Measurements, Messengers and Mayhem, Part 2

Revelation chapter 11. We will get down to verse number 14 this evening. I only got through the first two verses of Revelation 11 last week, but We will get at least down to verse number 14 this evening.

As you recall, we are right in the middle of or between the sixth and seventh trumpet. That is, there's an inspiration, an interlude. Same thing happened between the sixth and seventh seal. Now, between the sixth and seventh trumpet, there is an interlude. The same thing will happen between the sixth and seventh bowl when we get to that passage. Revelation chapter 16. We saw the great significance of the first two verses when it says this: And there was given me a measuring rod like a staff.

And someone said, Arise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it. And leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it. For it has been given to the nations, and they will tread underfoot the holy city for 42 months. And we saw last week where it's that measurement which was specifically designed to show that God was going to protect and preserve the nation of Israel. So important for us to grasp. Because God has a covenant with those people.

God has a plan for the nation of Israel. God made a promise to the Israeli nation. He did not make that promise to the Gentile nations. He made that promise to the nation of Israel that they would be his people, that he would be their king and he would preserve them. Listen to what it says in Zach chapter 2. Zach chapter 2, verse number 1. And then I lifted up my eyes, Zach said, and looked, and behold, there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. And I said, Where are you going? And he said to me, To measure Jerusalem.

To see how wide it is and how long it is. And behold, the angel who was speaking with me was going out, and another angel was coming out to meet him. And said to him, Run, speak to that young man, saying, Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls, because of the multitude of men. And cattle within, for I, declares the Lord, will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst. God shows Zechariah. That he has great plans for Jerusalem. He's got great plans for the nation of Israel to lift them to a level of glory they have never been before.

A level which will bring the greatest glory to God. And if you read Ezekiel 48, it talks about the Lord, Jehovah, Jehovah Shema. The Lord is here. It will be in the millennial kingdom where the Lord will be there with them, and he will reign and he will provide for them the comfort that he has always promised them. Listen to the words of Paul in Romans 11. And I'm going to spend a few moments here just to reiterate the fact that God had made a covenant with the nation of Israel. And God's going to keep his word exactly as he said.

It says in Romans 11, verse number 25, for I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery. So evidently there is a mystery, something hidden in the Old Testament, now revealed in the New Testament. Lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and thus all Israel will be saved. Just as it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion. He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.

From the standpoint of the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But from the standpoint of God's choice, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers, for the gifts and the calling of God. Are irrevocable. Paul says, God has a covenant with his people. God made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And God is faithful to fulfill that promise. Now, a question that's come to me says, well, does that mean that all Israel in the past is going to be saved? No. No. Does that mean that all Israel in the future is going to be saved?

The answer to that is no. We looked last week in the prophecy that two-thirds of the remnant Will be purged out, and a third will be left, and that will be the nation that God Himself saves and restores.

Outside the 144,000 Jews that have already been sealed, we saw them in Revelation chapter 7. The evangelists that go worldwide to preach the gospel. There will be another believing remnant of Jews that God will preserve, that will come back and will go into that millennial kingdom with him. and rule and reign with the King of kings and Lord of Lord. But during that last three and a half years, twelve hundred and sixty days, forty two months, there are two men. Two messengers, two witnesses that bring Israel to the very end.

So that all Israel now hears and is saved. Let's pick up our outline in point number two about the messengers.

And their testimony. Let's look at verse number three of Revelation chapter 11. We'll read down through it and then we'll make some comments. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstand that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone would desire to harm them in this manner, he must be killed.

These have the power to shut up the sky. In order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them and overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which mystically is called Sodom in Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

And those from the peoples and the tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.

And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry, and they will send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. And after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet. And great fear fell upon those who were beholding them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, Come up here. And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell.

And seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past.

Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. The two messengers and their testimony. Look with me at four things. Number one, their purpose.

Number two, their portrait. Number three, their protection. And number four, their power. First of all, their purpose.

The text says, and I will grant authority to my two witnesses. Personal pronoun, I believe, refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. He gives these two men a huge responsibility. To be his witnesses. In other words, his martyrs. The word for witness is the word martyr, and these men will be killed. For Christ. They are His witnesses. Why are there two of them? Simply because the Bible says that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established.

If you go back and read Deuteronomy 17, 6, Deuteronomy 19, 5, Matthew 18, 16, 1 Timothy 5, 19, you'll Lies that it takes two witnesses to confirm the truth. And Christ leaves no stone unturned. He grants these two witnesses great authority, authority as no other man has ever had or ever will have. He grants them incredible authority, and they will prophesy, the text says. That's a word that means more than just foretelling the future. They will do that. But they are going to prophesy, they are going to speak forth the truth, they are going to proclaim, they are going to preach and tell people that all the judgments that have already come Through the seals and through the trumpets that have already been blown are judgments from God.

They're going to let everybody know exactly what is taking place and why it's taking place. And then they're going to foretell the future. They're going to tell them about the future judgments through the seven bowls that are yet to come. These men, these preachers, these messengers, these martyrs are men who proclaim the truth of God. They proclaim God's word and they proclaim the judgment of God. Very important. Why is that? Because not too many preachers today talk about the judgment of God. The reason being is because people don't like to hear about God's judgment.

And so these men come and tell people they need to mourn over their sin and they preach rep. That's their purpose. What's the portrait of these men? Who are they? Let's tell you who they are. First number four: these.

Are the two olive trees and the two lampstand that stand before the Lord of the earth? Someone says, Well, who are the two witnesses in Revelation chapter 11? The answer: they're the two olive trees, they're the two lampstand. Say, wow, that clears things up for me real well. I'm all ready to go now.

What does that mean? Well, to understand this, you must understand the prophecy of Zach. Or the vision, excuse me, of Zach in Zach chapter 3 and Zach chapter 4. I'm not going to read those to you this evening, but I'm going to briefly give them to you so you understand them. The prophet Zechariah preached a message of repentance to the people of Israel during the days of the Babylonian captivity. And his inspired proclamations and visions gave great encouragement to the people, gave hope to the people of Israel.

That they might rebuild the temple that was destroyed by Babylon in 586 B. And you're saying, I am completely lost. Well, let me read to you what Zach said in Zach 4, verse number 11.

I answered and said to him, What are these two olive trees? on the right of the lampstand, and on its left. And I answered the second time, and said to him, What are the two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden oil from themselves?

So he answered me, saying, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my Lord. Then he said, These are the two anointed ones. Who are standing by the Lord of the whole ear. The two olive trees, the two lampstand. In the vision of Zach, with the high priest Joshua and the ruler, Zerubbab. So the question comes: well, who are they? Who are these two messengers? Well, some believe it's going to be Joshua and Zerubbabel again, and that might be the case. Some believe it's going to be Enoch and Elijah because neither one of them died.

Enoch, the Lord took him. Elijah went up to heaven with a chariot of fire. Others believe it's Moses and Elijah. Now, this is very important. The Bible doesn't tell us. You'll notice it tells us what city they die in.

In fact, it explains it three times over. To specifically tell us what city they die in. When the Bible wants you to know something, it tells you specifically what it wants you to know. If it doesn't want you to know it, it doesn't tell you. So, my speculation is this: it won't be Moses and Elijah, because most people think it's going to be Moses and Elijah. If God wanted you to know it was Moses and Elijah, he'd have told you it's going to be Moses and Elijah, or Joshua and Zer, or Enoch and Elijah.

But God doesn't tell us. The third thing I want you to notice is their protection. Verse number 5. And if anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth. And devours their enemies, and if anyone would desire to harm them in this manner, he must be killed. Can you imagine that? That's an amazing thing. I've been around some people with some pretty horrendous breath. Maybe you have too. But I've never been around anybody who has fire that comes out of their mouth. If anyone desires to harm them, they must be killed.

Why must they be killed? They must be killed because the testimony of these men is so important. God has fixed them as His anointed ones, His messengers. And you can imagine somebody coming up to Him with a machine gun, man, trying to blow these guys away, and they just. They're incinerated, man. That's a pretty, you know, awesome thing to think about. But God does not want their preaching to stop. He wants them to continue for a specific period of time, three and a half years, 1,2 days, and nothing can prevent that.

And yet, people will desire to harm them. Why? Because when people come around and tell you you need to repent of your sins and get right with God amidst a tremendous turmoil, they don't want to hear it. And to let everybody know that what's happening to them is the judgment of God, they don't want to hear that either. So they want to close their ears, they don't want to hear what they have to say. So the only thing they can do is shut them up. And they go to shut them up, and they can't. They can't kill that which they hate because they are killed instead.

And therefore, a warning goes out: don't touch those two guys. Don't go after them. If you do, you're incinerated. And the whole world will know about these two m. Verse number 6 gives us their power. That's the fourth thing I want you to see about these messengers. Verse number 6: it says, These have the power to shut up the sky in order that the rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying. And they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they desire.

Can you imagine that? No rain. No rain, three and a half years. Can you imagine that? Think about that. We already looked at the fact that a third of the fresh water was already poisoned, right?

That's way back in Revel 8, verses 10 to 11. Now, Fresh water is at a minimum. Now they stop the rains from coming. No more rain. And I believe it goes to the duration of the three and a half years. No rain. No more fresh water. And where there is fresh water, they go and they turn that water into blood. So you can't be drunk, drinked, whatever. You know what I mean? They can't drink it. And then they are able to enact any plague they want upon the people. And you can imagine how it is on CNN. Well, the two witnesses were in Libya today, and they destroyed all the fresh water there, and they gave a huge plague, a huge disease came up on all the people that were there.

And wherever they go, they can do whatever they want. Because they want people to understand that God's judgment is coming. People need to repent. So people now are dying. Why? All the fresh water's gone. The crops are devastated. Animal life and human life is dying because of thirst. They've shut up the heavens. Now you can understand why they want these two guys dead. They have stopped everything left that's good, they are destroying. And we can't kill them because they're killing us when we go to kill them.

They hate these two witnesses. Which leads us to point number three: the mayhem before the triumph. Listen to what it says in verse number 7. And when they had finished their testimony, very important phrase: when they had finished. It ain't over till God says it's over.

They're not done t God says they're done. So, for three and a half years, 1,260 days, the length of their prophecy, when they had finished their testimony, the beast That comes up out of the abyss will make war with them and overcome them and kill them. Three things I want you to see. The first is this: confrontation and celebration.

There's a confrontation. With the beast. Who's the beast? That's the Antichrist. We'll see him in great detail in Revelation chapter 13. He's the one that comes up out of the abyss. He's the one that comes up out of the sea. And when we look at Revelation chapter 13, we're going to explain to you the beast that comes up out of the sea.

Is another way of saying the abyss because the sea represents that which is dark, that which was unknown, that which brought fear upon man. And this beast comes up out of the abyss. And this Antichrist comes to them, confronts them, and slays them. He kills them. We know it's not Satan because Satan is pictured as a dragon in Revelation 12 verses 3 and 9. So we know that the Antichrist is, of course, demon-possessed. The Antichrist is a man, and that man is demon-possessed, as the false prophet himself is a man and is demon-possessed.

And that's how Satan will rule the earth, and we'll look at more of that in Revelation chapter 13. But there's this confrontation. And it says in verse number 8: And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And those from the people and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days.

How are they going to do that? Television. That's out. The phrase every tribe, tongue, nation, is a phrase that deals with the Gentile world. They're going to be able to observe these men for three and a half days on television. There they are, dead in the streets. Because the Antichrist came and conquered them. Those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry. And they will send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the ear. Think about that.

Happy Dead Witnesses Day. Here's your gift. Aren't you glad? Oh, I am so glad they are gone. No more plague, no more water in the blood. It's going to rain again. These guys are f. Finally, out of our hair, the beast overcame them.

We can celebrate the ultimate Mardi Gras, the ultimate party, or world national party around the world. They're finally gone.

Hallelujah. Here's a gift. I don't know what they're going to give to everybody. Nothing's left. But there's going to be gifts. And they're going to celebrate. So you have the confrontation and the celebration. And then, point number two: resurrection and retribution.

Look what happens. And after three and a half days, the breath of life from God came to them and they stood on their feet. And great fear fell upon those who were beh them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, Come up here. And they went up into heaven in a cloud. And their enemies beheld them. Can you imagine the scene? And you would think at this time they would preach one more ser. But they don't. You know why? If they belie not Moses and the prophets, they will not believe though one be raised from the dead.

Christ said that in Luke 16, right? Resurrection and retribution. Listen to what it says. And in that hour, there was a great earthquake. Now, they've already had many earthquakes throughout the tribulation period. But in that hour there is a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell, and 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. 7,000 people were killed. Now, this is a great earthquake. So, it affects a tenth of the city. But I want you to notice if you have a new American standard in the center column, it says names of men.

The word used there is a word to describe prominent officials. It could be this. That the reason only 7,000 people die and only a tenth of the city are affected is because the 7,000 people that die are all connected with the government of the Antichrist. And the tenth of the part of the city in which they are located is destroyed completely. And lastly, conviction and convers. Listen very carefully. And the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. Who's the rest? I believe the rest are the Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem.

I believe the rest is the fulfillment of Romans:, when all Is will be sa. That's the time. Why do I believe that? The phrase, give glory to God of heaven, is a phrase that deals with those who come to saving faith. How do we know that? Well, we read it earlier, Revelation 14, verse number 7. Fear God and give him glory. That's the gospel. Fear God and give Him glory. Look over in Revelation 16, verse number 9. It says this. And men were scorched with fierce heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent.

So what? So as to give him what? Glory. You see, giving glory to God is equivalent to saving faith. I leave you with this. I trust that you have turned from your sins and given your life to God. He is the judge of the world. Sure, he is the creator. Sure, he is the ruler. But he will judge every man just as he said. The Bible says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

Let's pray together.