WITNESSES TO THE WORLD

 

Revelation 11 presents two men who will be powerful witnesses to the world in the last days before Christ returns to earth to establish His Kingdom. 

There is an eschatological meaning. I believe that during the Great Tribulation—the last three and one-half years of the Tribulation period—these two prophets will arise to witness for truth against the Lie, incarnated as the Antichrist, (2 Thess. 2:9-12). While some see these as literally Moses and Elijah returned to earth, my understanding is that they are two prophets in the spirit of Moses and Elijah—as was John the Baptist, (Matt.11:7-15). Again, as I interpret Revelation, I believe the church has been raptured before seven years of tribulation—judgments on a Christ-rejecting world—yet, even so, God never leaves Himself without witnesses to the world.

Though there are others who interpret Revelation in other ways, what we ought to agree on is the practical message. These words had application for the first-century saints who received them and now twenty-first century servants who read them. All God’s people are to be witnesses to the world. In whatever age we live, there is the Gospel to proclaim. I want to focus on Revelation 11:4, where we see the Triune God involved in our mission and message. “These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.“

First, consider THE INSPIRATION FOR OUR WITNESS, “These are the two olive trees…”. Their light shines because it is fed by the olive oil. In Scripture, the oil is an emblem of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised that it would be the Spirit who would inspire and empower His servants to witness to the world. To the teacher that stands in the Sunday School class tomorrow—you need to be filled with the Spirit. You may prepare a lesson, but you can only be prepared to present it, if the Teacher—God’s Holy Spirit—enables you. Preacher, will you be filled with the Spirit? You may put together a message, but as you stand behind that sacred desk to deliver it, there must be that Divine flow of Oil, as the Spirit equips you to proclaim it.

Second, note THE ILLUMINATION IN OUR WITNESS, “These are…the two lampstands…”. The light of our witness is about the Savior who declared Himself to be, “The Light of the World,” (John 9:5). As He now indwells us, we are to reflect His light, since the Lord has called us, “You are the light of the world,” (Matt. 5:14). As a disciple, I am to show Jesus in my life and share Jesus with my lips. This is our witness to the world. Christ is our model and our message. The old hymn by P. P. Bliss states it:

1 Brightly beams our Father’s mercy

From His lighthouse evermore;

But to us He gives the keeping

Of the lights along the shore.

Refrain:

Let the lower lights be burning!

Send a gleam across the wave!

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save.

2 Dark the night of sin has settled,

Loud the angry billows roar;

Eager eyes are watching, longing,

For the lights along the shore. [Refrain]

3 Trim your feeble lamp, my brother! 

Some poor seaman, tempest-tossed,

In the darkness may be lost. [Refrain]

Trying now to make the harbor,

Third, observe THE IMPLICATION OF OUR WITNESS, “These are…standing before the God of the earth.”  This implies that one day we will all stand in judgment before the Sovereign. His children will give an answer to the Father. He is keeping track of what we do and say. Are we faithful to His mission. The judgment for us is not to determine our entrance into heaven for that is settled when we receive Christ, but it will be about our enjoyment of heaven—the degree of reward we will receive there. 

The gravity of this for the lost, however, is the most severe implication. Judgment for them is to hear the decree of eternal fire and the degree of suffering based on how much light they had and evil they have done. This ought to motivate the believer’s witness to the world. It did Paul who said, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…” (2 Cor. 5:10-11a).