From: Marilyn Agee
Re: Timing of the ministry of the two witnesses
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/nov2006/1cor1031-112.htm
--------Hi:
> > Overall, I believe that most of Revelation is written in chronological order & that being the case, was curious why the ministry of the 2 witnesses was not even mentioned till chapter 11.
Overall, Revelation does progress in chronological order, but there are parenthetic sections. Three of these are between the 6th and 7th seals, between the 6th and 7th trumpets, and between the 6th and 7th vials. In any parenthetic section, we have to look for match marks to see where they belong in the overall scheme.
Chapter 11:1-13 is inserted between the 6th and 7th trumpets. Starting with verse 14, the rest of the chapter is about what happens at the 7th trumpet. That part is introduced in 10:7, which says, "But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." Therefore, Rev. 11:14-19 takes place at the end of the shorten! ed Great Tribulation, the last half of the Tribulation. It is when the asteroids of Rev. 8:8 and 10 impact Earth. At that time, the worldwide earthquake will cause every wall to fall (Eze. 38:20).
Rev. 11:1-13 takes place during the first half of the Tribulation. The earthquake that strikes Jerusalem 3.5 days after Mid-Trib is severe, a tenth of the city will fall and 7000 will die, but it is local, not worldwide. Roughly speaking, because that time will be shortened, the Great Tribulation has a local earthquake after 3.5 days and a worldwide earthquake after 3.5 years.
Chapter 11:1-13 is also introduced in chapter 10. John is given a little book and told in verse 11, "Thou must prophesy again". Chapter 11 begins at the beginning of the Tribulation, as do chapters 13 and 17.
Rev. 11:7 mentions "the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit. That is Satan, Mid-Trib. In Rev. 12:9, Satan is "cast out into the earth." In 17:8, he then comes up out of t! he earth and goes into the False Prophet, the second son of perdition, who them becomes "the tail" of Isa. 9:15. It says, "The ancient and honourable, he is the head (6th head of the great red dragon); and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail (and the 7th head).
Judas Iscariot was the first son of perdition. These two sons of perdition are the only men that Satan himself enters into.
> > if the 2 witnesses do not show up till the GREAT tribulation, then this may offer yet more reason as to why we may possibly be gathered together yet this very year!
We may be caught up at Hannukah--this year. It follows Kislev 24, after which the Lord will bless a certain group (see Haggai 2:18,19). I believe that Jesus will bring the two witnesses, Moses and Elijah, with him at the Rapture. They will be left to prophesy during the next 3.5 years.
I think Rev. 11:1-3 starts off at the time of the Pre-Trib Rapture. John is told to "Rise" as if floating up to Heaven in the Rapture. He is to "measure the temple of God, ! and the altar, and them that worship therein." The church is the temple of the Holy Spirit, God's building (I Cor. 3:9). After the Rapture, the holy city of Jerusalem will be tread under foot by Gentiles.
It looks like the last 40 days preceding the Rapture are like the 40 days of rain in Noah's day. This is contrasted by the lack of rain in the first half of the Tribulation. Rev. 11:6 says of the two witnesses, "These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy".
> > Okay, what first struck me is that the world is going to SEE their resurrection and rapture!!
The Rapture will also be seen by many. Psa. 40:1-3 says, "I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined (bent down) unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay (as Jeremiah was pulled up out of the miry pit), and set my feet upon a rock (Heaven, i.e., Saturn), and established my goings (at the Rap! ture). And he hath put a new song (sung in Rev. 5:9) in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it (i.e., the Rapture), and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. "
> > Now, Rev. 11:10 speaks of people the world over CELEBRATING their “sick joy” of the death of the 2 witnesses – they "make merry" and even send gifts to each other.
I could see the Palestinians making merry and giving gifts to one another when the two witnesses are killed. They have given out candy and danced in the streets over much less than that. The merry-making could easily spread around the world, because it is after the Rapture. As they will be glad to be rid of many Christians, they will be glad to be rid of God's two witnesses.
Their merry-making will be short-lived, however, because an earthquake at Jerusalem will kill 7000. Haven't you noticed that already, when things are said or done against Israel, terrible acts of God strike Earth somewhere? In Rev. 11:13, we find that the "remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of hea! ven." At the end of 3.5 days, unbelievers will get a little taste of what will come at the end of that 3.5 years.
> > And while I'm not interested in debating this necessarily ~ cause the bold faced truth is, they ARE going to be here for half the period of Jacob's trouble, regardless of which half, simply because the Bible says they are!!
I think Jacob's trouble will be just one long day. It will be Jesus' Long Day. Jesus is similar to Joshua in Hebrew. Joshua's Long Day was the forerunner of the Day of the Lord that will begin the Millennial Reign of Christ.
Daniel 12:1,2 shows that the time of trouble is just one day. It says, "And at that time (when the False Prophet will be deposed, 11:45) shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivere! d, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. "
This will be the day of the Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Tribulation saints as well as the time when the two asteroids of Rev. 8:8 and 10 will impact Earth. No other day will be like this single day--ever.
Jer 30:7 says of that one day, "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it."
> > It’s IMO that the bowl judgments will all be placed during an approximate span of the last couple of weeks of the tribulation.
I think the bowl/vial judgments will be spread over the 7 months of Eze. 39:12,13, when Israelites will be burying of the dead to cleanse the land for the glorious return of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. The Day of God's Wrath will be on the Feast of Trumpets, Tishri 1. Christ's return will be on the following Nisan 1 in a Hebrew Leap Year. That will be the first day of the Hebrew Regnal Year. Jesus will return on the same day all the other Hebrew Kings officially took office.
The trumpet judgments are immediate effects of the asteroid impacts. The vials of wrath are the effects over a longer space of time. For instance, In Rev. 8:9, the "third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died." In Rev. 16:3, "every living soul died in the sea."
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Agape,
Marilyn Agee
mjagee1@earthlink.net
http://prophecycorner.com/agee/index.html