ARMAGEDDON REVISITED - NYOBS 66.24

Armageddon Revisited

Will a cavalry on horses really ride in bringing swords and knives to a GUN FIGHT?

First Word

·         GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL – Do you remember the 1957 movie with Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday? – Armageddon is a gunfight to the death or perhaps to life? - If one Angel can wave his hand and kill 185,000 with a supernatural laser beam, think what a legion of angels could do. (There’s more of us than they are of them.)

·         As you read John’s account in the “Revelation”, it must be noted that the many chapters are not in sequential order, but are inserted from time to time to provide information on what John sees and describes as best his mind can understand. - Neither John nor the prophets had ever seen complex airborne weaponry such as a HELICOPTER. – Have you noticed how an Apache Helicopter resembles a LOCUST? - John had never seen a BULLET, much less a THERMONUCLEAR BOMB.

• A nuclear bomb can generate 150 million degrees of heat in a millionth of a second; skin falls off their bodies while they are still standing - With pain and anguish, faces are burned. Terror seizes mankind. The nuclear bombs trigger earth quakes; debris is blown into the air so thick it blots out the sun. – Fire and sulfur fills the air and rains down on the earth.
• Most of the Middle East has “Chemical and Biological Weapons” and nuclear weapons would just be icing on the cake.
• Biological weapons include microorganisms and toxins that cause plagues like cholera and tuberculosis, there’s anthrax and botulisms and the Super Plague for which there is no cure.
• Chemical weapons include nerve gas, mustard gas and Sarin gas that attack your lungs, and now Russia has one called Novichok which is ten times more toxic than nerve gas.

·         Let’s Reason together - It is REASONABLE and LOGICAL to CONSIDER and ASSUME that man will NOT regress backward and use horses, swords and hand to hand combat to fight a modern day warfare of tanks, Apache helicopters, hellfire missiles, drone surgical strikes and H-bombs. - In fact if we did, Megiddo would become a death trap by dropping just one H-bomb; SO WHAT’S GOING ON?

Isaiah 1:18 - Come now, let us reason together,
¹⁸ Come now, LET US REASON TOGETHER, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

(ESV)

Revelation 19:11-21 – Horses, Riders and Swords
¹¹ Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white HORSE! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
¹⁴ And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white HORSES.
¹⁵ From his mouth comes a sharp SWORD with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron..
¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds “Come, gather for the great supper of God,
¹⁸ to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of HORSES and their RIDERS, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”
¹⁹ And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the HORSE and against his army.
²⁰ And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
²¹ And the rest were slain by the SWORD that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh. (ESV)

Rev 9:7-10 – Sounds like Apache helicopters to me

7 The LOCUSTS looked like horses prepared for battle and their faces resembled human faces.

9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their WINGS was like the thundering of many horses and chariots. 10 They had tails and stings like scorpions. NIV

Rev 6:12-14 – Nuclear explosions, earth quakes, smoke

12 There was a great EARTHQUAKE. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,

13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.

14 The SKY RECEDED LIKE A SCROLL, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. NIV

Zech 14:12 – Their eyes will rot while they are standing

12 This is the plague with which the LORD will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their FLESH WILL ROT while they are still standing on their feet, their EYES WILL ROT in their sockets, and their TONGUES WILL ROT in their mouths. NIV

Isa 13:6-8 – Terror, Pain, Anguish and Faces burned

6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.  

7 Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man's heart will melt.

8 Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their FACES AFLAME. NIV

2 Kings 19:35 – One angel – 185,000 dead
³⁵ And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. (ESV)

2 Kings 6:16 – There’s more of us that are those with them
¹⁶ He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us ARE MORE than those who are with them.” (ESV)

Megiddo

·         This Study will DEPART FROM THE ORDINARY and ignore the Systematic Theology that we have always been taught and take a close look at the rich SYMBOLISM as painted by John the Revelator. – NYOBS 07.002 - ESCHATOLOGY

·         The actual word “Armageddon” appears only once in the Greek New Testament and it comes from the Hebrew word Har Məgiddô, meaning "Mountain of Megiddo". - Megiddo is actually not a mountain at all, but A HILL created by many generations of people living and rebuilding on the same spot. – The Word “Mountain” is symbolic for Power. -  NYOBS 22.02 - ARMAGEDDON

·         What we think of as a battlefield lies at the mouth of the great valley Esdraelon; a narrow PASS in the northern part of Israel, east of Mount Carmel that stretches from the Mediterranean Sea eastward across the northern part of Israel. – (This is where we get the expression “Cut them off at the Pass”.)

·         Many wars have been fought on this plain called Megiddo - In the final battle, the restraining force, which is the Holy Spirit, has gone from the earth and there is no longer any restraint on man and he will do whatever is in his heart. - The term “Armageddon” has been used “symbolically” whenever in a Great War the need was the greatest for God’s help.

·         This study jumps over the thinking that Megiddo is a specific geographical location on earth and looks at the final battle of Armageddon as strictly symbolic.

·         SYMBOLICALLY I ask that you shift your mind to grasp that Megiddo is a BATTLEFIELD where a WAR is taking place. – JUST HOLD JUST THAT THOUGHT – Megiddo is a Battlefield -

Revelation 16:16 - A place called Armageddon
¹⁶ And they assembled them at the PLACE that in Hebrew is called ARMAGEDDON. (ESV)

The Battlefield

·         If you can just grab hold of the thought that Revelation is a symbolic book and the battle presented is symbolic, you will start to see other symbols in scripture that will enable you to unlock the symbolic codes thus gaining a whole new perspective on the “Revelation”.

·         The Battle is not physical hand to hand combat with army against army, it’s a spiritual battle against cosmic spiritual forces of evil that operate in heavenly places.

·         Our weapons are not tanks, Apache helicopters, bombs and chemical warfare, but is the Word of God; what He has already spoken.  We are to be armed with the whole armor of God and He clearly spells it out for us.

·         SYMBOLICALLY we are to put on the BELT of truth, the BREASTPLATE of righteousness, SHOES of readiness, the SHIELD of faith, HELMET of salvation, & SWORD of the Spirit.  If you notice that in the descriptions that God gives us, there is nothing to protect our backs.  The instructions are for us to STAND and be able to withstand the fiery darts of Satan; there will not be a retreat with our backs exposed, because God has our backs.

·         Our Weapon is KNOWLEDGE of the Bible. – The battlefield is our MIND, soul and spirit. You must get this; we PERISH for the lack of knowledge of God’s power, what He has already spoken. – You must STUDY the Word for yourself.

Ephesians 6:12 – The battle is against Spiritual Forces of Evil
¹²  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against THE SPIRITUAL FORCES OF EVIL in the heavenly places. (ESV)

Ephesians 6:13-17 – The Armor of God
¹³  Therefore take up THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
¹⁴ STAND therefore, having fastened on the BELT OF TRUTH, and having put on the BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
¹⁵ and, as SHOES for your feet, having put on the READINESS given by the gospel of peace.
¹⁶ In all circumstances take up the SHIELD OF FAITH, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
¹⁷ and take the HELMET OF SALVATION, and the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, which is the word of God, (ESV)

Isaiah 5:13 - My people perish because of lack of knowledge
¹³ Therefore my people go into exile for LACK OF KNOWLEDGE; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst. (ESV)

Matthew 22:29 – Deceived because you don’t read the Bible
²⁹ Jesus answered them, “You are deceived, because you don’t know the Scriptures or the POWER OF GOD. (HCSB)

2 Timothy 2:15 – Study to rightly divide the word of truth
¹⁵ STUDY to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing THE WORD of truth. (KJV)

War Games

• Satan who is the Anti-god; the Anti-Christ and the False Prophet all make up the COUNTERFEIT UNHOLY TRINITY.

1. The Dragon symbolically is Satan who has created myriads of little gods, false religions and institutions.
2. The Beast is symbolic of the false teachings of the pagan religions and institutions.
3. The False Prophet is considered by some to be Mohammad promoting the pagan religion of Islam. – NYOBS 39.20 - ISLAM vs; CHRISTIANITY – NYOBS 46.17 - QUR’AN ON JESUS

• FROGS are considered unclean by the Hebrew nation.  Notice that the three frogs came out of the MOUTHS of the Counterfeit Trinity. - These slimy, filthy, loathsome, disgusting frogs are evil spirits that come spewing out PROPAGANDA and FAKE NEWS, FALSE DOCTRINE, PERVERSIVE IDEAS and DISTORTIONS OF TRUTH through the Internet, Twitter and Facebook, Radio and TV, plus Newspapers and Tabloids seducing and deceiving all the Leader of THE WORLD.  (Kind of like what’s going on NOW) – FAKE NEWS -
• They take advantage of man’s weaknesses; fear, pride, lust, greed and even laziness, seducing them to join in the battle of Armageddon. - Sadly, the kings of the world that will be deceived includes a multitude from the USA.
• Frogs are SYMBOLIC of a spiritually impure, and unholy false church with false teachings. The adversary is SATAN and his weapon is War Games of the mind; DECEIT.
• Satan’s weapon is to put DECEIT in our MIND. - INFORMATION DISSEMINATION -
• God’s weapon is to put KNOWLEDGE in our MIND. – SWORD OF TRUTH; THE BIBLE
• The WAR GAMES are MIND GAMES concerning God’s Spiritual values.

Rev 16:13-16 – The Satanic Trinity

13 Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like FROGS; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

14 They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of THE WHOLE WORLD, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.

15 "Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."

16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

Revelation 16:14 – Demonic Spirits performing signs
¹⁴ For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. (ESV)

Revelation 19:15 – Out of God’s mouth comes a sharp sword
¹⁵ From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. (ESV)

Gog & Magog

• Ezekiel prophesied twenty five centuries ago of a war between an un-walled city (Israel) and a nation to its North, (Russia).  When Israel became a Nation again in 1948, this war became imminent.
• Gog, which is the nation of Russia and Magog which is its army of allied nations will invade Israel and there will be an earthquake so catastrophic that the whole world will be affected.  God will rain down hailstones on them with burning sulfur, plagues of pestilence, and they will be in such confusion, that they want even know who they are fighting and will be killed by their own friendly fire.
• It’s possible the Russian army will be destroyed by their own thermonuclear bomb, fire and brimstone. - The modern nation’s names are; Russia, East Germany, Poland and Bulgaria plus Persia (Iran) Ethiopia, Libya and Turkey.
• Names change, nations change and the players change; the identity of the players really does not matter… there has always been many threats to Israel – Symbolically SPIRITUAL ISRAEL is the Church which are God’s people and the threat against them is coming from the SATANIC TRINITY.
• Satan is the Prince of the Power of the Air; Air is invisible and everywhere – Satan’s unseen evil is all around us.
• Christ’s army in heaven is THE SAINTS whose names are written in THE BOOK OF LIFE and Satan’s army is those whose names that are not written in THE BOOK OF LIFE. – Whoever is NOT with Christ is against Him – Whoever does NOT gather with Him; scatters. – They will make war on the army of Christ and will LOSE.
• SYMBOLICALLY we can boil it all down to ONE FACT; there is a SPIRITUAL WAR going on between the CHURCH and SATAN. – AND WE ARE THE CHURCH -

Ezekiel 38:2-3 – Gog is the Chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal
² Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him
³ and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O GOG, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. (ESV)

Ezek 38:19-21 – Prophecy – Earthquake; Confusion, Kill each other

19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.

20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground.

21 I will summon a sword against GOG on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD. Every man's sword will be against his brother.

Ezek 38:22 – Prophecy - Rain hailstones of burning sulfur

22 I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. NIV

Ephesians 2:2 – Satan is the Prince of the Power of the Air
² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—(ESV)

Revelation 20:15 – Name in the Book of Life
¹⁵ And if anyone’s name was not found written in THE BOOK OF LIFE, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (ESV)

Matthew 12:30 - Whoever is not with me is against me
³⁰ whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (ESV)

Revelation 17:14 – They will make war but the Lamb will conquer
¹⁴ They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” (ESV)

Summary

• Frogs are symbolic of a spiritually impure, and unholy false church with INFORMATION DISSEMINATION - False teachings.

·         Megiddo is a battle field where a war is taking place. 

• The war games are mind games - The battle is over our mind, soul and spirit.
• Satan’s weapon is to put deceit in our mind.
• God’s weapon is to put knowledge in our mind.

·         Symbolically we are to put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of readiness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit.  – Our instructions are for us to just stand.

• This is a spiritual war taking place between the Church and Satan and its takes place within us.  We are both the Warrior and the War.

·         I don’t ask that you embrace this study of symbolism, but just think about it. – It’s what you put in your mind and into your heart that determines the outcome of YOUR battle. – Make no mistake the battle is one MIND at a time. – Without KNOWEDGE… YOU will perish We all are born on the wrong side of the battle, but we can be born again. - You must decide which side you want to fight on; there are no bystanders.

·         Do you feel the battle within; you are not a bystander. You are the WAR and the WARRIOR

·         Life is Choice driven; the decisions you make on this side of life have eternal consequences.

JUST THINK ABOUT IT

In the multitude of counselors,

there is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:14

I am grateful to those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical

information, and scripture verses.  Because of them I can stand on their shoulders

and see further that I otherwise ever could have.

                                                                                                                                     

A Commentary; Critical, Experimental and Practical - Eerdmans

Antiquity of the Jews – Flavius Josephus Matthias

Apocrypha – Goodspeed

Baker Commentary on the Bible – Elwell

Bible Almanac; The – Packer-Tenney-White

Bible Commentary – F.B. Meyer

Bible Dictionary – Harper and Row

Bible Dictionary – Nelson’s

Dake’s Annotated Bible – Dake

English Standard Version Bible – ESV

Expositor’s Bible Commentary – Frank E. Gaebelein

Haven’t you Heard? There’s A War going on! – Eldred Echols

Illustrated Bible Dictionary; The – Tyndale

Interlinear Greek-English New Testament - Baker

King James Version Bible – KJV

Matthew Henry’s Commentary - Zondervan

Mysteries of the Bible – Readers Digest

Nave’s Topical Bible - Zondervan

New International Dictionary of the Bible; The – Douglas - Tenney

New International Version Bible (2011) – NIV

NOTE: The “new” NIV has been corrupted and made gender neutral.  AVOID IT.

Thru the Bible – J. Vernon McGee

Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament – Mac Donald

Who’s Who in the Bible – Paul D. Gardner

Wycliffe Bible Commentary; The – Pfeiffer & Harrison

Wikipedia –

Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; The – Tenney

TWO WITNESSES REVISITED - NYOBS 66.19

TWO WITNESSES REVISITED

A SYMBOLIC look at the end times; God dispatches 144,000 evangelist plus Two Witnesses

First Word

• The Seven Year Tribulation period has already begun. – 144,000 Jewish Evangelist have already been commissioned by God for the last time to evangelize the world with the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ.

• Then Two Witnesses in addition to the 144,000 appear during the LAST 3 ½ years of the tribulation period which Revelation referrers to as the last 1,260 days.
• The purpose of the two witnesses, is to display the power of God, and foretell the great events of wrath to come.  – They are the Watchman on the Wall - Jew and Gentile alike will come to the Lord because of their testimony.

• Systematic Theology argues for various reasons that that the two witnesses will come from ancient times perhaps raised from the dead, back to life, someone like Moses, or it may be two that never died that will come down from heaven; which could be Enoch and Elijah, or maybe even a prophet from the New Testament like John the Baptist.  Some scholars present Peter and Paul; others say James and John and even others perhaps Paul and Elijah; BUT this Word Study will not go anywhere near this concept. 
• Nowhere in the Old or New Testament does scripture state that “Two Prophets” will return to earth to bear witness; this is just well meaning conjecture.
• This study will look SYMBOLICALLY at the book of Revelation. – What do the Two Witness symbolically represent? – After God has just commissioned 144,000 evangelist, why would He need just two more?  – This will surely mess with your theology; I will not press you to embrace this, JUST THINK ABOUT IT. - NYOBS 43.19 – TWO WITNESSES -- NYOBS 01.23 - RAPTURE

Why Two Witnesses

• The Law of Moses requires Two Witnesses for a thing to be established as true.
• Jesus sent the disciple’s out Two by Two. – Two Angels witnessed Jesus death – Two Angels witnessed the translation of Jesus.
• There were Two Bears (Two Witnesses) that brought judgement on a mob of 42 teenagers. NOTE: Forty two months (teenagers) is 1,260 days or the last 3 ½ years of the tribulations when the Two Witnesses will testify. ( A Biblical year was 360 days, not 365 )
• There were “Two Witnesses” parallel in the OT, when God’s servants Zerubbabel and Joshua, were chosen to reclaim and rebuild the Jewish temple after the Babylon captivity. – The Lord God Almighty said; “Not by might, nor by power, but BY MY SPIRIT”.  - It was God‘s Spirit that accomplished His work; HOLD THAT THOUGHT…
• God has spoken ONCE; then TWICE, His word is Two Witnesses of His power.
• Jesus is one witness and the Father is the second witness.
• The Messiah is the first Witnesses and the Gospel is the second witness.
• The Old Covenant Church is one witness and the New Testament Church is the second witness.

Deut 19:15 – Two Witnesses establish truth

15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. KJV

John 8:17-18 – Why Two Witnesses? – The Law requires it.
¹⁷ In your own Law it is written that the testimony of TWO WITNESSES is true. KJV

2 Kings 2:24 – Two Witness bears – Judgment 42 boys/months
²⁴ And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. And TWO SHE-BEARS came out of the woods and tore FORTY-TWO of the boys. (ESV)

John 20:12 – Two Angels witnessed the slain body of Jesus

12 And seeing two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

KJV

Acts 1:10 – Two Angels witnessed Jesus translation

10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; KJV

Luke 10:1 – Jesus sent out the witnesses TWO by TWO

1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. KJV

John 10:30 – Jesus and God – The TWO are one
³⁰ I and the Father are one.” (ESV)

Psalm 62:11 – God has spoken once, then twice – It is His power
¹¹ ONCE God has spoken; TWICE have I heard this: that power belongs to God, (ESV)

Zech 4:6 - Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit

6 This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: `Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty. NIV

Let’s begin

·         We first encounter the mention of the Two Witnesses in the book of Revelation where they are IDENTIFIED symbolically as Two Olive Trees and again as Two Lampstands. – I didn’t say this; God did, so the first order of business is to unpack the symbolism of the Two Olive Trees and Two Lampstands.

Rev 11:3-4 - Two Witnesses – Two Olive Trees – Two Lampstands

3 And I will give power to my TWO WITNESSES, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth."

4 These are the TWO OLIVE TREES and the TWO LAMPSTANDS that stand before the Lord of the earth.

Two Olive Trees

·         Symbolically the Two Olive Trees represent the WORD OF GOD and are the two anointed ones who STAND before the Lord’s throne.  Only Elijah and Elisha used the words; “the Lord God before whom I stand”.

·         Interestingly some translation of the Bible render the words “Two anointed Ones” as “Two sons of Fresh Oil” – The oil from the Olive trees passes to the Lampstands – The Menorah lampstand was used in the tabernacle to give LIGHT to the priest as they carried out their priestly duties.

·         The Olive Oil is the messengers of God such as Enoch & Moses, Elijah & Elisha, Peter & Paul, James & John and by the grace of God; you and me.

Zechariah 4:13-14 – Two anointed ones stand before the Lord
¹³ He said to me, “Do you not know what these (olive trees) are?” I said, “No, my lord.”
¹⁴ Then he said, “These are the TWO ANOINTED ONES who STAND by the Lord of the whole earth.” (ESV)

1 Kings 17:1 – ELIJAH said The Lord God before whom I stand
¹ Now ELIJAH the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I STAND, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” (ESV)

2 Kings 3:14) – ELISHA said The Lord God before whom I stand
¹⁴ And ELISHA said, “As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I STAND, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you. (ESV

Two Lamp Stands

·         Jesus is identified as the Light of the World.

·         God identifies the Lampstands as the Church - The Lampstands converts the Olive Oil into LIGHT to guide the footsteps of the church congregation; the believers. (Seven in scripture is the number for completeness) -

Revelation 1:20 – The Lampstands are the Churches
²⁰ As for THE MYSTERY of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven (ESV) churches, and the seven LAMPSTANDS ARE the seven CHURCHES.

John 8:12 – Jesus is the light of the world
¹² Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the LIGHT of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (ESV)

Dual Nature

·         Since the Two Witness are identified as the Word of God and the Church, we can pick up on the symbolism that the Two Witnesses have a DUAL NATURE. – This can be noted by;

·         The Dual Nature of the Olive Tree; Jesus is the VINE and the Believer is the BRANCH...

·         Elijah represented the “Former Rain” the planting of the Spirit of God and Elisha represented the “Latter Rain”; the harvesting of the Spirit of God. – The Dual Nature -

·         Moses represented the “LAW”; he turned water in to blood and Elijah representing the “PROPHETS” who shut up heaven and stopped the rain.

·         Here’s where we are; in the beginning the Torah was divided by its “dual nature” into two parts. -  We have the LAW with its messengers to the Old Covenant church and later a new dimension was added with the PROPHETS and its messengers to the New Testament Church.

Deuteronomy 11:14 – The Former Rain and the Latter Rain
¹⁴ that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the FORMER RAIN and the LATTER RAIN, that you may GATHER in thy grain, and thy new wine, and thine oil. (ASV)

Joel 2:28 – Latter Rain – God pours out the Holy Spirit
²⁸ And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. (ESV)

James 5:7 – Latter Rain – The coming of the Lord
⁷ Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and THE LATE RAINS. (ESV)

Revelation 11:6 – Dual Nature – Law and the Prophets
⁶ 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. (ESV)

John 15:1-2 – Jesus is the Vine – The Believer is the branch
¹ I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. (ESV)

Sidebar

·         Interestingly the Two Witnesses will be dressed in Sackcloth portraying the nature of humility; the LEAST shall be first in the kingdom. -  This probably rules out the preachers of the Mega Churches; just sayin’. 

·         The Two Witnesses; the Message as well as the messengers will DIE for a period of time; they are the Christian schools, the institutions and churches that are presenting the message and darkness will cover the earth, a dark time of ignorance of God’s Word. – But then the LIGHT of God resurrects His inspired Word, the Gospel message and folks began to read it again and share it, but then the two witnesses are taken up and hidden in a cloud just like when Jesus was taken up. – Sadly the Two Witnesses will remain dead to most of the world - It’s almost over folks, the Holy Spirit begins to move -

·         This will be what is called the LATTER RAIN, where the harvest is GATHERED in.

Deuteronomy 11:14 – The Latter Rain gathers in the harvest
¹⁴ that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the FORMER RAIN and the LATTER RAIN, that you may GATHER in thy grain, and thy new wine, and thine oil. (ASV)

Revelation 11:12 – The Message is resurrected
¹² 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. (ESV)

Isaiah 60:1-2 - The LORD will arise upon you – Glory seen
¹ Arise, shine, for your LIGHT has come, and the GLORY of the LORD has risen upon you.
² For behold, DARKNESS shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. (ESV)

Acts 1:9 – Jesus was lifted up in a cloud
⁹ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. (ESV)

Luke 13:30 – Some who are last shall be first
³⁰ And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” (ESV)

Last Thoughts

·         In the first act of our World play; we find that God is center stage; then in the second act of the play, we see the Son is center stage and in the last act of the play, the Holy Spirit is center stage; that would be where we are right now - The building of the Kingdom of God began with “God the Son” and will be finished by “God the Spirit”.

·         An Angel told Zachariah concerning the rebuilding of the temple that symbolically the lampstand and the two olive trees represented the SPIRIT OF GOD.  – He did NOT say the trees represented any persons living or dead. – The rebuilding of the Temple (God’s Church) would not be built by might, nor by power, but by God’s Spirit.

·         We can see by example that God placed the spirit of Elijah on John the Baptist; it might just be that in the end times, the Spirit of Elijah and Elisha might be placed on His Two Witness; the message and the messengers.

·         Elisha Ask Elijah, “Please let there be a DOUBLE portion of your spirit upon me. – What if in the last days we get a DOUBLE PORTION of the Spirit of God. – We will have graduated with a BA – BORN AGAIN and a DDHG; A DOUBLE DOSE OF THE HOLY GHOST –

·         What if in the last days; the Believers are ONE witness, presenting the same message as the disciples of the early church, and the SECOND witness is the Signs following them confirming their testimony of Jesus Christ.

·         I’m not asking that you embrace this; JUST THINK ABOUT IT – The last days witnesses will not be the rich and well-known, but the common everyday man and woman of God endowed with a double dose of the Holy Ghost who care about those that are perishing - Life is choice driven – You can be a witness if you want to.

JUST THINK ABOUT IT

 ‘Luke 1:17 – God placed the spirit of Elijah on John the Baptist
¹⁷ and he will go before (John the Baptist) him in the SPIRIT and power of ELIJAH, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

(ESV)

2 Kings 2:9 - Double portion of God’s Spirit
⁹ When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a DOUBLE portion of your spirit on me.”

(ESV)

Mark 16:20 – They preached with signs confirming
²⁰ And they went forth, and PREACHED everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with SIGNS following. Amen.

(KJV)

Zechariah 4:5-6 – The Two represent the Spirit of God
⁵ Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT THESE ARE?” I said, “No, my lord.”
⁶ 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. (ESV)

In the multitude of counselors,

there is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:14

I am grateful to those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical

information, and scripture verses.  Because of them I can stand on their shoulders

and see further that I otherwise ever could have.

                                                                                                                                     

A Commentary; Critical, Experimental and Practical - Eerdmans

Antiquity of the Jews – Flavius Josephus Matthias

Apocrypha – Goodspeed

Baker Commentary on the Bible – Elwell

Bible Almanac; The – Packer-Tenney-White

Bible Commentary – F.B. Meyer

Bible Dictionary – Harper and Row

Dake’s Annotated Bible – Dake

English Standard Version Bible – ESV

Expositor’s Bible Commentary – Frank E. Gaebelein

Haven’t you Heard? There’s A War going on! – Eldred Echols
Illustrated Bible Dictionary – Nelson’s

Illustrated Bible Dictionary; The – Tyndale

Interlinear Greek-English New Testament - Baker

King James Version Bible – KJV

Matthew Henry’s Commentary - Zondervan

Mysteries of the Bible – Readers Digest

Nave’s Topical Bible - Zondervan

New International Dictionary of the Bible; The – Douglas - Tenney

New International Version Bible (2011) – NIV

NOTE: The “new” NIV has been corrupted and made gender neutral.  AVOID IT.

Thru the Bible – J. Vernon McGee

Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament – Mac Donald

Who’s Who in the Bible – Paul D. Gardner

Wycliffe Bible Commentary; The – Pfeiffer & Harrison

Wikipedia –

Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; The – Tenney