Resurrection of the 2 witnesses........past, ongoing, future, other?
Luke 22:30
that
ye may eat and may drink at my table, in my kingdom, and
may sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.'
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
WHAT ABOUT EZEKIEL 37 "VALLEY OF BONES"
Ezekiel 37:10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and
the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Revelation 11:
11 And after the three days and half days, a breath of life out of the God entered in them and they stand upon their feet and fear great fall upon the ones observing them.
12 And they hear a great Voice out of the Heaven saying to them "ascend ye here!" And they ascended into the heaven in the cloud....
Revelation 20:4
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them, and the souls of those who have been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus, and because of the word of God, and who did not bow before the beast, nor his image, and did not receive the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand, and they did live and reign with Christ the thousand years;
Kindgdom Bible Studies Revelation Series
THE RESURRECTION OF THE TWO WITNESSES
“And after
three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they
stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them” (Rev. 11:11).
The two witnesses continue in that condition of death for three and a half days, according to prophetic time. This is half the perfect time of seven, or half the fullness of time, indicating a temporary state that cannot last nor be victorious. They will not remain “dead” forever! Truth crushed will rise again! It is a prophetic time, the spiritual meaning is found in the significance of the number, not a literal period of three and a half days or three and a half years, as some count it.
The spirit of life from God entering into the fallen witnesses so that they stand upon their feet once more to the terror of those who had been rejoicing in their death, has an obvious connection with the prophecy of Ezekiel 37 — the resurrection of the dry bones of the house of Israel after the Babylonian captivity:
“Come from the four winds O breath, and breathe upon these slain that they may live…” The word used for “breath” here is the same as for “Spirit” in Genesis 1:2,
“The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters…” As Ezekiel prophesied to the dry bones
“the breath came into them and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” Compare these words with those in our text:
“And the spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood upon their feet.”
The word for “spirit” is
zoe. It is not the normal life of all animals and even of the insensate creation, but the very divine life of God which enters them. Though the witness of the Spirit and the Word through God’s anointed prophetic company may seem to be dead, it shall be breathed upon by the very breath of God and it shall live again, and stand up in the earth again — raised up to an even higher realm of spiritual revelation, heavenly reality, and divine purpose, glory, and power. Hallelujah!
We have all experienced a personal, individual, inward aspect of this great truth. The word of truth that we formerly heard, the word of revelation that once was spirit and life, but which became to us just a fading hope as the demands and struggles of life pressed in upon us and beat us down and we found ourselves in our own wilderness experience, dry, parched, barren, and dead, suddenly begins to vibrate, coming to life again with quickening power by the sovereign moving of the Spirit of the Lord! O glad day! Within us the two witnesses stand up again! They were lying in the street of our soul, but now they are standing up in the power of God!
ASCENDING IN THE CLOUD
“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” (Rev. 11:12),
While the King James Bible says that the witnesses ascended up to heaven in “a” cloud, it is significant to note that the Greek text reads, “And they ascended up to heaven in THE cloud.” On that momentous occasion when the Lord Jesus took Peter, James, and John up into the mount and was transfigured before them, suddenly there appeared A BRIGHT CLOUD — a cloud with a light in it! And out of that bright cloud the voice of the Father spake concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, “This is my beloved Son: hear Him!” It is more than coincidence that, as Peter spoke, a CLOUD overshadowed them and a Voice came out of the cloud. One of the significant facts in connection with the glory cloud of God’s presence which manifested at various times throughout the Old Testament, is that God always
spoke from the cloud. This began first on mount Sinai. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may
hear when I speak with thee…and the Lord came down upon mount Sinai…and the Lord
called Moses…” (Ex. 19:9,20). At a later time God spoke from the same cloud after that it had descended upon the tabernacle. “And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the CLOUDY PILLAR descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and
the Lord talked with Moses” (Ex. 33:9).
What was that bright cloud with the light in it from which the voice of God spake? It was none other than the pillar of cloud housing the glory fire, the Shekinah glory of God that had led the children of Israel in their exodus out of Egypt and guided them for forty years! As Jesus prayed on the mount, He was transfigured before His chosen disciples. At that moment of transfiguration the glory cloud enveloped Him and God spoke from the midst of the radiance of glory.
Here I wish to point out a most significant fact of scripture which has entirely been overlooked by the average Bible student and almost all preachers and teachers in the church systems. All the way through the scriptures, from the crossing of the Red Sea by the children of Israel to the ascension of Christ from the mount of Olives, God consistently manifested Himself in ONE GLORY CLOUD. There was always only ONE SINGLE CLOUD. One cloud over mount Sinai. One cloud guiding the children of Israel through the wilderness. One cloud resting upon the tabernacle in the wilderness. One cloud shining in the most holy place. One cloud filling Solomon’s temple. One cloud overshadowing the virgin, implanting the seed of the Christ. One cloud shimmering over the summit of the mount of Transfiguration. And finally, we read, “And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and A CLOUD (only one!) received Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). Christ ascended in ONE SOLITARY CLOUD of God’s Shekinah glory — the very
same cloud in which He had manifested His presence throughout the long ages of time.
It is when we come to the return of the Lord that we notice a distinct difference in the circumstances surrounding that coming. For suddenly, the one single cloud disappears and we are introduced to a great plurality of
CLOUDS! Let us
see! Christ departed this earth in
one cloud. He comes again in
many clouds! “Behold, He cometh with
clouds: and every eye shall see Him” (Rev. 1:7). Daniel in vision beheld Him thus: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like a Son of man
came with the clouds of heaven…and there was given unto Him dominion” (Dan. 7:13-14). Jesus Himself said, “And they shall see the Son of man
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Mat. 24:30). And again, “Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and
coming in the clouds of heaven” (Mat. 26:64). Finally, the apostle Paul relates this dramatic experience: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds, to meet the Lord…” (I Thes. 4:17). In the C-L-O-U-D-S! More than one cloud. Many clouds. A great company of clouds!
The question follows: Why are there
many clouds attending Christ’s coming again, and what are these clouds? To aid our understanding of this truth, let us not for one moment forget that we are dealing with
the cloud of
God’s glory and presence. The Shekinah. When Jesus, the firstborn Son of God, was in the world John said of Him, “And we beheld
His glory” (Jn. 1:14). When did they behold His glory? You may reply that they beheld His glory when He went about doing good, healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, forgiving sins, and teaching the glorious truths of the kingdom of God. I do not deny that in all those things they beheld His glory, but the apostle Peter pinpoints for us what is really meant by them beholding the glory of the Son. “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were
eyewitnesses of His majesty (glory). For He received from God the Father honour and
glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory (the glory cloud), saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard,
when we were with Him in the holy mount” (II Pet. 1:16-18).
How very significant that at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry He said, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us…and the
glory which Thou gavest me I have given them…I in them, and Thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one…Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given me,
be with me where I am; that they may behold
my glory which Thou hast given me” (Jn. 17:20-24). And this is the crux of the whole matter! From the dawn of creation’s light until Jesus stepped upon this planet, our heavenly Father manifested to creation in a singular way
His own glory. He, the one eternal God, exhibited His presence in the form of
one glory cloud. But as Jesus approached the cross and the glorious events to unfold shortly thereafter, He disclosed the grand truth that God purposed from eternity to
share His glory with His vast family of sons…that glorious body which is
the fullness of Him that filleth all in all! Oh, the wonder of it!
Let us see then what great encouragement God has given us concerning His glory. “And ye know how we exhorted you, as a father does his children, that ye should walk worthy of God, who hath called you
to His kingdom and glory” I Thes. 2:11-12). Peter asserts, “I…also am…
a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed” (I Pet. 5:1). “Whereunto He called you…to the obtaining of
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thes. 2:14). “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory that shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). The writer to the Hebrews adds this significant testimony: “For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing
many sons to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10). That there is to be a mighty and universal revelation of the glory of God in and through His many sons, that very same glory which was revealed in the cloud of old, is evident!
When Jesus ascended two thousand years ago, He ascended glorified in that singular glory cloud in which He had dwelt from eternity. He was the One God manifested in all fullness in one Man, the Son. But, blessed be God! when He comes again He comes to be
“GLORIFIED I-N H-I-S S-A-I-N-T-S, and to be admired
I-N T-H-E-M that believe in that day” (II Thes. 1:10). The glory is shared, so the
cloud which represents that glory
is shared. Each elect son becomes a manifestation of His glory — of the
cloud — of the Shekinah. Each is as a cloud, but none manifest in individuality, for it is written, “And if (we are) children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be GLORIFIED TOGETHER” (Rom. 8:17).
But now we find that the two witnesses ascend up to heaven in THE CLOUD. Now, can you not see that this signifies an ascension into a higher heaven of the Spirit of the Lord, into the glory of our glorious Head and Lord? There is nothing wrong with desiring to ascend higher into the spiritual heavens of our Father! It is an honorable goal, the aim of every saint of God with a holy passion to apprehend that for which we also have been apprehended in Christ Jesus. But remember,
there is a proper way of ascending, and that proper way is in
THE CLOUD — that is, IN CHRIST JESUS! It is always in oneness and union in Him! Ascending by any other means makes one a thief and a robber (Jn. 10:1). No one, not even one person, can ascend into heaven by his own volition or efforts, or by his own worth or merits. Trying to flap your own wings to get there is
futile! There is no formula, no easy seven point program, no method or technique apart from
oneness and union in Jesus! Our Lord Jesus Christ is THE CLOUD! We will ascend IN THE CLOUD or our feet, spiritually, will never get off the ground! Jesus ascended
far above all heavens, which would be above all other exalted positions, above all other ruling factions, above every other glory of men and of angels!
The witnesses ascend up to heaven in
the cloud — raised up into the perfection, fullness, and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ! This is the highest dimension of the Spirit and the Word — the full measure of the Spirit of Him who was filled with the Spirit
without measure, and the absolute purity and omnipotent power of the Word as it is in Christ who
is the Word. This is not the expression of the Spirit and the Word in the lower heavens of prophetic anointing — all that is past — this is the fullest move of the Spirit and the ultimate revelation of the Word that will produce the
manchild! Let all who would ascend into this high and holy place loose their grip on all the old things belonging to the natural realm and the traditions of men.
All the old things and all the old orders are passing away and we are entering a new era, a higher plane, a brighter day, and a greater glory! Let the old things go! Do not set your heart on any old realm you have passed through, including the present “two-witness” prophetic ministry announcing the imminent appearing of the fullness of God’s Christ — the manchild. Our heavenly Father will allow even this ministry to die in the street of the city. Set your heart on the heavens above! Make Christ Himself your life and your very existence. HE is the resurrected, ascended, exalted One! We all have set our faces to ascend up to the spiritual heaven where He dwells, and we
shall ascend IN THE CLOUD. Isn’t it wonderful!