David Jeremiah - The Two Witnesses Testify
When the two witnesses ascend on this earth during the Tribulation period, we are about ready to see the worst of the worst that's going to happen on this earth. Of course, you know before this happens, the Rapture will take place and all Christians will be taken out of the world at once, leaving only unbelievers to cope with the impending Tribulation. And you know, sometimes I think about how badly the world treats God. Finally, when he gets his people out of the world, you would think that God would just say, "I am done with everybody. Let's just get this thing over with and judge all these people". But the interesting thing about it is, men and women, that when the Tribulation begins, Almighty God is not done with the people of the earth. He dispatches 144.000 Jewish witnesses to evangelize the world and then he sends these two incredibly powerful witnesses to evangelize the world.
You know, sometimes when I have talked prophecy in the past, people have said, "You know, the Bible teaches that before Jesus comes back in the Rapture, we're gonna have a great revival on the earth," and they're all waiting for this revival. Well, the problem is that's not in the Bible. The Bible doesn't say there's gonna be a great revival before Jesus comes back in the Rapture. The Bible says exactly the opposite. Before Jesus comes back in the Rapture, the Bible says there's going to be a great falling away from the faith. But after the Rapture happens, in the Tribulation, I think the greatest evangelistic crusade that's ever happened on planet Earth is gonna happen on this Earth. The Bible says, "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth".
Now, let me just explain, the two witnesses are not symbols of the law and the prophets, they don't represent the Old and the New Testament. The two witnesses are actual people. They will speak and they will perform miracles. And the whole world will know about them. They will be the news item every night during that period of time. Most people tell us they don't know who these two witnesses are and I don't know for sure but I have a pretty good idea so I'm gonna share with you who I think they are. I believe that the two witnesses are the return of Moses and Elijah to the Earth. Now stop and again, watch this. There's gonna be a great revival on this Earth led by 144.000 Jewish witnesses and the star preachers are gonna be Moses and Elijah coming back to this Earth. Are you getting the picture? I believe this is true because the two witnesses match much of that which took place during the life of Moses and Elijah when they were on the Earth.
For instance, Malachi, the prophet, predicted that Elijah would come before Jesus came back to prepare the way. Here in Malachi chapter 4 we read these words: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse". The Bible says that before Jesus comes back the second time, Elijah is going to return. And certainly, this would qualify. He'll come back during the Tribulation to be one of the witnesses and Jesus's return is at the end of the Tribulation, his Second Advent. Also, Elijah never really died, did he? Elijah was taken up into heaven, just as the two witnesses will be taken up into heaven. Did you know that? And the two witnesses will have the same power to withhold rain, just as Elijah did in the Old Testament.
Remember, he said, "It shall not rain except by my word for three and a half years," and that's what the two witnesses do. And Elijah called down fire from heaven. Did you know that he is the only prophet in the Old Testament to call down fire from heaven? And now here, in the Tribulation, they're calling down fire from heaven. And the Bible says that this is going to happen and it's going to take place in three years and six months and that was the duration of the drought during Elijah's days on the Earth. So I believe the first witness is Elijah, the Old Testament prophet. And the second witness, I believe, is Moses. Now, we have some good reason to believe that. Moses and Elijah already have appeared together once since they supposedly left the Earth. If you study the story of the transfiguration, remember how Moses and Elijah were having a discussion with Jesus about his death that was coming? So they've already been together on the Mount of Transfiguration and so it would not be a surprise to see that they would come back again.
And the Bible says that God preserved Moses's body so that he might be restored. The bodies of the witnesses will be restored as well. Over and over again in the Bible, if you look, you will see the parallel. So just humor me tonight, will you? I believe the two witnesses are Moses and Elijah. And when I think about that, it gives me the chills. The greatest prophet who ever lived, the greatest law-giver who ever lived, together in tandem on this Earth preaching judgment against the fallen people of this world and accompanying them will be the incredible witnesses out of Judaism who travel the Earth with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, somebody said, "The Tribulation is all dark and gloomy and there's no light". I wanna tell you something, ladies and gentlemen, Moses and Elijah and 144.000 witnesses are a whole bunch of light. In the darkness of that day, Almighty God will dispatch his witnesses. And the Bible says that when these two witnesses are on the Earth they will make certain prophecies.
Listen again to the words of Revelation chapter 11 and verse 3: "I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth". The Bible says that these two witnesses will be dressed as mourners and that for three and a half years they will preach judgment not gleefully but sadly. They will preach with sorrow and tears. They will say to the people on this Earth, "If you think what's happening to you now is bad, take note if you don't repent it's gonna get worse". The witnesses are wearing sackcloth. They will be standing in public places and crying out to the people on the Earth, "Please receive your Messiah. Please accept your Savior. The judgment is coming. If you don't receive him, you're going to perish".
And of course, the Bible tells us that they had some power that was unique, that validated their ministry. How would you know that these two people weren't just two kooks standing on the corner preaching like sometimes you see people do even today? Well, their power is described for us in the 11th chapter. Listen carefully: "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy," and the Bible says they will prophesy for three and a half years. The Spirit of God will fill these two men and they will be able to do things that no one has ever seen before. Their preaching will be powerful. They will stand up and say things that if you and I said 'em in our pulpit we'd probably be chased out of the city.
Even in today's situation, as you know, there's a tendency in many of our churches not ever to say anything that even comes close to a negative word. These men won't be positive, motivational preachers. These men are gonna tell it like it is. They're gonna say to the people of the Earth, "If you don't repent, you will face the judgment of God". You know, nobody, I say this as a preacher. Nobody likes to preach judgment and nobody likes to preach on hell and nobody likes to tell people that if they don't repent they're gonna spend eternity in the lake of fire. But let's just pose this question for a moment. Suppose it is true. Suppose it is true what the Bible says, that if we reject Jesus Christ there is no other way. That Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through him.
Just for a moment, suppose that is true. I know it's true. You can suppose it's true. What kind of person would a man be who knew that to be true and never told anybody about it? I dare say that in some of the churches of our nation and around the world, there's gonna be a great day of accounting for pastors who never told their people the truth about the coming judgment. Listen to me. For every one word that Jesus Christ spoke about heaven, he spoken three words about hell. He never avoided it. He never tried to sneak in under it. He never said, "I don't believe it exists". He spoke more about that than he spoke about heaven.
As many of you know, I am a cancer survivor. Suppose when I found out that I had cancer I went to see my physician who's a very decorated lymphoma doctor. And, as he did, he begins to tell me about my sickness, where my disease is, what's gonna happen to me, what the prognosis is, et cetera, et cetera. And when he gets all done and I'm so discouraged. And suppose my doctor has in his possession the cure to my cancer. And he lets me walk out and never tells me anything at all about the cure; he just tells me about the disease. And suppose, an even worse scenario, that when I come to see him, he doesn't even tell me I'm sick. Suppose he says, "Well, you're just having a bad day, Dr. Jeremiah, or you're just having normal headaches or those pains you feel are normal. Don't worry about them, you're fine". Suppose he looks at my x-ray and sees how sick I really am but decides because he doesn't want to hurt my feelings, he won't tell me. Suppose he lets me walk out with this life-threatening disease and never even tells me that I have it.
You say, "Such a person should never be allowed to practice medicine again". And yet how easy it is for us to say that it's wrong for a pastor to stand and, from the book of God, say to the people who listen to him, "This is the sickness God says you have. You have a disease called sin and that sickness will take you to hell if you don't get it cured. But here's the good news. I have the cure. It's called the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen? I know we've strayed a bit from the Tribulation but listen to me. That's exactly what the two witnesses are gonna do. They're gonna tell the world about their sickness and they're gonna tell the world about the one who has come. Now, the Bible says that these men are gonna have incredible power. They're gonna be able to make plagues happen. And throughout their character on this Earth, they will be the champions of righteousness and judgment against a wicked Earth.
Somebody asked me yesterday, "How can God do these things that he does at the end of time in judging the wicked"? And my question is, "How can he not do them? How can he be a good God if he stands by and watches evil go unpunished? How can he be a God who is a God we can worship if he just looks past all the wickedness that happens in his world"? Today, we are living in the parentheses of his patience, but one day the patience of God will be finished and the cup of iniquity will be full and Jesus Christ, the judge of all the Earth, will come. And through all of these scenarios in the book of Revelation there will be judgment upon the Earth.
Now, the Bible tells us that after a certain period of time, these witnesses are persecuted and then they are killed and, they are placed in the street for three and a half days. And just when they're about to remove their carcasses and bury them, they are resurrected by the power of the Spirit of God and they are taken to heaven. And I would like to have been the preacher on the street corner after that happened to give the invitation. Wouldn't you? Here are these two men who've gone to heaven, miraculously resurrected, and now I get to stand up and say, "See, I told you," you know? "This is what's gonna happen. Let me tell you now how you can go to heaven and you can know Jesus Christ as your Savior". The Bible says that when those events take place on this Earth every eye is going to see this happen. Every eye. Everyone will witness the resurrection and ascension of the two witnesses so it won't be just a local event in Israel. It will be a worldwide phenomenal thing that happens.
The Bible says that when these two witnesses are killed, the people who are on the Earth at the time will be so happy they will have a party. They will have a celebration that is as much like Christmas as anything you can imagine. Listen to this: "And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them," Revelation 11:10, "and make merry," now watch this, "and send gifts to one another, because the two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth". In other words, when these two witnesses are killed and left out in the street, the whole place breaks out into a party and I can't get over it, just like Christmas, they give each others gifts to celebrate the death of the two witnesses. That's how awful this is because they don't wanna hear the truth.
And then, of course, when they're resurrected, and they go back to heaven, the whole scenario on the earth changes and the two witnesses are used of God to continue the incredible revival that takes place on this Earth. This is just one of the stories you will find in the book of Revelation and one of the chapters in this book about two men who were called by God to bring the message of the gospel in one of the darkest days the world has ever known. You know, if you go through the book of Revelation, there are some dark places but in every dark place there's a parentheses of God's mercy. He never leaves his people without a witness. I don't believe God is leaving this generation without a witness. There are many men of God who are preaching the Word of God and using television and radio and other means to do it. And God is continuing to reach out to his people, pleading them to come and to repent and to receive the cure for their sin sickness.
When I think of these two witnesses, I think of what it means to me as a preacher: their courage, their unashamedness, their persistence, their power. And I pray that God will help me to be a witness like that, that he will help you to be a witness like that. A witness is simply somebody who tells another person what they see and what they know what is true. This is the day and age as we prepare for this time that's coming in the future when we, as God's people, ought to be on fire with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are to be learning how to present the gospel, we ought to be finding every creative way we can. The Lord Jesus is coming back and when he comes back, the Bible says, those who have not received him will stand before him at the Great White Throne Judgment and they will be judged on the basis of one thing: is their name written in the Lamb's book of life? And if their name is not in the Lamb's book of life, they will not be allowed to enter heaven.
How does one get one's name in the Lamb's book of life? By putting their trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. Have you done that? Have you put your trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation? "Oh," you say, "Pastor Jeremiah, I'm a really good church person. I want you to know, I'm in church every time the doors are open". I have that testimony. I often tell people that when I was young I had a drug problem. I was drug to church every time the doors were open, you know what I'm saying? Some of you are like that. But listen to me. Nobody will be in heaven because they go to church, nobody. The only answer that is going to make any difference when you stand before the great judge of the Earth is this answer: "I have accepted Jesus Christ as my sin atonement. I have accepted his forgiveness for my sin. And I have placed all of my trust in him and him alone". And if you say that, if you know that's to be true in your life, then you will stand before the Lord and you will be in heaven with hum forever.