The Rest of the Story
“And I will
give power to my two witnesses, and
they will prophesy [through the
144,000] for 1,260 days, clothed
in sackcloth [during distressing
circumstances]. These are the two
olive trees [the two phases of
the Holy Spirit’s work] and
the two lampstands [the Ten
Commandments written on two tablets
of stone] that stand before [that
is, these items are positioned
before] the Lord of the earth
[who rules from His temple in Heaven].
If anyone tries to harm them, fire
comes from their mouths and devours
their enemies [at the appointed
time, God will destroy those who
reject the testimony of His Witnesses
with fire]. This is how anyone who
wants to harm them must die.” (Revelation
11:3-5; 20:15)
The Bible and the Holy
Spirit will be supernaturally empowered
for 1,260 days. The world has never
seen the “latter rain
power” of the Holy Spirit or a
situation like the one that will be
caused by the first four trumpets.
God’s wrath will tear down the
foolishness that preoccupies people,
and overnight, the Bible will become
the most important book on Earth. For
1,260 days, 144,000 servants of God
will be “gifted” with the
empowerment of God’s Two
Witnesses and a great contest for
souls will unfold. There will be
intense hatred for those who choose
to obey God, but there will be
genuine love among those who receive
the gospel of Jesus. Were it not for
the special protection that the Holy
Spirit will give the 144,000, they
would be easy prey. In fact, wicked
men would kill the 144,000 long
before they could accomplish their
task. I believe the language, “If
anyone tries to harm them, fire comes
from their mouths and devours their
enemies” means the 144,000
will remain invincible until
they have completed their God given
work. (See Jeremiah 5:14) God does
not allow anything to stop them from
their mission until their job is done
and the caricature of a
fire-breathing dragon indicates their
invincibility.
In ancient times, when
it was believed that Earth was flat,
sailors believed that fire-breathing
dragons that lived under the Earth.
If a ship sailed too far out in the
ocean, the sailors believed it would
be consumed by fire breathing beasts
that men could not destroy. (See Job
40.) The phrase, “This is how
anyone who wants to harm them must
die.” is a divine promise.
Even though the 144,000 cannot be
killed until their work is done, God
will treat those attempting to harm
God’s servants as though they
did harm them because that was their
intent. The destiny of these wicked
people will be death by fire at the
Second Coming (Revelation 19:20) or
at the end of the 1,000 years.
(Revelation 20:15)
“These [the
Two Witnesses] men [the word
“men” is supplied by
translators, it is not in the Greek
text] have power to shut up the
sky so that it will not rain during
the time they are prophesying [See
1 Kings 17:1. The Holy Spirit told
King Ahab through the prophet Elijah
there would be no more rain. God has
used famine a number of times to
punish nations for their rebellion.
See also 2 Samuel 21, Jeremiah 11 and
Ezekiel 5:12-17.] And they [like
Moses and Aaron, the 144,000 will] have
power to turn the waters into blood
and to strike the earth with every
kind of plague as often as they want.
Now when they have finished their
testimony, the beast [that is,
the lamb-like beast in Revelation
13:11-18] that comes up from the
Abyss [Lucifer, the Antichrist,
who comes up out of the Abyss at the
fifth trumpet. Revelation 9:1-11] will
attack them, and overpower and kill
them.” (Revelation 11:6,7)
Note: In the
chapter on the seven trumpets, we
investigated the first global
earthquake at length – the
earthquake marks the commencement of
the Great Tribulation. (Revelation
8:5) I present the idea that the
first global earthquake will break up
the world into 144,000 cells with one
of the 144,000 located in each cell.
We also investigated the destruction
of one third of mankind during the
sixth trumpet. (Revelation 9:15) You
may recall that Lucifer sets up his
theocracy during the sixth trumpet
and all who refuse to abandon their
religion and worship him as Lord of
lords and King of kings will be
targeted for slaughter. (Revelation
13:15)
These matters congeal
in a simple way. When everyone in a
given cell has firmly made their
decision – for or against the
gospel – the prophet working
that cell will have completed his
assignment. Because everyone in each
geographic cell has either been
sealed or received the mark of the
beast, the work and influence of the
Two Witnesses will end.
Lucifer’s forces will then be
permitted to kill most, if not all,
of the 144,000. If any of the 144,000
remains alive, they will not be able
to work miracles or speak with power
after the 1,260th day. I
do not expect all of the 144,000 to
die on the same day. I do not expect
all of the 144,000 to die on the same
day. However, I do believe that most,
if not all, of God’s servants
will be dead on or before the 1,260th
day of the Great Tribulation.
It was the custom in
ancient times for kings to leave
bodies of their enemy lying in the
streets to show contempt for their
rebellion. In this sense, “Their
bodies [of the 144,000, the arms
and legs of the Two Witnesses] will
lie in the street of the great city [the
great whore, the universal city of
“Babylon the Great”],
which is figuratively called Sodom [because
she is like Sodom, full of people
controlled by passions of greed and
sexual immorality] and Egypt
[who, like Pharaoh, hardened his
heart ten times], where also their
Lord was crucified. [Jesus was
not crucified in Sodom or Egypt,
however, Jesus did say that
spiritually speaking, Jerusalem was
worse than Sodom and Egypt! Luke
10:12, 11:31,32] For three and a
half days men from every people,
tribe, language and nation [all
over the world] will gaze on their
bodies [of God’s servants] and
refuse them burial. (Revelation
11:8)
Since the topic was
addressed near the beginning g of
this study, two summary points will
be made. First, the great city is the
great whore, Lucifer’s
theocracy, which will set up during
the sixth trumpet. (Revelation 17:18)
Lucifer’s theocracy is also
called “the image to the
beast” a modified replica of
Babylon’s original church-state.
(Revelation 13:15) The
great city is not a geographical
location on Earth. Instead, the great
city is a governing system that
encompasses the whole world. In other
words, the bodies of the Two
Witnesses (actually, the bodies of
the 144,000 through whom the Two
Witnesses speak) are not going to be
viewed at a particular street address
in a given city. Geographically
speaking, the dead bodies of the
144,000 will be found all over the
world.
Second, the language,
“bodies lying in the
street,” shows gross contempt.
Consider these two passages that
speak of God’s anger toward
Israel: “Therefore the
Lord’s anger burns against his
people; his hand is raised and he
strikes them down. The mountains
shake, and the dead bodies
are like refuse in the streets.
Yet for all this, his anger is not
turned away, his hand is still
upraised.” (Isaiah 5:25)
“Therefore,
this is what the Lord says about the
prophets who are prophesying in my
name: I did not send them, yet they
are saying, “No sword or famine
will touch this land.’ Those
same prophets will perish by sword
and famine. And the people
are prophesying to will be thrown out
into the streets of
Jerusalem because of the
famine and sword. There will be no
one to bury them or their
wives, their sons or their daughters.
I will pour out on them the calamity
they deserve.” (Jeremiah
14:15,16, italics mine)
When the 144,000 are
killed, no one will care enough to
even bury them. The wicked will
despise the 144,000 and the remaining
saints will be hiding from the
wicked. Finally, notice that Jesus
will avenge the death of His
servants. (Jeremiah 51:6; Revelation
18:6) When Jesus arrives at the
Second Coming, He will throw the
beast (the leopard-like beast,
Babylon) and the false prophet
(Lucifer) into a lake of fire and He
will kill the remaining wicked with a
command that comes out of His mouth.
(Revelation 19:19-21) The bodies of
the wicked will also lie in the
street of the great city “….
and the birds gorged themselves on
their flesh.” (Revelation
19:21) The righteous meet the Lord in
the air before the wicked are slain.
No one will be left on Earth to bury
the dead.
Day 1,265
“The
inhabitants of the earth will gloat [rejoice]
over them [the bodies of the
144,000] and will celebrate by
sending each other gifts, because
these two prophets had tormented
those who live on the earth. [For
1,260 days, the Holy Spirit and
God’s Word will torment each
person spiritually until he or she
either (1) submits to the gospel of
Jesus, or (2) grieves away the Holy
Spirit and commits the unpardonable
sin.
(Revelation 14:11) By
the time the 1,26oth day is reached,
every decision will have been made
and a large majority will rejoice to
be set free from the torment caused
by the Two Witnesses.] But [their
celebration over the deaths of the
144,000 will prove to be premature
because] after three and half days
a breath of life from God entered
them [the 144,000], and they [came
to life and] stood on their feet,
and terror struck those who saw them
[the wicked, particularly those who
participated in killing them].
(Revelation 11:10,11)
What is the point of
gazing on the bodies of the 144,000
for three and one-half days? Why is
there a factional part of a day in
this prophecy when all other
prophetic time periods in Daniel and
Revelation are given as whole days?
There may be several reasons behind
God’s plan for doing this, but I
can think of one. We know that God
measures a day from sundown to
sundown. (Genesis 1; Leviticus 23:32)
For the sake of discussion, suppose
the 1,260 days end on a Tuesday,
February 3 at sundown (local time).
About twelve hours later, at sunrise
local time, Wednesday morning,
February 4, Lucifer announces the
144,000 have been annihilated and the
wicked begin celebrating. Their
drunken celebration continues through
Wednesday (the day light part, that
is, half a day), Thursday, Friday,
and Sabbath. After three and one-half
days end, the 144,000 are resurrected
during the early morning hours) like
Jesus) on Sunday, February 8. I like
to imagine something like this
happening: Even though it is still
dark, a glorious light illumines each
dead prophet as he or she comes to
life. They walk about. Word breaks
out and everyone goes out to see
them. The wicked are totally undone
– overcome with trembling and
anxiety. Then, a loud voice from
Heaven says to the 144,000,
“Come up here.”
If this scenario is
possible, the timing becomes
interesting because first fruits were
always presented to the Lord on a
Sunday in ancient times. Jesus
Himself, the first fruits of the dead
(1 Corinthians 15:20), presented
Himself to the Father on Sunday
morning! (John 20: 1,17) Since the
144,000 will be the first fruits of a
numberless multitude who will come
out of the Great Tribulation, it is
more than coincidental that they
should be presented to God on Sunday.
“These are those who did not
defile themselves with women, for
they kept themselves pure. They
follow the Lamb wherever he goes.
They were purchased from among men
and offered as firstfruits to
God and the Lamb.” (Revelation
14:4, italics mine)
“Then they [the
144,000] heard a loud voice from
heaven saying to them, ‘Come up
here.’ And they went to heaven
in a cloud [of glory], while
their enemies looked on. At that very
hour [all over the world]
there was a severe earthquake and a
tenth of the city [a portion of
the great whore] collapsed. Seven
thousand people {Lucifer’s
employees] were killed in the
earthquake, and the survivors
[the saints who are in hiding or
awaiting death in dungeons and
prisons] were terrified and gave
glory to the God of heaven. The
second woe [the sixth trumpet] has
passed; the third woe [the seven
bowls] is coming soon.” (Revelation
11:12-14)
Seventh Trumpet
We examined the
details of the seventh trumpet (which
follows the resurrection and
ascension of the 144,000) in the
previous study. There is no need to
go over those details again. However,
there is one interesting point that
should be emphasized. During the
seventh trumpet, the Ark of the
Covenant will be displayed from
Heaven. The whole world will be the
box that contains one of the Two
Witnesses! Even though this matter
was also discussed at length in the
previous study, it is important to
understand that the people on Earth
will be clearly divided. One group
will have the plumb line of
God’s law written in their
hearts and minds (Hebrews 8:10-12)
while the other group will be branded
with an indelible tattoo showing that
they preferred rebellion and
defiance.
Finally, it is
important to notice that the 144,000
will be glorified in the eyes of the
wicked before they are taken to
Heaven. God’s true prophets
will be taken to Heaven to watch the
destruction of the false prophet,
Lucifer. Their grueling 1,260 days
are over and all that remains to be
done on Earth is the execution of the
seven bowls – God’s
merciless vengeance on then wicked.
When Jesus appears at the Second
Coming, 144,000 ordinary prophets
will return with Him. At that time, a
numberless multitude of people from
every nation, people, language, and
tribe who heard and received
salvation through the sacrifice and
suffering of 144,000 ordinary people,
will rise in the air to meet the
144,000, who were empowered by the
Holy Spirit to preach the law of God.
Given the miserable failures of
Israel (the single lampstand) and
Christians (the seven lampstands),
the harvest produced by God’s
Two Witnesses will be awesome –
and the word awesome will prove to be
a gross understatement.
“And everyone
who has left houses or brothers or
sisters or father or mother or
children or fields for my sake will
receive a hundred times as much and
will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew
19:29)
