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Prophecy 9

The Two Witnesses –
Revelation 10:1-11:19
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Beginning Point in Time: A few days before the censer in Revelation 8:5 is cast down.
Ending Point in Time: The 1,265th day of the Great Tribulation

Summary:

God will empower His Two Witnesses for 1,260 days at the end of Earth’s history. Their work is vital during the Great Tribulation because the people who will be alive then (the living) cannot be judged without the input of His Two Witnesses. God told Moses that no one could be put to death on the testimony of one witness because condemnation had to be validated by two or more witnesses.[1] God uses two witnesses in the book of Revelation to indicate the living will be judged and two infallible witnesses will exonerate or condemn each person. According to Matthew 24:14, the gospel of Jesus will be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all nations before the end will come. The 144,000 will deliver the gospel and Jesus will pass judgment on each person according to the testimony of His Two Witnesses. Shortly after His pre-Advent judgment is completed, Jesus will return to Earth to deal with humanity.

Introduction:

If the previous prophecy on the seven trumpets reveals the severity of God’s redemptive wrath, this prophecy reveals the amazing reach of God’s redemptive grace. The Bible declares that God is love.[2] This means that God’s actions are eternally consistent with principles of love. In other words, if you want to see what love does in any given situation, study God’s actions. Because God has infinite wisdom, He knows how and when to impose justice and when to extend mercy.

Although it is not obvious at first, this prophecy aligns with the selection and empowerment of the 144,000 and it ends with a powerful display of physical phenomena at the seventh trumpet. The Two Witnesses and the 144,000 are inseparably linked because the Two Witnesses will validate the testimony of God’s prophets. As you examine this prophecy, keep this crucial fact in mind: The Bible teaches that validation requires two or more witnesses. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “If I testify about myself [claiming that I am the promised Messiah], my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor [you have heard John the Baptist testify about me], and I know that his testimony about me is valid. You have sent [a delegation of priests] to [question and investigate] John and he has testified to the truth. . . . And the Father who sent me has himself [also] testified concerning me. [But the testimony of the Father means nothing to you because] You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.”[3]

Jesus came to Earth to reveal the truth about God. Jesus spoke the words which the Father gave Him and His testimony was true, but His words created a firestorm of conflict because light is incompatible with darkness. We know that anyone can claim to speak for God. Anyone can claim to be born again. People often make outrageous claims, but self-made claims of legitimacy are not valid. Two or more witnesses are required for validation. This is why Jesus offered the testimony of John the Baptist and His Father’s voice as two witnesses that validated His Messianic identity. The issue of legitimacy explains why the 144,000 will need two witnesses to validate their testimony!

The Bible declares that God loves everyone on Earth the same.[4] Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the 144,000 will be dispersed among the inhabitants of Earth on the basis of population. This assertion is made on the basis that God will ensure everyone on Earth will have an equal opportunity to hear and consider the eternal gospel concerning Jesus Christ before the Second Coming. Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”[5] The 144,000 will present a gospel that stands in conflict with almost everything people believe to be true. God knows this will be the case, so He will not ask anyone to believe His servants on the basis of their testimony or miracles. Instead, God’s Two Witnesses will validate the gospel of Jesus and each person will determine his eternal destiny by his response to God’s two witnesses!

If the 144,000 are distributed by population, then the United States will have approximately 6,200 of the 144,000 prophets. China and India will each have about 24,000 prophets and Mexico City’s ten million people will have about 200 prophets. When the censer is cast down and the first four trumpets sound, life as we know it will dramatically change. Television, radio, telephone, banking, travel, and other infrastructures that we now depend on will become very limited or nonexistent. This means the 144,000 will work alone as did Elijah, who thought for a while that he was the only person left in Israel who had refused to worship Baal.[6] As time passes though, honest-hearted people will listen to the 144,000 and these people will embrace the gospel because God’s Two Witnesses will confirm and convict them that this gospel is true. These converts will join with the 144,000 during the Great Tribulation and encourage others to receive Christ and be saved. However, compared to the opposition, the number of people aligned with God’s prophets will be a small minority. This is always the case. Remember how Elijah faced down 450 prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel.[7]

When we contrast the singularity of God’s prophets with the many clergy employed by the religious systems of the world (which are opposed to the gospel of Jesus), and add the number of people who have no interest in God or His gospel, a serious problem emerges for the 144,000. Who or what will validate their testimony? What will prove to the diverse people of the world that one lone voice speaks for Almighty God? This is the same situation that Jesus faced when He came to Earth to reveal the Father to the nation of Israel. Jesus fed multitudes, healed the sick, cast out demons, restored eyesight to the blind, and raised at least two dead people. These miracles did not affect the leaders or the majority of Israel at all. This brings us to a very important point: Miracles do not change hearts. Miracles affirm what the heart wants to believe. This explains why Lucifer’s counterfeit miracles[8]will be such a powerful delusion. He will call fire down out of the sky at will simply to affirm a false gospel which the wicked want to believe. Jesus knew that any self-made claims about His identity would be worthless and the same conclusion will be true for the 144,000.

Once we grasp the idea that the 144,000 will be geographically distributed all over the world, we can see why each prophet of God will require two witnesses. Something has to validate their testimony. Even more, God’s Two Witnesses will observe each person’s response to the gospel and report back to Jesus. Their testimony will enable Jesus to pass judgment on the living.


From Observer to Participant

John’s role changes in this prophecy. Earlier in the book of Revelation, John writes from the perspective of an observer, but in this prophecy, he becomes a participant. John is transformed into a participant so he can describe the experience of the 144,000 to us. I think God made John a participant because false prophets are found everywhere. People all over the world prophesy out of their own imagination every day. They claim that God has shown them certain things when in reality, God has shown them nothing. People who do this are offensive in God’s sight and He will punish them at the appointed time.[9] God made John a participant in this prophecy so that ordinary people will have the ability to determine who is a member of the 144,000. Each person who is one of the 144,000 will have a personal encounter with Jesus similar to John’s experience. Each person will be given words to speak (represented by the little book given to John) and like John, they will be commissioned to prophesy and measure the inner court in the temple. As an example for the final generation, God put John through the same experience that each last day prophet will have to endure. If a person claims to speak for God during the Great Tribulation and he or she has not had the experience recorded by John in this prophecy, and if his or her testimony is not validated by God’s Two Witnesses, then he or she is a false prophet.

Many people, who do not realize what they are saying, express their desire to be one of the 144,000. If Jesus should call you to be among that group, then you must accept His calling. You can be sure He will enable and sustain those He calls. On the other hand, no human should desire the experience the 144,000 will face. There will be 1,260 days of strenuous effort, torture, rejection, imprisonment, and death. The 144,000 will suffer as Jesus suffered and there will be no relief from their burden until death. God gave John a participant’s experience so that we can understand the sacrifice, the distress, and the victory of God’s servants. Ordinary people will not know when the 144,000 are called and sealed. Unless one of the 144,000 happens to be a close friend who shares his experience of meeting the Lord and eating the little book, I do not think we will know who the 144,000 are until the censer is cast down on Day One of the Great Tribulation.


Personification

Personification is described as giving “life” to something that is inanimate. For example, after months of wrangling, in 2010, the House and Senate of the United States passed a health care bill that dramatically changed the health care system. Prior to the final vote, some protesters carried signs on Capitol Hill that read, “Kill the Bill.” Of course, no one can “kill” a piece of paper, but people treat House Bills as living things because once a bill is signed into law, it takes on a life of its own. Therefore, killing a bill (voting down some concepts written on a piece of paper) before it is signed into law is the only way to stop a bill from coming to “life.”

God also uses personification in the Bible. For example, God personified the behavior of a divided Israel (ten tribes and two tribes) as two adulterous sisters in Ezekiel 23. Personification is effective because it says so much with so few words. By personifying Himself as Israel’s faithful husband and Israel and Judah as two adulterous sisters, God wanted His people to understand His breaking heart. What better way could He reveal His sorrow than to portray His people as two adulterous women? This background information about the use of personification has been presented because in this prophecy, God personifies the work of His Two Witnesses. This literary technique has misled many people to reach conclusions that are not valid, but we will see in this prophecy that God also speaks of His Two Witnesses as two lampstands and two olive trees as well as two prophets.

Consider this: When Moses raised his staff and stretched out his hand over the Red Sea, the Red Sea parted, but we know that Moses did not make the Red Sea part.[10] We know that an ordinary man does not have this kind of power. When Peter commanded the lame beggar to walk, Peter did not make the beggar walk, even though the beggar jumped up and began running around! Peter addressed the astonished crowd who had gathered saying, “ . . . Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?”[11] God’s power rested on Peter and it was God’s power that healed the man; not Peter’s power.

Metaphorically, Moses and Peter were “the arms and legs” through which the Holy Spirit’s power was manifested. Keep in mind that even though Holy Spirit power rested upon them, Moses did not enter the Promised Land and Peter was martyred for his faith. In other words, Holy Spirit power did not keep Moses from sinning or Peter from death. Moses and Peter were ordinary mortals like you and me, but when God’s power came upon them – His “power” enabled them to do signs and wonders.

We learned in Prophecy 6 that the Holy Spirit is an unseen member of the Godhead that works through people when directed by Jesus or the Father to do so. The Holy Spirit will not be one of the 144,000, but instead, the Holy Spirit will work through the 144,000 in the same way that He worked through Moses and Peter. We will discover in this study that one of the Two Witnesses is the Holy Spirit and the other witness is two great laws of love that govern the whole universe. God’s Two Witnesses are personified in this prophecy because they are invisible. Keeping the Two Witnesses separate and distinct from the 144,000 makes their work and mission easier to understand. The 144,000 will proclaim the gospel of Jesus and they will appear to perform many signs and wonders, but the signs and wonders will actually come through Holy Spirit power and their words will come from the little book that Jesus will give them. And like Moses and Peter, Revelation 16:4-7 and other texts indicate that most, if not all of God’s last day prophets, will die in the line of duty.

One more point must be refreshed before we begin with this prophecy. The 144,000 will receive the seal of the living God prior to the beginning of their ministry for three reasons: First, there will be no hint of sin (dishonesty, greed, or immorality) in God’s servants. Given the amazing powers that will rest upon them, the removal of the sinful nature will prove to be very important. God’s holy name will not be profaned by some foolish choice of words or impetuous act. Second, the 144,000 will be living examples of what human beings can become when the sinful nature is removed. When a repentant sinner finally understands the incredible power that sin has over him, he wants to be set free of this curse. Therefore, Jesus will start the Great Tribulation with 144,000 living examples of what it really means to have freedom from sin’s curse! This demonstration will be very encouraging to those who love truth because the gospel of Jesus includes the promise that anyone can be sealed – if only he will surrender to the demands of the gospel and live by faith! Finally, the 144,000 could not accomplish the task before them if they had sinful natures. The ridicule, rejection, persecution, and torment which they will endure would be too great for man’s fallen nature. Remember how Moses met with God on several occasions and that Moses performed many signs and wonders, but God did not permit Moses to enter the Promised Land because his carnal nature rose up on one rebellious occasion and indignation caused him to sin.[12]

 

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