Gods Two Witnesses Part IV

Gods Two Witnesses

Revelation Chapter 11

Part 4

Revelation 11:5:

“And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouths, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.”

This is an interesting, verse is it not? What is this fire? We have several clues as to its nature in the scriptures.

Acts 2:3

“And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”

Jeremiah 5:14,

“I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.”

This reference to wood being consumed describes not only the false prophets of that day, nor simply to those who make merchandise of God's people today, but of “The False Prophet” as well, who will no doubt work their sorcery on world opinion , but those who claim the mantle of Moses, Elijah, claiming to be the two witnesses.

The word of God is also referred to in the same terms in Jeremiah 23:29.

As the time of Christ’s second advent draws nigh, The false prophets will become more vociferous and more zealous, refusing to see the hand of the Lord in the work of the these prophets. We know from the words of Jesus in Matthew 24 and elsewhere that there will be false Christ’s, what few realize is that there will probably be false Antichrists (indeed, we see many who fit the description, even though not claiming the “title”) and we have already seen false witnesses, claiming to be one of the two described in the book of Revelation, soon enough a couple of them will join together and convince themselves that they are the two.

We see instances of the servants of God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, cursing the enemies of the Lord, in essence, having the “fire” of the Spirit come forth from their mouths.

In 2nd Kings we have the account of Elisha in chapter 2 verses 23-24:

23. “And he went up thence to Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up thou bald head; go up thou bald head. 24. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth 2 she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.”

In Acts 13:7 we read:

“Then Saul (who also is called Paul) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes upon him, 10. And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the Devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” 11. And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season, And immediately, there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.”

In Mark 11, we see that Jesus cursed the fig tree, and in the book of Matthew also.

In Matthew 21:19 we are told of a time when our Savior was hungry.

19. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, let no leaves grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently, the fig tree withered away.20. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! 21. Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.”

We have some reason to believe that Christ spoke to the 12 disciples about the coming ministry of the two witnesses as well. It seems as though the brothers James and John (also called the sons of Zebedee, the sons of thunder) sought to have that ministry.

Matthew 20:21-23 tells us that their mother petitioned Christ as follows:

21. “And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom 22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. 23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given them for whom it is prepared of my Father.”

We also see in Luke, chapter 9, that they had no better understanding of the character of these two end time servants of God, than do most would be witnesses do today. We are told that as he was on his way to Jerusalem, Christ told his disciples to go into a village of Samaria and prepare a place for them to spend the night. However because he was headed for Jerusalem the villagers refused him. we are then told in Luke 9:54-56

54. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 55. But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

It seems as though they not only sought the office of the two end times witnesses of God, but wanted to wreak vengeance on their enemies as well. Christ rebuked their desire of the flesh to avenge themselves.

Of course we have the famous story of Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal in 1st Kings 18, where the prophet did call fire down from heaven, as well as a similar incident described in 2nd Kings , Chapter 1. v 9-12

9. “ Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat upon the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down. 10. And Elijah answered and said to the captain of the fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. 11. Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him saying O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly. 12. And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty”

In the confrontation that must take place in Jerusalem between these last day Prophets of God, and the kingdoms of Antichrist, we should expect to see a time when they are approached by the Captains of Antichrist, coming in the authority of the Beast, being commanded to surrender and to appear in his court. And it should be no surprise to any (though it will be to them of course) when they stand in the Power of Almighty God, and the authority which he has given to his Son and say “The hand of Yahweh is upon you. You are commanded in the name of YEHOSHUA, the Son of the Living God of Heaven, to surrender your spirit to the Court of the Most High God this hour.”

There will no doubt be mocking and laughing on the part of the wicked, until they see the Captain and his fifty, drop to the ground.

Verse 5 also has another interesting phrase. It says that if any man will hurt them, he must be killed by the “fire” that proceeds from their mouths. This indicates that they will not take any credit for the demise of their enemies. There will be no machine gun fire, no fisticuffs, nothing that neither wicked earth dwellers, nor minions of the Antichrist will be able to pin on them. It will not be personal retribution, it will all be done without personal pride, in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is not their fight, but God’s.

Verse 6 speaks of the power they will demonstrate.

“These have the power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters, to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.”

They will shut the rains from heaven, and they will turn the waters to blood, and smite the earth with plagues. This is reminiscent of the time Elijah shut the “heavens” for a period of 3 years, causing a drought (1st Kings, 17:1). It also brings to mind the prayer of Solomon, at the dedication of the temple, (also 7:13) recorded in 2nd Chronicles Chapter 6, in verse 26, as a sign to the people to repent. (Isaiah 5)

The smiting of the earth with “all” plagues at will reminds us of the judgments that precede the coming of our Savior, and recorded in Revelation 8 and 15. Many of which are identical to those found in the book of Exodus, and brought upon the Kingdom of Egypt by the mouth of God’s witnesses Moses and Aaron.

We do see a similarity between Moses and Aaron, being a type of the two witnesses standing before the Pharaoh, the “Antichrist” of the time, who was oppressing God’s people Israel, and the two witnesses standing before the end times Pharaoh of the world, who will oppress God’s people until the day God stretches forth his mighty hand. We also see similar plagues in both instances.

For instance, we see in Exodus 7:19, that God, at the words of Moses, turned the waters into blood, in Revelation 16:3 and 4, we see the waters also turned to blood.

We see in Exodus 9:8 the plague of boils, in Revelation 16:2, we see “noisome and grievous” sores on those whom have taken the mark of the Beast.

In Exodus 9:22, we see Moses stretch forth his hand at the command of God, bringing forth Thunder and Hail, and we are told, “fire ran upon the ground”, in Revelation 8:7, we see “ hail and fire mingled with blood”.

In Exodus 10:14 we see Moses stretching forth his hand toward heaven and God bringing locust. In Revelation 9:2, we see a plague of locust.

We see a plague of darkness in Exodus 10:21, in Revelation 9:2, and 16:10, we have a plague of darkness.

It doesn’t take a great leap of faith to imagine that the plagues described in chapters 8, 9, and 16 of the book of Revelation, are similarly commanded by the two witnesses in the name of God, just as was done by Moses as a testimony before all that dwell upon the earth.

Verses 7 and 8 tell us:

7. “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 8. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.”

These verses reveal a great deal of detail about the type of death these servants of God will suffer, and they also show another example of their “drinking from the cup” that Christ drank from, as he spoke of in Matthew 20:22, as they will share the manner in which he was put to death. It also give us information which seems to infer, when paralleled with the scriptures relating to Christ’s death (which we will examine in a moment), that the “war” the “beast” from the bottomless pit will make against them, will be a short one.

This “beast” from the bottomless pit, and his ascension, is referred to in Revelation chapter 9 (and in chapter 17, verse 8), and his name is given in the Greek tongue as Apollyon and in the Hebrew language as Abaddon. This last name might also be a hint as to where the bottomless pit might be opened.

In the sixth vial, which we see in Revelation 16:12, we are told that the river Euphrates will be dried up at the pouring of that vial so that “…the Kings of the East…” might go forth to do battle. We also see another reference to this event described in Revelation 9:14 at the blowing of the sixth trumpet which tells us:

“…Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.”

Just below the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers we have a town in Iran, which is situated just above the Shatt al Arab waterway, at the northern most point of the Persian Gulf. This point where the Euphrates empties into the Persian Gulf, located 30 degrees, 20 min. North latitude, 48 degrees, 16 min. East longitude, is the most logical place for a military advance across a dried up Euphrates, at the Iranian city named for the destroying angel, called Abadan.

Even though we do not go to occult sources for our knowledge, we are aware of occult lore which suggest that spirits are bound by water, and we have the biblical example of the Great Flood of Noah’s time, where the flesh of the Nephilim Giants was killed by drowning, and perhaps their spirits, described in 1st Peter 3:20, also were bound by water as well. We also have the practice of baptism where the spirit of the old man, could be said to have been bound in the water. Could these angels, chained in darkness, as described in the book of Jude, verse 6, actually be bound by water, and if so, could this body of water at the port city of Abadan be the point where the bottomless pit is located?

This is of course speculative, but nonetheless thought provoking.

There are some prophecy writers that suggest that the bottomless pit is not on earth, but in outer space. The idea that space is itself bottomless and could be the pit referred to in this verse might have some merit if not for the description in Revelation chapter 9 which indicates that the beast will “ascend”, which would suggest a terrestrial pit, as opposed to a celestial one, from which he might descend.

The phrase in verse 8, which describes Jerusalem spiritually as “Sodom and Egypt” is significant, not only for the debauchery they were known for, but also for the absence of the name Babylon. We see Babylon described over and over in bible prophecy, and especially in the book of Revelation. So why has it suddenly vanished, particularly in the description of this city which at the time when the Antichrist’s dominion is at it’s zenith? We can only assume it is because the United States of America, whom we have already shown has exhibited the spirit of Babylon to a greater degree than any contemporary nation, has at this point been destroyed.

After Babylon the Great is fallen, the spirit of Egypt inhabits the world government that rules the nations, just as the spirit of the great Pharaoh that God humbled before the Exodus of Israel, inhabits the Antichrist.

The phrase “where also our Lord was crucified” indicates that the two witnesses will be crucified just as Christ was. This is another example of the two witnesses drinking from the cup that our Lord drank from.