The Hand of God in Prophecy
By Glenn Davies & Clay Willis
Part VII: The Future of the Jews & Israelites
The First Clue
One major clue to the future of
the Jews as well as the future of the Stone Kingdom (the House of Israel) has seemingly
been hidden from all who’ve studied the book of Revelation.
That clue is their almost
complete absence from that book!
The word “Jews” only appears
twice in the whole book of Revelation and both of those mentions are contained
within the letters to the seven churches recorded in chapters 2 and 3. The words Israel and Israelites appear only
three times – in Revelation 2:14; 7:4 and 21:12 and the references to Jews and
Israelites are made only in passing – of little importance other than in chapter
7 where a “seal” is placed on the foreheads of “the servants of God”.
The listing in chapter 7 – an
allegory, no doubt – of 12,000 from each of twelve tribes to be sealed is
within itself rather inexplicable as it lists the tribe of Joseph instead of
Ephraim and leaves out the tribe of Dan altogether in the list.
We do not know what that means
or if it is significant.
Yet even in allegory, it makes
clear that “the servants of God” will be made up of the house of Judah (Judah,
Benjamin and Levi – Jews) as well as the House of Israel, the other tribes and
that they are a part of a great multitude of the people of God [Revelation
7:9-17].
Once this clue is discerned, it
becomes obvious that the disasters that God will bring upon this world will be
focused upon those who are not Israelites
or Jews.
The Second
Clue
There is no doubt that those
who conform to Judaism today do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, nor do
they believe that He will return to establish His kingdom, as is foretold
throughout the book of Revelation as well as the rest of the New Testament
scriptures, which those same Jews reject as scripture – the word of God. If they’re going to be “sealed” as “the
servants of God” and be counted with the other Israelites and multitudes who
are God’s people, what must happen to bring that reunification?
That clue is recorded only in
the book of Matthew and because of its proximity to the Olivet Prophecy, this
clue too has been overlooked by most everyone expounding on prophecy for our
future.
After a long diatribe against
the religious leaders of the Jews in His day, Jesus told them of the coming
destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem and that the destruction would come
upon that very generation [Matthew 23:1-36].
Then He said:
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and
stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children
together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not
willing.
Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell
you, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord.' "NIV Matthew 23:37-39
The “house” to which Jesus
refers is the House of Judah, signified by the designation “Jerusalem”, the
capital of the kingdom of Judah.
It’s quite obvious that most of
the Jews who have rejected Jesus from that time to present have never said,
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” They do not believe that Jesus was or is kurios, their
“lord and master” – the meaning of that Greek word translated as “Lord”.
In order for practicing Jews,
or agnostic Jews, or Reform Jews or Hasidic Jews to be included among God’s
people at the time of the return of Jesus to establish His kingdom, they’re
going to have to have a change of heart.
We know that many Jews in the
time of Jesus did accept Him and the New Testament scriptures are full of
references to the salvation of the Jews.
Jesus was speaking to a
gentile, a woman of Samaria when He made this statement:
Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming
when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You
Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for
salvation is from the Jews.
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind
of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship
in spirit and in truth." NIV John 4:21-24
The apostle Paul writing to the
church in Rome said:
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of
God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for
the Gentile. NIV Romans 1:16
The Christian religion initially came from a “breakaway sect” [Acts 24:5-6] from the mainstream Jewish religion of Jesus' day. This mainstream religion was the society that God set up as recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in preparation for the birth of Jesus. In combination with Christianity, today it is referred to as Judeo-Christian.
The Bible never ceases to mention Israel and/or the Jews and their fate and/or history throughout all its pages except for the book of Revelation!
If the book of Revelation does contain prophecy of what was
to come from the apostle John's time to ours and beyond, then why is
this important book strangely
silent on the
fate of either the Jews or the modern descendents of
the ancient Israelites of today – the English speaking peoples of The British
Commonwealth, America and Canada etc?
In our many years of reading, studying and intensive search and research for the truth in the Bible, in religious and other literature and on the Internet, we have never, ever heard or read where anyone – be they priest, minister or pastor of any Christian religious persuasion of any Christian religious denomination – made any comment or observation of any kind as to why this lack in the book of Revelation of any mention of the fate of God's chosen people.
Why has nobody ever noticed this discrepancy? What does it mean? Are the English speaking peoples and the Jews to cease to exist except for the 144,000 from all the twelve tribes of Israel mentioned in Revelation 7:1-8?
If the Book of Revelation is indeed a prophetic book on the world's final days before the coming of Jesus to establish His kingdom occurs, what happens to the Jews and all the millions of English speaking peoples throughout the world that God has taken such a painstaking and detailed interest in for thousands of years?
We have amply demonstrated the hand of God in shaping the history and culture of the world that came in contact with the Israelites over a period covering nearly 3,000 years. Has God ceased to guide the future of His people?
They were not chosen for any particular merit or special qualities that they themselves possess but because they were the children of Abraham who was one of the few (or perhaps the only person) of his day that hadn't gone over to pagan worship. He may have been the only one that would listen to God, believe what God said and – even more importantly – do what God said.
Whatever the reason, it seems obvious that the “Hand of God” has been on Abraham’s descendents throughout their generations.
We ask again: Has God ceased to guide the future of His people?
The Third Clue –
Paul’s Prophecy for the Jews
The apostle Paul seems to have said quite a number of disparaging things concerning the Jews. However, as in the scripture noted above [NIV Romans 1:16], he also noted their historical role as the preserver of God’s laws and the source of the salvation of all mankind. Jesus was a Jew – something we should never forget – and is, of course the source of our salvation.
Paul taught that the Jew’s rejection of our Savior and their fall from grace were necessary stepping-stones to the Gentile nations finding salvation but that their necessary spiritual blindness would eventually be lifted by God.
Paul wrote concerning the Jews:
I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite
myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not
reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says
in the passage about Elijah--how he appealed to God against Israel:
"Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am
the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"? And what was God's
answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not
bowed the knee to Baal."
So too, at the present time there is a remnant
chosen by grace.
What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the
elect did. The others were hardened, as it is
written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not
see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day." NIV
Romans 11:1-5; 7-8
The blindness of the Jews of Paul’s time and ours, as well as the blindness of modern day Israelites [Great Britain, US, Canada, Australia et al] is not a new thing. In verse 8 above, Paul is quoting Moses speaking to all the Israelites:
But to this day the LORD has not given you a mind that
understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. NIV Deuteronomy 29:4
Paul says that the new followers of Christ – those Jews who were called to be followers of Christ at that time – were “chosen by grace”, but the rest of the Jews remained blind to that “very day”, as they have and still are right up to our time.
Could there also be a reason for modern Christianity’s lack of prophetic awareness akin to this blindness of the Jews? Why does God portray modern Christianity as essentially blind too?
Continuing in Romans, Paul quoted from the Old Testament:
And David says: "May their table become a snare and a
trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened
so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever." NIV Romans 11:9-10
Here’s the quote in context from the Old Testament:
Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy,
but there was none, for comforters, but I found none. They put gall in my food
and gave me vinegar for my thirst.
May the table set before them become a snare; may it become retribution
and a trap. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their
backs be bent forever. Pour out your wrath on them; let your fierce
anger overtake them. May their place be deserted; let there be no one to
dwell in their tents. For they persecute those you wound and talk about the
pain of those you hurt. NIV Psalms 69:20-26
David was not only picturing the crucifixion of Christ but also announcing the 67-70 AD destruction of Jerusalem and the Jews as a nation. It’s interesting that the apostle Paul should quote this particular part of Psalm 69 because we tend to think of David as a king rather than prophet but clearly he was both. Considered in context, David was actually referring to Christ and the Jews of Jesus’ day several hundred years into David’s future. The last two verses of Psalm 69 agree with Paul’s assessment of the ultimate fate of the Jews and why they had to fall. David apparently knew, as did Paul, that the Jews are to be ultimately saved.
Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them, for God will save Zion and rebuild
the cities of Judah. Then people will settle there and possess it; the children
of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell there.
NIV Psalms 69:34-36
Paul gives greater detail of the reasons for the Jews’ blindness:
But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss
means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness
bring! For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will
their acceptance be but life from the dead?
If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits
is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the
branches. If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild
olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the
nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you
do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be
grafted in."
Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief,
and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did
not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those
who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness.
Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And
if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to
graft them in again. NIV Romans 11:12; 15; 16-23
Paul cautioned the gentiles not to be “arrogant” because they that had faith were “grafted” into the “tree of life” while the Jews were “broken off”” that tree because of unbelief. He also stated that if the Jews can overcome that “unbelief”, they can be returned to their previous state with God.
And then he wrote:
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you
may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the
full number of the Gentiles has come in.
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come
from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is [“will be” – literal
translation] my covenant with them when I take away their sins."
As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but
as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs,
for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. NIV Romans 11:25-29
Paul could have used the name “Judah” (the Jews) in verse 26; instead he uses the name “Jacob” and this is quite significant. He makes it clear that the New Covenant has to do with taking away the sins of all Israel not just the Jews.
Are the Jews currently “under” the New Covenant or agreement with God? According to the scriptures, that time is yet to come for the Jews so the answer to that question has to be in the negative.
Have the Jews acknowledged Jesus as their savior in our day? Again, negative.
Has Jesus taken away their sins yet? That is not possible since they don’t acknowledge the one (Jesus) who will take away their sins.
An even bigger question is, “has God taken away the sins of the rest of Israel yet?”
Jesus’ death on the stake provides for the forgiveness of the sins of all
mankind and yet no one’s sins are forgiven (taken away) until they repent of
those sins and ask forgiveness.
As we can surely see, those two verses [26 & 27] are “prophetic” in more ways than one, aren’t they?
Clearly, the Jews of today as a whole do not acknowledge
their savior as yet. Just as clearly, they
are going to do so, but when and how? What will trigger that
acknowledgement – if not Christianity?
Jesus said that He will not set foot in Jerusalem till the Jews
acknowledge Him directly or at least through messengers sent in His name.
"For I tell you, you will not see me again until you
say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" NIV Matthew 23:39
Modern Christianity is not directing very much of its teaching and preaching to the Jews per se, and probably most Christians don’t even give it much thought one way or the other. We think most consider the Jews’ conversion a lost cause.
Nevertheless, the Bible is clear in stating that God considers the conversion of the Jews as very important, if not of primary importance.
There is an element of prophecy contained in the rest of Paul’s discourse to those Gentiles he was addressing and therefore a doubly legitimate use of symbolic language.
I’ll reprint part of that prophecy for easy reference:
And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be
grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. NIV Romans 11:23
Paul says the Jews are some of the natural
branches [Romans 11:24] and the gentiles are also branches – but wild
ones [Verse 17]. The only way the
gentiles can receive salvation is to be grafted into the olive tree – with
the olive tree representing God’s true vine (Jesus) and branches (all those who
are “in Christ” – the practitioners of God’s true religion.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every
branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to
you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by
itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you
remain in me.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains
in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from
me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown
away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it
will be given you." NIV John
15:1-7
Did Paul know what he was talking about? Is Paul to be believed in making clear statements that “all Israel will be saved” and that “God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable”?
We know that today’s Jews and most of today’s Israelites remain blind to God’s truth. Jesus makes it clear that those “olive branches” that do not produce fruit are cut off from the true vine.
Yet, Paul’s prophecy makes it clear that if their
blindness is lifted and they believe again, they will be grafted back in to the
vine.
To understand the symbolism of the olive trees and branches – the meaning of the gentiles being “wild olive branches” needing to be grafted into the “cultivated tree” (which Paul says is contrary to nature), we need to know how the olive tree is grown and to complete our meager understanding of the intricate tapestry that God had been weaving throughout human history.
Understanding the “Olive Tree”
It’s clear that Paul’s audience of nearly 2000 years ago would have been familiar with the growth and husbandry of an olive tree so his illustration would have been more easily understood to the people of those times than to we who mostly live in cities and have lost touch with things agricultural.
To help us become familiar with the olive tree, the following is excerpted from Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia.
Olive trees can be exceptionally
long-lived, up to several centuries, and can remain productive for as long,
provided they are pruned correctly and regularly. The olive tree grows very slowly, but over
many years the trunk can attain a considerable diameter with one recorded 10
meters in girth. The trees rarely exceed
15 meters in height, and are generally confined to much more limited dimensions
by frequent pruning.
The tree
pictured is in Ithaca, Greece and locals claim it is 1,500 years old.
The olive is propagated in various ways,
but cuttings or layers are generally preferred; the tree roots easily in
favorable soil and throws up suckers from the stump when cut down. However,
yields from trees grown from suckers or seeds are poor; it must be budded or
grafted onto other specimens to do well. Grafting the cultivated tree on the
wild form is a common practice.
Grafting is a method
of asexual plant propagation widely used in agriculture and horticulture where
the tissues of one plant are encouraged to fuse with those of another. In most cases, one plant is selected for its
roots, and this is called the stock
or rootstock. The other plant is selected for its stems, leaves, flowers, or
fruits and is called the scion.
The scion contains the desired genes to be duplicated in future production by
the stock/scion plant.
In stem grafting, a common grafting
method, a shoot of a selected, desired plant cultivar is grafted onto the stock
of another type. For successful grafting
to take place, the vascular cambium tissues of the stock and scion plants must
be placed in contact with each other. Both tissues must be kept alive until the
graft has taken, usually a period of a few weeks. Successful grafting only
requires that a vascular connection takes place between the two tissues. A
physical weak point often still occurs at the graft, because the structural
tissue of the two distinct plants, such as wood may not fuse.
Where the olive is carefully cultivated,
the trees are regularly pruned. The pruning preserves the flower-bearing shoots
of the preceding year, while keeping the tree low enough to allow the easy
gathering of the fruit. The spaces between the trees are regularly fertilized.
The crop from old trees is sometimes enormous, but they seldom bear well two
years in succession, and in many instances a large harvest can only be reckoned
upon every sixth or seventh season. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive#Growth_and_propagation
You should note the sentences underlined above. By the very nature of the olive tree, the production of the best fruit is from grafting cultivated branches to other trees, even to “wild” olive trees.
What a beautiful symbol God has chosen to represent the growth and nature of His people and the kingdom of God. He is the vine and God’s people are the branches grafted on to that vine or tree. It is extremely long lived – see the picture above – and all that is necessary for a successful “graft” is that the “blood” (sap) of the graft and the tree be connected. For the greatest production of fruit of the highest quality, the branch must be pruned regularly by the husbandman. If a branch becomes diseased or does not produce fruit, that branch is removed and replaced with a branch that will produce.
Abraham was “grafted” to the true vine; Isaac and Jacob were likewise attached. The entire Israelite nation was added but the majority of its branches failed to produce fruit and they were cut off – the kingdom of Israel in 721 BC and the kingdom of Judah (the Jews) for the final time in 67 – 70 AD.
God began to “graft” in the gentiles from the time of Christ and of course a “remnant” of both the Jews and Israelites have remained attached. At some point in the future, Paul’s prophecy foretells that all of God’s elect – His chosen people, the entire nation of Israel – will be grafted back in to the vine.
The Olive tree symbolism is especially poignant and apt when considered in light of God’s kingdom on earth becoming a permanent spiritual one.
Where is God’s olive tree today? Is it the church? Is it the nation of Israel in the land of Palestine? Is it comprised of God’s people the world over? Is it the citizens of the English speaking countries of the world? Is it physical or spiritual?
First of all, regardless of the allegory or metaphor or symbolism of the olive tree, since the vine or trunk is God, the Son – Jesus of Nazareth, who was the God who spoke to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and the prophets – one thing can be stated without reservation: the olive tree itself is eternal. It has no beginning and no end; it is more real than this physical universe in which we live; it is both physical and spiritual. We cannot see the spiritual aspects except as they affect our physical world but we can see the physical aspects of the eternal olive tree.
Adam and Eve were “grafted” to the vine but their disobedience caused them to be cut off. Through the ages before Abraham, God’s people (Enoch, Noah et al) were grafted in but those possible branches that were disobedient were cut off with Noah’s flood. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were attached and their descendents have been “grafted in” and then cut off for their lack of production of “fruit” down to the time of Jesus.
From His time to the present, gentiles have been grafted in while God began preparing the earthly kingdom of God that will become eventually the spiritual and physical kingdom of God.
We can see the result of that preparation in the “Stone Kingdom” – primarily the English speaking nations of the world – that received the birthright, physical blessings promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and protected by the unconditional covenant made by God with Abraham. Though only a “remnant” of God’s “chosen people” have been attached to the “vine”, those grafts have produced a great deal of “fruit”.
Through English speaking people, the whole world has received tremendous, unwarranted physical blessings: advancement in medicine, the propagation of government by law rather than government by tyrants, unimagined advancement in technology – communication, travel, the machines and techniques that have made life easier for the common man around the world.
The propagation of the Holy Scriptures throughout the world so that any person of any nation, of any race, of any language, can read the word of God for himself is perhaps even more important than the physical blessings bestowed on the world by God keeping His covenant with Abraham.
Where is God’s olive tree today? You are, to some extent, surrounded by its branches – God’s people, inside and outside of churches and synagogues – those who are practitioners of God’s true religion.
So where does that leave the Jews? If they – as a nation – are to be grafted back into the vine, under what circumstances could that happen?
Later when we cover the promises made by God to both the Jews and all the Israelites through His prophets, including Isaiah and Jeremiah, we will “set in concrete” as it were, the fact that at the time of the return of Jesus to establish His kingdom, He will be greeted by gentiles who are God’s people and also by those who are the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who have received all those physical blessings and who are also God’s people.
What must happen for this restoration of belief in God and the acknowledgement of Jesus as Lord of all – the Messiah – on the part of those physical descendents of Israel?
A comparison of a prophecy Zechariah chapter 4 and Revelation 11 brought us to examine again more carefully the prophecy of the apostle John concerning the “two witnesses”.
Glenn first recognized the similarities:
Then the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me,
as a man is wakened from his sleep.
He asked me, "What do you
see?"
I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl
at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. Also
there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on
its left." NIV Zechariah 4:1-3
Then I asked the angel, "What are these two olive
trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?" Again I asked him,
"What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out
golden oil?"
He replied, "Do you not know what
these are?"
"No, my lord," I said.
So he said, "These are the two who are anointed to
serve the Lord of all the earth." NIV Zechariah 4:11-14
3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for
1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 These are the two olive trees
and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. Revelation 11:4
NIV
Zechariah was speaking of Jeshua, the high priest and Zerubbabel, who had led the first band of captives home from Babylon [Ezra 2:64], who were engaged in rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem at the time of Ezra. We demonstrated in an earlier segment that this rebuilding of the temple and later the entire city of Jerusalem was accomplished with miraculous help from the hand of God and that the purpose of the rebuilding was to prepare for the birth of Jesus some 400 plus years later.
Now we find the image repeated by the apostle John: “two
olive trees and two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth” and they are preparing the Jews and Israelites
for the return of Jesus to establish His kingdom!
The
“Two Witnesses”
“In the mouth
of two or three witnesses, a thing is established.”
[Deuteronomy
19:15; Matthew 18:16 et al]
Among eschatologists (those who
study the “end times”), there is probably no more controversial subject than
that of the “two witnesses” spoken of in Revelation chapter 11. In just the past 150 years, there have been
hundreds, or possibly even thousands of people wearing the name Christian who
have claimed to either be one of the
two witnesses or to have received special understanding revealing the identity
of those two witnesses.
Here is their story from the Bible:
1 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and
measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there. 2
But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given
to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3 And
I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days,
clothed in sackcloth.” 4 These are the two olive trees and the two
lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone
tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies.
This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6 These men have
power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are
prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike
the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
7 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from
the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. 8 Their
bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called
Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 For three
and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on
their bodies and refuse them burial. 10 The inhabitants of the earth
will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because
these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered
them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. 12
Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.”
And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city
collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the
survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon. Revelation
11:1-14 NIV
We state with no hesitation at
all that we have no clue as to who these
two men are or where they come from.
They could be converted Jews.
It’s even possible that they could
be two television evangelists presently broadcasting to their flocks.
We agree, however, that after
carefully examining the Olivet Parables, the prophecies of Paul concerning the
Jews and everything else we can find in the Bible that these “two witnesses”
most likely will not be part of any human religious organization – Jewish,
Christian or any other – because our Lord and Master describes most of those
who call themselves Christians or Jews to be “blinded” to the truth.
Neither of us understands those
who have so much pride and confidence in themselves that they think God might
choose them to be the two witnesses.
Neither do we understand why anyone
would actively seek this office for 3½ years of power (perhaps never used) and
then certain death at the hand of Satan.
But then, there is the
contemporary adage, “Some people will do anything
to be on television!”
We broach this subject because
we believe that this prophecy may be that special event that will remove the blindness
of the Jews and all of Israel in the time just prior to the arrival of Jesus to
establish His world ruling kingdom.
We place that time frame on
their experience because of verses 11 & 12.
11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered
them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. 12
Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.”
And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
We place them in Jerusalem
based on verse 8.
8 Their bodies will lie in the street
of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also
their Lord was crucified.
We believe that they are giving
their testimony [v. 7] to the Jews and to the whole world [v.9] because they
are giving their testimony in Jerusalem.
They have supernatural powers [v. 3 – 6] but the scripture does not say they used these powers. Perhaps they gave some demonstration of their
powers in order to be sure their testimony was heard because their prophecy was
definitely heard.
We believe that it is their
testimony that “torments” those who live on earth [v.10]. Now what sort of testimony could they be
giving that would torment the whole world?
We believe that testimony to be
that Jesus was the Messiah (this
would torment the Jews and Muslims) and that He was God in the flesh (this
would torment the atheists, many contemporary Bible scholars who deny this, and
the leaders and followers of all other religions). That’s about everyone, isn’t it?
We also believe that testimony
revealed that God has already established His “Stone Kingdom”, with the throne
of David set up in London, England and that the English speaking people of
Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and a few
other countries are the descendents of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob and that the reason for their preeminence and near world-ruling power
was brought about by the hand of God.
Certainly that would torment all the people of the world who were left
out in the paragraph above.
When they add that they are
completing the “week” that Jesus started (see the 70 weeks prophecy in an
earlier segment of this paper or read Daniel 9:24-27) and do so by “confirming
the covenant” with many, i.e., laying out in clear and concise terms that a New
Covenant is in effect and the terms of that covenant, everyone on the face of
the earth who wasn’t tormented by the testimony above will be now.
They are untouchable [v. 5-6]
for three and one-half years [v.3] but then the forces of Satan [v.7] will be
allowed to kill them, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Jesus that “Jerusalem”
will continue its ways of killing the messengers of God.
“And you say, `If we had lived in the
days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the
blood of the prophets.'
So you testify against yourselves that you are the
descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of
the sin of your forefathers!
"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape
being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and
teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your
synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the
righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel
to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you
murdered between the temple and the altar.” NIV Matthew 23:30-35
Jesus told the religious leaders
of His day that they were no different from their ancestors and the Jews and
the rest of the world will see by the death of the two witnesses that nothing
has changed right down to that time.
This time, however, things are
about to change permanently!
The two witnesses are
resurrected [v. 11] and God calls them to come meet Him in the sky [v. 12] and
with the global television and Internet technology available today, everyone in
the world will watch them ascend to meet God.
Their job is finished.
The permanent change begins at
that time. While the people of the world
are watching these two resurrected men rise into the air to meet God, there is
a violent earthquake in Jerusalem [v.13] killing 7,000 people instantly. But the hearts of the people of Jerusalem are
changed and they “give glory to God”.
The story ends with this
enigmatic statement:
14 The second woe has passed; the third
woe is coming soon.
The “day of the Lord”
[Revelation 1:10] is in full progress and the disasters that accompany that day
are described within this book.
We don’t pretend to understand
all the allegory and symbolism of the book of Revelation nor are we able to
definitively separate those events that relate to the destruction of Jerusalem
in 67 – 70 AD from most of those that are prophecy for our future. However, we can be sure that at the time John
was writing, the temple in Jerusalem was still standing so it had to have been
written before 70 AD.
1 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and
measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there. 2
But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given
to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.
Many preachers and teachers within Christianity for many years now have been teaching that the calamities and disasters described in Revelation will fall upon God’s people including their being taken captive again a la the Babylonian captivity.
Many evangelical Protestants have spent decades of study and wrote thousands of volumes on this subject, arguing whether the “rapture” will remove God’s people before, during or after the “great tribulation” (which they fail to comprehend was the destruction of Jerusalem in 67 – 70 AD). Some claim these events occur before the millennial reign of Jesus on the earth and some claim they happen afterward. Some have even written best-selling book series based on this misinterpretation of prophecy.
Others see in Revelation the rise to world power of a demonic figure they call “the Antichrist” and the establishment of a world government run by a “beast” whose number is 666 and who will force all people to have electronic implants in order to do business. There are a great many more fraudulent and implausible “understandings” of Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, Daniel, various other prophets and the entire book of Revelation.
They are all wrong!
We have already pointed out that Jews and Israelites are scarcely mentioned in the book of Revelation and that we feel it scriptural to assert that the various plagues, woes and judgments accompanied by the opening of the seals and the sound of trumpets are all related to the rest of the world other than where those Israelites and Jews live. In a segment following, we’ll show that the promises God made through His prophets support this statement completely.
God said of His “Stone Kingdom”:
"In the time of those kings, the God of
heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be
destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those
kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.” NIV Daniel 2:44
"Have you not noticed that these people are saying,
`The LORD has rejected the two kingdoms he chose'? So they despise my people
and no longer regard them as a nation.
This is what the LORD says: `If I have not established my
covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth, then I will
reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of
his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will
restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.'" NIV Jeremiah
33:24-26
The good news – the gospel of the kingdom of God – is that God’s people will be spared those disasters and catastrophic events when He returns to establish His world-ruling kingdom and reward those who love Him.
According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who
are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not
precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from
heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the
trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so
we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these
words. NIV 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
We’ve looked at these prophecies with “new eyes” and have reached this understanding. Should we believe the Bible read with our own eyes and (we pray) understood with the assistance of God’s spirit or should we believe the sometimes outrageous and virtually incomprehensible mish-mash of conjectures put forth by many claiming the name Christian but who have shown themselves to be blind guides?
We choose the former!
End of Part VII
End of The Hand of God in Prophecy