We're looking at God's final plans for his two witnesses that we find in Revelation 11, and we're getting closer to the end of their, I guess, ministry on earth, as before they actually make their way to heaven by God's grace. But if you remember there in verse seven, We learned about the completion of their ministry when after serving for 1,260 days, we're told that when they shall have finished their testimony. So it's not just finishing because that's the amount of time that they were given, but also they finished it because they were complete. It was done. Everything that God had for them was complete. And you know, with the tragedy that we witnessed really on two days this last week with both airplane crashes. I think that something that we can remember really as believers that we ought to remember is that the time of everyone's life is ultimately in God's hands. I was able to find out that there was a man on the plane that was coming into Washington who was actually a graduate of my own alma mater, Bob Jones University. Understanding he has a strong testimony of faith in the Lord, so certainly at least one believer, perhaps many believers, were on that plane and were taken immediately into the presence of God. But whether believer or unbeliever, we recognize that God is sovereign over his creation, and that sovereignty extends to the very lives of the people. And it's hard for us to imagine. We're finite. It's hard for us to imagine as people. But ultimately, God is in control of even our very lives. And that is true here, these two witnesses. When God's plan for their witness and testimony before this world was complete, then their days were done, and they were ushered into the very presence of God, spiritually, and of course, physically here in a little bit. So they were completed, their ministry was completed. And that's certainly something that we see there in verse seven. But of course, that also led us to look at the challenger of their ministry, and that will be also there in verse seven, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit. And of course, this beast, who we're just briefly introduced to here in chapter 11, more information will follow in chapters 13 and chapter 17. But this beast is ultimately permitted and allowed by God, again, he's sovereign, to make war against them and to overcome them and to killed it. And so we see again the animosity there exists between God and the world, between the Lord and ultimately the devil and his beast. But even the deaths of these two witnesses will not be enough for the beast and will not be enough for this world. And that leads to verses 8 and 10, we're told about the contempt for their ministry. I mean, their contempt for these two witnesses is so great that even when they are dead, they still want to show their utter contempt and disgrace on them. And this is going to be shown to these two witnesses even after their deaths. Now, the last time we looked at the place of the witnesses' disgrace, there in verse 8, And so verses 8 through 10 all deal with contempt for the two witnesses, seen especially in how they are treated after their death, at their death and after their death. But the place of the witness's disgrace is described for us there in verse 8, where their dead bodies shall lie in the street or the plaza, the broad place of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. where also our Lord was crucified." Now, obviously, this verse initially tells us how the world will show their contempt for these witnesses. They'll deny them burial by just leaving them to rot on the street, and that, especially in ancient times, was a great form of disgrace, and it will happen again. But it also helps us understand a bit where the two witnesses will not only die, but where they're actually doing the majority of their ministry as God's prophets. And the phrase where also our Lord is crucified, though some see it as just referring to the world in which, you know, to which He came to be the Savior of, can also refer to the very city of Jerusalem, where He was crucified just outside the gates. But instead of having the holy character of the holy city of God, which it used to be known by, that we found there in verse 2 and other places, It actually has the great character of the great city of the beast. So, Jerusalem in the time of Revelation and really the Jerusalem of today is not like the Jerusalem of the Old Testament. They are not the holy city of God anymore. Instead, they have the very character of the great city of the beast, which is where we see that great city all throughout Revelation. This is the only place where great city is not applied to Babylon or to the world but yet it is part of the great city of the beast. And its citizens will be the very ones who show contempt to God and his witnesses." It's not just referring to the contempt of the beast. It's the contempt of the people in this city toward the witnesses of God. Well, there's even more description of this contempt in verses nine and ten. So these are the two verses that we'll be looking at today. There in verse nine, in addition to the place of their disgrace, we're then told a little bit more about the practice of their disgrace. That is how the people in that city, that great city, which is connected very closely to the kingdom of the beast, how they will show their disgrace to these two witnesses. Verse nine. and they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies there, or shall see their dead bodies, excuse me, three days and a half. and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves." So again, this is related to what we saw already in verse eight, where they're just gonna leave the bodies of those witnesses in that street to rot, probably right where they were killed. But the bodies of the two witnesses will become a public spectacle in the very place that they were killed. And so that's what we have here in verse nine, a description of this shameless spectacle of just utter disgrace and contempt for God's servants. So here we find in verse 9, first of all, who will see this shameless spectacle? Who will witness this shameless spectacle? We're told they, verse 9, they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations. Now, in Revelation, these four descriptions, kindreds, tongues, people, and nations, are found several places. We've already found it a few places in Revelation as well. There are some minor differences. Sometimes they're just shuffled in different order. My wife and I were playing a Game this last week and it was a game where you had to keep shuffling your cards, you know And that's kind of what we find here in Revelation where you find people and kindreds and tongues and nations you find those four Descriptions in many other places in Revelation. They're just kind of shuffled around a bit. Sometimes you might find three instead of the four sometimes there might be something added to it like in in If you're right there in chapter 10 verse 11, where the angel tells John, you must prophesy again before many peoples and nations and tongues. And so there's three of the four, and then it's added and king. So there's quite a few varieties to these descriptions. Sometimes these designations, people, kindreds, tongues, nations, are used for unbelievers, and that's certainly the way they're used here. However, other times you'll find these same descriptions used for believers, but believers who've been redeemed from out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. That's actually how we find it in chapter 5, verse 9. That's also how we find it in chapter 7, verse 9. These four descriptions sometimes are used for just the world at large, for people that do not know the Lord. Sometimes it's referring to believers who've been redeemed from the world. But when these four words are joined together, they ultimately represent the overall makeup of the world. And I have the list of the references where you can find these four designations. Again, chapter five verse nine and chapter seven verse nine deal with believers. Chapter 10 verse 11 and on deal with unbelievers, but they really just have the picture of the world at large. Now, the way that this is put here in verse nine does not mean, just from the text itself, that everyone in the world will see this spectacle. And the reason why we would say that is because in verse nine it says that there will be people from every. excuse me, from every tribe or kindred, tongue, and nation, and people. So they of, that word of is very important. So it's a group of people out of this representation of the world. So people from every people group that is described here will actually see the bodies of the witnesses lying on the street. Now, obviously, with our current technology, we could see how everybody in the world could actually see them. And that certainly may happen, that might be the case, but that's not how it's described here in the text. So even if the world at large could not see this, they of, or people of and from every people and kindred and tongue and nation will see them. Why? Because Jerusalem will be that kind of place. Jerusalem will be that kind of city. It shows us that Jerusalem, again referring to verse 8, where also our Lord was crucified, will be a very cosmopolitan city in that day. Actually, Jerusalem is a very cosmopolitan city today. Today, even, there are people from the people and kindreds and tongues and nations from all over the world that live in Jerusalem. There are Americans that are in Jerusalem. There are Germans in Jerusalem. There are Chinese in Jerusalem. I mean, if you think of a people group, they're probably somewhere in Jerusalem, even if they're represented through their ambassadors. So we recognize that it's a very cosmopolitan city in which place there will be just about every kind of person. And though there are still going to be a significant number of ethnic Jews, part of that, and actually the word kindred here, uh... it can also be translated tribes uh... it has the idea of of like the tribes of the children of israel we we've seen that word elsewhere in in revelations well even though we have a significant number of ethnic jews probably in the city still there will be a very strong alliance between jews and gentiles not for god in this place but against god and his witnesses so keep that in mind jerusalem The place where our Lord was crucified is not given in a good light here in chapter 11. It is not the new Jerusalem. It really has nothing to do with the new Jerusalem. It is the old Jerusalem, the same Jerusalem that crucified the Lord. It's the same Jerusalem where they're going to kill these two witnesses. Now, these witnesses ultimately will also, it seems from this passage, go to Jerusalem to carry out their ministry. And one of the reasons for that is because the whole world will be represented in that place. You know, one of the things about America is it has always been described as a melting pot, right? It's been a place where people have immigrated from all over the world. We are a nation of immigrants, and certainly we are thankful for that. But one of the things I've heard people say, even in churches today, is that so much of the missions of America in the past was going out to, we could say, the people and kindreds and tongues and nations, right? But isn't it amazing that today, even, the people and kindreds and tongues and nations have come here, and so much of the world missions that we used to be focused on can be focused on to the same kinds of people in our own nation at this time? And so that's something that we see in missions. And I think that's one of the reasons why these two leaders of God's people, these two witnesses, will ultimately make their way to Jerusalem. They might have already been from Jerusalem, but they certainly represent the church of the world, the faithful church of the world, the two lampstands. But they're gonna be there because they know that this is where they can reach the world. And they know, certainly probably even from scripture itself, that this is where God's word needs to be presented, even before the return of the Lord. And yet, all of the Jews, all of the Gentiles, all of the people, kindreds, tongues, and nations of the world will hear their testimony and actually seek to kill them for that testimony. So that is who will see this spectacle when they die in the streets. But then we're also told when this spectacle will be seen, or really how long, we can put it that way. The rest of verse nine says that they, again, they from, the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations, they shall see their dead bodies, the dead bodies of these two witnesses, for three and a half days, for three days and a half. Now, interestingly, this is a period of time in days that matches the time of their ministry in years, because how long are they going to serve according to Revelation 11? 1,260 days, which is three-and-a-half years according to the uh... the jewish uh... solar lunar calendar right thirty-day months but we also saw earlier in this chapter that this is also a period of time uh... given for the time of trouble for god's people forty-two months which is also three-and-a-half years so there's a lot of three-and-a-halfs that are going on in this chapter so the question is is there some significance to this interval of time uh... we saw how the three-and-a-half years can be Significant for different reasons as in in days and in months, but what about three and a half days? Only in verse nine of this chapter and in verse 11 in this chapter Do we have this interval of time three and a half days in all scripture? You don't find three and a half days referred to anywhere else in scripture just here so There's really no precedent to this. There's no place that we can go back to see what the symbolic significance might be of this number. And there's also no future repetition. So you kind of have to put other pieces of the puzzle together. We do find Of course, the three and a half years, which refers to the ministry of the prophets of God. So there might be a relationship there. But we do find three days used several places in scripture when something significant or important happens. And of course, what is the most significant thing that happens in three days for those who know the Lord Jesus? The resurrection, that's right, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. So even though we can't be certain as to why we're given this three and a half days, the time that is given for their contempt and disgrace seems to be related to both the period of their ministry, three and a half years, and the period of Jesus' death, three days. How significant is that? Not too sure. But that also brings up the question, let's just say that you're John, and this is the first time you're ever seeing this in your vision, you're ever hearing this, and you think, well, wait a second, why only three and a half days? I mean, let's just say that he has only been given this part and he doesn't know about their resurrection or their ascension coming up here in a couple of verses. Already there's a clue, right? There's a clue here that they're not going to be dead for very long, only three and a half days. Of course, we know the answer, what's gonna happen after that, because we've already read verse 11. We already know about verse 11. We already know about how they're gonna have their life restored to them, and then they're going to ascend into heaven just like Jesus did. But at this point, in John's vision, he didn't know it yet. He didn't know it yet. But instead, we're then given, again, also in verse nine, why this spectacle will be seen. Why this spectacle will be seen. Again, verse nine, because they shall not suffer. their dead bodies to be put in graves. That means they're not going to allow it. They're not going to permit it. Now, the question I had when I came to this particular phrase in this verse is, does this mean that there might be some that try to bury their dead bodies? You know if you think back when Jesus died and Jesus was on the cross There were his disciples and at the time they were his secret disciples, right? Joseph of Arimathea Nicodemus actually came to see if they could could get the body of Jesus to lay him in a tomb and I wonder if there might be some perhaps Secret members of the church at this time that were still struggling maybe still a little afraid what was going on Maybe this will give them courage to go and crave the bodies of their two leaders to even bury them But, whether that's the case or not, these people, from every people, kindreds, tongues, and nations, verse 9, will not allow it, will not suffer their dead bodies to be buried. No one will be permitted to take their bodies to be buried. Now, of course, we learned last time, that is an extreme, but very common way to show hatred to one's enemies in ancient times. We see that taking place several times in the Old Testament, and certainly there's evidence in Roman times as well, where they would just let bodies on crosses rot. And for days, and months, and who knows how long. But ultimately, it was to be a sign of contempt for the people, and a warning. Don't do what these people did, or the same thing might happen to you. And so what we have here in verse nine is the whole world is seen as united in their will to mock these prophets, even in their death. And it's all of the world in the great city where our Lord was crucified, in perhaps the very city of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified. Again, Jerusalem is not put in a good light, just like earlier on in chapters two and three, the Jews themselves were not put in a good light in this book. And yet, as bad as things sounded in verse 8, things get even worse in verse 9. And yet, there's even more contempt that will be heaped on these servants in verse 10. And so, not only are we finding about the place of their disgrace in verse 8, the practice of their disgrace in verse 9, but now we're told about what we can say is the proportion of their disgrace. That is, it's even more extreme than you can imagine. It is even more extreme. Let's read verse 10 again. It says, again, they and they that dwell upon the earth, get this, 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. I titled this lesson An Unholy Holiday, because what we have there in verse nine I think really can only be described in terms of some kind of holiday, right? They're celebrating the death of these men, and they're celebrating the very contempt that they have for these men. It's a holiday, but we know That it is an unholy holiday, and yet, from their perspective, this is gonna be the holiest holiday of them all. Because, again, these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. Now, just like we had in the first part of verse nine, we find once again the reach of the contempt of these people that will be there in Jerusalem. the whole world here will become involved. So even if in verse nine, it says, they of the people and kindred, the tongues and nations, so sort of a segment of the population of the world in Jerusalem at that time, here we have in verse 10, all they that dwell on the earth will participate in this unholy holiday. Now, we've already seen in Revelation that description, they that dwell upon the earth. And it's actually a present participle, and so it could be translated this way, those who are dwelling on the earth. You also find it in Revelation, those who are inhabiting the earth. It kind of becomes a technical phrase because everywhere you find this phrase in Revelation, it refers to unbelievers who not only live in the world, But are truly of the world because they have the same character as the world In fact, I have a listing there of every place you will find that phrase and it's in the exact same syntax All right. It is it is put as those who are dwelling on earth or the earth dwellers You might find it in other translations But you it starts there in chapter 3 verse 10. It goes all the way to chapter 17 verse 8 However, one of the reasons why we know that this refers to unbelievers exclusively is because at the very last time it's used, in chapter 17, verse 8, they are also the same ones described as who are not written in the book of life. In fact, you can look at that when you have time, but in chapter 17, verse 8, it talks about those who are dwelling on earth who are not written in the book of life. And that is who these are. These are unbelievers. And as the news spreads about the death of these two witnesses, so we might have just a segment of the population being referred to in verse nine, but it's not gonna just stay in Jerusalem. It's not gonna just stay within the borders of that great city. It's going to spread to the rest of the great city, even to the headquarters of the beast itself in Babylon and throughout the world itself because it refers to all who are dwelling on the earth. So there's sort of a parallel between verse 9 and verse 10. They of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations are those who dwell on earth, but they're not the only ones who are dwelling on earth. There's a whole world that is showing contempt because they're celebrating this new holiday. that is really unholy to them. And they're doing so in a universal way. So that's the reach of their contempt. It's gonna reach all to the world. And of course, we know the technology is there to do that, right? But this will bring about what we can say is the reaction of contempt by the whole world. So again, even if some, only some will see their bodies, everyone will react to seeing their dead bodies, and they will respond. How will they respond? This is, disgraceful from our perspective. Verse 10, they shall rejoice over them. Now, the picture is, the Greek word is upon even. The picture is that they're right there. Not only is the world gonna be rejoicing, but the people that saw it, they're gonna be right around their bodies celebrating. So they shall rejoice over them or upon them and make merry. and shall even send gifts to one another." So this is going to be something like a national victory, a national celebration after a war. You might remember some of the pictures that took place in Times Square that you've seen after World War II, and you had the, I think it was the victory of Europe Day. And boy, you know, there was a ticker tape parade, and just scores of people were congregating there in Times Square and on Broadway and all of those streets, and they were just having a great time. You might remember all the kissing going on, right? Strangers, sailors were kissing other women that they never even knew. And it was just a national celebration of victory. And that's what is pictured here. That's what's going on here. They're going to rejoice over them. And here were actually even three components to this national celebration. There will be cheering going on. It says, they shall rejoice over them. Now, the interesting thing is that every one of these components is in the future, okay? So this is something still I think that we see anticipated. This is something that is yet in the future, okay? So this is still coming, not necessarily referring to what has gone on in the past or even the present, but yet to come, there will be cheering. They shall rejoice over them. And again, it seems like there will be active demonstrations of joy even over the dead bodies of these witnesses. An image that you can put in your own mind is that there will be dancing in the streets and even perhaps dancing in a circle around the bodies of those enemies, because all of these people, all of the inhabitants of the world, all of the unbelievers. Will be united in their relief and joy at their deaths. And that's a sad thing. I mean, it's one thing to rejoice as a nation over the death of someone who was truly trying to kill you, an enemy like that, but it's another thing to rejoice over someone who you think was your enemies who are really trying to convert you. I mean, they were using all means necessary to try to bring you to faith, to repentance and faith, but ultimately, what is the primary ministry of these two? Witnessing. They're witnessing warriors. Yes, there is that warrior aspect, but ultimately it all comes down to their witnessing. They want people to turn to and trust in Christ. And it does seem like there's some success there, even as we'll see later on here in this chapter. Another component of this victory is that there will also be contentment. Contentment. They will also make merry. This is actually in a passive sense. So it's not so much cheering and making merry, but it's that they will be merry. So they will actually experience pleasure and even contentment. They will be genuinely happy that these two witnesses have died. So there will be a personal contentment even while we can see the next thing, and that is this celebration, a celebration that will be public as they shall send gifts to one another as if it was a new holiday. You know, obviously when we have birthdays, we send gifts, right? When there's Christmas, we send gifts. Now, some of these descriptions where we see the cheering and the contentment and the celebration, some have actually seen a parallel here in Revelation 1110 with a Jewish holiday, and that is the Jewish Feast of Purim. And this is a holiday that was not something that God had instituted among his people, but rather it was something that the people of God instituted for themselves because of God's providential preservation of the Jews. If you remember, the Feast of Purim is a celebration by the Jews over the defeat of their enemies during the time of Esther. You can read about that in Esther 9, 18 through 22. And of course, the main enemy of the Jews was in Esther's time, Haman, right? And even today, the Jews celebrate Purim, and they will read Esther, and as they read it in their families, they'll have the little children, every time that they hear Haman's name, they're supposed to go, boo, right? And every time they hear Mordecai's name, or Esther's name, they cheer, yay! And so it's a real active thing, a real active celebration. But a lot of the same things that are gonna be going on here in chapter 11, are the same things that we find going on in the Feast of Purim. And so there may also be, instead of just national celebration, there might be some religious overtones to this celebration as well. Because if you remember, the inhabitants of the world are worshiping the beast and the image of the beast, which ultimately is worshiping the devil himself. And so this is not just a national enemy, this is a religious enemy. And they are looking to the beast as their Messiah, even as these two witnesses know that Jesus is the true Messiah. And so there's this religious component of the celebration. And so, of course, we have that connection with the Feast of Purim. Now, there may also be some other connections between this new festival, this really unholy holiday here in chapter 11, and how Jesus himself tells us it's going to be like just before his second coming. You don't need to turn to these passages, but you might remember in Jesus' Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, Jesus said, just like the days of Noah were, So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be right and he gives some examples that he gives some example and one of those examples in is in Matthew 24 38 through 39 where he says as in the days that were before the flood Of course, that was the the first great Catastrophe the first great judgment of God on the sinners of this world as in the days of Noah before the flood they were what eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage as if there was nothing and wrong that was going to happen. Nothing bad was going to happen to him. And yet, all that eating and drinking, that partying, all those holidays, all that celebration, took place until the day that Noah entered into the ark. And what happened when Noah entered into the ark? Then the rain started coming, right? Remember the song, the rains came down and the floods came up? You can share that one today, right? The rains came down. Well, it wasn't that they died immediately. The rains came down, at first they thought, maybe, what is this? If it was just mist around the earth and that was what watered everything, they're like, what is all this? But it's when the floods came up. And they probably said, we're gonna get to higher ground. And the higher ground they got, the floods kept coming up and coming up until they covered the highest ground possible. And every soul that was not in that ark died. So it was a process, wasn't it? God's judgment was not immediate in the fact that they all died at that moment when the waters came, but as the floods came up over time, they quickly met their demise. I wonder if Jesus may be describing in Matthew 24 the same kind of celebration or festival like we find here in Revelation. Now, we know that during the time of the witnesses, it's not gonna be a time of eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, right? I mean, it's gonna be a time of catastrophe. I mean, you think about what happens with the fifth trumpet. We know that the locus, the scorpion-like locus will be stinging people and hurting people for five months. That's not a time to be eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. It's not a time of celebration. or as the witnesses are are warning about the the fiery judgment yet to come and and perhaps some of that fire is Related to the fire and the smoke and the brimstone that that demonic cavalry is going to be unleashing in this world and people will be dying from that and and again, that's not a picture of eating and drinking marrying and giving marriage but when the very source of those catastrophes are dead, the two witnesses, for three and a half days. You can imagine the kind of relief that comes over the world when those who tormented them are gone, and now is the time for eating and drinking, marrying and giving, and marriage. I wonder if that is what we find going on here. But we also know from the rest of chapter 11 and then into chapters 15 and 16. That celebration, the celebration here in verse 11, will actually come to an abrupt end, just like it did in Noah's day, when God's wrath begins to rain on this world once again. Because, again, when you think about the seven bowls of judgment, the seven bowls of wrath that are being poured out, again, it's not just all at once, not all seven bowls at once. There's seven bowls. We're even described in Revelation 10 that during the days of the seventh angel, in which there are the seven bowls being poured out. So you see the drips and you see the rain and you see the floods coming, and yet they will still not repent. Another way that this could be connected is also perhaps with what Paul has in view. in 1 Thessalonians 5.3. It's a little related to what Jesus said in Matthew 24. Paul says, for when they, referring to the world, the world of unbelievers, shall say, peace and safety, peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them. as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape." Now, obviously, I'm not a woman. I've never been in travail. I've never been in labor, but my wife sure has. And I remember when we were having and expecting our first child, Paige, I remember that I was woken up from probably a really deep sleep, a good sleep, probably a good dream. And my wife said, I think it's time. I was like, what? We were expecting this. I mean, it just happened, right? And of course, we know that Paige didn't come right away. Pretty close, but she didn't come right away. But just like any first father, I started panicking a little bit, thinking, make sure I got the go bag. I called the doctor, and the doctor said, calm down, calm down. Now, how far apart are the contractions? So I'm timing it, and it was like four minutes. And the doc says, yeah, you probably need to get here as soon as you can. We lived in Indianapolis at the time, and we were going to be here at the hospital in Greenfield. And so it was about 4 AM, and we just flew through every stoplight. There's nobody out. We got here. But again, there we have that period of labor. The birth doesn't happen right away, generally. But there's this period of time of pain before the final event, final good event. But in this case, Paul is saying there's going to be a time when the world will say peace and safety. Now, I don't think we see that in the fifth trumpet, I don't think we see that in the sixth trumpet, but certainly somewhere here, we can see this kind of celebration going on. Think about those two witnesses, who they think might be the very source of their catastrophes, though ultimately it's their sin, right? We'll see that here in a minute. But they're saying, peace and safety, they're finally gone, they're outta here! What's gonna happen? Sudden destruction will come upon them as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape because here at the the last part of chapter 11 after a bunch of people do repent and believe praise God yet Then comes that seventh trumpet sounded and along with that seventh trumpet sound we have the seven bowls of utter destruction coming out wave upon wave upon wave Even as a woman in travail with child So it seems like the world will experience a collective sense of relief, even through the death of these witnesses, but that relief will not last. So one thing that we do know, so again, there might be some relationship connection, can't say for sure, but it seems like there's gotta be a time when the world will experience some level of peace and safety before this destruction comes. And it doesn't seem like there's gonna be a period, a long period of time before that destruction comes. It could very well be three and a half days. But one thing we do know from verse 10 is that the entire world will have this unholy holiday over the deaths of just two men. It kind of brings back to mind the celebration of our own country with the demise of Osama bin Laden or other enemies that we've had, right? How much celebration was there a death of just one person? And here the whole world is going to be rejoicing over the death of two men who were faithful to the Lord in their service. But of course, we know that any joy the world will feel will only be temporary. Since we're in Revelation, if you look at chapter 12, verse 12, we have this announcement, this announcement. He says, Rejoice ye heavens and ye that dwell in them. So so so those who will truly rejoice are those in heaven when these things come about. But then he says, Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath. Because he knoweth that he hath but a short time and and so certainly as the dragon Brings about his beast and together they bring about the false prophet together They are going to be bringing about these woes upon the people of this world and yet for a little time They'll be able to say peace and safety and then that sudden destruction will come upon them but if you go back to verse 10 We're also then told about the reason for their contempt. And we already know this, right? We already know, but here it's spelled out for us. Why is there such hatred and rage and contempt toward these two witnesses for God? Because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. The world hated these men. Because and we can really break this phrase down into three parts. They hated them, first of all, because of the essence of their ministry. This is the very first place where these two witnesses are actually called to profits profits. And so that's one of the reasons why we understand that they are God's prophets, the last in the line of his prophets. So these are prophets raised up by God to speak for him and to show the world God's will and God's way. That's what a prophet was for. That's what Elijah was for. That is what John the Baptist was for. Again, this is the first and only time they're called prophets, but it's clear from the rest of Revelation that they are the last of God's prophets. who will serve him in this world. So the world hates them because they don't want to hear what God has to say. That's why. That's the reason why they're holding them in contempt. They're God's prophets. They don't want to hear. And of course, that's kind of the way it is even today. And that's why a lot of people will look at Revelation and say that so much of it applies today because it does, but it seems like it's going to intensify before the return of Christ. And Jesus himself again said, like the days of Noah, you know, it talks about in Genesis how the imagination of every man's heart was only evil continually. It didn't start out that way, but it certainly got that way. It got worse and worse and worse. And so evil men and seducers, what Paul says, is going to wax worse and worse. Why? Because they will continue to live, want to live, their own way instead of God's way. So they hate these prophets because of the essence of their ministry. They speak for God, and they don't want to hear about God. They don't want to hear about the one true God. They want to hear a God that will kind of let them do what they want, to let them do their own thing. And of course, that is the God of this world, the God, the devil himself. But they will also hate them because of the effect of their ministry. And of course, again, this is that warrior aspect of these two witnesses, right? These two prophets tormented them. Now the word torment we find five times in Revelation. The Greek word is bosonidzo, but it's five times. In chapter 9, verse 5, it's actually used to describe what the scorpion-like locusts will do to the people for five minutes. They will torment. the people who live on the earth, the inhabitants of the earth, the dwellers on the earth. Remember that technical term? They will torment them. So it's talking about pain and suffering, real pain, real suffering, real hardship. In chapter 12, verse 12, bosonizo, torment, is used to describe the labor pains of this heavenly woman who was pained to be delivered. And again not gone through that some of you women have and guess what? You know, the kind of pain that is being described here in chapter 14 verse 10 and in chapter 20 verse 10 And really those are four out of the five Times where you find this word in chapter 14 in chapter 20 it describes everyone who is opposed to God will experience hell and the lake of fire they will be in torment and they will experience torment. So again, this describes real suffering and real pain. And of course, they will attribute their suffering to God's servants. And of course, we already saw earlier in this chapter that God's servants, you know, they do have that power to keep rain from the earth, and they have power over waters to turn them into blood and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will, to bring about people to listen to what they have to say. There is a warrior aspect. But ultimately, they are witnesses for God. So much of the ministry of the prophets of the Old Testament kind of come back here because they're just doing whatever God wants them to do to bring people to faith in Christ. But it does describe real pain and suffering that the world will say is coming from them, and that's it. Thing is, they're the ones responsible for their own suffering. They're the ones responsible for their own pain. If they would but repent and believe the gospel, they would not experience these judgments or the wrath of God yet to come. Now, this might also reflect the ministry of Elijah. If you remember, when King Ahab, of course, Ahab and Elijah, Ahab and Elijah, and of course, Jezebel, throw her into the mix. They were not fans of each other. But in 1 Kings 18, 17, Ahab sees Elijah. And remember how Ahab, the king of God's people, Israel, remember what he says to Elijah? Are thou he that troubleth Israel? Are you the troubler of Israel? And yet, how does Elijah respond? 1 Kings 18, 18, he says, I have not troubled Israel, but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Balaam. Well, that's gonna be going on here. These people really are responsible for the trouble they face. because the wages of sin is death. And truly, part of that death is the very torments of death that God is going to bring out in a very real way to these people to show them that there is no other way except through the gospel. So in a similar way, the people blame God's prophets as the source of their suffering, again, whatever form that suffering takes, while at the same time, they reject their warnings and resent their works. And it is so sad that this is true even today. Again, the suffering that we saw and heard even this last week. There are people that instead of thinking why bad things happen in this world, they'll just ultimately say, we're gonna blame God, we're gonna hate God, we're gonna resent God, and we're never gonna turn to God. Or we're gonna just ignore that there is a God. And so instead of letting those pains draw them to an understanding or or really a seeking after what those pains are all about how how is this world the way it is yet. they will still reject God's warnings and resent his works. It is true what Robert Mount says, and I like this, I think I put it there on your lesson guide. God's truth through the testimony of faithful witnesses, and so this is basically a general application, okay? He's saying not just then, but even now. God's truth through the testimony of faithful witnesses has always distressed the consciences of evil men. And so that is one of the reasons why we ought to bear faithful testimony in word and in action to the world. But ultimately, their consciences might be bothered. But sometimes they'll suppress that conscience. They'll suppress that, and they will keep rejecting God's warnings. And ultimately, when they resent and reject God's works, they will experience what many in this world will, even in the last days. But then, like we just saw at the beginning of this verse, so we're going to finish up here, verse 10, we also see the extent of these two prophets ministry. Which was to all them that dwelt on the earth. Now we started in verse 10 they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them right. And now at the end of the verse, these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. So we're actually have that phrase, that same phrase, two places, the earth dwellers, the earth dwellers will rejoice over them because the two prophets tormented the earth dwellers. So we sort of have a bookends to this particular verse. But ultimately, it seems clear from this that the ministry of these two witnesses, even though they may have been local prophets, you know, they're prophets there in the city where our Lord was crucified, their ministry was actually not a local ministry. It was something that was meant to extend worldwide. and the extent and effects of their service as God's witnessing warriors would be to all the dwellers and inhabitants on the earth." And again, that refers exclusively to the world of unbelievers, though I think they have a ministry to believers, too, like we've seen before. So, the world will think that since the beast was able to silence and stop the voices of the two witnesses, that he can silence and stop the God that they served. And that's why they're gonna be celebrating. That's why they're gonna be cheering in the streets. That's why they're gonna be dancing around their bodies. The whole world will show their contempt through their celebration over the deaths of these two men. But again, whatever joy they did have, it's not gonna last long. Because what happens after three and a half days in verse 11? the spirit of life from God enters into them. And then the party is over. And we'll start looking at that next week.