His Perfect Love

Guest (Male): Pastor Matt Vandervinn introduces us to the two witnesses of Revelation that will enter the scene during the tribulation.

Matt VanderVen: They are God's anointed that God is using during this time of great judgment to the people of Israel, to the Jewish people, and he is going to supernaturally protect them, and he is going to use these two witnesses to do it just as in Zephaniah, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. And it's the spirit through these two witnesses are doing that. Isn't that cool? Welcome once again to His Perfect Love. We are continuing our verse-by-verse study through Revelation with Pastor Matt Vandervinn. Last time, we had just begun to get to know the two witnesses described for us in chapter 11 when we ran out of time.

So, today, Pastor Matt will delve deeper. If you recall, they were empowered and sustained by God with the mission of preaching repentance and the gospel. They were killed and then raised to life, ascending to heaven. Here is Pastor Matt with more. Turn in your Bibles, please, to Zechariah chapter 4. I think it gives us a prototype for these two witnesses, a typology. Zechariah chapter 4, you could start in verses 3 and 4, please, if you're just going to turn there, okay? And I just want to ground you and anchor you in this passage. It's an interesting passage again that gives us this prototype.

Zechariah had a vision in which he saw a solid gold lampstand, right? Zechariah chapter 4. And on top of the bowl of oil and an olive, there were tree stands on each side, okay? Tree stands on each side. Now, I want to read back Revelation chapter 12:4 to you. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing. Everybody seeing what I see? Zechariah saw what we see in Revelation 11:4. And that's in verses 3 and 4 of Zechariah chapter 4 verse 3 and 4. Now, this lampstand, it gives light without human maintenance. This is important cuz God's doing the work.

And it's constantly supplied with the olive oil flowing from the trees in the bowl. And God's message to Zechariah was that God's work would be done. What was God's work? Do you remember in that passage of Zechariah? He was rebuilding the temple. He was rebuilding the temple for the Jewish people. He was actually protecting them and bringing them back into their land after they had been in captivity for 70 years. And he was going to accomplish this in one of the most famous passages that you and I have written on our mirrors, written on posters.

We send it out on cards. We use it as a sympathy card or an encouragement card, right? Verse 6, not by what? Might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord, right? One of the most beautiful passages to memorize. It's a humbling passage. In context, that was God talking about his work that he was going to reestablish Israel and rebuild the temple. Please, we take it out of context and apply it in our life, and that's okay. But the context originally given was the work of the Lord for the Jewish people and the temple.

Okay, so let's just understand that. Not by your might, not by your power, but by my spirit, Jesus said. By my spirit, God said, says the Lord, okay? The Lord of the hosts. Now, Zechariah asks about the meaning of the olive trees. Remember that and the lampstand he sees? I'm I'm fast forwarding just because of our time here. That's verse 14 in chapter 4. He sees the olive trees. He sees the branches supplying the oil, and the angel who speaks to him says, So he said, these are the two anointed ones, right? Who will stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.

These are the two what? Anointed ones. Now, look, hold your finger here. Turn back to chapter 11. Look for it with me again at verse 4 in Revelation. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. What were they to do? The same thing that we see in the typology given right here. They are the two anointed ones who stand beside the Lord. They are God's anointed that God is using during this time of great judgment to the people of Israel, to the Jewish people, and he is going to supernaturally protect them, and he is going to use these two witnesses to do it just as in Zephaniah, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord.

And it's the spirit through these two witnesses are doing that. Isn't that cool? That God has given us an example of this, showing us a pattern for how we would do this. It's God's power to sustain his work and flowing through these two individuals that are going to be set apart for this task here. In Zechariah's context, the two individuals are who? Do you remember who this is? And I love this. This is just so cool what a character study. You can't make this up. It's Joshua. Joshua, okay? Who is Joshua? Joshua is the current high priest at that time, right?

Who's the other person? Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the second person to lead remember to second person to lead them out of captivity. Forgive me. I meant to say the first person to lead them out of captivity, Ezra comes after. Do you remember that? So, Zerubbabel brings them back. So, and he's a what? He's a governor of Judah, one who's in authority and power, a magistrate. What did he just show us? And what was that pointing to? Who is the only one that has fulfilled both of those roles simultaneously? The high priest. Well, let me say one other person, forgive me on the earth that was a model for us of that.

It was according to the order of Melchizedek, who was a priest and a governor ruler. It pointed to who? Because Jesus Christ in Hebrews is tied to being of the order of Melchizedek. In order of what? One. Because every other priest does what? He dies. He doesn't live eternally and forever. It's an order of one. There's nobody else that's also a ruling authority, governor like that. It's only Jesus that can You won't see As a matter of fact, what was Saul's sin? Not Paul Saul, but Saul in the Old Testament sin. He wanted to go and he wanted to take on a priestly role by turning around and doing what?

Sacrificing to God and doing the incense and everything. And God said, No, you're a king. You should have waited for who? Samuel, the prophet, who's my priest, my mouthpiece, my prophet that was to come in and do this. God there's very clear that there is a distinction of role and office, not because somebody's better or worse, but that is why God has always warned and David who came after him so sensitive to saying, I will never go against God's anointed. Because the minute I go against God's anointed, regardless of the reason, Saul certainly deserved it at times, no doubt.

Who is David fighting against really? God himself. Does everybody see that? That is the whole point. So, when these two witnesses who are standing as vessels, right? Looking towards as the lampstand, the one that's two who is only Jesus Christ who's empowering them, it's pointing us to the fact that Jesus is the one authoring this whole thing. Jesus is the one that's endowing these vessels and empowering them to do those things and doing it to keep his promise because of the covenant established. And he's communicating that in three verses that takes us an hour or more to go back through the scriptures and say, Wow, this promise, this promise, you have your fingerprints here, you have your fingerprint.

Can you imagine we get the Bible study with Jesus Christ? And he literally or the guys that were on the road to Emmaus as he says, I open the scriptures and begin to talking to them. Oh my, your socks are going to get knocked off because there's not a single passage you're going to go through the scriptures that God's going to go, Did you see this? Did you see this? Did you see this? No. Right? The greatest of God's people on the earth, the greatest evangelist, the greatest pastor is going to come back and just say, Lord, I bow at your feet.

You are the king of kings and the Lord of lords. You are beyond contestation. You are beyond anything I could understand. Your holiness is a part. Your word is like nothing else. God forgive me forever taking it for granted. It's sat on my lap for 40 and 50 years. It's sat on my bookshelf for 15. I had multiple copies, and yet I never showed myself approved by studying your word. God forgive me. I really believe that's going to be a conversation for many Christians. It doesn't have to be. It doesn't have to be. Well, we're in the scriptures today, amen?

And that's good. So, let's keep going. So, God's power is going to sustain them as they're flowing and working through these individuals. And as I've mentioned, it's a foretelling of Jesus Christ. The Messiah would come. He's going to combine the offices of priest and king. He's going to deliver the Jewish people, and there's going to be a millennial reign. And that's exactly what he wants to show us. Look at verse 4. These are the two olive trees that go before the lampstand standing before God and the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, he's going to say, Fire proceeds forth from their mouth.

So, now we come to this description again, the two olive trees again, quoting it back to Zechariah 4, I believe. Joshua and Zerubbabel, they're going to have the same power, same idea, all for God's, all for the Jewish people just like Joshua and Zerubbabel did. And I think these ideas are beautiful. I think what God's word is beautiful. But if we're keeping in context of the scripture, we're looking at the dates. And if we looked at Daniel chapter 9 verse 27, we saw that there was 1,260 days, 3 and 1/2 years that this was to happen.

We just read in Revelation chapter 11, we read the witnesses are 1,260 days, 3 and 1/2 years. However, if I go to Daniel chapter 8, I see another number given. And I know we're we're kind of nearing our time. I'm going to keep you a little extra today, but this is important because this is one of the things that has led people to walk away from Christ in the scriptures. Believe it or not, these passage I'm in and what I'm talking about cuz it says 1260, it says 1260, 1260, 1260. And there are atheists and there is gnostics and there are people that will come.

And just like Dr. Lyle was saying there, they try to take the word and they try to use it to or they try to use all these things to draw people away from His truth with lies, half truths, which is still a full lie. And the reason I say this, if you turn to Daniel chapter 8, in Daniel chapter 8, you can skim the chapter just because of time, I can't go through all of it right now, but Daniel chapter 8 is going to speak of 2,300 days. How can it be 2,300 days and 1,260 days at the same time?

Does that mean there's a problem with the scriptures? Should y'all grab your coats and say, Man, let's let's head out and go get, you know, food? Well, you'd be missing exactly what God was trying to communicate there, which is prophecy. Remind me, even if I'm foretelling, how many people have heard that prophecy is a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment? Almost all of you should know that by now, right? If you're in the scriptures, a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment. What was the near fulfillment of this 2,300 days from the decoration of Daniel chapter 8 at the time in which Daniel gave it?

What came 2,300 days later? Literally to the day. And you can track it historically, by the way. This isn't This isn't guesswork. We We have historical and extra-biblical references of this. There was a temple at that time. And there was a man who was during the intertestamental period because remember Babylon, they'd come out of captivity. And so if you were to count those years or days, excuse me, which turns into years, if you counted them from that point, there was a man that went in. And what did he do? He desecrated the temple. And that was a typology for you and I today to see that this has happened once before.

He did it differently. He did it with pig's blood. He went and slaughtered a pig, which would have been considered unclean, profane. Do you remember his name? Antiochus Epiphanes. And he did the same thing. He went in the temple and he declared himself to be God. It was 2,300 It was 2,300 days specifically. So, here's a question. Has that scripture been fulfilled? Yes, during the intertestamental period, and we have extra-biblical historical evidence of that as well, Maccabees and the whole thing. Some people have accidentally, I'm going to be generous, accidentally said these two are the same.

And you see, there's a contradiction of scripture. No, there's not. Daniel 8 is specifically talking about a time and a typology of Antiochus Epiphanes. Then we go to Daniel chapter 9 verse 27, and all of a sudden he talks about 1,260 days. Who's he talking about that? And he says it's the abomination of desolation, the one who desolates. Who is that? Is that Antiochus Epiphanes or is that the antichrist? The antichrist, right? So, clearly we can understand if we're just students of the Bible, that's not a contradiction at all. What's the main difference between the two prophecies?

Daniel's in chapter 8 has been fulfilled. Daniel predicts Antiochus Epiphanes fulfilled, but John predicts what? Antichrist, and so does Daniel in chapter 9 verse 27. Additionally, just turn hold your finger here, keeping Daniel, hold your finger, turn to to Revelation chapter 10 verse 6. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she has also prepared by God and that they should feed her there 1,260 days. We just read about 1,260 days already, didn't we? In earlier chapter 11. Who's this woman? Somebody said it. I heard it over here. Israel, you're correct. When we get there, I would be very clear to point how we know that's Israel.

What is God talking about here? How he's going to supernaturally protect Israel, specifically the people of Israel? And he's going to draw them out. Is this the first time we read something like this happening? No, I've already talked about it this morning. Where else can we find that? In the book of Mark we can find it in the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter 24 and 25 when he said to them what again? Remember? When you see the abomination of desolation, Get out of Dodge. I'm paraphrasing, right? Jesus didn't say it that way. Get out of there.

Don't even grab any of your garments. Don't grab any of your possessions. Flee and go out to the wilderness. We come to chapter 12 of Revelation, and we see what Jesus is going to do when they get out to the wilderness. He is going to supernaturally do what? Care for them. He's going to bring provisions and provide for them. Okay? Many of us never caught the two sides of that. It comes together as a whole. God is ordaining this because he has a plan of salvation for the Jewish people. So, that's where people that don't know their scripture come up with this replacement theology and replacement cuz they don't know the entire council of God, and they don't know how to tie it in harmony, okay?

You all do. You You just did it. All right. So, this woman's going to So, let's cover that right now. What happens during that period of time? We just got We were told 1,260 days he's going to go in and any crisis is going to do what? He's going to desecrate the temple. That's 3 and 1/2 years. That makes sense to me because that's the midway point of Daniel's 70th week, which is 3 and 1/2 years. I'm I'm tracking. I have no problems with this. All of us should be tracking. Makes all the sense in the world, right?

But then, if we keep reading in Daniel, Daniel begins to mention 1,290 days. This is important prophetically, and this doesn't get talked about a lot. He also mentions 33 1,335 days. That also doesn't get talked about a lot. And people and pastors and and and scholars, they they shy away from this. They're afraid because they don't understand the interpretation or they're like, Well, we're not sure. There's nothing to be afraid of. God's word is right. It will be declared just as he has said. So, if you have 1,260 days, I'll just do some math with you here this morning because there's this inner period where something's going to happen.

Because when he desecrates himself, the people of Israel, Jewish people are going to do what? Flee Jerusalem. They're going to be out there, aren't they? In the wilderness where chapter 12 just said God's going to supernaturally protect them. You with me? What about the time between that and the time at which Christ comes or the beginning of the millennial reign? What about that, right? Like what's going to happen? We We're not told the rest of the story. They just standing out there as if for a day? Is it two days the Jewish people out there?

While the antichrist is trying to exterminate them? What's happening? Daniel. Daniel chapters 12 tell us everything we need to know, verses 11 and 12, okay? Look at verse 11 and 12. It answers. It all fills in the blank, and it just because we're in this passage, I thought apologetically let's go there and look at it. I know I'm taking your time, but we should all understand this because maybe you'll meet somebody that's Jewish and you'll say, Hey, when this happens you may not believe now, but if you get saved during that great tribulation, I want you to know there's going to be 30 days and then 45 days afterwards, you don't give up hope because my God said this is what's going to happen.

They're going to look at you strange, maybe even do one of these. Or maybe they're this way. But either way, they're going to look at you strange. Why? Because how do you know this? Because I took the entire council of God, and I did not shunt here or teach the entire word of God as Paul declared. Daniel chapter 12 verse 11 and 12. From that time that the daily sacrifice is what? Abolished. When does that happen again? Remind me. How many days? Somebody said it a minute ago. 1,260 days. It's when antichrist goes in and desecrates the temple.

They can't have the sacrifice anymore. You with me? So, it has to be at that point. It has to be right in the middle of the great tribulation. It says when that is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up. In other words, there's also going to be after he goes in and you know, defames it, he's going to also put some kind of monument or something in there to represent him, to worship. That's what we That's where we get that idea right here. And it says there will be 1,290 days. So, from the day that antichrist goes in and he declares to be worshiped as God, the peace treaty is broken, all of a sudden we just skipped how many days?

30 days. That's right. Where were the people of Israel during this time being? Were they staying in Jerusalem or did God command them to get out of Jerusalem and go into the wilderness? What do you think the antichrist is going to do during those 30 days? Or excuse me, during that moment he desecrates the temple. What did And I I'm I'm not I want to be very clear here. Um this isn't thus say the Lord, but this is an example for you, a typology. Hitler. When Hitler tried to exterminate the Jews, you do realize the Holocaust in fact did happen.

6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust and many more believe, okay? What did they have to do? And if you would have gone in that area during different places, what did they find later on as they were going and digging around some of those concentration camps? Did they find as the Jewish people would have practiced individual graves? Or did they find mass graves? Where they found bodies laid on top of each other in a way that would have been so disgusting to the Jewish people. You're talking about, and this is important for us to see, and it's hard for my heart because it's hard for your heart probably too, because what this is telling us and connoting to us or giving us an idea is is that when he goes in and he defames God by wanting to be worshiped as God, it doesn't stop there.

He then is going to do what? And we already actually read that in part of another scripture, which is why they're fleeing out of there. What's he going to try to do? Exterminate Israel. Did you know that that he is going to come back, the antichrist? He's not going to just defile the temple. He is going to try to exterminate just like uh Hitler did. And you can go back throughout history of people that have attacked attacked the Jewish people and tried to exterminate the whole population. That's what antichrist is doing. As a matter of fact, in scripture says that they were types of antichrist.

Antichrist have been on the scene, but there's one antichrist. And what he is going to do after he desecrates that temple, he's going to give an order and he's going to say, Kill every single Jew, man, woman, and child. And that's exactly what he's going to decree. And that's why they got to flee. They got to get away, and God's got to supernaturally protect them, chapter 12 verse 6. Now, when you have that kind of death, and I know that's hard because we know people that are Jewish that are living in Israel. It's a secular nation.

And we love the people of Israel, right? God says those who bless Israel will be blessed. Those who curse Israel will be cursed. We love the Jewish people. We We support many ministries in in Israel by sending people over there through other Calvaries and different things like that. We We love the Jewish people. We want them to come to salvation as the scripture prophesied that they will, Jeremiah 31:31. But we have to understand that there's going to come a mass attempted extermination again. And that's before Christ comes back. And literally those who are fortunate to escape it We don't know the numbers.

But you're going to have such a situation that you're going to have bodies piled up upon bodies. There is no way a Jewish person would ever dare to go back in Jerusalem. When you have that kind of death before you. Do you remember the day the 6-Day War? Do you remember some of the other things when they had mass casualties and how God supernaturally But they you had to do the same thing. They had to bury the dead of the Gentile, of the other people that came in to attack them. There's going to have to be mass burials.

That 30 days I truly believe is what that's for. It's to take and to reestablish Israel, which has just been tried to be destroyed, specifically Jerusalem, forgive me, that's been tried or attempted to be destroyed by the antichrist. And so the bodies are going to have to be buried, okay? Because they will not come back into Jerusalem even if Christ comes because they will say, You're not Lord because you told us under the law that we're not allowed to be under death or a dead body because that's an unclean thing. Remember the Jewish mind, law.

Think like they think, not think like the Christian where we know we're no longer under the law. Think like they think, right? So, they're going to turn around and say, I'm not going to That can't be Messiah. If Messiah would come and it was like that, we can't go there. That's not the real Messiah, Jesus because they would say he's violating the law that he had get cuz they don't realize that he fulfilled the law, right? They haven't processed that yet. So, that's one part of it. The second part of it, right? Is after that 30 days.

And by the way, that's a lot of time, but what do you think you would do if after 30 days you saw all your brothers, sisters, people that couldn't make it out, maybe a mom and dad, maybe one of your daughters or your sons or your cousins that you are getting reports back, you're in the wilderness, but you're hearing reports back that cousin James did make it out, your niece Susie who's only five didn't make it out, that that that they were all murdered. What you're mourning? You're broken. You're You're done. You're shot, right? Mentally You're just shot.

You're Okay, so you're sitting there, you're trying to process that. What did you just do at that point also? Because those two witnesses, what were their jobs again? Their jobs were to give the gospel, to give encouragement, and to draw you to what? Salvation in Christ. So, many of those people that are in that wilderness that day are going to give their lives to Christ. How do I know that? Because we're going to read in a little bit about a sheep goat judgment, and only the people that make it through the sheep goat judgment are going to be the people that are in the millennial reign that are still alive.

There's qualifications to getting into the millennial reign. You and I come back, Revelation 19, but those who are alive on the earth that go through the great tribulation have to go through two things. One, they can't be part of the work of the Gentile, in other words, killing their Jews, nobody betraying a Jewish betraying another person. That's an elimination point. And you also can't be found guilty in the goat sheep judgment. I'll show you that here in a minute. If you meet all of those qualifications, you will still be alive in the millennial reign at which time Christ comes and we come down with him in Revelation 19, and we begin to minister.

Guest (Male): That is Pastor Matt Vandervinn on His Perfect Love. We're going through Revelation at the present time, and I'll remind you that you can hear the program again when you visit His Perfect Love dot org. That's His Perfect Love dot org. We're also at one place dot com and look for us wherever you get your podcasts. We also offer a mobile app. This is a great way to take Pastor Matt's teachings with you on the go. You can learn more about the mobile app and start your download when you visit our website, His Perfect Love dot org.

We can't thank you enough for your prayers for this ministry. Please pray that as God's word goes forth, that lives will be greatly impacted for the glory of God, and people would grow by His grace and love or even enter into a relationship with Him. And if you have a prayer request, please send that our way. You can email that to us through our website at His Perfect Love dot org. If you live in the Mechanicsburg PA area, we hope you'll stop by for a visit. Just like you hear on the radio, Pastor Matt teaches verse by verse through the Bible here at Calvary Chapel Harrisburg Westshore.

Sunday morning services begin at 8:30 and 10:30. We have a midweek gathering on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. We're located at 28 North Locus Point Road in Mechanicsburg PA. Go to cc harrisburg dot org for more information. And then join us next time when Pastor Matt will pick up where we left off in Revelation here on His Perfect Love. His Perfect Love is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Harrisburg Westshore.