Revelation 11: 11 - 14
Dancing upon the graves of the dead
Revelation 11:11 ISV But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Those who watched them were terrified.
For
three days they have been rejoicing that their enemies have been
killed, when suddenly after being dead for three days they rise to
their feet.
- After three days you do not look so good, and you stink.
- Having killed them only days before and now they are alive, what might you expect these two representatives of God to do? Come back with an even greater vengeance.
“Those
who watched them were terrified.” You can bet your life they were.
Revelation
11:12 ISV Then the witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven calling
to them, "Come up here!" So they went up to heaven in a
cloud, and their enemies watched them.
As
I look at a verse it may be that I get lost and lose track of the
subject, but as I read this account in the KJV it lost me.
Revelation
11:11-12 KJV (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. (12) 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.
Picking
this up at, “and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell
upon them which saw them.” That seems easy enough. The two
witnesses merely stood to their feet, and those that were watching
became terrified. Understandable, that does not happen everyday. But
then verse 12 states, “And they heard a great voice from heaven
saying unto them, ..” I realize that it would be logical to
assume that the “they” here is the two witnesses, and I might
even think that the phrase, “a great voice from heaven saying unto
them, Come up here.” defined who God is speaking to.
As
I write this I am reminded of when Jesus was baptized and God spoke.
Jesus could hear it and understand it plainly, yet those around
thought it thundered. I so want to believe that they all heard God's
voice calling his own back to him.
“and
their enemies beheld them.” This
could be a reference to those milling about, or this entire process
has been captured on television and broadcast to a global audience.
With hardly enough time to catch their breath an earthquake hits.
This
is another one of those unusual statements in scripture. Not
everything is literal but the intent is.
Revelation
11:13 KJV 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 remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to
the God of heaven.
“..
the same hour ...”
An
hour would give them some time to reflect and possibly even shed
their fear. I might expect a vengeful God to come after me rather
quickly.
The
word hour
in the Greek is hōra
and has literal implications, but it can mean an hour or an instant.
So with that in mind let's look at another version.
Revelation
11:13 ISV At that moment a powerful earthquake struck.
One-tenth of the city collapsed, 7,000 people were killed by the
earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of
heaven.
Gripped
by fear over what just happened, two dead men got back to their feet,
and God called them back to heaven. Just that fast an earthquake
strikes.
“One-tenth
of the city collapsed, 7,000 people were killed by the earthquake,
and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
Jerusalem,
overrun by angry Muslims encompassing many nationalities, collapses
due to the earthquake and 7,000 people are killed. Now there is the
distinct possibility that many of these are Jewish, but at this point
they would only be those that took the mark and worshiped the beast.
Who might be left in Jerusalem, at this point?
We
have a few clues. The twenty four elders declare that it is a time to
give rewards and destroy those who destroy the earth. There are
simplistic answers to the question, but are they the correct ones. It
becomes more complicated, because you have to define who these people
are. In doing that you will find out if they are players in the scene
or not.
- The nations
that have overrun the city of Jerusalem; Muslims. - We know that
the people of the prince will over run the city and kill two-thirds
of the Jews.
- Your
servants the prophets - Who are the prophets? - The only two
prophets we are aware of have just returned to heaven. If the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, doesn't that open the
door to anyone declaring that Jesus is Lord to fall under the
category of being a prophet?
- the Saints.
- If you have been reading the Revelation you will find this
terminology popping up all over. Within the context of the
Revelation we are talking about those who have been martyred for
their testimony. You find them before the throne of God in
Revelation 7. The mere fact that John sees the fully counted number
and now God is busily avenging them, as he said he would, tends to
exclude this possibility that they are still here to be counted.
- All who
fear your name. - The problem I have is that if any outside of
the 144, 000 fear his name, where are they? Who are these that fear
his name? The 144,000, I would think so, but then you might think
that there are more. Revelation 13:8 states, “
All those living on
earth will worship it (the beast), everyone whose name is not
written in the Book of Life belonging to the lamb
that was slaughtered from the foundation of the world.”
Doesn't this imply that there is no one left at this point
outside of the 144,000, whom God is protecting, and the nations? And
though spectators have demonstrated a fear at what has taken place
before them, it is certainly not a respect for the creator of the
universe.
Look
up the Greek word for glory
and you find the word doxa.
According to Thayer's definitions the primary focus of the word is
opinion or judgment.
While one might give glory to God in stating his opinion that is
usually not the case. That is certainly not the case if you are busy
passing judgment. These people who are left here are, in polite
terms, stating their opinion of God and passing their own judgment
upon him. In other words cursing god for what has befallen them due
to not only an earthquake, but multiple calamities.
Revelation
11:14 KJV The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh
quickly.
The
previous woes have been comprehensible:
- Flaming mountains falling into the seas,
- locust like creature that sting with their tails, making you want to die for six months
- water globally becoming undrinkable and deadly as it turns to poison and blood
- extraordinary heat that kills people,
- crops destroyed, burned up by the sun,
- violence has filled the earth to the degree that no one will survive.
- prices have gone through the roof and there are few who can afford to eat,
- and earthquakes that are probably strong enough to shift the continents back together.
And
yet, there is one more that few pick up on, the two witnesses. Have
they not brought their own share of grief during their visit.
- Stoppage of rain for three-and-one half years.
- Waters made undrinkable by turning them into blood,
- and plagues brought upon the land and people
With
their return to heaven and the earthquake in Jerusalem it is decreed
that the second woe is past.
I
do not write these things for money, no one pays to hear my voice. I
do it because I feel compelled by the Spirit of God. I believe that
time is so short and what I have tried to describe is what is to
come.
If
it is to come then for me it is somewhat irrelevant, for I will not
be here, having to struggle through, attempting to survive, for I
strongly believe in the catching away of church prior to the
destruction hitting.
Jesus
gave us two strong examples. Keep in mind my saying that to the Jew
prophecy is pattern. Jesus filled that need in the Jewish mind
perfectly, and the examples are harmonious in pattern. One is Noah. I
will shorten the story. After one hundred years, on the day that God
unleashed the flooding, God placed Noah and his family, the only ones
who believed, safely into the ark where they were protected from the
destruction of the flood. The second example is Lot. Though Abraham
was the one that dickered with God over saving the towns, it was Lot
that scripture tells us spoke out against the evil in the community.
God sent angels to get Lot and anyone willing to go with him. Not
even his future sons-in-law would come. As Lot hesitated the angels
said, “we can do nothing until we get you safely out of here”.
They then grabbed Lot and his family, and escorted them out of town.
In
both cases the destruction was right on the heels of their escape. I
believe that the catching away of the church will be no different.
Noah preached that the end was coming and they laughed him to scorn,
but he kept on building. Lot preached against not only the
homosexuality but the overt acceptance of it, and they laughed him to
scorn. The towns folk even told Lot that they would rape and kill him
as well. Moving out of harms way the destruction of several towns
came and the evidence of that destruction still exists today.
I
use the moniker “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” for
that was John the Baptists moniker as well. Only a few listened to
him, but then there was that day when Jesus came to be baptized by
him, and maybe that alone was enough.
John
cried out, “repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your
sins.”, but I am telling you that Jesus forgave them already.
Should you choose to ignore me and God, you will not be judged for
sins. You will be judged for ignoring His son, Jesus Christ; the one
who placed himself on the cross for you. In so doing he bought you
ought of bondage, paid for with his own blood. Three days later he
rose from the grave so that you might have life in him.
Might
have! That seems to be the key. Though you have been released from
all encompassing bondage of sin, you are still permitted to do things
your own way, and that in itself is filled with bondage; it is a
bondage of your own making but to some degree your enslavement brings
your blindness and you are prevented from seeing the truth.
No
one who came to Jesus desiring freedom was turned away, and Jesus
healed them all. If you trapped and blind and someone tells you the
truth, and you choose to believe that and follow it, then nothing can
stop you from obtaining life in Him and freedom. Therein lies the
problem. You believe that no one or nothing, short of death, can free
you from your bondage of selfishness and pride, but you are wrong.
Hanging on the cross the thief called out remember me as you go into
paradise. What was Jesus response? “This day you will be with me in
paradise.”
Jesus
himself says to you, “Come!” Ask him to be a part of your
life and bring you into his family, and save me from the wrath that
is to come. Ask him to make himself real to you and he will. It is
happening all around you. Places where people are killed for speaking
the name of Jesus are having him come to them in their dreams, so
vividly and real. There is an instantaneous comprehension of things
only your spirit could speak of. If you ask, God will bring those
that understand these things to you. I am telling you, you are
surrounded by them.
I
have prayed over you and asked the Father to invade your sleep,
filling your mind with visions of him. Turn to him, and run to him
when stretches out his arms to hold you. You will be loved and cared
for as never before.
Time
is so short, come!
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