so that a drought would come upon the land of israel it was god's way of saying elijah i'm giving you the power to bring divine sanctions upon the economy and the people of israel so in the new testament little new testament book of james when james is talking about the power of prayer he refers to elijah and that whole instance of elijah praying and it ceasing to reign in james chapter 5 verse 17 james says elijah was as human as we are and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall no rain did fall for how long three and a half years now i just want you to think about this that all the way back in the old testament first king 17 when elijah prayed it wouldn't rain how long did it cease to rain three and one half years and here these two witnesses in the last days of the tribulation they have the power to pronounce drought and how long will their ministry endure three and a half years the same length of time of the drought that elijah caused in the days of ahab and jezebel over the land of israel fascinating fascinating now another thing to remember is that when we get to the last book of the old testament you know the book of malachi four chapters the next to the last verse of the last book of the old testament which really means the next to the last verse of the whole old testament is malachi chapter 4 and verse 5 and and this is what it says god says these words look i am sending you the prophet elijah before the great and dreadful day of the lord arrives now many people believe that john the baptist fulfilled the prophecy of malachi 4 and verse 5. i'm sending you elijah before the great and terrible day of the lord and one of the reasons they believe that if you'll remember when zacharias was spending time in prayer with god and i'm not talking about the prophet zechariah we've already talked about from the old testament i'm talking about a man named zacharias who would be the father of john the baptist and while zacharias was praying an angel came and let him know hey zacharias you and your wife elizabeth who have been unable to conceive for so long god's heard your prayers and you're going to have a very special little boy whose name is going to be called john we we now call him john the baptist this is what the angels said to zacharias in luke chapter 1 verse 16 the angel said and this son of yours is going to turn many israelites to the lord their god he will be a man with the spirit and power of elijah he will prepare the people for the coming of the lord now the reason that i wanted to show you that is because if you'll remember in all of our discussions of prophecy we talked about how many prophecies have two fulfillments so if malachi chapter 4 and verse 5 says i'm going to send elijah before the great and terrible day of the lord and then this angel of god tells zacharias your son who'll be john the baptist is going to minister in the spirit and power of elijah john the baptist was the first fulfillment of the malachi 4 and 5 prophecy but could it be that one of these two witnesses could be the final installment on the malachi 4 5 because remember the malachi 4 and verse 5 prophecy said i'm going to send elijah before the great and terrible day of the lord well when christ came that was not the great and terrible day of the lord that's when he came to to purchase our redemption but when christ returns that will be the great and terrible day of the lord i'm just connecting the dots because when you look at the description of these two prophets in revelation chapter 11 you can see they have the same powers that were that were owned by two key old testament figures and we've looked at two in particular the use of fire and the ability to pronounce drought elijah manifested those powers but i want us to continue because there's another power that is spoken of in verse 6 of revelation 11. that's the power to turn water into blood look at it in verse number six he says it that that they will have power over waters to turn them to blood now this was something that you know moses was given the power to do and we read about it in the seventh chapter of exodus when moses went to pharaoh and he had his brother aaron with him and the message was let my people go you know the story and it was the first of ten plagues the first of those plagues was when aaron moses brother lifted his hand up with his staff over the waters of the nile river and when we look in exodus chapter 7 and verse 20 it says moses and aaron did just as the lord commanded them as pharaoh and all of his officials watched aaron raised his staff struck the water of the nile and suddenly the whole nile river turned to blood and when you keep reading it says anywhere there was even a container of water a bowl a bucket a stream all the waters of egypt were turned to blood like that and they said this and and as is described in exodus this was the launching the first of ten plagues that of course would culminate in in the uh in the death of the firstborn which broke pharaoh's will eventually and and and led him to say get him out of here which leads me from this water to blood power these two last days witnesses are going to have which moses embody power to strike the earth with plagues that's another reference to moses and i want you to know when you think about the the plagues that moses uh commenced on the land of egypt i know god did it but he used moses to do it that water to blood was just number one there were nine more successive plagues imagine how terrible and horrible it was to live in egypt at that time especially when that death angel came across the whole land of egypt and destroyed every firstborn of man and beast except for the homes where the blood was over the doorpost now so so what are we saying here we are saying that at the halfway point of the tribulation not only is the antichrist going to turn on israel not only is israel then going to face for three and a half years unprecedented persecution and torment but they're going to be two last days spirit anointed witnesses who have supernatural power to preach the gospel in the land of israel and ultimately because of technology their message will go all over the world and they're going to have the same types of supernatural miraculous ability that were utilized very clearly references here to moses and elijah now what i when i mentioned to you that some believe that these two witnesses are people who are in heaven come to earth from the old testament some people believe this is literally going to be moses the real moses who died and went to heaven and comes back down and is one of these two witnesses and elijah who as you know was taken to heaven in a charity of fire who did not die but he will come back i don't believe it's literally going to be moses and literally going to be elijah i just believe it is going to be two men who have the abilities that were manifested in the ministries of moses and elijah now one thing i want you to i don't have this in my notes but i want you to remember when jesus went on the mount of transfiguration in matthew 17 remember how once his clothing became as bright as the lightning there was a man who appeared on each side and one was moses and one was elijah so the the the moses stood for the law elijah stood for the prophets and it's no accident that these two men are being referred to very clearly in the description that john is given of these two witnesses now i don't want you to miss how often will these two witnesses be able to bring destruction to pronounce these plagues to unleash this power god gives them the last part of verse 6 says as often as they desire it means that god is going to give them unilateral discretion to invoke supernatural power and to to bring plagues and catastrophe including drought and even fire that consumes their opponents and anybody gets in their way in the mission god has given them they're going to have a different kind of ministry wouldn't you agree you know in the book of numbers moses always dealt with insubordination people complaining wanting to throw him out blaming him for taking them out of egypt into a strange land leaving them there to perish and all these kinds of things but there was one man in particular named korra who led a rebellion against moses and he was effective in getting this group of recalcitrants together and uh two additional ringleaders were named dathan and abyram and in addition to korah and dathan and abyram there are about 250 others from noble families of the jewish people so 250 important people and you know i think about this sometimes when i've heard about pastors who are struggling and they'll say well the powerful people in the church turned against him or the powerful people the people the big givers this that the other moses faced that kind of thing and moses called the people together and said it's time it's time for us to see if god is with me or not and in number 16 he called these three people korah and dathan and abyram in front of the israelites and in verse 28 of numbers 16 it says and moses said this is how you're going to know that the lord has sent me to do all the things i've done for i've not done any of them on my own if these men die a natural death when he was talking about korah and dathan and abyram if they die natural death or if nothing unusual happens then god isn't with me this is moses talking but if the lord does something entirely new and the ground let's say we're to uh open its mouth and swallow them whole and all their belongings and they go down alive into the grave then you'll know that these men have shown contempt for god he had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath those guys the earth opened its mouth swallowed the men along with their households all their followers who were standing within everything they owned and they went down alive into the grave along with all their belongings the earth closed back up over them they went into this huge sinkhole and they all vanished from among the people of israel and all the people around them fled when they heard their screams the earth will swallow us too they cried and then fire blazed forth from the lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense so why i'm only using this story to tell you that these two witnesses of the last days revelation they're going to have the same kind of power and favor from god that will be manifested through supernatural demonstrations of god's wrath against their enemies don't mess with the two witnesses but what happens to them well it's clear they have a period of invincibility because they have been given this three and a half years to consume anybody gets in their way or opposes them or tries to kill them and the bible makes it clear people will hate their guts the global alliance will hate them the antichrist will hate them so finally god says i'm going to remove my hand of protection in order to perform an even greater miracle and in verse 7 of chapter 11 it says when they finish their testimony and not one moment before the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war with them that's the two witnesses the beast against them he will overcome them and look he will 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 then those from the peoples tribes tongues and nations will see their dead bodies for three and a half days and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them make merry send gifts to each other party live it up they're dead they're dead they're dead because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth now i just want you to notice verse 7 says when they finish what a great reminder that they are untouchable and they are invincible until god says they're finished that ought to encourage you tonight to know that you and i our time's not up until god says it's up but for these two witnesses god had a specific timeline for their ministry until then they were unstoppable but then god says i'm going to remove my protection and i'm going to allow them to be killed and we see this beast who appears from the bottomless pit or the abyss now there are three beasts mentioned in revelation i want to see this on the screen and you don't need to capture this tonight because we're going to come back to this but there is a beast from the bottomless pit and he is the one who kills the two witnesses we believe that's literally satan here in the seventh verse of chapter 11. but john also sees a beast coming out of the sea in chapter 13 and verse 1. that's the antichrist we'll look at him later and then there's this religious leader that the antichrist uses to align people around himself he's called the false prophet he's the beast from the land in revelation chapter 13 and 11. and just for those of you who are into this kind of thing in the same way there's a father son and holy spirit which is the holy trinity of god these three beasts the one from the bottomless pit which is satan the one from the sea which is the antichrist and the one from the land which is the false prophet this is the unholy trinity because it is a counterfeit version of the real trinity and we'll have more to say about that later what happens is satan is allowed by god to kill these two witnesses and their bodies are going to be left on display in the streets of jerusalem and you see jerusalem is going to be called at this point sodom and egypt which are references to ungodliness and idolatry and you say well how do you know it's jerusalem because john says that it's where our lord was crucified so a jerusalem under gentile domination is sodom and egypt and these two witnesses are going to be left lifeless in the streets to be jeered at to be mocked at and i want to tell you when we were reading there in verse 9 it says please don't miss this in revelation 11 and verse 9. those people tribes nations tongue in other words everybody in the world is going to be able to see them do you realize that everybody who read revelation 11 and verse 9 probably had to wonder prior to the 20th century how will everybody in the whole world be able to gaze upon these two dead bodies for three and a half days and now we realize that this book written 2 000 years ago revelation 11 and verse 9 was a was a prophetic prediction about satellite technology in other words because of cell phones and the world being an interconnected cyber digital community yes not just through news media but social media it says the world everyone in the world will see these dead prophets that they leave in shame and disgrace in the streets of jerusalem for three and a half days and when we were reading a moment ago it says that everybody in verse number 10 is all of the gentiles and the ungodly people are going to celebrate send gifts to each other and have parties for three and a half days the whole world will be rejoicing because these guys were an antagonistic force in the world these guys were despised and these guys were an irritant and god removed his protection and let the devil kill him but then something happens while the crowds are dancing in the streets of jerusalem shouting they're dead they're dead and their bodies are stiff and going into a state of decay probably flies probably a stench and the cell phones are all over these two these two corpses verse 11 look at it now after the three and a half days the breath of life from god entered the two witnesses they stood on their feet and great fear fell on them 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 enemy saw them hey are the cell phones still on yes they are i hope you don't miss any of this and in the same hour there was a great earthquake and a tenth of the city fell and in the earthquake seven thousand people were killed and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the god of heaven the second woe is past behold the third woe is coming quickly do you see what just happened john saul depicted the whole world exalting in reveling in rejoicing in the death of these faithful and fierce prophets of god and three and a half days later while people are still filming their dead bodies and jeering god revives them brings them back from the dead and they stand up and the cell phones are still going and then god says come on up here you're finished and they ascend to heaven in the same way jesus went back to heaven 40 days after his resurrection but they go instantly and it says and all of their enemies saw that too that's why i said are the cell phones still going yeah i hope they are they will be because everybody in the world will see their dead bodies and everybody in the world will see it in real time their resurrected bodies and the dual ascension to heaven because their work is done and when they ascend back to heaven there is a literal earthquake described here 10 of the holy city falls into ruins 7 thousand that's probably a general number seven thousand people in jerusalem will die but it says here don't miss it that the rest of them in verse 13 glorified god and what we believe this means is that through the death of these prophets and the ascent resurrection and ascension of these prophets there's a great revival in and around jerusalem among those jews who are still left and perhaps even among many gentiles because it says those who weren't killed they glorified god which is which is another way of saying they got saved so throughout the three and a half years of these two witnesses preaching and performing these miracles fierce miracles and miracles of which people should be afraid certainly there has been conversion people getting saved through that whole time but now even in their death and their resurrection and their ascension more people are saved so i don't know how all of this will play out i just know that out of all the things we talk about that happen during the tribulation these two witnesses intrigue me the most because i believe they represent literal who will rise to prominence with god's anointing at the same time that the antichrist rises to prominence and sheds the deceptive mask he's been wearing as a friend of israel as the force of evil rises so two forces of good arise and even though the antichrist hates them the world hates them nobody can touch them until god is finished using them the way he wants to use them so they are the real jehovah's witnesses father thank you for allowing us to study is so much information tonight but exciting information and it helps us to be encouraged that when the time will be the darkest on planet earth you will still raise up your witnesses to shine the light and even to breathe the fire in order that the name of jesus be glorified in all the earth in whose name we pray amen you

Channel: FirstBaptistAtlanta

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Length: 61min 26sec (3686 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 02 2020