Abomination of Desolation and Two Witnesses

A study of end-time events, learning when the Beast Power comes and the scene and who the Two Witnesses really are!

Abomination of Desolation and the Two Witnesses
Fred R. Coulter—July 16, 2016

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This has been quite some week with the things that have gone on. It looks like a lot of people are going to get terrorist-attack fatigue. Seems as though we have one every week.

You stop and think about the economic cost of those at the place where it occurs. France just got hit again and then the coup started yesterday in Turkey. All of these things are going to work out for good in the long run, but it's really quite a situation when you have this going on and people saying, 'What is Europe going to do?'

Then you have the Brits leaving the EU. We'll have to see how that goes. Margaret Thatcher II is the new Prime Minister Theresa May. She looks like she'll be a Thatcher II. I was just told that she did a wonderful deed the very first thing she got in there: she closed down the climate-change cabinet or department, or whatever it is. All the lies for climate-change worldwide have been coming right out of there.

We look at all of these things and we don't know exactly how it's working out, but there's one thing for sure. We know we're marching closer and closer toward the end-time.

People get all excited when things happen and different things take place. I don't know what we're going to hear about the attempted coup in Turkey. But know one thing, that when these things happen, it's lining things up more and more for the end-time events. This may be a step one or step two or step three. We don't know how long.

The coup and the announcing of the vice presidential candidate Mike Pence happened on the 9th day of the 4th month. Isn't it interesting, he had to delay it one day. Amazing how those things work.

This morning, 8 o'clock, Dolores made sure I was awake. She said, 'Trump is going to be on and present the vice president pick.' So I wanted to watch that. I turned on the television and watched it. It was really quite a good presentation, the whole thing, even what Trump spoke about, and so forth. Hillary has no place to hide with Trump around, that's for sure.

What impressed me was that Mike Pence looks like really a very good man, as far as the world and America is concerned. He said something that is very interesting. He said, 'I'm a Christian first—though that's Protestantism—conservative second, and a Republican third.' That's better than having someone who favors Allah and the Muslims, and those who have no moral standards. That's what's been running the country for the past seven years, now going on eight.

What does this tell us? Do we have more time? The answer probably is yes, because a lot of things have to happen. So, we're going to get an overview of that today.

I was also reminded that the 9th day of the 4th month is when the Babylonians breached the wall in Jerusalem. So significant events tend to repeat themselves. This is not a parallel with that, but it's a significant day.

I got a phone call yesterday, very interesting. 'The two witnesses are here, already in Jerusalem.' I said no they are not. He said, 'Yes, they are, they're working in the dig.' I said no they are not. How can I know for sure that they are not here? We'll do a little study today on that, plus study of the end-time events and get a framework as to how these things are going to happen.

Remember, when talking about the Bible, when all else fails it, open it and read it! Too many mistakes are made just talking.

Revelation 11:1: "Then the angel gave me a measuring rod like a staff, saying, 'Arise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it. But leave out the court that is within the temple area, and do not measure it because it has been given up to the Gentiles; and they shall trample upon the Holy city for forty-two months" (vs 1-2).

There are two parallels with this. But let's focus on what has to be in place first before the two witnesses. It tells us the temple has to be there first! Even the Jews have not come to the conclusion where the proper place to build the temple actually is. Some few understand that. I've explained it many times. It's not the Mosque of Omar. If they try to build it where the Mosque of Omar is, and some of the Jews say, 'God is going to cause an earthquake and destroy it.' How are you going to build a temple on an earthquake fault-line then?

We will see when we come to Matt. 24 a little bit later that the temple area was quite different and significant. Dan. 9 has to do with the 70-week prophecy. This is another overarching beam or pillar that tells us about the end-time prophecies.

Daniel 9:24: "Seventy weeks are decreed upon your people and upon your Holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sin, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy."

This is talking about beginning with the time of Daniel and ending when Christ returns, His second coming. He breaks it down into increments. This is what is important. Lots of times you get an overall framework over here, or maybe an overall framework right within the context, which then you can call a preview. Then you get the details to follow later.

Let's read some of the details, v 25: "Know, therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, to Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks.… [that's 69 total, two segments] …It shall be built again with streets and the wall, even in troublous times."

The first seven weeks are devoted to the things in rebuilding the temple. We find the account of that in Ezra and Nehemiah.

Verse 26: "And after sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off but not for Himself.…" However, when you follow this through in historical flow, there is a break of time between the completion of the temple and the coming of Christ and His subsequent crucifixion.

We have all of this explained in the book The Appointed Times of Jesus the Messiah, we lay it all out how all of that happened.

"…And the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. But his end shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined" (v 26).

This is interesting because Jerusalem was destroyed in 70A.D. We need to keep that in mind. However, this is not talking about that one, because a certain event had to take place, which did not occur when that happened.

As we will see when we get to Matt. 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 the events as they flow along, it looks like they come just one after another. In some cases that's true. You'll go along and then you will hit a point that will tell you an estimation—or an exact event that will take place—that's going to happen.

After 62-weeks, doesn't say how long after, that's all explained in the book. "…And the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary…" (v 26). That's what happened in 70A.D. What did we read in Rev. 11? There has to be a temple! We will see that's also keyed in Matt. 24.

"…But his end shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm a covenant…" (vs 26-27). This is not referring to Christ. This is referring to the one who is the prince that the people want.

"…with many for one week…" (v 27). That's important. There will be a specific time when that last 70th-week. Each week is a 7-year period in history. At the beginning of the last seven years, there has to be something that takes place where there is a covenant. Why would this covenant be necessary? So that the temple could be built!

1-Thessalonians 5:3[transcriber's correction]: "For when they say, 'Peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them…" We've never had a time of peace.

Daniel 9:27: "…And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease…" This is talking about the personage to do it, could you have one person be the one to work out the peace and then all of a sudden another person arise in the middle of the week and stop it? I don't know! Possible!

"…and upon the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate even until the consummation.… [end of the age] …And the fully determined end which is decreed shall be poured out upon the desolator" (v 27).

What makes the desolation? Let's do an overview of Matt. 24, Mark 13, Luke 21; these chapters have a time-span. We need to look at the overall time-span from 30A.D. until the resurrection. That's a long time!

Matthew 24:1: "And after going out, Jesus departed from the temple; and His disciples came to Him to point out the buildings of the temple. But Jesus said to them, 'Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, there shall not be left here even a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down'" (vs 1-2).

Anyone who can read that ought to understand that this tells us that the temple could not be where the Mosque of Omar is. Why? Because it's sitting on stones that are all stacked upon each other, big heavy stones. If that is the place of the temple, then Jesus' words are not true. Since Jesus' words are true and will take place and will come to pass, that means the Mosque of Omar area is not where the temple will be. If you look into history, what do you find? That was Roman property with the Fort Antonia, right next to the temple. That's where the riots always started.

Mark 13:1: "And as He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Master, see how splendid the stones and buildings are!' Then Jesus answered and said to him, 'Do you see these great buildings? There shall not be left a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down'" (vs 1-2).

Here they are, walking out of the temple. You walk out of the temple and you go eastward and the first thing you do is climb the Mount of Olives. Jesus would always spend time on the Mount of Olives.

Verse 3: "And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew… [the two brothers, John, James and the two brothers Peter and Andrew] …came privately and asked Him."

What does this tell you? Remember the sermon I gave, Jesus' Transcribers? They knew it was important so they were marking down all the things they needed to mark down. There are three things that this will cover.

Matthew 24:3: "And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, His disciples came to Him alone, saying, 'Tell us, when shall these things be?....'" It would be astonishing.

You see the beautiful temple and of course, coming down to the Kidron Brook, and including the wall of the temple, you're looking at over a 600-foot scale. They're looking at all of this. Jesus said there wasn't going to be one stone left upon another stone. You'd want to know, 'When is that going to be?'

• Tell us, when shall these things be?
• What shall be the sign of Your coming?
• When is the completion of the age?

That ties right in with Dan. 9:27, completion of the age.

What we're going to do is we're going to analyze what is said next, because this is important. Everything we're going to read, except one major thing, took place when they destroyed the temple in 70A.D.

The Jews rebelled, took over the temple and drove out the Romans. They were thinking they were going to take the kingdom back themselves. They beat the Romans and the Syrians that came down to fight against them. They thought they were really going to make it. Here comes the Romans under Vespasian and Titus. They come down and they begin to lay siege against Jerusalem. In that last year the Romans were very smart, and the Jews were not very smart.

The word went out, 'We have the temple area. God will help us. The Messiah will come. Everybody come to Jerusalem for this Passover.' You can read this in Josephus. In Jerusalem they had enough food to last four or five years, in case of war or siege, all stored away. But so many Jews came, over 2-million, into Jerusalem. The Romans were smart, they let them all come in. What does that do to the food supply? So think about it!

Let's see the events; picture yourself beginning in 30A.D. as one of the disciples of Jesus Christ. You had all this written down just like we have it. Then beginning in about 63A.D. these things began to happen. Actually some of them beginning right after Jesus was resurrected.

Verse 4: "Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Be on guard, so that no one deceives you. For many shall come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ"; and they shall deceive many. And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars…'" (vs 4-6). All these things happen. Who was the first false prophet that came along saying that Christ was the Christ, 'but I'm His representative.' Simon Magus (Acts 8)! Then after that, many false teachers.

Verse 6: "And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars… [going on all the time] …See that you do not let these things disturb you. For it is necessary that all these things take place, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation… [Greek there is 'ethnos,' which can also mean race against race] …and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places. Now, all these things are the beginning of sorrows" (vs 6-8).

Did they have a lot of sorrow around Jerusalem, Judea and in that area with all of this going on? With the Romans there? Yes, read Josephus' account! They had so many crosses; they couldn't kill them fast enough. It was an amazing thing. Jerusalem was a bloody terrible place to be.

Verse 9: "Then shall they deliver you up to affliction, and shall kill you; and you shall be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then shall many be led into sin, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another; and many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many; and because lawlessness shall be multiplied, the love of many shall grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, that one shall be saved" (vs 9-13).

You could say, going through all of this leading up to 70A.D., 'yes, yes, yes, those things took place. Beginning in v 13 is a transition. "But the one who endures to the end…" There are two ends:

• end of your life; be faithful
• end of the age; if you're still alive, then you'll be transformed when Christ returns

We know that from other Scriptures, but those weren't written when He was saying this.

Now we have a transition, v 14: "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come."
To them, the world was the civilized Roman Empire. Did they have Paul? Did they have all the other apostles going out everywhere and preaching? Yes, indeed! So you could look at that and say, 'Yes, it's going to happen.'

Verse 15 ties in with what we read about the abomination. When it says 'the wings of abominations' (Dan. 9:27) I kind of get the picture that in the middle of this peace thing here comes this man, or this man was on the scene and his character changes. Has to be one of the two.

The abomination of desolation is an important, key thing. This tells us that there's a whole lot of time between the beginning of this chapter and when the abomination of desolation will be set there, and when Jesus is going to return. A whole lot of time, but you cannot discern that from the context. It's an impossibility to do so. So, let's look at it and see if we can find some keys here.

Verse 15: "'Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy place.'.… [key important insertion here]: …(the one who reads, let him understand)."

For those who have red-letter Bibles, King James Version, I don't know if this statement is red lettered or not, but Jesus did not say this. This was put there for a special reason to tell us something very, very important. We will see, as we look at other Scriptures, that this is telling us at the time that the New Testament was being canonized by John, Philip, the others who were there, that yes, the temple had been destroyed but the abomination of desolation hadn't occurred! Why is that important?

Verse 34: "'Truly I say to you, this generation…" There are a lot of people who today reject all of the New Testament based upon this verse because they say 'this generation' refers to the generation of Jesus' time when the temple was destroyed then, but that's not so! 'This generation' refers to the end-time generation that this will take place. Here's why.

Verse 33: "In like manner also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." All of these things did not happen! Nearly all of them happened. What was the missing thing that did not happen? Why did John, and those, insert this phrase:

Verse 15: "…(the one who reads, let him understand)…. [we'll answer that question] …'Then let those who are Judea flee into the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house'" (vs 16-17).

Verse 19: "But woe to those women who are expecting a child… [v 20]: And pray that your flight be not in the winter, nor on the Sabbath" (vs 19-20).
Was there a lot of tribulation, distress and misery, at the time of the destruction of the temple? Yes! Were there hundreds of thousands of Jews killed? Yes!

Verse 21: "For then shall there be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until this time… [of the last generation and the time of these events] … nor ever shall be again.'"

This tells us that with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70A.D. the Great Tribulation did not start. Christ did not return, because it comes down here showing that He's going to return.

Let's see what Paul wrote in his very second epistle. This is interesting; he wrote this in 51A.D., nineteen years before the destruction of the temple. Why is this important? The apostles and the brethren in the first century were thinking that Christ was going to return very soon. When they began to see all of these things taking place, a lot of them assumed that Christ was going to return.

But notice this major event written of, prophesied of, described in Matt. 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, never took place. Notice it starts out with the same warning that Jesus gave to the disciples, 'Beware that no one deceives you.'

Sidebar: How many times have we seen in our experience people saying, 'Christ is going to return real soon'? A lot of them! From 1975, 1988, 1989, 1996, 1997. We had two witnesses come on the scene, a man and his wife. They never got to Jerusalem and he ended up in federal prison; yet, people followed him.

2-Thessalonians 2:1: "Now, we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him…" The resurrection. Does that not tie in with Matt. 24? The angels are going to gather all the elect!

Verse 2: "That you not be quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled—neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as if from us, saying that the day of Christ is present." That you not be quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled—neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as if from us, saying that the day of Christ is present.

Kind of like that phone call I got yesterday: 'Christ is already here, the two witnesses are already in Jerusalem.'

Verse 3: "Do not let anyone deceive you by any means… [that means we must check everything by Scripture] …because that day will not come unless the apostasy… [worldwide rejection of God] …shall come first… [includes all religions. Coming one-world government and one-world religion (Rev. 13)] …and the man of sin shall be revealed—the son of perdition."
This is what didn't take place in 70A.D. We're reading it here. You're stuck with a problem if you're wondering how this is going to work out and don't know the facts.

• Are the words of Jesus true?
• Are the words of Paul true?

This is telling us that it didn't happen in 70A.D. If anyone would have written of this Josephus would have. You can be guaranteed that.

If you think Hitler was a narcissist, or Mussolini, v 4: "The one who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is an object of worship… [greater than idolatry] …so that he comes into the temple of God…" When Paul wrote this it was 19 years before it was destroyed, so he's referring to the temple in Jerusalem that was standing when he wrote this.

"…and sits down as God, proclaiming that he himself is God" (v 4). This tells us another thing, too. Who has always wanted to be God, to replace the true God? Satan the devil! This man is fully possessed of Satan the devil at the time that this occurs. Have to be.

Verse 5: "Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you understand what is holding him back in order for him to be revealed in his own set time" (vs 5-6).

So, there is a set time for it. But here you are, living through—from the time that the Church began—the destruction of Jerusalem. The temple has been destroyed and you're reading 2-Thes. 2 and you know that that didn't happen. The only conclusion you can come to with all of this, you can stack up the evidence.

Measure the temple (Rev. 11). How can you measure the temple if it's not there and there's not one stone upon another one? Revelation was given in 98A.D. when the temple was not there. How can you measure the temple? You cannot do it! That tells us there has to be a temple.

Since it was destroyed, and this event is not recorded in the Gospels, nor is this event recorded in Josephus, then we have to conclude that it's for yet another time. This is why Paul wrote that he's 'holding back in order to be revealed in his own set time.'

Verse 7: "For the mystery of lawlessness is already working… [the whole system was starting to come up] …only there is One Who is restraining at the present time until it arises out of the midst." Notice when this is going to take place and that, likewise, did not happen in 70A.D.:

Verse 8: "And then the lawless one will be revealed (whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of His coming)." Christ hasn't returned!

This temple that the man of sin, the son of perdition, goes into has not yet been built. This is why the Jews are preparing to build a temple. We've seen some of the things about how they're going to design it and so forth. If you don't believe that, go on the templeinstitute.org. They have priest robes, bowls, lots, everything ready for temple services and sacrifices. Remember that the sacrifices have to be cut off, so that means there has to be a whole new setup of the temple again.

Notice this timing: "(…and will destroy with the brightness of His coming)" (v 8). Where do we find that? Rev. 19!

Now you can understand that if John understood some of these things, why he would put that parenthetical statement in there. He did not know when it was going to occur, because he knew that it hadn't occurred.

Verse 9: "Even the one whose coming is according to the inner working of Satan… [he has to be Satan possessed] …with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the Truth, so that they might be saved. And for this cause God will send upon them a powerful deception that will cause them to believe the lie, so that all may be judged who did not believe the Truth, but who took pleasure in unrighteousness" (v 12).

(go to the next track)

We have to tie this together with something else. This is why you have to look at the Scriptures so you won't be deceived. This is why you have to see the events that are taking place. Let's come backwards on this. Let's first of all come to Rev. 19, because it says that 'the man of sin, the son of perdition, is going to be destroyed by the brightness of His coming.'

This is Jesus Christ and all the resurrected saints, all educated, re-named, given assignments, given their white horses, and we're all coming down off the Sea of Glass.

Revelation 19:19: "And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to make war with Him Who sits on the horse, and with His army." We'll be fighting.

What did Jesus say concerning His followers fighting? 'If My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight.' The Kingdom is now of this world, when it happens in Rev. 19, and so we're going to fight.

Verse 20: "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked miracles in his presence, by which he had deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Those two were cast alive into the Lake of Fire, which burns with brimstone." This is Christ's second coming. This shows when the man of sin, the son of perdition, is going to die.

Rev. 13 says ' after the workings of Satan the devil.' Where do we find this end-time setting? We don't know how all of this is going to work out. In our lifetime we had people writing, saying that the return of Christ was going to be in 1975. In the magazine there was an article concerning Eastern and Western Europe talking about the ten kings. It was said in that article there will be five from the West and five from the East. We need to think bigger. There is no wall anymore. It's true that Germany is probably going to rise and become a great power. It's also possible that the leader of Europe may become the personage of the beast in Rev. 13. But it's not going to be ten nations in Europe. What we're talking about in Revelation, and these other things, is a whole worldwide setup so there will be ten regions.

I've said this several times, but I'm going to get a map. There are several versions of the map showing the ten regions. What does it say in Rev. 17 concerning the ten kings? These have received no kingdom as of yet, but they give their kingdom to the beast for one hour! So this is going to come together that way.

Revelation 13:1: "And I stood on the sand of the sea; and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." That's the super-elite that run the world, and they openly worship Satan. There is evidence that they do participate in human sacrifice.

Verse 2: "And the beast that I saw was like a leopard…" What it does, it combines the types of all the beast of Dan. 7, showing that this is a conglomerate system put together. It's not a single solitary system like it was with Germany in WWII.

"…and his feet like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne and great authority" (v 2).

Who was the one who said he was God? (2-Thes.2)? 'The one whose coming is after the workings of Satan with all power and signs and wonders.'

Verse 3: "And I saw one of his heads as if it were slain to death…" What could that be? Dolores and I have had discussions on this and it could be the political system, which could suffer a great loss. It could also be the individual.

Speculation: Since he's going to cut off the sacrifices, because there will be a temple rebuilt and the sacrifices will be started, the Jews will be very happy. 'Yes, this is great, wonderful, marvelous. We have our temple, our sacrifices.' Here he comes, knocks off all those sacrifices, has his soldiers remove all the priests and the Levites, and he marches right into the Holy of Holies, and stands there and sits down and says, 'I am God!' What do you think that's going to do to the Jews?

Sidebar: Remember what happened when the Apostle Paul was taken to prison after he came to Jerusalem. He was being held for a meeting. Forty Jews took a vow, fasting, that they were going to kill Paul. Paul's nephew came and told the captain of the guard. The captain of the guard took him to the commander. He told the commander, and the commander said, 'We're moving out tonight.'

What do you think the Jews are going to do after 2,000 years with no temple, finally have a temple, finally have all the glorious things going on, finally have the sacrifices going, and they are looking for the Messiah to come? Their work to force the Messiah to come was the building of the temple.

So, here comes this man, cuts off the sacrifices, walks into the temple, sits down in the Holy of Holies and says, 'I am God!' How many Jews you think are going to organize to get out there to try and kill him?

Speculation: Could it be that they form an assassination group to kill the beast and they almost succeed? But the false prophet comes and prays over him and he comes back to life. How dramatic do you think that would be? And this on television everywhere, the whole world knowing? But let's see what happens.

"…but his deadly wound was healed… [politically that could mean another resurrection of the empire] …and the whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, who gave his authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast?.… [because he is 'God'] …Who has the power to make war against him?'" (vs 3-4).

 'Look at these Jews, again they stop history.' So there is the ending of the time of peace.

Verse 5: "And a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies was given to him; and authority was given to him to continue for forty-two months"—three and a half years.

What happened in the middle of that last week? Dan. 9! The peace was broken! Here you have it. Maybe my scenario could be refined with many other different things to go along with it, but that would be a thing that could very likely take place.

The only other person in the Bible who is described as blaspheming against God, proclaiming himself to be God, which is the greatest blasphemy of all, is found in 2-Thes. 2.

Verse 6: "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven"—because he went in and took over the Holy of Holies in the temple.

Verse 7: "And he was given power to make war against the saints… [that's when the persecution really comes] …and to overcome them; and he was given authority… [never has this happened]: …over every tribe and language and nation."

Has never happened! That's why John had to put in there in Matt. 24 and Mark 13, 'the one who reads let him understand.' You read all of this and you look over in Jerusalem and the temple is barren, desolate, not a stone upon a stone.

Notice what else happens, v 8: "And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." The whole world is going to worship after the beast.

Verse 9: "If anyone has an ear, let him hear." So, here along comes this statement that if you hear this, the question remains, will we listen to other Scriptures to put it together properly? Have to wait and see!

Then we have the second beast which is the one then who performs miracles; this is the false prophet.

Let's come back to Matt. 24 again, and let's see the sequence of events. Then we'll compare that again this time with Luke 21.

Matt. 24:14 is being done in a way of getting the Word of God out more than ever before to all the world.

I got a very interesting e-mail from Andrew Moses, the new elder we have over in Malaysia; there is an Indian family from India who left Hinduism and went into Protestantism for a while but they couldn't understand it. Andrew has been talking with them and here, there may be some people over there that God is going to deal with. We're just one part of something great that God is doing.

Matthew 24:14: "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world for a witness to all nations…"

• What is that witness?
• That Christ came and died?
• Most of the world knows that, whether they believe it or not, they have heard it!
• What is this witness?
• Christ is coming!
• He's going to take over the world!
• He's going to put down all government.
• He's going to establish the Kingdom of God.

You have a chance to repent and you have a chance to be in that Kingdom!

How do we know that? We have the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Some were hired first thing in the morning and they worked all day long. The owner of the vineyard went down to the market place a couple hours later and there were other men standing around who hadn't been hired and weren't working. So he hired them, sent them to work in his vineyard. The agreement was, 'I'll pay you what is right.'

He told the first group a silver coin. Everyone else, 'I'll pay you what is right.' He went down there another time, did the same thing, and he came down, probably about 4:30-5 in the evening, and there were still those who weren't hired. He said, 'You go work in my vineyard.' Maybe they worked until 6 o'clock or just before sundown. If you're working in the vineyard, you're gathering grapes. This is going to be somewhere in the late summer, so sunset would probably be like what we would call about 8 o'clock.

He gathered them all and said, 'Okay, you're going to get paid.' He told the paymaster to start with the last first. Each one of the last who worked an hour and a half got a silver coin. So, it came to the ones who hired first, and they said, 'We've been out here working in the heat all day in all the dust, dirt and grime and everything and you're paying them the same as us?'

The master of the vineyard said, 'I will do with my own as I please. The first shall be last and the last shall be first.' This witness goes out into all the world, the last generation. Then there are going to be some at the very last, which is typified by 144,000 and great innumerable multitude (Rev. 7). Are they going to have a witness!

One witness that is included here is the one Rev. 14. When everything is shut down that men can do, then God's going to send an angel to go around the world preaching the everlasting Gospel and telling them to repent. We're looking at big-time things. These are fantastic things that are going to take place.

"'…and then shall the end come. Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy place.' (The one who reads, let him understand)… [now we have more understanding] …'then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains'" (vs 14-16). What do we have in Rev. 12? We have another group that is taken by angels and taken to a place of safety. Why? So the physical Church wouldn't die out!

Verse 21: "For then shall there be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall be again. And if those days were not limited, there would no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be limited. Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ'… [Isn't that what is going to be said? 'There's God in the flesh'] …or, 'He is there,' do not believe it. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and they shall present great signs and wonders, in order to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have foretold it to you" (vs 21-25).

Verse 26: "'Therefore, if they say to you, "Come and see! He is in the wilderness"; do not go forth. "Come and see! He is in the secret chambers"; do not believe it. For as the light of day, which comes forth from the east and shines as far as the west, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be" (vs 26-27). That has not happened, yet. This is going to be something that everyone is going to see.

Verse 28: "For wherever the carcass may be, there will the eagles be gathered together."

Generally speaking, this is of a dead animal, but the point is the angels are going to take us, so it's almost like the wings of eagles, with the angels taking us. I'm still not clear exactly how that verse works out, so I can't explain it clearly.

Verse 29: "But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven…" (vs 29-30).

This, v 27, is the sign of the Son of man. The Bible does this many times. It tells us what it's going to be before it describes it.

"'…and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet; and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now, learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branches have already become tender, and it puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. In like manner also, when you see all these things…'" (vs 30-33). The abomination of desolation was the thing that was missing. All the rest of the things from Matt. 24:4-13 can be in cycles.

Let's look at history. What do you think that they thought when Genghis Khan and his hordes were coming from the East? How far did they get? They got right to the doorstep of Europe! You would look at that and you would think here's the army of 200-million from Revelation, if you had the Bible and could understand it. So that was a type.

We've had how many wars? Hundreds and hundreds of wars! Let's back down to a time as if we had no modern communications. You would never know when there's an earthquake in a faraway place. If there was a war in part of the world, you probably wouldn't hear of it at all. If there was a famine in some part of the world, you probably wouldn't know it. Matt. 24 also tells us that if it's going to be at the end-time and everyone is going to know, therefore, there has to be all the modern communications that we have now so that everyone will know! Greatest thing is going to happen in the history of the world, since the first coming of Christ, going clear back to creation, as it says here, it's coming on this world!

I believe God has provided all of these things so that His people, whoever they are, wherever they are, if they will be out preaching the Gospel, teaching that different ones will be able to be called and a witness will go out.

The Two Witnesses:

That brings us back to the two witnesses where we started. That's why the Bible is such a fantastic and marvelous book and why it takes:

• the love of God
• the Truth of God
• the Spirit of God
• studying the Scriptures
• putting them together

so that we understand what's going on.

Remember, Revelation was the last book of the Bible. It was a vision given to the Apostle John, probably in 98A.D. What happened was that they martyred John because they wanted to kill him. They had a big pot of boiling oil. He was thrown into the boiling oil and nothing happened to him.

If you were the Roman soldiers standing around watching that, what would you think? He was exiled to the Island of Patmos. There he was given the whole book of Revelation, which Christ told him to write. That's why we have it.

Revelation 11:3: "And I will give power to My two witnesses…" If they are the two witnesses of God, can any man set himself up as one of the two witnesses? One man set himself up as both of them. How crazy do people get? Don't you think God is going to call them? Yes, indeed!

"…and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth" (v 3). You compare that to all the splendor that the beast and the false prophet are going to have.

When does the 1260 end? When the two witnesses are killed! When is that? Their bodies lie in the street three and a half days. At the end of that time, a voice comes from heaven, 'Come up here,' so they are raised from the dead. That's the beginning of the first resurrection. So this is the resurrection on Pentecost.

You can count backward. If you look on the chart that I have with the Daniel/Revelation series, you will find that if you count backwards, you can't determine when they start by saying they start here and count forward. But you can determine from when it ends, and when they are raised from the dead, that being Pentecost, you can count back 1263-1/2 days. That brings you to about the beginning of November. You get that chart and look at it. Very interesting. A lot of these things you have to go from the ending and count back, because you don't know where the beginning is. When I originally did that chart, the reason that I did the chart was this.

Verse 2 says: "…and they shall trample upon the Holy city for forty-two months."

As we read in Rev. 13 he continues for 42 months. So I asked the question: Why did God say forty-two months and difference of 1260 days? Then all of those who study prophecy say that 42 months is 1260 days. Why would God give two different ways of calculating? Besides, some of the months would be 29 days and some would be 30. So you would come up with a different number of days.

• What is the answer?
• How do you figure about when this starts?

The same way we just figured for the two witnesses. You ask the question: When does the beast and false prophet die? Trumpets! When Christ and the saints come back to the earth! So, you could back 42 months.

• Guess where that falls? That falls right around Passover time!
• What do you think the Jews are doing at the temple? Offering their Passover lambs!
• Would that not be an opportune day for the beast to go in there and stop everything?
• Stop the sacrifice, go into the Holy of Holies and say, 'I am God'?

That's how I counted back!

Also did another thing. I used the time of the Calculated Hebrew Calendar. I also did something else: the end is the end; so I said: How am I going to figure this? If it's the end, could it be that it is at the end of a 19-year time cycle? I don't know, but that's what I did. That means that last year is 13months! That's how I developed the chart and plugged everything in that way.

Another thing: the four angels' message in Rev. 14, the first one is preaching the Gospel. I forget what the second one is. The third one is: don't get the mark of the beast! When do you warn not to take the mark of the beast? At the beginning of the three and half years or maybe a little before that? You certainly can't do it a few days before the resurrection, so that has to be before the beast goes into the temple saying he is God!

Notice how powerful the two witnesses are, v 5: "And if anyone attempts to harm them, fire will go out of their mouths and devour their enemies…." Just came to me, if anyone says he's the two witnesses, tell them, 'Let's see you breathe fire. If you can't breathe fire, you're a fake.'

"…For if anyone attempts to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have authority to shut heaven so that no rain may fall in the days of their prophecy; and they have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they will…. [How's that for carte blanche authority?] …And when they have completed their testimony, the beast who ascends out of the abyss will make war against them, and will overcome them, and will kill them. And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified" (vs 5-8). The whole world is going to see it!

If this is going to happen, and all this modern technology that we have is still working, then through all of the difficulties that's going on, on the earth, God keeps those satellites in place. Can God do that? Yes, because He wants everyone to see!

Verse 4: "These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands that stand before the God of the earth."

Everyone wants to know: Who are the two witnesses? God is going to choose them and if anyone says, 'I'm one of the two witnesses,' or two people come along and say, 'We are the two witnesses,' just tell them to look forward to their appointment in the theological of ever-burning.

Zechariah 3:1: "And He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him." This sounds just like the conversion of Saul to Paul. Happens right at once!
Verse 2: "And the LORD said to Satan, 'May the LORD rebuke you, Satan! May even the LORD Who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked out of the fire?'" In other words someone really deep into sin.

Verse 3: "Now, Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel." Filthy garments are a type of sin.

Verse 4: "And He answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, 'Take the filthy garments from off him.' And to him He said, 'Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with ceremonial robes.' And I said, 'Let them set a clean miter on his head.' And they set a clean miter on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by" (vs 4-5). Showing it's going to be the high priest. By time the ministry begins, it's sackcloth.

Verse 8: "Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you; for they are men wondered at, for behold, I will bring forth My Servant the Branch!" That's the return of Christ!

Zechariah 4:1: "And the angel that talked with me came again and awakened me, as a man that is awakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, 'What do you see?' And I said, 'I see, and behold, a lampstand, all of it gold, and a bowl on its top, and its seven lamps upon it, and seven pipes to the seven lamps on its top'" (vs 1-2). This is a special one. This is not like the one that was given in the book of Exodus for the seven lamps. This is different.

Verse 3: "'And two olives trees beside it… [these are the two olive trees of Rev. 11] …one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side of it.' And I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, 'What are these, my lord?' Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, 'Do you know what these are?'…. [the high priest, plus these two bowls, plus the olive trees] …And I said, 'No my lord.' Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, 'This is the Word of the LORD to Zerubbabel…'"—the governor of Judea. He was the son of Shealtiel. They were of the line of David, which if the kingship was still in Judea, would have been king, but he is governor.

"'…saying, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the LORD of hosts'" (v 6). That's what the two witnesses are going to be, filled with God's Spirit, performing all of those things.

Verse 7: "Who are you, O great mountain! Before Zerubbabel… [a type of David and Goliath, the great mountain, the great beast] …you shall become a plain; and he shall bring forth the head stone with shoutings, 'Grace! Grace unto it!'" Who is that Stone that the builders rejected? Christ (Psa. 118)!

Verse 8: "And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house… [they'll be involved in building the temple] …His hands shall also finish it.'.… [dual prophecy, the second temple and then the third temple at the end] … And you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 'For who has despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth'" (vs 8-10).

Verse 11: "And I answered and said to him, 'What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lampstand and on its left side?' And I answered again and said to him, 'What are the two olive branches beside the two golden pipes, emptying the golden oil out of themselves?' And he answered me and said, 'Do you not know what these are?' And I said, 'No, my lord.' And he said, 'These are the two anointed ones who stand by the LORD of the whole earth'" (vs 11-14).

There you have the two witnesses: the governor of Judea and the coming high priest!

When Netanyahu—Dolores has said this quite a few times—came to give the speech before Congress, we looked at him and it's true. As governor of Judea he would make a wonderful witness.

But imagine, that's when God sets his hand to really do things. The two witnesses are not in Jerusalem, and they are not down in the archaeological dig looking for things.

Now we know that we need to take these prophecies and be very careful how we handle them.

• what we don't understand, we don't understand
• what we do understand, we must put it properly together

Scriptural References:

• Revelation 11:1-2
• Daniel 9:24-27
• 1-Thessalonians 5:3
• Daniel 9:27
• Matthew 24:1-2
• Mark 13:1-3
• Matthew 24:3-15, 34, 33, 15-17, 19-21
• 2-Thessalonians 2:1-12
• Revelation 19:19-20
• Revelation 13:1-9
• Matthew 24:14-16, 21-33
• Revelation 11:3, 2, 5-8, 4
• Zechariah 3:1-5, 8
• Zechariah 4:1-14

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Luke 21
• Acts 8
• Revelation 17
• Daniel 7
• Revelation 7, 14, 12
• Psalm 118

Also referenced:

Books:

• The Appointed Times of Jesus the Messiah by Fred. R. Coulter
• Josephus

Sermon: News & Jesus' Transcribers (9/5/15)
Sermon Series: Daniel/Revelation (with chart)

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 8-8-16
Formatted: bo—8/9/16

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