Revelation 11:3-13 “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." (4) These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. (5) And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. (6) These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. (7) When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. (8) And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. (9) Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies’ three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. (10) And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. (11) Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. (12) And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. (13) In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
In this section we want to discuss God’s removal of His two witnesses from the earth, i.e. when that event will take place and its consequence. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit teaches us about the ministry of God’s two witnesses in the last days. In another series we have identified these two witnesses as being Moses and Elijah and we have discussed their ministry in detail. That discussion falls outside the scope of this teaching however, for in this teaching we want to concentrate on the impact that the opening of the seventh seal has on their ministry. From this passage we can see that Moses and Elijah will minister in the earth for three and half years, i.e. during the reign of the anti-Christ. As an aside, their ministry will be directed only to the Jews, resulting in many Jews becoming Christ’s disciples, including the one hundred and forty four thousand. Moses and Elijah’s ministry will be adversarial to the reign of the anti-Christ, and they will oppose him by striking the earth with various plagues in response to his attempts to destroy the Lord’s saints. The end to their ministry coincides with both the end of the anti-Christ’s reign and the rapture of the church. In other words their ministry will end when the seventh seal is opened. It is at that point that Moses and Elijah will enter the city of Jerusalem to confront the anti-Christ and the false prophet. In that confrontation, the anti-Christ will overcome Moses and Elijah, killing both of them. The world will rejoice in the fact that their champions i.e. the anti-Christ and the false prophet destroyed these two prophets of the Lord, and will insist that their bodies be left in the streets of Jerusalem for the entire world to see. At the end of three and half days however, God will raise Moses and Elijah from the dead and take them up into heaven. When that happens, an earthquake will strike the city of Jerusalem, destroying a tenth of the city and causing the deaths of seven thousand people. When people see Moses and Elijah rise from the dead and ascend into heaven, they will be overcome with great fear knowing that God’s judgement is about to fall.
Michael E.B. Maher
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