Audio Download

Rev 11:5-6 Part 3 The Power Of The Two Witnesses

[Study Aired Oct 27, 2024]

Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Rev 11:6  These have 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.

Christ tells us that we are all born spiritually dead and in need of a Savior.

Mat 8:22  But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

Luk 9:60  Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

After we have acknowledged our spiritually dead condition as the first Adam, of the earth, earthy and corruptible, then we can say with the apostle Paul:

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Eph 2:1  And you [hath he quickened], who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Continuing with the signs of Christ’s coming and the smiting of the earth with all plagues:

Mat 24:5  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

The “many who are deceived” are the same as the “many who were made sinners”. It is all inclusive, and common to all men.

Rom 5:19  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars… nation will rise against nation, but this is not yet the end of the age, it is instead, just “the beginning of sorrows”. If we believe that all of this is for those sinners out there who are left behind while we are spared these sorrows, and plagues, then God has simply blinded our eyes to the words “ye” and “you” throughout this prophecy, which is given in answer to His disciple’s question, “What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?”

Mat 24:6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8  All these are the beginning of sorrows.

How often will God’s elect “smite the earth with all plagues”? Like Christ, His elect seek only the will of His Father. Here is a list of those ‘plagues’ and those sorrows with which “they smite the earth as oft as they will”, and which we should expect, since they are the sorrows which Christ tells His disciples to look for as the sign of His coming and the end of this age:

Mat 24:9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
Mat 24:10  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations [by the two witnesses]; and then shall the end come.

So the end of this age does not come till after we have been delivered up, afflicted and killed. This ‘death’ is the same as the death of God’s two witnesses. So the end does not come until we have been deceived by many false prophets, we have been overwhelmed by iniquity, and have “left our first love” (Rev 2:4). The end does not come until after we are “hated of all nations for Christ’s name sake”. The profound truth of what we have just read is that the end does not come until we have “endured to the end.”

What else happens before the end of the age comes?

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Rev 1:3  Blessed [is] he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

So “the abomination of desolation” for those who “read and understand”, occurs before the end comes, as does also the “great tribulation”.

Mat 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
Mat 24:23  Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Mat 24:25  Behold, I have told you before.
Mat 24:26  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Mat 24:27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

Christ’s coming is “as the lightning that comes out of the east and shines even to the west”, “for” or ‘because’ the eagles gather only at the carcase, the dead bodies, which have died to this world, “before the end comes”. For all those who “read and understand”, these are the same “dead bodies” as the dead bodies of the two witnesses of this 11th chapter of Revelation.

Rev 11:8  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.

Continuing with His answer to the question, ‘What will be the sign of your coming and the end of this age’, Christ tells us:

Mat 24:29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

Joe 2:31  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Joe 2:32  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

It is both that period “before… and immediately after the tribulation of those days” that the Sun in our heavens is darkened by the smoke that arises out of our bottomless pit, and the great earthquake such as never was, nor ever will be, comes as the sign of the Son of Man in the heaven which appears to us and shakes us out of our sleep of spiritual death. That is what is required to bring every son to God.

Mat 24:30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

When do all of these things take place? When is the sign of Christ’s coming and of the end of this age? When are those who hurt God’s two witnesses killed by the fire from their mouths? Here is Christ’s own answer to this question.

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

“This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled” tells us that “the sign of the Son of Man in heaven” comes and causes all the tribes of the earth to mourn before “this generation passes, and all these things are fulfilled”. That is the doctrine of Jesus Christ, here in Mat 24, in 2Th 2:6-12, in Heb 12:6-7 and here in Revelation six.

Rev 6:12  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Summary

We have seen that the spiritual significance of:

1) fire proceeding out of the mouths of God’s two witnesses is the word of God in their mouths, and

2) that is the fire that kills their enemies, and we have demonstrated that none of this is literal, and that therefore Christ’s two witnesses do not violate His doctrines by killing those who would hurt them with the fire from their mouths. The fact is, that we have seen that it is we who are first killed by that fire.

We also saw that:

3) the power given to the two witnesses to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, is again, nothing more or less than understanding the nourishing words of Christ as the rain which they are, and as they relate to our own experience of first denying Him and His doctrines, during the days of the prophecy of the two witnesses in our own lives. We saw that we, just like Christ’s apostles, we all think we understand His words during the time of His testimony, but in reality the heavens are shut, and we “understand not”. Just like Christ’s apostles, we all first deny and reject Him as our Savior.

Mat 13:49  So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
Mat 13:50  And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 13:51  Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.

The Truth, of course is that “they understood not” till their conversion after Christ’s resurrection, and after their own spiritual ‘resurrection’.

Mar 9:31  For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.
Mar 9:32  But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

Luk 9:43  And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples,
Luk 9:44  Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.
Luk 9:45  But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.

We saw that:

4) to turn waters to blood is the spiritual way of telling us that God’s Words, which are the nourishing waters of life, will destroy us when we are denying that they speak of us, and that they will continue to work against us till we acknowledge that it is we who must live by every word. God’s Words are “turned to blood”, and condemn us of the blood of Christ, till we acknowledge that we are that man who denied our Lord while cursing and swearing that we “know Him not”. Just like Joseph’s brothers, we are condemned until we acknowledge that it was we who nailed our Lord to the cross.

We know that we are first ‘the earth’ which is smitten with all these plagues:

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

Rev 11:6  These have 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.

Finally we have seen that:

5) to “smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will” is “the word of the Lord” which is but a continuation of that same work of destroying our old man and any sense of self righteousness that may remain in our ‘earth’. We have seen that we are the earth, and that until we “hear the word of the Lord” concerning our own culpability in every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, and our guilt in shedding the blood of Christ, the work of “smiting the earth with all plagues”, will continue in light of this Truth:

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Since we are to “see all of these things”, and we are to know that “it is near, even at the doors”, and “this generation will not pass till all these things be fulfilled”, it becomes obvious that it really is God’s firstfruits who first experience the “one event that is common to all men”, and who must be those who first “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, and keep the things written therein, because all things are ours”.

Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

There is but “one event” and there is but one fiery Word of God. However there are two very different resurrections and “the first resurrection… of life” at the Lord’s appearing at the beginning of the thousand year reign, is far superior to the second “resurrection of judgment” over 1,000 years later at the great white throne judgment/ lake of fire/ second death (Rev 20:7-15).

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. [Greek, ‘Krisis’, judgment]

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life [1,000 years earlier] was cast into the lake of fire.

Next week, Lord willing we will continue our study here in Rev 11. As is always the case, to see these words as words which are compatible with the third verse of chapter one is foolishness to the natural man, but we will see next week that these “things written therein” were as applicable in John’s day as they are today and will be tomorrow. Here are our next verses:

Rev 11:7  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.
Rev 11:8  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.
Rev 11:9  And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
Rev 11:10  And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.