The Two Witnesses

The Two Witnesses

The two witnesses, discussed earlier in this book, have an important role to play in the end times and the span of their ministry provides us with another end times chronological parameter. Their ministry is described in Rev 11:3-15.

And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 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 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. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 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. And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 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. 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 second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Many over the years have debated their identity. My study of scripture has led me to believe that they may be Elijah and John. Elijah is the prophet who is to return to earth before the Lord returns (Mal 4:5,6), and John was told that he was to prophesy again (Rev 10:11).

These two witnesses--whoever they turn out to be--will prophesy and proclaim God’s message of salvation and repentance to the world from Jerusalem. They will also have power, like Moses before Pharaoh, to inflict the world with many judgments. The timing of their ministry has also been debated. However if you look to the end of Revelation 11, you will notice that right after the witnesses die and are resurrected, the second woe is past. The three woes are the last three trumpet judgments. Thus, their work on earth ends between the 6th and 7th trumpet judgment. (The last 30 days before Armageddon are for the seventh trumpet judgment, which consists of the seven bowl judgments.) Thus with their 1260 day ministry ending at the latest at day 2490 this would place the start of their ministry sometime before day 1230.

We also know that the 2 witnesses are to die and their bodies will lie in the street for 3½ days, which may be part of the 1260 they are allotted to minister or may be outside of it. If the 3½ days are part of the 1260 days and they are killed on day 2490 then their ministry would end on day 2494 and start on day 1234.

updated 3/15

Rabbi Judah Ben Samuel Prophecy

From The Coming Epiphany, Chapter 12.

 

 

Rabbi Judah Ben Samuel Prophecy

The following is the write up of a prophecy made by Rabbi Judah Ben Samuel that I believe is significant in regards to answering the question when, and may point to a possible year of the Second Coming. The original article appeared in Israel Today, March 2008^[1]

 

In 1217 the Jewish Rabbi Judah Ben Samuel prophesied that the Ottoman Turks would rule over the holy city of Jerusalem for eight Jubilees. A Jubilee is a period of 50 years according to Leviticus 25:8-13. Eight Jubilees would then be 400 years. Sure enough, 300 years later in 1517 the Ottoman Turks seized control of the city of Jerusalem and ruled over it for the next 400 years. They were finally driven out of the city and the holy land in 1917 by the Allied forces under the command of General George Allenby. The Rabbi's prophecy about the 400 years was fulfilled exactly to the year.

 

The Rabbi had also prophesied that during the ninth Jubilee Jerusalem would be a "no-man's land." This is exactly what happened from 1917 to 1967, due to the fact that the holy land was placed under British Mandate in 1917 by the League of Nations and literally "belonged" to no nation. Even after Israel's war of independence in 1948-49 Jerusalem was still divided by a strip of land running right through the heart of the city, with Jordan controlling the eastern part of the city and Israel controlling the western part of the city. That strip of land was considered and even called "no-man's land" by both the Israelis and the Jordanians. Anyone even stepping into that strip would be shot down. I lived during that period of time and well remember the reports in the newspapers and shown on TV about the division of Jerusalem. It was not until the Six Day War in 1967 when the entire west bank of the holy land was conquered by the Israeli army that the whole city of Jerusalem passed back into the possession of Israel. So once again the prophecy made by the Rabbi 750 years previously was fulfilled to the letter.

 

But that is still not the end of the matter. The Rabbi also prophesied that during the 10th Jubilee Jerusalem would be under the control of the Jews and the Messianic "end times" would begin. The 10th Jubilee began in 1967 and will be concluded in 2017.^[2]

 

Let's consider the data;

Jubilees 1-8 (1517 to 1917): Turks will rule.

Jubilee 9 (1917 to 1967): Jerusalem a “no man’s land.”

Jubilee 10 (1967 to 2017): Jerusalem under Jewish control, Messianic end times will begin.

Jubilee 11: Begins at Yom Kippur 9/30/17.

 

Jubilees 1-8 and 9 were fulfilled as his prophecy stated. His prophecy also states “during the 10th Jubilee Jerusalem would be under the control of the Jews and the Messianic "end times" would begin.” Therefore if the prophecy is to be trusted, then the Messianic “end times” would have to start within the time of the 10th jubilee, before the 11th Jubilee starts at Yom Kippur on 9/30/17. Thus if the Messianic “end times” refers to the beginning of the 70^th Week, then the prophecy implies the Second Coming will be no later than 2024. If the Messianic “end times” refers to Jacob’s trouble—the second half of the 70^th Week—then the prophecy implies the Second Coming will be no later than 2021.

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[1] http://issuu.com/ryaninzion/docs/israel_today_march_2008

[2]http://www.injesus.com/index.php?module=message&task=view&MID=ZB007HAL&GroupID=2A004N9G&print=1



Cloudy with a Chance of Judgment

The showdown between Israel and the world is coming to a head. Israel is being surrounded by harsh opposition and extreme pressure is being applied to move her back to her pre-1967 borders. The world has been warned many times through various judgments. One of those judgments that stands out in my mind is Fukushima, which is still spewing radiation and it is being called the worst human disaster of all time because of all the damage and death throughout the world that the radiation will cause. Just go to Rense.com and read some of the articles.

I published two posts regarding the Fukushima disaster and its warning to the nations back in the spring of 2011. Here are a few snippets:

Is not an evil wind blowing from the coast of Japan that threatens to spew nuclear radiation over the whole earth? As you probably know from following the nuclear situation in Japan the information is sketchy and at present they are telling us that things are improving and I hope it does, but there is a real potential for the situation to develop into a devastating crisis that could effect the whole world with radiation. Also we only know what we have been officially told--only God knows the truth of what has happened already.

Did God let the devastation happen to Japan because of her treatment of Israel? Was the "cloud" a sign from God? Will an evil wind blow upon the whole world because they have aligned themselves against Israel? Only God knows the answers to those questions but scripture will be fulfilled--And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Gen 12:3...

I believe the message of the sign is clear: Nations of the world do not set your hand against Israel or you will be judged.

If it bothers you that I have the audacity to make that statement I refer you to God’s Holy Word the Bible--And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: Gen 12:3—in other words, God already said it.

My hope is that the nations of the world will heed this sign and stop aligning themselves against Israel so that perhaps God will have mercy upon the world and judgment can be averted. Want to help? Send this info to your government...

So it looks like the nations of the world have not heeded this sign and are poised to come against Israel and divide her land. If the world chooses to do this then my forecast is; "cloudy with a chance of judgment." And guess what the weather forecast for New York city is this week? Cloudy and rainy all week, as we would call it in the Northeast--dreary. It kind of gives me a sense that God is not pleased and is saddened at what is about to take place.

I felt prompted to draw a line from the United Nations building to Washington D.C.--In D.C I picked the Christmas tree that has associations with Israel, the United States, the Palestinian state and comet Elenin.  The line is at 232.81 degrees. Extending the line south it hits the gulf of Mexico near New Orleans. Continuing the line North it hits the Golan heights and Syria.

Let me give you some information about this line. The line goes directly through the house that I grew up in for 23 years--this startled me! I did some more checking of the line; It goes through the high school I attended. It goes through another housing development where I lived for a few years. It goes through my favorite and most visited restaurant--The Olive Garden. It comes close to another housing development that I lived in and comes close to my mother's grave--she died when I was 6. It goes through the town where I was saved at age 20 while at college. It goes through the Apartment complex I lived at for some of the time at college. It goes through the property where I worked while at college. It goes through my favorite place to practice food gathering skills--striped bass fishing spot--too bad they destroyed the fishery. It comes within 18 miles of where I attended college for my M.Div.--that is about 600 miles from my house. All I can say is WOW!

A few more observations of the line: The last place it hits in the USA to the North is Nahant Island, MA. Nahant means "at the point" or "two things united" The last road it hits is Rosemary rd. One of the possible meanings for Rosemary is "famed sea of bitterness." 

As already mentioned the line continues on to hit the Golan heights--one of the disputed territories and comes very close to the tsunami sign.

The last place it hits in the USA to the South is The Mississippi delta near Buras-Triumph. One of the meanings of Buras is a type of coarse woollen cloth--kind of reminds me of sackcloth. The last road it hits is Route 23--remember that

The line also crosses through Liberty Park and goes between 2 interesting circles there--kind of hinting that a line should be drawn there. Notice it also crosses Freedom Way.

The world is suppose to decide on the Israel/Palestine issue on Friday 9/23/2011. Here are some interesting things about that date. It is the first day of Autumn. A satellite is expected to fall to earth that day with the possibility of  26 pieces totaling 1100 lbs to make it through the atmosphere with a 1 in 3200 chance a piece will hit someone. (I pray that God would be glorified in its fall, and it would be a sign to the world.) 9/23 is also in the +- 3 day range of when comet Elenin will have a Sun-Elenin-Earth alignment.

Hmm 23 and its reverse 32 seem to keep popping up. 23 is an interesting number, here is one fact from the linked article; The first morse code transmission - "What hath God wrought?" - was from the Bible passage Numbers 23:23. In telegraphers code 23 means "break the line". In fact the first transmission was between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore--the line also runs between Washington and Baltimore. How bout 32; The Biblical Numerology Meaning of this number: comes from my understanding that it normally deals in reference with having a covenant or agreement with a certain person or party.

What does all this mean? Is this line pointing out where the next judgment will fall and why? Does the line point to where the next major hurricane will make landfall? BTW the next storm/hurricane will be named Ophelia--meaning "help"--and she is expected to develop this week (note she developed late 9/20 and so did a storm in the Pacific named Hilary). In the pic above do you notice the recent earthquakes (colored dots) that are parallel to both sides of the line? Is this line pointing to an earthquake judgment? With the line's associations to the National Christmas tree, is it pointing to a judgment connected to comet Elenin? Or could it be all three? And why does the line go through the house that I grew up in and have many way beyond chance associations to me? And how bout the meanings of the names and numbers?

Again I pose the question; What does all this mean? As the saying goes, time will tell--I am not predicting anything, but it looks like the world has not heeded the warnings of the past and will come against Israel this week and then again maybe they won't. If they do I know that in the past when countries have gone against Israel judgment has fallen upon them. So if they do my forecast is; "cloudy with a chance of judgment." But remember the sun is always shining above the clouds--so let the SON shine in, He will take care of you. Read about God's gift of salvation.

Oh BTW, after writing the rough draft of this post, that night I prayed and asked God to give me a message when I opened my Bible for devotions the next morning. I randomly opened to Ezekiel 21, it has 32 verses.

1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2. Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,
3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
4 Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:
5 That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.
6 Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
7 And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.
8 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:
10 It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree.
11 And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.
12 Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.
13 Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.
14 Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together. and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.
15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.
16 Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.
17 I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it.
18 The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,
19Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.
20 Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.
21 For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.
22 At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.
23 And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.
24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.
25 And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,
26 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.
27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.
28 And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering:
29 Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.
30 Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.
31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.
32 Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.

There are a lot of implications here, but one observation that I would like to point out; Remember who the king of Babylon is, the meaning of Nahant--the last place the line hit to the North in the USA, and look at verse 21.

Would you like to know the meaning of this line? See the sequel; Cloudy with a Chance of Judgemnt; The Meaning

I received another comment from a reader the other day, I am posting in hopes that it will help some decide to read The Coming Epiphany. I take no credit for the book, but give the credit to God and thank Him for the priviledge of being used by Him.

God bless you for the efforts you have spent. I must have 100 prophecy books and listen to many of the greats - MacArthur, Missler, Stearman, Stone, Lindsey, Church, Jeffries, etc. Yet, your book with it's clarity helped jump start my studies and further my end times understanding. It is now my go-to reference book.


You will undoubtedly get a lot of criticism and flack, but that's just how it is these days. Let it roll off, by knowing you have done a great service to those of us who seek to be ever vigilant and prepared servants. It is also apparent you have done a good job setting ego aside. There is no place for that as agents of the Most High.

May your work greatly prosper in his hands.

DPC

The Coming Epiphany

I would like to pass on a comment that I received from a reader the other day regarding The Coming Epiphany. In doing this I am hoping that it will encourage some to read it. I wrote The Coming Epiphany because I was burdened at how asleep Christians were to essential end times truths. I have put many hours of prayer, research and writing into the book. And for the record I have not made a dime off the book and in fact for the whole project I am in debt--but I did not write it to make money, but to help others understand end times Bible prophecy in an easily understood format.

The comment:

Dear William,

Thank you for your book, "The Coming Epiphany" and the opportunity to download it free.

After spending the past two days reading it, I ordered 3 copies today.

For over a year God has been drawing me almost every day into the Book of Revelation. I have shared some of what I have learned on my blog.

However, I came to the conclusion recently that I have just scratched the surface and prayed that God would give me a better understanding of the signs of the times and what significant indicators I should be watching for so I can sort out priorities and prepare the best I can.

Then I came across your article on Rense two days ago and as I read your book, I realized that this was the answer to my prayer.

I know that everything is not revealed to us yet, but now I have a better idea of what to be watching for as God unfolds the future in a way that His people will hear His Voice and understand what He is saying.

Thank you for writing this book....

Reading your book and knowing how close we are to His coming, surely will serve as encouragement to many to endure to the end.

Continue to Be Blessed,
Kay Graves
NurturingLife.blogspot.com
 
Download The Coming Epiphany for FREE or read it online at the links in the sidebar

Comet Elenin and the Rapture

Photo: biblecodes.org

Amidst the rhetoric concerning comet Elenin is the idea that the rapture will coincide with her arrival this fall. I have read many such claims at many places on the net that align certain spiritual occurrences with her arrival and thus conclude the rapture may occur during these times. Will the rapture happen this fall? NO

How do I know because of what God's word tells us. First let's briefly describe what happens at the rapture; Christ comes to the clouds for all the world to see, Christians are raptured and then men panic. Anywhere in Revelation that you find a scenario like that? How about Revelation 6.

15. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;


16. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:


17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

So Jesus appears, and everybody hides, and then God's wrath starts. That is a description of the rapture and it happens after the 6th seal is opened.

12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;


13And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.


14And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

So if the rapture happens after the sixth seal is opened then we have to see seal 1 to 5 before the rapture can occur. Seal 5 is the worldwide persecution of Jews and Christians by the antichrist, which includes no buying or selling without the mark. That will not happen until after the abomination of desolation. We are not at that point yet so therefore the rapture cannot occur yet.

Want some confirmation? Look at what God told the Thessalonians who were afraid that the rapture was at hand or that they had missed it;

1Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,


2That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.


3Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;


4Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

It plainly states that the day of the Lord and the rapture will not come until the falling away occurs, and the antichrist performs the abomination of desolation. So in light of scripture it is too early in the prophetic timeline for the rapture. After we see the antichrist arise and the abomination of desolation, then look up for your redemption draweth nigh!

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