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Chapter Six
The last few years of this Age. Rev.4v1 to 20v3
The conflict in Jerusalem between God's two witnesses and Antichrist. Rev.11v1-14
The "violent treading down" of the holy of holies and Temple area.
In Rev11v1., “Temple,” “naos,” should be translated as “Sanctuary,” for it is speaking of the innermost and most holy part of the Temple. Paul uses “naos” in 2Thes.2v4., when he states that the Sanctuary becomes the centre for the worship of Antichrist and Satan. In Mt.24v15., Jesus used a less specific word for the Sanctuary, when He said that the abomination of desolation would be, “estos en topo hagio,” “standing in holy place.” The fact that this Sanctuary is trodden under foot by the Gentiles proves that this is referring to the present age, for the Sanctuary of the millennial Temple is never trodden down by the Gentiles. Rev.20v9. The last temple had an outer court in the open air where the heathen worshipped the God of Israel, this was, “the house of prayer” for them, and they could go no further, here it is delivered over to the Gentiles, for them to profane. Lk.19v46. Mk.11v16,17. Eph.2v11-18. Acts.21v27-29. Lk.21v24. “Leave out,” is “ekbale exothen,” literally “cast outside,” the strong word “ekballo,” may convey the thought, “cast out as profane.” In Rev.11v1.,”altar,” “thusiasterion,” is the altar where sacrifices and burnt offerings are made; it is used in Rev.6v9. 8v3., of the heavenly altar.
Jerusalem has been trampled under foot by Gentiles since Christ’s day, and here we read that it will experience a further 3½ years of Gentile domination before Jesus returns. The word “tread,” is “patesousin,” the future active of “pateo,” which speaks of a contemptuous and destructive treading under foot, as in Lk.21v24.. In Heb.10v29., “katapateo” describes an even more violent and contemptuous trampling under foot of the blood of Christ by apostates. Mt.5v13,7v6. Lk.8v5. Woe to Jerusalem when Antichrist rules there, for he will be as evil as Hitler and Stalin, and will produce even more carnage and destruction.
God empowers two prophets to Israel with the ultimate in prophetic power.
The strategic timing of the start of the prophetic ministry of the Two Witnesses.
The Two Witnesses appear to start their ministries a few days before Antichrist’s image is set up in the Temple, and they warn of the terrible events that are about to overtake Israel and the world. In spite of innumerable attempts to kill them, their ministries continue for 1,260 days, until their death, a few days before the return of Jesus.
The conflict in Jerusalem between God's Two Witnesses and Satan's Antichrist and False Prophet, will be similar to the conflict that took place between Moses and Aaron, and Jannes and Jambres, Pharaoh's sorcerers. 2Tim.3v8,9. Ex.7v11,12,22. 8v7,18,19. Prophesying against this kind of determined opposition by evil occultists, and the powers of darkness, demands great power and great spiritual gifts. God has in time past spoken to the Israelites by the prophets, and He will speak to them again in the great tribulation, through His two mighty Christian prophets, the Two Witnesses. Where it has been possible, God has usually sent His prophets in two's and three's, so that the truth and reliability of their prophecies could be confirmed out of the mouths of several trustworthy witnesses. 1Cor.14v29. Deut.19v15. Eccles.4v9-12. 2Kings.2v1,3. Isaiah, Hosea and Micah confirmed God's Word through each other, before the captivity; Haggai and Zechariah did the same, after the captivity.
God will give the ultimate in prophetic power and judgement gifts to His Two Witnesses.
God describes the Two Witnesses as two olive trees, to show that they are full of heavenly oil and that He pours His life and power through them. Rev.11v4. Zech.4 all. Mal.4v5. God likens them to two lamp stands, that shine brightly by their continuous manifestation of His power gifts. These Two Witnesses, like Elijah of old, stand in the presence of God in spirit, and operate in the fullness of His power for 1260 days. 1Kings.17v1. God commissions them to be prophets to Israel and the world. Their great ministries and godly lives stand out in sharp contrast to the evil lives of Antichrist and the False Prophet, who manifest Satan's power. They prophesy in sackcloth, the clothing of deepest mourning, to express their great sorrow over the gross evil around them, and by God’s gifts bring judgement on this evil. Those who God sends to pronounce great woes, must have the same sorrow of heart that He has, over the sin that makes those judgements unavoidable and necessary. Mt.23v37-39. Lk.19v41-44.
The Two Witnesses will manifest God's power gifts in judgement, fire will devour those who try to hurt or kill them. Like Elijah, they will stop the falling on Israel for the 1260 days of their ministry. Like Moses, they will turn water to blood, and smite the earth with every plague. However, God gives them authority to manifest judgement gifts, "as oft as they will," a striking new level of authority, for even Moses did not dispense plagues as he willed, he followed out God's orders. No one has manifested judgement gifts at their own will like these two prophets, but the circumstances of that time will demand this great power. However, even as Pharaoh and the Egyptians hardened their hearts in the face of God's power and judgements, so do Antichrist and his followers, and they refuse to repent of their evil deeds.
God allows the Two Witnesses to be killed to manifest a greater miracle.
When the Two Witnesses have finished their testimony, God allows the Beast to kill them. Rev.11v7. This is the first of many references in Revelation where Antichrist is called “the Beast,” the Greek, “to therion,” speaks of a fierce wild animal. Antichrist is the last and worst ruler of a Satan dominated world system, which has always been ugly and beastly. Mt.4v8,9. Lk.4v5-7. Jn.14v30. 18v36. Rev.11v15. 2Cor.4v4. In Rev.11v7. The Beast is said to arise out of the bottomless pit, or abyss, (“abussos,” it occurs in Lk.8v31. Rom.10v7. Rev.9v1,2,11. 11v7. 17v8. 20v1,3). This indicates that Antichrist will be raised from the dead, for to ascend out of the abyss, a person must have been dead, for it is God’s prison for the unconverted and evil spirits. Dan.11v29,30. Rev.13v3,12. 17v8. This is the place to which unbelievers go to when they die, and it is the place to which our Lord went on His death, to purchase our redemption. Mt.12v39,40. Rom.10v7. Eph.4v8-10. Heb.2v14. 5v7. Is.53v5,6,10-12.
It appears that God will allow Satan to openly resurrect Antichrist from the dead in a devilish parody of Christ's resurrection. It is after this resurrection that Antichrist comes to the fullness of his evil power. Satan has, of course, no control over the dead in Hades, Christ has the keys of Hades. Rev.1v18. Satan needs God’s permission to raise Antichrist from the dead, and it is this resurrection of Antichrist that causes many to follow him. God performs a greater sign when He raises the dead bodies of His Two Witnesses to life before the eyes of the whole watching world, after their mangled corpses have lain in the streets of Jerusalem for 3½ days. For these 3½ days, “they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations,” will rejoice over their death, elated that they can now continue in sin without the rebuke and judgement of these two mighty prophets. They deceive themselves into thinking, that because these two men of God are dead, that their God is dead also, and that they will escape the judgement of God, that these two prophets had warned them about.
After killing the Two Witnesses, Antichrist’s followers feel that they have won the final victory and have nothing to fear. How well this agrees with 1Thes.5v2,3., “the people will cry peace and safety,” but “sudden destruction will come upon them.” Judg.16v23-30. Jer.6v14. God raises His Two Witnesses from the dead and openly translates them to Heaven, and puts a stop to the godless revelling and rejoicing of the wicked. This is not the first resurrection and rapture, that occurs soon afterwards as Rev.11v14-18., states, at the seventh trumpet. Their resurrection is a personal resurrection, like that of Lazarus, or the daughter of Jairus, with the difference that it is done before the eyes of the whole world. The world's television cameras record the Two Witnesses being resurrected from the dead and taken to Heaven in triumph, a tremendous sign and warning to all of God's power and glory. Jn.11v41-46. Lk.8v51-56. Mt.27v50-54. Acts.14v19,20.
The Two Witnesses are killed in Jerusalem, which God calls Sodom, Egypt, and Babylon.
The bodies of the Two Witnesses lie in the streets of Jerusalem, “the great city---where the Lord was crucified.” Rev.11v8. The phrase “the city, the great one,” “tes poleos tes megales,” which is used in reference to “Babylon” in Rev.14v8. 16v19. 17v18. 18v10,16,18,19,21., is here applied to the city of Jerusalem. In Rev.17 and 18, God calls Jerusalem Babylon,” and in Rev.11v8., says that Jerusalem would be better named as “Sodom” and “Egypt,” for its abominable wickedness and rebellion against God. This wickedness will bring about its destruction. One commentator writes the following: “Those who, like Alford, have decided that “the great city” is not Jerusalem but its spiritual antagonist, Rome or Babylon, find great difficulty in dealing with this plain statement:----The historical allusion is too definite to be thus explained away (i.e. as Rome or Babylon); it loses its whole point if it does not identify the place where the witnesses lose their lives with that where their Lord Himself was crucified, let those beware who feel that they know better than the Word of God.”
The great earthquake of Rev.11v13., takes place earlier than the even greater earthquake of Rev.11v19., which shakes the whole world, and occurs when the feet of Jesus touch the Mount of Olives. Rev.6v12,14. 16v18-20. Zech.14v4,5. In the smaller earthquake a tenth of the city falls, and 7,000 men are slain, this brings some of the population to a state of fear and repentance. It certainly does not bring Antichrist and his armies to repentance, they fight Jesus at His return. Rev.19v19. It seems that Antichrist burns and sacks the city, because the resurrection of the Two Witnesses and the earthquake turn many to the Lord. Rev.17v16. The armies of Antichrist are around the stricken city when Jesus returns, they are the vultures surrounding the carcase of Jerusalem that our Lord spoke about in Mt.24v28. and Lk.17v37.. When the seventh trumpet sounds, the Father and Son take over the rule of a shattered and shocked world, all the redeemed creation rejoice that the Lord has come to bring righteousness and peace to the world, and claim that which is rightfully His own. Is.32v1,2,17,18. The earth and the heavens ring with triumphant Hallelujahs. Rev.19v1-6. Even so come Lord Jesus. Amen.
The Textual evidence and context prove that, "Who is to come," in Rev. 11v17. should be omitted.
In Rev.11v17., “ho erchomenos,” “Who is to come,” in the A.V. and T. R., is a serious textual error.
Most texts omit it. Hodges and Farstad, Mabe, the Critical Texts, p47, Aleph, A, C, P. some Old Latin, the Syrian Philoxenian and Harklean; he Coptic Sahidic; the Armenian; Cyprian, Primasius; Andrew bav, c, p; Ps-Ambrose and Arethas, etc.
The context of Rev.11v17., proves that "ho erchomenos," should be omitted."
Rev.11v15., says, “the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.”
The Father and Christ reign. In Rev.11v15., Mabcd, p47, Aleph, A, C, Hodges and Farstad, and the Critical Texts, read, “is become,” “egeneto,” the third person singular aorist indicative. All readings confirm that when the seventh trumpet sounds, Christ's return becomes a present fact and reality, and is no longer a future prophetic promise.
Rev.11v17., states, “thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power and hast reigned.”
All manuscripts have “thou has taken,” “eilephes,” the perfect active indicative of “lambano,” the perfect emphasises the fact that God has taken the power (dunamin) and rules permanently. This is also shown by the words “hast reigned,” “ebasileusas,” the aorist active indicative of “basileuo,” “didst begin to reign.” Robertson says that this combination of the perfect and aorist tenses also occurs without confusion in Rev.3v3. 5v7. and 8v5., as well as here. When the seventh trumpet sounds, our Lord is no longer “the coming one,” for He has arrived, and is “the present One,” who rules the world.
Rev.11v18., states that the nations were angry and God's wrath came.
“Were angry” is “orgisthesan,” the third person plural aorist passive indicative of “orgizo,” “to make angry,” passive “to be angry.” “Thy wrath came,” “elthan he orge sou,” “elthan,” is the aorist active indicative of “erchomai,” “to come.” The “orge” wrath of God has already come. The anger of the nations, and the anger and judgements of God on those nations, are both looked upon as past events immediately after the sounding of the seventh trumpet. See Ps.2v1-12.. Jesus comes “to destroy those destroying and corrupting the earth.” “Diaphtheiro,” can mean either “to destroy, or to corrupt,” The preposition in the compound is perfective, and signifies “to utterly destroy;” God will utterly destroy those who corrupt and destroy the earth.
Rev.11v18., informs us that at the seventh trumpet the holy dead are raised and rewarded.
The resurrection of the saints is definitely stated to be at the start of the Millennium by many other Scriptures. Is.25v6-9. Mt.24v29-31. 1Thes.4v13-17. 1Cor.15v50-53. Rev.20v4-6. John.6v39,40,44,54. 11v24. The word for “time,” in “time of the dead,” is “kairos,” which speaks of an epochal time, as in, “the time of the Gentiles,” in Lk.21v24.; “the fullness of times,” Eph.1v10. with Heb.9v10.; the time of judgement on demons, Mt.8v29.; the time of extension of ministry, Mt.11v25., etc. The dead are raised after the great tribulation,” at the last day,” at the start of the kingdom of God, and this is when the Church is caught up to meet the Lord. This is the day when Jesus comes to “destroy them which destroy the earth.” John.6v39,40,44,54. 11v23-25. Rev.11v18.
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