Revelation 11 The Two Witnesses - Part 1

In book 10,

Two Candlesticks Walk Down to the Earth... 


Another voice tells John that two witnesses are going to go out into the world—two candlesticks to be exact. So the candlesticks go down to Earth, but then a beast comes up from the bottomless pit and attacks them. Candlesticks don't stand much of a chance against a hideous beast from a bottomless pit, so it kills them. Their bodies lie in the streets of Jerusalem while all the non-believers gloat and rejoice. You see, they didn't much like those pesky candlesticks and are pretty glad to see them gone. Good riddance, right? But, the people push their luck a little by refusing to bury them and throwing a huge party to celebrate the fact that they're dead. And are they? Of course not! After three and a half days, the candlesticks get right back up and start living again. The people, naturally, freak out. Then, the candlesticks fly up into Heaven and let loose a huge earthquake. Seven thousand people are killed, but the rest, wisely, repent and put their faith in Jesus. Finally, some people are catching on. 

The Seventh Trumpet 

Finally, the seventh angel goes ahead and blows his trumpet. John hears voices announcing that God's reign on Earth has begun. The 24 elders start to worship God and let everyone know that it's almost time to start judging some people. The faithful are going to be rewarded big time (You get a crown! You get a crown!), but non-believers... well, just wait and see. Then, God's temple up in Heaven opens and everyone can see inside and there's thunder and lightning and hail. It's a total mad house up there. 

Before chapter 10 of the Revelation, we were given three woes. One Woe, which we interpreted as the Saracens under the initial leadership of Mahomet, the star that ascended out of The Bottomless Pit, has occurred. The Moslem tormenters are all over the Middle East and the Roman Empire. The Second Woe, which we interpreted as the Ottoman Turks, have spread across the Roman Empire. They have conquered Constantinople and renamed it to Istanbul. They have killed over 1.5 million Christians, mostly Catholic in the Armenian Genocide, and they have caused the Christian dog to be under the proud Moslem for many years. 

But the Second Woe is not past yet! 

Now the Lord is giving John an explanation of why he would allow such false doctrine and such tormenting and murder to be done upon his people. He is explaining this to us before the ending of the Second Woe. He has done this because of the Apostasy of his people. We have learned that Apostates seldom ever repent and it is impossible to renew them to repentance. They must be punished. 

At the end of the Sixth Trumpet we learned that the Christian church never repented of their fornications, murders, thefts, idolatrous worship, etc. So now the Lord is about to force them to drink of the wine of His Wrath, but before he does this, he must Measure the true church so that we can see how wanting the Apostates are. Then he must call Two Witnesses together to testify against them, so that his judgments are true, honest, and fair. 

These Two Witnesses must be expert Witnesses who have first-hand knowledge of their apostasy and have themselves been mistreated by the Apostates. Then the judgments can begin. So first, let’s look at the True Church in comparison.