Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #19 of Revelation, chapter 11, and we are going to read Revelation 11:10-11:

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.

Again, this refers to the “two witnesses,” also called the true prophets, in verse 10, and they had been lying dead in the street of the city which was spiritually called Sodom and Egypt where our Lord was crucified.  Spiritually, this refers to the churches and congregations.  The “two witnesses,” represents the witness or testimony of the Word of God within the churches, but the church age had ended.  The two witnesses were lying dead in the street for “three and a half days,” a figure that God gives to represent the first part of the Great Tribulation period, which was an actual 2,300 evening mornings from May 21, 1988 to September 7, 1994.  This was the time when the “two witnesses” were lying dead in the street and it was a time when virtually no one was being saved in the world and absolutely no one was being saved in any churches, from the point when God’s Spirit had departed out of the midst at the very beginning of the Great Tribulation, the time when God began to bring judgment on the churches.

Then, “After three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet,” and this points to the second part of the Great Tribulation period, the time after the 2,300 days, which would be September 7, 1994.  This was the time when God would begin to evangelize the world with a second outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  The first outpouring was accomplished during the church age and then that came to a close at the end of the church age.  Then after the 2,300 days, which is a period of about six years and four months, God is going to recover the remnant of His people by sending forth His Spirit into the world during a glorious period of time which the Bible calls “the Latter Rain.” 

The Bible also identifies this time as a Jubilee period, a second outpouring of the Jubilee.  The Lord Jesus Christ was born in 7 B.C., a Jubilee Year, and then following His ministry, the cross, His death and resurrection, there came the day of Pentecost.  When Pentecost was “fully come,” and the term “fully come” refers to the fact that God is going to fulfill what the Feast of Pentecost had always symbolized, as it was the Feast of Firstfruits, and God saved 3,000 people on the day of Pentecost in 33 A.D. to signal the beginning of the church age and the beginning of what could be known as the first Jubilee, since Christ was the essence of the Jubilee and He came to set the captives free.  Now the entire church age would identify with an extended Jubilee period as God saved people all over the world through the churches and congregations He had established. 

This spiritual Jubilee period came to a close along with the church age on May 21, 1988.  Then 2,300 days later, which is typified by these “three and one half days” that the two witnesses were lying dead in the streets, comes September 7, 1994 and this was the first day of the Hebrew seventh month in a Jubilee Year.  The first day of the seventh month in a Jubilee Year was a day of trumpets, when the trumpets would sound to announce the Jubilee, so God began that second Jubilee period which, as I said before, could be called a second outpouring of the Holy Spirit and it is also known as the Latter Rain.  This is what is in view when the two prophets stand upon their feet, after “three and one half days.”  Let us read that again, in Revelation 11:11:

And after three days and an half…

Think of this as after the first part of the Great Tribulation, which is identified as “three days and an half,” here in our verse; it is identified in Daniel as “2,300 evening mornings”; it is identified in Revelation 8:1 as “silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”  (The word “about” is used because it is not an exact “half hour,” but it is part of the “hour” of judgment.)  These are all referring to the same time period.  Then it goes on to say in 11:11:

And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them…

The reference to the “Spirit of life” reminds us of what it says in John, chapter 6.  The Lord Jesus says in John 6:63:

Again, the “two witnesses” are typified by Moses and Elijah, the two prophets, and they also represent “the law and the prophets” or the Word of God.  After “three and one half days,” the “Spirit of life entered into them,” and we just read in John 6:63, where it says, “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”  It is basically declaring that the Word of God is once again empowered and going forth in a mighty way to accomplish the purpose of God in bringing salvation. 

By the way, keep in mind why the “two witnesses” identify with the Word of God, the Bible, and not with the true believers.  True believers do identify with the “two witnesses,” as we are very closely associated with the Word of God and we are messengers of the Word of God.  But, consider this, after “three days and one half” takes us back to September of 1994 and where were most of the true believers at that time?  We were still in the churches and congregations where God’s Spirit was no longer present and where God was doing no salvation.  Within the churches no one was being saved despite the presence of true believers.  God had not yet opened the Scriptures to the degree to which He later did, when He would reveal the end of the church age and command His people to come out of the churches – that would not happen for a few years. 

So, as the “two witnesses” stand upon their feet after the “three and one half days” (after the first part of the Great Tribulation) in September of 1994 when the Latter Rain began to go forth, cannot, in the first instance, be referring to the true believers because most of them were still in the churches.  We will see that when it says here, “And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet,” it is language to indicate that the Gospel is going forth, once again, and it is going to save, but true believers within the churches were not in position to carry the Gospel message at that time because they would have been associated with the churches.  Any attempt to evangelize or to be some sort of missionary of the Gospel while within a church meant that they would come under the “umbrella” of the church and there could be no blessing of God. 

But outside the churches, God was working with His Word, in certain ways, like the electronic medium where there could be a ministry that had no association with a church and there could be blessing upon that Word which was going out apart from the rule of the churches or congregations.   There may have been a few of God’s people outside of the churches, but, primarily, the focus is on the Word of God “coming to life.”  God’s people do identify with that Word, but the focus is that it is time in God’s program of “times and seasons” to enlighten the Word of God and give it the power to bring life to the hearers outside of the churches.

Let us turn to Ezekiel, chapter 2, where we have similar language to what we just read in Revelation 11.  It says in Ezekiel 2:1-2:

And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee. And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me…

So far, we can see that the command to “stand upon thy feet” is given and the spirit entered into him, just as we saw that the spirit of life entered into the two witnesses.  Then it goes on to say in Ezekiel 2:2-4:

…and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me. And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH.

In this case Ezekiel is sent to the house of Israel, the rebellious house, to declare to them that they are a rebellious house under the wrath of God.  We can see how this fits in some ways to the information God did open up in the Scriptures during the time period of the Latter Rain, about the last seventeen years of the Great Tribulation from 1994 to 2011.  He did reveal that the churches were a rebellious house and that judgment had begun on the house of God and God commanded His people to proclaim these things, so we can see the connection between that and what God is saying to Ezekiel.

What is important for us to understand is that when God says to Ezekiel, “Stand upon thy feet,” this language is being connected to being “sent forth.”  Again, it said in Ezekiel 2:1, “Son of man, stand upon thy feet,” and then it said in Ezekiel 2:2-3, “And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me. And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation.”  Here we see that being commanded to “Stand upon thy feet,” is to take a position in which you will be sent forth with a message from the Word of God.  To “stand upon thy feet” relates to the language of the Bible: “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and that bring glad tidings of good things,” as we read in Romans.  So God is positioning the “two witnesses” and they are being sent into the world with the Gospel. 

That is what “standing upon the feet” refers to.  It has nothing to do with being taken up to heaven in the Rapture, as some people are mistakenly trying to understand the “three and one half days” as the time period we are currently in, where they erroneously believe our witness has been killed and at the end of “three and one half days,” we will stand upon our feet and great fear will fall upon them that see this; then they think the next verse has to do with the Rapture.  They are completely wrong.  They have not bothered to check out in the Bible what it means to “stand upon thy feet.”  I have not seen anybody that believes this idea do a simple study and follow the language God gives us to see what it identifies with: show from the Bible that “standing upon one’s feet” is related to going up in the Rapture.  They cannot do that.  As we have seen in Ezekiel, chapter, 2, it has to do with being sent with the Word of God. 

For instance, in Acts 26, we read of the Apostle Paul as he recounts what happened to him when he was taking a trip to Damascus to hail men and women “of that way” and cast them into prison.  Yet, something dramatic occurred on the road to Damascus that changed this Saul of Tarsus into “another man” and he became the Apostle Paul.  By the way, the word “apostle” means “sent,” and Paul insists that he is an apostle, the last one to see the risen Saviour and to be “sent” by Him.  He is that “thirteenth” apostle, just as Israel had “thirteen” tribes, but actually twelve.   It says in Acts 26:13-16:

At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet:

Now let us notice that language: “Rise, and stand upon thy feet.”  That is the phrase we have been following From Revelation 11:11 and Ezekiel 2.  Then it continues in Acts 2:16-17:

…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,

Here it is again.  We saw in Ezekiel 2, Ezekiel stood upon his feet and the Spirit of God entered into him and then God said to him, “I send thee to the children of Israel.”  Here, in Acts, when the Lord commissioned Paul, his name was still Saul, but as he is recounting this story, he is that Apostle Paul, the “sent” one.   Again, the Lord Jesus said to Paul, in Acts 26:17, He would send him to the Gentiles.  Why is He sending Paul to the Gentiles or the nations?  It goes on to say in Acts 26:18:

To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

We can see that this is language that very clearly describes going forth with the Word of God, wherein God will bless that Word and bring salvation to the ones to whom Paul was being sent.  This is exactly what is in view with the “two witnesses” after the “three and one half days,” which can only relate to the first part of the Great Tribulation.  Then after the “three and one half days,” it is language that refers to the second part of the Great Tribulation after the 2,300 evening mornings conclude and the Latter Rain begins.  Now the “two witnesses” are sent forth, once again, to witness and prophesy and they “stand upon their feet,” signaling that they are being sent of God with the Gospel. 

They are sent for a two-fold purpose.  They are sent with the message of Ezekiel to the house of Israel to tell them they are a rebellious house.  They are also sent with the message of the Apostle Paul to the Gentiles to deliver them from darkness, to open their eyes, and to bring the Gospel that grants forgiveness of sins.  God accomplished both purposes over the last seventeen years of the Great Tribulation, as He condemned the churches (through the opening of His Word) and the condemnation got greater and greater as the Great Tribulation continued until, finally, they were utterly destroyed by the Word of God on May 21, 2011.  Also, God accomplished of purpose the Gentiles, the people of the nations – that great multitude – and it was all a result of the “two witnesses” that were “standing upon their feet.”  At that time the Word of God was going forth with great power and God was blessing it mightily all over the earth outside of the churches and congregations.

Let us just look at one last thing before we move on to the second part of our verse in Revelation 11:11.  In the Book of Genesis, especially in about the last 10 chapters, God gives us the historical account of Jacob and his family and of Joseph being sold into Egypt as a slave.  Then Joseph interprets the dreams of the butler and the baker in the prison and then interpreting Pharaoh’s dream concerning ears of corn and fat and skinny cows; Pharaoh is so pleased with the interpretation that he lifts Joseph up out of the prison to be second in charge over all Egypt.  It was a wise move on Pharaoh’s part.  The dreams that Pharaoh dreamed were concerning seven years of plenty and seven years of famine; the seven years of famine typified the Great Tribulation period.  We know this because Acts 7 uses those very words for Great Tribulation, “megas thlipsis” in the Greek, to describe the dearth that came upon the world in the days of Joseph.  Then we find that Joseph is concealing himself from his brethren, when his brothers traveled into Egypt to find corn in order to survive this grievous famine.  After a while, Joseph finally reveals himself to his brethren and all this is a picture of the two parts of the Great Tribulation: for two years Jacob and his family suffered in the land of Canaan in the famine, but then they were brought into Egypt to be nurtured and cared for by Joseph, a type of Christ, for the last five years of the famine.  This pictures the two parts of the Great Tribulation.  The first two years are like the “three and one half days” when the two witnesses lie in the streets; they are like the “2,300 evening mornings” or the “half hour of silence.”  The last five years are likened to the Latter Rain, the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit or the second Jubilee.

What is amazing is what we read in Genesis 45.  Jacob had thought that Joseph had been dead for many years, but he finally hears from his other sons, when they returned from Egypt, that Joseph is alive.  You can imagine how fearfully Jacob’s sons would have told him this, after what they had done to Joseph.  Let us read Genesis 45:25-28:

And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

You see, Joseph made himself “known” at the dividing point of the Great Tribulation; a dramatic change is taking place and Jacob’s spirit revived.  It is very similar to the “two witnesses.”  While they were still in the churches and suffering the first part of the Great Tribulation, they are lying “dead” in the streets.  But once the time comes when God is ready to move from the first part to the second part of His plan and He is ready to save that great multitude, then the Word comes from the Lord Jesus Christ, as typified by Joseph, which revives the spirit of Jacob.  And, yes, it would have revived the spirit of God’s elect, as they would have identified more and more with the “two prophets” standing upon their feet during that last “half” of the Great Tribulation; they were slowly coming out of the churches and began, once again, to identify with the “law and the prophets,” or with the Bible, and they revived along with the Word of God.

I do not like using the word “revival,” but in this case it does apply.  It was a revival of God’s evangelization program.  One last time, there would be a final glorious period of great salvation.