Two witnesses and the beast out of the bottomless pit

Deutsch

One of the “big questions” about interpretations and statements in Revelation is the Two Witnesses. These witnesses will be defeated and killed by a “beast out of the bottomless pit”. The Two Witnesses are then brought back to life. The following is a comparison of the biblical descriptions with historical and future events.

The two witnesses are meant symbolically

Two witnesses are overpowered and get up again

ZThere is obviously no unanimous opinion about the “Two Witnesses” in Revelation 11. “Which two could it be?” is the big question. The possible answers often refer to Old Testament prophets who appear in the “end times” and as in Revelation 11 will act accordingly. Among other things, Moses and Elijah are mentioned, alternatively Enoch and Elijah. The question arose as to whether the “two witnesses” necessarily had to be two people. Finally, Revelation is “brimming” with figurative designations that will certainly not literally bring forth multi-headed beasts with many crowns and horns out of the sea and the bottomless pit.

The animals symbolize political powers and do not describe real monsters. A purely symbolic language. It is therefore very likely that the “Two Witnesses” must also be a symbolic representation. From this point of view alone, the “Two Witnesses” could well be the gospel in the form of the Old and New Testaments. Certainly a “great unknown” for the first centuries after the revelation was written down, since the Bible only received the form it has retained to this day at a later point in time. From today’s point of view (after quasi unsealing) but quite understandable.

The description of “two olive trees and two lampstands” shows that the Two Witnesses must be the Word of God in the form of the two testaments. These symbols are already explained in Zechariah 4:2-6:
“And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”

This is what Revelation 11:3-14 says about the Two Witnesses

3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

Times changed – the gospel remained

One must not lose sight of the fact that this revelation took place around AD 90. was written and this text or the statements of the “Eternal Gospel” did not change over the centuries. What has changed in the past almost 2,000 years are the historical developments from today’s perspective and the perspectives of the people. Accordingly, the statements of Revelation at that time were pure visions of the future. But the future has long since caught up with humanity. A lot has already happened, a lot is yet to come. Therefore, in the course of historical developments, one or the other statement in the Holy Scriptures became understandable, while in the past they generated guesswork.

Prophecy is not the same as giving testimony

A key statement about the Two Witnesses is their “Prophecy for 1260 days”. If the period of this prophecy has already occurred, then the prophecy can also be ended, since it was finally fulfilled. But that’s probably not the end of the “task” of the two witnesses. The Two Witnesses have yet to testify. Bearing the testimony is the testimony of the gospel and the testimony of Jesus. This also puts the statement about the “completion of their testimony” in the center.

Ultimately, this does not necessarily have to coincide with the end of the prophecy, but can also occur at a later point in time. Prophecy and bearing witness are two different things. The 1260 days are to be interpreted as years in prophecy. Just as in other places the 42 months and “A time, two times and a half time” each describe 1260 years. From today’s perspective, the 1260 years have already passed. The often quoted year 1798 fits in like the proverbial “fist in the eye”. In this year the papacy lost political power. The beast (out of the sea) of Revelation 13 received the “mortal wound.”

The beast from the bottomless pit- Political power

Then already appears in Rev. 11 the “beast out of the bottomles pit” which will overcome and also kill the Two Witnesses. Details are described in Revelation 17 , in which the “beast from the bottmless pit” appears for the second time. It is the beast on which the “whore of Babylon” sits. This beast has seven heads and ten horns. The Bible itself explains that the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. These seven heads are also associated with kings. Revelation 17:10-11:
” And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.”

The ten horns are ten kings who will only receive one kingdom. These will have power like kings with the beast for one hour. Prophetically, an hour is very short and equals 15 days. The wording “like kings” is striking. Apparently these are not de facto, but appear as such. Also very interesting is the statement that these ten horns (kings) on the beast hate the harlot and will strip her naked, consume her and burn her with fire. So the kings unite with the beast and the “whore of Babylon” who sits on it will be destroyed. Kings and beasts will make war together against the Lamb, and the Lamb will defeat them.

A woman symbolizes a church or religious community. A whore is a correspondingly apostate church or congregation, which spreads false teachings in the world. An animal is a political or state power. According to Revelation, the ten (quasi) kings together with the beast (political) will destroy the fallen church (religious).

The possible sequence of the 7 (8) kings

Based on the sequence according to Daniel and the further descriptions of the “whore of Babylon” according to Revelation 17, the following way of looking at things is entirely possible. With the 5 kings that have already fallen, these are the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, pagan Rome and that of the political papacy (until 1798, “mortal wound”). This was followed by forms of government based on the “philosophy” (“goddess of reason”) of the French Revolution, i.e. democracies in various forms. That would then correspond to the sixth king. The seventh king (power entity) only stays for a short time. At the latest after World War II, the USA rose to become a world power. It is now clear that China will contest the “monopoly right” of the USA. At least the areas that come to light obviously.

USA are (apparently) losing power

A multipolar world is emerging with China and Russia. The “Star USA” is (apparently) on the decline after a few decades of monopoly power. Even if according to Revelation 13 he will have a very supportive effect on the “papal power” as the beast from the earth. But then follows the eighth and according to revelation also the last king. This will be the beast from the bottomless pit, and that beast was already one of the previous seven kings. Since there will hardly be the ancient kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, just as little as the USA, since otherwise there would be no change between seventh and eighth kings, only political papacy and the “post-revolutionary entity democracies” remained “. Since according to Revelation 17:9 the seven heads of the beast are the seven mountains on which the woman sits and according to Revelation 17:18 the woman is the “great city” which power over the exercises kings of the earth, only the city of Rome and thus the political papacy remain as the only possible candidate.

For the ten (quasi) kings, who will first receive an empire, a concept from the 1970s of the “strategists” of the “Club of Rome” would fit. This concept was refreshed only a few years ago and describes a world government in which all countries are divided into 10 government zones.

The “Victory” over the Two Witnesses and the Woman

The connection between the beast out of the bottomless pit and the Two Witnesses is consistent when considering efforts towards a “one global religion”. Catholic and Protestant churches will no longer have a place in this “world religion”. Since Protestantism has not existed since October 2017 at the latest, one can simply speak of “church” in the sense of “Mother Rome”. The church is at the center when it comes to “religious wars”, misery, persecution, murder and manslaughter in the (abused) “name of Christ”. The atrocities over the centuries cannot be undone even if they are hardly or not at all addressed. With the final “pulling down” of the church (10 horns of the beast will destroy women), Rome and the papacy will finally have been convicted of deception. However, too late.

The “world religion” will no longer have anything in common with the gospel, let alone want to have anything to do with it. It is about a desired “peaceful union” of mankind in the sense of a “human family”, which is characterized by brotherhood, solidarity, common good, social justice and a “Mother Earth” to be honored in the sense of nature and climate protection. The apparent center could well be Jerusalem (topic 3rd temple and ecumenism), because:
“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.”.

The “great rejoicing” and the “nasty surprise”

The Two Witnesses can therefore be about the gospel (OT & NT) that is being “pulped out” by the new political power. According to Revelation, people will rejoice over the destruction of the Two Witnesses, who, according to popular misinformation, only caused “wars and misery” in the past. This continues for 3.5 years (prophetic 3.5 days) and will remain a constant theme. This time will be a time of the worst persecution for those who hold the gospel. Ultimately it is the people themselves who will hate and persecute those living in the true faith because of their “danger to the common good”.

The Two Witnesses are quite powerful

Revelation ascribes great power to the Two Witnesses. This can certainly also be regarded as symbolic, since God’s work “quasi in the background” is evident. Ultimately, the opponents of the true gospel failed to eradicate the truth in word and script. Neither the Counter-Reformation since the 16th century nor the French Revolution, including the burning of the Bible, were able to destroy the Holy Scriptures. On the contrary. In the mid-19th century, the spread of the gospel exploded. The Bible found worldwide distribution to more and more remote places in more and more languages. In the Old Testament, God’s interventions in worldly events are well documented. Be it against the Assyrians or Babylonians or as punishment of his “grumpy” people. The catastrophic outcome of the attack by the Spanish Armada on England due to forces of nature may also be interpreted as such an “ordain”. The then Queen Elizabeth I. had at least dared to pronounce the Protestant creed and thus stuck to the Bible, which had only been translated into English a few years earlier. The Pope was “not amused” about this and, also for economic reasons, sent his faithful and most obedient King of Spain, Philip II, to England to ensure “law and order” there.

Two witnesses will be resurrected after 3.5 years

According to revelation, these Two Witnesses (the OT and NT) are revived by God at the end of the 3.5 years and they ascend to heaven. People are afraid, the earth will tremble and parts of the city will be destroyed. The “rest” give glory to the “God of Heaven”. According to Revelation, the 7th trumpet follows and this event is nothing less than the “final act” in which Jesus returns as judge. At that time, the righteous dead will rise and the righteous still alive will be transformed, caught up together to Jesus. These events coincide with the Two Witnesses, for the gospel has done its job by this point.

The statement in 1. Thessalonians 5:2-3: “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”.

Revelation 11 in typology

The Bible is full of prophecies or events that are in typos and anti-typos. Local events in the past are repeated in the future, but on a global scale. The treatise of the 2 witnesses can also be understood in this way. The typos according to Rev. 11 happened during the French Revolution. The religions were banned and with them the Bible from the Old and New Testaments (2 witnesses killed). After 3.5 years, religions were allowed again within the framework of the declared human rights (2 witnesses resurrected after 3.5 days). The “beast from the bottomless pit” appeared here for the first time. This beast appears again in Off. 17. This period (near future) will show developments similar to those of the French Revolution, but on a global scale. A merger of the religions, with the simultaneous exclusion of the true gospel, is already in full swing with ecumenism. The so-called Abrahamic faith unites Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Such a “triple place of worship” has already been built in Abu Dhabi.

Other interpretations of the connections between the Two Witnesses and the beast from the bottomless pit are of course possible. As the observable developments progress, the details are slowly (but accelerating) emerging. However the details will actually come to pass, the “final warning” is becoming more and more important.

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