Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #6 of Revelation, chapter 11, and we are going to read Revelation 11:6-8:

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. And 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 and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

I will stop reading there.  We have been discussing the “two witnesses.”  God uses this language to describe the witness of the Bible within the churches and congregations during the church age.

They were the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing by the God of the whole earth.  We saw how the true believers identified with the “two witnesses” because God did utilize the true believers to proclaim the truth that was coming forth from His Word.  The “two witnesses” are a type and figure of Moses and Elijah, with Moses representing the Law of God and Elijah representing the prophets.  Verse 6 of Revelation 11 adds additional confirmation to the understanding that the “two witnesses” are typified by Moses and Elijah, as it said in Revelation 11:6:

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 we look at the activity described here, which is assigned to the “two witnesses,” we see that everything mentioned here identifies with either Moses or Elijah.   For instance, to “shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy,” reminds us of Elijah; he prayed to God that it might not rain and the Bible says that it rained not for the space of three years and six months.  In at least three different places, God emphasizes this and tells us that Elijah was the prophet that He communed with that it “rain not in his day.” 

Then we read that the two witnesses “have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.”  Turning water to blood and smiting with plagues was something that Moses was known for in a spectacular way, as God sent him to deliver His people, Israel, from Egypt.  One of the first signs Moses did by the power of God was to turn the water of Egypt to blood and then to, finally, smite Egypt with plague after plague after plague.  So Revelation 11:6 is confirmation that Moses and Elijah are the “two witnesses” in a figure, because they represent “the law and the prophets.”  And “the law and the prophets” is language God uses to describe the Word of God, the Bible.

How is it that the “two witnesses” were able to do these things during the church age, after the Bible was completed?  After all, we know that God was not performing miracles as He did in Egypt and God was not hearkening to a prophet during the church age that it rain not, like He did in the days of Elijah, so what does God mean by this?  I think it can be understood this way: when the Bible declares truth, it reveals falsehoods that churches (and even some entire denominations) might hold to and they are not teaching that truth; then they are “judged” or “condemned” by the truth of the Word of God.  A good example of this that many of you might remember is the Open Forum program that Mr. Camping of Family Radio taught for over 50 years.  I remember listening to this program back in the 1980s, especially in 1987 and the early portion of 1988 when it was still the church age.  That would mean that Mr. Camping, as a true believer, would have been identified with the “two witnesses,” as that was still the period where their testimony was active and God was still in the midst of the churches and He was blessing His Word during the church age.  So, during that Open Forum program, a person would call and say, “I think that speaking in tongues is for today.”  Then Mr. Camping would go to the Bible to prove that speaking in tongues, if it were truly coming from God, would be “divine revelation,” and he would point out that Revelation 22 teaches that you are not to add or subtract to the words of this Book and if you do add to the Book, then the plagues written in this Book will be added to you; that is, if anyone thinks that God is still bringing “divine revelation” through a dream, a vision or a tongue, they are, in essence, adding to the Bible and the Bible thereby condemns them; they have dared to add words to the completed Word of God, so the plagues written herein are upon them. 

You see, what that did, in effect, was to turn the “waters” of the tongue-speaking churches to “blood.”  Now people would know they should not go to that kind of church, as they have another gospel and are under the wrath of God and, as Revelation 22 testifies, the plagues written in the Book, the Bible, are added to you if you add or subtract from the Word of God.  So it was as though they were “plagued,” and that is basically what our verse is talking about – the “two witnesses” had power to turn waters to blood and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they would.  If any church went astray or if any denomination thought they were the foundation of truth and the determiners of truth; if any added or took away from the Word of God, it was as if the “two witnesses,” the Word of God, condemned them and turned their waters to blood and smote them with a plague.

Let us move on to the next verse in Revelation 11:7:

And 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.

Let us ask the question: When did the “two witnesses” finish their testimony?  About this time, there may be one or two who say, “Oh, we finished our testimony on May 21, 2011.  That is when we were killed.”  They would be absolutely wrong – that is far from the truth.  The “two witnesses” finished their testimony on May 21, 1988, the Bible says, at the end of the church age.  The “two witnesses” are a figure God uses to describe the testimony of the Gospel within the congregations during their period of ministry of a figurative “1,260” days, the church age; then they finished their testimony and it was the end of the church age, which was the beginning of the Great Tribulation period and the beginning of judgment on the house of God.

We are not just saying that – we can prove it.  The Bible locks that in and it is dismaying and troubling to see people struggle with this, maybe because of the way they felt or how they perceived events as they unfolded after May 21, 2011; they insist, “That is when we were killed.  That is when the two witnesses finished our testimony.  No one wants to hear the Gospel any more, since that date.”  Yet, where is their evidence from the Bible?  They do not prove it from the Bible.  They just make a big assumption that this is obvious, saying, “Come on, we all know what happened.”  Well, I am sorry, but that has led to a completely wrong conclusion that has led people astray and they are never going to understand Revelation, chapter 11, and some very important details concerning the Day of Judgment (which we are presently in) with that kind of misunderstanding. 

We need to turn to the Bible.  What does the Bible say about that verse?  Let me give four reasons that are right here in Revelation 11, which will prove that this cannot be referring to May 21, 2011, but that it must be referring to the end of the church age. 

#1:  Revelation 11:7: “And 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.”

Here, God has given us information concerning the end of the testimony of the “two witnesses” and, simultaneously, the ascension of the beast.  The beast is the name God has assigned to Satan expressly for the period of the Great Tribulation.  Why does it say, “The beast ascendeth out of the bottomless pit”?  It is because he was locked up in that pit for a figurative “thousand years,” according to Revelation 20:1-3:

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Satan, the beast, is bound for a “thousand years,” a figurative number that represents the entire church age and then he must be loosed.  So at what point is Satan loosed?  He is loosed at the end of the church age and the beginning of the Great Tribulation.  What happened the moment Satan was loosed?  He ascended out of the pit and he came against the camp of the saints.  We read of where the beast rose out of the sea in Revelation 13 and it says in that same chapter, in Revelation 13:7:

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

This happened immediately upon his loosing.  This is the point at which Satan entered into the churches as the man of sin and took his seat in the temple.  This is the point at which he became the “abomination of desolation” that would stand in the Holy Place where he ought not.  This is the point that he ascended out of the bottomless pit.  God is telling us that the “two witnesses” had finished their testimony and then in the very next breath He says, “The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them.”  He is joining the two events together and locking in the time when the “two witnesses” shall have finished their testimony.  It is at the loosing of Satan which occurred at the end of the church age and the beginning of the Great Tribulation.  So this is the first reason why Revelation 11:7 cannot be referring to May 21, 2011.

#2: It says at the end of Revelation 11:7: “…the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.”

 Who is victorious?  Who is the winner?  It is the beast, Satan.  It is Satan that makes war and overcomes and kills the “two witnesses.”   It said the same thing in Revelation 13:7: “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them.”  And, remember, it was “given to him to continue for forty and two months,” which is the duration of the Great Tribulation period and it was at the very beginning of the Great Tribulation, which was also the end of the church age when judgment began at the house of God.  This is when Satan “won” and when he was victorious.  The “two witnesses” are lying dead in the street.  There is virtually no Gospel blessing anywhere in the world for the first 2,300 evening mornings.  It certainly appeared that the beast “whose deadly wound was healed” had somehow won the day.  He had come back, in a sense, from the dead to win the battle over the kingdom of God – or at least, over the outward representation of God’s kingdom on earth, the churches and congregations. 

But what happened on May 21, 2011?  Was Satan the winner?  Did he overcome and kill the saints at that time?  No – no way.  Satan was defeated.  He was deposed from his rule in the churches and his rule over the world.  He lost not only the battle, but he lost the war.  Satan had been fighting with God and there had been spiritual warfare raging for thousands of years and the “battleground” was the souls of God’s elect.  God had obligated Himself to save them and Satan did all he could to prevent them from being saved and, yet, God finally accomplished the salvation of everyone whose name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  This was a glorious victory and the Lord Jesus Christ was exalted on that day, on May 21, 2011, and He began the judgment process on the world because now He could shut heaven’s door, put out the light of the Gospel and end His salvation program.  And this would be the means of the judgment process on the unsaved people of the earth.  All the saints, in a way, were judging with Him because it was all due to the fact that they had become saved and they were now the complete body and bride of Christ.  It was this glorious salvation of all the elect that allowed God to begin to pour out His wrath on the wicked.

So there was no overcoming by Satan or killing of the saints by Satan on May 21, 2011.  God slew Satan and the false prophet, as the “third part” of men (all those in the churches) were tares bundled for the burning and it was the true believers that took the bundled tares and threw them into the fire, as we shared and declared the Word of God which He revealed when He opened up our eyes to these things.  This is not the role of someone who is defeated, but it is the role of the ones that have overcome through the faith of Christ.  So this is the second reason.  There has been a complete misunderstanding of the spiritual reality that took place on May 21, 2011.  It was not a day of defeat; it was not a day when Satan won.  It was the day that Satan was put down and his kingdom was destroyed.  It is a time when the Bible says, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen.”  Babylon fell after the historical seventy-year period, which typified the Great Tribulation.  What does God say of the king of Babylon?  First of all, He tells us in Jeremiah 25, that all nations will serve him for seventy years, but after seventy years God will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, and this is exactly what God did at the end of the Great Tribulation.

#3:  It says in Revelation 11:8: “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” 

Here, the “two witnesses” are killed and where you are killed is the place you fall down.  Once you are killed, you are not going to move from the place where you are killed.  The “two witnesses” are killed in the place that “spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt.”  We may have some difficulty with that language, but through it God is teaching us that the churches have been brought back to the “bondage” of Egypt (sin) and they are as wicked as the people of Sodom, and the proof is the last part of the verse where it says, “where also our Lord was crucified.”  Was our Lord crucified in Sodom?  No, He was not.  Was He crucified in Egypt?  No, He was not.  He was crucified outside the gates of Jerusalem, which typifies the churches and congregations.  Where are the “two witnesses”?  They are lying dead in the great city Jerusalem; they are lying dead within the churches and congregations.  The witness of God’s Word has been silenced and it has lost its power; the blessing upon the Word of God has been removed.  Once the Holy Spirit came out of the midst, even though the churches have the Bible and they may have a preacher that teaches some things faithfully from the Bible and, yet, now the message is no longer of any impact; it no longer carries any spiritual blessing because God the Holy Spirit is the One who must open the ears of the hearers. 

This is what happened and this is why the “two witnesses” are lying dead in Jerusalem, that “type and figure” of the churches.  So this is the third proof.  The believers, by May 21, 2011, had come out of the midst – out of Jerusalem – so it could not be said they were lying dead in the street where our Lord was crucified.  We would have been lying dead “out in the world,” because we had already left “Judea” and fled to the mountains.  This is another conclusive proof that it cannot be referring to May 21, 2011.

#4: It says in Revelation 11:11: “And after three days and an 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.” 

The idea that some are presenting is that we were killed on May 21, 2011, and then they do some convoluted timeline of “three and a half days” that arrives at a certain date that has no Biblical basis at all, and they say, “Well, after three and a half days we stand on our feet,” and then they think it is the rapture.  But they are not being careful with the Bible.  The language of “stood upon their feet” is very significant.  Twice in the Book of Acts God relates “standing on one’s feet” with the sending forth of the Gospel.  It says in Acts 26, where the Apostle Paul is recounting his experience on the road to Damascus.  It says in Acts 26:16-18:

But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God…

You see, God is sending him with the Gospel.  This is what “stand upon thy feet” identifies with and, of course, it does not relate to the rapture at all.