Bible Study: September 2, 2020

And take this. You'll recall last time, last week, we went through chapter 9, I believe it was. Definitely the fifth and sixth trumpets that we talked about last time and what happened during those trumpets. And you remember that those were called, you know, those are the first two woes. After the first four trumpets where God harmed the earth, then the angel said, whoa, whoa, whoa, to the inhabitants of the earth.

So the fifth and sixth trumpets were the first two of those woes. Remember the fifth angel, he was able to harm or he harmed the earth. A third of the trees, a third of the grass, a third of the water, a third of the sun, moon, and stars were all destroyed. And then the sixth angel, you know, he had the very dramatic thing of the angel falling or coming from heaven, unlocking the key to the bottomless or unlocking the bottomless pit. And then from the smoke that emerged from there, you know, we talked about the locusts that came on earth that John described and those and how they tormented men for five months.

And you'll recall, because we're going to see some ties back to the flood again today, that of the five months of that torment in the fifth trumpet, we tied that back to the flood time. And as we go through chapter standard 11 today, you're going to see some more ties back to that flood time when God destroyed the earth.

And I think it's kind of indicative that this end of the age, this physical earth is... Someone in the waiting room here... That it's indicative of this age is ending and Jesus Christ will return and the new, you know, and the new kingdom, His kingdom will be on earth and the way things have been done all the... For the six thousand years on this earth. And so at the end of chapter 9, you know, we read that despite everything, you know, that all the torment that men went through, tormented and tortured for five months, a third of mankind killed in the sixth...

In the sixth trump when the great army of 200 million were unleashed, mankind still, you know, just would not repent to God. It's almost like they hardened their hearts against God, that they simply would not accept His rule. And that's where we ended last week in chapter 9 and verse 21. So let's turn to chapter 10. In chapters 10 and 11, you know, we get kind of an inset through what we've looked through so far. We've gotten through six seals and six trumpets of the seven trumpets, you know, in the seventh seal. And so it's taken us through, you know, the great tribulation, through the heavenly signs, through six trumpets, through three and a half years that we've talked about a few times here.

And chapter 10 and 11 are kind of inset chapters then that bring us up to date on what's happening during all this time, the span that we've been talking about through the great tribulation and the great tribulation of the heavenly signs. You know, we just finished, as I mentioned, the sixth trumpet in chapter 9. And then if you just, you know, we look forward to chapter 11. You know, we're going to talk about the little book, which is meaningful. We're going to talk about the two witnesses. And down there in verse 14 of chapter 11, we see it's bringing us up to date because here the two witnesses, you know, they're killed and it says the second woe was passed.

So kind of chapters 10 and 11 fills us in on what's going on during this time we've been talking about during the great tribulation, during the heavenly signs, during the first six trumpets, bringing us up to date when we get into chapter 11 or verse 14. Then the seventh angel sounds, it says there. And then we go through some more things explaining to us what's going on during there.

But let's look at 10 and 11. We're not going to get to the seventh trumpet today. We will plan to get to that before the Feast of Trumpets. You know, as I've got things mapped out, we should get to that right before the day of trumpets. So that way, as we go into that holy day, we kind of have an appreciation for all that the Bible is talking about. But here in chapter 10 and 11, very, very interesting verses and, you know, very interesting verses and what God is showing and the meaning for us today.

You know, let's not ever forget that these words are written for the people of the end time. You know, John was in the first century, but here we are in the 21st century. And I think we all agree we are living in the time of the end. And these things will come upon, you know, this generation. Well, whenever it is that God determines that, you know, His Son will return and all these events begin happening in earnest.

But as we go through 10 and 11, you know, I think there may be a tendency to try to force some of the prophecies. And I think I just, you know, as we go into this, we want to look closely at what God says. And I think, you know, we will see some things today that give us a better understanding and I hope inspiration to look forward to that time. But let's not force the prophecy, because, you know, if we do a revelation again before the fall Holy Days next year, God will reveal to us in time, you know, what it is, the whole picture.

And every time, just like every time you read through the Bible, you understand more and more. So every time you go through revelation, God will reveal to us what it is. So we'll look at what God says, and there's things that we'll see in here today. And it's okay to speculate, but I hope that I, you know, I'll ask God to, you know, whatever speculation I give, I'll label it as such.

And whatever we talk about, you know, let's make sure we're labeled as speculation and not doctrine. So let's begin in verse 1 here, chapter 10. You know, after all of this, the sixth trumpet says, I saw John writing. He says, I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven. So this is another one. As God has orchestrated these events and as John sees it very orderly, as the vision occurs to him, here's an angel coming down from heaven, and he's clothed with a cloud.

You know, we've talked about clouds before, and Jesus Christ returning, you know, with clouds. But he comes down from heaven with a cloud, and a rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. So we have this angel, very majestic sight here, and in verse 1 there, we see reference to, you know, cloud and rainbow. You know, back in the description of the throne in Revelation 4, it talks about, as John is saying these things, there's a rainbow in heaven. But as we look in verse 1, we see clouds and, you know, clouds, a cloud and rainbows. And when we think about what other time were we seeing, you know, did we hear about clouds for the first time and a rainbow for the first time?

You know, it takes us back, takes us back to the time of the flood, you know. So let's get my notes here. Let's go back to Genesis, and just read that, because it's notable that here at the time of the end, before the seventh trump, this angel, who we may speculate who it is here in a few minutes, he comes on a cloud and with a rainbow on his head. Back in Genesis 7, is it?

I guess I can write it down. Let me look here where we are. Genesis 9. Genesis 9. So, you know, we know the story well. Noah and his family have come through the floods. The waters have been on the earth for 150 days. Notable, we'll come back to later in chapter 8 and verse 11. As Noah sends out the dove, he comes back with an olive leaf in his mouth. So the olive tree was beginning to bud, and as we get into chapter 11, we'll come back to that verse for a minute. But in chapter 9, we have God giving a covenant that he never will flood the entire earth and have all mankind destroyed by flood again. A covenant that he keeps during the entire time. Verse 11 says, I establish my covenant with you. Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood. Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, this is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that's with you for a perpetual generation. I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. It will be when I bring a cloud over the earth that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will remember my covenant which is between you and me and every living creature of all flesh. The waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on earth. So God establishes that covenant, a rainbow and a cloud, and says, I will never again destroy the earth by flood. A promise that he has kept through all of time. When we get into Revelation 10, and we see this angel at the end of the sixth trump before the seventh, final trump, begins to sound, we see God sending an angel and notably mentioning to John, look at that, he's clothed with a cloud and a rainbow's on his head. I remember my covenant, and the earth will never be by flood again, and God won't destroy all of flesh from mankind. That is all of flesh from earth. That isn't what God's purpose here at the end time is, because we know there will be people living over into the kingdom, not just one family, like it was in the days of Noah. But those that he determines will live over into the time. But here, we see God, perhaps as he describes what this angel is clothed in and what's there, hearkening back to the time of the great flood. But a new age is going to begin. No longer the age where Satan is the God of the earth, no longer where man will be doing his things, no longer the misery and the strife and the wars and the divorces and all the things that go on in this world today, and the suffering and the disease. But a new time is coming as that age, this age that we live in today, ends in the time of Jesus Christ. And we see this angel, you know, and it describes him. His face was like the sun. Right, right, right. And we know who we think of when we think of that. His face was like the sun in his feet like pillars of fire. A very bright angel. And remember that cloud, you know, kind of shields mankind from seeing, you know, the brightness of God, which would kill us all.

And then in verse 2, and I'll pause after this 2 here for any comments or questions or just observations. And as John sees this vision with this angel, he had a little book. You know, it's notable that it's a little book. And when you look up the Greek word for a little book, that's translated a little book there. It's the only time in the New Testament that that term is used is right here in chapter 10. Later on in the same chapter when we read a little book, it's the same thing. So it's not the book of life. It's not the books of the Bible, which are a different word. It's the Greek word that means literally little book. It's got a specific purpose. It's directed not to all of mankind, but it's a little book. A little book that has a purpose to it. And notice in verse 2, it's open. It's not a closed book. It's not sealed. It's a little book that's open in his hand. You know, sometimes, you know, as we're reading a book or whatever, and you know, you may see some ministers, they hold the Bible in their hands, and it's an open book. They're ready to read from it. And as this angel is there, he's got this little book, and it's open. It's ready to be read. And, you know, we read in Revelation and back in Daniel, you know, seal up the words of this prophecy until the time of the end. You know, read about seven thunders that God tells John, don't write what they say. But this little book is open. And then there's this majestic sight. You know, he said, he, this angel, set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. You know, he covers, he kind of covers the earth. He's over land, you know, and sea. And it's kind of a majestic sight. And, you know, we have a kind of a, maybe a picture in history where, you know, it's always interesting how Satan tries to duplicate things. Does anyone think of something in history that might be kind of a majestic sight that this, that man has created where there's something over land and sea?

It's not the Tower of Babel, no? The Tower of Babel, no. Was it the colossal of the roads? Yeah, yeah, that's, that's, I think, you know, where we see, you know, if you've ever seen the statue of the Colossus over the roads, they had this majestic, majestic statue. And it was, as they came into the harbor, you know, it was, I just looked it up last night, 108 feet high. And you can imagine the sight as you sailed into Colossus and you had, you know, these two pillars with this huge, huge, you know, Greek God, and it happened to be Helios, the God of the Sun, which is interesting when you look at, you know, the, this angel has the face of the Sun as their Sun God.

That spanned that harbor. And of course it was destroyed, but it's one of the feats of the ancient world that is kind of a marvel, you know, and to see that as you entered into that port had to be breathtaking. So it's just interesting sometimes how Satan, you know, he knows the words of these books and then their Sun God, you know, they had draped over on land and over the sea like that, a majestic sight.

But it kind of gives us a picture of what this angel, you know, will be, will be doing. And he cries with a loud voice. Let me just stop there. I know I think we've already covered a lot here in the first two verses. Any comments or any questions or if I've confused anything, you know, feel free. Any comments at all? Okay, well, I know how we go through this. You kind of let your mind visualize. You know, one of the things about your revelation, you know, we cover a lot of ground.

I hope that, you know, when we're done with these Bible studies, you let your mind, you know, I use the term for my mind, let it percolate, you know, for a while. Think about the things, you know, when you wake up or night or just have some time to meditate and what you're doing and you'll be amazed at how it sinks into your mind and how things come together and the appreciation you have for what God has done and the magnitude. of what he's revealed here in these chapters to us that I hope are not scary to any of us, but they are inspiring, you know, to all of us.

So we have this we have this angel that's there that John is seeing a little book in his hands and this angel in verse three, he cries with a loud voice as when a lion roars. You know, I mean, that's that's kind of the majestic voice that John hears. Now we can think of the references to we can think of the references to lions and we know in this case, it isn't it isn't the reference to Satan is a lion looking to see who he could devour. But this is this is a lion, the sound of a lion that comes from from heaven when he cried out seven thunders out of their voices.

And so, you know, when he he cries out something, and then we have seven thunders utter their voices, some other voices that John hears. And so, you know, throughout Revelation, we kind of see when God is about to do something, we see earthquakes, we see thunderings, we see lightnings, we see these things occur. And we'll see that in Chapter 11, too. And at the end of Chapter 11, as the seventh Trump, these things that are are said and here, these thunders are there. And, you know, we we have voices and they're saying something, they're saying something.

And John hears what they're saying. You know, as we look at the seven thunders, you know, maybe we can, you know, we reference back to the early chapters of Revelation when we had the seven spirits there before the throne of God. You know, we have seven churches that are there and seven lampstands. But here's seven thunders that are saying something. And every single one of us is curious, and we so badly want to know what did those seven thunders say?

You know, but God is determined that we don't know what they are today. And you can probably go online and you can see where some people speculate this is what this thunder says, this is what the seven thunders. God hasn't revealed that today. You know, he may not reveal those until the time when we're actually in this time that's there. But, you know, we'll eventually know what those thunders are.

And they say, yes, don't write them. So yes. Yeah, it actually says there also because God's Word hasn't revealed the message of the seven thunders. But it says in that same verse that John was instructed to seal those things up, which the seven thunders uttered. And don't even write them, right? We're not going to be able to find out what those are at all. They're not revealed in the Word anywhere. No, they're not. And God is clear, right? When He tells Dan, you'll seal up the words of these prophecies. You know, it'll be revealed in the end time, basically, when he's saying here, it's like, don't even write them down. Don't even write them. They're not only sealed. Don't even write them. So there is no way to know what those are. And it adds a little bit of mystery, you know, to the God and, you know, to His plan. And later on in this chapter, it'll talk about the mystery of God and His real. This is part of it and God's plan. But yeah, did I hear another person? Okay. Okay, so, you know, so we have this going on. And then the angel says, The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven. Now, I don't know that we know who this angel is. There is speculation that it's Jesus Christ. It may well be Jesus Christ. I mean, we know His face appears as a sun. He's got feet that are like bronze. And every indication would be, you know, when He returns to earth clothed in a cloud and everything. So could well be Jesus Christ. But it might not be either. We're not specifically told. Later on, it'll say, you know, when He talks here, it says He swore by Him. You know, He raised His... and the actual translation is... here I have my left hand up... His right hand to heaven. The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his right hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever. Who created heaven and the things that are in it. The earth and the things that are in it. And the sea and the things that are in it. But there should be delay no longer. So if it's Jesus Christ, He's swearing by Himself, which is interesting. Could well be. You know, because in Him all things consist. And certainly, you know, the prophecies and His Word are certainly going to come through. We owe it all to Him because of His sacrifice and His, you know, His time on earth. And He completed the commission that assured... assured completely that God's plan was going to be completed. But whether it's Jesus Christ or another angel that comes down there, you know, the prophecy continues. And it's, you know, it's God confirming His Word and His promise to mankind. This is going to continue. And here we are at the end of the sixth trumpet. And this angel says things will be delayed no longer. Now is the time that it's going to be completed, that Jesus Christ is to return. Everything is going to continue. I don't know if I want to use the word quickly, but certainly the things are going to continue. And the return of Jesus Christ is imminent. It's like when God starts the process, there's no stopping it. And there's been these little interludes, you know, remember the space of a half an hour after the... after... or when the seventh trumpet begins. And here's this... we have this little interlude here where it's explaining what happened on earth up until the end of the sixth trumpet. And here we have... you know, here we have... oh, Gabby Elliott, did you have something to say?

You will have... you'll have to hit your microphone, Fabiola. Let me see if I can... did you want to say something? Yep. You'll have... down in the lower right hand, lower left hand corner, there's a little microphone, Fabiola, you'll have to hit it in order... I can't... I can't unmute you, but you'll have to do that in order for us to hear you.

Okay. Try that out... try that out, and we'll come back to you... we'll come back to you later.

Okay.

Okay. But, in verse 7, but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he's about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished as he declared to his servant the prophets.

So, we've gone through six trumpets, but now the seventh angel is about to sound, and then everything is revealed. The mystery of God, the plan of God, it all comes clear, you know, what his mission was, what he's been working out on earth, that he allowed, you know, Satan to be the God of this world, the prince of the power of the air.

People have marched, you know, to his drum these six thousand years, and, you know, lately, as I say, you know, the God of this world, as God calls Satan in 2 Corinthians 4, when people of this world ask, where's God?

You know, the appropriate response is, well, he's right here. You know, mankind shows him, your God of your world is here, he's the one who's allowing the suffering. If you had chosen the true God, there would be no. There would be no pain. There would be no suffering.

And if he's the one who's not, you know, the prince of the power of the air, you know, then better days, you know, happy days, joyous days will be there.

So, verse 8. Then the voice, which I heard from heaven, spoke to me again and said, so you have this chorus of voices. You have the angel, you have another voice from heaven, you have the thunder, seven thunders, you can imagine, you know, you can kind of try to put yourself in John's place, because he's watching all these things unfold, and everything that he's seen up to this time.

So, John, from heaven, spoke to me again and said, you know, go take that little book, which is open, right? You're gonna repeat, it's open. It's ready to be read. It's not hidden. It's not closed. It's not, you know, it's there for this end time.

Go take the little book, which is open, in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth. So, John obeys. I went to the angel and I said to him, give me that little book. And he said to me, take and eat it, and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.

Well, you know, that's kind of beautiful verses as we read this. You know, we can say, eat it. Why would the angel tell John, eat it?

Well, you know, we can...what do we do with the Word of God? You know, we're told, eat the bread of life daily. Eat it. Digest it. Read the truth. Let it become part of you. You know, what you eat, you become.

You know, feed on this. You know, Jesus Christ leads us to green pasture. He gives us physical food, but he gives us a spiritual food. And so he's telling John, you know what? Take that little book. Make it part of you. And the way we make God's Word part of us is we ingest it daily. It becomes part of us. Just like if we eat good, healthy food, it becomes good and healthy to us. And if we eat junk food and garbage, it becomes garbage to us. So he says, eat this. You know, make this part of your being. Take and eat it. And it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth. Let me just pause there and let you know. What does that mean, do you think? How can something be both sweet and sweet and bitter? Anyone? Mr. Sadie? Yes.

I think maybe he's starting to understand the Word. He's just starting to understand.

Okay. Understand it? Good? Yeah. Okay. Well, what of God's Word? When we understand it, when we come into the church and we begin to understand God's commands, we haven't been following Him the way that mankind should be following God. And we learn all those things. And we learn about prophecy. And we learn that Jesus Christ is going to return to earth.

And we have a vision of the kingdom, and we say, whoa, this is like the dream world. Christ returns. There's joy. There's peace. There's harmony. There's abundance for everyone all over the world. Sickness ends. Disease ends. Domestic violence ends. All these things that people have to learn, but everything is put in motion to a world that is absolutely perfect.

Deserts bloom again. Waters are purified and healed. And all the effects of man, the negative effects on earth, on his psyche, and relationships with each other is all healed. I mean, when we think of that, who wouldn't want that world, right? I mean, that's very sweet in our mouths. It's like, ah, yes, let us be there. Let's transport us into that right now. Very sweet in our mouth when we read those things, and it's a beautiful vision to have. But, but when we learn what has to happen between now and that time of joy, not so sweet, is it? Not so pleasant, is it? You know, when we read it and think of when we read about the Great Tribulation, a time of trouble such as never was before and never will be again. When we look at the six trumpets that we've been through, we haven't even gotten to the seventh trumpet yet. When we see what John is, what God has revealed through John in the first six trumpets, we think, whoa, those are our tough pills to swallow. That's, that's tough. Those are bitter things that are going to happen to mankind between now and the return of Jesus Christ. And they're all in that little book, all in that little book, that A, that is directed, that is directed to a specific audience, right? Not open to the whole world, because we read later on in Revelation 20 when the rest of the world and the second resurrection, when they're resurrected, those, the major book, the books of the Bible, the Biblia, when it's all opened at that time. But only to a few people now is the truth opened. And this little book, this little book is instructive. This little book, when it's understood and we eat it, no, it tastes, it tastes really good. But when we digest it and we get the whole picture of what's going on there and what has to happen before that time that sweet as honey is there, it's not so sweet. It's not so sweet. And we have to adjust our mind. And through the course of our lives, you know, always have that vision of the sweetness that results even through those, those bitter, those bitter time, those bitter times. Does that make sense? Does that make sense to everyone? No. Someone waiting. My eyes are watching you instead of the waiting room. So welcome. Welcome to who Mary Lee, who just joined us. We're in Revelation 10. We're just talking about the little, little book in Revelation 10 and verse, verses 9 and 10 and the bitterness and sweetness of it.

So we have, you know, we have this book and God says, eat it. And he tells John what's going to happen. In verse 10, John does what he's told, right? When God tells us to do something, we simply do it. So it says, John, he says, I took that little book out of the angel's hands and I ate it, just like he told me to. And indeed it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. When I could taste what it was, I could just taste that kingdom. I could just taste how good things would be and how all the negative parts of life that we've just gotten used to when they're gone, when they're no longer there. You know, how pleasant will that be? You know, we can't even imagine that because all of our lives, we've lived with the things of this world that are negative and trying. And I ate that book and it was sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I ate it, you know, I ate it and I got a taste of that. My stomach became bitter. I knew. I knew what I had to go through and I know what it took to get there. And you know, it's exactly what Jesus Christ went through. You know, he came to earth. He lived the life that you and I live. He was born as flesh. He was willing to give up, you know, his life as a human being to be sacrificed, to be tortured in a way that none of us can imagine, to be crucified in an agony and he died.

And you know, he tasted of that. He knew what the end was. Remember it says, because of the joy set before him, he was able to endure all those things that he suffered. So he had that sweetness in his mouth. He knew because he had come from heaven. Mankind, I love them so much, I want them to taste what I know. I want them to experience the way it is in heaven. I want them to see the things that they don't even fully understand today. And I am willing to suffer. And when he looked at his life and when he made the choice to be born, you know, as flesh, wouldn't that little book in his mind be? It was sweet as honey when he saw what he was going to do. But look at the bitterness that he had to go through in order for that to achieve. And yet he was willing to do it for us. And so when we look at this little book, that God would command this little book designed for a specific group of people, you know, given to John. Not says it was given to the whole world, but given to John, you know, who that book is. You know, we have the same process that Jesus Christ did. And he kept his eyes on the prize, as you know, Paul even says, as he's about to die. He had the vision of the kingdom in his mind. Jesus Christ did. And so he's a pattern for us, you know, as we look at our lives too. We eat that little book. We know what the prophecy is. We know what we know Jesus Christ is returning, and that should motivate us.

But we also know that only with God's strength and only with His help are we going to get through the bitter part of it so that we can get to the joy. So let me pause here after verse 11. And he, you know, the angel said to me, You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.

And so there really, you know, really there shouldn't be a chapter break until chapter 11, because this is a continuing saga and inset of what went on, what's going on, you know, leading up to the end of that sixth trumpet, as we said. The bridge between chapter 9 verse 21 and chapter 11 verse 14 when it says the second woe was passed. And so he tells John specifically, you, you, whoever you must be, must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings. You know, it's going to be preached again at these times, the preaching of the gospel to all of the world, done by whoever this little book is given to.

And what's given to John, who, you know, is, is, I think, symbolic of the church today, the church today, the true church, the true church. But let me pause there. Any comments, thoughts? Okay. If I said anything that you disagree with or something, you know, feel free, feel free to, you know, to speak up. I'm not going to be offended. You know, we, what are the things? I think almost every Bible study, I learned something from you guys, too, when you, you bring up something that, you know, we haven't had before or heard before. We go back and look at the Bible. So if there's anything, you know, it's okay. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt my feelings. And the discussion is good.

Yes, sir. Why would you think that he says you must prophesy again, like hinting that it was done at least once before? Yeah, I think, I think it's talking about the end time, right? John is there in the first century and they were preaching the gospel, right? Jesus Christ told them you preach the gospel to the whole world. And, you know, here they had been doing that. They went out into Asia Minor. The churches had begun. The Gentiles, you know, began to come in. They were preaching the gospel to the people at that time. And I think this is my personal opinion. I think that he is signifying that at the time of the end, this gospel, as Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24, is going to be preached to the whole world as a witness to all nations. So it's going to be preached again to everyone of the world at that time, a global, a global work at this time, not just the world as they knew it back in the first century. It's kind of my impression of that. And this may be an issue of how the words are translated, but it says, instead of too many nations and peoples and so forth, it says, about. Yeah, yeah. You must prophesy again about many people. Yeah, you know what? Okay, no. Yeah. That was Bear Bear looking into and seeing how that's translated and about many people's nations' tongues and kings. Yeah. Let me mark that down.

We should look at that and see what that means. Mrs. Shady, my translation, maybe I have the King James version, and it says, prophesy again before many people, nations and tongues. Ah, okay. Because we've seen it before. Okay. Well, that may be the answer that we were just looking at. Again, as we look at the Old King James, you know, before many peoples makes it very clear, right? That that's, you're going to talk really this time or to the whole world, to the whole world, many peoples, tongues and nations. Yeah, the God's word translation says, you must speak what God has revealed in front of many people, nations and so forth. Okay. Very good. And you know, and look what it's leading into. It's leading into the two witnesses, right? Where they will be speaking to the whole world and kings and everyone will hear what they're saying. So it's kind of a lead-in to, well, what we have is Chapter 11. Just remember, as we go through this, John is seeing this all in vision. It wasn't that God took a day off and then brought it back and showed it more. It's all part of one vision that John has. So, very good. Yeah, sometimes you got to go back to the old King James and when they did do King James, they made the English easier for us. But sometimes the translators will put a word in there that more fits their meetings. And that sure looks like what happened in verse 11 here. Should probably be before or two. So, okay. Anything else? Okay, let's go into Chapter 11. Chapter 11, boy, it's a fascinating chapter, too, with a lot buried into it. Verse 1 alone we can spend some time on, too, because here's John. He's taken this little book. He's eaten it. He's been told you're going to prophesy again about people, nations, tongues, and kings. And then, then he says, I was given a read like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, the same angel, saying, rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. So you will prophesy again to many people, but here's a measuring rod. And then you are going to take the measure of the temple.

Many times, you know, we can go back to the Old Testament and we see the dimensions of the temple. The physical temple there, God was very detailed. And this is how large this is, and how big this room is, and everything like that. But given that this is the end time, there is no temple. There is no physical temple. When we are in the New Testament, when God refers to temples, He is not talking about a physical temple. He is talking about a spiritual temple. And that's, you know, as we...in fact, keep your finger there in chapter 11, we can go to many verses, but let's just go to 2 Corinthians 6. 2 Corinthians 6, I think 1 Corinthians 3, you know, Paul talks about this too as well in Ephesians, but in 2 Corinthians 6, you know, clearly talking to people, you know, to the people of the New Testament Church and the church in Corinth, in the very well-known verses that we have about being unequally yoked with unbelievers and the difference between Christ and true Christians versus the world. In verse 16, he says, what agreement has the temple of God with idols? You know, clearly he's not talking about a building at that time, right? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? Back in...I mean, we'll go back to 1 Corinthians 3 to tie the loop here.

Verse 16 of chapter 3, 1 Corinthians 3 verse 16, you know, he's writing to the church in Corinth, so he is writing to all of us today, because these words are for us as much as it was for them back then. Don't you know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy. Which temple you are. So he makes it very clear when we're in the New Testament, when he speaks of temple, he's not talking about physical buildings.

So when he tells John, I'm giving you something to measure the temple of God with. Talking about the people of God, the true church of God, the true Christians, if you will. Those of us who have been called, everyone on this call, everyone that worships God and spirit and truth and knows the things and does what God has said, who have become, you know, are led by his Holy Spirit, the true church of God. He says, you know, it's time before the seventh angel sounds, and in all this interlude, between and up, leading up to the end of the sixth trumpet, take a measure. Take a measure of the temple of God. Take a measure of the people of God. We could turn back to Amos 7, and you'll remember that Amos, you know, he told, put a plumb line, put a plumb line, you know, there, to measure the vertical, the straightness, the preciseness of the building at that time. And it's no great stress for us to know what God is measuring, right? Because in Ephesians 4, Paul uses the very same word and the very same symbolism that we have here in Ephesians 4.

In verses 11 to 16, we read these often, but it gives us exactly what he's talking about, I believe, in chapter 11, verse 1 here of Revelation. In chapter 4, verse 11, you know, Paul is talking about the church of God. He's talking about the true church of God, how God has set it up, how it is that people are going to be born into the kingdom. They must come through the church. They must be born into that body. They must become one with each other. They must learn how to love as Jesus Christ and God the Father love each other and love us. We must learn that, and we learn from each other as part of the body. And he says in verse 11, he himself gave some to the apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. Why? For the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry. Cross that out and put in service, right? We're all here to serve each other and to serve God. For the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, for the building up of the body of Christ. We work with each other. We learn from each other. The body is growing and designed and working the way God had set it up to be. Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of God. What is John measuring when God says, John, measure the temple of God? What is the measuring standard? His Word.

Yes, we live by every word that we the measure of the stature and the fullness of Jesus Christ. He was our example, and that's what our goal is, is to become like Him. And that means we have to diligently, carefully learn the Bible and grow closer and closer to fulfillment of those words and eating those words in our lives to become more like Him.

Comments, questions? Mr. Chevy. Yes, sir. Yeah, there is, I guess, a phrase or I guess it's an idiom in English that says, when you're sizing up someone. So that's kind of what God is doing, is sizing us up. Yep. And He shows us what the measure is, right? The standard. There's no doubt. It's not just slightly better than the world. Not 50% better than you were when you came into the church, but how close are you and how are you growing toward the perfection of Christ? And that's measured by, well, we know that the more we yield to God's Holy Spirit, the more we learn to trust in Him and rely on Him and let go of this world and all the things that we've been reared in and that we through all our lives relied on and learned to trust in Him, we become more like Him. And more that we're willing to give up our own ideas, pet ideas, our own things and make no excuse for ourselves, but be willing to sacrifice literally everything to Him is where, you know, is what God is looking for. Just as Paul came to understand, I mean, he put so much into Romans 12 verses 1 and 2, and he says that if we really are understanding God's call, if we really have a picture of what God has called us to and what He will give to us, that sacrificing our entire life to Him is our reasonable service. There would be no doubt in our minds, you know, everything about us we're willing to give up, you know, to be like you because we would have that vision in our minds of what He was called us to.

I mean, that measuring could also be some sort of a measurement because based on what you're saying, because it says on the next verse that to leave out the court, which I guess telling Him that not to measure the people who are outside the temple, I guess.

And that's, yeah. So before we go to that, though, okay, well, let's look at the rest of verse 1, right? He says, Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. So he's got a specific group that he's got in mind, and he's comparing it to, you know, if you look at the word temple, as it's translated there in verse 11, it isn't the entire temple of God. It's N-A-N-A-O-N, I think it's something says N-A-O-J.

It's kind of the Holy of Holies and the room right outside of the Holy of Holies. Remember the Holy of Holies, the high priest went into there just once a year on the day of atonement. And then in that room outside of it, you have, as we learn in Exodus 30, the altar of incense specifically mentions the altar there.

You have the altar of incense, and we've talked about that in Revelation, right? We've talked about how the incense is like our prayers, you know, and those rise up before God day and night as a pleasing aroma to Him.

It's the prayers of those who are truly and completely becoming converted to God, who truly pray, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, and God sees what's in their hearts and not just their words. And so you have this small part of the temple, which is an interesting thing when you read the rest of it, right? The temple of God, the neon of God, that Holy of Holies, and the that room outside of it where the altar, the incense is offered day and night.

And there's just a group of people that could go in there. Not all of Israel could go in there. Just a group, because they could go in there and alter that. The people, you know, then it was the priests and whatever, and you know, you and I are being prepared to be kings and priests.

Rise and measure that part of the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. Not the entire temple. Outside of the court, outside of that room, there are others who are part of the temple, right? But they're not part of that inner circle. They're not of that group that God is talking about. Rise and measure them. Rise and measure them. Now, I'll pause here and remind you of some of the parables of Jesus Christ. Matthew 25, he talks about ten virgins. And they're all virgins, right? They're all part of the true church.

They all understand the truth, but five of them, five of them had, you know, they slumbered, but they had enough oil that when the call came, they went. The other five were left out. They were left out of that court, if you will, that was able to go in to the bridegroom. You know, later on, he talks about those that were given talents. And, you know, so we're given ten talents, and they multiplied those talents. They were given, or five talents, two talents, and multiplied them, but others were given a talent, and they did nothing with it. They did nothing with it, even though they were given a talent, even though they were part, they kind of sleptwalked through life, and God says, take it from them, they're going to be left out.

They're not going in. In Matthew 25, he talks about sheep and goats. In other places, he talks about wheat and tares, and he says, you know, let them all grow together. I'll be the one to separate them at the time of the end. Some are wheat, and some are tares. It's not for you to decide who. It's for God, you know, to decide who, Jesus Christ. Some are sheep, and some are goats. It's not for us to decide. It's for Jesus Christ to decide.

But some are measured, and some are in this group. But there's others that were there, and it's this temple. God says, you know, leave them out. Leave them out, and don't measure them. You know, during their life, they didn't measure up there. We know they're not even close. They're not even close. Don't waste your time measuring them. God already has judged it. Judge them. For it, the outer court of the temple has been given to the Gentiles. Now, we know, you know, and it says there, and they will tread the holy city underfoot for 42 months. So we know there's a time coming that the Gentile power, the beast power that we'll talk about in chapter 13, it treads the holy city for 42 months.

It's an awful time on earth. And God says of the whole temple, measure these. Measure these, but don't measure them. There will be 42 months that they're in the outer court. They're in the outer court, and if they didn't take... I'm going to add words in here, too, but they're at words of the Bible, and someone can challenge me on this, you know? But they, you know, they didn't take the time during this lifetime, during this time, to grow in the knowledge and stature of Jesus Christ. They slept too soundly. And God says, leave them out.

And we read about many who had their robes washed white in the Great Tribulation, that 42 month period that we've talked about. And here in verse 2, you know, God is telling John, you take it. You take it. And you measure the church. You measure the people. And you look at it, you know, and however it is that God is telling John to do that, you measure it. But there are some that just start listening. They're hard of hearing. They think everything is okay, and it's enough to just go through physical motions without giving mind, body, and soul to God.

Leave them out. They'll have their chance in the, you know, and through the time of the Gentiles, the 42 months of the Great Tribulation and when the Beast Power rules the earth. So we look at those two verses. I think there's an awfully lot in there that should stimulate us, that should behoove us to, you know, get our act together. And when we live in the end times, as we do, to really be putting our focus on God, really be putting our focus on where we are, what we're doing with our lives, making our calling and election sure, and, you know, living in our lives, doing the things that we need to do, but putting a focus on God and making sure, you know, we're part of the true Christians, that we really are putting our heart, mind, and soul into the call of God gives us.

I've said an awfully lot. Let me pause and let some of that be absorbed here for a few minutes. I will, you know, if anyone's got any comments or we can just kind of sit for a few seconds and think about it. So. Okay. And remember, remember, as I say, you know, when you, you know, when this is over, and hopefully you're thinking about this for the next, you know, next several days and whatever, thoughts come to your mind.

It's okay to bring them up next week or call or email and, you know, happy to talk about any of these things and read them because God gives us understanding. He wants us to understand.

And it's okay to have questions. There's no problem with questions. We'll look at it from the Bible and answer from the Word of God. I'm Mr. Shady. Yes, ma'am. Now, why is it just given to the Gentiles and not to the rest of the people? Okay. Okay. What do you mean, what's been given? Well, remember the Gentiles, right? God gives the power of the world over to the Gentiles at the time of the end for the three and a half years. I mean, it says in Revelation 13, we'll see that the whole world worships the beast. The whole world bows down to him as he seems to have the answers to economy, military might, and everything. So, you know, the world then is given over to the beast power, which devards its power from Satan. So that's what he's saying. In the last three and a half years leading up to Christ's return, it's a Gentile world ruled by them. That makes sense? But what about the Jews? They won't be a part of this? Well, okay. No, no. I mean, we're talking again in verse 1 of chapter 11, you know, we're talking about the temple of God. The Jewish religion isn't part of the temple of God today, right? They don't even acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior. So they can't be part of the temple of God. They can't be part of the true Christians because they reject Christ as Savior.

So they're left outside along with the rest of the world who will be under the sway of that government at that time. So the Jews may know the Bible, but you know, we've even seen through Jesus Christ's time that the religion they practice isn't the religion that he intended people to follow and the way it's worship.

That make sense? Winoma? Much better.

Okay, now we can talk about it more, too. Or if anyone has any questions on that, okay?

Verse, where are we in time? Okay, good. We got time. Verse 3. I will give. You'll notice there the powers in italics. If you look that up, you're going to see power is not in the original Greek. And so what God, you know, what God inspired John to write is, I will give to my two witnesses.

So the translators put a word in there that they thought would clarify things, but it simply says, I will give to my two witnesses, you know, to two people.

Some people, you know, want to speculate about who these witnesses are, you know, and some people say, well, be the resurrected Moses. Will it be the resurrected Elijah? Will it be the resurrected John? Will it be the resurrected whatever? But all the indications in the Bible are that these are two people who are living on earth at that time. There's no resurrection at that time of a saint who lived before back to physical life, because this would have to be physical life that they would have to be resurrected back into because we see they're going to die, you know, later on in this chapter. All indications are this is two people living on the earth at that time that God will choose. I will give to my, and he specifically says my, I mean, it's God who makes the decision, you know, who these two witnesses are. I will give to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy 1260 days clothed in sackcloth. So we, you know, in verse two, we see the Gentiles, the time of the Gentiles, 42 months, about 1260 days. And here's these two witnesses, then, who are also prophesying, you know, before, as we read in chapter 10, verse 11, before many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings, for the same time period, 1260 days. So three and a half years that they're on earth and they're, and God's giving them, you know, something. You know, it says in verse four, an interesting, an interesting thing that we'll go back to Zachariah 4 and spend a little, a little bit of time there. We may have to come back to Zachariah 4 at another time, too. It says, these, these two, these two are the olive trees, are two olive trees, and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.

So it's interesting that God, you know, describes them this, and he references back to Zachariah 4. So let's, let's turn back to Zachariah.

But it says, see what it says there about these two olive trees.

Mr. Shavey? Sir?

Yeah, the olive trees, I realize that they, they do, they kind of give that, that essence of purity, if you will.

But I always wondered why it was two witnesses, and then I just realized, just reading over some things, that Jesus sent the disciples out as two witnesses.

Even the 70 he sent out as two witnesses. And I don't know, it just seemed very, very interesting on that because they are going to be judging certain situations, and they're there to verify information, and that's why they send those two witnesses out.

But these are very, two very special people that you're going to be talking about in Zachariah 4 and 2 and 414.

There are two people, you know, that, that, you know, I guess, well, not I guess, that God looks at and says, you know what, they're truly converted.

These are people that have, through their life, learned to completely yield to me.

And when he says, I give to my two witnesses, you know, we can think about what God gives.

And I'll talk a little bit about that. Let's look at Zachariah 4.

And Genesis, the other thing I think what you said was good.

Also, remember, God says that the truth is established in the mouth of two or three witnesses.

So it makes sense that he would have two witnesses speaking the same thing at that time that he's giving to.

Certainly, it's Holy Spirit, you know, and, you know, as we read here, power might to do all these things and stand before the nations and the kings and all the hate that's going to be directed their way.

Zachariah 4, verse 1.

So I've got to pause here for a minute.

You know, Dr. Ward, back several years ago, he, you know, he gave a class and he was talking about this and he kind of drew on the board a picture of what this was.

He got the lampstands there, a solid gold, and there's a bowl on top of it, if you can picture that.

And on the stand, there were seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps.

So something feeding into those lamps.

Now, we can remember from Revelation that the lamps are the church, right?

They're the lights of the world and things like that.

And some of the symbolism that we've talked about.

And then he says in verse 3, here's these two olive trees.

Two olive trees standing by these seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps.

That there's this lampstand, a solid gold with a bowl on the top of it.

And this picture that we have.

And two olive trees are by it.

One at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.

So in the center is this vision of these pipes and these lamps.

The two olive trees standing on each side.

So I answered, and I spoke to the angel who talked with me saying, Well, what are these, my Lord?

And the angel who talked with me answered and said, Don't you know what these are? And I said, No.

So he answered and said to me, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel.

Not by might. Now notice this.

Again, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit.

You know, a memory verse for all of us.

God is saying, It's not by this Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was kind of the civil governor, if you will.

Joshua was the spiritual, he was the priest and everything, as we go back to chapter 3.

Nor by power, but by my spirit.

You know, we've learned through the course of our lives that we can look to God's Spirit for everything.

It's not going to be our might. It's not going to be our ideas.

It's not going to be our cleverly devised arguments that are going to do anything.

We have to learn, you know, through life, a yield in us and a surrender to God.

You know, when Jesus Christ talked about the Holy Spirit that would come, you know, He said, The Holy Spirit will dwell in you.

We'll make our house with you.

It'll comfort you. It'll teach you.

It'll comfort you. It'll teach you.

It'll lead you into all truth.

And we learn through God's Holy Spirit to yield to Him.

We learn to trust. We learn to rely.

We learn to let go of the gods in our lives.

We learn to let go of self-sufficiency.

Now, not that we lose our identity or our personality or anything like that, but we let God mold it into who He wants to be because, you know, through the course of our lives, He's given us talents. He's given us potential. He knows what they are.

Everything fits together, you know, in His body perfectly.

Everyone's got a place. Everyone's got a purpose.

We just have to yield to God and allow Him to do what He wants us to do and prepare us where He wants to be.

And always remember, it's not our might. It's not our power. It's not our intelligence.

It's not anything about us. It's about His Spirit. It's about yielding to Him.

And so when you're talking about these two olive trees and these pipes that are going up into these bowls and these lampstands, you know, not by my power, not by might or power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts.

Who are you, O Great Mountain? Before Zerubbaboh, you shall become a plane, and He shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of grace, grace to it.

You know, Zerubbaboh will do mighty works, but he won't do it by His power. He won't do it by His might.

You know, the two witnesses, when they are on earth, you know, they will be people who have learned to yield to God.

And even the words they speak, you're not going to spend nights, you know, at home, you know, putting together a sermon and spending hours doing that. They're going to learn to whatever God speaks, they're going to be able to say.

They will have yielded to God, and they will give, they will simply speak His words.

You know, John 12, I think it's verse 49. I wrote it down here someplace, but I should be looking at my notes and making sure I'm not forgetting something.

Yeah, John 12 and verse 49 and 50, Jesus Christ says, you know, I speak the things that God gives me to say.

He was that yielded to God as a human. It's like God speaks to me and I speak to you. The words that I speak, they're God's words.

And God says to these two witnesses, I'm going to give you, you know, I'm going to give you, you've got the Holy Spirit, you've learned through time. I'll give you the words, and we're going to see as we go on, He's going to give them the power to do some miracles like Elijah did and others.

But it'll come from God, and they have to know that, and they've learned that as you and I are learning that the power in what we do comes from God.

You know, Jesus Christ said, if we have faith, if we believe in God that much, we would be able to say to that mountain over there, move, and it would move.

None of us are at that point. We've got a lot to learn. But He says that same thing to Zerubbabel.

Zerubbabel, He's going to be able to flatten that mountain because He's learned not by His might, not by His power, but by God's Spirit.

Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, verse 8, Zachariah 4, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple.

You know, Paul laid a foundation of the temple. And today, I think, you know, the work, if we go back to the work, way back to the time, Mr. Armstrong stated that there's started, that there's been a foundation laid. It's based on the Bible. It's based on the truth of God. There's nothing added to it. There's nothing taken away from it. And as we learn, you know, the truth of God is done there. And that the foundation is laid. You and I are the foundation of our individual temples. Better be with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. Better be in the Bible. And better be that, you know, we are learning to apply every word of the Bible into our lives. And as we learn, taking away those those foreign rocks and those foreign ideas and getting them out of our minds, you know, have laid the foundation of this temple. His hands will finish it.

Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. So, you know, Jesus Christ will come, but it will be by man through men who have been totally yielded to God, that the work, that this work of the two witnesses will come about. And through them, you know, God will finish it. Just as He says in Philippians, the work that He's begun in each one of us, He'll finish. He'll finish.

But it's up to us to make those, you know, decisions. For who has to survive? Verse 10, the day of small things, the little trials we go through, the little opportunities that we have to say no to self, cut things out of our lives and choose God that builds the trust, that builds the ability to deny self, that lets the Holy Spirit, that God looks at it and says they're using the power that I give them of a sound mind and the ability to say no to self. And God sees us, you know, taking these small days, the small things, you know, in comparison to what's coming, build our faith in Him, to build our commitment to Him, to build our, you know, total yieldliness to Him. Who is despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line, ah, there's that measuring instrument again, the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. Just like John said, God told John, take the measure, take the measure. These are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the entire earth. You know, a world, a worldwide work, watching the whole thing. Question or comment there? If not, I'll continue through verse 13, and we'll come back and talk about some of the stuff that we read here.

Chapter 5 is an interesting chapter 2 to look at. It talks about the scroll that's flying through the earth, and there's some prophetic stuff in there too. We'll have to come back to Zachariah another time and go through it in light of what we've talked about. But I'm going to put up on the screen, you know, I couldn't find the notes I took from what Dr. Ward said, so I looked through the commentaries, you know, to see if I could find it, what it was. I just couldn't find it online. I couldn't find the drawing. I think it's in the other computer that I, my old computer that's up in Jacksonville, where those notes are. But let me put up for you.

Okay, yeah, let me, if I can do how to do this.

Here, screen.

Okay, let me close this area.

Okay, let me, let me just kind of read through this. I, you know, not every word in here is right, but Barnes gives a pretty good synopsis of what Dr. Ward said and an explanation of the detail of this. I'm going to, you know, every time I read through it, I see something different. But I want you to just get an idea. This is one of those things that you have to meditate on and allow God to increase your vision. You know, do any of us perfectly understand what this is? I don't know. But as time goes on, God's going to help us understand what it is that this is because, you know, certainly has its meaning for the two olive trees that you witnessed, but for all of us, right? So as the olive trees or olive branches appear in the vision of the prophet to have been connected with the ever burning lamp by golden pipes. And as the olive tree produced the oil used by the ancients in their laps. You know, if we had time, we could, we could talk about the olive tree, right? Because the olive tree is prominent in the Bible.

And I wish we had another hour, we could kind of just go around to everyone and say, you know, what, you know, we use olive oil for anointing. You know, God talks about olive trees, they're beautiful trees, but they take time to grow and they become more beautiful over time.

You know, in Psalm 128, when he's talking about building our house, he talks of our children as olive plants. The Bible, you know, holds the olive trees up as very important trees and spiritual characteristics of it. And a year, year and a half ago, I gave a sermon on, you know, I see men like trees walking in it. And the olive tree was one of those we described there. But maybe we should revisit that too here as we go through this.

And maybe someone, you know, would want to give a sermonette or something on that so that it's fresh in our minds, the benefits of the olive trees and what they are. But with all that in mind, you know, the olive tree is symbolic in the Bible. And so I'm going to start over again. I'm just going to read, let you do that and put the commentary here.

The olive trees or olive branches appear in the vision of the prophet to have been connected with the ever burning lamp by golden pipes. And as the olive tree produced the oil used by the ancients in their lamps, these trees are represented as furnishing a constant supply of oil through the golden pipes to the candlestick. And thus they become emblematic of the supply of, let's just say, oil instead of grace there, to the church. What he's saying is that as the work of the two witnesses go on, you know, there is a portion of them that are prophesying to the world, but they are also prophesying to the church. They are a source of instruction to the church.

And remember that there will be some through the great tribulation of the temple that, you know, whatever place God has prepared for those, you know, that he says, I'll take them where they're nurtured for a time, times and a half a time from the face of the serpent. There are those who remain behind that have their robes washed in the white and the great tribulation.

And so we do have people that are in the church who, you know, that we discussed before today, that will be in that. But there will also be people who are called during that time that hear the words of the witnesses, that hear that because the Bible says there's a great multitude, a great multitude. You know, there's not a great multitude that are keeping the word of God today. There's a great multitude that come out of the tribulation. So some are hearing and God is using that time, you know, to hear the witnesses. And the work of the two witnesses is an inspiration to them. And so they, they through their works and as people see their works through the Holy Spirit, right? Not because of what that because they're great, not because they're notable, not because they're these special people, but because of the works of the Holy Spirit. And they see God's, you know, work at work, they're an inspiration. And just excuse me for not being able to define it as clearly as I should. Against one of those things that you have to think about and let God, you know, draw what the thing is. But the two witnesses are going to be an inspiration to the people of God at that time, as well as, you know, as well as, as people who are preaching to the kings who don't want to hear them at all.

John uses this emblem, not in the sense exactly on which it was employed by the prophet, but to note that these two witnesses, which might be compared with the two olive trees, would be the means of supplying oil to the church. So you have the candlestick, you have the seven churches, the seven things there, and somehow as God uses those, that's an inspiration to the people that are there. Again... I'm getting so sleepy! Hello? Sorry. As the olive tree furnished oil for the lamps, the two trees here would seem properly, to denote this, this is Barnes' idea, right? To denote ministers of religion, as there can be no doubt that the candlesticks or lamp bearers denote churches following the symbolism of the candlesticks. The sense would appear to be that it was through the pastors, whatever. Okay, so anyway, that's kind of where these two olive trees are. They are lights, if you will, to the church, and the people who God is calling at that time, as well as witnesses to the world. So they have kind of a dual function that's there. And again, my understanding isn't complete. That's why I'm going to go back and find Dr. Ward's words again, but they were words to that effect.

And it's very interesting, it's something to meditate on, and as we get closer and closer to that time, God will help us understand what that symbolism is. Any comments, questions? I don't mean to confuse everyone, and I'm not going to pretend that I know the answers to everything. Mr. Shaby? Yes, Mary Lee?

The oil is always representative of God's Spirit. Right. And we use the oil for the anointing, and that's to represent God's Spirit. Right.

And the olive trees, the oil, even in the temple, when they had the lights in the Holy of Holies, it was all representing God's Spirit is the light. Right. It's the power that gives the light to all the candlesticks. Right.

And it's by that power that those two witnesses are working, preaching, teaching, and that they are doing good works as a result of the Spirit that God puts in them. Good works that are inspiring people as well as giving a witness to the world. Do we agree on that? Yes. Okay. Mr. Shaby? Yes, ma'am?

Since God's kingdom is going to be set up over in Jerusalem, wouldn't it be feasible to say that the two witnesses will be prophesied from there? Yes, it will. It tells us that in verse 8 of Revelation 11. They'll be prophesying from Jerusalem of Revelation 11.

Yes, I think they have the oil of the Spirit. Yes. They will have the oil of the Spirit of God. Right. God's Holy Spirit. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I hope I didn't mislead anyone. They will absolutely. It is God's Spirit. I mean, it is in them thoroughly. You know, it's not by their might or their power. It is by the Spirit of God. They're being led by it.

And through their life, they have yielded to God. They are letting Him. God gives them, and they do what God gives them. Yeah, so I hope no one is misunderstanding any of that. It's not about them. It's about God.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay. Okay. I'll leave it at that. We can come back to that in another time, and probably sometime we should...we probably should look at the Book of Zechariah sometime. We'll do that in the future, though. But again, Zechariah is a very interesting and difficult to understand. You've got to take your time through Zechariah. If you read through Zechariah in one sitting or two, three, or fourteen settings, you're not going to get it. You've got to take the time. You've got to look at the rest of the Bible to understand it as well. Let's go back to Revelation 11.

Okay. You know, I wanted to draw some attention to the timing here, too. You know, we have the two witnesses that are preaching. They're witnessing for 1,260 days. And you notice, you know, in verse 14 of chapter 11, they're killed. They're killed at the end of the second, at the end of the sixth trumpet. Right? So the seventh trumpet has not yet sounded. This is kind of showing us what they're doing, and their work culminates at the end of the sixth trumpet when they are in the second trumpet. They're in the sixth trumpet when they are killed, and then they are resurrected and taken to heaven, as we see in Revelation 11.14. So, when we take the 1,260 days, you know, they're not being the two witnesses. They're not doing their work during that seventh trumpet. However long that seventh trumpet lasts, whether it's 15 days, or maybe 30 days, or maybe longer, their work ceases before that. Which means it may, it likely starts back in the time before the Great Tribulation. You know, it's 1,260 days. We're absolutely sure of that. We know the Great Tribulation lasts 1,260 days, and Daniel tells us 1,260 days with the beast power. It's 1,260 days until the time of Jesus Christ. But that includes the time of the seventh trumpet. The two witnesses are not preaching during that time. They've all, their job is done before that. So, just I'm going to throw out there, and for just something to think about, you know, Daniel and Daniel 12 will talk about blessed is he who comes to the 1,335 days. And then he, let's go back to Daniel 12. I don't want to put words into the book of Daniel. I want to quote it exactly as it says there. And Daniel 12, there's three times that are mentioned there. Daniel 12 and verse 11 says, From the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of the set up, bobbing the nation of desolation, there will be 1,290 days.

And then, of course, it talks about the great tribulation being 1,260 days. And then it says, blessed is he who waits and comes to the 1,335 days. So, when is the time that this great tribulation or these prophets end? You know, is what it is. How long is the seventh trumpet? You know, we don't know exactly. Might it be 30 days? Might some of that being indicated in there? Because certainly when the prophets, when the great tribulation is or when the witness is complete, we see the servants of God being sealed in there. Well, whatever. We'll worry about that later. Let me not get ahead of myself here.

Okay. Let's go back to Revelation 11. Just keep that timing in mind. Their job begins before the seventh trumpet begins. I think we can just kind of read through verses 5 through 7 here. They're pretty self-explanatory. It shows the power that God gives them, right? This doesn't come from them. This isn't their power. It's like Elijah wasn't given the power to call down, to say, don't let it rain for three and a half days and call down fire from heaven with dealing with the prophets of Baal. It came from God's Holy Spirit and his faith in them. We read in James 5 that when Elijah prayed the fervent prayer, you know, God allowed these things to happen. In verse 5 of Revelation at 7, it says, If anyone wants to harm them, and there will be plenty that want to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy. And they have power over waters to turn them to blood and to strike the ark with all plagues as often as they desire.

There will be those signs that God gives them, just like as he showed ancient Israel, you know, that they have the power from God. People will have to discern. What is it? Is it the false prophet that they're going to follow? Are they going to clear follow, you know, the clear power of God and the words, you know, of God that come from these two men? When they finish their testimony, when their job is done, the beast of the sins out of the bottomless pit, you know, we talked about, what comes out of the bottomless pit, right? The beginning of the fifth trumpet. The beast that's extant on the earth at that time during the fifth and sixth seals, or fifth and sixth trumpets, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. So for three and a half years, you know, they'll be fighting off the enemies. They'll be people wanting to shut them up to kill them. They won't be able to be successful. But it takes the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit to make war against them. Just look at the power that they have, not by their might, not by anything about them, but what God gives them, that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of that great city, which is spiritually called Sodom in Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. So there, when I know them up, they'll be there in Jerusalem. You know, prophesying at that time. And they'll lie dead. You know, they'll lie dead. In verse 10, it says, and all those who... Oh, verse 9. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies. Now, remember, we live in a time when people all over the world can follow what they're saying, watch what's going on. They're going to see dramatic, dramatic things going on. When you look at what God gives them the power to do, you know, not have it rain for the entire time, but that's what they do. Give them place, turn water into blood, bring down fire to kill those who would attack them. The world is going to be misvorized by what's going on in this climactic struggle between the witnesses and the beast's power. And when they... you know, there will be some that are called out of tribulation that will follow them, but there will be the breath of the world that's against them. Those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, they will all be able to see their dead bodies for three and a half days. You know, three and a half years, three and a half years they prophesied, three and a half days... Look at the year for... day for a year principle there, three and a half days, they're going to lie in the city, and they won't allow their dead bodies to be put into graves.

They will dishonor them that much. They're going to want to see those dead bodies, and they're not going to inter them quickly, you know, and dispose of them. They will show no respect for them at all. They want to see those dead bodies of the true witnesses that have troubled them. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them. They want God's word, stop. They don't want to hear it. They want to reject it. They're just glad to have it them dead.

And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them. They'll make merry. They'll send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. You know, they didn't torment them by, you know, calling down, you know, tormenting them mentally. They don't want to hear it. We don't want to hear the word of God. You know, Romans 8 tells us the word, people, the carnal mind is enmity against God.

They don't want to hear it. And the Romans want to tell us they don't want to retain God in their thoughts. And here's the people on earth. When the word of God is stopped, look at the message that that sends to God. We don't want you. We don't want you. And he'll get the message loud and clear. You know, we don't want loud. In fact, we're partying over the fact that that word is finally dead. And we think it's the victory of Satan, the victory of Satan over God, or the victory of their government over, you know, these prophets, these witnesses who are pointing people to God. But they've got a surprise coming, right? Verse 11. After the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet.

And understandably so, when these great events occur, if we could kind of imagine, and you know, those of us who are called, we'll be watching these events go on. These things, we'll be seeing what's going on, you know, what's happening at this time. After three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. And great fear fell on those who saw them.

And imagine what the world thinks at that time. They don't repent. They don't change their minds, but they know something is up. It's clear that there's something about these men that isn't of their government, isn't of their God, isn't the one who they worship. But this one has power. It should be a witness to them, but even in their resurrection, mankind doesn't repent. And we'll see that later as we go through the seventh trumpet. Great fear fell on them, but it still doesn't lead them to repent and turn to God. We'll see. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to those two resurrected witnesses, Come up here. They ascended to heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them. So as Christ, you know, went up to heaven in the clouds, so they'll see these two witnesses resurrected and ascended in the cloud. And there's something about that that we don't know, I'll say right now. Is that the time? In 1 Thessalonians 4, when it's talking about it says, the saints will be resurrected at one time. And there won't be a group that is in heaven before that. Well, you know, this is one of those things how it all fits together, unless someone's got a clear answer on it. We look and see what is God telling us there? Did they ascend to heaven? Was that a time of the resurrection of the saints? Or is that another time? Or was it just for these two people? Or what exactly is going on there? I think we'll understand that later because I can't say I can explain that now. Anyone has heard an idea about it? You know, we'd be happy to talk about it. Okay, I think we have to just leave that one, right? I think we just trust God. He knows exactly what he's saying. There's nothing in the Bible that counters one another. Let's get through verse 14 here. Verse 14, in the same hour, okay, here it is. The witnesses are done. Their work is done. The sixth trumpet is gone. It's time for the seventh trump to sound. In the same hour, as they were resurrected, and they ascend to heaven, in the same timeframe, there was a great earthquake. God is about to move again, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake, 7,000 people were killed, and the rest were afraid. Oh, and they gave glory to the God of heaven.

Interesting. The second woe is passed. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. So let's pause there. I think we can finish chapter 11 next time and lead into the seventh trumpet. And maybe a little bit about the beast power as we move toward the seventh trumpet before the piece of trumpets.

But let me pause there, and let me just open it up for anything.

We've talked about a lot today. Do take some time to just think about it, and we'll all just pray. We'll wait for God to fill in some of the blanks that we might see and hear, and things we don't understand yet, but that's okay. We wait for God, and he will let us know in his time what he wants us to know as these things unfold.