Two Witnesses

I grew up with a very literal view what is known as a Premillenial Pretribulation view of Revelation. After so much confusion on the book I, along with many others, adopted a Pan-millenial view – “I’ll know what happens in the end when it all pans out.” The problem for some is that there are not as many exact answers as they would like and yet there is a way of understanding the book that can have real time benefit.
We've been doing a series through the book of Revelation and this past Sunday we talked about the two witnesses. If you haven’t read it, read it before you read this. The popular view is that two men are going to arrive on the scene performing miracles, defeating their enemies through supernatural means. Then the beast, who is the one world leader, will have them killed and then their bodies will be publicly exposed and the whole world will see them. After three days, they will rise again.
The view above is certainly possible as are almost any number of interpretations about Revelation. Whatever one we come up with we must first agree that it would have had some meaning to the first century reader. My belief about the Bible is that it is written satisfy more than our curiosity and our need to see into the future otherwise we are no different than the religious rulers of Jesus day who did the same trying to figure out what the Messiah would be like and missed him altogether.
There are some clues as to who the witnesses are that may help us not to miss what God has for us. The first one is as I mentioned that whatever it means to us it had to mean something to these first century readers. Second, the two witnesses theme is one that is found in both testaments in the legal context. If there was a case but no witnesses, it could be tossed out. Without the forensic science of today, witnesses were the strongest form of evidence. This suggests that the two witnesses are making the claim that something is true over against something that is false. The third help we get is that they are called lampstands which is what the church is called in chapter 1 and chapter 2 and nowhere else in Rev except here in chapter 11 of the witnesses. Additionally, there were only two of the seven churches in chapter 2 and 3 that received no correction. They were good witnesses in word and example.
For these reasons it seems reasonable to consider that the witnesses are symbolic of the church. If this is true then as two witnesses they are declaring publicly before the court of the world that God’s ways are true while the Roman way of life is not. They do so by being willing to give up their lives. As representatives of the church, they are demonstrating what it means to be a good witness.
So, whether you believe that most of Revelation was fulfilled in the first couple centuries or that it is being fulfilled over the course of history or that it will be fulfilled, we can all agree that instead of craning our necks to peer around the corner of history or attempting to figure out how it took place in the first couple centuries or sitting back passively assuming that we can’t know anything for sure let’s not be like the religious rulers of Jesus day but instead, begin to live out prophesy until Jesus finally establishes his rule and reign on this earth.

Mark of the Beast

We've been going through a series of Sunday sermons through the biblical book of Revelation. One of the things I said this morning was that first century Jews expected another Exodus to rescue them from Roman oppression through judgments and a clear demonstration of who belonged to God.

If you remember the story of the Exodus, the Jewish people were oppressed in enslavement to Egypt. God delivers them through a series of 10 plagues or judgments on this nation who finally lets them go.

Revelation has a similar story. During the time Revelation is written, the Jews are either experiencing outright persecution or at least disfavor and under the temptation to declare Caesar as Lord and Savior. It is in this story that the writer of Revelation sees the plagues or judgments from chapter 6 to 16 as God coming against the forces that oppress his people.

Who are his people? They are ones who have the seal of God on them. Who are the ones who are not? They are those with the mark of the beast identified as 666. While there are all sorts of modern day explanations for what this could be; it had to mean something to these readers first.

Most scholars believe that the numbers in Revelation, and really elsewhere in the Bible, are symbolic. Even the most literal interpreter of Revelation would acknowledge that the 144,000 that are seen in heaven are symbolic. Humanity was created on the 6th day according to Genesis and then God rests on the 7th. The number 6 in the Bible is used to symbolize humanity.

Put this together with what we know so far and it seems that the author is simply and yet profoundly making the point that those who yield to Rome out of fear or seduction are those who are marked as worshipping all that is humanity - greed, power, lust, etc. while those who worship God by choosing his way for life are those marked with his seal.

Certainly, there is a lot more that can be said about this and how it applies to our day today. I would love to hear from you - observations, thoughts, questions?