Amen. I'm thankful for grace, and I hope that you are as well here tonight. And it's so good to see you, and I appreciate you coming here this evening. If you have your Bible, I would love to invite you to join me in Revelation chapter number 10 tonight. Revelation chapter number 10 this evening.
And like we do every single week on Wednesday, we provide you an outline so that you can stay as engaged as possible. And so if you slipped in, forgot to grab an outline, or you need a timeline of kind of our framework for how we're viewing Revelation, if you could just flip up your hand high enough for Pastor Bailey to see it, long enough for him to recognize it, and so that he can get you one. You're not in trouble. You don't have to see us after class. And so, but we want you to stay engaged as much as possible.
And hopefully that outline will. We'll do that.
So tonight we're in Revelation chapter number 10, and we're going to get through half of Revelation chapter number 11. And we're going to kind of work, and I put those two together because. Revelation 10 and the first part of Revelation chapter 11 kind of tied together a little bit. And so we're going to try to get through that here this evening. But to kick us off, just because we always do that, to remind us, I want to show you our timeline just to give you an idea of where we are as we work through this together.
So after Christ's resurrection, he showed himself to many different people, the apostles and over 500 men, different things. He did that for about 40 days.
So there was a 40-day period after he resurrected, before he ascended back up into heaven when he was with the apostles and they watched him go up. At that point, he told them to wait. And so they went back. They waited until the day of Pentecost, until the Holy Spirit came and indwelt the believer for the very first time. And from that point over, we have been in the church age.
That's where we're at today. That's why I have it circled on our timeline because that's where we are today. And that is what Revelation chapters one through three are all about. That's the seven churches, and it's talking about the age in which we live in today, and there's similarities between different time periods in church history that you see in Revelation 1 through 3. In chapters 4 and 5, you kind of get a little bit of a heavenly picture of what's happening.
And during that, we take that to mean that that's the rapture, that's the caught up or the word snatched up, if you would, from the earth. That's when the church will be taken up to be with Christ. And he won't come all the way to earth, but he'll meet us in the air. And the dead in Christ will rise first, and then we which are alive and remain will be caught up. That's that word snatched.
That's where we get the word rapture. And so that's Revelation 4 and 5. And then in chapter 6, we come back down into what is happening on earth. And you see from chapters 6 through 18, we are looking at the events that are happening on earth during the seven-year tribulation. This is when God's wrath is really just poured out on the world, on creation, on humanity, for rejecting his free gift of salvation that he has offered to all who will believe.
And so we see in chapters 6 through 18 God's judgment. Is depicted in three specific ways, and they're on your notes tonight. The first one, we've already gone through these. The first way God's judgment is really just depicted is through seven seals. that are broken.
And so, in each one of those seals, they show something that is happening on the world during the tribulation period. And so, these seals are each broken throughout that, kind of showing us what is happening on the world. And then we see seven trumpets that will be blown. Last week we looked at the first six trumpets, and so we tonight we're kind of in between six and seven, and we'll explain that here in a moment. And then we will eventually get to seven vials or bowls that will be poured out.
So each one of these are just showing God's judgment. On the earth. And basically, here's the message: because I understand that it does seem very doom and gloom. It kind of seems like. Like, man, there's nothing positive here.
And I understand that, but what you have to understand is really it's this message that we have to learn: get right or get left. And that's really what we see here. But you still see God's mercy. And his grace at play during the tribulation period. We've already seen his mercy in the midst of chaos in chapter 7, which was before the sixth and seventh seals were broken.
We see God's mercy in which there was a revival amongst the Jewish people, the 144,000 that will be sealed. That is God's mercy in the midst of just crazy chaos happening in our world, as well as a Gentile revival that takes place. And that was happening between seals 6 and 7. And then tonight, as we come to chapter number 10. We really find another break.
in between the sixth and seventh trumpet. The last time we were together. The trumpets were blowing. These angels were blowing the trumpets pretty quickly, one after another. As in our study.
And then we come to chapter number 10, and there's a break or an interlude, in between the sixth and the seventh. Trumpet.
Now, remember in chapter 7 of Revelation, there was a break. In between the sixth. And the seventh seal being opened, and there was a break in between those. And here, between the sixth and seventh trumpet, there's this break that we have here in chapter number 10.
Now, it is important to note. That there's no break between the sixth and seventh bowl judgments. The vile judgments that are going to be poured out, there is no break. Here's why. In Revelation 16, when the last one is being poured out, Revelation 16:17, it says, as the final bowl is poured, it is done.
It is done. And we'll get there eventually, and you'll see the context in which that means. But there is no break in between that last sixth and seventh bowl judgment, like we see between the seals and between the trumpets. And so the first thing we're going to look at tonight. is the mighty angel And the little book.
The Mighty Angel and the Little Book. I will say this: it sounds like a children's book, doesn't it? Like a good title for it. And there's probably no book written about this, but we are going to see the mighty angel and the little book and what this means from chapter number 10.
So, what we're going to do is read verses 1 through 11, the entire chapter, and then I'll come back and give you some.
Some thoughts and commentary. And if you want to take more notes that aren't in blanks, there's space for you to do so because I'm going to put some things up on the screen, explain some things from chapter 10 that I think you might be interested in.
So here we go. And I saw. Another mighty angel come down from heaven. clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was that were as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. And he had in his hand a little book open, And he set his right foot upon the sea.
And his left foot on the earth. and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth, And when he had cried, seven thunders Uttered their voices. If you mark in your Bible, mark that. We're going to come back to that phrase. And when the seven thunders Had uttered their voices.
I was about to write. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea, and upon the earth. That's that mighty angel that was in verses one through three. Um And upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven.
And swear by him that liveth for ever. And ever Who created heaven and the things that therein are, and the earth and the things that therein are, and the sea and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer. Verse 7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished. as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
The voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go, and take the little book, which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it and eat it up. And it shall make thy belly bitter But it shall be in thy mouth, sweet As honey. Verse 10.
I took the little book out of the angel's hand. And I ate it up, and it was in my mouth, sweet as honey, and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. He said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples. And nations And tongues. Kings.
Father, we love you. And God, as we look to your word, there's so much to unpack just in this one chapter. And we're hoping to get into chapter 11 a little bit here this evening. God, I'm reminded that anytime we look to your word, the power is not in me. The power is not in my delivery.
The power is in the word that we hold tonight. And God, I'm asking that the Holy Spirit of God would take these words and that He would speak through me to communicate to the hearts of every person in here what we would need. Father, inspire us, encourage us, Father, and show us something that our hearts need this evening. God, I pray that you'd be glorified in this service this evening. For it's in your name we pray, and all God's people said.
Amen. And amen.
So, if you were reading in those verses and you're kind of like, oh my goodness, there's a whole lot here.
Well, you're right, there is. And we're going to slowly kind of unpack some as much as we can. I mean, truthfully, you can almost like take a sermon. For so many different things here. It can be its own thing.
And so I want to kind of slowly work with you through the thing.
So, if you're kind of a traditional note-taker, and I know the way that I preach, I am a Baptist preacher, so a lot of times there's points. In chapter 10, when we look at this mighty angel in the book, the little book, I don't really have a whole lot of points. And so, if you need to kind of take notes as we go about certain things, I'd encourage you to do so, and we can work through this together. I wanted to know at the very beginning of chapter 10.
So remember when we started this, the Apostle John is writing this. He's writing around AD 90 or AD 95, somewhere in that time period. And John is writing, he's exiled on the island of Patmos. He's not there on vacation. That's like Rome's prison camp, if you would.
And so they felt if we exiled people who preached the name of Jesus to this island, then they couldn't be used. And little did they know that we would all be reading the things that God was showing John on this island. And so this whole book is really the revelation of Jesus to him. It's not the revelation of John. It is the revelation of Christ and the revelation of things that are to come.
And throughout the book, you're going to see John really take in a bunch of different clusters of visions. This isn't just one vision from start to finish. This is like things are coming at him. Throughout it. It's constant.
And so you're going to see the phrase, I saw. throughout the entire book. In fact, the phrase I saw is mentioned 34. Times in the book.
So we take that to see that he is seeing these over 30 visions, if you would, and these different clusters as he goes. Up to chapter 10, he has said that phrase 13 different times.
So there's been 13 times he's seen something new, and as he's worked through this book. And as we come to chapter 10, from chapters 10 through 13, he doesn't say the phrase, I saw again. This is what most scholars believe to be the longest vision. that he receives in the entire book of Revelation. And so you see this, and it is longer than the other ones throughout.
But what he sees here is another mighty angel that has come down from heaven.
Now, the question that we have to ask ourselves is this: who is the mighty angel? And that's what we want to know. Who is this mighty angel that's come down from heaven? He's clothed with a cloud. He has a rainbow about his head.
And his face as it were the sun, and his feet Are pillars of fire. And in his hand, he had a little book, okay? And as he came down to earth, he set his right foot upon the sea. and his left foot upon the earth.
Okay. And the question has to be, who is this mighty, mighty angel? And I try to say this all the time. There's a lot of pictures here. And so there are some things that I'm going to share with you tonight that are, I cannot say definitively.
And so I am going to suggest that I'm going to suggest some things that people believe. And I'm going to even give you what I think. And I don't want you to be focused on what I think because I'm going to try to show you from scripture why I see it a certain way. But we can't definitively say on certain things. And this is one of those.
Who is this mighty angel?
Well, many, if you just pick up a book. A lot of people think this is Jesus. Because there's a lot of similarities here. Between this angel and Jesus. I do not hold to that view, and I'm going to explain why here in a moment.
But I also want to show you the similarities because it will lead me to share with you who I think this mighty angel could be. This angel that it mentions. Um it it says it is clothed with a cloud.
Well, in Revelation chapter 1, verse number 7. Jesus comes with clouds, and we know that when he comes, he comes in the clouds. And so there's a similarity there. There was a rainbow about the angel's head. And what we've already seen in our study in Revelation 4:3, it says that there was a rainbow around the throne of God.
So you see that. This angel's face was like the sun in Revelation 1:16. Jesus's countenance shined like the sun.
Okay, and then it said here that the angel, the mighty angel, his feet. We're like pillars of fire. And what we have seen in Revelation 1.15 is that Christ was Jesus was described as his feet like brass as if they had been burned through a furnace of fire.
So, you do see similarities, and I understand, honestly, when you read that, you are kind of like, okay, then, you know, they do have a case that this could be Jesus. And so, there's a lot of similarities between the mighty angel and Jesus. And so, I want to show you why, and like I said, this is just my take on it. I can't definitively say this, but here's why I don't. Think it's Jesus.
And here's just a few things before we move on. Jesus is always appearing to be Lord over the angels. In fact, in the book of Revelation, he's not described as an angel. And so he's lording over them, but also what you see here is the phrase, I saw another angel. And that Greek word, I've mentioned this already because we saw this same phrase, another angel in Revelation chapter 7.
It is a Greek word, anon, and here's what it literally means: it means of the same kind. And so if you take this in Greek. Which is where the New Testament was written in. If you go back to the original Greek, it's going to have this idea that this angel, this mighty angel that comes down from heaven during the tribulation period, is of the same kind of angels that we've already seen described. Even though he is separate, and he has clear authority here because his feet were on earth and sea, meaning he was given authority over the earth and the sea.
So he has a lot of authority, but he is of the same kind as the other angels, and Jesus would never be described. Just like the other angels.
Okay. And then the last reason why I just don't think that this is. As Jesus is because this angel comes down to earth during the tribulation period. And when we look at scripture, Christ, the way that I interpret it, is not other than coming in the clouds at the moment that the church is snatched up in the rapture, the next time that Jesus is going to come down to earth is after the tribulation period is over in Revelation chapter number 19 at the second coming of Christ. And so I don't think that this could be Jesus, but I wanted to explain to you that if you just pick up a book or a commentary, you might get a different perspective on that.
So if it's not Jesus, who is the mighty angel? Who do we think that this is? It's clearly Christ's representative. It's clearly an angel with a lot of authority. It is an angel that resembles Christ and has some similarities to Christ.
And so, who could it be? My best guess, and this is just what I'm going to tell you, and you can take this or throw it out, whatever. My best guess is that this is Michael. The Archangel. And And the reason why I'll explain why I think, and there's a lot of people that believe this too, and I would lean in their direction on this, is because.
My call In Hebrew means Who is like God? And in the book of Jude. That's the only time he's called the archangel. And in the book of Jude, we see that he's given authority over the other angels. And so when you see him come, this mighty angel, come to earth and he has, you know, his foot on the sea and his foot on the earth, he was given a lot of authority.
And so that's why a lot of people lean in and say this must be Jesus. No, Michael the archangel was given authority. And we see that even in the book of Jude. And so, and his name means who is like God, which I think kind of solves the debate about what do you say about the similarities between Christ and him. And so my best guess is that it is Michael the archangel.
But this angel. It says here came and he had his foot on the earth and his foot on the sea, meaning he had authority. And he cries with a loud voice, as like a lion roars. And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
Now Here's what that literally is representing, if you would. That's representing the voice of our God from heaven.
So these seven thunders uttered their voices.
So, as he is crying with a loud voice, these seven thunders are. are uttering.
So you gotta think like what is that gonna be like? And It's really representing the voice of God, and here's why. In Psalm 18, 13, the scripture says, The Lord also thundered in the heavens. And the highest gave his voice hailstones and coals of fire. In Job thirty seven, verse five, it says that God thundereth.
Marvelously with his voice. And so God's voice is oftentimes Same. or described. as a thunder. As a thunder.
And here, when this mighty angel comes, there's seven thunders that are uttering. And and many Would kind of take it because if you in Psalm 29, I'll read this for you. In Psalm 29, you get, in Psalm 29, 3, it says that the God of glory thundereth. And then David, the psalmist, goes on after that in verses 3 through 9 of Psalm 29 to mention seven days. Different Voices about God.
Listen to what he says in Psalm 29, verse 3. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of glory thundereth. The Lord is upon many waters. Then he goes on to talk about the voice of God six more times. He says: the voice of the Lord is powerful.
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars. Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion, like a young unicorn. The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness. The Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calf and discovereth the forest. And in the temple doth everyone speak of his glory. And so you see, the psalmist David mentions seven times the voice of God, but this is God's voice thundering from heaven as this mighty angel.
Is on earth about to inflict this next wave of judgment that's gonna come. And what's interesting is in verse 4, when the seven thunders, the voice of God, had uttered their voices. John was watching this and he was about to write. You can almost see him, you know, okay, here he goes. He's about to write.
And in verse 4, he heard a voice from heaven saying to him: hey, seal up those things. which the seven thunders just uttered, and write them not. It's almost as if, as he begins to write, it's almost like. God said from heaven, hey, what you just heard from the thunder from heaven, don't write yet. We're not there yet.
And so he tells him to stop and not write them down. Yet many believe that these seven thunders are the bowls that are about to be poured out. We don't really know, but many believe that that could be what he was hearing and he was going to start, and it wasn't that time yet. But in verses five through seven. Um You see the mighty angel lift his hand to heaven.
Uh he takes an oath in God's name. In verse number six, he swear by him that liveth forever and ever. This is the only oath taken in the book of Revelation. And the angel is saying that God's mystery. which is his plan for the ages, his redemptive plan.
That the prophets, the Old Testament prophets have warned Israel about is about to be unfolded. There's no turning back. We are getting closer to the final. Judgment of God. And it is It is coming.
That's what he says at the end of verse number six, that there should be time no longer. And that verse 7, the mystery of God should be finished. And then in verse number eight. The voice which he heard from heaven, God, tells him or instructs him to take this little book that this mighty angel was holding. To take it out of the angel's hand.
And so he, in verse 9, he goes to the mighty angel and he says, Give me the book. And the angel gives it to him and does something really interesting. He says, take the book. And eat it. And eat it.
Which is just odd if you think about it. And he says that the book. is going to be sweet like honey. But it's also going to be bitter to your belly. And there is like, what exactly does that mean?
How can it be bitter? How can it be sweet at the same time? But if you think about it, we all use the terminology, this is bittersweet. from time to time. Think about it, you know, when you are you know a loved one God calls them somewhere else, and we say goodbye to them, right?
You say this is bittersweet. They're following God's call. That's the sweet part. The bitter part is they're leaving a void behind. Or perhaps, like when you're coming back from vacation, if you're like me, the sweet part is you're ready to get back to a routine.
The bitter part is you are leaving vacation behind. Or one that we can all agree with on the night of VBS. Right? On the final night of VBS, we can all say this is bitter, sweet. The bitter part is we see souls saved every year at VBS, and we get to serve together.
The sweet part is our bodies cannot take it any longer.
Okay. And so we say this phrase, bittersweet, all the time. And that's the picture that you get here about this book that he is told to eat. That it's going to be bitter in his belly, but it's going to taste sweet. Sweet like honey.
And why is that? It's because the bitter part is the judgment of God. And the sweet part is the redemption. of God. When we pray, and if you're a believer, you should feel this bittersweetness.
When we pray, even so come, Lord Jesus. That's a sweet prayer, isn't it? But it's also bitter. And here's why. is because if Christ was to come back tonight, There's probably people in your life.
We mentioned them tonight.
Some people that are going through difficult times, and we don't know that they know him. And here's the bitter part: they're going to have to endure what we're studying. And so, this book that John is consuming. Here, it is bitter in a sense of these judgments are terrible. And these judgments are awful and many people are going to die.
But it's also sweet because we are one step closer to God's final plan where he will have a new heaven and a new earth and all wrong will be made right forever and we will live with him forevermore. That's the sweet part. So the lesson is really quick. By the way, Ezekiel 31, we won't read the verses, but in Ezekiel chapter, not 31, Ezekiel chapter 3, in verses 1 through 4, you see this exact same picture. That he is told to really eat God's word.
There and then his response in Ezekiel the prophet was as he ate it, his response was to go and share it with the nation of Israel, to share what God had given him or given him. And so the idea here is we need to let the word get into us. The application is this, and it's very clear, and I think I have this on your notes: it's this for you tonight. Feed on, here's what God's telling us: is we need to feed on His Word.
so that all of us can become a dispenser of it. That's the message here. Because what he was telling the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter three was, hey, in jest, take in the word of God and let it get so deep inside of you. That you become a dispenser of it. In Ezekiel's case, that was the nation of Israel.
For the Apostle John here's the case, he was supposed to dispense it and write it down for all of us and for the entire world to be able to hear this. And for you. The messages for every single one of us as followers of Jesus is: we must, the message is to eat the word, to let it get into us. That's why we tell our church to love the Bible. To get in the Bible every single day.
It's not because we have nothing else better to tell you to do and we got to keep ourselves busy.
So let's have a Bible reading plan for the church. That'll be fun. No, what it is, is we really believe that if the Word of God gets into your heart, you then can take the Word and you can become a dispenser of it to your families, to your children, to your grandchildren, to the people in your community, your neighbors. And the people that you work with. That's the idea of what John is getting here: John, take this in, and as you receive it, it's going to be bittersweet.
And by the way, when you take in the Word of God, you should feel the same tension that John is feeling here.
Some of it is sweet. But there's some parts of this book that are Better bitter. And here's what I'll tell you about that is this. The word of God, when you take it in, because this is what's wrong with our culture, by the way. Is that they only want pockets of the Word of God?
They treat the word like it's a buffet. Like they can, you know, read this verse and say, I really like that, so we'll put it on my plate, and then I really don't like that. And so we're going to skip over the next few things, right? And we're going to finally get to something we like. And what we do is we treat the word like a buffet where we can just say, hey, I like this, so I'll take it in.
I don't like that, I'll throw it out and stuff like that. Let me tell you this. Is that the word is not a buffet? The word is true. It is absolute truth.
And as you read it and you come to something that you disagree with, or something that doesn't align with the culture that we live in, let me tell you this: your feelings can't define your absolute truth. The word of God is true. And when you come to a part of scripture that doesn't agree with your ideology or doesn't agree with what you see on the news or doesn't agree with something that culture has allowed and accepted, let me tell you this. That might be bitter to you, but... This is still true.
And that's what we have to learn. And that's the message. Message here: feed on my word so that we all as Christians can become a dispenser of it. Which leads us into chapter number 11. In chapter number 11.
We see, you're still with me. Can you say amen tonight? In chapter number 11, you see the two witnesses. Which is the next thing we're going to look at.
So I would like to read, if we can, verses 1 through 14. And we'll try to dissect this together. There'll be a little bit more points to this one than we saw in chapter 10, so that you can follow along. Verse number one. Yeah.
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod. And the angel stood, saying, Rise. and measured the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out. and measure it not For it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
And I will give power unto my two witnesses. And they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days. clothed in sackcloth, These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, Fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies. If any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Verse 6: These have power to shut heaven. That it rain not in the days of their prophecy, and have power over waters to turn them to blood. and to smite the earth with all plagues. as often as they will. When they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit.
shall make war against them. and shall overcome them and kill them. and their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom in Egypt. where also our Lord was crucified, And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see shall see Their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
Verse 11. And after three days and a half, the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake.
And the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand. And the remnants were affrightened and gave glory to the God. of heaven. Verse 14. The second woe is past.
And behold, the third woe. Thomas. Quickly. And so we see these two witnesses here in chapter number 11. And I want to show you a couple things before we dive into really about who they are and things like that.
And we'll get to that here in a moment. But in verse number one, John is instructed to measure. He's given this reed, like a rod, and he was told to measure the temple.
Now, this is just more for us to remember that one day the temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem.
So, what's interesting is at this point, this is around AD 90-something, and the temple had been destroyed for 20%. 20 years at that point when he's writing this, because it was destroyed in AD 70. And so, and it hasn't been rebuilt. There's a Muslim mosque up there and that kind of thing now, but it hasn't been rebuilt. And so, what you have here is God telling him to measure the temple, which gives us hope that the temple is going to be.
Rebuild. And Um you know, not to get into a lot of this, but In Daniel 9, verse 27, I think it's 27, but really Daniel 9 in general, talks about the Antichrist. And so, one thing about the Antichrist, which we're going to get into some of that over the next several weeks, but the Antichrist is going to come onto the scene at the beginning of the tribulation period, and he is going to just be. The guy that I mean he's gonna be super persuasive. Many are going to want to follow him.
He's going to want peace, and his message is going to be very clear and very exciting. And many people are going to be deceived by him. But somewhere along the way, at that middle point, I believe, of the tribulation period. Is that the Antichrist is going to break some of the peace that he had started out with? And during this, he is going to demand, and Daniel 9, you see that as well as in the New Testament.
You see this in 1 Thessalonians, I believe. And so we looked at it a few weeks ago, and we looked briefly at the Antichrist. And you're going to see that he is going to. then break some of that piece and he's going to move himself into the temple. And he's going to demand to be worshipped.
And many Jews and people are going to recognize. that they had been deceived by this political leader that they had followed. for some time. But the temple's going to be Rebuilt.
Now, I've never been over to. How many of you have ever been like over to Israel?
Okay, several of you. I've not had a chance to go. I hope to go because I want to be able to see all of this that I've been studying, you know. But as you read about this, and many of you might can testify and really speak to this a little bit more, but back in, I think it was 1967, the war that happened over there since that time the Muslims operate from an administrative standpoint the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. And so since that point, they operate.
And in fact, there is a small group of devout Jews. That once a year gather, I think in the month of August, they gather and it's a small group, but they march up there. They have to do it very symbolically to the Temple Mount because if they came up there, you know, religiously, and obviously the Muslims know that that's probably what they're doing, but they have to come up symbolically and not do anything because the Muslims would never let them up there because they go up there in hopes that the temple would be rebuilt. And so, but they operate this, and they don't want because they don't believe. in the Messiah, these Muslims that kind of oversee the Temple Mount, they don't believe in the Messiah.
And so if you were to go over there and try to rebuild the Temple, then they're going to obviously have an issue with that. But one thing that's interesting is that one day, and I think the reason is, is this Antichrist is going to come on the scene and all the hostility between the Muslims there And the Jewish people, this Antichrist, who I believe is going to be Jewish, is going to come. onto the scene and he's going to figure out a way to get them to work together. And the temple's going to be rebuilt. And so there's no signs of that in terms of like the Muslims being willing to give on the Temple Mount anytime soon.
And so, but someday it is going to be rebuilt. And here's what I'll tell you: it's going to be happening during the tribulation period.
So we don't have to think long and hard about it because we're going to be up in heaven at that point and we don't have to worry about it. But I'm trying to explain that that's some of the things that are going to happen. But what it says here. Is that you see that this temple is going to be rebuilt, and the Gentiles are going to trample the temple and trample Jerusalem for these 42 months. And then he's going to give power unto his two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Um And we're going to see just some things.
So let's look at the two witnesses for a little bit and we'll kind of dissect this together. We've got about 20 minutes, and so we'll work through this together and then I'll have you out of here. I want to kind of break down some stuff about the witnesses. And then we'll get into who they are a little bit. But first, let's look at this: the witness's location.
So the witness's location is obviously Jerusalem. There is no debate about that for two reasons. Revelation chapter 11, verse 1 talks about the rebuilding of the temple, which is in Jerusalem. And then in verse number 8, it's referenced that this is the place where Christ was crucified.
So, there's no question about where this is going to take place. The witnesses will show up. and do their work there in Jerusalem. In verse number three, we see the witnesses' commission. The witnesses commission.
And what we see that they are commissioned to do is to preach. a message of repentance. To preach a message of repentance. You see that in verse number three, because as they preached, they were clothed in sackcloth.
Now, we've looked at sackcloth in our study of scripture.
So, if you've been in our midweek Bible study for a while, you would remember some things because we looked at it, like Nehemiah, we looked at it. There was a time or two in the minor prophets that we looked at this idea of sackcloth.
So, it's like, what is sackcloth? It was really this. Burlap burlap type of Itchy. What I always think about is: you remember the sack races, you know, and that kind of thing that you put on? And those things are so uncomfortable and different things like that.
I kind of picture something like that, if you would, but it was super uncomfortable. And the reason why is anytime in the Old Testament where the Jewish people were turning to God, they would always put on this sackcloth, this burlap, itchy garment. That was so uncomfortable. You say, why would they do that? It's because they were showing God that the sin that they had already committed and the sin that they had just committed.
is so uncomfortable. It's not what we are supposed to do. And so sackcloth was always a sign of repentance and always a sign of mourning and grief over the sin that they had committed. Every single time. You see it every time people turn to God in the Old Testament.
And so, what you see from the witnesses is this: that they had sackcloth on, they went around. Preaching this message of repentance. And here's what I want you to do, and I hope that you're noticing this. Because this is so much like... Ammunition, if you would.
to anybody that has a question about How could a loving God allow judgment? Even in the midst of judgment, he's sending special witnesses going around preaching the message of grace and the message of repentance and mercy. You see it. We've already seen it by the 144,000 in chapter 7 that are going to be sealed from the 12 tribes of Israel. And then you saw it from the Gentile multitude that's going to turn to him.
That even in the midst of judgment, people are turning to him. Remember that if you're saved now and Christ was to come back in the clouds and you would be caught up. You'd be snatched up because you know Christ as Savior. And I grew up thinking, like, if you're not caught up in the rapture, there is no hope for you. You know, it's over, you know, and there's just no hope at that point.
But let me tell you this: for me, I want to make sure I'm on the first flight out of here, which is the rapture. But if there's people that you don't know, they still have hope because God's mercy is still at play in our world. There's still going to be opportunities for them to turn to him, but what we saw last week in Revelation chapter 9 at the end of all these terrible. terrible trumpets that are going to be blown and God's judgment is going to come. Still people's hearts.
are still not going to want to turn to God and they're still not going to want to repent. And we saw that even last week as So much of the population has died. And still, people are still hard in what they want to do, and they refuse to turn. refused to bully. in what Christ has offered.
them. And these two witnesses are going to preach this message of of repentance. Which brings us to the next thing, the witness's duration. You see here that the witnesses are going to prophesy 1,203 score days.
So that's 1260 days. Um if you're following a Um The ancient Babylonian calendar, that would be 360 days a year, which leads us to right at three and a half years.
So, in other words, the idea here is that they're going to be prophesying during this three and a half years, the Great Tribulation. Uh if you would for 1260 days. Um the witnesses protection. You see in verse 5. You see their protection, which is fire from their mouths.
It says here in verse 5: if any man will hurt them. Fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their They're enemies. Um what a gift that would be. Right. Got somebody who doesn't like you.
You know, you're in traffic. You just roll down your window and blow some fire at them, right? But the witnesses, they have protection from God here, and God has given them this power because what you have to understand is that. Um There's going to be so many people deceived by the Antichrist during this time period that the world, you think it's anti-God now? It's gonna be even worse.
And so what you see is that the world is anti-God, that God gave them protection so that for these three and a half years they will be able to be protected through this. Divine power that God has given them, this fire out of their mouth, which brings us to this: the witnesses' identification. Like, who are they? There's a lot of speculation, and I will tell you, this is one of those things as well. That I'm just going to give you my take on it a little bit tonight as we close.
One of the hardest things I want you to know as a preacher, and I'm sure Pastor Fletcher can testify to this: when you go through a book like this, this is why a lot of preachers don't preach through Revelation. is because there's a lot of Um what I have to feel like I have to continue to tell you I can't definitively say this. This is just my take.
So I think a lot of preachers just say, I'm going to avoid revelation altogether. But I think it's very practical for us, and I think we have to study this. And it's bittersweet. Right. As we go through this.
And I think it's helpful. And so tonight, when I see this, there's good people that land on all these different fences. And you might even be like, I see this a little bit differently, and that's okay. We can agree to disagree a little bit on this, but I'll kind of mention who I think here in just a moment. But if you do some study, here's some options for you, and you might follow these.
Some people believe. That This is, or I'll say this, in Zachariah 11. Um Joshua. And Zara Bubble Bubble, what's his name? I can never say this name.
I tried it in my study, and one thing, it always just comes out southern, and I can never say it right. But what you can find is that they were called. They were called olive branches or olive trees. and candlesticks, which is the description of these two witnesses here.
So, there is a group of people that believe that this is Joshua and Zerubbabel, or whatever his name is, okay? And so, you can kind of see that that is a possibility. And there's a lot of good people that believe that. Another possibility could be Elijah. An Enoch.
The reason is, is because if you remember in the Old Testament, both were taken up to be with our Lord and they never physically died. And so you have them. And I will tell you this: those are probably two of, I'm going to give you who I think here in just a second. And it's already up there for you.
So there's a spoiler. There's a spoiler for you. I think that there's a good chance this could be Elijah and Moses. But truthfully, most of the people that I at least read or listen from fall into one of those three camps.
Some people even go as far to say that these two witnesses represent all of the saints. And so, and I do think that they represent the saints. I just think that there's two of them, and it's good and fun to kind of speculate on who we think that they are. Um And just a couple of reasons why I think Elijah and Moses are a possibility. In Malachi chapter 4.
At the very end of the Old Testament, the final prophet in Malachi chapter 4, verses 4 through 6, you see this. It says, remember ye the law of Moses my servant. which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet. before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. And then you see also in Matthew 17. Um in verses one through eight You see this, and I'll read it for you. And after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John, his brother, and bringeth them up into the high mountain apart, and was transfigured. You remember this story, the transfiguration?
And before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with them. Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If thou wilt let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. By the way, Peter, they had been dead.
Moses and Elijah had been dead for a very long time. And here in this moment, Peter, who had been walking with Jesus, these other two guys just appear, and to our knowledge from the story, Peter wasn't told who they were, he recognized them. And I There is a hope, and I want you to understand this: that I think that this is a proof text that I think when you get to heaven, you're going to recognize your loved ones. Peter, you know, these guys have been dead for a long time. Peter recognized him and he immediately said, Can we build an altar?
You say, Why would he ask that? I think in this day, he was thinking, I want to savor this moment. I want to preserve this moment as long as I can. For us in 2025, here's what it looks like. When you have a special moment, you're immediately like, Oh, snap the photo, right?
I want to preserve this moment. And back in this day, Peter, he must have left his phone at home at the time. And so he didn't have another way to preserve the moment. And so he immediately said, Hey, can we build tabernacles for Moses and for you, Lord, and for Elijah? And while he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them.
And behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Very familiar, right? When Christ was baptized, hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise.
Be not Be not afraid. And so you see this moment here that I think there's a good chance that this could be them. Another reason that I would tell you without going into the stories, but if you look in the Old Testament, Um they both had Towers. Similar to kind of what you see here. Like if you remember.
Um Elijah called down fire from heaven. What was that? 1 Kings 18 or something. Elijah called down fire from heaven when he was on Mount Carmel going against the prophets of Baal. And what you can see here is some of the similar power that they have here.
And Moses had a rod that could instill plagues. Remember that? You know, when they came out of Egypt, he could take his rod and add things. And you see in these verses, Especially at verse 6, look at this. These two witnesses have power to shut heaven, that it rained not in the days of their prophecy.
Sound like Elijah a little bit. Have power over waters to turn them to blood.
Sounds a little bit like possibly Moses. And we don't know, but and I'm not going to ever come across arrogant. And so, if you have a different view on that, that's okay. And so, but what I'm telling you is, I think scripture would support that view as close as any other view. And so, that's who I think they are.
Let me run through because we're out of time. The next thing to witness is assassination. Verses 7 through 12 of chapter 11. Their bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem for three and a half days while people celebrate their death. These two witnesses that come onto the scene during the most turmoil you've ever, if you think our world is bad now.
You need to go back and restudy what we already looked at in the seals, what we've looked at in the six judgments so far. And we're about to get to the vials, which is even worse. Half the population's been wiped away. You think things are bad now? You haven't seen anything like it.
And here God, in the midst of just turmoil, sends two witnesses to just go around preaching a message of grace, a message of mercy, telling people to repent. And turn to him. Because the time is near. The mystery is about to be unfolded and God's plan. It's going to be too late eventually.
So repent now. And even then, These two witnesses are are going to be killed. And their bodies are going to lay in the streets for three and a half days. And it says here, verse number. Mm.
Yeah. Verse number 10, that The people? are going to celebrate this. If you think the world's anti-godnail, you ain't seen nothing like that. That.
When they're going to celebrate the act of repentance, the act with a message of mercy and grace, and they're throwing parties and different things like that, that people are going to hate God so much that only in the killing of his two servants will they rejoice. Says that they rejoice. And by the way, that's the only time in the book of Revelation that it mentions someone rejoicing. And we see worship in heaven, but this is the only time it mentions that somebody rejoiced. And it's about the killing of the two witnesses preaching a message of repentance.
sentence.
So then we see lastly the witness's contribution. Verse 13, you see that um And by the way, I didn't even mention the Greatest part is that God through the Spirit is going to raise them up. It just reminds us that he has the final word. He always says the final word. And God can do what he will.
And so even in this, God's going to raise them up. And it says that the entire world will look at them. And I love this, that in this moment that they had just killed them and they're partying. They're partying. The two witnesses have been killed, and all these anti-God people are partying, throwing parties, giving gifts to everybody.
And then, in the midst of that, after three and a half days of these two men laying in the streets, they're all of a sudden going to start sitting up. And then, God, a voice from heaven, is just going to say, Hey. Come up hither, your work has been done. Come with me. And they're going to go up, and all these people are going to watch that.
And still, in that moment, they're still going to reject him. Brings to the last point: the witnesses' contribution, verse 13. What you're going to see is because of what the witnesses were preaching. There are going to be survivors. that will become believers in Jesus.
And they're going to, in verse 13, they're going to give God the glory.
So, many are going to get saved as a result of that. And here's what we learned. As we kind of close tonight out, I hope you're staying with me. Judgments are. Hard, they're bitter.
Just like the book John was told to eat. It's bitter. But as we look to this. I'll tell you this. It's still sweet.
It's still sweet like honey. The word that we're studying is still sweet like honey because. There is no greater time than the present to repent. The Returning King. Is coming soon.
And here's what I'll tell you. It could be, what's that song? It could be. Today, maybe soon, or something like that. Coming, what I don't know.
I butchered that one, okay, and stuff. But here's what I'll tell you. He is Coming.
Okay, and he's coming soon. It could be tonight. And so, if you haven't repented and turned to him, tonight would be the best night for you to do that because there's no better time than the present. And that's the sweetness. Because listen, when he comes, yeah, it's going to be bitter because we all have loved ones.
that don't know him that are gonna have to go through this time period. But here's what I'll tell you. We get to forever be with him. Forever. sweet.
