What message will the 2 sackcloth witnesses preach?
As we have seen in a previous post, man often gives importance to absolutely
secondary things, not to mention useless.
The Bible itself recognizes that man is attracted, often and willingly, by absolutely
secondary aspects - Compare 1 Samuel 16:6, 7
There is the possibility, even for us, of having considered absolutely relative things important and having
taken things "lightly" most important?
We are talking about the teachings of the Word of God.
secondary things, not to mention useless.
The Bible itself recognizes that man is attracted, often and willingly, by absolutely
secondary aspects - Compare 1 Samuel 16:6, 7
There is the possibility, even for us, of having considered absolutely relative things important and having
taken things "lightly" most important?
We are talking about the teachings of the Word of God.
- see Ezekiel 37:15-23
If this happened to a compassionate and experienced prophet like Samuel, are we sure we are
immune from it?
It is necessary to be able to question ourselves because our eternal future is at stake.
Surely Jehovah's thoughts are much higher than ours so the only thing we can do
to avoid focusing on useless or secondary things is to study God's Word deeply and
make it flow in us without preconceptions - Isaiah 55: 8, 9
The fall of Babylon the Great, according to present understanding, would be one of those
key things that Christians should pay attention to.
This is absolutely true because the reaction of angels in heaven as well as true Christians on
earth, loudly stresses the importance of this event – Compare Revelation
18:2, 20; 19:1-6
However, not correctly recognizing the subject (who is Babylon the Great) as well as the
temporal order of that event creates incorrect expectations in many people.
In this way, importance is given to an event by skipping
equally important previous events.
Leaving aside the discussion of the identity of Babylon the Great it is clear that if her fall
is the prelude to Armageddon and not the great tribulation, things change a lot.
Then we must see what is the event which, according to the Scriptures, really preludes the
Final Great Tribulation (because, as we have already seen, there is also a great tribulation at the beginning, or at the end of the seals that will lead to salvation the firstfruits chosen by God to restore pure worship).
We agree that this is very important to us, right?
Well, according to Revelation this fundamental event is the preaching of the two
witnesses dressed in sackcloth - Revelation 11:3
This is one of those events that we must keep an eye on because shortly after the
end of their testimony, as mentioned, the Great Final Tribulation, or the last
three and a half years (the final time left for Satan to act) – See Revelation 11:7, 12; 13:1, 5-7
Now the question is: how are we going to recognize these witnesses?
As we have seen in recent articles that have talked about false prophets, there have been many,
many people who have passed themselves off as prophets.
Not only did they make absolutely raving statements but they also invested themselves with a
certain "identity": many, especially in recent history, pretended to be "the two witnesses
dressed in sackcloth...".
It is true that, among other things, we have learned that by then religions will have already suffered
severe humiliation but will not yet be completely eliminated because we know, for example, that
various religious leaders will want to participate in the construction of the temple (and therefore it is evident that
they still exist at least until then).
So how are we going to recognize the two witnesses dressed in sackcloth as the originals… and not
risk falling into yet another deception of Satan?
The Bible does not say much about these subjects so we have to get there through
logical considerations trying not to force the Scriptures - 1 Corinthians 4:6
Let's start by saying that we could recognize them by the fact that they "preach" but ... many religions
preach, in Israel and somewhere else.
So we have to understand what message they preach.
Is it the “good news of the Kingdom” that these two witnesses will be assigned to preach?
- Revelation 14:6, 7
No, because this would be good news and it would be a nonsense to do it "dressed in sackcloth".
In fact, wearing sackcloth has to do with a contrite spirit, repentance and mourning – 2 Samuel
11:1, Esther 4:1; Isaiah 32:11, 12; 2 Kings 6:30
This is reminiscent of the judgment messages of the prophets of old and is in harmony with the very
characteristics of these two witnesses.
In fact, it is said of them that "fire comes out of their mouth" to kill their enemies, that they can
close the heavens preventing rain, "turn the sources of water into blood" and "strike the earth with
all sorts of plagues" - Revelation 11:5, 6
Then, in keeping with their clothing, they preach a message of severe condemnation in the
against that nation which is described as "Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was also
impaled" - Revelation 11:8
This is already an important clue to recognize the event to pay attention to also
because this message will have a considerable media coverage.
We can deduce this from what we find written in verses 9 and 10: “And those of the peoples and tribes
and tongues and nations shall look at their dead bodies three and a half days, and shall not
let their dead bodies be laid in a tomb . And those who dwell on the earth will
rejoice over them and celebrate, and they will send gifts to one another, because these two
prophets have tormented those who dwell on the earth.”
The only way “those who dwell on the earth” can rejoice in their death is because
evidently this preaching will become known almost everywhere.
And that means that the message, to interest so many people, has to be really heavy.
We also know that by then a terrible world war will have just ended… so it will be
normal for surviving humanity to have their eyes and ears focused on Israel and on what is
happening there.
However, it is not enough to establish the kind of message to be able to truly understand
the identity of these two witnesses.
Even today, at present, there are many so-called "prophets of doom", certainly also in Israel,
with more or less gloomy prophecies and with a certain following.
So we must, among other things, try to understand what can distinguish a true prophet from
a false one and what the specific message might be.
For the first part of the question, we should all know what is expected of a true
prophet.
Obviously knowledge of the Word is essential.
Since we have learned about Ephraim and the reunification of the two kingdoms of Israel (
northern and southern) we have also learned who they represent.
Those who formerly identified themselves as “the two sackcloth witnesses” knew
absolutely nothing about Ephraim or the reunification of Israel.
According to these, obviously, the two witnesses dressed in sackcloth had to be "two at random" but we
know that it will not be so.
Anyone who in the future were to identify as one of these should at least demonstrate
knowledge of this fundamental issue: this knowledge is fundamental to us and serves us as a
protection.
Of course it is logical to assume that the message they will be preaching will include just that:
the reunification of the two kingdoms of Israel after more than 2,700 years of separation.
And this already gives us an intuition of one of the reasons for the hatred that they will throw upon each other.
It is also not even sufficient that the message is “a message of judgment” because all those
who preach a judgment message, even against the righteous subject (in this case,
Israel) speaking of their own initiative without reference to the True God and the Bible, would be
a false prophet.
God will frustrate their prophecies, as we have already seen for all "homegrown" prophets.
Besides the message of the reunification of Israel, will they preach anything else that will make them hate each other?
Yes, but again we have to arrive at this through scriptural reasoning because
Revelation chapter 11 does not specify the words of these two witnesses.
In the meantime, we understand where and against whom this judgment is mainly directed: the nation
of Israel.
Also in this case if the message were preached in Pittisburgh… or Rome… or Canicattì
it would already be proof of the falsehood of the prophets because they would exclude Israel from the centrality of the entire
Apocalypse.
This alone leads us to understand why listeners will feel particularly
touched by this message.
To be told that the True God, or the One they claim to worship, will soon destroy them
…well, that doesn't have to be pleasant at all.
Do we also notice in this a resemblance to the Lord's preaching?
During his ministry the Lord gave many illustrations to show that that nation,
now backslidden and unrepentant, would be destroyed.
Surely the message of the two sackcloth-clad witnesses will reveal their political scheming, their
blatant idolatry (which we know can take many forms), their greedy trading and their
behind-the-scenes maneuvers to influence the world's politicians.
It is true that in that period the newly rebuilt Temple will be in the right condition… but this
certainly cannot be said of the rest of the people.
To be told that, far from being God's people, they are a brazen prostitute… must
look a lot like that "fire that comes out of their mouths".
The message will indirectly "hurt" other nations as well because it will be clear that if there is a prostitute
there are also lovers.
The lovers were all the nations of the world and in that period they will be the nations left after the
war.
And speaking of the war… even if it will be the action of God against the world of Satan we know well who will have the responsibility of this war – Revelation 9:13-16 Let us
imagine the world situation at the end of the war between the king of the north and the king of south.
Certainly everything is still to be rebuilt and many wounds are open.
Perhaps there is hunger and generalized desperation.
Since the war will be over, it won't be long when these two witnesses
start preaching indeed... as soon as the temple is "measured", their preaching will begin
immediately.
We understand that it is a time when people want to be reassured and
calmed down - Compare 1 Thessalonians 5:3
It is not a time when they will be eager to hear about judgment and destruction.
Just imagine how the people of Israel must feel about being unmasked
(besides, as we recently learned, there have just been “locusts” who have
exasperated them with their message of judgment).
A message like… “You are the cause of the war that led to the deaths of millions
of people” … what reaction would it cause to the leaders of the people?
Maybe the instrumental game of anti-Semitism won't work anymore: they are Jews even if maybe
one of the two (the equivalent of Elijah) will have only a Jewish origin.
Maybe people will start to open their eyes.
And of course the main part of the message will be “fleeing from it”… – Revelation 18:4; Luke
21:20
Even at the last moment someone will flee from that nation destined for destruction -
Compare Revelation 11:13
It is very probable that part of the message preached by the two witnesses also includes a sort of
countdown and we understand this right from the period in which they will start preaching.
If we read Revelation carefully, in fact, the two witnesses will begin their preaching work
when the destruction of Babylon the
Great is about seven years away.
In fact, they will preach for 1260 days (about three and a half years) and will then be killed* (see
footnote).
They will be resurrected three and a half days later and then war will break out in heaven which, as we have
seen from a previous article, will last thirty days or less (see the article titled “1290 and
1335 days”).
From that moment on (i.e. as soon as Satan is cast down to earth) the wild beast will
only be able to act for another forty-two months (biblical months i.e. just under three and a half years) -
Revelation 13:5
At the end of these forty-two months Babylon will fall the Great: signal that will start the
war of Armageddon.
So we have solid Scriptural reasons to believe that the message preached by the two
sackcloth-clad witnesses will include a message along the lines of “Less than seven years from now Israel will be destroyed and
given to a nation after God's own heart which will produce its fruitage. The nation that will
produce its fruits are the Ephraimites and some Jews now scattered in the desert".
The preaching of the witnesses described in chapter 11 of Revelation is a
fundamental event for true Christians… but how will we recognize them if many are still debating
the identity of this infamous prostitute or if they are convinced that this part of Revelation was
fulfilled in 1918-19?
How will all those who know nothing of Ephraim and the reunification of Israel recognize them?
How will all those who eliminated Israel from Bible prophecy recognize them?
How will all those who think that these two witnesses are symbolic or have been
the founders of their religions recognize them?
Will we be mature enough to treasure this information and be protected and ready to act
when such an event occurs?
Let us take this wonderful knowledge very seriously and make ourselves available to help
all those who, without knowing it, are in desperate need of it.
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