Lampstand Summary
We have seen how
lampstands are used in prophecy. In
Zechariah’s day, there was one
lampstand with seven lampstands on it
that stood before the Lord. The
lampstand represented the nation of
Israel, the chosen agent or
trustee of God’s Word. In
John’s day, there were seven
lampstands, each lampstand
representing a church – the chosen
agent or trustee of God’s
Word. Then, the seven lampstands
disappeared. Now, we ask, who are the
two lampstands in Revelation 11?
God’s law is His chosen agent
at the end of the Age. God has proven
with Jews and Christians alike that
human beings cannot be trusted as
agents of His law. One lampstand
represents the first tablet of stone
and the other represents the second
tablet of stone. The law of the Lord
is changeless, a perfect light of
displacing darkness. The law of God
is the plumb line of Truth. The law
is found and explained in the Word of
God and it testifies about the
actions of the living. Our actions
during the Great Tribulation will be
measured by the law’s definition
of true vertical (the Truth).
One last point. When
we studied the seven seals, we
learned that the second seal was
opened in 1800. The rider on the red
horse went throughout Earth with a
large sword. That sword represents
the Word of God that has been widely
translated and distributed throughout
the world. God raised up numerous
Bible Societies at the beginning of
the nineteenth century for the
purpose of distributing His Word. In
Revelation 11, the purpose for
distributing the Bibles becomes
self-evident. The Word of God (or
portions of it) has been distributed
throughout the world. When the Great
Tribulation begins, the Holy Spirit
will empower 144,000 to proclaim
God’s law. The 144,000 will
present the law of God with clarity
and with great power, and sincere
people will be “cut to the
heart” through the power of the
Holy Spirit. The wicked will be
enraged by the law of God and they
will persecute those who obey the
gospel of Christ. To take this one
step further, Jesus Himself will
speak through the 144,000. The
testimony of Jesus will be heard and
this will cause people to give
God’s law due consideration.
Make no mistake about this, the
gospel of Jesus will be preached, as
a witness to all nations, and then
the end shall come. (Matthew 24:14)
Two Olive Trees: Early
Rain / Latter Rain
There were two major
harvests each year in ancient Israel.
The first harvest came from winter
crops that were harvested in the
spring. First fruits from the winter
crops were presented to the Lord at
the Feast of Weeks (also called the
Feast of Pentecost) The second
harvest came with the summer crops
that were harvested in the fall.
First fruits from the fall harvest
were presented to the Lord at the
Feast of Ingathering (the Feast of
Tabernacles). (Exodus 23:16; 34:22)
Given Israel’s latitude in the
northern hemisphere, the fall harvest
was the largest and most abundant.
Generally speaking, these were two
cycles of rain per crop. They were
called “the early rain” and
“the latter rain.” (Joel
2:23) It is important to note that
the names of the two rains were
relative to their harvest, not the
time of the year. This topic is
important because the Holy Spirit is
represented as Two Trees in
Revelation 11. The work of the Holy
Spirit can be described as two rains.
(James 5:7) The first
“rain” of the Holy Spirit
is to engage us spiritually.
The Holy Spirit
‘rains down” on everyone at
birth and this gift from God
demonstrates His great compassion for
fallen man – long before we
could even know or want to know Him.
Gods want every sinner
to become a spiritual being. He wants
us to overcome sin and live
victorious lives. He is not willing
that any person should be lost. (2
Peter 3:9) The problem is that fallen
man does not naturally feel any need
for a Savior, but our need of a
Savior is far greater than that of
having a “warm fuzzy.” We
need a Savior to give us power to do
what is right when the price of
righteousness is great. We need a
Savior who empowers us to forgive our
debtors and love the unlovely. We
need a Savior who will comfort us for
doing right – even though the
heavens may fall. Most of all, we
need a Savior who has died in our
place and paid the penalty for our
sins. There is great peace and joy in
having a Savior.
The Holy Spirit is
anxious that we hear the gospel of
Jesus because the truth about Jesus
and our need for a Savior comes from
hearing the Word of God. (Romans
10:17; 1 Corinthians 1:18-21) After
hearing the terms and conditions of
the gospel, the Holy Spirit is
sometimes able to bring a person to
repentance. The Spirit enables us to
see ourselves as God sees us and this
view is rather shocking. Suddenly,
our need for a Savior becomes
uppermost.
Once a person totally
surrenders his will to Jesus and His
teachings, the Holy Spirit causes the
“born again experience” to
occur. The born again experience is
like the early rain in ancient
Israel. Just before the early rain
came, seeds were planted, and of
course, the early rain and the
sunshine that followed caused the
seeds to germinate and grow. In a few
days, the bare ground produced new
life! Once the seed of truth is
planted in good soil, the Holy Spirit
will ”rain down” on the
thirsty soul and overnight, signs of
new life will appear. This is the
“early rain” experience.
Whether it is a summer
crop (representing early in life) or
a winter crop (representing late in
life), the rain that produces the
harvest is the latter rain. The world
has never experienced the latter rain
of the Holy Spirit, but it will only
occur during the Great Tribulation.
For 1,260 days, the law of God will
be presented with power and clarity,
and the Holy Spirit will pound on
every heart. The contest will be
difficult and painful. Those who
submit to the law of God will suffer
the penalties of Babylon. Those who
submit to the laws of Babylon will
receive the seven bowls and lose
eternal life. Each person’s
decision will be thoroughly tested.
When a person passes his test of
faith, the righteousness of Christ
will be imparted to that
person. The Holy Spirit will remove
the carnal nature and seal that
“faith-full” person with a
sinless nature like that of Adam and
Eve before they fell. (Genesis 3:7;
Colossians 1:27; Romans 1:17;
Revelation 7:1-4; 10:7) The sealing
will be caused by the latter rain
experience. This experience is also
called “receiving the seal of
the living God.” (Revelation
7:2) When Jesus concludes the sealing
of His people, the saints will no
longer need an intercessor or
mediator in Heaven. The sins of the
righteous will have been transferred
to the scapegoat and God’s
children will have sinless natures
“sealed” within them. Jesus
will then declare the end of His
judgment bar with this declaration:
“Let him who does
wrong continue to do wrong; let him
who is vile continue to be vile; let
him who does right continue to do
right; and let him who is holy
continue to be holy.”
(Revelation 22:11) These words
declare the latter rain has fallen
and the harvest is finished.
Review
We have examined the
following:
1.
John saw Jesus descend from Heaven to
take control of Earth and select the
144,000.
2.
John, representing one of the
144,000, is given a little book to
eat. This book, like the book given
to Ezekiel, contains the words that
the 144,000 will speak during the
Great Tribulation.
3.
Jesus will take an oath, promising
the Father that He will carry out the
plans given to Him. Jesus then
declares there will be no more delay.
The censer comes down. The first four
trumpets begin.
4.
John, as one of the 144,000, is told
to prophesy again (preach a true
gospel). The 144,000 will notify the
world that the judgment bar of Christ
is underway.
5.
John was given a measuring rod and
told to count the inner court and to
ignore the outer court. The inner
court will consist of sheep. The
outer court will be filled with
goats.
6.
Jesus will empower His Two Witnesses
for 1,260days.
7.
The Two Witnesses are the two
lampstands and the two olive trees
that stand before Him in
Heaven’s temple. The two olive
trees represent the two
“rains” of the Holy Spirit.
The two lampstands represent the two
tablets of the Ten Commandments.
8.
The power given to the Two Witnesses
will flow through the 144,000. In
other words, the Two Witnesses will
speak and work through the 144,000 to
save as many souls as possible.
Now that we have a
basic understanding of John’s
experience as one of the 144,000, as
well as the identity and the role of
the Two Witnesses, the rest of the
story in Revelation 11 is not
difficult to understand.
