Our Text …
“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.”
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I mentioned in the video class that these “Two Witnesses” were obviously safe, protected of God, until their work for Him had been completed. Then (and only then) were they killed by the Beast!
This fact reminds me of Proverbs 21:31 …
“The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.”
God is our real Protector!
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The “earth dwellers” of verse 14 are well characterized by Paul in Philippians 3:18-19 …
“For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.“
“At home” with earthly things!
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When, in our Text, Jerusalem is unfavorably compared to Sodom … I did a quick search for that wicked city in the Bible … “Sodom” …
The Prophets mention her often, Sodom …
Like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Zephaniah and even the little Book of Lamentations!
Isaiah 3:8-9 … For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory. The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
Jeremiah 23:14 … I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
Ezekiel 16:48 … As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister (Israel, the Northern Kingdom, Ephraim) hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
Amos 4:11 … I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Lamentations 4:6 … For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment …
Add in the New Testament references supplied by Jesus and Paul and Peter and Jude!
Matthew 11:23-24 … And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.
Romans 9:29 … And as Esaias (Isaiah 1:9) said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
Romans 1:27 … And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
2 Peter 2:6 … And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly …
Jude 7 … Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Sodom has become the very paradigm of rebellion against God, her major sin even mimicking her name! And that reputation is pervasive in Scripture!
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The Spirit of life (breath) in verse 11 …
Genesis 2:7 … And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Ezekiel 37:9 … Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
John 20:22 … And when he had said this (So send I you), he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost …
Ecclesiastes 12:7 … at death … Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit (breath) shall return unto God who gave it.
When God “breathes,” something comes to life!
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Let me now invite you to watch the whole class …
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
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