Bible Prophecies of the End Times

CHAPTER 12

The Two Witnesses

The word of God reveals to us in Daniel 9:27 that at the beginning of the three and a half years mark of the great tribulation period, the antichrist will break his treaty of peace with the nation of Israel. He will stop the people from carrying out animal sacrifices to the Lord in their new rebuilt temple at Jerusalem. In Revelation 11 we see that John is given a measuring stick and told to go and measure the temple of God. I believe that he is measuring here what will be the new rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. He was told to measure the inner court where the altar stands and to count the number of worshippers. The outer court he was told not to measure because it will be turned over to the nations. During this time of the Great tribulation the antichrist will desecrate the temple of God, and it will be given over to the gentile nations to trample under foot, I can imagine that it will seem as if all is lost for the children of Israel. Nevertheless among all the despair God will have a ram in the bush in the form of the two witnesses. Revelation 11:3-5 (NIV) says, “I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 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. These two men will have the power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time of their ministry. They will have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want. The two witnesses will do this until they have finished their testimony, then the beast (antichrist) will attack, overpower, and kill them. The Holy Bible says that after they are killed, for three and a half days their bodies will be exposed in the streets of Jerusalem (the city fittingly described as “Sodom or Egypt”) the very place where our Lord (Jesus) was crucified. No one will be allowed to bury them and people from many nations will crowd around to gaze at them. There will be a worldwide holiday. People everywhere will rejoice and give presents to each other and throw parties to celebrate the death of the two witnesses who will have tormented them so much! The Bible goes on the say that after three and a half days a breath of life from God will enter the bodies of the two witnesses and they will stand on their feet terrifying them that will see this event take place. The two witnesses will hear a loud voice from heaven saying, “Come up here.” At this point they will go up to heaven in a cloud while their enemies look on and in that same hour there will be a severe earthquake that will cause a tenth of the city to collapse. Seven thousand people will be killed. So terrible will this earthquake be that the survivors who at one time did not fear God will in terror give Him glory. The ministry of the two witnesses will deliver a powerful blow to the antichrist’s claim that he is God. After seeing the two witnesses be killed by the antichrist only three and a half days earlier I can imagine what a shock it will be for the inhabitants of the earth when they see these two men be raised from the dead. They will also be shocked to hear the voice of the true and living God commanding the two witnesses to come up to heaven and actually see the rapture take place. This will definitely cause questions to be impressed upon the minds of many who will see this event take place. Their thoughts no doubt will be concerning the claim of the antichrist as to him being God. To top all this, those living in Jerusalem will also experience the most destructive earthquake ever to be recorded in the city’s history. So devastating and convincing this earthquake will be that those living in Jerusalem will literally fall down and worship God Most High by giving Him glory. We must keep in mind that all this will take place primary during the second half of the tribulation period in its entirety. This will be during the time when the antichrist will have firmly established his iron clad grip on the peoples of the earth through his anti-God economic and religious system. This religious system will be instituted forcibly by the giving of a mark known in the Holy Bible as