Post by Daniel on Oct 30, 2015 9:43:41 GMT -5
The Two Witnesses of Revelation 11
J.L. Robb
October 29, 2015
The Bible has a lot to say about witnesses and what constitutes such. Being a false witness (liar) had dire consequences. If someone was charged with murder and a witness falsely testified against him or set him up, that witness was to suffer the consequences that would have befallen the falsely accused man, or woman.
The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. ~ Deuteronomy 19:18-19 NIV
When it comes to judgment, one witness will not do; The Law of Moses required two or three witnesses to make a charge stick.
One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. ~ Deuteronomy 19:15 NIV
There are many references in the Bible about the importance of two witnesses, or three.
But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' ~ Matthew 26:60 NIV
In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. ~ John 8:17 NIV
Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. ~ 1 Timothy 5:19 NIV
Anyone who rejected the Law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ~ Hebrews 10:28 NIV
On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. ~ Deuteronomy 17:6 NIV
“And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” ~ Revelation 11:3 NIV
The Two Witnesses is the title of my fifth book in the The End The Book Series and is now available for pre-order. Several Omega Letter subscribers have already ordered, and I am appreciative. I use the pre-order funds to kick off the release campaign, which should be mid-December, possibly sooner.
I have hit many stumbling blocks in writing The Two Witnesses.
For several months I had breathing issues, then in June had heart surgery and it seems to have been one thing after another after surgery. A friend told me last week she thought the devil was after me. Maybe so, but he has a battle on his hands. I write to glorify God, not friends and family and do not plan to stop, ever. I love to do so.
To have most of a chapter in Revelation dedicated to you would have to be special, and chapter 11 is devoted to the Two Witnesses who appear in Jerusalem. One witness would not have worked.
Their testimony is directed to the country of Israel but applies to all mankind, and people from “all nations” will witness the Witnesses. Their message to Israel will anger the Israelites, the same way the prophets’ messages angered them 3,000 years ago; and they will plot to kill these witnesses. Unfortunately for the would-be killers, the witnesses are endowed with great powers of the supernatural realm, including:
For 1,260 days (3 ½ years),
Anyone who tries to harm them is destroyed by fire.
They have the power to prevent rain for 3 ½ years.
They have the power to turn water into blood.
They have the power to cause any plague they wish.
Sometimes I hear a statement about how nebulous the Bible is, but 1,260 days is a pretty specific prediction.
After 3 ½ years, the Two Witnesses are killed by the Beast of Revelation, who will not appear to be a beast but more like a savior. The people of the entire world will rejoice and give gifts to one another; because the Two Witnesses are finally dead, thanks to the one called the antichrist in the Bible, who everyone thinks is magnificent.
This is what Paul had to say when explaining how and why so many would be fooled by the “lawless” one, the antichrist and the great deceiver.
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 NIV
The lawless one is fooling us today. He has convinced many churches and many people that he is a myth on his journey to convince everyone that God is a myth. His success in today’s modern world is mindboggling. With the help of his media, his Hollywood and his education department we are becoming convinced that Ironman is real but God is not.
When the beast kills the two witnesses in Jerusalem, the people of the world will worship the beast as God. Even the elect will be fooled by his charisma and miraculous works.
The two witnesses get little attention in eschatology it seems. They are hardly mentioned in most writings about the end times. But unlike Rodney Dangerfield, they will get respect when it stops raining, and the water turns to blood which is followed by disease and plague. They will be feared and hated.
Revelation 13 states that the lawless one “performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven, to the earth in full view of the people.”
It is Jewish custom to bury anyone who dies by sunset on the day they died when possible. The people hated the two witnesses so much, they left them laying in the square, jeering and insulting them though they lay dead in the street for 3 ½ days.
For burial to be denied someone was a true insult, a humiliating disgrace; because it meant the deceased would become food for birds of prey and other animals. How surprised they must have been 3 ½ days later (is that specific?) when the two witnesses came back to life.
For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. ~ Revelation 11:9-10 NIV
When the Two Witnesses appear it means the 7-year Tribulation has begun. They die and come back to life halfway into this terrible period of time. In The Two Witnesses, they get great respect. We do, after all, know who one of the witnesses will be: Elijah.
The last book of the Old Testament is Malachi, a prophet who wrote from 433-430 B.C. At the end of this prophecy, Malachi states:
“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” ~ Malachi 4:5-6 NIV
An excerpt from Chapter Twenty-Four of The Two Witnesses:
Sheryl paused and took a bite of the Almond Bear Claw, washing it down with a sip of orange juice.
“Can their missiles reach the United States?” Samarra asked.
“Good question,” Sheryl said.
“We may know real soon,” Wild Willy piped in and walked back into the kitchen. “Jeff, when you get a minute, can you come in and check these water samples I have?”
“You bet,” Jeff said and followed Will into the kitchen.
Smoke moved in from the west where the mountains burned steadily. Tomorrow would be September 1, and The Admiral wondered what the Muslim terrorists had planned.
“… and in England,” Condi continued after her guest departed, “there has been eight inches of snow in London where the temperature dropped from a high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit two days ago to 22 degrees today. Any sprouting crops have been destroyed, and estimates of livestock deaths has topped thirty thousand. A major dip in the Jet Stream is the culprit, and most of Europe has record low temperatures.
“A hailstorm in Egypt killed several hundred people, mostly tourists; and in Australia, an asteroid has destroyed most of Perth, the third largest city with two million people. Early death estimates are staggering at…”
“Blood cells,” Jeff said after a quick glance.
“I didn’t think red blood cells had nuclei,” Will responded.
“Fish blood,” Jeff said. “Mature human, red blood cells are almost perfectly round and look like a small, red donut. There is not an actual hole in the middle but more of a membrane. There is no nucleus. Fish, on the other hand… Where did you get the water sample?”
“Samples,” Will replied.
“From where?” Jeff asked again.
“North Carolina, China, Saudi, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Syria and Egypt. Most samples have come in from the Al Ahsa Oasis in Saudi. I didn’t even know there were fish in a cotton-pickin’ oasis.”
Jeff pondered the information and took another look through the microscope.
“Do you have the slide from North Carolina?” Jeff asked. “And what about Lebanon?”
“Yeah, there are reports from Lebanon; but Aludra had not received samples when I left Tel Aviv.”
“And Israel?” Jeff asked.
“Rumors,” Will said, “but nothing confirmed. The two guys preaching in Jerusalem said they were turning water to blood; and the people are scared, and mad.
“It hasn’t rained in the Middle East for a long, long time but they’re having many hailstorms. As bad as the hailstorms are, they have provided some drinking water. Fortunately the water in Israel is not turning into blood, at least there are few reports.”
“Vedddyyy in-te-rest-ing,” Jeff said.
“Yeah. I figured you would be interested,” Will said with a huge, face-wrapping grin.
“It is interesting,” Jeff said, “that all the countries around Israel are reporting water turning to blood, but no reports from Israel.”
“Only hail,” Will said.
Jeff examined the slide from Southport, North Carolina. The fish blood was again evident but not as concentrated as on the Saudi slide. He did a quick count and noted the concentration was about a third. He examined the slide from Syria, and the blood was more concentrated than the Saudi sample. The Egyptian sample was more concentrated than the Southport sample but not as concentrated as the Saudi slide.
“Seems like the heaviest concentration of fish blood is in the countries bordering Israel. The Southport sample has fish blood, definitely; but it is not nearly as concentrated.”
“Wow,” Will said, rubbing his stubbled chin. “So where is all the fish blood coming from? Do you think it could be the arsenic levels in the water?”
Arsenic poisoning had come to mind almost immediately as Jeff examined the slides. The asteroid NASA had blown up contained high levels of arsenic, and the slow filtration and descent through Earth’s atmosphere had increased toxicity in lakes and streams throughout the northern hemisphere.
“Good question, Wild Willy. Good question.”
“… go now to Jerusalem where the Two Witnesses are speaking. Moshe, what can you tell us?”
“You can watch for yourself, Condi,” and Moshe motioned his video man. “Run the clip.”
Thank you for reading; and if you aren’t reading the series, you need to. It is a little different take on an ancient story. I write to generate interest in the unbeliever, not the believer. As a believer, you will find this to be a thriller, a love story and edge-of-the-seat action. The unbeliever will find much information they never knew about the Bible; and hopefully that will instill an interest to be saved for the next life, the really long one.
Posted with permission
www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=8138
J.L. Robb
October 29, 2015
The Bible has a lot to say about witnesses and what constitutes such. Being a false witness (liar) had dire consequences. If someone was charged with murder and a witness falsely testified against him or set him up, that witness was to suffer the consequences that would have befallen the falsely accused man, or woman.
The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. ~ Deuteronomy 19:18-19 NIV
When it comes to judgment, one witness will not do; The Law of Moses required two or three witnesses to make a charge stick.
One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. ~ Deuteronomy 19:15 NIV
There are many references in the Bible about the importance of two witnesses, or three.
But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' ~ Matthew 26:60 NIV
In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. ~ John 8:17 NIV
Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. ~ 1 Timothy 5:19 NIV
Anyone who rejected the Law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ~ Hebrews 10:28 NIV
On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. ~ Deuteronomy 17:6 NIV
“And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” ~ Revelation 11:3 NIV
The Two Witnesses is the title of my fifth book in the The End The Book Series and is now available for pre-order. Several Omega Letter subscribers have already ordered, and I am appreciative. I use the pre-order funds to kick off the release campaign, which should be mid-December, possibly sooner.
I have hit many stumbling blocks in writing The Two Witnesses.
For several months I had breathing issues, then in June had heart surgery and it seems to have been one thing after another after surgery. A friend told me last week she thought the devil was after me. Maybe so, but he has a battle on his hands. I write to glorify God, not friends and family and do not plan to stop, ever. I love to do so.
To have most of a chapter in Revelation dedicated to you would have to be special, and chapter 11 is devoted to the Two Witnesses who appear in Jerusalem. One witness would not have worked.
Their testimony is directed to the country of Israel but applies to all mankind, and people from “all nations” will witness the Witnesses. Their message to Israel will anger the Israelites, the same way the prophets’ messages angered them 3,000 years ago; and they will plot to kill these witnesses. Unfortunately for the would-be killers, the witnesses are endowed with great powers of the supernatural realm, including:
For 1,260 days (3 ½ years),
Anyone who tries to harm them is destroyed by fire.
They have the power to prevent rain for 3 ½ years.
They have the power to turn water into blood.
They have the power to cause any plague they wish.
Sometimes I hear a statement about how nebulous the Bible is, but 1,260 days is a pretty specific prediction.
After 3 ½ years, the Two Witnesses are killed by the Beast of Revelation, who will not appear to be a beast but more like a savior. The people of the entire world will rejoice and give gifts to one another; because the Two Witnesses are finally dead, thanks to the one called the antichrist in the Bible, who everyone thinks is magnificent.
This is what Paul had to say when explaining how and why so many would be fooled by the “lawless” one, the antichrist and the great deceiver.
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 NIV
The lawless one is fooling us today. He has convinced many churches and many people that he is a myth on his journey to convince everyone that God is a myth. His success in today’s modern world is mindboggling. With the help of his media, his Hollywood and his education department we are becoming convinced that Ironman is real but God is not.
When the beast kills the two witnesses in Jerusalem, the people of the world will worship the beast as God. Even the elect will be fooled by his charisma and miraculous works.
The two witnesses get little attention in eschatology it seems. They are hardly mentioned in most writings about the end times. But unlike Rodney Dangerfield, they will get respect when it stops raining, and the water turns to blood which is followed by disease and plague. They will be feared and hated.
Revelation 13 states that the lawless one “performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven, to the earth in full view of the people.”
It is Jewish custom to bury anyone who dies by sunset on the day they died when possible. The people hated the two witnesses so much, they left them laying in the square, jeering and insulting them though they lay dead in the street for 3 ½ days.
For burial to be denied someone was a true insult, a humiliating disgrace; because it meant the deceased would become food for birds of prey and other animals. How surprised they must have been 3 ½ days later (is that specific?) when the two witnesses came back to life.
For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. ~ Revelation 11:9-10 NIV
When the Two Witnesses appear it means the 7-year Tribulation has begun. They die and come back to life halfway into this terrible period of time. In The Two Witnesses, they get great respect. We do, after all, know who one of the witnesses will be: Elijah.
The last book of the Old Testament is Malachi, a prophet who wrote from 433-430 B.C. At the end of this prophecy, Malachi states:
“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” ~ Malachi 4:5-6 NIV
An excerpt from Chapter Twenty-Four of The Two Witnesses:
Sheryl paused and took a bite of the Almond Bear Claw, washing it down with a sip of orange juice.
“Can their missiles reach the United States?” Samarra asked.
“Good question,” Sheryl said.
“We may know real soon,” Wild Willy piped in and walked back into the kitchen. “Jeff, when you get a minute, can you come in and check these water samples I have?”
“You bet,” Jeff said and followed Will into the kitchen.
Smoke moved in from the west where the mountains burned steadily. Tomorrow would be September 1, and The Admiral wondered what the Muslim terrorists had planned.
“… and in England,” Condi continued after her guest departed, “there has been eight inches of snow in London where the temperature dropped from a high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit two days ago to 22 degrees today. Any sprouting crops have been destroyed, and estimates of livestock deaths has topped thirty thousand. A major dip in the Jet Stream is the culprit, and most of Europe has record low temperatures.
“A hailstorm in Egypt killed several hundred people, mostly tourists; and in Australia, an asteroid has destroyed most of Perth, the third largest city with two million people. Early death estimates are staggering at…”
“Blood cells,” Jeff said after a quick glance.
“I didn’t think red blood cells had nuclei,” Will responded.
“Fish blood,” Jeff said. “Mature human, red blood cells are almost perfectly round and look like a small, red donut. There is not an actual hole in the middle but more of a membrane. There is no nucleus. Fish, on the other hand… Where did you get the water sample?”
“Samples,” Will replied.
“From where?” Jeff asked again.
“North Carolina, China, Saudi, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Syria and Egypt. Most samples have come in from the Al Ahsa Oasis in Saudi. I didn’t even know there were fish in a cotton-pickin’ oasis.”
Jeff pondered the information and took another look through the microscope.
“Do you have the slide from North Carolina?” Jeff asked. “And what about Lebanon?”
“Yeah, there are reports from Lebanon; but Aludra had not received samples when I left Tel Aviv.”
“And Israel?” Jeff asked.
“Rumors,” Will said, “but nothing confirmed. The two guys preaching in Jerusalem said they were turning water to blood; and the people are scared, and mad.
“It hasn’t rained in the Middle East for a long, long time but they’re having many hailstorms. As bad as the hailstorms are, they have provided some drinking water. Fortunately the water in Israel is not turning into blood, at least there are few reports.”
“Vedddyyy in-te-rest-ing,” Jeff said.
“Yeah. I figured you would be interested,” Will said with a huge, face-wrapping grin.
“It is interesting,” Jeff said, “that all the countries around Israel are reporting water turning to blood, but no reports from Israel.”
“Only hail,” Will said.
Jeff examined the slide from Southport, North Carolina. The fish blood was again evident but not as concentrated as on the Saudi slide. He did a quick count and noted the concentration was about a third. He examined the slide from Syria, and the blood was more concentrated than the Saudi sample. The Egyptian sample was more concentrated than the Southport sample but not as concentrated as the Saudi slide.
“Seems like the heaviest concentration of fish blood is in the countries bordering Israel. The Southport sample has fish blood, definitely; but it is not nearly as concentrated.”
“Wow,” Will said, rubbing his stubbled chin. “So where is all the fish blood coming from? Do you think it could be the arsenic levels in the water?”
Arsenic poisoning had come to mind almost immediately as Jeff examined the slides. The asteroid NASA had blown up contained high levels of arsenic, and the slow filtration and descent through Earth’s atmosphere had increased toxicity in lakes and streams throughout the northern hemisphere.
“Good question, Wild Willy. Good question.”
“… go now to Jerusalem where the Two Witnesses are speaking. Moshe, what can you tell us?”
“You can watch for yourself, Condi,” and Moshe motioned his video man. “Run the clip.”
Thank you for reading; and if you aren’t reading the series, you need to. It is a little different take on an ancient story. I write to generate interest in the unbeliever, not the believer. As a believer, you will find this to be a thriller, a love story and edge-of-the-seat action. The unbeliever will find much information they never knew about the Bible; and hopefully that will instill an interest to be saved for the next life, the really long one.
Posted with permission
www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=8138