Human Rebellion
Notes
Transcript
7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. 11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.
Introduction:
The main emphasis of these two Witnesses is their glorification of God as they preach of the impending destruction and the only way to salvation, which is in Jesus Christ!
Their service and responsibility to the Lord is no different than ours today.
Even though they possess great power for a time, it is only so that they can carry out their service to its appointed time. They eventually die martyrs deaths!
Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible 3. The death of the two witnesses 11:7–10
The beast will add insult to injury by allowing the corpses of the two witnesses to lie in the street unburied. This was the worst indignity that someone could perpetrate on a person in biblical times (cf. Ps. 79:2–3). “Mystically” (Gr. pneumatikos, “spiritually”) indicates a comparative rather than a literal meaning. The city will be similar to Sodom and Egypt in that it will be extremely wicked, morally degraded, antagonistic toward God, and oppressive toward God’s people because of Antichrist’s influence. The place of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion identifies this city as Jerusalem (cf. Jer. 22:8).369
I. Mankind in his natural condition is in opposition to God.
I. Mankind in his natural condition is in opposition to God.
A. He hates God’s ways.
A. He hates God’s ways.
7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.
B. He rebels against God.
B. He rebels against God.
11 An evil man seeks only rebellion; Therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
C. He prefers his own sense of morality.
C. He prefers his own sense of morality.
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
D. He does not want to hear or listen to God.
D. He does not want to hear or listen to God.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. 4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,
II. Mankind in his natural condition takes pleasure in silencing the voice of God.
II. Mankind in his natural condition takes pleasure in silencing the voice of God.
A. He is capable of the most grotesque atrocities.
A. He is capable of the most grotesque atrocities.
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
The Nazi Concentration Camps (Over 6 Million)
The Armenian Genocide (1.5 Million)
The Killing Fields of Cambodia (Over a million)
The Abortion Clinics (According to Guttmacher.org, between 2015-2019 there were 73 Million abortions per year worldwide. = 365 Million babies exterminated.
B. He will turn that hatred onto his fellow man.
B. He will turn that hatred onto his fellow man.
12 The wicked plots against the just, And gnashes at him with his teeth.
Conclusion:
Yet, there is something else in our passage today that should concern us.
It says in the thirteenth verse that...
“the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God in Heaven”.
Now that’s a good thing isn’t it?
They gave glory after seeing the power of God over the power of Satan!
The point being, that in some cases, God’s people must be willing to suffer if the lost are to be saved and glorify God.