And when their [the two witnesses'] testimony is finished, the beast who comes up from the abyss will make war with them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And some from every people and tribe and language and nation will gaze on their bodies for three and a half days, and they will not permit their bodies to be placed in a tomb. Those who live on the earth will rejoice over them, celebrate, and send gifts to one another because these prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. But after three and a half days the breath of life from God entered into them and they stood up on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them. Rev. 11:7-11.
After the close of the 1200 days a dying world receives a final message. The abyss is the home of demons, the place where God confines them (Luke 8:31). So the beast from the abyss is either Satan of some evil power controlled by Satan. Around the time of the French Revolution, many people saw the events of their day forecast in this text. They believed that the attack on the two witnesses represented the atheist onslaught against the Bible during the revolution.
Rejection is painful, especially when you care deeply about those who spurn you. In ancient times people considered it the ultimate rejection to the refused burial (1 Kings 21:23, 24; Jer. 8:1, 2 and 14:16; Ps. 79:2, 3) after one's death. And not only were the two witnesses left lying in the street, the wicked celebrated their humiliation be sending each other gifts, as the Jews did after their deliverance in the time of Esther (Esther 9:19, 22).
But God reverses this shame by breathing the breath of life back into the two witnesses. Their resurrection fills their enemies with great fear. One of the consequences of the French Revolution was a great revival of interest in the Bible. The great Bible societies organized during the following decades. So while the greatest attack against the Bible occurred in the 1700s, the 1800s saw the Word spread more widely than at any time in history.
It is interesting how enemies can become united in their common opposition to God's people. Lifelong enemies, Pilate and Herod, reconciled through their rejection of Christ (Luke 23:12). Sometimes parents are more willing to see their children become secular, or even criminals, than to join some other denomination. Nothing brings people together like opposition to God and His people, and that will certainly be the case in the last days.
Lord, I want to seek the kind of unity that draws people to You, unity in love and caring concern, not unity in opposition to others.
After the close of the 1200 days a dying world receives a final message. The abyss is the home of demons, the place where God confines them (Luke 8:31). So the beast from the abyss is either Satan of some evil power controlled by Satan. Around the time of the French Revolution, many people saw the events of their day forecast in this text. They believed that the attack on the two witnesses represented the atheist onslaught against the Bible during the revolution.
Rejection is painful, especially when you care deeply about those who spurn you. In ancient times people considered it the ultimate rejection to the refused burial (1 Kings 21:23, 24; Jer. 8:1, 2 and 14:16; Ps. 79:2, 3) after one's death. And not only were the two witnesses left lying in the street, the wicked celebrated their humiliation be sending each other gifts, as the Jews did after their deliverance in the time of Esther (Esther 9:19, 22).
But God reverses this shame by breathing the breath of life back into the two witnesses. Their resurrection fills their enemies with great fear. One of the consequences of the French Revolution was a great revival of interest in the Bible. The great Bible societies organized during the following decades. So while the greatest attack against the Bible occurred in the 1700s, the 1800s saw the Word spread more widely than at any time in history.
It is interesting how enemies can become united in their common opposition to God's people. Lifelong enemies, Pilate and Herod, reconciled through their rejection of Christ (Luke 23:12). Sometimes parents are more willing to see their children become secular, or even criminals, than to join some other denomination. Nothing brings people together like opposition to God and His people, and that will certainly be the case in the last days.
Lord, I want to seek the kind of unity that draws people to You, unity in love and caring concern, not unity in opposition to others.
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