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I have not met one who is aware that the Bible has been meticulously written to leave no doubt as to the prophecy. This particular subject came up in the ministry. I was told that I didn’t know what I was talking about when I mentioned this. The Holy Spirit has a way to get us busy defending the Gospel because we are under attack and need to be able to do just that. Let’s see what the KJV has to say about the two prophets, when and where they are going to appear, what they are going to be doing, why they are going to be doing what they do, and who is going to have a problem with that. Of course since no two people agree in interpreting the Bible the same, there is plenty of controversy here as well. People come up with various scenarios because they don’t like literal interpretation. I happen to do literal interpretation because the Bible will back it up every time. One simply can’t lose. To prepare the groundwork for the events to take place during the Tribulation or better said to set the stage, Jeremiah exhorts God’s message to Israel. When the Bible talks about ‘that’ day, it generally refers to the Tribulation. Jeremiah relates: “Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate. (Jeremiah 7:34). To those who know who the bridegroom and the bride are, the message becomes very clear here, they will be removed. In other words it points to the Rapture. Why? God tells us why in the following verses. “At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves: And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth. (Astrology, Masonry, witchcraft, Sun and Baal worship where developed in Solomon’s Temple. That is why it was destroyed after Jesus declared it.) “And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts. Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return? Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return. I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. “Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD. How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? “Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them? “Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. “For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation (The Tribulation) they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. “I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them. Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD. “We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble! The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein. “For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD. When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me. (God like a parent, watches His children self destruct) Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: “Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities? The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” (Jeremiah 8:1-22) “And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.” (Jeremiah 9:11) The stage is set. The Tribulation is called “Jacob’s Trouble”. God uses prophets to talk to His people throughout the Old Testament. “Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.” (Jeremiah 44:4) Following this, God distinguishes between two types of prophets: those who allow God to speak through them and foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!” Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” Jesus lamented: Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” To prove that God speaks through prophets Acts 3:18 states the following: “But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.” In Revelation 11:10 we are told that there were two prophets in Jerusalem in the first part of the Tribulation. When they were killed by the Antichrist 3.5 years into the Tribulation, the world rejoiced, because they had supernatural powers that the people feared. “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.” To prove that we can come to that conclusion read the following Scriptures detailing when the two prophets appeared and who they were and that they were called witnesses as well. The fact that there will be a third temple built becomes obvious too. “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days (same as forty months. Jews count 360 days/year), clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. (Can candlesticks and olive trees be clothed in sackcloth?) “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. “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. “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit (Antichrist’s body taken over by Satan) shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 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 (Jerusalem). “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. “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. And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither (a Rapture). And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.” (Revelation 11:1-12) Who are the two prophets? Zechariah 4:3,11,12-14 “And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.” “Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? “And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” Scripture references: Rev. 11:4; Zech. 3:7; Luke 1:19; Josh. 3:11, 13; Zech. 6:5. Remember the transfiguration of Jesus Christ and two prophets? "These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. (Revelation 11:4) Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.” (Zechariah 3:7) “And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee these glad tidings. And behold thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.” (Luke 1:19,20) “Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan. And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. (Joshua 3:11,14) “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” (Hebrews 9:27) Because of Hebrews 9:27 they were prophets who lived on the earth and did not die when they departed. Here is evidence of two who are with Jesus in bodily form. Mathew 17:1-4 “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." "What does it mean to be transfigured? Transfiguration # 3339. Metamorphoo; denoting change of condition.. Used of Jesus involving the miracle of transformation from an earthly form into a supernatural which is denoted by the radiance of the garments, also the countenance, suggesting what the bodies of the righteous may be like in the age to come (1 Corinthians 15:51f.) "What Jesus was teaching in this miracle was that Moses and Elijah where still alive and are the only two that are qualified to become the two anointed in the streets of Jerusalem. Moses and Elijah both did powerful miracles. Moses had power from God to part the sea and bring about many other miracles and Elijah called fire from heaven. Elijah was translated when he was taken up: "And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” (2 Kings 2:11) "Moses was said to have died, it was written but they never found his remains.” Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. (Romans 5:14) "Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. (Jude 1:9) The fact that the archangel Michael brought Moses's body to heaven proves where Moses's body is located: in heaven confirming the two witnesses are Moses and Elijah. Not to confuse the issue but since this Scripture study is about the Tribulation and when we can know that we are in it should we not be raptured yet, there is another important element that needs to be in place. Antichrist will offer the peace that Israelis long for. In Daniel 9:27 it reads: “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (7 yrs in God’s time): and in the midst of the week (42 months later) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(i.e. the temple rituals will stop) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” The Antichrist will be possessed by the dragon spirit at that point and will have complete control over this earth for a very short time. Demonic activity will be at its peak until Jesus Christ comes to the rescue. Shalom, Rita Williams |