The Two Witnesses

0:00Little country church on the edge of town. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do. People coming every day from miles around from meetings and from Sunday school. And it's very plain to see. It's not the way it used to be. Welcome to the Word for Today, featuring the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel Movement. This radio program is a chapter by chapter verse by verse study through the entire Bible. And on today's edition of the Word for Today, Pastor Chuck continues his message, the two witnesses, as we pick up in Revelation chapter 11 verse 6. And now with today's study, here's Pastor Chuck. They have power to shut up heaven that it rained not in the days of their prophecy. So for three and a half years it won't rain upon the earth anywhere.

1:06Imagine the drought that that is going to create. They have power. Now remember Elijah when he was here before prayed and it rained not for the space of three and a half years. It rained very drought in Israel during the time of Elijah, the reign of Ahab. Now again, shutting up the earth. They have power over the waters to turn them to blood and to smite the earth with all of the plagues as often as they will. We know for certain the identity of one of the witnesses to be Elijah, the identity of the other witness is not so certain. There are different Bible teachers who take different views. There are some who are certain it's going to be Moses representing the law and Elijah

2:12representing the prophets. The fact that Moses appeared with Elijah on the mount of transfiguration seems like they are buddies and they're working together. The fact that they turned the water to blood, one of the plagues that were brought upon Egypt by Moses and it then refers to the fact they have the power to strike the earth with the plagues as often as they wish. Others believe it will be Enic who did not die but was translated directly into heaven. For it is appointed unto man once to die and in the Old Testament to men miss their appointments. Enic and Elijah and so they come in order that they might make their appointment with death because we are told here that after they have prophesied for three and a half years

3:18then the beast, the Antichrist, has power to put them to death. So they finally make their appointment a little late but yet they make that appointment with death. There is good arguments. There are good arguments for either Enic or Moses. I really don't know. It doesn't really matter. Now when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the abusso, the bottomless pit will make war against them and will overcome them and kill them. He cannot until they have finished their testimony. They have a lot of time, 1,360 days and 1,260 days and they are a lot of time to witness.

4:20And once they have finished that then he has power but he hasn't power until they have finished their testimony. In a sense, I believe that God has control of our lives when we commit them to him and he has a special task for us to fulfill and that he will preserve us until that task is finished. There are a lot of times when a person has a very narrow brush with death. When you are in an accident and you really should have been wiped out, there is no, you look at the whole thing and say, there is no way you could have come through that but yet you have. Persons, hey, God is not through with you yet, man. And I believe that that is true. I believe that there is a divine protection upon us as we serve the Lord that is going to sustain us until God is through with us.

5:23But I think that as soon as we have finished our testimony then the Lord is going to take us to be with him. Why would he leave us here any longer? So when they had finished their testimony, God has a task for each of us. Paul said, I have not yet apprehended that for which I was apprehended of Jesus Christ, recognizing that when the Lord apprehended him, the Lord had a special ministry in mind. In fact, the Lord even showed Paul the things that he was to accomplish and suffer for his glory. And several times they tried to kill Paul. Once they stoned him and really thought he was dead, they drug him out of town and for all anybody knows he was dead. Paul himself didn't even know. There was a man in Christ about 14 years ago whether in the body or out of the body, I don't know whether or not I had an out of the body experience. I really don't know but I do know I was caught up to heaven, spent a little time up there in the third heaven. I heard things that were so glorious. I couldn't really try to describe

6:26them and be a crime to do so. Because the abundance of the revelations that were given to me, there was also given me this thorn in the flesh, the minister of Satan above me, unless I be exalted above major because of the abundance of revelations. So they thought that they had done him in. His friends thought that he was dead. They were standing around all morning and Paul suddenly shook himself, stood up. So let's go back into town and preach some more. I'm going to be kidding, man. They just don't you. But God wasn't finished with him yet. And so God preserved him. God preserves us until we have finished our testimony. When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes out of the bottomless pit, we'll get that when we get to the 17th chapter, makes war against them, overcomes them, kills them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city,

7:33Jerusalem, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. So he identifies it as Jerusalem. And they of the people and the families and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies for three and a half days and will not allow their dead bodies to be put in graves. How can the whole world see them? He's a simple satellite TV. Right. How could the whole world have seen them couldn't? You see, this particular prophecy could not be fulfilled until they put up the satellite by which now they can transmit directly from Jerusalem live broadcast to the United States. And you can sit in your living room and watch events live that are happening in Jerusalem. So CBS and BC, ABC will send their reports. I'm sure they'll still be around.

8:45They're the most part. And they'll go over to cover this remarkable event. These two men who have brought such consternation, these men who had such miraculous powers, these men who had created such a problem really to the earth and stopping the rain and calling down fire and things of this nature. And they'll go over to where their crews. The camera crews will be over there. They'll be filming these guys and the whole world will see their bodies lying there in the streets. You see, the people will have been so incensed against them because of the plagues and all that they brought that they won't even allow them a decent burial. They're just going to let their bodies lie there in the streets. And they'll come by and spit on them and kick them and just do disgraceful things. And they, the dwell upon the earth,

9:51will rejoice over them. They'll make Mary, they'll send gifts to one another because these two prophets terminated them that dwells upon the earth. And so it'll be a great worldwide celebration parting and all. You know, these two guys that created the problems and other dead and the Antichrist becomes a tremendous hero in the eyes of the people of the earth. But after three and a half days, the spirit of life from God enters into them and they stand on their feet and a great fear falls upon those which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, come on up and they ascended up into heaven in a cloud and their enemies be held them. Imagine the camera crews and their amazement. When suddenly these guys stand up and ascend down up into

10:58heaven. In the same hour, there's a tremendous earthquake. You remember when Jesus was crucified, there was an earthquake. A tenth part of the city of Jerusalem will fall. There will be slain 7,000 men. We don't know how many women and children in this earthquake. And the remnant of the people are frightened and they gave glory to the God of heaven. The second wall is passed. Behold, the third wall comes quickly. And when the seventh angel sounded, now we come back to the story again. We've been dealing with the seven trumpets and the judgments that ensued at the sounding of these trumpets. And now we come back again to the trumpets and the seventh angel sounded. And there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. And He shall reign forever and ever. The judgments are coming in order

12:05to prepare the earth for the return of Jesus Christ and the establishing of His kingdom. So as the seventh trumpet is sounded, the proclamation of His reign and of His kingdom. And with this proclamation, the 24 elders, which sit before the throne of God on their thrones, fall on their faces and they worship God, saying, we give the thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art and was to not to come because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and reign. Finally, the waiting is over. We are there giving glory to the Lord because the time for His reign has come. And the nations, we are rejoicing. We're giving thanks, but the nations were angry. And thy wrath has come and the time of the dead that they should be judged and that you should

13:08give a reward unto thy servants the prophets and to the saints and those that fear thy name, small and great, and should destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was open in heaven. The earthly temple or tabernacle was just the model of that which is in heaven. And there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant, the ark of which Moses built the model here on earth. And there were lightenings and voices and thundrings and an earthquake and great hail. Now as we go into chapter 12, we are digressing from the progression of the story again which will be taken up when we come to the seven vials of judgment that will be poured out. So now we are taking a broader view of some other scenes. There appeared a great wonder in heaven,

14:12a woman clothed with the sun in the moon and under her feet and upon her head, at the sun and moon under her feet and on her head, a crown of 12 stars. The identity of the woman is found in Genesis as we read of the dream of Joseph, how the sun and moon and the 12 stars bow down, our 11 stars bow down to him. And so the same figure here, we have the identity of the woman is the nation of Israel, those 12 tribes that came out of Jacob. She being great with child, cried, traveling in birth and pain to be delivered. So she was ready to give birth to the child. You see the purposes of God for the nation of Israel was that they were to bring the Messiah into the world. He was to be of the seed of Abraham and of the seed of David.

15:14And so God was working with this nation, preparing them as the instrument, the nation by which his son would come into the world. God had to choose some nation. So he chose the nation of Israel. And that's where they are, the chosen people, chosen for what? Chosen to be the instrument, the people through which God would bring his son into the world. Now the tragic thing is that when God used them for this purpose, then they rejected his son that he sent. But they had rejected the prophets before they rejected his son. In fact, Jesus got them quite angry one time with a parable that he gave. A certain man who went away to a far country and left his fields in charge of his servants. And he sent back a servant and he might collect the fruit

16:21from the field. But they beat the servant, mistreated him. So he sent other servants. They beat them, mistreated them. He said, I will send my own son. Surely they will respect him. And when they saw his son coming, they said, hey, here's the heir. Let's kill him. He said, what will the master do when he comes? And he said, he'll literally wipe them out. In the Lord said, that's right. But it was a parable really against the Jews who had persecuted the prophets. Which of the prophets have you not slain? Have you not persecuted Stephen said? And so God chose this nation to bring forth the Messiah. Now, the nation is travailing, being with child, painting to be delivered. Now, there appeared a second wonder in heaven,

17:23another wonder. And behold, a great red dragon, Satan, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads, and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven. And it cast them to the earth, and the dragon stood before the woman, which was ready to be delivered to devour her child as soon as it was born. So the two wonders, the woman Israel ready to bring forth the Messiah, the Christ, Satan ready to destroy it as soon as it was born. You remember Herod when the wise man came to him and inquired where the king was to be born. Herod inquired of the prophets or of the Bible teachers. They said, Bethlehem. And so Herod directed them to Bethlehem. But he said, when you have found the child, come back

18:29and tell me about it so I can come and worship him also. Herod was paranoid. He was fearful that someone was going to take his throne. He killed his wife. He killed his sons. In fact, they used to say it's safer to be Herod's pig than it is to be his son. He was always, he was paranoid. He felt people were plotting trying to, trying to take his throne. And so when he heard that the king had been born, he was threatened. And so he asked the wise man, come back and tell me, but he was intending to go and kill the child. And when the wise man didn't come back, he then ordered that all of the baby boys in Bethlehem area be killed two years and under. The dragon there ready to devour the child as soon as it was born.

19:29Now here an interesting thing was Satan. The stars of heaven are, the stars are often angels are often referred to as stars. And this would indicate that when Satan rebelled, a third of the angels rebelled with him. That is why I believe that there were probably three angels created in the highest order of angelic being called the archangels. They were of the cherubim class of angels, but three specials and that was Gabriel, Lucifer and Michael. And that they each probably had under their authority a third of the angelic host. And those that were under Lucifer's authority when he rebelled against God, joined in his rebellion with this tale. He drew a third part of the stars of heaven. Now when this happened, we don't know. Where in prehistory this took place, we don't know. Before the world existed, no doubt, this rebellion took place of these angels.

20:38Prior to his rebellion, Satan was a perfect model. Ezekiel said he was perfect and wisdom perfect and beauty perfect in all of his ways until the day the deniquity was found in him. Ezekiel 28. Isaiah 14 tells us that pride filled his heart. He said, I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven. I will sit in the congregation in the sides of the North. I will ascend above the clouds. I will be like the most high. I'll be like God. And yet, art thou cast down. There will be a time when you will actually see Satan one day and you'll be amazed. You'll say, is that the critter that caused us so much trouble? Isaiah 14 tells us that. So there appeared this other wonder in heaven, this red dragon, seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns upon his head. We are reminded of the

21:43descriptions of the antichrist who is the embodiment of Satan, his tail drawing a third part of the stars. She brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron when Jesus comes to establish his reign in kingdom. He'll rule the world with a rod of iron and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne. And that's where he is right now. Jesus has been caught up into heaven. He ascended into heaven. Luke records it in his gospel as do other gospels. And he is there now sitting on his throne waiting for the Father to put all things in subjection under him. Prayer is the most joyous privilege. For more than 25 years, this beloved message has touched hearts and transformed lives around the world. Now, effective per life returns with a

22:46beautifully redesigned cover. While the life-changing truth inside remains the same, and these pages past your chucksmith invites you into a deeper, more intimate relationship with your heavenly Father, exploring the purpose, practice, and promise of prayer. If you long for victory, peace, blessing in a true spiritual fulfillment, this book will show you how a fervent effective per life opens the door to walk in hand in hand with God. Discover the beauty, simplicity, and power of prayer, and be refreshed through a closer walk with Jesus. Don't wait. Order your copy today at TWFT.com, or call 1-800-272-9673. Prayer is one of God's greatest gifts to you. Now here's Pastor Chuck. May the Lord bless you and watch over you this week. May His hand be upon your life to strengthen you, to guide you, and may He use you as His instrument to do His work. May God fill you with love,

23:48and with understanding, compassion, this spirit. May you walk in the spirit and be led of the spirit of God this week, Jesus' name. We'll return with more of our verse by verse Bible study in the book of Revelation on our next broadcast, as Pastor Chuck continues to teach through the Bible, and we do hope you'll make plans to join us. This message has been provided to you by the generous supporters of the Word for today. For additional information about how you can support this ministry, please visit us online at thewordfortoday.org. There you'll find free message downloads from Pastor Chuck, as well as links to our podcast and other resources to help you grow in your Christian walk. You can also call us at 1-800-272-9673, or you can order a physical copy of today's message by mentioning today's date. Again, that phone number is 1-800-272-9673. Our office hours are 8 AM to

24:545 PM Pacific time. If you prefer to write, our mailing address is PO Box 8000, Costa Mesa, California 92628. Join us again next time, as Pastor Chuck continues his verse by verse study through the Bible. That's right here on the next edition of the Word for Today. This program is sponsored by Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, California.