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| Earl Gillespie |
GOD’S TWO WITNESSES
Many are becoming disenchanted with the cliche driven messages that fail to impart and new knowledge of God plan for humanity. The Book of Revelation, Jesus message to the churches is often ignored. Surgically removed excerpts from Bible verse are presented out of context as if they are a complete thought. A Holy Ghost inspired message now a day is a message filled with sound-bites and cliches that provide no spiritual support for those who are suffering.
This is part #37 of our study of the Book of Revelation. The letters to the churches occupied the first three chapters of the book, then in chapter four the Rapture of the church took place. We were distracted for a moment when a reader stated that the word Rapture could not be found in the Bible. For the sakes of being up-to-date I did a computer search and could not find it, I then did a search for the word "shopping" and could not find it either. Sort of reminded me of the time the educated gentleman said he gave up on Christianity because Jesus embraced cannibalism when he told his disciples they had to eat his body and drink his blood.
We learn that the Jews, Gentile and the church are three separate entities. The Jews and the Gentiles are an earthly people and the church composed of Jews and Gentiles is a spiritual body. One does not replace or supersede the other, nor can one group clam the blessing and promises of the other. When the wrath of God is poured out upon the earth the church will be in heaven attending the award ceremony, (being crowned) preparing to return with Christ to Judge the world.
If you need validation read, A Study of The Book of Revelation, beganning with Part #1. Now that brings us up to today's study If you missed part #36 you might need to go back and read it to bring yourself up to speed.
Revelation 11:3-12
3. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
4. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
5. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth, out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies: and If any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
6. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have powerover waters to turn them to blood and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome them, and kill them.
8. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies threedays and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall sendgifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
11. And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stoodupon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
The miracles recorded in the last
part of verse 6 fit Moses in every detail. Read the account in Exodus, when God sent Moses to
deliver His people from the hand of Pharaoh - and Pharaoh was certainly a type of the
Antichrist. When Moses went down to meet
Pharaoh, he turned the water to blood and called down ten plagues upon the Egyptians. Read
and study Exodus, chapters five through twelve. When it seemed that Israel would be
crushed and destroyed by the iron hand of Pharaoh, it was Moses who came from the back side of
the desert - called and commissioned by God - to deliver Israel out of Egyptian bondage. These
chapters in Exodus tell the story of plague after plague being visited upon the godless nation
of Egypt. God finally destroyed them at the bottom of the Red Sea. Under the hand of God, Moses
delivered Israel from material and physical bondage. He led them on their way to Canaan’s
land. Why should not God use this great deliverer again as one of the witnesses of Revelation 11?
Moses appeared to Israel in one
of the darkest moments in history; why not again in this dark moment when it seems that
Antichrist and the wicked Gentiles will completely annihilate the little band of Israelites? (The
Jew can never be destroyed; he is the apple of God’s eye, and God will protect him. Many have tried
to destroy Israel - and have failed. History records such instances even in your day and
mine - Hitler was one of the last, and Adolph Eichman paid with his life for his part in
attempting to wipe the Jew from the face of the earth.)
Moses and Elijah were the
outstanding mountain-peak prophets in God’s program in dealing with Israel throughout the Old
Testament era. And when Jesus went up on the Mount of Transfiguration it was Moses and
Elijah (not Enoch and Elijah) who came down to meet Him and discuss His death on
the Cross (Luke 9:27 -35). Jesus came not to destroy the
Law, but to fulfill the Law and the prophets (Matthew 5:17). Since God gave the Law to Moses, and
since Elijah was the chief of prophets, it seems reasonable that it would be these two with whom
Jesus would discuss “. . . His decease which He should accomplish at
Jerusalem.”
To the nation Israel, these two
prophets of God represent spiritual and physical deliverance. There are three things about
these two witnesses that cause me to believe they will be Moses and Elijah:
1. Their times
2. What they did
3. Their end
Their times were not Gospel
times. They were called to prophecy in times of horror. The Jew will be back in his own land, his
temple will have been rebuilt; but there is no trace of Gospel or of the grace of God at that
moment. Believers under grace are not to render evil for evil; we are to return good for evil. We are
to pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us. We are to rejoice and be exceeding glad
when we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Jesus had power to call down fire and
destroy His enemies - but He did not. He said He came to save . . . not
to destroy (Luke 9:56). He told Peter to put up his sword, and informed him that He could call
down twelve legions of angels if He needed help. But it will be quite different
when Moses and Elijah prophesy. These two witnesses will have the
power to destroy men - and they WILL destroy men with fire which “issueth out of their
mouth.” Imagine Moses and Elijah prophesying on a street corner in Jerusalem. Henchmen of the
Antichrist walk up and begin to mock. Elijah simply blows his breath on them - and they turn to
a handful of ashes!
Oh, yes - the Word of God is true.
It makes no difference what modernists and liberals say about it, these prophets will blow
their breath upon men and cremate them! The preaching of the Gospel is good news (Isaiah
52:7), but the message of the two witnesses will be a message of literal fire. These prophets are clothed in
sackcloth, a symbol of calamity and judgment. Nature rejoices at the message of grace (Isaiah
55:12,13), but the message of these two mighty men will shut up Heaven and no rain will fall for
three-and-a-half years. They will speak - and rivers will turn to blood. Plagues of sores and
diseases . . . things too terrible to name . . . come upon men because of them. They remind us of the
time when Jeroboam’s hand was withered by the unnamed man of God (I Kings 13:4) and of the
time when fire from Heaven consumed the soldiers of Ahaziah who came to Elijah on the hill
(II Kings 1). The times of these two witnesses will be times of exceeding evil and of fiery
judgment.
- Jacob wore sackcloth when he
mourned for his sons.
- David wore sackcloth when he
grieved deeply because Abner was unjustly killed.
- Daniel wore sackcloth when he
came before the Lord to weep and pray about the sins of Israel.
- Hezekiah wore sackcloth when he
heard of the terrible blasphemies of Sennacherib.
- The priest of God wore
sackcloth when the holy services of the temple were interrupted.
In like manner, the two witnesses
will wear sackcloth, and during the time they prophesy, hell will have literally moved to this
earth. From the abyss there will come a mysterious beast to whom Satan will give power and
authority as his chosen agent for prime minister. The beast will blaspheme God and the temple and
all that is holy. He will have power to perform
miracles that will cause the mass of earth’s dwellers to accept him as Messiah. The times will
become so terrible, the war against God and against righteousness will become so
fierce, that the fire-producing witnesses themselves will finally be overcome and killed by the
powerful counterfeit messiah. Peoples of earth will be so wicked and vile that they will send gifts to
each other and rejoice with dancing in the streets because God’s witnesses have been slain! It
will be a time of jubilee among the enemies of God!
The time of the two witnesses
will be a time of supernaturalism - both from Heaven and from the underworld. It seems that all natural laws
will fail during this time. God’s witnesses will shut up the
heavens, turn rivers to blood, smite the earth with all kinds of plagues. Not only will these men
have supernatural power - but the beast out of the abyss will demonstrate like power
(Revelation 13). There will be a giant image, and the beast will cause the image to speak. He will pull fire
down from Heaven in the sight of men. In the days of Moses, hell’s ministers performed
miracles, too. Read Exodus 7:10-13. Today people are looking for the
supernatural, the sensational. If a preacher is just an ordinary preacher, he does not get far. He
must claim some super-duper gift. He must announce that he is able to perform tremendous
miracles - and then the crowd comes. Those who are sponsored by liberals and modernists also have
a large following, but ministers who preach pure Grace, pure Gospel, pure Salvation, will not
draw a crowd, generally speaking. The fact that a man performs some miracle that seems
supernatural does not mean that he is God’s minister. Satan is powerful, too. I John 4:1 admonishes us to
try the spirits, and be sure the spirit we follow is the Holy Spirit.
These are dangerous days, and we
cannot be too careful. When the two witnesses are here,
the powers of Heaven and hell will lock horns in the last gigantic conflict. This old world
will be stained with blood, it will reel and rock - and great convulsions will shake the very
fiber of the universe. During this time, Antichrist and his prime minister will perform miracles
that would deceive the very elect of God if that were possible. This will occur during the “day
of the Lord.” Read Amos 5:16-20 very carefully, and study it. These verses will enlighten you
concerning the “day of the Lord.” When the seventh angel sounds,
that will bring in the consummation of all things. The seventh angel is standing ready to sound,
the moment these witnesses pass from the scene of action. The two witnesses are here on earth
at the time when judgment from God is hastening to a climax. The affairs of earth are being
swiftly brought to a close. Now let us look at the nature of
the work of these two witnesses: They are armed with fire (Hebrews 12:29). During the time of their ministry
in Jerusalem, if anyone tries to stop them or hurt them they will consume their enemies with fire. During the first days of
Christianity many of God’s dear children paid with their lives. They sealed their testimony at the
burning stake, or were fed to beasts in the arena at Rome. But it will not be so in this day. These men not only work through
supernatural power, but they also have at their command any and all things to protect them
from death. “Thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth
that is under thee shall be iron. The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust:
from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed” (Deuteronomy 28:23,24). During the time of their
witnessing, these messengers will shut up Heaven, and the sky will become as brass. Without any rain for
three-and-a-half years the ground will become hard as iron, and the elements will be filled with
dust. Their work will not only consist of shutting up the sky and turning the earth into a dustbowl
but what water is left will be turned into blood.
That is not all, beloved! These
men have power to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they wish. They prove by this
unusual supernatural power that they are sent by Almighty God, and that He has power to utterly
put down and destroy all who resist Him and follow ungodliness. The prophecy of these two
witnesses . . . the miracles they perform, the plagues they bring upon the earth . . . will not turn the
masses from Antichrist to Christ. But their prophecy will cause a remnant to turn from the beast.
During the closing days of time, before the great eternity of eternities begins, God will send
to earth a message of mercy through these two witnesses and other ordained ministers of God
whom we have discussed in previous chapters. Concerning the days of the
Antichrist, we read, “I will send you Elijah the prophet . . . and he shall turn the
heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I
come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5,6). Scholars tell us that
the word here used for curse is the
same Hebrew word God used when He told Israel to curse (EXTERMINATE) the Canaanites . .
. that is, utterly destroy their cities and annihilate the people.”
If Elijah and Moses did not come
at this time, there would be universal acceptance of the Antichrist as God, and God would
completely exterminate all creatures on earth; but the message of Elijah, Moses and others will
cause a remnant to believe on the Lord Jesus as God’s Christ, and God will have mercy on that
remnant (Acts 16:31). It is true that the masses will worship Antichrist and accept him as God. The career of these two
witnesses, though illustrious and crowded with miracles from start to finish, will be very brief - only
three and one-half years . . . 1,260 days - a very short ministry for such great witnesses as Moses and
Elijah. They will be God-protected. No power on earth or in hell can touch them until they
have completed their testimony. When their work is finished, they then become vanquishable - and
are vanquished. Verse 7 tells us that when the
two witnesses have finished their testimony, the beast that ascended out of the bottomless
pit shall make war against them, will overcome them, and kill them. What form of death they
will suffer is not stated, although during the reign of the Antichrist, beheading is
prevalent (Revelation 20:4). We are told that they will not be
buried. Their dead bodies will be left lying in the streets of Jerusalem, “spiritually called
Sodom and Egypt.” (Note how careful the Holy Spirit is to tell us that the city is spiritually, not
literally, Sodom and Egypt.) Thank God, the Holy Spirit makes it clear when something is to be
spiritualized or symbolized. I take Revelation literally except where it is clear that it is
symbolic or spiritual. Men mistake God’s mind and pervert His Word when they refuse to accept and
interpret the Bible just as the Holy Spirit dictated it to holy men of old, and they wrote it down.
Jerusalem is not literally Sodom, but spiritually is
likened unto that city. Read Isaiah 1:9,10; Deuteronomy 32:30-33; Jeremiah
23:14. Jerusalem is spiritually likened unto Egypt because of its gross idolatry; and idolatry
will prevail in the days of the two witnesses (Ezekiel 23:3-19). The statement “where also our
Lord was crucified” identifies the city as Jerusalem. The place where the bodies of the witnesses
were left was in the city street - a public thoroughfare - a place where more people passed than any
other spot. The fact that they were denied burial is an outrage on common decency and
humanity. It is filled with significance. It was no accident that the bodies of these two witnesses
were not buried. Even the vilest of criminals were granted
burial the same day of their
execution (Deuteronomy 21:22, 23). But all law and decency is set aside in regard to these
fire-blowing prophets who had tormented the area for three-and-a-half years, and who, for that length
of time, could not be destroyed.
The bodies of these men lying in
the public street testified to the most extraordinary malignity, spite and hatred with which they
were regarded. Their enemies were not satisfied to kill them - they actually gloated over their
decaying bodies for eighty-four long hours! People passed the dead bodies -
and mocked. “They that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them and
make merry, and shall send gifts one to another because these two prophets tormented them
that dwelt on the earth.”
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