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The
Two Witnesses
The Two Witnesses are the
Bible and the Holy Spirit, and the 144,000 will
be the arms and legs of the Two Witnesses. The
144,000 will present Bible truth, and the Holy
Spirit will convict honest-hearted people (in
every religion) with the truthfulness of that
testimony. The Holy Spirit will do everything
possible to move people into submission to the
will of Jesus; even empowering the 144,000 to
perform miracles. They will present three simple
testing truths from the Bible and these testing
truths (found in Revelation 14:6-12) will
separate those who listen to God’s Spirit
from those who do not. Eventually, the influence
of the Bible and the Holy Spirit will be killed
during the Great Tribulation!
Jesus said the Father
accepts the worship of those who worship Him in
spirit and truth. (John 4:24) In other words, God
accepts the worship of those who humbly submit to
His demands. If our will is more important than
His will, then we have become an enemy of God (anti-Christ),
because our Creator has a higher claim over us
than we have over ourselves! When we become
willing to go, to be and to do all that God
demands, Jesus said it is like being born again.
(John 3) The Holy Spirit does His best to bring
us into perfect harmony with God’s commands
and will.
Because Jesus speaks for
God, He is called “the Word of God.” (John
1:1) People who worship Jesus in spirit and truth
must be open-hearted (to the Spirit) and open-mined
(to the advancement of truth) so they can mature
in Christ. When a person rejects the Spirit and
refuses to accept the clearest evidences of
truth, God can do nothing else to save that
person. By the time the seventh trumpet sounds,
the influence of the Two Witnesses will be
terminated. Their work will end because everyone
will have made their decision for Lucifer or
Christ. Many people, like one-third of the angels
in Heaven, will choose to follow Lucifer and
believe his lies. Consequently, the Two
Witnesses, the Holy Spirit and the written Word (the
Bible) will condemn them to death. (2
Thessalonians 2:9-12; Jeremiah 7:28; 9:5; Daniel
8:12; 2 John 1:1.2)
In Revelation 11, the two
olive trees and two candlesticks (the Holy Spirit
and the Bible) are personified as two human
witnesses who will speak to the whole world.
Personification is used in Revelation 11 for an
important reason. In Bible times, a person could
not be put to death on the testimony of one
witness; a minimum of two witnesses was required.
(Deuteronomy 17:6; Hebrews 10:28) During the
Great Tribulation, the 144,000 will forcefully
and clearly present the demand to worship God;
every person who refuses to submit to the
influence of the Holy Spirit and obey God’s
fourth commandment will be condemned to die,
because of defiance. No person will perish
because he refuses to listen to one of God’s
144,000 servants. People who reject the Holy
Spirit and God’s truth will commit the
unpardonable sin and be condemned because of open
rebellion. (Matthew 12:31) Many people think the
Two Witnesses will be Moses and Elijah, but
Revelation’s story does not have 144,002
spokespersons for God. Revelation’s story is
about two divine witnesses from God (which
cannot fail) empowering 144,000 servants.
The
Rise and Fall of Babylon
After the “shock and
awe” of the first four trumpets occur, chaos
and lawlessness will follow. The mayhem that
occurred after the war between the United States
and Iraq in 2003 is a miniature example of this
coming upheaval. Political leaders of all nations
will immediately respond to God’s
overwhelming destruction by imposing martial law.
Fear and anxiety will rule the day. Religious
leaders will declare those events as “Acts
of God,” and they will move quickly to
establish a coalition of religious and political
authorities to discuss developments and options.
The consuming issue will be the question of how
to appease God so that His judgments will cease.
Because every government will be on the brink of
a collapse as a result of God’s judgments,
religious and political leaders from all over the
world will agree that a “crisis government”
is necessary to deal with God’s demands. The
Bible calls this coming crisis government, “Babylon.”
Ironically, Babylon will
immediately attempt to appease God by imposing
“sin-less” laws. These laws will, at
first, prohibit sinful behaviors that were
previously permissible. Eventually, laws
mandating the worship of God will be imposed, but
the diversity of humanity will prove to be an
insurmountable obstacle! How should God be
worshiped? Which religion has the truth about
God? Every religion has a different view of God’s
requirements. To resolve this sticky problem,
laws will be enforced in each nation that
reflects the majority view of God. In other
words, in countries where Catholicism is
dominant, laws mandating the worship of God will
favor Catholic theology. In countries where Islam
is dominant, laws mandating the worship of God
will favor Islamic theology. Because of the
overwhelming destruction of the first four
trumpets, in the United States, the Bill of
Rights and constitutional freedoms will be
suspended. The laws of Babylon will stand in
direct opposition to the fourth commandment and
juxtaposition of conflicting laws will put the
people of Earth in an agonizing situation. If
people obey God, the authorities will punish them
for violating the laws of Babylon. If people obey
the authorities of Babylon, God will punish them
for violating His law. Babylon will severely
persecute the saints for 42 months and
ultimately, Jesus will destroy Babylon at the
Second Coming.
The
appearing of the Antichrist
About 890 days after the
Great Tribulation begins (or two-thirds of the
way through the 1,335 days of the Great
Tribulation), the fifth trumpet will occur. This
event will prove to be awesome. Lucifer will be
allowed to physically appear on Earth. The devil
will be allowed to leave the spirit realm to
physically appear before human beings to bring
sin’s drama to a close. Lucifer is the
dreaded Antichrist. He will masquerade as
Almighty God. He will perform great signs and
wonders, and demand the worship that belongs only
to God. Billions of wicked people will believe,
on the basis of his miracles and signs, that he
is really God. To ration scarce resources during
the Great Tribulation, the devil will divide the
people of Earth into groups of one thousand.
Then, during the sixth trumpet, demons will kill
a third of mankind to silence opposition against
Lucifer, and he will assume absolute control over
Earth. In order to buy and sell, the remaining
two-thirds of the wicked will consent to wearing
a tattoo on their right hand showing the number
666. This number indicates the bearer belongs to
the two-thirds who were spared from death (666 is
two-thirds of 1,000). The devil will then exalt
himself as King of kings and Lord of lords, only
to be destroyed by THE true King of kings and
Lord of lords at the Second Coming.
The
Seven Last Plagues
The seventh trumpet marks
the close of the gospel call. The influence of
the Two Witnesses will be terminated at the end
of the 1,260 days. By that time, most, if not
all, of the 144,000 will have been slain. Jesus’
offer of salvation will end and the seven last
plagues will begin. The seven bowls will fall
exclusively on people who have the mark of the
beast. The seven last plagues will last for
seventy days. Seven judgments will be poured out
on the wicked for two reasons. First, Jesus
intends to avenge the suffering of His innocent
saints. He will punish the wicked for the cruel
treatment and the murder of His saints during the
seven trumpets. Second, Jesus will display the
wrath of God against obstinate rebellion so that
through eternity, everyone will know how God’s
wrath against defiance is demonstrated.
The
Second Coming
When Jesus appears, three
events happen in quick succession. First, the
Lord will resurrect the righteous dead. Second,
the living righteous will be caught up with the
resurrected saints to meet the Lord in the air
while the wicked watch. Last, Jesus will cast the
devil and his regime into a lake of fire. Then,
Jesus will speak a powerful command and the
wicked people of Earth will die. Ironically, the
same voice that raised the righteous dead to life
will put the wicked to death.
The
1,000 Years
During the 1,000 years,
the saints will be taken to their home in Heaven
to reign with Christ. (John 14:1-3) Reigning with
Christ means the saints will share Christ’s
authority. They will have the authority, along
with Jesus, to determine the amount of
restitution (suffering) that each wicked person
must provide. The wicked will then be annihilated
in the purifying fire that will fall on Earth at
the end of the thousand years. In other words,
justice will be completely extracted from every
wicked person before he is allowed to die. This
is the golden rule: As you did unto others, it
will be done unto you. (Leviticus 24:19-22;
Deuteronomy 19: 18-21)
A
New Heaven and a New Earth
At the end of the 1,000
years, the saints will descend to Earth in the
Holy City, New Jerusalem. The wicked will be
resurrected to see their Maker and face their
punishment, which was determined by the saints
during the thousand years. The seventh seal will
be broken and the contents of the Book of Life
will be presented for everyone to see. A world of
many languages and religions will see that Jesus
Christ is Almighty God just like the Father. The
lies of the devil will finally be proven false.
The defiance of the wicked will be seen for what
it really is, selfishness. Jesus will see to it
that everyone understands why He judged them as
He did. When the wicked discover there is no hope
for recovery, the devil will arose them to make
war against Jesus and His holy city. Jesus will
then call fire down from Heaven and eventually
the wicked will be annihilated. Fire will purify
Earth of sin. When the greatest sinner (Lucifer)
finishes suffering, Jesus will create a new
Heaven and a new Earth and the saints will live
happily ever after.
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