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"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."
FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE
Part 127
THE TWO WITNESSES
(continued)
These have
power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days
of their prophecy
(Rev. 11:6).
There has been a
general misunderstanding of the word of God throughout Christendom concerning the truth of
the coming of the Lord; for it is clear as we consider all the scriptures on the subject
that the Lords coming is first and foremost a spiritual
visitation in the midst of His people. James
therefore associates the bestowal of the latter rain with the coming
of the Lord: Be patient therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious
fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he (it) receive the early and latter rain.
Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming (Greek: parousia manifest presence)
of the Lord draweth nigh (James 5:7-8). Can
we not see by these inspired words of the apostle that in a very real sense the coming of
the former and latter rain IS THE COMING OF THE LORD into the midst of His
people. The rain is really the LORD HIMSELF,
in His MANIFEST PRESENCE, coming upon us!
It is our deep
conviction that Christ has appeared to His people as both the early rain and
the latter rain, and scattered showers of refreshing betwixt and
between, throughout this age. There have also
been those dry times when the heavens were shut and there was no rain from the heavens of
Gods Spirit. Multitudinous and glorious
beyond description have been the appearances of Christ as the rain! When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, he
clearly established the fact that the outpouring of the Spirit (the Lord is that Spirit)
at that time was the early rain (Acts 2:16; Joel 2:21-32).
During the mighty outpouring of the Spirit in those glory-filled years
following 1948, the Lord often spoke in prophecy, telling the saints that that visitation
of the Spirit was Christ coming to His people
as the latter rain. All major denominations,
including the Pentecostal denominations who were closest to that outpouring of the Spirit,
rejected that wonderful move of God. And when
they rejected that deluge from heaven they also
rejected Christ, for it was none other than HE who came to His thirsting people at
that time as latter rain!
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is
prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto
us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth (Hos. 6:3). He comes TO US as the rain! Rain brings the manifest presence of the Lord! The presence of the Lord gives times of refreshing. Rain brings times that cause the water to soak the
ground to mature the crops for the harvest. But
notice! There is an if in there. We will know His coming as the rain if we follow on to know the Lord. His coming is prepared as the morning, that is,
it is as sure as the sunrise; we will know it if we follow on to know Him; and He will
come unto us as the rain! These have been days
of the coming of the Lord! He has come to us
in times and seasons of refreshing!
Seasons
if we are going to fulfill the purposes of God in our lives in our day we must walk in Gods
seasons. All farmers know the
importance of observing seasons. You dont
expect to harvest apples in May or watermelons in December.
Why? Because its the wrong
season! You always cooperate with the seasons
and if you do you bring in a bountiful harvest. Now
if I went out and started plowing and planting corn in September I would be in trouble. Why? Because
I am not cooperating with the seasons! As that
seed germinates and begins to grow, its going to come up at the wrong time and, ere
long, the first freeze will kill it. I must
plant my corn in the spring and expect a harvest in the fall; thus I am flowing with the
seasons. A good farmer will always understand
that rain coming at the wrong time will only spoil his crop, for the rain will beat down
the grain, making it impossible to harvest. Can
we not see by this how infinitely important it is to observe Gods spiritual seasons Gods times. If we know these seasons and flow with them, there
will be great fruit in our lives!
Centuries ago
the prophet Zechariah wrote a message that I feel certain applies to our day above all
other days. First he said, Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall
make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to everyone grass in the field (Zech.
10:1). And then he said, And it shall come to pass, that everyone that
is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year
to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso shall not come up of
all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and
have no rain; there (that) shall be the plague,
wherewith the Lord will smite the nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles (Zech.
14:16-18).
Here, keeping
the feast of tabernacles is associated with receiving the rain of God. There is a mystery about the feast of tabernacles. As George Warnock has pointed out in his book The Feast of Tabernacles, it is the only one of
the three major feasts of Israel that as yet has not had a New Testament fulfillment. Therefore it has not been celebrated in a parallel
feast by Christians the world over as has been the other two festivals, those of Passover
and Pentecost. Truly we can say
Passover has come, Pentecost has come, and Tabernacles must come, for each is a part of Gods great
plan for His people. We have had the feasts of
Passover and Pentecost and both of these feasts have been fulfilled in this age in the church in a spiritual way in the
body of Christ, and right here on earth. For
some strange reason people seek to totally change the order for the last feast, postponing
it to some future age, or giving it to the Jews, or relegating it to some beautiful Isle
of Somewhere, and consequently the real spiritual meaning and import of the feast of
tabernacles is completely obscured and lost. The
grand truth is that like the others, it will be fulfilled dispensationally, it will be
fulfilled in us individually, and it will be fulfilled in us as the Corporate Man. The grand truth of this has been wonderfully
quickened by the Spirit of God to multiplied thousands of saints around the world in these
last years.
There were
seasonal rains in Palestine that pertained to this feast.
The feast of tabernacles was the feast of ingathering at the end
of the agricultural year. At Tabernacles there
was plenty of corn, oil, and wine! This feast,
like the first two, was associated with the harvest. Whereas
Passover was held at the time of the firstfruits of the barley harvest, and Pentecost was
held at the time of the firstfruits of the
wheat harvest, Tabernacles came at the close of the cycle, when with the ripening of the
grapes, olives, corn, figs, etc. the harvest was complete.
Therefore, we see that the feasts were associated with a progression in
harvest, and speak of the ongoing process of the growth and development of
spiritual life, the maturing of His life within the experience of His people!
Thus, this feast
speaks to us of the FULLNESS OF GOD, and therein lies the challenge to move on unto
the measure of the stature of the FULLNESS OF CHRIST (Eph. 4:13). It speaks of the full appropriation of the life,
mind, wisdom, nature, glory, and power of Christ! It
speaks of Christ being perfectly formed in us! It
speaks of being fully conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God! It speaks of the manifestation of the fullest
measure of His sonship power and dominion! Ah,
whereas Passover gets us started in our spiritual life as babes in Christ, and Pentecost
adds a further measure of His Spirit with gifts of glory, the feast of tabernacles speaks
to us of a completed harvest, full growth and maturity in Him, the fullest measure and
manifestation of ALL THAT HE HAS AND IS! Oh,
what a grand and glorious realm lies before us in the feast of ingathering! The time of full and complete redemption, in
spirit, soul, and body! The full and complete experiencing of HIMSELF,
abounding in life and immortality! The
fullness of strength to go forth and do great and mighty things in the kingdom of our
Father! The feast of feasts! It is God in His great love and goodness inviting
His people to enter on in to their full inheritance! We
have breakfasted at Passover, we have lunched at Pentecost, and now the table is spread
with the great feast of fullness that comes at the close of the day!
It is obvious
from the passage quoted earlier that when the Lord comes in the majesty and power of the
feast of tabernacles there will be many of the Lords people who will refuse to move
on, to come to the feast! Just as the historic
denominations rejected the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit in the early 1900s,
and just as the Pentecostal denominations rejected the more glorious Latter Rain
outpouring of the mid 1900s, so will many refuse to enter on in to the glory of this
new kingdom day. Paul Mueller once expressed
it so well when he wrote, The church system and the religious denominations of man
have a history of rejecting every true visitation or outpouring of the Spirit! And, with the passing of time, they have not gotten
any better; they have only gotten worse! The
religious systems of man and of this world, because of their anti-Christ spirit and
nature, will also reject every future outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord that Father
sends to the earth. The mind of man that
governs the church system is directly opposed to any new revelation, as well as any new
truth that is given by the Spirit. Their
numerous false doctrines will prevent them from accepting and receiving Christ when He
appears!
Is that not what
is meant when the prophet Zechariah says that any of the peoples of earth who refuse to
come up to the feast of tabernacles, upon them shall be no rain! And is that not what is meant when the angel tells
John that the two witnesses have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their
prophecy! It signifies to
withhold the blessing and power even of the realms the Lords people have been moving
in up until that time! By their word, because
of the rejection of the Lords moving, the curse of spiritual dearth and death comes
upon them! Their anointing lifts, their glory
fades, their power departs, and they are left with only the dead, empty shell of outward
religious observances. The heavens of Gods
Spirit are shut to them! There is no heavenly
rain upon them, not even the intermittent showers of blessing! Their land is desolated by spiritual drought, and
the once fruitful field becomes a dry, thirsty, hot, lifeless desert! As the scripture says, Because it is given unto you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it
is not given. For whosoever hath, to him
shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not (does not come to
the feast), from him shall be taken even that which
he hath (Mat. 13:11-12).
Shut the
heavens, that it rain not shut the previous existing heavens, the old order that
used to minister life, bringing it to an end by a declaration of the word of the Lord! This is the power of the witnesses! Rain signifies the Spirit, water signifies the Word
the Lord withholds the anointing and revelation of a passing order. What used to work doesnt work anymore! Jesus did just this with Israel when He lamented
over Jerusalem, 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! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate
there
shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down (Mat.
23:37-38; 24:2). Within thirty-five years
after our Lord uttered these fateful words, both the temple and the city were razed to the
ground, the Jewish nation ceased to exist, the Jewish priesthood ended, and the Jewish
people were dispersed and scattered into every nation under heaven. They wouldnt come to the feast! So the Lord shut their existing heavens and from
that day to this THERE HAS BEEN NO MORE RAIN UPON THEM!
WATER
TO BLOOD
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 (Rev.
11:6).
The waters that
the witnesses turn to blood are not, of course, the literal waters of the rivers, lakes,
and oceans of the world, but the rivers of mans fallible word, the ideas, concepts,
philosophies, teachings, precepts, creeds, doctrines, traditions, ideologies, observances,
customs, and laws of the carnal church systems of man which are the sources from which the
religious draw their life, their enjoyment and refreshment, their ways of thinking, their
view of themselves, their understanding of the world and of Gods purposes both now
and in the hereafter.
Long centuries
before Elijah, the prophet Moses was raised up by the Lord to strike oppressive Egypt with
ten plagues in order to force Pharaoh to let Gods people go. The first plague with which Moses struck Egypt was
the turning of all its waters into blood, so that the fish all died and the Egyptians
could not drink water from the Nile or from any of their usual sources. As shed, coagulated blood is the symbol of death,
the two witnesses, by their anointed word of revelation and power, show Gods people
that the spiritual waters from which the they have been drinking in the church systems of
man, in the form of religious teachings, creeds, traditions, and doctrines, are really
death-dealing, like blood, and therefore not to be drunk by those elect saints who follow
on to know the Lord in all His glorious fullness.
Water symbolizes
life and blood signifies death. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from
heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth the
bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth
(Isa. 55:10-11). Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy,
and eat (Isa. 55:1). For my people have committed two evils; they
have forsaken the fountain of living waters, and
hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water (Jer. 2:13). In the
last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink
(Jn. 7:37). For with
Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light we shall see light (Ps. 36:9).
The turning of
the waters into blood can only indicate the prophetic ministry by the Spirit and the Word
that declares the word (doctrines and teachings) of the carnal, worldly church systems to
be false so that that which was once life to them is now turned to death for all who have
eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand. How
well I remember when the Lord sent His prophetic spirit into our midst and suddenly, by
the quickening power of divine moving and revelation, the blinding scales of mans
religious interpretations fell from our eyes as in one blessed moment we saw in the light
of the Spirit how the cherished church doctrines we were raised on were but the inventions
of carnal minds! Hell-fire and eternal
damnation, legalism, condemnation, a powerful devil that was always thwarting Gods
purposes, a rapture to escape the wrath of God, a far-off heaven with golden streets and
wonderful mansions in the sky, a boogey-man antichrist who was going to take over the
world, and a whole host of other notions that we took as gospel truth and
which before enthralled us, motivated us, and dominated our lives, suddenly became a
terrible abhorrence to our spirits! We saw it
all for the error, the spiritual death that it
is! Our waters were turned to blood! That which had been life to us was now only
putridness and death. It was the powerful,
liberating, transforming prophetic ministry of the Spirit and the Word that did this!
WHEN THEIR TESTIMONY IS FINISHED
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. 11:7).
Everything in
nature has a beginning and an ending. Summer,
winter, spring, fall, nations, empires, mens lives in the flesh, day, night, weeks,
months, years, centuries, millenniums, wars, peace, famines, plenty, prosperity, poverty,
sickness, health, inflation, depression, apostasy, revivals, civilizations, and on and on. All the cycles of nature and spiritual life have
been ordained by God (Gen. 1:14-18; 8:22). Our
Lord Jesus Christ, the mighty Creator, is Himself the beginning (source) and the end (disposer, consummator) of everything in
creation! There are in Gods spiritual
order seasons of refreshing from the
presence of the Lord. Seasons
signifies that which has a beginning and an end. The
purpose of God is progressive, on-going, ever from glory
to glory.
Each stage of Fathers revelation and inworking, His discipline and
transformation, has both a beginning and an end. This
great principle is seen clearly throughout church history.
Today we stand at the hour of another great move of God which will effect a
mighty change as the feast of Tabernacles brings to an end the former religious orders
that have come to us from the feasts of Passover and Pentecost. The feast of Tabernacles is establishing in Gods
elect a new order of spirit and life that has
been covered by the veil of religious tradition that makes the Word of God of none effect. Yet all that has gone before has been orchestrated
by the same One He who is the beginning and the end!
Those saints of
God who are seeing and hearing by the Spirit in this hour understand that we have even now
come to the end of a cycle which brings the conclusion of the passing order of the church
age, in order to inaugurate the new order of the kingdom of God! This speaks to us of the fading glory of a past
move of God, of an old order that is passing off the scene.
You cannot carry a first day or a second day agenda into the third day of
greater glory! You cannot carry a Passover or
a Pentecost experience into the greater reality of Tabernacles! This principle has worked again and again on
different levels, generation after generation, dispensation after dispensation, revival
after revival, throughout the long history of Gods dealings with mankind. How unspeakably marvelous was the glory that
enveloped Moses on the misty heights of mount Sinai as Yahwey committed to him the
administration of His law for Israel. And what
a glorious covenant it was! Yet, the apostle
Paul revealed the great truth that the glory of that old covenant was not permanent but
merely transitory it was ordained for a wonderful purpose but in time that purpose
was accomplished, the covenant waxed old, and was ready, with all its glory, to pass away (II Cor. 3:6-18).
When we look
back through the history of the church we see how God sent various visitations of His
Spirit, unveilings of His glory, revelations of His word, and manifestations of His power. Each time the Spirit moved on a higher plane it
brought to an end a former order and way of thinking and acting, establishing a new and
more perfect order, ministry, and understanding of Fathers plan and purpose. As each new moving of God begins people are either
vomited out of the old order, as Jonah was vomited by the whale, or they are constrained
by the Spirit to come out of the old order of church life, and embrace the new, fresh,
deeper, higher, greater, and more glorious revelation of the Lord, until that becomes the
established order. And is it not true that
once the new order is established, when it has in turn accomplished its purpose in the
earth, it eventually becomes a tradition, a form,
a structure, from which the glory begins to fade! Yet
can we not see that this is all the Lords
doing and when we do see, it is marvelous in our eyes!
Let us now
notice just what truth is stated here. When they shall have finished their testimony. The Lord had previously said, And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and
they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and
threescore days. These thousand
two hundred and threescore days set a definite limit on the exercise of the
witnesses power and prophesying. Notice that
the witnesses finish their testimony! When their testimony is finished, when
God is through with that order of ministry, when it has accomplished all that God raised
it up to do, then their invulnerability ends. The
witnesses are not cut short! They fail
in nothing! Gods plan, work, and purpose
are not in one iota thwarted when the beast rises up against them and overcomes them!
Oh, no! There is an eternal order in God, but no in-part
ministry is either eternal or invincible. It
is invincible only until its work is done, its purpose finished, accomplished, and
consummated. Then the anointing lifts, the
glory departs, and the order falls into ruin and forever passes away. This is a great mystery understood only by those
enlightened souls that know the ways of the Lord!
THE BEAST OVERCOMES THEM
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. 11:7).
If the above
words are plainly understood, we shall have no difficulty in understanding the rest of the
scene. It is perfectly plain, in the first
place, why the beast which rises up out of the abyss comes against these witnesses. It is because they have finished their testimony! As the Lord removed the hedge from around Job, so
He lifts His protecting hand from the two witnesses. You
may notice that although the beast has never been mentioned before in the book of
Revelation, yet the plain presupposition is that he is well-known by those who read with
understanding. It is the beast. And while the beast has not been mentioned before,
the bottomless pit from whence he rises is mentioned in chapter nine. There, it is a great smoke as of a furnace
that is ascending out of the pit! It is my
conviction that the beast is the bestial nature right within man, the carnal mind, the
fleshly nature, which ever seeks to usurp the place of the Spirit and the Word and thwart
the purpose of God.
Here, the Lord
uncovers within us that man of sin who arises out of the abyss of the carnality of the old
Adamic heart and effectively makes war against the word, the anointing, the ministry, and
the hope and expectation of the witnesses, overcoming the Word and the work of the Spirit,
symbolically, yet actually killing that ministry. This bestial nature not only lurks in the hearts of
all mankind but is also the controlling principle in all of mans religion! Yet, we should not be dismayed by this! How true are the words of the Lord wherein He
instructs the wise, For as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your
thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the
snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring
forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:
it shall not return unto me void, but it SHALL ACCOMPLISH that which I please, and it
shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it (Isa. 55:9-11). Oh, yes! No
word of the Lord will ever return unto Him void without producing any effect,
useless, a failure but it always accomplishes everything
that He pleases and purposes, and it prospers, is successful, in the very thing for which
He sends it.
The great
visitation of the Lord in 1948, like all previous moves of God, was not a failure
it accomplished precisely what the Lord purposed and ordained, establishing in the earth
the word of reconciliation, the great truth of sonship, and the living reality of the
kingdom of God, which has continued to bring forth a harvest unto all the ends of the
earth. God never purposed to propagate and
preserve the order of that move, only to plant a seed in the field
of the world which would grow, change, and increase, in due time producing a vast harvest
of sons of the kingdom. Oh, the wonder of it! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways
past finding out! And now, some seventy
years later, who can deny that His word has accomplished all that He sent it to do!
What, then, is
portrayed by the slaying of the two witnesses? Is
it a past event? Or is it yet future? Is it a physical martyrdom, or spiritual? It is evident that the blessed spirit of truth is
setting before us a divine principle which has been manifested in the earth again and
again through the ages and is likewise finding a specific fulfillment before our very eyes
in this new day of the kingdom of God! Every
move of God in the earth is sent for the specific purpose of planting a seed
in the hearts of men. Contained within that
seed is the hidden germ of life for the next
move of God! Yet the mystery is just this:
Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die,
it abideth alone; but if it die, it
springeth up and bringeth forth much fruit! When the seed dies the outer form passes away, but the life is preserved and
becomes manifest on a higher plane and in a greater measure in the eventual harvest
produced. Mans inclination is always to preserve the outer form, but the divine intention
is for it to fall into the ground and die! When the outer form is preserved, there can be no
harvest. Seeds have been found in the tombs of
the Pharaohs in Egypt that have lain there for thirty-five hundred years, and during those
long centuries there was never a harvest from any of them.
They were preserved for the wondering eyes of men in this, our day. If the farmer does not cast his seed into the
earth, permitting the outer shell to decompose, there can be no increase. Can you not see the mystery? Does this not explain why, when our great
Father-husbandman is through with an order and ready to bring forth a new thing, a new
move, a new day, He always allows the old order to die. We view the death as a great tragedy, but our
all-wise heavenly Father sees it as one of the greatest wonders of His creation!
What a flood of
heavenly light fell upon the world in the ministry of the apostles of our Lord and the
early church! The gift of the Holy Ghost, with
its attending gifts of power, knowledge, and utterance, followed on the ascension of our
risen Saviour. The church, the body of Christ,
was birthed and gathered from Jew and Gentile alike, a vast multitude into its bosom. The shadows of the old law were replaced by the
glorious and eternal reality of the living, indwelling Christ. In those few holy years Christ was the only Head of
the church and unity and harmony flowed like a river and the body of Christ was one. There was no government but the government of the
Spirit. Love and wisdom shone like the sun
from the mind of God. What glorious days those
were! One only has to read the book of Acts to
see how much God blessed His people in those days. Mighty
signs and wonders were performed as God confirmed His word with signs following. The Word of God, anointed by the Spirit, swept the
world like a prairie fire. It encircled the
mountains and crossed the oceans. It made
kings to tremble and tyrants to fear. It was
said of those early believers that they turned the world upside down! so powerful
was their message and spirit. In spite of
persecution it grew and multiplied, for God dwelt mightily in the midst of His people. The knowledge of the glory of the Lord covered the
earth as the waters cover the sea.
In the midst of
such a precious walk in the Spirit the apostles Paul and John, filled with divine wisdom
and keen in spiritual discernment, foresaw that the church would spread over the world,
and that, becoming popular, many would arise within its ranks who would appreciate its form without having been transformed by its spirit. Grace
had wrought a wondrous work, but alas! with many the inner
nature remained unchanged. The natural man
with his carnal mind was still at enmity with God, and the cloak of Christianity would not
long conceal his corruption. The beautiful
infant virgin church was not very old before the seeds of rebellion against Christ began to appear. The very moment the love of God and the power of
His indwelling life begin to wane from our spirits and fly out the windows of our soul,
then external forms, creeds, rituals, and observances with all their emptiness and
foolishness stalk boldly through the door. Then
men begin to cry for something other than Christ, or
for something in addition to Christ, saying,
I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas (I Cor. 1:12).
I do not believe
there is any way to explain, imagine, or understand the many ways in which the beast
ascends out of the bottomless pit and overcomes the ministry of the Spirit and the Word. Even before the apostles had passed from this life,
a spirit and system had set in among the saints of the Lord and many people were wearing
the Babylonish garment. They were instituting
rules and regulations, formulating creeds, observing days, establishing sacraments and
ordinances, and elevating human government. The
babble had begun and the mysterious beast from the abyss was raising his ugly head! Soon the glory and power, the presence of God in
the morning-time church began to be eclipsed, and the power of carnal-minded men gradually
took the place of the awesome presence of Christ and His living Word. Consequently, mans carnal understanding was
put upon the scriptures, and as the spirit of Christ fled from their midst, men
established a vast and elaborate system of substitutes
to take the place of reality. As the blind led
the blind and the visions of the people were in error and darkness, the pure vision and
experience of the life of the Spirit and the power of the Word was lost to them. The beast had ascended out of the abyss and had
overcome them, and killed them!
Can we not see
how the witness of the Spirit and the Word had now been effectively slain, killed in the street of the great city of religion! Ah,
but never forget, precious friend of mine, the seed
of Christ was still lying in the earth, awaiting the blessed day when the Father would
send showers from heaven and that seed would germinate and rise again! There would be a great field of grain and a vast
harvest! The impact of the next move of God
would be greater than any previous work of the Lord! The
resurrection of our Lord from death and the grave is the keystone of the Christian faith. And the spiritual
resurrection of the Spirit and the Word from the grave of carnality is likewise
imperative! When great reformers, set aflame
with Holy Spirit power, declared truth at the peril of their lives, Romes walls of
bondage burst like a tomb in an earthquake. The
Word, which had long been chained in static creeds and lifeless rituals, became alive in
the power of the Spirit! O glorious day of the
blessed Reformation! Romes tyranny was
conquered. The gospel was again preached to
the poor. Prisoners were loosed and chains of
sin and religious slavery were broken. Vast
areas and nations and empires of the world were impacted by the glorious gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ as the Spirit and the Word ascended up into the new heavens of the
Spirit in the midst of Gods people!
But this happy
state of affairs did not long continue. Within
a few years the followers of the reformers were divided into hostile sects and began to
oppose and persecute each other. Luther
denounced Zwingle as a heretic, and the Calvinists would have no dealings with the
Lutherans. The first Protestant creed was the
Augsburg Confession (A.D. 1530). This date marks an important epoch. From this time the people began to lose sight of
the Word of God and the Spirit of God as their life and to turn to the disciplines of
their sects, which they upheld by every means possible.
Thus we find Calvin at Geneva consenting to the burning at the stake of
Servetus, because of a difference of religious views, and Luther ordering the
extermination of my own forefathers, the Anabaptists, as heretics. In the years following, great wars arose between
the various factions as armies were placed in the field to fight for their creeds! A great darkness and a somber death settled over
the old historic churches and once again the two witnesses the ministry of the
Spirit and the Word lay dead in the street of the great city of religion.
Dreadful as all
this is, let us never lose sight of the fact that in the midst of mans disconcerting
confusion the Lord of the universe is progressing unhindered with His purpose of the ages
to bring many sons unto glory, His anointed Christ-body which shall bring the blessings
and benefits of the kingdom of God to every kindred, tongue, people, and nation and shall
govern the earth and the whole vast universe in righteousness, peace, joy, and life
forevermore. History confirms the guiding hand
of our omnipotent Father as out of the ashes of Protestantism came new and greater moves
of God in England, Wales, Scotland, Russia, America, and throughout many other nations of
the world. Finally, in the early 1900s
the great Pentecostal revivals out of which came in mid-century the glorious outpouring of
the Spirit and coming of the Lord as Latter Rain unto His seeking, thirsting people. None of these were isolated moves of God, but
quickly spread around the world impacting the Lords people unto the uttermost parts
of the earth. What a mighty God!
The gifts and
callings of God have always been a source of joy and wonder to me. It gives me great joy to behold the work of God in
His called and chosen elect in this significant hour!
Far away in the depths of my spirit the perfumed breezes of spiritual
discernment cry in the street of my city that there has never been a day like this day! The blessed sons of God have been in preparation
throughout this long church age and today our heavenly Father is perfecting the final
members of this inChristed body with
accelerating intensity and thoroughness. We
are rapidly approaching the joyful moment soon to come when together we shall all be
changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, and this corruptible
shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall be wondrously clothed with immortality. The holy sons of God shall be manifest in
resurrection power and in great glory! But
today, as the vehicle of this preparation, the ministry of the two witnesses has stood up
in the earth again and are now prophesying of the one who is coming, the manchild, the
many-membered Son of God who shall deliver
creation from the bondage of corruption and restore all things into the harmony of God
again. Just as John the Baptist was the
forerunner and announcer of the firstborn among many brethren, so the two-witness
prophetic ministry has appeared right on schedule in this weary hour of sham and shame,
abounding in false prophets, worldliness, religiosity, and universal turmoil, to call all
of Gods sons to walk only and fully in the light of the Lord.
God has raised
up again His witness in the earth! The Spirit
and the Word are testifying by the power of God right in the street of the great city of
religion! As one has written, The spirit
of Moses is blowing over the face of the earth as it did over the face of Egypt in that
long ago. The cry has gone out through the
land, Let my people go, that they may worship me! The
plagues are hitting the systems of the Pharaohs who are the rulers of this world system,
and their kingdoms are crumbling from within and cannot put themselves together again. This is the result of the prophetic spirit of Moses
which has been released in the world!
The spirit
of Elijah is blowing as well! Elijah came
against king Ahab when he made affinity with Jezebel and introduced the worship of false
gods in Israel. Jezebel, with deadly hatred in
her heart, came against Gods prophets and determined to kill as many of them as she
could. Elijah hid in a cave and prayed unto
the Lord. He asked Him if he was the only
prophet left in the land, to which God replied, Nay, I have seven thousand more like
you who have not bowed their knee to Baal. The
rulers of the worldly church have espoused the ways of the worlds systems. Like Ahab, they have made themselves one with the
spirit of Jezebel who is determined to put an end to the Word of God proclaimed by Gods
true prophets in this hour. The people are
languishing under their ministries, not able to discern any more that which is holy from
that which is profane. But the spirit of
Elijah is blowing in their land!
The day
came when Elijah called all the prophets of Baal to mount Carmel. He gathered all of Israel and spoke unto them in
that place. And Elijah came to all the
people, and said, How long will you falter between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then
follow him. But the people answered him not a
word (I Kings 18:21). The same spirit of
Elijah is blowing over the people of God today that they might awaken to the Light and
recognize the bondage which the systems of religion have kept them in. We witness the uncovering of the works of darkness
which have been hid behind pious facades. Men
of God which had been admired and adored in the land are falling from their pedestals. Elijah gave the prophets of Baal the whole day to
prove their god. They carried on from morning
until noon calling out to Baal
O Baal, hear us! but there was no voice;
no one answered. They leaped upon the altar
which they had made. And Elijah said, Cry
aloud for he is a god
so they cried and cut themselves, as was their custom, with
knives and lances until the blood gushed out on them (I Kings 18:26-28). This ceremony continued until the time of the
evening sacrifice, all day long. Then Elijah
took over
he repaired the altar and put in order the proper sacrifice. The prophets of Baal had exhausted all their tricks
and gimmicks to move the hand of their god, but Elijah only needed the last hour to show
forth the glory of the one true God.
The false
prophets in our land have had the whole day to bring out all their tricks that are up
their sleeves
they have sought the admiration and substance of Gods people
they
have worked by intimidation, but beloved, it will take Elijah only the last
hour to restore the true worship and open the eyes of the people to know the one true God! Indeed, Mystery Babylon is crumbling before our
very eyes! It is a great hour we live in! God by His own hand is leading His sons, whom He is
carefully preparing as His great army, that they might go forth and fulfill His mighty
plan of the ages, to deliver creation from the bondage of corruption once and for all,
forever and ever, Amen! The Lord Jesus is
meticulously preparing His body for this glorious day.
He has not left His remnant nor has He forsaken His elect. He has made visitations upon them and upon each
member in particular end
quote.
This brings us
to an important question. Just what is it that
slays the two witnesses and causes such a spiritual sense of death to fall
upon them? In my heart I know this does not
speak of the world system literally and physically martyring the witnesses! Nor do I believe they are by outward laws,
legislation, pressure, coercion, imprisonment, police action, or any other external force
suppressed and silenced. This is a spiritual
thing! They are killed by the beast that
arises out of the bottomless pit or the abyss. It
will help us to understand that this is not the same beast that in chapter thirteen arises
out of the sea.
The sea is not the abyss, the abyss is a realm deeper even than the sea!
Now, what do we
mean by a bottomless pit? The Greek word for bottomless is abussos which is derived from a root word meaning
depthless. In Greek it is called
the pit of the abussos from which we derive our English word abyss! Perhaps
it would be better translated as the pit of the abyss or the pit of the unfathomable depth.
Bottomless is a good translation of this word, for the
thought of the Greek is that it is that whose depths are unmeasurable. As soon as one attempts to suppose a physical or
literal reality corresponding to this picture-image, he falls into endless difficulty. My impression is that we have here a spiritual picture of a character and nature. It is true that righteousness and truth are related
not only with light, but also with height, and evil and error are associated not only
with darkness, but also with depth. Tracing
backward to the root word abussos, it is
interesting to note that abussos is a variation
of buthos which means profundity. It becomes, then, a profundity
which in its spiritual meaning signifies a thought or a nature
so deep as to be beyond the comprehension of the natural mind!
Armed with these
meanings of bottomless, depthless, unfathomable depths, and
profundity it is revealed as a pit which has no bottom! Therefore, there is no substance, no foundation, no
ground to stand upon. What that really says to
us is that it has no reality that is, no basis in fact. Now, it appears
to have a bottom, a foundation, for does not every pit have a bottom? Yet it does not.
Therefore the pit represents a lie!
The next thing
we need to remember in order to understand this great mystery is that Satan is a liar and
the father of lies. Jesus said it so plainly
and powerfully, 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 (Jn. 8:44). What is a lie? It
is error. It is an untruth. It is an unreality. It is that which appears to have substance, but
in fact is an illusion or imagination. Its
a mirage. It looks like something, but it is
actually nothing. Thats a lie!
A study of the
scripture passages in which the abyss is
mentioned will reveal to us that it is always associated with the waters of the earth. At the dawn of Gods creation darkness was
upon the face of the abyss. Then the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (Gen. 1:2).
The deep springs of the abyss were broken up in the great flood (Gen. 7:11;
8:2). Again we read of the waters of the great deep, or abyss (Isa. 51:10). The abyss is portrayed as the farthest extreme from
heaven and the heights of the mountains (Gen. 49:25; Deut. 33:13; Ps. 36:6). In other passages it is used as a reference to the
deepest parts of the sea (Job 28:14; 38:16; Ps. 33:7).
In other places it is pictured as subterranean rivers and vaults of water
(Deut. 8:7; Job 36:16). The crossing of Israel
through the depths of the Red Sea is repeatedly likened to a passage through the abyss
(Ps. 77:16; 106:9; Isa. 44:27; 51:10; 63:13). Looking
at the natural shadow or type of the higher spiritual truth, we find that
the ocean covers seventy-two percent of earths surface. Its average measurable depth is 11,500 feet. Its greatest measured depths are the Nares Deep, 28,200 feet in the Atlantic and the Nero Deep, 36,614 feet in the Pacific. Off the coast of Japan, there is a spot so deep
they
just gave up, marked how much line they had dropped and logged it deeper than that. That, my beloved, is a truer picture of the abyss!
Bear with me as
I repeat again the great truth that the book of Revelation is a spiritual book, and like everything else in the
book the scenes John beheld in chapter eleven are all symbols standing for spiritual realities, both
positive and negative. That the bottomless
pit or the abyss in the symbolisms of scripture portrays the human heart is beautifully expressed by the prophet
David. David, in describing the wickedness of
man, says, Hide me from the secret counsel of
the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity
they encourage
themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall
see them? They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent
search (plumbing the depths): both the inward thought of
every one of them, and the heart IS DEEP (Ps. 64:2-6). The heart is a deep! The Hebrew word used here means not only something
deep, but deeper than other things. The
heart of the natural man is his deepest and innermost sense of being. The heart is the root of all human expression and
identity. It is also the well-spring of what
is called human nature. Of that
nature Jesus said, For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
All these evil things come (arise) from (deep) within, and defile the man (Mk.
7:18-23). We must conclude, then, that the
heart of man is the very lowest realm of mans being!
Sometimes the Lords elect fail to see that our natural heart is just
like anyone elses Adamic heart, and every son of God must clearly see, understand,
and overcome the very basest things and powers that lie hidden, concealed, and buried in
the unseen depths of the old, natural heart. And
just as these evil things come from deep within and rise up out of the heart to manifest
in the flesh, so does the beast that overcomes the witnesses rise up out of the abyss
within them to kill them!
Now, what could
it be that would arise out of the very heart of Gods
witnesses to slay them and silence their testimony? I am
not of the persuasion that this could be the gross sins of the flesh. I do not for one moment think that the witnesses
are overcome by lust, fornication, pornography, lying, deceiving, robbing, going back into
the worldly systems of man, or defrauding Gods people!
I cannot prove what I now say, and you, dear reader of these lines, may
yourself be given further light upon this subject; but I have been impressed that the
beast will arise in the form of discouragement, hesitation, questionings, doubts, fears,
and dejection. After boldly prophesying for
the symbolic 1260 days, as the vision tarries, the weary years drag on into decades,
precious brethren who treasured the beautiful hope of sonship, who were the very apostles
and pioneers of it, and hopefully embraced our final change from mortal to immortal, at
last pass from the scene, going by way of the grave, their intense conviction that they
would live to see the manifestation of the sons of God and be blessed participators in it,
dashed to the ground.
It is clear in
my mind that the day will come when the brethren begin to question just as John the
Baptist was disturbed and plagued by questionings in his heart when he sent his disciples
to inquire of Jesus, Art thou He that should
come, or do we look for another? What
a question is that! Was it not John who, when
he saw Jesus coming to the waters of the Jordan, cried out by the Spirit, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin
of the world! John was a prophet,
the called and chosen forerunner of the Messiah, himself a type of the two witness
company, and he recognized Jesus by the Spirit! John
was standing right there in the water beside Jesus when the heavens opened, the Holy
Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and he himself heard the voice that
came from heaven declaring, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased! But
the years dragged on. Jesus had no army, no
political clout, no acceptance by the establishment, and appeared uninterested in
overthrowing Rome and assuming kingship. Following
the greatest prophetic ministry ever to grace this earth, John now muses within his heart,
wondering to himself within himself, whether he was really right, did he truly hear from
God, was Jesus indeed the Messiah he had so boldly announced?
How can one so
blessed and enlightened by God question whether
the thing he has believed in, hoped for, and prophesied by the spirit of revelation from
God, will actually come to pass? Ah, the
prophet David also questioned many times in the
Psalms! And he was a man after Gods own
heart! The two faithful disciples, Cleopas and
his friend, walking the road to Emmaus, hearts heavy with sorrow and brokenness because of
the crucifixion and death of Jesus, sadly lamented to the stranger who joined them in the way, But we trusted that it had been He which should
have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were
done (Lk. 24:21). The third day
signified to them the point of no return all hope lost!
No darker hour
ever came to any of Gods people than the disappointment and despair that hung like a
pall over the twelve disciples of Jesus, the men who had walked with Him for three and a
half years, had witnessed all His wonderful works, had communed with Him most intimately,
had heard every gracious word that fell from His divine lips, and themselves shared in
that ministry, performing mighty signs and wonders in His name. This little flock followed Jesus out of the city
and ascended mount Calvary. They beheld their
Lord and Master hanging naked upon a Roman cross, crucified as a common criminal between
two thieves, and they followed His dead body to its resting place in the tomb of Joseph of
Arimathaea. These disciples did not
understand! This was a shocking blow to the
inborn hope which still held a prominent place in the hearts of these men. Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God! Peter had stoutly affirmed.
They
had believed that their Messiah was to come and restore Israel to her lost heritage of
world dominion. And just at the moment it
appeared the multitudes were ready to crown Him and make Him their King, He is humiliated,
reproached, dishonored, and disgraced before the eyes of all men. He who had raised the dead now lay still in the dark, dank tomb, Himself bound in grave
clothes. Though Jesus had tried to warn and
prepare them, they still were incapable of comprehending that other events must transpire
first: that the King whom they had truly found and followed was not to reign immediately,
but must die for the sins of the world. In
their disillusionment and dejection Peter finally blurted out, I am going fishing! All seemed hopeless and lost. Their cherished expectations were every one dashed
to the ground. The great drama was over. It was all over!
They must have been mistaken. Things
werent supposed to end this way. Why, by
now, they should be reigning with Him in His kingdom!
In heart-rending sorrow and in cold, stark fear of the Jewish leaders who
had killed their Master, the disciples quickly scattered and went into hiding. I do not hesitate to tell you that better men than
I, have questioned, wondered, doubted
greater men than I, have deserted!
When
the vision tarries will we persevere through the dark night of testing to lay hold
upon the glory that shall be revealed? No
matter, when the vale of unfulfilled expectations has been crossed, the witnesses shall
rise again! They will stand upon their feet! Their enemies will behold them! They will ascend into heaven in a cloud! And immediately after their ascension into heaven
the blessed Seer of Patmos beholds a great
wonder in
heaven! And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her
feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried,
travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered
and she brought forth a manchild, who
was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to
His throne (Rev. 12:1-2,5). Ah,
can you not see the mystery? Only the symbols
have changed. For you see, my beloved, we are
not shown several different things in these visions, only ONE GREAT TRUTH. The temple that is measured is a people. That
temple people in turn become the prophetic ministry of the two witnesses! The two witnesses caught up into the heavens of Gods
Spirit then become the great wonder in heaven,
the woman who is with child. The woman then brings forth out
of herself THE MANCHILD! Oh, the
mystery of it! Oh, the wonder of it!
It has well been
said that the darkest night is just before the dawn. With what eternal gladness and everlasting
astonishment and wonder the disciples of Jesus greeted the dawn of the resurrection
morning! And so shall it be with Gods
elect in this great hour. The symbolic death
of the witnesses will appear no less disappointing and heartbreaking than was the death of
Jesus for those twelve men in the long ago. But,
thank God, there is another resurrection morning! Hope
rekindled, faith reborn, and the glory of manifest sonship shall burst forth out of the
tomb of disillusionment and despair. Arent
you glad!
To be continued
J. PRESTON EBY
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