The Two Witnesses
The Gospel has NOT YET been Preached to the Whole World as a Witness.
It is a falsehood that the Gospel has been preached to the whole world as a witness already. In reality the Two Witnesses will preach the gospel to the whole world, just prior to Christ's return.
Matthew 24:14 " And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. "
The Two Witnesses will preach the gospel to the whole world, just prior to Christ's return.
It is important when studying the Bible to not take one particular scripture out of context. Look at the whole picture. There are all kinds of groups, who claim to have already preached the gospel to the whole world, so in their opinion the end could come at almost any time. It is presumptuous in the extreme to think that God must return - when our little group thinks it is the right time.
What needs to be done instead is for us to study the various prophecies carefully, and then see how that fits in with current events in the real world. Then we can have a more accurate, educated guess as to how near or far we are from the return of Jesus Christ.
One of the clear signs Christ gave of His return was that the gospel would be preached to the whole world, as a witness, and then the end was to come.
Matthew 24:14 " And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. "
Once again it is important not to take one specific scripture out of the Biblical context, or thread of prophecy. There are other related prophecies that happen around the same time as the actual " preaching of the gospel to all the world. "
Matthew 24:15-20 " When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:). Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day: "
From these related prophecies we can see clearly that the " abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet " will stand in the holy place. So we can expect to see the gospel being preached to the whole world during the same time when this abomination of desolation is set up in the holy place.
It is interesting how imaginative many people are as to what this abomination of desolation is, and what the holy place means. However, it is pointless to engage in all kinds of vain speculations. Instead let us let the Bible explain itself. Where do we find the scriptures in Daniel that refer to the abomination of desolation ?
Daniel 12:11 " And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. "
Here we have a reference to the daily sacrifice. Daily sacrifice ? This is part of the rituals, and services connected to the Tabernacle (Temple) and Judaism.
Exodus 29:38-42 " Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering. And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. "
Where is the physical Tabernacle (Temple) today in 2013 ? It does not exist. So the only logical conclusion for this prophecy to be fulfilled is for the Temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt, and for the Jews to once again offer a daily sacrifice at the Temple.
From the clues in scripture it seems that the abomination of desolation will be the image of the beast that will be set up in the Temple, and which the world government will force people to worship. Whether the image will be of the man, who will claim to be God, or an image of the political entity - it is not 100 % clear. More likely it will be an image of this man, but it perhaps will be something like an image of an emblem of the Empire, or perhaps something that symbolizes the Beast.
Revelation 13:14-15 " ..............saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. "
This image will probably be one of the great ruler of this world government, symbolically called the Beast (but there is an outside chance it could be an image of something else). This man will claim to be God, and will control a ten nation empire in Central Europe, which will also create and control a world government that will last for three and one half (3 1/2) years. This is the son of perdition, and the Anti-Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 " Let 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; Who 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. "
This man will claim to be God, and will sit in the rebuilt Temple, and there will most likely be an image of him set up that this world government will force the whole world to worship. The image will probably be set up in the Holy of Holies.
During this period God will not leave the world without a witness. God will send the Two Witnesses to preach the gospel to the whole world. These two men (and folks they will be men - not women) will warn the world not to worship the image, and will be warning the world of the dire consequences of worshipping this man and the image, and of taking the Mark of the Beast, and will be announcing the coming of the Messiah and the setting up of the Kingdom of God. God will divinely protect these two individuals during their 3½ year testimony, otherwise they would be very swiftly silenced by the powers-that-be.
Matthew 24:14 " And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. "
Zechariah 4:3 " And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. "
Zechariah 4:11-14 " Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. "
Revelation 11:3-12 " And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days (3½ years), 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. "
The preaching of the gospel to the whole world by the Two Witnesses precedes the Great Tribulation.
Matthew 24:21-33 " For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. "
Matthew 24:23-28 " Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. "
Matthew 24:29-33 " Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. "
The gospel has not yet been preached to all the world as a witness, as of 2013. There are many people in the world, who have never heard of Jesus Christ. There are countries in this world today where it is illegal to preach about Jesus.
The world for the most part simply ignores some little preacher of the gospel today. So God has to hit this world over the nose with a big club to get their attention. The plagues these Two Witnesses will pour out on the earth, and upon their wicked enemies will surely get the world's attention. Otherwise the world just ignores God's servants.
Christ will get the gospel out through the Two Witnesses. Christ will get the world's attention. The world will be warned of the coming wrath of God, and of the return of Jesus Christ, and the dire consequences of taking the Mark of the Beast, and of worshipping the Beast, who in his unbounded arrogance will claim to be God. The world will therefore be without excuse, when Christ returns to destroy His wicked enemies, and set up His Kingdom. Their blood will be on their own heads. Such foolishness to worship a mere man, who is but dust.
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