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Possibly the "Lamb's Book of Life" is for those outside the realm of election/predestination and have their "chance" at eternal life if they receive Christ hence the Lamb's Book of Life.
Philippians 3:20 (KJV) 20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Conversation: behavior, conduct, manner of life, manner of walk, Gk citizenship, commonwealth.
I would lean toward citizenship meaning for this particular passage.
3:20 citizenship. This figure would have been particularly appreciated by the Philippians who were colonists living away from Rome, though citizens of Rome. Similarly, Christians live away from the place of their citizenship, heaven. - Ryrie
Conversation found in Ephesians 2:3 (KJV) 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
I would lean toward the behavior, one's conduct, and manner of walk definition as it is used in Ephesians 2:3.
I ended my last post briefly discussing the Persian; Greek and Roman empires which would all have a part of history when they affected Israel. In the Persian empire Cyrus the Great (see Ezra) would allow the Temple to be rebuilt even though he didn't know the Lord he showed favor to Israel. ( Isaiah 45:4-6). Later Antiochus Epiphanes as a type of Antichrist would during the intertestamental period take over the Temple (actually part of the Syrian empire but also spread Greek cultural ideas). God through the Macabees fought back and eventually they were defeated. Finally; of course the Roman empire would have a tenuous existance with the Jewish nation; and be a part of Christ's crucifixion. They also; (until today's modern version still forming) would be defeated.
We see examples of God working with Nebuchadnezzar to bring about true conversion. We also see examples such as Naaman the Syrian in 2 Kings 5 who God healed; as well as the story of Jonah with the Ninevites who repented and God spared for a time of judgment; but in the book of Nahum God's patience ran out and they were destroyed. We also see examples such as Ruth who was a Gentile that came to believe and became part of the royal lineage and even Rahab in the same light. In general though God winked at certain things in the past but ( Acts 17:30-31) but now in New Testament times there were stricter standards.
Christ would also begin with only ministering to the "lost sheep of Israel". ( Matthew 15:24 but mentioned earlier when the 70 were sent out). In this case a Gentile woman showed great faith and Christ healed her daughter. The plan now was to fulfill the prophecies in Isaiah 42:1-9 about being a light to the Gentiles. This began with Christ spending much time with the Samaritan woman and others possessed by demons which added to crowds from surrounding nations; and showed the lack of faith in his own hometown as a contrast ( Mark 6:4).
The attitude of a believer to the spirit of life is demonstrated in this incident "And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?/ But he(Jesus) turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of./ For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."( Luke 9:54-56) John was for imitating the exploits of Elias while Jesus was for fulfilling the will of God. John and James had to learn which would come by and by, and only after they received the Holy Spirit. As many as are led by the Spirit are the children of God.
Water and fire are two witnesses to which Jesus alluded in Luke 12:54-56
The word-wide web set up by the Spirit of God is ever in control so symbols, emblem and events are all in accordance so God is in control. The fourth beast in the vision of Daniel is about to fulfill in not so distant future. "Even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows". Well my readers say hello to the High Tech! Meet the killer robot and AI he is a little gizmo, little horn that has eyes and mouth to speak. " I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them."(Dan.7:20-21) It is the same spirit of Satan even as he gave the beast power to blaspheme. It came out of the ten horns, which indicate he is under judgment.
Who but a man makes a robot works? He cannot work with wisdom of heaven which is the significance of God being with Moses, "And I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say." (Ex.4:12). "Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments./For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods"(Ex.7:11-12) The eternal Word in control.
With false teachings like Universalism, and such.....
In my previous section I showed some evidences of God working even early on with nations other than Israel; and how he established their boundaries. I completed the story of the Nephilim and the children among men which ended the earth's population of all the nations as they were before the flood; and how the final giant Goliath (at least from that part of the world) was defeated by David.
As we go forward in time; we see how God worked in great kingdoms; starting with Egypt which I alluded to in the last post as to what was shown to Abraham as to what would transpire 400 years later (see Genesis 15:13). Egypt no doubt had some control over what is now surrounding areas of North Africa; although I am not an expert on that subject. We see time and again how God's people were placed in these foreign lands of significant kingdoms; starting with Moses. We see the suffering that increased after the Joseph was eventually given an exalted position alongside the Pharoah in a sort of coregent arrangement. This eventually led to enslavement of the Israelites and a hatred for them because of their healthy progeny outnumbering the native population. Moses came to deliver His people in the Exodus; a forerunner of Christ delivering His people (which won't be completed until the end of the Tribulation for Israel as a nation once they recognize their true Messiah). After this we have the Assyrians who basically dominated in the 2nd Millennium B.C. God once again reigned supreme in Isaiah 37:36 where a single angel of God killed 185,000 Assyrians and led to the eventual ending of them as a significant enemy. Then came Babylon; which God promised would be used to discipline Israel. Daniel eventually became captive and with his 3 companions was once again exalted and basically also had a coregency with Nebuchadnezzar. God overthew them eventually; and the prophesied Persians; Greeks and Romans came ( Daniel 2:39).
Rev 3:5, from the greek text:
"O nikon (He who is overcoming/winning or he who is victorious) outos peribaleitai (he will be covered around) en imatiois leukeis (in white garments) ...etc, etc"
Ecclesiasticus 4:23 from the greek text of the Septaguint. The title of the Book in the Septuagint is "Wisdom of Sirach"
"Me koleses (Do not object/hinder) logon(word or speech) en emera (in the day) soterias(of salvation).
Since you are obviously of italian origin and probably a Catholic what is the text in Italian or Latin?
One more final point.
If salvation comes when we get to know Jesus and Jesus gets to know us, can you please explain to me when that process took place in the following cases described in the Bible?
The thief crucified next to Jesus.
The Jews on Pentecost.
That eunuch
The Samaritans
Cornelious
The guard in Philippi
Had all the above time to get to know Jesus? Had Jesus time to get to know them?
Example. How long did it take Peter to talk to Cornelious and his own, 15-30 minutes? How much did he say about Jesus? Ok the Bible gives us a summary of what Petr said, but actually how long did it take Peter to talk about Jesus and how much did he say about Him?
"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."(Ro.8:11)
God framed worlds with his word so faith shall never be out of step with the will of God. "So that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear' goes for the natural world as well. Water is formed accordingly from atoms of hydrogen and oxygen. So a mist going out of the ground is not wandering out, freed from its leash. The dog knows his master. "But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." Pendent to this is the characteristic of the soil. Volcanic ash is inert but add water to it is active. It is thus the natural world proves faith and ''Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The Spirit of God working with the waters gives man a hands -on experience of spirit of life. "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?" In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God."(1 Co.2:11)
The indwelling Spirit serves as the world of the Spirit bringing heavenly realities into the heart of a believer. The same two witnesses are realized in us so to speak. God breathed into the nostrils of man and made him a living soul. A believer who would be led by the same Spirit that raised up Jesus is in heavenly places, to which the blood of the Lamb is a sign. It serves the same purpose as the slain Lamb before the foundation of the world as an emblem. God rested from his labors on the seventh day and sanctified the day so Jesus made manifest the same faith, and the Lamb of God was led to the slaughter even as the Scriptures indicated. This is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all sins.
The word-wide web set up by the Spirit of God is ever in control of symbols, emblem and events.
See James 4:4, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God"
So Jesus refers to people who keep walking in faith. But not quite as Jesus expects them to do.
Secondly, those foolish virgins DO have oil in their lamps, just like the wise ones, but just not adequate. The oil usually represents the Holly Spirit, but I would say it represents a complete christian life where the Spirit has the primar role. The thing is though that being baptized in the Spirit is not enough, one has to be filled with the Spirit, and this doesn't occur on its own. One has to do that while praying etc. Those virgins were careless, they didn't take care to fill themselves with the Spirit. Did they turn to other things instead? Wordly things? They thought that there was time until Jesus comes so they postponed everything for the future? No, they were not waiting for Jesus. And they got up by surprise. Their light was blinking which means that sin often entered their lives. And when the light got off completely they were left out in the darkness of a sinful life. And they were left out.
Actually this is the purpose that Jesus said that parable, to warn us to always be ready for His coming. If those 5 unwise virgins were unbelievers what was the purpose that Jesus said that story? 5 believers go to Heaven and 5 unbelievers go to hell. So what, a new story? We know that. What is the warning in such a case since we all enter heaven?
Jim, the wage of sin is death, nomatter if one is a christian or not, it still remains death.
Ezekiel 18:24,
But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
I will try to answer your points.
1. You are right about that "Nor could the Lord say to any believer, however unspiritual, "I know you not."
But lets remember that this event described by Jesus takes place on the Judgement Day.
In this life His is our Father. We are His children. Good or bad ones we are still His children, He will do anything to bring us into His Kingdom, even through fire which means repentance at the very last moment of our lives. In this life we may be His prodigal sons and daughters who their Father is waiting patiently to return back home. But after we die we will fall into 2 categories. The saved ones, the ones who successfully finished their course in this life and the ones who failed.
So God is our father in this life and also in the future life as long as we enter His Kingdom. But those who will fail will face Him not as a Father but as a Judge. Those who will be cast out into the lake of fire won't be His childen any more, and He will not be their Father any more. He will ignore their names, since those names will be erased from the Book of Life, which is God's written record (literal or figurative) which includes all the names of all saved people since the creation of mankind. In Matthew 25:41 Jesus calls those people "cursed". Names unknown, just like the name of that rich man in the story of the rich man and Lazarus where Jesus didn't even bother to give us his name. No reason for that, he got lost for ever. Like those who will not finish their course in victory.
2. The parable of the 10 virgins.
Lets gather all points of interest from this parable.
Firstly all of them are virgins, which means christians. Virgins are not married people, like we are now, we are engaged to Jesus and we are waiting for our marriage. There is no way Jesus calls the sinful world virgins, people who commit all sort of sin and adultery and fornication. Can christians commit adulltery (figuratively)?.
The Same Hour
"And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven."
The Spirit gives us 'the hour' which is split into two halves. Jesus had warned of it as his earthly ministry was drawing to a close. "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."(Matt.24:41)
The verse preceding it is referring to the earth and the heaven working simultaneously. The worlds of the earth and of the Spirit signifying lower and upper millstones grind to a halt. There is a break. It is what we read when the Lamb broke the seventh seal. "And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour."(Re.8:1) This half an hour allows the rapture of 144,000 from the earth. These are the ones who gave glory to the God of heaven. They were part of the left out church in the vision of the Woman clothed With the Sun. They stepped in place of the nation of Israel and redeemed their souls(Re.7:4-8).
And the same hour was there a great earthquake, which is associated with the fall of great Babylon. "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." (Re.14:8) This in turn is taken up in detail in 18:21"And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all." The Spirit uses the term a great millstone significance of it will not be lost to any diligent reader.
The tenth part of the city fell indicates it is part of the judgment and great tribulation, for which we shall, if God willing, take up after completing the matter of two witnesses.
Let us examine Ro.8:11
Genesis 14:18-20 state: 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
The details of the aftermath of a battle with a foreign king where Lot was rescued from captivity aren't the focus in this post; but Melchizedek apparently blessed Abraham; but Abraham gave HIM a tithe (one thenth) of what he had. Hebrews mentions Melchizedek as a type of Christ; he was Gentile of unknown ancestry but apparently a great man of God for Abraham to offer him tithes. It shows that true worship of God was indeed with other nations at least with this individual BEFORE the sacrificial system began in Israel.
God Himself says that He chose Israel (see Deut. 7:6-8). These verses explain the covenant promises and that Israel was not some great nation that would be expected to have God's blessings. His purposes are in all things. God called Abraham from the land of Ur of the Chaldees to travel to the area which would eventually be for his descendants as an inheritance in the Promised Land. ( Genesis 12). Genesis 15:10 shows the actual covenant; which occured when Abram (to be called Abraham afterwards) was in a deep sleep; reminding of us of Adam in a deep sleep. God would be patient with the nations until their iniquity was to the full; then those surrounding nations to Israel's inheritance would be conquered ( Gen. 15:16).
We see how nations would be judged once sin was to the full such as Sodom and Gomorrah; then later Nineveh. The final giant offspring of the Nephilim would be destroyed when Goliath was killed by David ( 1 Samuel 17:50). The flood would destroy many of these offspring; the rest later on ( Gen. 6:4
. "Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee."(Matt.17:27). Under another circumstance Jesus sent his disciples and the word concerning had to be fulfilled. "Then sent Jesus two disciples,/ Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me./ And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them./ All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet."(Matt.21:2-5).
Jesus cursed the fig tree for the simple reason that it could not perceive the Son of man was not under curse. God cursed the ground and not the man. When God created the earth it was intended to be inhabited. "For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else."(Is.45:18). The earth and the fulness thereof is not earmarked for the filthy dreamers and foul spirit but for the Son. So there shall come a day when He will shake them out as kind of Spring cleaning His house shaking out the dust of the vermin, -they call it' pursuit of happiness'.
We shall see the series of judgments exactly as God willed it. The two witnesses have to ascend up to heaven in a cloud. Their enemies shall certainly see it. Severe heatwave, signs in the sun and the moon plagues are all waiting to come in. "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way."(2 The.2:7)
Part IV
: Re.11:11-13
The Spirit of Life (1 of 4)
"And they (the two witnesses) heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."
First we shall examine what is the significance of the spirit of life. "And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet;"
Spirit of life is written with small s which distinguishes the action of the Spirit of God moving upon the face of waters. Jesus explained it, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."( John 6:63) Fulness of Jesus Christ established his word was from the Spirit of his Father in heaven. Kenosis was demonstrated that he obeyed the eternal word settled in heavens. "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."(Ro. 8:11) This is how these two witnesses were raised. It was same with Lazarus of Bethany. Death has no hold where the word of God is concerned.
"So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning."( Job 42:12) In the land of the living the daughters of Job were already present. So when he gave Job double of everything he had lost, He proved the point. There are no dead in His presence but souls of the wicked shall be consigned to oblivion only after the day of Judgment and it is left to the Son since He desires all his fulness shall dwell in him.
In short the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters giving a word-wide web. It is what we found from the Psalm quote 'the Earth and the fulness thereof' indicates. Ps.24:1-3 When Jesus was demanded of tribute money, classic example of 'other men's riches' Jesus would not soil his hands with it.
And refraine not to speake, when there is occasion to doe good, and hide not thy wisedome in her beautie.
The translation is wrong, in fact it says not to hold back the words, therefore to speak, while it is translated backwards, saying to be silent on that occasion. It's just a translation error, I hope it has the right meaning in English, so TALK and don't miss the opportunity to do so at the right time, Thank you, peace
La traduzione e' sbagliata, dice infatti di non trattenere la parole, quindi di parlare, mentre viene tradotto al contrario, dicendo di tacere in quella occasione.
E' solo un errore di traduzione, spero che in Inglese abbia il significato giusto, quindi di PARLARE e non perdere l'occasione di farlo al momento opportuno, Grazie , pace
"A true believer,(one who has been born of Gods Spirit)will never hear the words"depart from me,I never knew you."
What you said is confimed by the Word of GOD through our Lord JESUS Christ, saying:"All that the Father(the Word)giveth me shall come to me;and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out"- John 6:37.
The Word is GOD, so the Word in our heart is literally GOD in our heart-Hallelujah!Great is our GOD.GOD is our life, the life that He gives unto the true believers through JESUS( 1John 5:10 explains literally who has and has not the life),true believers BELIEVED in the testimony that GOD gave of His Son.
1 John 5:19-20 :
19 And we know that we are of GOD, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
20 And we know that the Son of GOD is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
Matthew 11:27 - All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.
John 17:6-11
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy Word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, KEEP through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be One, as we are. AMEN.AMEN. AMEN. Praise GOD.
Revelation is all about the revealing of Jesus Christ, his creation become the exactness of himself, Christ. All accomplished by the WORKS of the cross of Christ.
It's hidden in symbols; as you study Mosses and the Prophets, those symbols are explained; yet, often they are explained by another symbol, keep studying, Christ will reveal himself to you, you will come to understand you died with Christ on his cross, YOU and Christ arose TOGETHER, a marriage, you BECAME ONE.
The entire word of God is about the kingdom of God, a kingdom of priest and gods, the IMAGE of their high priest, Jesus Christ, they are going to judge the nations with Christ.
Joshua 22:22 The LORD GOD of gods, the LORD GOD of gods ......
Exodus 7:1 And the LORD said unto Mosses, see I HAVE MADE THEE (Mosses) a god to Pharaoh ....
God made Mosses a god to JUDGE Pharaoh...... this is going to happen again ..... this time no Canaanites will be left in the land
Zachariah 14:21 Yea, every POT (we are the pot; the body, Christ the potter) in Jerusalem and in Judah SHALL BE HOLINESS unto the Lord of host: and all they ( Revelation 19:9) that sacrifice shall come and take of them (the pots of Christ), and SEETH THEREIN (be judged) in that day there shall be NO MORE CANAANITE.
Zachariah 12:8 ... and the house of David shall be as God, and the angel of the Lord before them ........
Psalms 126:6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious SEED, shall doubtless COME AGAIN with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Revelation 21:26 And they (the pots of God, the body of Christ) shall bring the glory and the honour OF THE NATIONS into it.
The saints are going to Judge the earth, ALL JUDGEMENT was given to CHrist; you cannot be a judge and NOT BELIEVE, you were made ONE with Christ by his resurrection.
God Bless YOU!
"And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days." (Nu.19:16)
Seven days refer to completeness. It is thus the two witnesses serve as a sign to the ungodly world. Like an incubus they make all the merrymaking of the ungodly taste as ashes in mouth the morning after.
The ungodly nations are heading into evil times and good counsel from the Bible did not profit them then and neither would now unless they stop and examine their lives. Isaiah 57 speaks of calamities that break out now and then, are warnings from the long suffering Lord. "The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart"(Is.57:1)
For the ungodly the preachers who bring good counsel are nuisance. They celebrate Christmas but not live the spirit of it. "And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth."
So as we see these two witnesses could be any city, Babylon, Sodom of Egypt. Jerusalem is associated with the shedding of innocent blood of which the death of the Son on the cross is preeminent in terms of cities. As Nahum lamented, "Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;/ The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots./ The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:."(Nah.3:1-3)
11:8-12
"After three days and an half spirit of life entered into them"
Here we have another time frame associated with the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. The Spirit uses the tags associated with the Son so the Parable of the Fig tree has the owner of the vineyard complaining, "For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. " Three is a command number, which the Spirit has frequently used to indicate what to look for so our spiritual edification is not on any haphazard manner. In the Psalm quote we have this question, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?". Only those who are called and it is what we see in the case of two witnesses." "And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."
Death of saints never stopped the Vanity Fair, and the life shall go on merrily and it has been the case ever since Cain killed his brother. Never a thought that the blood spilled on the ground was an insult to the holiness of God. It is in this connection we need understand the commandment of God to Moses. (See the post under Nu.19:16)
The Earth and the Fulness
"The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein./ For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods./ Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?"(Ps.24:1-3)
Before we take up the topic on hand we shall refresh the matter of the earth and the fulness thereof. The Lord God had intended his Son as his heir. So the fulness of Jesus Christ must be applied as to the entity and its appurtenance. It is a legal term. God established it upon the flood so when the Spirit begins the creation account he informs us, "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."(Ge.1:2) Thus God optimize the value of his property so we can well understand the concern of the owner in the Parable of the fig tree, "So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'"( Luke 13:7-NIV) And Isaiah has dilated upon his anguish, "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard./ What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?" (Is.5:3-4)
God sent his prophets from time to time to the earth but the wicked husbandmen treated them vilely and killed many of them. The two witnesses signifying the worlds of the Spirit and of the earth, are presented by the Spirit. They represent from Abel to Zechariah as martyrs and many more. It is in the vein Jerusalem is represented in v.8. This is to be spiritually understood. The Earth abides forever since it belongs to the Son in whom God desired all his fullness to dwell. He is the visible image of the invisible God.
Bottomless Pit
Here we shall first discuss the pit and the bottomless pit. With the expulsion of man from the garden he was condemned to return to the ground from which he was taken. With Abel's murder Cain was condemned to be a vagabond and the outer darkness explained the farthest place, outside His grace. With the pit the man who identified with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ could look to the righteousness of GGod. Is.51:1 The pit is a generic name for one who died in Christ. Bottomless pit by the same token refers to those who are consigned to the outer darkness. He is raised to do the bidding of Satan and by Law of Gradation we have so many whose authority was derived from Satan. Who was Herod but an usurper whose authority came from pagan Rome. John the Baptist was beheaded by the beast in his time. In the time of Jesus there were the Herodians as in the end times the antichrist will signify the same clique which carried away Jeremiah to Egypt against the commandment of God. King of Egypt represented the beast. From King Tyrus to the beast of the end times they shall war against the testimony of Jesus Christ. Jesus died not for himself but for His saints. "For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God."(Ro.6:9-11) For the saints redeemed are those who died but alive for ever. "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
John the Baptist did not do any miracle as Elijah or Elisha did. But he is considered as the greatest in the world of the body. "Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."(Matt.11:11) John did not care to follow Jesus. Here we see typical witnessing from the world of the body and from world of the Spirit respectively.
Bottomless Pit
And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
These witnesses for the Gospel have been collectively put under two, and it is like the two edged sword carrying salvation and judgment in one. Before the great flood God standardized days of man accordingly. 120 years is a number and ties his worlds of the Spirit and of his body under the gospel, which is one. Enoch for example walked with God and was not. For God took him.(Ge.5:24) On the other hand God gave Noah the ark to His measure since he was counted as a double for the Son, the firstborn of all creation. His days were standardized on the basis of the Gospel. From Abel onwards saints lived to their end, witnessing often as martyrs but all according to the will of God. Thus their lives fitted with two worlds. So Elijah brought fire from heaven as in v.5 and shut heaven as in the times of heaven. Those who held Jeremiah captive and carried him to Egypt and had him killed would themselves be killed.(Je.42:17) The life of Moses is mentioned in the same verse. (v.6)
6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
"And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them."(v.7)
Here we shall first discuss the pit and the bottomless pit. With the expulsion of man from the garden he was condemned to return to the ground from which he was taken. With Abel's murder Cain was condemned to be a vagabond and the outer darkness explained the farthest place, outside His grace. With the pit the man who identified with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ could look to the righteousness of God. Is.51:1
The Spirit gives the beast 42 months to denote that his authority came from Satan himself. So are these children. Do we not see these children of Belial hating a man for color? or for his baldness? Of what business it is for them to judge another man's servant? Children of Belial serve their master and they have another gospel and another christ. "Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. "(Ps.69:4) This was fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ. "But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'( John 15:25)
The angel talking with John refers to the temple of God to which shows a courtyard, and it falls in with his Jewish background. But the courtyard refers to the camp without where Christ suffered, "Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate."(He.13:12)
The Children of Belial or the Gentiles by their deeds (because of resisting the gospel of Christ) shall injure the building of the church which however shall go on despite of their interference. This shall go on for 42 days.
When examining the nations after the flood and during the failed attempt to build the tower of Babel everyone spoke one language until God Himself confused it (see Genesis 10:7-9). This was associated with the geographic breaking of the continents it would appear; or perhaps there was passage along the Alaskan peninsula when it was still covered with ice to allow Asiatic peoples to cross over. There have been people that seem to treace to Egypt as well who were mentioned a few generations ahead of Eber; and it is surmised some may have come over on ships. Genesis 10:25 states
"One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan." (these were the sons of Eber). The general spiritual understanding of most cultures holds on to an original concept of God and stories of a worldwide flood are universal throughout the continents. These are known as the "Epic of Gilgamesh" in the Mideast; and with different characters of 8 persons in the Chinese legends; for example. Hebrew has been said to be traced perhaps to the original language; I find it interesting that some of the characters appear to be pictures and some are letters. The eastern languages tended to have pictorial representations; but there are many complex variations in the Americas among a plethora of different Indian nations. Stories also are universal describing races of giants; which match up with the many giants before and after the flood in scripture ( Gen. 6:4); see also Numbers 13:33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim).
Proverbs 23:10 states "Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless". Another word for landmark is "boundary stones." Deuteronomy 32:8 states: "When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel."
"But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months./ And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth."
In order to understand this chapter we shall do well to keep the provision under the Law of Moses. "And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days."Nu.19:11
The Gentiles mentioned here are the unrighteous. The reconciling work of Jesus Christ has done away with the middle wall of partition between the Jews and the Gentiles. These have a form of godliness but they deny the power thereof. In Ps.59 we read of them going about creating tumult and controversies. Swords are in their mouths. "They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city."( Ps. 59:6-7) They are called the children of Belial. On the other hand the righteous are walk by faith and not by sight. St Paul expresses them in this verse, "Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him." Having died to sin and the worldly glory they groan inwardly 'that mortality might be swallowed up of life." (2 Co,5:4-6) "The voice of rejoicing and salvation
Is in the tents of the righteous,"( Ps. 118:15-16-NKJV)
Who are the children of Belial? They figure in the life of Elisha. "And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head./ And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them."(2 Ki.2:23-24) The two bears that avenged the prophet serve as two witnesses.