Rev 11:7-14, Part 2 – The Resurrection Of The Two Witnesses

[Study Aired Nov 8, 2024]

Rev 11:7  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.
Rev 11:8  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.
Rev 11:9  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.
Rev 11:10  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.
Rev 11:11  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.
Rev 11:12  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.
Rev 11:13  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.
Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

Today, Lord willing, we will come to see how we are first the harlot city, “the city wherein our Lord was crucified”, before we “come out of her”, and in time we become the Lord’s two witnesses who are lying dead in the streets of that great city…

6) “Where also our Lord was crucified” is also speaking of us and our rejection of the Lord and our part in His crucifixion. Our Lord is crucified by the “murderers who are in the faithful city which has become a harlot”, as explained by:

Isa 1:9  Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
Isa 1:10  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

Both ‘Sodom’ and ‘Babylon’ signify “the city where our Lord was crucified”. They are both types of us while we are in the churches of Babylon. We first hate God’s witnesses, and in so doing we become the harlot city which is full of murderers. While God’s rebellious people are called a rebellious wife, they are also called ‘Gomorrah’ and “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth”. It is in this city that all of God’s prophets are murdered. In other words, this all takes place within you and within me.

Rev 18:24  And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

This is but a repeat of what Christ said of Jerusalem:

Mat 23:34  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
Mat 23:37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

You and I are “the earth”, and it is within each of us that our Lord is crucified. It is each of us who are “chief of sinners”.

1Co 15:9  For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

Gal 1:13  For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:

1Ti 1:15  This [is] a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

If we place the death of Christ upon the shoulders of others, then we cannot claim that He died for our sins. That self-righteous spirit of iniquity (Eze 33:13) is exemplified by “those Jews which believed on [Christ]” but wanted to kill Him.  Signifying all of us, they could not see themselves as slaves of sin, and just like every Christian who feels justified in physically fighting their fellow man to preserve God, family and country, they were not even aware that they wanted to kill Christ:

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33  They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35  And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

If we first see ourselves as His persecutors and the persecutors of His church, and if we see ourselves as having our part in His crucifixion and then  also see ourselves as “chief of sinners”, then we will have no trouble seeing Christ as dying for our sins, and then we will know that we are that “great city where also our Lord was crucified” before we can “come out of her” and become Christ’s two witnesses. If ever we are given to see that spiritual Truth, then we will have no trouble understanding that all…

7) “The people, kindreds, tongues and nations” within the streets of that great city where our Lord was crucified are all of the affiliated false doctrines which are also within each of us, supporting each other and rejoicing that each and every one of all these “people, kindreds, tongues and nations” are now free from the constant scrutiny and torment of those who remain faithful to the words of our Lord. “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”. While we are still in Babylon we rejoice because we can now…

8) “…see their dead bodies”, and because we know that no one within us will now be tormented by having to hear their words. We gloat over their dead and ineffective bodies, and we do so the whole symbolic three and one half years they are “lying dead in the streets of our great city”. That time is signified as…

9) “…Three days and an half”, during which we do not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. These “three days and a half” are not the last three and one half days of one thousand two hundred and sixty days, or forty and two months or three and one half years, rather, just as Pharaoh’s two dreams of the cows and the corn “are one”, so too, ‘three and one half days’, and all of its multiples, signify the same thing as ‘one thousand two hundred and sixty days’, ‘forty and two months’, and ‘time, times and half a time’. They all signify one half of what is complete. The new man is not complete until he has both gone into and then come out of Babylon. All these symbols signify the same period of time. The first half of our experience signifies the time when we are the self-righteous, rebellious recipients of the Lord’s witness against the kingdom of our old man. The last half of our experience signifies the time we begin to bear witness concerning the words of this prophecy. It is during that first period of time that we all…

10) “…Rejoice over the death of Christ’s two witnesses, and send gifts one to another”, celebrating the fact that these witnesses of Christ, who had been tormenting us, were at that time, having no effect in the streets of our great city where also we have crucified our Lord by turning His grace and the knowledge of His sovereignty into lasciviousness.

An outward demonstration of what we all are guilty of within, at our own appointed time, is watching two multi-millionaire television ministers literally donate 10,000 dollars to each other’s ministries, while condemning and belittling what they refer to as ‘heresy hunters who are more concerned with doctrine then they are with love, and the spreading of the gospel’. We are all guilty of justifying our own sins and rejoicing over our ability to stifle the witness of God’s word with our self-righteous false doctrines.

11) But if the Lord has predestined us to be His firstfruit elect, after three and one half days, just as it seemed that the flesh had won the battle, an event which was parenthetically prophesied back in chapter ten begins to take place… “In the days of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God” begins to be completed, and the Lord’s own will begins to fulfill His own purpose in our lives as the apostle Paul tells us:

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

This is referred to as being “raised with Him to newness of life” within the lives of God’s witnesses who are dying daily to their old man while simultaneously being raised from their state of spiritual death.  Let’s put these two verses side by side and observe how they are to be understood as one and the same event.

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

“The voice of the seventh angel” is the seventh trumpet which signifies the beginning of the pouring out of the seven last plagues of the wrath of God upon the kingdom of our old man and upon all of our self-righteous false doctrines of the great harlot, Babylon, in our lives. “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should… [signifying that the mystery of God begins to] be finished”. In other words, the second half of our completion begins, and Christ begins to live His life within us as our old man begins to die because, “the mystery of God is Christ in you the hope of glory” (Col 1:27).

Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half [the first half of our complete experience] the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  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.
Rev 11:13  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.
Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
Rev 11:15  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.

While “the [outward] kingdoms of this world” will indeed become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ (vs 15), we will not have a part in that momentous event unless an inward “seven [Not three and one half, but ‘seven’] thousand men begin to die in our inward earthquake, signifying the appearing of Christ into our life which begins the destruction of “that man of sin” within us and the kingdoms of our own old man begin to be “destroyed by the brightness of His coming”:

2Th 2:8  And then [“when the seventh angel shall begin to sound”] shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

The destruction of all of “the people, kindreds, tongues and nations” within “the streets of that great city where also our Lord was crucified”  causes…

12) “…Great fear to fall on those who see them”. “Them which saw them” and “their enemies” signify all the self-supporting lies and false doctrines which support ‘Babylon the great’ and empower her to kill the witnesses of God’s Word within us. The loss of the dominance of all those “idols of our hearts” (Eze 14: 1-9) over our lives and minds brings great fear within us. The physical battles fought by Israel against her enemies in the Old Testament signify all the inward struggles we endure in our heavens. Here are examples of the outward Old Testament battle contrasted with the inward heavenly warfare we endure in the New Testament:

Psa 47:3  He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.

Psa 106:34  They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:

2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds
2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.

“Principalities and powers… the rulers of the darkness of this age”, are “the people, kindreds, tongues and nations” within “the streets of that great city where also our Lord was crucified” within each of us.

13) At this point the two witnesses hear a voice from heaven telling them to “Come up here”. This is how that happens to those who are given to witness to the truth of these words:

Eph 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
Eph 2:5 even when we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Eph 2:6 and raised us up together, and seated us together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,
Eph 2:7 that in the coming ages He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Our warfare is spiritual and inward if we are in Christ. But as self-righteous Babylonians we are all signified by Saul of Tarsus who is still living in the first half of our uncompleted experience, and in that position we hate the True Christ and His doctrines:

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

It was “when we were dead in transgressions”, while we were still in the process of persecuting the disciples of the Lord, that we were struck down on our own ‘road to Damascus’. Only then does “the seventh angel begin to sound and the mystery of God begins to be finished” within us, so that we, as God’s two witnesses, are both buried with Christ, and raised in newness of life to witness to the very people who we ourselves were only yesterday.

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Why does our natural man want to place all of this prophecy at the end of the age of Adam’s domination over the kingdoms of this world? It is because the words of Christ “are spiritually discerned”, and our old man “cannot see the things of the spirit for they are foolishness to him” (1Co 2:13-14).

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Nevertheless, for the man who is granted to discern “the things of the spirit”, Rom 6:3-4 is the fulfillment in down payment form of Rev 11:12.

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Rev 11:12  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.

It is in Christ that we are “made to sit together with Him in the heavens”. That cloud is Christ’s Christ, His witnesses, His body. It is at this point that all who know us, within and without, become aware that we are not who we once were, and in that sense they become witnesses to the fact that we…

14) “…Ascend up to heaven in a cloud”, and as our enemies see that we have done so and we are not the self-righteous Pharisee we once were. That “cloud” in which we ascend is the same as the words in the mouths of the Lord’s witnesses.   That cloud is God’s own “cloud of witnesses”, who are now beginning to be able to spiritually discern how “the holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual”. It is the same cloud which has always witnessed to the truth of the words of God.

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

It is at this point, having been “made to sit with Christ in the heavens” (Eph 2:6), that there is…

15) “…A great earthquake”, which occurs in our lives, and this entire event begins to be repeated again as the persecution of the risen Christ within us requires a new “Saul of Tarsus” to persecute the new “Paul the apostle” who is now a witness of “the exceeding riches of His grace”, the grace of Christ “in the ages to come”.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Here is Eph 2:7 in the Analytical Literal Version of the New Testament.

Eph 2:7 so that He should show in the ages, the ones coming, the surpassing riches [fig., abundance] of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus! (ALT)

Here is how this verse is translated in the Concordant Literal Version.

Eph 2:7 that, in the oncoming eons, He should be displaying the transcendent riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (CLV)

Remember Christ has declared that we, just like He is, “are the light of the world”. He also declared that “as He is so are we in this world”, and remember also that it was only five verses earlier, in this same second chapter of Ephesians, that we were told that every sinful life of mankind is an age, or an “eon of this world”.

Eph 2:1  Also you– being dead in the trespasses and the sins,
Eph 2:2  in which once ye did walk according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, (YLT)

So it is that as our old man is destroyed by this great earthquake, our new man increases and is renewed day by day, and it is the renewal of our new man which continues to destroy our old man and cause him to decrease.

Joh 3:30  He [Christ in me] must increase, but I must decrease.

That is described as…

16) “…a tenth part of the city falls and seven thousand men are killed in that earthquake, and the rest are frightened, and give glory to the God of heaven”. The number ‘ten’ in all of its forms, is the maturing and perfecting of this flesh, and ‘seven’ is the completion of the destruction of this mature old man. At this point we are indeed “giving glory to the God of heaven… for His wonderful works to the children of men”.

Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Now we have been prepared to become the recipients of all the fury of the old man who this great earthquake begins to kill and to crucify on a daily basis.

Summary

Let’s reread the verses we have covered today.

Rev 11:7  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.
Rev 11:8  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.
Rev 11:9  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.
Rev 11:10  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.
Rev 11:11  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.
Rev 11:12  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.
Rev 11:13  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.
Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; [and], behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

Now let’s briefly summarize the meaning of the symbols of these verses. They are…

1) The two witnesses finishing their testimony, we saw, signifies the end product of the revelation of Jesus Christ, who is “the end of our faith… the salvation of our soul” (1Pe 1:9).

2) The beast ascending out of the bottomless pit making war against God’s two witnesses is the beginning of this revelation, where we are not yet aware that we are that beast and all we are interested in at this point in our walk is the…

3) … Killing [of] Christ’s two witnesses, by rejecting their fiery words, and persecuting and belittling their testimony before this world.

4) “Their dead bodies lying unburied” as we rejoice over our rejection of their testimony and their witness to the words of God. This signifies our time of deception by the false doctrines of Babylon.

5) “In the streets of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt”, is in the ways of this world within us which has rejected the ways and streets of the true Jerusalem, which will become our new mother when we are finally granted to see our own self-righteous, rebellion against the words of Christ and repent of our sinful walk in the streets of Babylon the great where we have rejected and killed our Lord and His disciples and witnesses.

6) “Where also our Lord was crucified” is again within us. It is we who have so despised our Lord and have crucified Him. That is “where also our Lord was crucified”.

7) The people, kindreds, tongues and nations are all within the city where our Lord was crucified, As such they are the symbols of all the supporting lies and self-righteous false doctrines with which we have withstood the fiery testimony of our Lord’s two witnesses.

8) We see the Lord’s witnesses as dead bodies, because we are in rebellion to our Lord’s commandments to love and forgive our enemies, and we certainly consider these two men to be our enemies, so we are gloating over their dead bodies and their inability to save us from ourselves.

9) “Three days and an half, and do not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.” Again, whether it is days or years or months, the time we spend rejecting the testimony of the two witnesses and the time we spend as the two witnesses are both “three and a half” which are both required to birth and to complete our new man. Whether it is expressed as three and one half days or one thousand two hundred and sixty days, both are in the same chapter, speaking of the same experience, and as Joseph told the Pharaoh, concerning Pharaoh’s two separate dreams concerning the cows and the corn, “the dream is one”. In this case ‘the time is one’, and that one time is the same time in which we kill the Lord’s witnesses before we are considered to be dead by those whom we witness to, in that city where our Lord was crucified. The two ‘three and a halves” sum up the time that is required to complete our new man.

10) “They… shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another” all because of the death of Christ’s two witnesses. This is us as we celebrate the fact that these witnesses of Christ, who have been tormenting us with the words of God, are now having no effect in the streets of our great city where also we are unwittingly crucifying our Lord.

1Co 2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

11) But after three and one half days, God’s witnesses are raised from their state of death. Only after we have given ourselves over to the desires of our flesh and have denied our Lord with an oath, and have done so three times, are we granted repentance, and we go out and weep bitterly. Just as the flesh seems to have won it all and the voice within us has been silenced, we are raised up from among the walking dead…

12) … Causing great fear to fall on those who see us. Yes, we have been “crucified with Christ, nevertheless we are now alive, and living by the faith of Christ”. Our new life causes all who know us to fear, just as all the “people and kindreds and tongues and nations” within us, fear the day of their demise and the waning of their influence in our hearts and minds.

13) At this point the two witnesses hear a voice from heaven telling them to “Come up here”, and so they…

14) …”ascend up to heaven in a cloud”, and their enemies see that they have done so.

15) It is at this point, when we are “seated with [Christ] in our heavens” (Eph 2:6) that there is a great earthquake, and the kingdoms of this world are shaken, as we are delivered from the dominion of sin in our lives (Rom 6:14) and as this entire event begins to be repeated again “in the oncoming ages” (Eph 2:6).

16) “A tenth part of the city falls” signifies the death of all that appeals to our flesh, signified by the number ‘10’. The fall of that great city is within us “where also our Lord was crucified” by our own hands.

17) Seven thousand men are killed in that earthquake, and the rest are frightened, and give glory to the God of heaven. ‘Seven’ is the completion of the process of the destruction of the great city within where our Lord and all saints are killed and crucified. The remnant give glory to the God of heaven because the fall of this city is the birth of “Christ in you… and having this treasure in earthen vessels”. “Our Lord and His Christ” are signified by “the remnant [who] give glory to the God of heaven”.

In our next study, if the Lord wills, we will be informed of the days when the seventh angel shall begin to sound, and we will see that this seventh angel is simply the filling up of the wrath of God that has been being displayed by all the evil angels which have already been sent to us through the seals and trumpets that have been the subject of this book to this point.

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

Rev 11:15  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.
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Rev 11:19  And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

Rev 9:13-16 – Part 1 – The Sixth Seal – Loosing The Four Angels Bound In The Euphrates

[Study Aired Aug 23, 2024]

Rev 9:13  And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
Rev 9:14  Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
Rev 9:15  And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

Introduction

This sixth trump is also given the name “The second woe”. The last three trumpets of this revelation of Jesus Christ within us are called “three woes”. This is what we were told immediately following the fourth trumpet.

Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

So these three woes are directed specifically to “the inhabiters of the earth”. We have seen from many verses of scripture that “the inhabiters of the earth” are all men who are or have been “in Adam” and in a relationship with God. In other words, these words really are for you and me to “read, hear and keep… every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” and out of the mouth of Christ, who happens to be the author of this entire book of the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified [ it] by his angel unto his servant John:

Rev 1:3  Blessed [ is] he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time [ is] at hand.

So whatever this sixth trumpet is, we can know and be assured that it has been happening in the lives of all who are in Christ since the day these words were first penned, and if we are in Christ, then the words of this sixth trumpet, which is also called the second “woe” is to be read, heard and kept by those who are given to read, hear and keep the things written in this sixth trumpet which says “woe, to the inhabiters of the earth.”

Rev 9:12  One woe is past; [ and], behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

We are God’s people and this trumpet is for us for our good:

Isa 58:1  Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

If we are blessed of the Lord to acknowledge that these words must first be lived out and experienced in our own lives then, and only then, can the Lord use us as His mouthpiece to show others what has been loosed on earth and in heaven and what has been bound on earth and in heaven:

Mat 16:13  When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
Mat 16:14  And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
Mat 16:15  He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
Mat 16:16  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Mat 16:17  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Mat 16:19  And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Here is a much more accurate translation of verse 19 from the CLV:

Mat 16:19 I will be giving you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatsoever you should be binding on the earth shall be those things having been bound in the heavens, and whatsoever you should be loosing on the earth, shall be those having been loosed in the heavens. (CLV)

The fact that this blessing is for all who are in Christ is made clear when it is repeated in reference to all Christ’s apostles in Matthew 18:

Mat 18:15 Now, if ever your brother should be sinning [the ‘brother’ of anyone in the church of God], go and expose him between you and him alone. If ever he should be hearing you, you gain your brother.
Mat 18:16 Yet if ever he should not be hearing, take still one or two others along with you, that at the mouth of two witnesses, or of three, every declaration may be made to stand.
Mat 18:17 Now, if ever he should be disobeying them, tell it to the ecclesia. Now, if ever he should be disobeying the ecclesia also, let him be to you even as the man of the nations, and the tribute collector.
Mat 18:18 Verily, I am saying to you, Whatsoever you should be binding on the earth shall be those things having been bound in the heavens, and whatsoever you should be loosing on the earth shall be those loose in heaven.

Just as Pharaoh could trust Joseph to do nothing which was not in the Pharaoh’s interest and for the Pharaoh’s benefit, typifying how Christ did nothing His Father did not want, and how we will do nothing Christ does not want, Christ has also bestowed the proper use of His powerful Words upon us:

Jer 1:9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Jer 1:10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
Jer 1:11  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
Jer 1:12  Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it. [The almond is the earliest blooming of all fruit trees]

Jer 1:16  And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
Jer 1:17  Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I
Jer 1:18  For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
Jer 1:19  And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Six of the symbols of the sixth trumpet which is the second woe

The symbols of this trumpet total eight, but today we will cover only the six which are in the three verses of today’s study. 1) the four horns of the golden altar, 2) four angels which are 3) bound in the river Euphrates, 4) which angels are commissioned to be loosed, 5) which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, 6) for to slay the third part of men. So…

What are the four horns of the golden altar?

The number four signifies ‘the whole’ as we have already demonstrated. Throughout scripture horns are a symbol of strength and power. It is through the strength and power of the voice that issues from these four horns of the golden altar, that the ensuing events take place.

Rev 9:13  And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

The four horns of the golden altar symbolize both the spiritual strength and the wholehearted dedication of those to whom it is granted to “die daily” and to “keep the things which are written therein.”

Psa 119:2  Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

Psa 119:34  Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

Jer 24:7  And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

The function of the golden altar with its “four horns” was to burn incense upon it. That incense signifies the prayers of the saints:

Exo 30:1  And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.
Exo 30:2  A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.
Exo 30:3  And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

Rev 8:3  And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Rev 8:4  And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.

Our strength and power certainly is not of ourselves. It is only in the demonstration of a life of “praying without ceasing”, which means that we live by the Words of our Lord.

Exo 15:2  The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Psa 118:14  The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.

1Th 5:17  Pray without ceasing.

“The Lord is our strength”, and we are God’s “habitation”. So the “voice from the four horns of the golden altar” is nothing less than the words of God, as they come into our lives and begin to open our eyes to see through the smoke that darkens our heavens and our air. That voice from the golden altar is the truth of what all these symbols mean. Understanding what the scriptures teach about each of these symbols begins to help us to see through the darkness and ignorance all around us. For example, if we have no idea where the golden altar is located within the tabernacle and in the temple, and what its function was, then this symbol will mean very little or nothing to us. On the other hand, if we realize that the golden altar was within the holy temple of God and was in the very center of the tabernacle and temple and that it was upon this golden altar where only the priests of God sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices and burned the finely crushed frankincense as a sweet savor to God, then we can begin to understand that, being that temple of God, the activities concerning this golden altar, which is in the center of the temple, right in front of the throne of God… all these activities are of necessity taking place within God’s elect who are His temple.

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

The activities of this sixth angel with the sixth trumpet, which is also called ‘the second woe,’ which releases the four angels in the river Euphrates, for to kill a third part of men, is all taking place within the temple of God “which temple ye are.”

It is right here at this inward altar, this golden altar, of which we are told “those who serve the temple have no right to eat.”

Heb 13:10  We have an altar [the golden altar within the temple], whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
Heb 13:11  For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
Heb 13:12  Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered [ was  ‘burned’, and was purified] without the gate.
Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp [“Come out of her My people”, Rev 18:4], bearing his reproach.
Heb 13:14  For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Those “which serve the tabernacle” today are the masses of Christianity who come to God’s word with idols of their heart. That means you and me in our own time. These have no “eyes within,” and for many long years we saw no need to read, hear and keep the things written therein. Our goal at that time is to avoid keeping the things written therein. We want to somehow be raptured away from the things written therein. At this immature point of our walk, we actually believe and teach that “the things written therein” are for those who are not God’s elect, and we cannot see how God’s elect are the heirs of these things. We fail to notice that the suffering of Christ, the burning outside the camp, is accomplished by those who claim to believe in Him (Joh 8:30-49). In other words, they are accomplished by us when we did not believe this verse:

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

I remember well not appreciating the fact that that verse says “the world, and death are mine.” I was completely blinded to the truth of that verse. So those who have been blinded to the truth of God’s Word, think that the sixth seal with “the great day of His wrath,” is a “thing to come,” which certainly is not ours if we are in Christ. 1Th 5:9, which speaks of the salvation of all, is twisted by all of us, and by the entire Christian world, to deny that anything in this book which deals with God’s wrath upon all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, is also upon the sins, unrighteousness, or ungodliness of God’s elect.

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

1Th 5:9  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10  Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
1Th 5:11  Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

“Whether we wake or sleep”, whether we are believers or in unbelief, “all things come alike to all… there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, we are not appointed to wrath [in the end] but to salvation. Comfort yourselves together…” These verses enhance and complement each other. They are not contradicting each other. “All things are ours”. That means that we too, were once unbelievers. It is only by God’s grace and His plan and purpose that we now believe while others do not. But there is a  glorious purpose for this order of events, and that purpose is for the Lord to make of us ‘saviors’ as He Himself is:

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

This second woe is proclaimed from within the temple of God, where the golden altar is located and where the prayers of the saints are offered. That means that this revelation is understood only within those who have acknowledged their blindness and who have been given “eyes within.” The masses of Christianity and each of us, in our time, have no “eyes within”. At that part of our walk these trumpets are all without, and are to be read, heard and kept by someone else, some “other man”, some blasphemous and evil “publican”.

Rev 4:8  And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

But Christ knew the significance of having “eyes within”, and He tells us that our concerns and our chief enemies are not from without, but are from within:

Mat 15:19  For  out of the heart  proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

Mar 7:21  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Mar 7:22  Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
Mar 7:23  All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

God’s elect, signified by the four beasts, are aware of this truth and “are full of eyes within.”

Rev 4:8  And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Christ also tells us that our concerns are not with the future, but are with the present.

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

What are the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates?

Rev 9:14  Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

Once again the number four is telling us that the whole of the message of these four angels is being delivered to us. In other words, these four angels bring to us the overall picture of what God is doing with all of mankind. It is these four angels who show us that it is God who has “shaped us in iniquity, conceived us in sin, marred us in the hand of the Potter and caused us to err”.

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made [Hebrew, ‘is making’] it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Where have these angels with their message been bound? They have been bound “in the great river Euphrates” withholding the next step in the dying of our old man and our growth in the new man just as the man of sin withholds until the appointed time our acceptance of Christ and His purifying work in our lives:

Joh 3:30  He [Christ in us] must increase, but I [John the Baptist who typifies our old man] must decrease.

2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth  [G2722, ‘katecho’, restrains] that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [G2722, ‘katecho’, restrains] will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

These ‘four angels’ have been bound by the lies and false doctrines that nourish and enrich Babylon.

These angels are four because it is they who show us the whole of the plan of God, and what they show us is that God’s plan involves both the first and the last Adam and all the warfare that is taking place between our Father Christ and our father the devil who are both, each in his appointed time, within us.

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Joh 8:45  And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
Joh 8:46  Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
Joh 8:47  He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye [our old man] are not of God.

We will pause at this point and continue this study asking, What is the spiritual significance of the great river Euphrates