Revealing RevelationSample

Two Witnesses and the Second Woe
Suddenly, two men will appear in Jerusalem. They will be a sight to behold:

“I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one-thousand two-hundred and sixty days, clothes in sackcloth” (Rev. 11:3).

Wearing sackcloth is an outward demonstration of great inner mourning or distress. The identities of these men is unknown. We see these men for two reasons: God always allows there to be a witness when Satan is running rampant throughout the world; these two witnesses have been anointed by God to declare the gospel message from Jerusalem to the world. Israel was created to be a “light to the Gentiles,” and these two witnesses will show up in the holy city to fulfill that role. The two witnesses will preach the gospel of repentance for those three-and-a-half years of the tribulation. There will be global hatred for these two men. No harm will come to the men until the Antichrist rides into town:

“When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them” (Rev. 11:7).

We don’t know what will actually happen, but we do that that these two men, who were fully dead for three-and-a-half days, will become alive again.

“Now after the 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 they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them (Rev. 11:11–12).

A devastating earthquake will follow that kills 7,000 people and wipe out 10 percent of the city of Jerusalem. Those who are left will recognize the divine origins of the witnesses and the earthquake and will give “glory to the God of heaven.” Sadly, it will be another three-and-a-half years before the Jewish people of the city will recognize their need for a Savior and turn to Him.

The Second Interlude
When the seventh trumpet sounds, another worship service will break out in heaven.

“The seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’ And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God saying: ‘We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned, the nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth’”(Rev. 11:15–18).