The Two Witnesses | Revelation 11:3-14 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

As the curtain of human history nears its final drop, God in his profound kindness will raise up two powerful preachers to be some of the clearest and loudest witnesses to the world before Christ returns in judgment. That is not to say that there will be no other Christian evangelists or missionaries in the tribulation period, but the Holy Spirit highlights these two distinct individuals because of their extraordinary influence and impact in that time. And for the Holy Spirit to single them out in this way is a thrilling invitation for us to examine them more carefully. And in doing so, I trust and I pray that we will learn some valuable things for our own witness as followers of Christ today. Moreover, we will definitely understand the one who will one day summon these two preaching powerhouses as an extension of his grace and wisdom.

And there are at least five things that I want us to consider and take note of regarding these two prophets in Revelation chapter 11. The first thing that we will look at is their identity. Who are these messengers exactly? We will, from there, look at their ability. Because not only are they preachers, they are prophets with incredible power, and it's difficult to ignore what they are able to do and what that means for them, for their generation, and even for us.

Their identity, their ability, thirdly, we will be confronted with their mortality. As phenomenal as these preachers are, they are human. And we are told about their death and the manner of it, and it is very revealing. From their mortality, we will fourthly look at their indignity, the opposite of dignity. Now why is that an appropriate word?

Well, we are told in detail of the great humiliation they will experience, the mistreatment, the dishonor by their global audience. And finally, we will meditate on their testimony, the overall impact of their ministry, and what that means for us as well. Let's begin by reading Revelation eleven three and four as we meditate on their identity. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

Pray with me. Father, the study of your word has been done, but Lord, the delivery requires just as much of your help. And we pray that your blessing would rest upon these truths being expounded and delivered to the hearts of your people. And and Lord, we come with hunger and expectation, believing that your word will be sweet to our mouths. And even if it is bitter in our stomachs, we accept it because we trust that even this portion of scripture will nourish us.

And it will strengthen our fellowship with Christ, and it will help us advance in holiness, and it will, by your grace, make us better witnesses for your name's sake. In Jesus' name, we pray these things. Amen. The identity of these witnesses. It's strange.

We're never given their names. And that has led many to believe that these two witnesses are actually symbolic representations and not individuals at all. And some would say that these two witnesses are actually just a picture of the church's witness in the last days. Others prefer to say, no. No.

What you have here is actually a picture of the powerful work of the old and the new testament. Others would disagree and say, no. It's it's actually, more acceptable to conclude that this is what the law and the prophets will do to a generation of unbelievers who refuse to believe. All of that, any kind of symbolism you would attribute to these two witnesses is very, very, very difficult to sustain because we haven't read it yet, but we're going to see that their behaviors. And we read it.

There is actually clothing that they wear, sackcloth, and there's gonna be a real death that these two witnesses will undergo. And just their overall destiny dispels any notion that these are some kind of just imagery or some kind of picture or symbol of something other than two real human beings. Time program. Now, among those who hold that view, there is friendly discussion. Okay.

They are real human beings, but who are they exactly? This is the stuff that some people here like to talk about during lunch after the service. Who are they exactly? One popular view is that because of the characteristics attributed to them, as we're gonna see, they have to be somebody like Moses or Elijah. In fact, let's read verse five and six.

Let's get ahead of ourselves just for a moment. Let's look at this. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they desire.

This is strikingly resembling of what? The ministry of Moses and Elijah. And that's why many are comfortable to interpret these witnesses as a reappearance of these mighty men of God. And They would add to that to say, well, doesn't Malachi say that before the day of the Lord, Elijah will appear? Good point.

Others would also include, there's a a group of Jews that also claim that Moses will make a reappearance. And I won't get into the reasons why they hold to that view. So this duo being those two mighty prophets is something that people think is is very fitting. Now there are others who would say not Moses and Elijah, but but it's more likely that it's going to be Enoch and Elijah. Now why is that?

Because they are the only two in all of the Bible that have departed from this world without experiencing death. And Hebrews nine twenty seven is often quoted to support this view where it says that it is appointed for a man to die once and then comes what? Judgment. And so it makes sense then that you have these two prophets making a reappearance, ministering, undergoing death like the rest of us, and experiencing their own resurrection. Well, there are strengths and weaknesses to those views, but unless it is clearly stated, we can't say with absolute certainty that these witnesses are the reappearance of well known men of God of the past.

What is clear though, as much as that might be possible, the reasonable interpretation is that these are unknown servants of Christ, that God will one day recruit and empower to be mighty voices, to speak to a generation that desperately needs this demonstration of supernatural power. With that being said, there is one clear reference to the Old Testament, and we read it. I'm not sure if you saw it, but look again at verse four. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. So you can debate if this is Moses, Elijah, Enoch.

What you can debate is that this verse is clearly drawn from a vision in the book of Zechariah. This is gonna help us understand a little bit more about their identity. Zechariah was a prophet during the days of the exiles who returned from Babylon, came back to the city of Jerusalem, and attempted to rebuild the temple. And he was used by God for many reasons, but one of his purposes was to infuse grace and encouragement to this remnant as they face many difficulties and challenges in their desire, their endeavor to resurrect this house of worship. And in the midst of these obstacles, God gives Zechariah a vision to share with the leaders and the people so that they would know a new grace to see this actually fulfilled.

This is worth turning to in Zechariah. So find the book of Zechariah and meet me in chapter four and look at verse one with me. Zechariah four verse one reads, and the angel who talked with me came again and woke me like a man who was awakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, what do you see? I said, I see and behold a lampstand all of gold with a bowl on the top of it and seven lamps on it with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it.

And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left. So I can't draw this for you, but I'll attempt to use my hands to make it a little bit more clear. Here's what the prophet sees. He sees this golden lamp stand, and a bowl on top of it, and these two olive trees on both sides. And what's happening here is that these olive trees are feeding oil into the bowl, and then this bowl is then trickling oil into the lamps of this lamp stand.

That's the picture. But what's the meaning? Zechariah wants to know. So look at verse four. And I said to the angel who talked with me, what are these my lord?

And the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, do you not know what these are? I said, no, my Lord. Then he said to me, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, oh great mountain?

Before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plain, and he shall bring forth the top stone amid shouts of grace grace to it. So the angel gives Zechariah the general interpretation of this vision. And here's what it is. The completion of the temple will be realized. And it's not going to be through human diligence or man's strength.

It's going to be attributed to the energizing work of the Holy Spirit. It's going to be God himself energizing his people and providentially making a way for this to be done. But more than that, whatever Zerubbabel began with the temple, because he was one of the leaders who led this project. He will see through to completion, which will result in what? The life and the light of the nation of Israel being reignited and abundantly sustained.

That's what you have here. And Zechariah understood the broader message, but he is curious. And so he begins to probe and ask about certain details, and what really he wanted to know was what about these olive trees? And so scroll down here to verse 11 of Zechariah four. Then I said to him, what are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?

And a second time I answered and said to him, what are these two branches of the olive trees which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out. Can you pause for a moment? Do you notice how many questions Zachariah is asking? That's for your instruction and mine. Here's a man who's beholding visions from God, and he doesn't understand.

So what does he do? He asks. And when he doesn't get an answer, he asks again. He keeps asking. Can I ask you something?

When you don't understand something in the word of God, how desperate are you to know it? How much investigation do you do? Or you just content with seeing it closing your bible saying, well, at least I did my part. I read. Revelation does not come to readers, it comes to thinkers.

And for those who meditate and take what they see and bring it before the Lord in prayer, that's where they get illumination. Here's this man, he's not giving up easily. Even in the verses we just read, he asked the question, he didn't get an answer immediately. So what does he do? He asked again.

Ask, seek, and God will give you answers. He does it in many ways, but you and I have to do our part and seek him. Verse 13. He said to me, do you not know what these are? I said, no, my lord.

Verse 14. Then he said, these are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth. Does that sound familiar? It should. We read in Revelation 11, something very similar.

Contextually, the two anointed ones in this vision are representation of two people. Zerubbabel, the man that we read of earlier, and Joshua. Zerubbabel and Joshua, the high priest of this time. Now why them? For two simple reasons.

Number one, these were the two that God raised up to lead the exiles to go back home and start the rebuilding of the temple. They oversaw this endeavor. And secondly, Zerubbabel and Joshua both came from lineages that experienced and required anointing oil. Zerubbabel was a political leader. He was the governor of this time, but he came from the royal line of David.

Were kings anointed in the Old Testament? They were anointed. Joshua, who worked alongside Zerubbabel, came from the priestly line. Were priests anointed? They were.

Then it would make sense then for these two to be the anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth. Now here's how this interpretation adds to the whole vision. As much as the life and the light of the nation of Israel will be reignited by the Holy Spirit's work, it will be channeled through the agency of these leaders. These leaders will be God's instruments of bringing in God's favor, God's blessing on the nation surviving and thriving again. And this is precisely why the Holy Spirit connects these two witnesses in Revelation 11 with this description in Zechariah.

Not only because these two witnesses will be supernaturally empowered by God, but because they will play significant role in the restoration of the people of Israel during a time of renewed persecution in a world under the control of the Antichrist. In the same way that Zerubbabel and Joshua were used by God to help the exiles who were harassed by the enemies of their time. Go back to Revelation 11. Let me remind you of something in verse two. In verse two of Revelation 11, we learned that the holy city is going to be trampled for forty two months.

Right? That speaks of persecution against the holy city that is Jerusalem and its people. But in verse three, we read that these two witnesses will be preaching for the same length of time, though the duration is given in days. And we're gonna see how the impact of these two witnesses will have on the people of Israel by the end of the message. But before we move on, allow me to say one more thing.

I find it amazing that the length of the preaching of these two witnesses was only one thousand two hundred and sixty days. To put into perspective, we just, at the time of this message, passed our four fourth year anniversary as a church. That's not very long in terms of a preaching resume. And these men will be preaching for three and a half years. And it's a helpful reminder about how God sovereignly works in our ministries, each of us.

In his mind, the length and the duration of our service to him varies. It varies. And quantity does not always mean quality. These men will do profound things in a short amount of time. And listen, you and I should strive strive for longevity and loyalty wherever God has placed us to serve.

But we also must be dependent upon the truth that he is the one who determines what we do and how long we do it for. This is his prerogative. And what makes the quality of your service to God and mine meaningful and lasting is the same thing with Zerubbabel, Joshua, and these two witnesses, Dependence on the Holy Spirit. Being connected to him, continually asking for his hand to remain on your life and to bless your efforts and to multiply your fruit. Can I ask you, oh, precious saints who serve God, how much how much do you seek God to bless what you do for God?

How much are you aware? How much are you are you are you understanding of your neediness of him? So what we see here is that the picture from old to new is that men and women who have done great things for God are those who are aware that they need him. They need to abide in him. Then unless he goes before them and is by their side and behind them and over them, they will not know true success.

And this is what we find here, that the Holy Spirit will work through these men not just to do miracles, but to play a part in the people of Israel coming closer to their salvation. That being said, they do accomplish remarkable things, which brings us to our second heading. Not just their identity, but their ability. So like the fire that fell from heaven and consumed Elijah's enemies, by command by the way, we see these men doing something similar. And like Elijah, who according to James prayed, and for three and a half years there was no rain.

These men apparently can shut the sky by their word. And I find it interesting, it's for the same duration that Elijah did, three and a half years. And what about the water turning to blood and plagues striking the earth? That is a clear parallel to Moses. So what do we do with these parallels?

What do we do with these connections? Here's the key takeaway. Just as the miracles of Elijah and Moses vindicated their message, In times of great apostasy and oppression by empires, these witnesses will have comparable power. In other words, you're going to see here that these signs and wonders mirror these prophets of God of old to authenticate the ministry of these men. To show to the world that they are genuine prophets of God.

And this will be extremely useful in a time where there will be terrifying distractions, palpable demonic activity, and frightening deception on all sides. This kind of power that we read in verse five and six is necessary, And it will show the world that these these prophets, they resemble the prophets of the Hebrew scriptures, therefore, they represent the true God. And that is an indirect message, but we gotta think about the practical implications of this. You've been with us week after week. Is the world in a good place at the time of these ministers preaching?

Everything is falling apart. Diseases and waters being corrupted and land being destroyed and things falling from the sky, and and with all of that, what do you have? Two men, whenever they desire, adding to their suffering, adding to their turmoil. And it's really going to show us why the world hated these guys. They make sense.

Because of the torment they will inflict, not just by the truth that they preach, but even by the power that they will demonstrate. But there is a phrase, the last part of verse six, that caught my attention and moved me deeply. Look at it again. As often as they desire. They will have the ability to perform any of these powerful acts whenever they wish and as many times as they want.

That is incredible. That is staggering and here's why it's intriguing. Much of Revelation, including this section, shows how God has carefully fixed and planned events down to what? The very hour. The holy city will be trampled for forty two months.

These two witnesses will preach for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. Later on in the same section, we're gonna see that an earthquake is gonna shake Jerusalem and a tenth of the city fell. That is precise. Undeniable sovereign acts of God. And yet in the in the middle of this, just witnessing the absolute control that God has over the affairs of the world in the final days, you get a hint that man is granted freedom of choice as often as they desired.

This reminds me actually of another place concerning the last days, namely with Jesus Christ when he gave his own play by play prophecy of the final moments of human history. Let me remind you of this. In Matthew 24, nineteen and twenty. Our Lord said, and alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days Look at verse 20. Talking Matthew twenty four nineteen to 20.

Look at verse 20. Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then, there will be great tribulations such as not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. Pray? Pray for what?

Well, pray that the conditions will be favorable in your travels. Pray that it will not happen where there will be traffic jams. And so, Jesus here even indicates that prayer can still make a difference. Even in the context of predetermined events and elements of it being established. Do you see what I see?

So here's what I wanna say. You and I may not be able to fully understand how this all works, but one thing is certain. God's foreknowledge does not make our freedom an illusion. Our freedom is real. Our actions or inactions actually make a difference.

And all of this makes our relationship with God, what, authentic. And it makes our responsibility very genuine and personal. As often as they desire. I love that thought as it's sandwiched between what? Days determined and events taking place.

God's foreknowledge does not negate your responsibility. My brother and sister, Jesus equally says pray. Pray. Prayer makes a difference. Oh, preacher, can you explain all the mechanics?

I can't do you much service in that area. But what I do understand is that God has asked of me to do certain things, and I will obey him believing with all my heart that should I not do it, it will actually change or not change. Their ability. But let's consider their mortality now. We haven't read this yet, but let's look at it in verse seven.

And when they had finished their testimony, The beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them, and conquer them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically now the Greek there, word for symbolically is actually spiritually. That symbolically slash spiritually is called Sodom in Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. This is the first time in the book of Revelation, the words, the beast, that title, this individual, the beast appears. The first time.

But reference to the beast will actually resurface nearly 30 times in the rest of the book of Revelation. So obviously, whoever the beast is, he is an integral part in the events of the last days. And all we know up to this point in his introduction is where he came from. The beast came from the abyss. We were here when we learned about the abyss.

This is in reference to the underworld where certain demonic spirits were imprisoned by God himself. This has then led some to say, well, the beast has to clearly be a demonic creature or even Satan himself. Is Satan appearing before these two witnesses and slaying these two witnesses? Well, it's not until you continue revelation where you discover who the beast actually is. More light is shed on this character.

So look at Revelation 13, just to give you an example how this is going to help us. Revelation 13, look at verse one. John says, and I saw a beast rising out of the sea with 10 horns and seven heads, with 10 diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard. Its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth.

And to it, the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound. But its mortal wound was healed and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. It's very tempting to go deep into this passage, but we're gonna refrain from doing so and look at just two simple observations about the beast. Number one, we know based on this passage that the beast is not Satan.

Why? Because contextually, the dragon is Satan and he empowers the beast. That's clear. More than that though, there is strong indication that the beast is actually flesh and blood. Why?

Because John says that he he saw a mortal wound that the beast had and the wound was was healed. Well, some would say that this is reserved just for a symbolic picture of an empire falling and rising again, but if you continue Revelation 13, which we will when we get there, there's great support about how this beast is actually an individual. And if that is the case, then there is something that will happen to this beast that will affect his body, it will be healed almost in a miraculous fashion that will even cause the world to devote themselves more ferociously and intensely to the beast. This leaves us with only one logical conclusion, that the beast is the Antichrist. That he is the prophesied coming world ruler that Jesus spoke about, that Paul spoke of, and is given out in great detail in this marvelous book Revelation.

This is the Antichrist. And so what does it mean for us in Revelation 11 that the Antichrist will be the one who will personally deal with these two witnesses? That their message and their movement will be so enraging to him that he will deal with them with a devastating blow. You have to remember, Paul prophesied that in the last days, one of the turning points would be the man of lawlessness entering into the temple of God and declaring himself to be God as he takes his seat there. Where's the temple of God?

Jerusalem. And it could be that these two witnesses who are prophesying in the holy city, in the great city, are getting in the way of the antichrist, sustaining his headquarters in Jerusalem. They're not making his job easier as he is trying to win the worship of the world. Here they are preaching about the true Christ. Here they are preaching with power.

Interfering with his attempt to dominate the globe. And so finally, he will take action, but not until what? Their testimony was complete. Don't you love that truth? I love it.

Because it shows that even the Antichrist who is empowered by Satan will not be able to touch any of Christ's witnesses until he says so. Let's take a take a breath now. Okay? What does this truth show about our life in Christ? It shows that our existence on earth is tied to our service to the Lord.

They could not be touched until their ministry was accomplished. And once their ministry was fulfilled, God allowed them to be killed. What does that say about life? Life is about living for him. Life is about serving God.

Life is about discovering your ministry. And even though if you don't have a clear view of what your calling is, and I put that in quotation marks, just knowing what God's will is from his word and finding a place and a people to do it with, that's what your life is about. And I wonder if we think of it that way. I wonder if you think about your life that way. Paul did.

Do you remember what he said to the Philippians? In Philippians one twenty two, if I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. What What is he saying to the Philippians? Well, he's in prison. There's talks about him potentially dying, being murdered, and he's wrestling with departing and being with Christ for that is far better.

Amen. It is far better. But then he realizes that I only have one opportunity to serve God in a way that I can't in heaven. And so the only compelling thing for me to remain in this body battered and bruised and succumb to all these things and to stay on this wretched planet is if I am fruitful for him. There is no other appeal from this world apart from that truth, serving him.

And that's what we find here. These men were taken once they served. Well, speaking of thinking a certain way, did you notice a contrast in these verses? Look again at verse eight. And their bodies, their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city.

That's worth highlighting. The great city. That symbolically, or again I told you earlier, the Greek word is spiritually, is called Sodom and Egypt where their lord is crucified or was crucified. So in case there's any confusion of what this great city is, there there's no more debate now. It's it's Jerusalem.

That's where our Christ was crucified. And Jerusalem here, for some reason, is called the great city. Whatever the reasons are for it being called great, they're not godly ones. Do you know why? Because in the very same breath, this city is condemned by being titled two of some of the worst cities in all biblical history.

And so in God's eyes, Jerusalem at this point is bankrupt, but in worldly terms, it's great. Here's how this challenged me. In my perception of everything around me, do I discern and evaluate spiritually, or am I prone to do so in my flesh? What's great in the eyes of the world, symbolically and spiritually, is horrendous to God. You know, some of you know that my wife and I had a chance to go to Rome just a few weeks ago.

And there was so much about Rome that was great. The historical preservation, the architectural beauty was stunning. But throughout our stay there, I had to constantly remind myself to perceive these things from a spiritual standpoint and to make my final estimation there especially when looking at these religious structures. Great. But spiritually, what is it?

You know, there are a lot of Christians who are passionate, sometimes too passionate about politics, yet they fail to consider the spiritual reality behind it. It's never in the conversation. It's just left and right and this news and that news. Do you perceive it spiritually though? You have others Christians who are enthralled by certain forms of entertainment but never reflect on the spiritual influences at work.

You know, Christ has something profound in light of this when he was dealing with the self righteous Pharisees. In Luke sixteen fourteen, he said, for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Let me say that again. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Well, let me read to you the whole verse.

And he said to them, in Luke sixteen fifteen, you are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Why is he saying this? Because in the verse right before it, we learn that the Pharisees were lovers of money, and they justified it. In fact, they actually convinced people that their growing wealth was a sign of God's favor, And Jesus reminds them and us, your value system Pharisees, that might be praised, you might have excused it and convinced others of it, but in God's sight, it's an abomination. You and I have to constantly come before the Lord and ask him to sharpen our perception.

The way we understand the world, how it functions, What is valuable, what is not. What is to be treasured, what is to be despised. What is to be pursued, what is to be ignored. Because your default setting and mine is not to see it spiritually, it's to see it carnally. It's to see it the the way the rest of the world does.

And the closer you get to God, the more you will see the way he sees. The The city of Jerusalem, great. Oh, but to God, spiritually, Sodom and Egypt. This is striking and it carries instruction for us. We still have two more thoughts to consider.

We move down from their mortality to their indignity. Not their dignity, their indignity. Look at verse nine now. For three and a half days, some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents because these two prophets have been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.

This is a fascinating passage in a book that's primarily about the future. Because what would have been unexplainable to John's immediate audience up to roughly seventy years ago is very understandable to us today. How could the peoples and tribes and languages and nations of the world gaze upon the dead bodies of these two prophets for three and a half days in one specific location? Is that hard to imagine today? Absolutely not.

These slain bodies of these prophets will be so significant that it will be broadcasted. That's the only explanation for this. It will be broadcasted live on streaming platforms across the world. And not from an objective journalistic standpoint. No.

No. No. No. It will be recorded as a celebratory event. They're they're gone.

Finally. We don't have to watch another sermon short. We don't have to deal with another plague in these random cities. We have better chances of drinking water. They're done.

And so exciting will this news be that they will actually go to the stores, purchase presents, visit their friends and neighbors, and exchange gifts. Someone called this passage a satanic Christmas. That's very fitting. You you can't think of another way, I'm sure, of trying to explain the joy of these peoples, the inhabitants of the earth, over the death of two righteous men who are calling a dying and collapsing world to repentance and eternal life. And this, maybe just a few short years ago, might have been also unthinkable to us, But I can't help but think about the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk and understand that we got a sobering reality check of just how vile people can be.

At the sight of a man who had his neck blown up by a bullet in front of people, including his family. More shockingly, this is the first time the word rejoice appears in the book of Revelation. The only other occurrence is in Revelation nineteen seven where we read of the righteous celebrating, rejoicing, exalting in God in the marriage supper of the lamb. Imagine this. How staggering is this?

You're reading through the book of Revelation, and the first time you are confronted with the word rejoice on earth, rejoicing on earth is when sinners are gleeful about the assassination of two of God's chief workmen. Let me take this opportunity to remind you and I that we live in a very wicked and depraved world. And listen, it has always hated the truth. It has always attempted to run from the light, but that hatred for the truth will intensify, and those who speak it will also be objects of people's hatred. So if you're despised, dear brother or sister, do not be surprised.

It's only gonna get more intense. The fate of these prophets isn't too surprising though, is it? How many times have we read both an old and new testament of God's faithful messengers being killed, sometimes in the prime of their lives? But what we discover in our final heading is most definitely not common. Let's discover now their testimony in verse 11 down to verse 14.

But after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them and they stood up on their feet and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, come up here. And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. At the hour, there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

I sat back and I used my sanctified imagination at this point of my study, that if indeed it will be modern technology that will be able to allow the world to look at these slain bodies for three and a half days, Maybe, just maybe, again sanctified imagination that while cameras are rolling and people are posting, breaking news alert. This is not AI footage. Suddenly, unexplainably, miraculously, these two witnesses are alive again. You can just imagine the replays of these two slain bodies suddenly getting up to their feet and dusting their sackcloth. This is incredible.

But in a book with so many miracles, not just Revelation, but our entire book, the Bible, this is not so hard to imagine. In fact, many, many years before this, there was another faithful witness, the witness of witnesses, Christ himself, who ministered in Jerusalem, and he too was killed, and he was buried for three days before he was resurrected. And now we read here of the Messiah's two witnesses who also minister in Jerusalem. They will be killed. They will be slain, though not buried, for three and a half days before they are resurrected.

But here's the main difference. Their resurrection and ascension will be seen by the entire world. Even their enemies will behold this remarkable reversal of events. Why why is the Lord doing this? Why is he making it so public?

Well, surely to vindicate his witnesses, but also to extend undeserved mercy to this generation as they are accelerating and racing towards eternal doom. This is God again in his great grace allowing this world at this point to actually see resurrection and ascension to validate their message even more. Things are wrapping up. As much as the judgments are increasing in intensity, so at this point is God's grace in trying to get the attention of these unbelievers. So instead of trying to wrestle with why and why them and not up, just see God's mercy.

Just look at his wonderful grace and be moved by it. How much more can he do to awaken a generation that is inundated by so much filth and so much carnage and so much evil? And what happens? Well, if that wasn't enough, the Lord will cause an earthquake to shake the city of Jerusalem to confirm that what had just transpired was his doing. 7,000 will perish as a tenth of the city will collapse.

But notice again in verse 13, look at it. The rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. Who are the rest? Well, the thing that makes the most sense here is that they are the rest of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Contextually, that's what makes the most sense.

And what does it mean then that they gave glory to the God of heaven? Is this a forced confession or is this genuine repentance? And there's debate about that. And you can actually make a strong case that this is real. Because whenever you see giving glory to God in the context of revelation, it is strongly associated with genuine repentance.

And we don't have time to look at every reference, but we will as we move forward in this text. But let's just step out of this for a second. Whether this means that they genuinely repented or this is just a spontaneous sudden kind of response of recognizing that God is actually real, one thing is absolutely certain. The testimony of these men will bring the people of Israel that much closer to their destiny, and that is them acknowledging Christ as their true Messiah. That is the impact of these men.

We're seeing what Paul taught about in Romans 11 coming to fruition more and more. We saw it with a 144,000. We see it with these two witnesses who very likely were Jews themselves. And as they are brought into the clouds, there is something that we rarely see happening in this book. Sinners giving God glory.

And not just sinners across the board, but sinners in a particular city. A city that is called holy, a city that is called great, a city that spiritually is not pleasing to God, but because of his covenant towards them is doing his part to lead them to his pleasing will. Let me remind you as I close now that what we've discussed in these past few weeks is the pause and the interlude between the sixth and the seventh trumpets. Next week, God permitting, we will look at the seventh trumpet, and we will move that much closer to the end of the end. Let's pray.

Oh, lord, your word is wonderful. How even in a text like this that is often cited as a platform of debate has become our nourishment. We receive instruction from it, and we glorify you for that. We thank you, Lord, that this has provided some clarity in our understanding of the last days. But we're, Lord, even more thankful that you were able to make it so relatable to us, because your word is designed to do so.

So speak to our hearts, God. Speak to our hearts with these words, and maybe they echo in our hearts throughout this week. Lord, if anybody is here and they don't know you, we pray that you would use even this to awaken them to the saving love of Christ and that they would not waste a moment. They would bend their knee in realizing I was made for God. And I was separated from him, but he redeemed me, and he built the bridge again, and I can know him.

I pray, Lord, with my brothers and sisters that that would be that would be a testimony for the unbeliever in this place. For those of us who know you, Lord, we pray that you would sharpen our perception, that we would see things the way you do, including our own lives. I pray, Lord, that you would energize each of us in our service to you because that's where life is, worshiping you and serving you before we meet you. We glorify you and we sing your praises now. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Well, let's stand, and let's sing to the living Christ.