The Right Article-Formatnewsletter-Format Article for Newsletter

You Are Here: Home Page » Formatnewsletter » Format Article for Newsletter

Newsletter Article

Here is The Two Witnesses Of Revelation formatted for a newsletter with 65 characters per line.

Return to The Two Witnesses Of Revelation

The Two Witnesses Of Revelation

by Britt_Gillette

The Bible tells us that in the end times, during the seven-year
time period known as the Tribulation, God will send two witnesses
with supernatural powers to prophesy to the world. These two
witnesses are the ones Jesus referred to when he told James,
John, and their mother �I have no right to say who will sit on
the thrones next to mine. My Father has prepared those places for
the ones He has chosen� Matthew 20:23 (NLT). For 1,260 days,
these two witnesses will prophesy to the world, and despite a
plethora of enemies, no one will be able to harm them. During
that time, they will have the power to end rainfall, turn the
rivers and oceans to blood, and send every kind of plague upon
the earth. Revelation Chapter 11 gives us our first and only
glimpse of these two prophets:

�And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will be
clothed in sackcloth and will prophesy during those 1,260 days.
These two prophets are the two olive trees and the two lampstands
that stand before the Lord of all the earth. If anyone tries to
harm them, fire flashes from the mouths of the prophets and
consumes their enemies. This is how anyone who tries to harm them
must die. They have power to shut the skies so that no rain will
fall for as long as they prophesy. And they have the power to
turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to send every kind of
plague upon the earth as often as they wish.� Revelation 11:3-6
(NLT)

So who are these men God has blessed with such amazing power?
Many speculations have been made, and we will not know for
certain until the two witnesses actually arrive on the world
scene. However, strong evidence exists to believe that these two
witnesses will be Elijah and Moses. Here�s why:

1) Malachi�s Prophecy: The very last words of the Old Testament
concern God�s coming Day of Judgment, and they issue a warning:

�Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and
dreadful day of the Lord arrives. His preaching will turn the
hearts of parents to their children, and the hearts of children
to their parents. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with
a curse.� Malachi 4:5-6 (NLT)

Some people believe this prophecy was fulfilled by John the
Baptist, but John was specifically asked if he was Elijah, and
his reply was �No� John 1:21. Furthermore, this prophecy states
that Elijah will appear before the �great and dreadful day of the
Lord arrives,� which is a still future event that will be
fulfilled by the Glorious Appearing of Christ. Therefore, it�s
more than reasonable to expect that the prophet Elijah will be
one of the two witnesses of Revelation 11.

2) The Transfiguration: In the Book of Matthew, we read of the
event commonly known as the transfiguration. This is when Jesus
was suddenly transfigured �so that His face shone like the sun,
and His clothing became dazzling white� Matthew 17:2 (NLT). Moses
and Elijah appear alongside Jesus and begin talking with Him.
This event is witnessed by the same disciples referenced earlier,
James and John, who asked to sit in places of honor to the right
and the left of the Lord in His kingdom. The transfiguration
seems to highlight both the present and future importance of
Moses and Elijah in God�s Kingdom, and it can be interpreted as
strong evidence that they are �the two olive trees and the two
lampstands that stand before the Lord of all the earth.�

3) Similar Powers: The powers of the two witnesses in Revelation
11 directly correlate with the powers God provided Moses and
Elijah in the Old Testament. Elijah is the only Old Testament
prophet who called down fire to consume God�s enemies (2 Kings
1:8-14). He also prophesied that it would not rain for three and
a half years, the biblical equivalent of 1,260 days. In similar
fashion, Moses was given the power to unleash plagues on Egypt
and to turn the Nile red with blood. As a result, it seems
reasonable to believe that if these same men are the two
witnesses of Revelation 11, they will hold the same God-given
powers.

Regardless of the identity of the two witnesses, it is clear
that they will appear during the tribulation to prophesy on God�s
behalf. However, once they complete their testimony, the devil
will be given the power to kill them:

�When they complete their testimony, the beast that comes up out
of the bottomless pit will declare war against them. He will
conquer them and kill them. And their bodies will lie in the main
street of Jerusalem, the city which is called �Sodom� and
�Egypt,� the city where their Lord was crucified. And for three
and a half days, all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will
come to stare at their bodies. No one will be allowed to bury
them. All the people who belong to this world will give presents
to each other to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had
tormented them.� Revelation 11:7-10 (NLT)

The �beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit� is the
fallen angel Lucifer, who indwells the person of the Antichrist
and his diabolical kingdom. Because the world will have
degenerated into complete evil by this time (as evidenced by the
linking of Jerusalem with Sodom and Egypt), the Antichrist and
his followers will hate the pronouncements of the two witnesses.
The deaths of these two prophets of God will be celebrated
worldwide, even to the point that gifts are given in honor of the
occasion. Out of disdain for the witnesses, the people will
refuse them a proper burial, and their bodies will lie in the
street for three and a half days while the entire population of
the world stares at them.

This last detail has been fertile ground for modern
speculations, with many Christians believing that, for the first
time in history, this prophecy can be fulfilled through satellite
coverage on CNN or MSNBC. But although the ability to view any
area of the planet via cable TV news networks is a present day
reality, this prophecy can not yet be fulfilled. The verse
specifically says �all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations�
will stare at their bodies, not �some of� the peoples, tribes,
languages, and nations. The technology capable of bringing this
event to fruition is still unavailable to much of the world�s
population. However, in the years to come, the cost of this
technology will significantly decrease in proportion to its
power, providing much of the Third World with access it currently
lacks. This decrease in cost, ultimately the result of molecular
manufacturing, will allow for the ubiquitous use of
high-bandwidth video feeds on cell phones, PDAs, and other
handheld devices.

The development of molecular manufacturing (MM) will make
poverty as we know it a thing of the past. Humanity will still be
divided into rich and poor, but today�s rich will envy the poor
of a society with exponential general purpose molecular
manufacturing, where even the most destitute of citizens is in
possession of extremely powerful, high-bandwidth networking
devices. Moreover, the exponential advance of technology will
allow for the creation of virtual reality realms that will enable
the end user to �experience� live events in another location.

As a result, for the first time in history, it will be possible
for the entire world to simultaneously view or �be present at� a
particular geographical location, just as Revelation 11 predicts.
This fact alone is strong evidence that ours is the generation in
which Christ will return.

�But after three and a half days, the spirit of life from God
entered them, and they stood up! And terror struck all who were
staring at them. Then a loud voice shouted from heaven, �Come up
here!� And they rose to heaven in a cloud as their enemies
watched. And in the same hour there was a terrible earthquake
that destroyed a tenth of the city. Seven thousand people died in
that earthquake. And everyone who did not die was terrified and
gave glory to the God of heaven.� Revelation 11:11-13 (NLT)

Just as Jesus Christ rose from the dead after three days and
three nights, so will His two witnesses be resurrected after
three and a half days. The Book of Revelation tells us that
terror will strike all those who are staring at them, which means
that terror will strike all the people of the world, because
verse 9 tells us that the people of the world will stare at them
for three and a half days.

The resurrection and subsequent ascension of these two witnesses
will be final confirmation that they were true men of God. The
world will have a hard time, even in an age of astounding
technological wonder, explaining how these two performed such a
miraculous feat. This will result in more than just a terrified
population; we learn that everyone who does not die in the
resulting earthquake will �give glory to the God of heaven.�

Thus, we are brought full circle in studying the purpose of the
two witnesses and the tribulation itself. The purpose is to
provide people with evidence of God�s glory, so that by believing
in Jesus Christ, they may experience a blissful eternity in His
presence. For �no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has
imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.� 1
Corinthians 2:9 (NLT)

<a href="http://brittgillette.com/WordPress/">Britt Gillette</a>
is author of BrittGillette.Com, a website studying the links
between bible prophecy and advanced technology. To learn more
about bible prophecy and <a
href="http://brittgillette.com/WordPress/?p=33">the two witnesses
in Revelation</a>, visit his site.

Syndicated by The Right Article - www.therightarticle.com