The two witnesses in Revelation 11:3-12 are prophets who proclaim God’s word for a specified period of time, clothed in sackcloth (representing mourning, repentance and judgment.) Their identity has been debated for years, with three views dominating:

1) They are Moses and Elijah (since the miracles of turning water into blood or destroying enemies with fire are reminiscent of these prophets’ ministry)
2) They are Elijah and Enoch (since neither person tasted death, Genesis 5:23; 2 Kings 2:11), returned to earth to complete their ministry.
3) They are two unknown people whom God will raise up at this time to do His work. God is perfectly capable of taking two “ordinary” believers and enabling them to perform the same signs and wonders that Moses and Elijah did. There is nothing in Revelation 11 that requires us to assume a “famous” identity for the two witnesses.

It is unwise to be dogmatic about the identity of these two witnesses, but their uncompromising witness for God provides a model for us to follow. Their apparent defeat at the hands of the Beast and their subsequent resurrection reminds us that Christ has also modelled for us a path we must all tread. As Paul reminds us, ‘as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.’ (1 Cor 15:22-23) There is a temptation for us to ‘zone out’ as we read Revelation, to be dazed by the fantastical images and numbers which overwhelm us and to feel that this can have no relevance to our daily lives. The truth is that death and resurrection are part of the fabric of life and we can have confidence that our lives are in God’s hands as much as the lives of these two witnesses. Their witness, commitment and courage (being filled with the Holy Spirit as the ‘olive tree’ analogy reminds us) should inspire us to live for Christ and to rest secure in His power.

Revelation 11:1-14 has been described as one of the most difficult passages in the Bible to understand, but it is worth remembering that any prophecy foretelling the future can seem baffling to us at the time (hindsight, as they say, is a wonderful thing!) In the time of Jesus, even the religious leaders struggled to understand the different prophetic writings about the Messiah, whereas the New Testament writers, filled with the Holy Spirit, explain these passages to us with remarkable simplicity and clarity. Whilst we may not be able to imagine another temple in Jerusalem (especially because at present the site of the original temple is the site of the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim mosque) or understand who the ‘two witnesses’ who speak out during the Tribulation could be, this should not make us doubt the accuracy of God’s word. What is now shrouded in mystery will one day be made known by God Himself. Whether these things are to be interpreted literally or symbolically should not necessarily cause us confusion; we need to be able to trust God for all that we do not fully understand.

These verses describe supernatural events, with the two witnesses having the power to do miraculous signs and bringing God’s message of judgment to His people. They face death but also experience resurrection, reminding us once again that God is Sovereign over all, and death cannot have the last word in His presence (or for His servants.) The passage alludes to many passages in the Old Testament (including Daniel 9, Zechariah 4 as well as references to Moses and Elijah, who represent for us the Law and the Prophets), reminding us that the whole of Scripture is involved in the story of God and that each part influences another.

In his first lecture on the psychological significance of the Bible, psychologist Jordan Peterson shared an image with the audience that he called “one of the coolest things that he had ever seen.”[1] It was a visual representation of the entire Bible, which showed how the text of Scripture interacts with itself. The bar graph on the bottom represents all the chapters in the Bible, while the nearly 65,000 textual cross-references are depicted by coloured arcs, which correspond to the distance between chapters. It’s an amazing example of the connected narrative within the Bible and how it speaks to and interprets itself, and as we study the final book of the Bible, we see that it cannot possibly be understood without reference to the rest of Scripture. As we spend time studying the Bible, we see more of its connected narrative and can therefore trust that God will bring to completion all that He has designed and planned.

[1] https://philosophadam.wordpress.com/2018/05/16/the-first-hyperlinked-text-the-bible-and-its-63779-cross-references/

Guest speaker Yan Hadley spoke tonight on the subject of having a spiritually healthy heart. Proverbs 4:23 tells us to guard our hearts above all else, and we need the eyes of our hearts to be opened so that we can be transformed people who have sensitive and teachable hearts and who are responsive to God. Acts 13:22 tells us that David was a man ‘after God’s own heart’; he was far from perfect, but had a heart that was sensitive to God. We need a healthy heart to be able to see God (Matt 5:8), to seek after God (Jer 29:13), to be able to draw near to God (Heb 10:22), to be confident before God (1 John 3:21) and to be able to worship God (Ps 100:4, Ps 86:12).

Prov 4:23 teaches us about the primary importance of the heart, our personal responsibility to guard our heart and that the heart is a source of powerful influence.

1. Primary Importance

Prov 4:23 tells us to guard our heart ‘above all else.’ Just as our physical heart governs what our body is able to do, our spiritual heart will determine our actions – and as Gal 6:7 reminds us, we reap what we sow. God wants us to maintain a sensitive heart to Him; Prov 28:1 reminds us not to harden our hearts or we fall into calamity. We must not make excuses, rationalise sin or sweep things under the carpet; we cannot afford to ignore God when He speaks to us.

2. Personal Responsibility

We must guard our own heart; we cannot be responsible for others. We only guard that which we consider valuable, but must understand the spiritual nature of life. It is easy to lose heart, to become discouraged, to be divided, to allow unforgiveness and bitterness to grow in our hearts. We face a spiritual battle both externally (Eph 6:12) and internally (Gal 5:17) and must be alert. David, despite being a man after God’s own heart, fell into sin because he was not alert; at the time when kings were at war, he was at home, lusting after Bathsheba and ultimately committing adultery, manipulating people and finally murdering her husband. To be unguarded and not alert can be fatal; we must learn to look after our spiritual walk.

3. Source of Powerful Influence

Everything flows from our heart; we speak what is in our heart. As Luke 6:45 makes plain, a good tree brings forth good fruit. All of us have a circle of influence; our influence can be positive or negative. Jesus wants us to be salt and lgiht in the world, to be His ambassadors. When the fruit of the Spirit is in our lives (Gal 5:22-23), others will see God in us. As rivers of living water flow from us, we will influence others so that they can see God in our lives.

Garry spoke this morning from Genesis 45:8-20, looking again at the life of Joseph (who, so often, is a ‘type’ of Christ.) Joseph was made lord of Pharaoh’s entire household and ruler of all Egypt; he was ideally placed by God in a position to help those suffering from famine (including his own family.) Jesus too has been raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of God (Eph 1:18-22); Jesus came as a servant but now has been raised to the heights where He rules over all and is an exalted great High Priest (Heb 7:24-8:1)

Jesus truly meets our need; He is the perfect fit, the perfect fulfilment of all we need. He understands us, provides for us and leads us into new life. Joseph’s family were given the best land in Egypt (Gen 45:18); we have been given great things in God (see 1 Cor 2:9); we are fellow heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17). We were deserving of God’s wrath, but instead have become heirs of the kingdom of God in Christ, something we could not earn or deserve but which is given freely to us from God’s grace. All the hard work necessary for our salvation was done by Christ; we just need to accept His free gift of life. Joseph’s family had to leave their home and live in a new place. It must have seemed daunting at first, but they were blessed greatly in their new lives. We too have the guarantee of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Eph 1:13-14) but must leave our past behind. All the guilt and condemnation that belonged to our old lives has to go; we are called not just to leave things behind but to leave the old way of life behind. Rom 12:2 reminds us that this requires the transformation of our minds as the Spirit of truth guides us into all truth. (John 16:13)

To get to the freedom of new life in Jesus, there is a beginning (salvation) and there is an ongoing journey. To arrive we have to leave things and our old life behind, sure that what lies ahead in God is far greater. (‘Things We Leave Behind’, Michael Card)

This week I took my grandchildren to a session on space at Goldthorpe Library. (Fantastic free workshop!) They learnt to make a rocket (using paper, a straw and pipette) and made their own colourful ‘universe’ in a glass jar with coloured water and cotton wool. Their last activity was to create a space picture using filter paper, felt pens and water, learning in the process about chromatography and the separation of colours.

It was rather magical to watch narrow bands of colour spread throughout the filter paper creating new patterns as just the tiniest droplets of water were added.

As I watched this process, I was reminded that our lives are rather like the colours of those felt pens. We can make beautiful pictures with our lives, but the patterns when water was added became even more beautiful. When God is added to our lives, the colours become even more beautiful; the picture becomes more interesting and certainly spreads much further.

The analogy is far from perfect, but I was reminded of the pervasive nature of the kingdom of God, how that small mustard seed can grow into a large flowering tree, how a small amount of yeast can affect a whole batch of dough, how something small can lead to something big. (Matt 13:31-33) God’s kingdom may not initially look impressive, but it can become something vast and beautiful as God works in ordinary lives to spread His love and kindness to all.