Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: In the coming tribulation, two witnesses for Jesus Christ will oppose the forces of darkness for three and a half years. Who are these guys? Welcome to Thru the Bible, I'm your host Steve Schwetz, and I'm glad that you popped aboard the Bible bus for another fascinating study in the New Testament book of Revelation.

Through the years, scholars and theologians alike have speculated on who these two witnesses will be. Why is it so important to know? Well, in just a few minutes, Dr. J. Vernon McGee is going to tell us. So go ahead and grab your Bible and open it to the last book of the Bible, Revelation at chapter 11, verse 3. And while you do that, I want to share a few letters from fellow listeners around the world, starting with Elena in Russia.

She says this: When I first listened to your programs, I didn't expect much. I am quite educated and have looked for answers everywhere, but I found no real help. I thought your program would be the same. I'm so glad to admit that I've never been so wrong. I got sucked in, program after program, the time flew by until in one study you talked about despair.

I have lived with depression for a long time, even thinking about suicide at times. I turned to specialists, and there was temporary relief, but then it all came back. In the program, you talked about how we can trust God and seek His help, that I didn't need to go through this alone, that God is with me. I'm tired of trying to deal with this on my own. Please, can you help me? I want the peace you described that can be found in the Lord and guidance from His people.

Well, I'm sure that some of you listening right now can relate to Elena and what she's said. And don't worry, our follow-up team has reached out to her, but will you also pray for her today? Next, we have this letter from David in Portugal, who says: I'm a pastor in a region with very few churches. Let me congratulate you on the work you have been doing on the radio for so many years. It is an excellent way to promote the gospel.

As for testimonies, we have many in my community especially from those who came to know Jesus through you, and I am happy and honored to refer them to you. I have several brothers and sisters here in the church who listen to your Bible study program on the radio or podcast, including my wife. May God bless you.

Last, we got an email from a family in South Korea. While doing the dishes after dinner, it is so nice for us to hear McGee's Bible study. We praise the tremendous work of Christ Jesus. We are especially thankful that we can learn glorious secrets of God's word. Our faith has been growing with each lesson, and we cling to the promise that if you believe in the Lord Jesus, you and your household will be saved.

Great letters, aren't they? Well, if you'd like to join our World Prayer Team in praying for God's word to reach many more listeners like these around the globe, then join us today in our app or at TTB.org. Let's pray as we begin our study together.

Father, thank you for your word that gives us strength and hope as we navigate life's challenges and triumphs. Help us to hear the message that you have for us and to give us courage and conviction to share our love for you with everyone we meet. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Let's turn to Revelation 11 as we travel through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, we are in this section of the trumpets and we're still in that interval between the sixth and seventh trumpets. And this is a weird and wild section, I grant you, and we've tried to move carefully through this section here and not say any more than the word of God has said. And it's mighty hard through this section, friends, for the rubber to meet the road.

We're flying high through this section, and we come now to something else that's quite unusual. And I'm reading verse 3 in my translation and this is the duration of the prophesying of the two witnesses. Will you listen to it? "And I will give to my two witnesses and they shall prophesy 1,200 and three-score days clothed in sackcloth."

There is a great deal of difference of opinion as to the identity of the two witnesses. And they're introduced to us here without any suggestion as to who they are. Godet makes this comment. He says, "They are one of the most startling features of the book." And I'll certainly agree with that.

And let's put down here an axiom or two. One is this: If the identity was essential for the understanding of this book, I think there'd have been some indication given about their persons. But it's always in these areas that the sensational preachers are, as Walter Scott put it, "the wild utterances of prophecy-mongers." Here's where they concentrate in places like this.

They can tell you what the thunders said and John was told not to write it down and he didn't. And here we're given two witnesses and everybody can tell you who they are. And I know that I'm going to get quite a few letters correcting me here as I take up the two witnesses. But may I say that this has led to a course of speculation?

Those that have espoused the historical view of Revelation, they've named such men as John Huss and Pope Sylvester and Waldenson and the two testaments. So you see you could come up with most anything from that viewpoint. But some of our men who hold the futurist view, and that's the view I hold, they're not in complete agreement who they are.

Seiss and Govey say that they're Enoch and Elijah. And the Gospel of Nicodemus contains the following statement and I'm quoting: "I am Enoch who pleased God and was translated by him. And this is Elijah the Tishbite. We are also to live to the end of the age. But then we are about to be sent by God to resist Antichrist and be slain by him and to rise after three days and to be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord." Well, that's another interpretation.

Now Dean Alford and Walter Scott and Donald Grey Barnhouse state that they are Moses and Elijah. And William Newell does a very smart thing, he doesn't even identify them or attempt to identify them. Now, there's another possibility. They could be two unknown witnesses, that is, we don't know who they are yet.

And they are human witnesses, that seems certain from the description given of them. And two is the required number of witnesses according to the law. Back in Deuteronomy 17:6, why we find that it's in the mouth of two witnesses. And did you notice that the Lord Jesus did the same thing relative to the church?

For he made the statement over in Matthew the 18th chapter, verse 16. He says, "But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." Always in scripture it required two witnesses to bear testimony to anything before it was to be heard.

So we can definitely say they are human beings and that there're two of them. And those are the two things that we know for sure. Now, it seems to me to be almost certain that Elijah's one of them. It was predicted he would return. In Malachi 4:5, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord."

Then the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 17:11, "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come and restore all things." So that it would seem that Elijah is one of them. That we can say with a certain degree of assurance. But what about the other one? It's said in Revelation 11:4 that these two witnesses are two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.

And have you ever noticed that that was a favorite expression of Elijah? He walks out on the page of scripture in First Kings 17:1, and he says, "As the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand." These are two lampstands, they are lights in the world, and that is what we have before us here.

And the presence of Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration further suggests this, but it would necessitate of course the second witness being Moses, which is more difficult to sustain and after all, the Mount of Transfiguration isn't the only point of similarity. Now, I want to make a suggestion, and that's all it is. I wouldn't be dogmatic on this and I wouldn't argue about it.

But I suggest that John the Baptist is the second witness. He was the forerunner of Christ at his first coming. He was similar to Elijah in manner and message, and I'm sure those two fellows would get along with each other. Both knew what it was to oppose the forces of darkness and stand alone for God against impossible odds.

They've had good training in the past. John the Baptist would be the witness of the New Testament as Elijah would be the witness of the Old Testament. And John the Baptist actually was not part of the church, the bride of Christ, but was a friend of the bridegroom. He wasn't the bride, he was a friend of the bridegroom.

Now it seems unlikely that Enoch would be one of the witnesses since he was a Gentile. And the very fact that he did not die does not qualify him for the office, for by the time you come here in the great tribulation period, why the church has already been translated and some of them were translated without dying, so you could pick your witness out of that crowd whoever they are going to be.

And so I would say with some assurance that it is Elijah, one of them. Oh, who the other one is, your guess is as good as mine. All right, now we have a thousand two hundred and three-score days. And the significant feature about the two witnesses is not their identity, but the time they appear.

It is, I think, during the first half or the last half of the great tribulation period, which is right here. Well, to me it would seem the first half because they testify until the beast appears and then they are martyred. And he appears in the midst of the week as he is in his real character, the beast.

And they're clothed in sackcloth is the garb better suited to the period of the law than of grace. It's becoming to both Elijah and John the Baptist. Now I want to read verses 4 and 5 in my translation. "These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone wishes to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies, and if anyone wishes to hurt them, thus must he be killed."

Now, everything here is associated with the Old Testament, you see. We have here the lampstands and we have the two olive trees. And that takes us back to Zechariah the fourth chapter. Since it was not too long ago that we studied Zechariah and I at that time told you that you'd need to know Zechariah to understand the book of Revelation, and here is one instance of it.

These men are the lampstands, they're two individuals. Back in Zechariah 4, it was Joshua and Zerubbabel, and they were enabled by the Holy Spirit to stand against insurmountable difficulties. And the explanation is found in the words, "not by might, nor by power," and we could translate that "not by brain, nor by brawn, but by my Spirit," saith the Lord of hosts.

And therefore Zechariah 4:6 says the Holy Spirit will be present, and he will be present during the great tribulation period. And these two witnesses are lights before the powers of darkness. These men are accorded miraculous power to bring fire down from heaven. They're filled with the Holy Spirit and here again is the suggestion in favor of Elijah, of course. And also John made an announcement, you remember, about one baptizing with fire.

Now these two witnesses are immortal and they're immune to all attacks until their mission is completed. And friends, this does have a message for us. It does get down to the nitty-gritty where we are today. It's encouraging to know that all of God's men are immortal until he's through with them.

That's one reason that I have had a very weak and feeble faith that during all of the trouble that I've had in this five-year program, I have had two operations for cancer and the cancer is now gone, apparently, at least it hasn't appeared in several years. And I've had two major operations, first for gallbladder and then for the liver duct.

And I'll be honest with you, there were times when I wondered whether I'd make it through or not. But I prayed to God and asked people to pray and so many wrote and said, "We are praying that God will let you finish the five-year program." Now these men, as we said, are immortal and God's men are until God is through with them. That's a wonderful comforting thought for today, friends. And when he's through with you, he'll remove you.

Now verse 6, "These have the authority," and this is exousia power which is authority, "to shut up the heaven that the rain may not wet during the days of their prophecy, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they wish."

Now this is the thing that has caused certain outstanding men to choose Elijah, for he's the man that stopped the rain. And also Moses was the one who brought the plagues upon Egypt, and they may have good ground for that. But anything you say about the two witnesses is speculation, of course.

Now these two witnesses were granted, you can see, unlimited authority. They control rainfall on the earth and they are able to turn the water into blood. That certainly reminds us of both Elijah and Moses. And they're able to smite, they're given the same power Christ will have when he returns and we'll see that in Revelation 19:15.

"Every plague" suggests the plagues Moses imposed on Egypt, but the plagues here are greater in number as the territory of course is more vast. And "as often as they wish," that reveals the confidence God places in these faithful servants. Did you know God can't trust you and me with power?

And he can't trust some of us with money. Apparently, he wasn't able to trust me with very much. And he doesn't trust us with power. That's the reason that many men are removed from office. God removes them from office after a period of time, and time's always on his side. Why? Because he can't trust man with power. And it's a good thing many of us do not have it.

Now verse 7, "And when they shall have finished their testimony, the wild beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them and overcome them and kill them." Now they'll finish their testimony. And in the midst of the week, that's when Antichrist who is the beast, who is the man of sin, who is moving to power bringing back first the Roman Empire, and then when he gets the whole world under his control, then he won't hesitate to overcome and destroy these two witnesses.

And at that time he'll be permitted to do that. In other words, this is the temporary victory of darkness over light, evil over righteousness, hell over heaven, and Satan over God because God is going to let Satan loose during this period. And these witnesses live up to their names. Martus is the word for witness, we get our word martyr from there.

Now verse 8, "And their dead bodies shall lie upon the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where also their Lord was crucified." Now they're not even given a decent burial. And this reveals the crude cold barbarism of the last days. It'll be covered with the thin veneer of culture, and that's ours today, by the way.

There is a strange resemblance to the sadistic curiosity which placed two dead men, Lenin and Stalin, on display in Red Square in Moscow. The word used for bodies denotes the contempt and hatred the world has for the two witnesses. They're treated as dead animals.

And the great city is Jerusalem and it's likened unto Sodom by Isaiah. It's called Egypt because the world has entered into every fiber of its life, social and political. It is conclusively identified as Jerusalem by the sad designation "where also their Lord was crucified."

Now verse 9, "And out of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do some gaze upon their dead bodies to be put in a tomb." You see after Christ was crucified, even Pilate permitted his friends to take down the body and give it a respectable burial. But not so with the two witnesses for the world will be startled to hear that they're dead and some will be skeptical.

And apparently they'll have something that corresponds to a television camera. And they will have a satellite that will carry it all over the world. So that people everywhere will be able to look upon the features of these for three days and a half. The morbid curiosity of a godless society will relish the opportunity of gazing with awe upon these dead bodies.

And I think this is the worst indignity that a depraved world could vent upon the men who denounced them in their wicked ways. Now perhaps the witnesses had predicted their resurrection. We're not told that, but they might have. And to prevent the possibility of another empty tomb, there was no burial.

Just leave them out there and keep the camera on them. I think CBS and the other networks, NBC, ABC, and XYZ, all of them will have their cameras pointed on these boys that are dead. And three days and a half, there they lie. And then something happens.

Verse 10, "And the dwellers upon the earth rejoice over them, make merry, shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented the dwellers on the earth." Now they have high carnival on the earth. The world engages in a modern Christmas and Mardi Gras both rolled into one.

And the world has adopted the philosophy, "let us eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die." And Dr. Newell describes it like this: "Now comes the real revelation of the heart of man. Glee, horrid, insane, inhuman, hellish, ghoulish glee. Mankind rejoicing over the death and they're going to send gifts one to another. They are going to make a lovely occasion on the surface, but this is the devil's Christmas."

The modern celebration of Christmas, I think today gets farther and farther from the birth of Christ and closer and closer to paganism. And the day will come when it'll be anti-Christmas, almost that now. And here is the celebration of what Antichrist has done rather than the celebration of the coming of Christ to Bethlehem.

Now in verse 11 I read, "And after the three days and a half, the breath of life from God entered into them and they stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon them that beheld them." You see while the world is celebrating in jubilation the death of these witnesses and the television cameras are focused upon them, the witnesses will stand on their feet.

And all of the networks will regret that they had the cameras pointed to them because they didn't want to really give the news as it is. And they stood upon their feet. This is the scriptural word for resurrection, by the way, of the tribulation saints who have part in the first resurrection.

Now I suppose that any news like this would be a scoop, but I'm sure that all of the networks would have their cameras on it. Now by that time they may have some new gadget that makes the television look very much antiquated and out of place. Now verse 12, "And they heard a great voice out of heaven saying to them, 'Come up here,' and they went up into heaven in a cloud and the enemies beheld them."

Now they're caught up into heaven. You see, we have the resurrection of the two witnesses in verse 11. We have the ascension of the two witnesses in verse 12. And the cloud of glory is associated with the ascension and the coming of Christ also. We have here the doom of the second woe and the great earthquake in verses 13 and 14.

And I see that we've come to the end of our time period and our 42 months is over here, and we're going to have to call a halt. But we'll finish this chapter next time and may God richly bless you, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: Well, ride the Bible bus for five years and you'll be amazed at what God teaches you from His word about what it means to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. It's a blessing that keeps on going. That's what we believe at Thru the Bible.

If you'd like to listen to this message again, or maybe look at some resources to help you dig deeper in your own personal study of Revelation, why don't you check out our app, call 1-800-65-BIBLE or visit TTB.org. And when you're in touch, let us know how or where you listen, whether it's by radio, our app, YouTube, or some other way.

Not only do we want to know so that we can make wise use of ministry resources, but if you listen on local radio stations, sharing the call letters is really helpful to them as well. So let us know. I'm Steve Schwetz, grateful for your company on the Bible bus.