Will you take your Bibles and turn to Mark's gospel chapter nine, we will be examining verses nine through 13, along with some other passages. And we're even going to launch off into Revelation Chapter 11. A little bit different kind of exposition this morning. Before I read the passage, may I say that this is what you might call a flyover passage, you know, what flyover states are where nobody pays any attention to them, right. This is kind of one of those passages where you read and you don't pay much attention, and you just kind of move on. But there's some fascinating truths here in this text that the Holy Spirit has given to us with respect to Elijah like, forerunners of the Messiah. And my goal this morning is to not only help you understand this text and apply it to your life, but to really ignite your heart with anticipation for the Savior's return. I mean, we constantly face all of the wickedness in the darkness of our culture and, and we have to deal with our own sin plus everybody else's sin splattering on us, right. And it's just so wonderful to be able to do as we're told, and to set our minds on things above, not on the things of this earth. And so we want to do that this morning. Now, as we come to this text before I read it, let me remind you of the context. Jesus knew that his disciples were absolutely shocked, even repulsed to hear him predict his coming murder. And they were clueless about his talk of resurrection and how all of that fit into their theology, especially their eschatology of suffering dying and a dying Messiah just simply did not fit their idea of the Messiah of the kingdom. They wanted a conquering Messiah. And they were fixated on the glory of the kingdom, not the glory of the cross, or the resurrection. And he also warned them that they too, must be prepared to sacrifice everything, if they were going to follow him. So in an effort to encourage them and strengthen them, he took Peter, James and John, and allowed them to witness the manifestation of His glory, the effulgence of his Shekinah, coming from him, known as the transfiguration of Jesus Christ, a preview of the of the kingdom glory that we will one day share.

So with that background, now we come to verse nine, of Mark nine. "As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of man rose from the dead. They seized upon that statement discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant. They asked him saying, 'Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?' And He said to them, 'Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet, how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things, and be treated with contempt. But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.'"

I'd like to examine this under three headings that I hope will be helpful to you. First, we will look at these questions regarding Christ's resurrection and Elijah. Secondly, we want to look at Jesus' rather cryptic reply to them. And then thirdly, we want to look at some other texts concerning Elijah's past and future role. Now, let's notice the historical account here more closely. Verse nine, "As they were coming down from the mountain, he gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen until the Son of man rose from the dead." Now remember, what these men had just seen was absolutely terrifying. It was overwhelming. So much so that they fell on their faces in fear. And Jesus according to Matthew 17, in verse seven, had to touch them and say "Get up, and do not be afraid." But now Jesus orders them. Don't tell anybody what you have seen until after I've risen from the dead. And we know according to Luke's account and Luke nine, verse 36, "And they kept silent and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen." Now why? Why couldn't they tell anyone? Don't you know they were wanting to? Well, because news of such a magnificent display of Christ's deity would just throw gas on the fire of messianic expectations that were already burning rather brilliantly. They would force him perhaps to be king, they were already thinking of that we read that in other passages. So that would produce more chaos and confusion. And that would become an unnecessary obstacle in his road to Jerusalem and to the cross. Plus, we must remember that miraculous displays of Messianic glory, whether we see them in healing of diseases or casting out demons, raising the dead, all of those things were merely a means to an end, not the end in and of themselves. The proclamation of the gospel, and the salvation of sinners is the goal. It's all about God and His glory, not man in his needs, something that's grossly twisted in evangelicalism today. And of course, that ultimate goal cannot be accomplished apart from His death and His resurrection, the two central elements of the gospel. First Corinthians 15, beginning of verse 13, Paul says, "if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not been raised then our preaching is in vain. Your faith also is vain. Moreover, we're even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ whom he did not raise, if in fact, the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless, you are still in your sins." You may also remember when Paul stood before Agrippa, he testified, in Acts 26, beginning in verse 23, saying, "the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead, He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles." And we also know that without Christ's atoning work on the cross, and without his resurrection from the dead, there would simply be no salvation. Romans 10 verse nine, "if you confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart, that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." If you don't, you won't. Very clear. So Jesus is saying, don't tell anyone that's just going to distract them confused them. In essence, he's saying I must first conquer Satan, sin and death, not the Romans. All right, so wait until the Son of Man has risen from the dead. Before you tell them what you have seen.

Verse 10, says, "They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant." And this brings us to the first point in our little outline: questions concerning Christ's resurrection and Elijah. So here's what they're thinking, okay? If he's going to die and be resurrected from the dead, and we're allowed to speak about that, after that happens, then how long after that before the kingdom is going to be inaugurated? That's what they're excited about. And you will recall that this issue, along with Jesus prophecy that the temple would be destroyed, is what prompted the disciples questions recorded in Matthew 24 and verse three, when, "The disciples came to Jesus privately saying, 'Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of Your coming in the end of the age?'" In other words, surely you're coming in triumph very soon. But you see, they could not envision Christ's ascension into heaven. They could not envision a long intervening church age, they could not envision a second coming of Christ. And this was common. Even in that day, the disciples you will recall on the road to Emmaus were also heartsick, that Jesus had not delivered Israel and established the kingdom and immediately, Luke 24:21. They told Jesus by the way, they didn't know who he was at this point. "But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened." Still no kingdom. Verse 25, we read, Jesus said to them, "'Oh foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory?' Then beginning with Moses, and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the scriptures." Don't you wish you could have been there to hear that? Well, naturally, between Christ's resurrection, and His ascension back into glory, this was the topic of conversation. And this is what Jesus spent 40 days explaining to them remember, in Acts one, verse three, we read, "To these He also presented himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God." Then we read it beginning in verse seven, "When they had come together, they were asking him saying, 'Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?' And He said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or epochs, which the Father has fixed by his own authority.'" So we can understand why the disciples were asking Jesus about the resurrection. And we can also understand why they were asking him about Elijah, especially after seeing him with Jesus and with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration, verse 11, "They asked him saying, 'Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?'" Well, this makes sense. I mean, after all, we just saw him. So here's the kingdom. Furthermore, they understood the current scribal teaching, and the rabbinic texts that by the way, you can still read many of them to this day, they understood what was being taught in these apocalyptic text that describe Elijah as the one that's preparing the way for the coming King in the establishment of the Kingdom. And this is why you will recall in John 1:21, the Pharisees asked John the Baptist, "What then? Are you Elijah?" You can see why they would say that. "And he said, 'I am not.' 'Are you the Prophet?' And he answered, 'No.' Moreover, the disciples understood Malachi's prophecy, remember in Malachi in chapter four, verse five, Elijah's appearance was to come. "before the great and terrible day of the Lord was ready to be unleashed. There we read, "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord." Now, as a footnote, this phrase, The Day of the Lord, or a close variant is used 19 times in the Old Testament and four times of the New Testament. And sometimes it's called the day of vengeance, Isaiah 34 Eight, or the day of wrath in Romans two and verse five, a day of visitation, in First Peter to 12, the great day of God Almighty, and Revelation 16, in verse 14, and at times as we look, for example, in the Old Testament, the day of the Lord had a near fulfillment, something that would happen very quickly in history, as we read in Joel chapter one, but that would also prefigure something that was going to have a far fulfillment, as we would read, for example, in Joel chapter three. And we know biblically that this judgment will find its ultimate climax in the Lord's return at the end of the tribulation, according to Second Thessalonians two, and Revelation Chapter 16, through 18.

And I might also add that there will be another final consummating judgment of this earth after the millennium that will usher in the new Earth that we read about in Second Peter 3:10, through 13 and Revelation chapters 20 and 21. So this is a period of judgment now. But I might also add something that I find intriguing, this period of judgment parallels the ordinary solar day in a Jewish calendar, which began at sunset, and would extend through the next sunset, a period of darkness, followed by light. For example, Isaiah tells us in Isaiah chapter 60, beginning of verse two, "For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples, but the Lord will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising," speaking of the kingdom age. And it's important to remember, however, that the prophets also spoke of a preparatory work that would happen before even the great day of the Lord. And of course, we read of one of those in Malachi, four five that he's going to send Elijah. But Joel, for example, reveals "The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered." So again, if we go back to Malachi, chapter four, and verse five, we read, "Behold, I'm going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord." That hasn't happened yet. That is a future event, which will immediately precede the inauguration of the millennial kingdom. And then in verse six, we read, "He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse." In other words, in the kingdom age, there will be mutual love and submission, the word of God will rule the homes because the fathers are doing what they're supposed to do, and teaching their children the Word of God and requiring them to live consistently with it.

I might also had and you don't have this text on the screen, but I am reminded of how this will be the opposite of the horrors of cannibalism that was prophesied against Jerusalem because of their sin. We read about it in in Ezekiel, chapter five, verse 10, where in that time of the Babylonian siege which took place in about 598 BCE, there was actual cannibalism that took place in Jerusalem and throughout the land. There we read that, "Fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers, for I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnant to every wind." Now also, Isaiah reveals more about a future messianic messenger that will warn about what we might call the leveling judgments of God, Isaiah 40, verse four, we read, "Let every valley be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain, a broad valley; then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." So there is a messenger that is coming again, that will communicate these things and this messenger will go on to announce the glorious news of the kingdom being inaugurated in verse nine of Isaiah 40, "Get yourself up on a high mountain Oh Zion bearer of good news, lift up your voice mightily, oh, Jerusalem bearer of good news; lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, here is your God! Behold, the Lord God will come with might, with his arm ruling for him, Behold, His reward is with Him and his recompense before Him. Like a shepherd, He will tend to his flock in His arm, He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom, He will gently lead the nursing ewes."And on it goes. My how I long for those days, how I long for those days to come.

So given the rabbinic teaching of that day, combined with the prophecies of Elijah, being a forerunner of the Messiah, we can understand why the disciples would ask in verse 11, of Mark nine, "Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?' Well, now we moved, secondly, to Jesus cryptic reply, beginning of verse 12, we read, "And he said to them, 'Elijah does come and restore all things.'" In other words, indeed, he does come and announce my arrival. And that is supported for example, in Malachi three and verse one, "Behold, I'm going to send my messenger and He will clear the way before me and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, Behold, He is coming, says the Lord of hosts."

So again, back to verse 12. He says to them, "'Elijah does first come and restore all things.'" But then he adds this, "'And yet, how is it written for the Son of Man that he will suffer many things and be treated with contempt?"' In other words, you write about Elijah, but you're missing some other very important prophetic passages. In fact, as we will see, they were doing what we tend to do. We love to read those passages that make us feel good and make us feel excited. But we kind of skip over those others that may not necessarily fit our agenda. And that was somewhat the issue here. So he's basically saying, hey, what about those passages that speak of the Messiah suffering? What about those passages speak of the Messiah dying. Now, we're not told everything that he went on to say, but I'm sure he's talking about Psalm 22. He's talking about Isaiah 53. He's talking about Zechariah 12. For example, in verse 10, which speaks of Israel, repentance, at the Second Coming when they finally understand who Jesus is, the one that they rejected and crucified, There we read, "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son. And they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a firstborn." So in essence, Jesus is saying, I'm curious guys, why aren't these passages part of your theology? And then Jesus really shocks them in verse 13. "But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come. And they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him." And of course, we know that this is a reference to John the Baptist, who was then a Elijah like person who came according to Luke one in verse 17, "in the spirit and power of Elijah." In fact, we read in Matthew's account in chapter 17, beginning in verse 11, Jesus said, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished, so also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them about John the Baptist." I find it fascinating by the way that like Elijah, John the Baptist was a fearless preacher. He feared God, not man. And what's also interesting is we know that he even looked like Elijah. Second Kings one eight, "Elijah was a hairy man with a leather girdle bound about his loins," Mark one six, "John the Baptist was clothed with camels hair and wore a leather belt around his waist." You can see a bit of a resemblance there, can you not?

So again, in verse 13, "Elijah has indeed come and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him." And this probably is an allusion to Jezebel's threats against Elijah. Remember, in First Kings 19 in verse two, we read that Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, "So May the gods do to me and even more if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." That was after he called down the fire on the prophets of Baal and so forth. And again, I find it interesting that Elijah, in the Old Testament was tormented by an evil woman. And ultimately, her husband, Ahab. And John the Baptist was also beheaded by a king who was manipulated by another evil woman. And we know that Jesus was crucified by the Jews and the Roman authorities and the final Elijah will be executed by the Antichrist as we read in Revelation 11 and verse seven.

Now, I want to help you understand some other texts concerning Elijah's past and future role, and this is the third section in our little outline. Once again, bear in mind the disciples didn't understand that the establishment of the Kingdom on earth was contingent upon Israel, accepting their Messiah for indeed the divine promises and covenants belong to that nation. We read about that, for example, in Romans chapter nine, verse four. And through them all of the blessings of the mediatorial kingdom would extend to all of the nations and this would include the literal fulfillment of national and physical blessings for a regenerate ethnic Israel and blessings for Gentiles. And even with creations restoration, as we read in Isaiah 11 in verse 65, and so forth. Now an important key. In his first coming, the Messiah offered the kingdom to Israel. We know that. Mark one, verse 15, John the Baptist says, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel." And in Matthew four, verse 17, "Jesus began to preach and say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" In other words, Israel must now make a moral and spiritual decision to follow Christ. But they rejected Him, we will not have this man to reign over us. And as a result, the divine promises concerning the physical material aspects of the kingdom were postponed, temporarily interrupted. For example, in Matthew 21, verse 43, we read "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you," referring to the chief priests and the elders that are described in verse 23, "and given to a people producing the fruit of it," referring to a future repentant, regenerate Israel.

Now currently, Israel is undergoing a temporary hardening Romans 11, verse 11, makes that clear. And the church has now become the temporary custodians of divine truth, the custodians of the gospel witness until Jesus returns to rule the nations and then Daniel's 70th week prophecy against Israel will begin. And so since Israel rejected John the Baptist, the Elijah like foreigner, and since the great and terrible day of the Lord and the Messiah's return, that is future since those things have not happened yet, we can conclude that both Elijah the prophet of the Old Testament, and John the Baptist, of the New Testament, the Elijah like person, both of them prefigured yet another forerunner of the coming Messiah, who may well be one of the Two Witnesses described in Revelation 11, verses three through 12.

So will you take your Bibles and turn there? Bear in mind, just a brief overview of what I believe is a biblical eschatology we are currently waiting for the rapture of the church, the snatching away of the church. And at that point, the Lord will once again turn his attention to ethnic Israel. And again, that will be part of the Daniel's 70th week judgment upon them and even upon the earth. And we read about these things in many passages. But the pre kingdom judgments during that time of tribulation are recorded in Revelation six through 19, and other passages. And so that's a little bit of a background, but during the pre kingdom judgments in the time of the tribulation, we know that the Antichrist, and the world right now, is being prepared for his rule, the Antichrist will be infuriated by the prophetic ministry of two witnesses. And because of this, he will violate his covenant with Israel, and demand that the world worship him. Second, Thessalonians two, four, he will erect probably some kind of a robot like idol of his likeness, he will place it in the Holy of Holies. Jesus described this, for example, in Matthew 24, beginning in verse 15, he called it the "abomination of desolation, which was spoken up through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place." Now we know that the Jews will refuse to worship Him, and that is going to infuriate him all the more, and he is going to seek to destroy them, and anybody that believes in Christ, and this will lead him ultimately to the battle of Armageddon where demonic spirits will draw, quote, "The kings of the whole world to gather them for battle on the great day of God Almighty." Revelation 16 And verse 14.

So what is revealed now and in Revelation 11, and I will go very quickly here because there's much to cover, and I want you to get the big picture, and not get lost in all of the details and all of the weeds. But we know in Revelation, chapter 11, the first two verses, we see that the Jews are measured, they're marked off as belonging to God. In other words, and speaking of those whom He will preserve and protect, during the final 42 months, well, the Gentiles, whom he does not claim, as his own, quote, tread underfoot the Holy City. And they will do that, of course, under the rule and the leadership of the Antichrist. And now what we see in this text is God raising up two preachers with supernatural powers, who will be able to counter the prophetic quote, "signs of the False Prophet." And you read about those signs, for example, in Revelation 13:11, and following, and his mission, of course, is to deify the antichrist that he serves. And since the Antichrist is the final ruler, of what, for example, Daniel calls the times of the Gentiles, he will be ruling over we believe a revived Roman Empire of European nations, probably the United States will be a part of that. And this whole scene recapitulates just the the vile, symbiotic relationship between Satan and ancient Gentile rulers, how he influenced and manipulated them, and their puppet priests and prophets, that they use to accomplish their nefarious purposes, to thwart the purposes of God. And even as the ancient rulers of Rome, once controlled the masses, both politically and religiously, Satan will continue this strategy and the rule of the Antichrist and his false prophets. So the Lord raises up these two witnesses, to witness of his saving grace, as well as his escalating wrath. And these two powerful preachers then become a real thorn in the flesh to the Antichrist and the False Prophet. We pick it up at verse three of Revelation 11. "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth." And again, now God is going to offset the false signs of the antichrist and the false prophet. And so he grants two men to be His witnesses. It's interesting, biblically, we know that every testimony must be validated by two witnesses, and the plural here of "martus", we get our English word martyr. That's what is used, and indeed, they will be martyred as we will see for their testimony. The text goes on to say "and they will prophesy," it means they will preach, they will proclaim, they will speak forth, is what the term means. You must understand that New Testament prophesying was primarily foretelling. I mean, forth telling, not foretelling, I am prophesying right now, I'm not predicting the future, I'm just telling you the truth. These two witnesses will proclaim the gospel of grace, they will warn about the coming judgment on the earth, and in an eternal hell they're going to do that it says, for 1260 days, and that, of course, is the final three and a half years of Daniel's 70th week, and notice that they're clothed and in sackcloth. Of course, that is coarse cloth made of camel or goat hair. And it was often accompanied with ashes. It was worn in those days by men, and even by women in times of great distress. And it was worn by the prophets; worn for the purpose of calling to attention the wickedness of the society, and calling men and women to repentance. And also it was used to warn of the imminent judgment that was about to come upon the people. And so that's why we see Elijah wearing this and John the Baptist as well. And this was, this was a proper response Jewish response for intense grief, especially as they mourn the temples desecration in the future, as they mourn the tyranny of the Antichrist. You think the tyranny is escalating now, wait till the Antichrist rules.

Now we know prophetically as we look at all these other passages that many Jews are being massacred at this time, while others have fled into the wilderness for divine protection. And once the Antichrist enters the Holy of Holies and establishes himself as god, small g, the entire temple complex, along with the entire land of Israel, is thrust into a state of ritual defilement. Restoration and ritual purification can only occur by the Messiah, only he can accomplish that and he will physically appear, he will eventually defeat the desecrated and cleanse the land and finally, rebuild and even consecrate the temple. Verse four, "These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands that stand before the Lord of the earth." Now, John would have understood precisely what Jesus was referring to here. When this was revealed to him. He knew the background statement. It was one that Zechariah had prophesied almost 600 years earlier. We read about it in Zechariah four, and there Zachariah predicted the rebuilding of the Jewish temple after a long period of exile. And this was led by two men, the high priest, Joshua who was the spiritual leader, and Zerubbabel, who was the Civil leader. And there we read of the same symbols as here in Revelation 11. They were called two olive trees and two lampstands. And this, of course, is symbolic of the oil of the Holy Spirit's power that would perpetually fuel the lamps of divine truth pertaining to saving grace. In fact, in verse six of that passage in Zechariah we read, "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts." We also know that in Zechariah, four, verse 14, Joshua and Zerubbabel are described as, quote, "the two anointed ones, who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth." But bear in mind, like most prophecies, there existed both a near and a far fulfillment. As we see here in Revelation 11 and verse four, These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth." By the way, that's almost an exact quote of Zechariah four and verse 14.

Now, we know that there was a near fulfillment of that prophecy in about 538 BC, two witnesses were raised up to bring spiritual revival to Israel and rebuild the post exilic temple. But there is also a far future fulfillment; two witnesses again, being raised up as lamp stands for God shining for the light of saving truth. Men empowered by the Holy Spirit, not by demonic influence, and they're going to bring spiritual revival to Israel and national conversion, whereupon the Lord himself will come and establish himself as the long awaited King, and the kingdom will be established and he was will build his millennial temple.

Now, Who are these men? Well, there's much speculation regarding their identity. And I must say very clearly, that what I'm telling you, I cannot be dogmatic. But I think that for the most part, what I'm presenting to you has sufficient biblical merit, that we can believe that these points in a very compelling way to an actual Moses and an actual Elijah, we know in Deuteronomy 18, verse 15, Moses prophesied that, quote, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him." And then in verse 18, the Lord said," I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him." And I might also add that to this very day, the Jews are convinced that this prophet will be Moses himself. And again, Malachi chapter four, verse five, 'Behold, I'm going to send to you, Elijah, the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord." And we know according to the angelic messenger, who spoke to the terrified priest, Zacharias, that his son, John the Baptist, would come, quote, and this is Luke one, verse 17, "in the Spirit and the power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready of people prepared for the Lord." But this does not automatically preclude Elijah from appearing again. Both Moses and Elijah, you will recall were fearless prophets that boldly confronted the tyrants of their day, and preached the Word of God without compromise. It was both Moses and Elijah that appeared with the Lord, when he manifested His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, again, a preview of second coming glory. And it's also fascinating to note that the miracles performed by the two witnesses during this final three and a half years are very similar to those performed by God through Moses and Elijah. Remember, they could destroy their enemies with fire, or that's what they're going to be able to do. The two witnesses in Revelation 11, and Elijah, we know call down fire from heaven. I've been right at the place and some of you have been with me where that actually happened. And in Revelation 11, verse six, we read that "These have the power to shut up the sky in order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying." Well, we know that, that Elijah pronounced a three and a half year drought in the land, First King 17, the same period of time, as the two witnesses in Revelation 11. We also know that in Revelation six, the latter part of, of the verse, "and they have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they desire." Well, who else turned water into blood, it was Moses with the Nile. And he performed numerous other plagues against Egypt. And finally, we know that these two witnesses will be supernaturally translated into heaven, as we're going to see in a moment. And in similar fashion, Eliza Elijah never physically died, but he was taken into heaven in a fiery chariot. And we also know that God Himself buried Moses secretly disposing of his body. So God Himself will intervene in a supernatural way with the departure of these two witnesses, even as he did with Moses and Elijah. But again, the text does not specifically identify them. So we can only speculate who these men might be.

But we learned more about their ministry in Revelation 11, verse five, "And if anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devours their enemies. And if anyone would desire to harm them in this manner, he must be killed." Well, by implication, many are going to desire to harm them. I mean, imagine this kind of bold preaching, even today, in Iran, or Saudi Arabia, or in in China or North Korea, or, frankly, most cities now in the United States. I mean, you can't even put bible verses on Facebook anymore, without going into Facebook jail or being canceled completely. That's how bad it has gotten. Well, it's going to be even worse during the Tribulation, because you must understand that by this time, the Earth has been absolutely devastated by plagues. They have cried out for the mountains and the rocks to fall on them, according to Revelation six, verse 16, to hide them "from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of the wrath has come." So they know exactly who is causing all of this. But if you go on to read, they still will not repent, and they will continue to blaspheme the Lord our God. So by now the people of the world have rallied behind their new messiah, Satan's Counterfeit, the Antichrist, and they're mindlessly believing him and worshipping Him and their disdain for anyone that would dare call them sinners in need of saving grace, would be eclipsed only by their utter contempt for the God who offers it. So these preachers will need to be protected. Enemies will attack them, and the amazing fire from their mouth will devour or consume them. And of course, this is only going to fuel their rage. Sometimes I wish I had that power, don't you? By the way, so much for being seeker sensitive, and trying to accommodate the culture. So again, verse six, "These have the power to shut up the sky in order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they desire." This is amazing. By the way, you will recall, perhaps the third trumpet judgment has poisoned 1/3 of the world's freshwater supply Bear in mind that in Revelation six through 19, you have sealed judgments then trumpet judgments, and then bowl judgments. And so by this time, a three and a half year drought has basically been devastating, catastrophic to the planet.

Verse seven, and "When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them." This is the first time we're introduced, to quote "the beast," "Therion" in Greek. First time we see it in the Apocalypse, a term describing various carnivores, a beast of prey like a lion or a tiger. And so this is an animal like person with a ravenous appetite that functions solely on the basis of, of just an instinctively cruel and violent nature. And this is reference to the Antichrist, who I might add is called the beast 36 times. And notice he comes up out of the abyss. And this is mentioned seven times in Revelation to describe some mysterious subterranean cavern on earth that extends down into the bowels of the earth through some kind of a shaft that has been sealed shut, for the purpose of incarcerating and tormenting the most vile demons. We read about this, it's discussed in Chapter nine as part of the fifth trumpet. But this is not Satan, who is represented by a dragon but rather a man that is empowered by demonic forces that's released from the abyss. And here we learn that after the divinely decreed duration of the ministry of the Two Witnesses, God allows the Antichrist to finally overcome them and kill them to the utter jubilation of the world. Verse eight, "And their dead bodies will lie on the street of the great city, which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified." Well, this is obviously a reference to Jerusalem, which I might add will be the primary staging area of their ministry, as well as the headquarters of the Antichrist, as you read about in Second Thessalonians Two. By now, this is a city that is so infected with every imaginable form of wickedness, that it is likened to ancient Sodom, and the original enemies of Israel, the nation of Egypt. The figurative likeness of these two places just underscores the loathsome depths to which the city has fallen.

And then what we have is a very macabre, just ghoulish scene, and their dead bodies will lie on the streets of the great city. The greatest form of indignity that can be perpetrated upon an enemy is to leave the body unburied and watch it gradually decompose. Verse nine, and "Those from the people and tribes and tongues and nations," which by the way, is a technical term in Revelation for the Gentile world, "will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and they will send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth." I mean, can there be any greater demonstration of rebellion against God than this? Obviously, the whole world is going to be watching. Television will be filled with this scene. And you can see it right now on the screen there will be a little section right there where the bodies are, just focused constantly on the bodies. The whole Gentile world will celebrate the death of those who came to give them eternal life. And apparently great throngs of people will assemble to see this, this barbaric display, and within two to three days, a decomposing corpse will begin to bloat and emit the putrid odors of putrefaction. And this will happen while a wicked world laughs while they scoff and while they celebrate the prowess of the Antichrist and the defeat of Christ. But what they do not know is what's coming in just a few days, verse 11, "And after three and a half days, the breath of life from God came in to them and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon those who were beholding them." "Great fear fell upon" that has to be one of the greatest understatements in all of Scripture. "And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them 'Come up here.' Then they went up into heaven in the cloud and their enemies watched them." Finally, the news anchors are going to be speechless, right? People will be panic stricken. Suddenly, these bloated decomposing corpses will miraculously return to their original state, they will stand up. By the way, there's no record that they say or they do anything. They simply respond to the divine summons, "Come up." They are caught up in the clouds. Even as we will be caught up in the clouds, First Thessalonians, 4:17, to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Notice what else happens in verse 13. "And then in that hour, there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell and 7000 people were killed in the earthquake." This is a curious statement. The word "people" or "persons" in the original language, it literally means names of men "onomata antrhropon", names of men, a very unusual expression. And many of us believe this refers to to 7000 prominent men or leaders who served the Antichrist in his headquarters there. The text says "and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven." A reference primarily to Jewish people who were inhabiting the eastern part of Jerusalem and the region of the temple. They will be saved at that moment.

And in closing, I must say that here we discover the fulfillment of God's promise to his covenant people, recorded in Romans 11 and verse one "God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!" Verse four, "But what is the divine response to him? I have kept for myself 7000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. In the same way, then there has also come to be at this at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice." In verse 26, we read a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until," what? a fabulous word, "until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and thus all Israel will be saved." So as we look at the "Apokalupsis JesouChristou," the revealing of Jesus Christ, the book of Revelation, in this section, we see the desecration of the temple. The deification of the self, deification of the Antichrist, the murder and resurrection of the two witnesses, followed by the terror of the Gentile world, a devastating earthquake. And all of this point to the coming of Christ, to end the Gentile domination, to save his covenant people, and to pour out the final stage of his vengeance on the nations of the world, and finally, establish his kingdom as he has promised. And as the disciples were worrying themselves sick, to find out when it's going to happen. Folks, may I challenge you to do as Jesus said, and pray, Thy kingdom, come, Thy will, be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Let's pray together. Father, thank You for the magnificent truths of your word that, it brings such clarity to the glory of Your goodness and grace, that indeed you are the sovereign ruler over all of your creation. And history is literally his story, the story of Christ in all of his glory and how we long to see him. So we thank you for the hope, the blessed hope of the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus who gave Himself for us. And I pray that each of us will live in light of that glory that others will see Christ in us and be saved. We thank you, we give you praise in Jesus name. Amen.