Tell me about the historic accounts of the two witnesses, their miracles, the fire from heaven, the great drought, their torment of the wicked, their death, their glorious assencion right in front of everyone, the associated earthquake. I imagine the written accounts of these 'historic' events are quite exciting to read.
Hello and good day,
I believe I detect a bit of sarcasm.
Like most abusers of prophecy, you randomly treat figurative language as if it is literal and literal language as if it is figurative.
If you read all my posts you would have saw the historical/scriptural accounts of the drought, false prophets, persecution, etc. I care not to sift through all the posts, however, in case I didn't here it is:
"You will clearly see that even secular history can support the evidence that the events in Matthew 24:4-35 have already come to pass. The "
false messiahs" verses 4 and 5 already happened see Acts 5:33-37 and Josephus (secular writer) also mentions this in his books. Then to describe the verses 6-8 The predictions of "wars and rumors of wars" history is plum full of evidence of the turmoil Rome was faced with internally let alone externally especially from the period of Christ's death to the destruction of Jerusalem. Look it up. The predictions of "famine" take a look at Acts 11:28. Again already happened. The talk on "earthquakes" many of them. Look at secular history again one of the most famous of the earthquakes then was Pompeii Feb. 5th A.D. 66. The parts on christians being persecuted in verses 9-13 see to the bible Acts 4 and 5. Stephen was stoned to death Acts 6 and 7. Against the church Acts 8 and 9. James gets beheaded Acts 12. And Paul spoke of heavy persecution often see also 2 Timothy 1:15; 4:10, 16. False teachers Acts 20:29; Romans 16:17-18; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1. Then look at verse 14 of Matthew 24 "gospel... preached in all the world...then the end will come" Now look at Colossians 1:6, 23."
Now without further delay the two witnesses (figurative not to be taken literal). Remember, Revelation is a code book, a pictorial book. Without understanding the old testament how are you going to understand the new? Especially since Revelation alludes to over 390 times the OT.
My notes/study on Two Witnesses (verses 1-14):
John is given a measuring rod, and he is told to measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship in it. Here the temple represents the church (
Ephesians 2:19-22). Thus, the church is being measured to see if it is deserving of protection because of its obedience (
II Corinthians 10:12-18;
I John 4:1). This is similar to Ezekiel’s vision (
Ezekiel 40:2-42:20). Take special note of the purpose mentioned in
Ezekiel 42:20. Israel came up short in measurement (
Ezekiel 43:10-12).
However, John is told not to measure the outer court of the temple because that had been given to the nations (the word “Gentiles” means “nations). In the temple in Jerusalem, the outer court was called the Court of the Gentiles, it was closest non-Jews could come to worship God. Thus, non-Christians would not be given protection (a repeat of
Revelation 7:3-8). The unbelievers would trample the holy city for 42 months. This is another way of indicating 3 ½ years, which is half of seven – the number for completeness and perfection. 3 ½ symbolizes incompleteness, uncertainty and trials. This period appears a number of times:
• It is the time (42 months) Jerusalem is trampled (
Revelation 11:2)
• It is the time (1260 days) the witnesses would prophesy in sackcloth (
Revelation 11:3)
• It is the time (1260 days) the woman would be protected in the wilderness (
Revelation 12:6)
• It is the time (time, times, and half a time) they would be nourished while protected from the serpent (
Revelation 12:14)
It also appears in Daniel’s prophecies, which I believe deal with the same period of time:
• It is the period of time of the beast’s authority and blasphemies (
Daniel 7:21)
• It is the period of time the saints would be in the beast’s hand (
Daniel 7:25).
In other words, this is the period of time that Christians would be persecuted.
We are not talking about the physical city of Jerusalem. The church is the new Jerusalem (
Revelation 21:2;
Hebrews 12:22-23). Thus the church would be corrupted and persecuted by those who were not true believers, but these persecutions would not be able to reach the core of the church.
During the time of the trampling of Jerusalem (the church), two witnesses will prophesy, clothed in sackcloth. Why two? Because in order to secure a conviction in a court, there was a need for two witnesses at a minimum (
Deuteronomy 19:15). This rule continues in the church (
Matthew 18:16;
II Corinthians 13:1;
I Timothy 5:19).
The same two witnesses are called two olive trees and two lampstands. We already have seen lampstands referring to individual churches (
Revelation 1:20). A lampstand can also refer to the word of God (
Psalms 119:105). Lamps in those days burned oil to give light. The most common source of oil in this region were olive trees. A similar vision is found in
Zechariah 4:2-6,
11-14. To have an olive tree next to a lamp means you have a constant supply of oil so the lamp never need go out.
Taking this together, I believe the two witnesses are the church and the word of God. The fact that they are testifying in sackcloth reinforces that this was a time of misery and distress. Christians hold forth the word as a light in a crooked and dark world (
Philippians 2:15-16). This again looks like a reference to the prophecy about the reign of the man of sin (
II Thessalonians 2:3-12).
As the two witnesses testify, their enemies are consumed by fire that comes from their mouths (
Jeremiah 5:14). God’s word can burn by bothering people’s conscience. The witnesses were given authority to:
• Stop the rain, like Elijah. Note that Elijah’s drought lasted 3 ½ years (
James 5:17).
• Turn water to blood, like Moses (
Exodus 4:9)
• And to smite the earth with plagues as often as they desired
These allude to the prophets of old who displayed God’s power, which served as a witness to the truth of their words (
Hebrews 2:3-4). Notice that they successfully finished their testimony. They were not interrupted.
At the end of their testimony, the beast from the abyss makes war against them. In Daniel, the beast refers to a king, kingdom, or an institution (
Daniel 7:3,
17,
23). In the battle the beast kills the two witnesses and their bodies like in the street of the great city.
The city is spiritually called by three names: Sodom, Egypt and the city where the Lord was crucified (Jerusalem). Notice that Egypt is a country, not a city. This emphasizes that this great city is not any of those places, but has characteristics like those places. Sodom is infamous for its sexual sins, homosexuality in particular. Egypt was infamous for its idolatry and the bondage of God’s people. Both Sodom and Egypt are frequently used as representatives of worldly sins. Jerusalem is now listed among the great sinful places because of the death of Christ. It represents religious corruption. It is not directly named because the new Jerusalem is the church and the church is not connected with causing the Lord’s death. It could also mean its crime is so great that it does not even deserve to be named. And each of these three places were destroyed by God because of their sins. (By the way, this is a hint that the destruction of Jerusalem had already taken place.) Thus, the great city is full of sexual sins, idolatry, bondage to sin, and religious corruption with a rejection of God’s prophets and His Son. The implication is that it too will be destroyed by God.
The witnesses bodies lie on display for 3 ½ days without being buried. It is testimony of the disrespect and contempt the city had for God’s witnesses. 3 ½ days would be another period of pain and tumult, but shorter than the previous time. And while the bodies are on display the people celebrate their death.
Satan wins a victory through his beast. He stops the church and the Bible from being spread, but he was able to do so before that spread of teaching had already been completed.
But just when it appears that Satan won, God resurrects His witnesses. A voice calls them to heaven and their enemies see them depart. Reading the accounts of Christian martyrs, you can see the frustrations of those killing them because they could not terrorize them. They watch them die with smiles on their faces and praises for God on their lips. And in their death they joined God (
Romans 8:35-37).
As they go, an earthquake causes a tenth of the city to collapse, killing 7,000 people. The church and the spread of the gospel revives and the evil city is given a significant wound. A tenth indicates a partial, restrained judgment and 7,000 killed indicates a complete accounting for the evil done.
The rest of the people are terrified and give glory to God, but it would be incorrect to conclude that they were converted, only forced to admit that God is great.
Verses 15-18:
The victory has finally been achieved! The kingdom of the word has become the kingdom of Christ. God is worshiped for his accomplishments. Jesus had promise that he would come quickly (
Revelation 2:16;
3:10-11;
22:7,
12,
20) and that had been accomplished. It is not the final judgment, but the swiftness of God's judgement on the wicked. The earth was shaken and the unshakable remains (
Hebrews 12:26-29). Therefore Daniel's prophesy was fulfilled (
Daniel 2:44;
7:13-14).
Evil tired to rebel against God's design. In their defeat, their possessions were turned over to God's people. In Daniel, the beast prevailed for a time, but the saints won in the end. God always wins (Psalms 2).
The dead in
Revelation 11:18 are those lost in sin (
Ephesians 2:1,
5) and not those physically dead. The dead are contrasted to God's bondservants, prophets, saints and those who fear God's name. Notice the implication that the earth remains, but at the final judgment the earth will be destroyed (
II Peter 3:10-12).
On a side note:
There are four verses throughout the book of Revelation that you might have missed.
1. Revelation 1:1 = "...must shortly come to pass..."
2. Revelation 1:3 = "...for the time is at hand."
3. Revelation 22:6 = "...things which must shortly take place."
4. Revelation 22:10 = "Do not seal up...prophecy...for the time is near."
How can ANYONE honestly say that this means two thousand years later?
Does the football game announcer say "the game will shortly take place" and it happens 10 years later? Preposterous.
