The Pre-wrath Rapture:
Now is the time to look into Revelation’s hidden mystery and see it appear as clear as water:
“But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished.” (Revelation 10:7)
The mystery mentioned in Revelation 10:7 has to do with what God promised his servants through the prophets: An early resurrection from among the dead[1] and eternal life for the faithful. We see this same mystery mentioned in a well-known and accepted rapture text:
“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52)
Understanding Revelation’s mystery is simple. Just connect,
“… the mystery,”
mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:51 with the mystery mentioned in Revelation 10:7. Right before the seventh trumpet sounds,[2] the very thing God promised his servants comes to pass with the words:
“And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.” (Revelation 11:12)
Many have missed the significance of Revelation 11:12, because they do not realize that in Revelation’s figurative language, the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11 represent the Christian Church, consisting of both Jewish believers and the branch which was grafted in: the gentile nations.
Two Witnesses—One Mouth & One Body:
In Revelation 11:5, speaking of the Two Witnesses, in the original Greek language which Revelation was written in, and in literal bibles, the verse mentions the Witnesses’ mouth (singular) not mouths (plural):
“… and if anyone may will to injure them, fire proceeds out of their MOUTH, and devours their enemies, and if anyone may will to injure them, thus it is required of him to be killed.” (Revelation 11:5, Literal Standard Version)
The Two Witness of Revelation 11 are said to have just one mouth. This in and of itself points to the Two Witnesses representing something other than two literal men. Obviously, two literal men would have two mouths.
The same principle applies when speaking of the Two Witnesses’ bodies. In the Greek language and also in bibles which are literal translations of the Greek language, the word body is used (singular), not bodies (plural):
“… and their BODY [is] on the street of the great city that is called spiritually Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.” (Revelation 11:8, Literal Standard Version)
A singular body elsewhere in scripture is an illustration of the universal body of Christ:
- “… so we, who are many, are one body in Christ …” (Romans 12:5 NASB)
- “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body …” (1 Corinthians 12:13 NASB)
Another point to consider: Jesus Christ was not crucified in Sodom and/or, Egypt as mentioned in Revelation 11:8. This too is figurative language. Egypt is an illustration of the world. Sodom is an illustration of a wicked city.
Jesus Christ was crucified in Jerusalem, just outside of the city walls, on a hill called Golgotha. Revelation’s account of Jesus Christ being crucified in a place that is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt is a parable. A parable is an illustration laid beside a truth;[3] in this case, the parable paints a picture of the wicked world where Christ was put to death.
The Great City of Babylon is a Woman:
The great city mentioned in Revelation 11:8, where the dead bodies of the Two Witnesses will lie on the street,[4] is mentioned later on in the book of Revelation:
- “The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17:18, NASB)
- “… Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.” (Revelation 18:10, NASB)
- “Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying: ‘With such violence the great city of Babylon will be cast down, never to be seen again.'” (Revelation 18:21, NASB)
- “And there was found in her the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who had been slain on the earth.” (Revelation 18:24, NASB)
In Revelation, a woman[5] represents a church, or in this case a false church, with a false prophet[6] standing in a prominent position. The great city of Babylon represents the coming Antichrist world order. Its religious system is called:
“… the great prostitute who sits on many waters.” (Revelation 17:1, NASB)
Many waters are a reference to multitudes of people, languages, and nations.[7]
This woman is also pictured in Revelation as sitting on a scarlet beast, covered with blasphemous names, with seven heads and ten horns.[8] That beast, the coming new world order under Antichrist, will be responsible for the death of Revelation’s Two Witnesses. Putting Christians to death for refusing to worship the beast and take his mark will be accomplished on a world-wide scale:
“The second beast was permitted to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship it to be killed. And the second beast required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark—the name of the beast or the number of its name. Here is a call for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and that number is 666.” (Revelation 13:15-18, NASB)
Two Witnesses—What They Represent:
Revelation itself tells us who the Two Witnesses are:
“These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.” (Revelation 11:4)
Earlier in the book of Revelation Jesus was seen standing in the middle of seven golden lampstands. Revelation tells us what the lampstands represent:
“The seven lampstands are the seven churches.” (Revelation 1:20)
Understanding that in Revelation Chapter 1, Jesus is seen standing among lampstands which represent churches, in Revelation Chapter 11, it’s only reasonable to surmise that lampstands still represent churches.
Of the seven churches Jesus addressed in Revelation’s letters to the seven churches, the last two were the church of Philadelphia and the church of Laodicea. Christ praised the church of Philadelphia and gave a strong warning to the church of Laodicea. These assemblies existed at the time John was penning Revelation. Yet they are symbolic of the men, women, and children who will be alive at the end of this age.
Olive Trees in the Book of Romans:
The Two Witnesses of Revelation 11 are also called two olive trees. The Apostle Paul explained in a letter to the Romans that the descendants of Israel, which are likened to a natural olive tree in scripture, have now had a wild olive shoot spliced in—which represents the Gentile or non-Jewish believers. Paul was no doubt addressing this subject because many of the faithful in Rome were of non-Jewish heritage.
Paul wrote:
“Some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root.” (Romans 11:17)
That tree represented the nation of Israel. In this dispensation, all nations have been grafted into the symbolic tree that God planted, and Christ cultivated. Olive trees throughout scripture represent God’s people.
A Witness for Christ:
Speaking of the nation of Israel, God said,
“You are my witnesses.” (Isaiah 43:12)
In the New Testament, Jesus said:
“And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Understanding that Revelation’s Two Witnesses represent a worldwide assembly of men, women, and children of both Jewish and non-Jewish descent who profess Jesus Christ as savior is the key to unlocking Revelation’s mystery, because it’s the Two Witnesses/prophets who ascend up to heaven in a cloud, when the angel speaks the command,
“Come up here.” (Revelation 11:12)
The Hallmark of all Rapture Texts:
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17)
In this last text, a trumpet call was mentioned. When one examines a parallel account of the rapture in 1 Corinthians 15, they discover that the trumpet spoken of in Thessalonians 4, will actually be the last trumpet:
“We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52)
There’s no question that this last trumpet is connected to the rapture of the church, consisting of both living and dead Christians, because this is spelled out in the verse. Yet many bible teachers over the years have rejected the idea that this last trumpet in 1 Corinthians 15 and the seventh and last trumpet to sound in the book of Revelation are the same trumpet.[9] Because the implications of a seventh-trumpet rapture are staggering. If it were true, that would mean Christians would still be on earth long into Revelation’s plagues.
This would also mean Christians will be living on earth during most of Antichrist’s reign. Several teachers of end-time events maintain that the Antichrist will be revealed to Christians right before the rapture. In other words, Christians will know who he is, but they will be caught up before the Antichrist rules the world. All of those who are certain they will be snatched from this earth seven years before Armageddon may suffer great disappointment if they are not. Many could fall from the faith entirely, not being prepared to face persecution.
Surely God has a path for his elect to follow, but it’s not always an easy one. Look at what Christ went through during the crucifixion, and the scriptures affirm that Jesus is our example. When Jesus prayed,
“May this cup be taken from me.” (Matthew 26:39)
Our Father’s will was for Christ to go through that suffering. Speaking of Jesus again, the scripture states:
“He learned obedience from what he suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8)
Our Father’s will is for Christ’s followers to learn obedience also:
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ.” (1 Peter 4:12-13)
The Bible makes it clear that Christians will suffer persecution under the coming Antichrist system:
1. “And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands.” (Revelation 20:4)
This group of faithful believers had delivered a testimony; this same word testimony is used to portray the actions of the Two Witnesses:
2. “Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them” (Revelation 11:7)
This word testimony is also used to describe the actions of Christians in Revelation 12:11, where it is written:
3. “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” (Revelation 12:11)
In any legal proceeding, the purpose of witnesses is to deliver a testimony. The word for testimony the Apostle John used in Revelation 12:11 describes the testimony given by witnesses a in legal proceeding.[10] The overcoming witnesses (Christians) will bear a binding legal testimony that will be reviewed before the Great White Throne Judgment of the Most High.
Revelation’s Two Witnesses are pictured dying for their testimony, but not every Christian dies. In Revelation the church is seen from different perspectives, Two Witnesses are only one facet of her character.
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Endnotes:
[1] “The oldest manuscripts read, ‘the resurrection from (out of) the dead,’ namely, the first resurrection; that of believers at Christ’s coming (1Co 15:23; 1Th 4:15; Re 20:5, 6).” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)
[2] “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet.” (Revelation 11:15)
[3] Strong’s Lexicon
“parabole: Parable, comparison, illustration, allegory
3850 parabolḗ (from 3844 /pará, “close beside, with” and 906 /bállō, “to cast”) – a parable; a teaching aid cast alongside the truth being taught. This casts additional light by using an arresting or familiar analogy, (which is often fictitious or metaphorical, but not necessarily).” (biblehub.com/greek/3850)
[4] “And their dead bodies will lie on the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.” (Revelation 11:8, NASB)
[5] “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” (Revelation 12:1, NASB)
[6] “And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the entire world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.” (Revelation 16:13-14, NASB)
[7] “Then the angel said to me, ‘The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.'” (Revelation 17:15, NASB)
[8] “And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.” (Revelation 17:3, NASB)
[9] “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.'” (Revelation 11:15, NASB)
[10] Marturia: Testimony, witness, evidence.
“In the Greco-Roman world, testimony was a crucial element in legal proceedings, serving as a means to establish truth and justice. The concept of bearing witness was also significant in Jewish tradition, where the testimony of two or three witnesses was required to establish a matter (Deuteronomy 19:15). In the early Christian context, marturia took on a profound spiritual dimension, as believers were called to testify to the truth of the Gospel, often at great personal risk.” (Strong’s Lexicon, bible hub)