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9 From among the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations people will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. 10 Those who dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and they will be glad. They will give gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
From among the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations
They sang a new song, saying, "You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood, out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on earth." (Revelation 5:9-10)
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. (Revelation 7:9)
They told me, "You must prophesy again over many peoples, nations, languages, and kings." (Revelation 10:11)
It was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him. (Revelation 13:7)
I saw an angel flying in mid heaven, having an eternal Good News to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation, tribe, language, and people. (Revelation 14:6)
He said to me, "The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. (Revelation 17:15)
Then the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages, that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up; and whoever doesn't fall down and worship shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:3-6)
Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked toward me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. (Daniel 4:1-3)
Then Daniel answered before the king, Let your gifts be to yourself, and give your rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation. You king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty: and because of the greatness that he gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he killed, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: and he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the animals', and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the sky; until he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and that he sets up over it whoever he will. You his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which don't see, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified. (Daniel 5:17-23)
Then king Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree, that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed; and his dominion shall be even to the end. (Daniel 6:25-26)
people will look at their dead bodies
When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them. It happened on the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the news to the house of their idols, and to the people. They put his armor in the house of the Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan. When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard concerning him that which the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. They took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days. (1 Samuel 31:7-13)
I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth.
(Jeremiah 34:20)
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you will stare at you. They will ponder you, saying, "Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms; who made the world like a wilderness, and overthrew its cities; who didn't release his prisoners to their home?" (Isaiah 14:15-17)
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I have cast you to the ground; I have laid you before kings, that they may see you. By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your traffic, you have profaned your sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of you; it has devoured you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all those who see you. All those who know you among the peoples shall be astonished at you: you are become a terror, and you shall nevermore have any being. (Ezekiel 28:17-19)
What would passages clearly referring to wicked people and even the devil himself, have to do with two witnesses clearly called by God to prophesy for Him? There are several factors we must not ignore in our typical penchant to make everything clearly black or white, good guys or bad guys. We need to be open to other possibilities if we are to receive wisdom from heaven to bring us a larger perspective. This means we need to be honest as we assemble relevant passages that contain similar references and clues that may reveal unexpected results, and then test everything through the filters we picked up in the very first verse of this book.
One of the axioms that I have found very helpful as a tool to discover meaning in Scriptures is the operational principle of a counterfeit. A counterfeit requires a true original in order to have any impact and convincing power to deceive. Without an original that has inherent power or authenticity in truth, a counterfeit is useless or obvious. I maintain that for pretty much every original design of God Satan has contrived a counterfeit by which to deceive the nations into believing that his system is more viable than the kingdom of heaven. Given this, it would begin to make sense that the enemy would paint witnesses for God as actually being deserving of shame, death and disdain in order to prevent the truth about himself from being exposed. That is a possibility regarding this event.
Keep in mind as well what we have been unwrapping over recent studies regarding the nature of the testimony and the disposition of these witnesses when compared with the testimony of God's Son and His disposition towards His opponents. There are considerable disparities, making it quite possible that they put themselves in harm's way by their choices to misrepresent the One who commissioned them. I am convinced that if we choose to rely on Satan's methods and fail to be cleansed of motives originating from his way of living and thinking, we open a door of authority to him and then suffer defeat in part because we gave him permission to have his way in our lives. Don't pick up the enemy's weapons if you don't want to come under the enemy's authority, for he will surely exercise his legal opportunity in every such situation and will inflict his desires on those who fail to remain purely on the side of the Lamb and remain faithful to His ways of conducting warfare.
Therefore the Jews, because it was the Preparation Day, so that the bodies wouldn't remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special one), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. (John 19:31)
While it is true that Jesus was not left dead on the cross for three and a half days but was placed in a tomb by His followers, there may be something of significance here still. Jesus was God made vulnerable to the powers of darkness which led to His death by crucifixion. But it was not because He compromised by using the enemy's weapons, but God's secret plan was to expose the entire system of Satan by allowing Jesus to be made sin on our behalf so we might become His righteousness.
three and a half days
(We will cover this when we examine verse 11.)
not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb
The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. (2 Kings 9:10)
All the kings of the nations, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house. But you are cast away from your tomb like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, who are thrust through with the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit; like a dead body trodden under foot. You will not join them in burial, because you have destroyed your land. You have killed your people. The seed of evil-doers will not be named forever. Prepare for slaughter of his children because of the iniquity of their fathers, that they not rise up and possess the earth, and fill the surface of the world with cities. (Isaiah 14:18-21)
Those who dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and they will be glad
This label, those who dwell on the earth, is used ten times in Revelation. It appears to be a term used to signify those whose loyalty lies with this world's system of governance as opposed to all those whose loyalty is for heaven and the Lamb's kingdom and way of doing things. Dwelling in this case has more to do with a mindset rather than a physical location.
The lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god has delivered into our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us. (Judges 16:23-24)
Behold, and answer me, Yahweh, my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death; Lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed against him;" Lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall. (Psalms 13:3-4)
Don't let those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me; neither let those who hate me without a cause wink their eyes. (Psalms 35:19)
Vindicate me, Yahweh my God, according to your righteousness. Don't let them gloat over me. Don't let them say in their heart, "Aha! That's the way we want it!" Don't let them say, "We have swallowed him up!" Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me. (Psalms 35:24-26)
But you have rejected and spurned. You have been angry with your anointed. You have renounced the covenant of your servant. You have defiled his crown in the dust. You have broken down all his hedges. You have brought his strongholds to ruin. All who pass by the way rob him. He has become a reproach to his neighbors. You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries. You have made all of his enemies rejoice. Yes, you turn back the edge of his sword, and haven't supported him in battle. You have ended his splendor, and thrown his throne down to the ground. You have shortened the days of his youth. You have covered him with shame. Selah. (Psalms 89:38-45)
Don't rejoice against me, my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, Yahweh will be a light to me. (Micah 7:8)
Therefore Jesus perceived that they wanted to ask him, and he said to them, "Do you inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, 'A little while, and you won't see me, and again a little while, and you will see me?' Most certainly I tell you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she doesn't remember the anguish any more, for the joy that a human being is born into the world. (John 16:19-21)
They will give gifts to one another
The other Jews who were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, defended their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they didn't lay their hand on the plunder. This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of that month they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness. But the Jews who were in Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth days of the month; and on the fifteenth day of that month, they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, a good day, and a day of sending presents of food to one another. Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far, to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly, as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy. (Esther 9:16-22)
these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth
It happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Is it you, you troubler of Israel?
(1 Kings 18:17)
Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, my enemy? He answered, I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh. (1 Kings 21:20)
The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, there is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh, Micaiah the son of Imlah: but I hate him; for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. Jehoshaphat said, "Don't let the king say so." (1 Kings 22:8)
Behold, they cried out, saying, "What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" (Matthew 8:29)
You will be hated by all men for my name's sake, but he who endures to the end, the same will be saved. (Mark 13:13)
For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn't come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. (John 3:20)
We are His witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him." But they, when they heard this, were cut to the heart, and determined to kill them.
(Acts 5:32-33)
Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord. (Acts 7:54-57)
We looked at some verses related to Elijah making earth dwellers uncomfortable. Here are some that reveal the discomfort that Moses caused using the supernatural gifts of God in Egypt.
I know that the king of Egypt won't give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand. I will put forth my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst of it, and after that he will let you go. (Exodus 3:19-20)
The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble, when it was said, "You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!" They met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: and they said to them, "May Yahweh look at you, and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us."
Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, "Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people; neither have you delivered your people at all." (Exodus 5:19-23)
Do not miss an important aspect of this story. This is not just about God having Moses and Aaron use supernatural miracles to impress Pharaoh, the pagan ruler of the most powerful and ruthless empire who was refusing to release God's people from cruel slavery. This had much greater implications that are easy to miss if we are not alert and watching what God has been seeking to do all the time.
God spoke to Moses, and said to him, "I am Yahweh; and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them. I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they lived as aliens. Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. Therefore tell the children of Israel, 'I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments: and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am Yahweh.'" Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they didn't listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. (Exodus 6:2-9)
This last sentence is key and we must not miss its extreme relevance to us today. Because their deliverance was not quick, easy and painless, they were ready to prefer slavery over freedom. Don't tell me this is still not true with us today. The issue of willingness to listen to God's perspective, trust His heart when things get worse instead of better and enemies react viciously to suggestions that we might be headed toward freedom from their control over us, are just as real today as it was then. This story has been the theme God reminds us of all throughout Scripture and is the defining metaphor God uses to reveal to us the desire of His heart to set us free from the tyranny and bondage of fear that holds us hostage to Satan's power of selfishness in our lives.
This entire story of Israel's deliverance extends far beyond mere physical separation from Egypt, though that was an important part. From the much larger perspective we are privileged to have in our day, it starts to become clear that God wanted to make a separation in the psyche of His people from living under a slave mentality. Deliverance from thinking like a slave involves suffering, and because we live in fear of suffering we, like the Children of Israel, often prefer the relative comfort of bondage to the pain of separation from the familiar to the unknown. What we fail to see is that the underlying system of hierarchy defines how all relationships are experienced by all those who dwell on the earth. The great I AM longs to draw as many as possible out into a promised land of freedom, yet the freedom He has for us is far beyond just escape from physical slavery. Yet just like us too often, both the elders of Israel and even Moses himself failed to grasp this far greater reality as the story reveals. They assumed God would bring a quick and painless deliverance, and they had little desire to experience even more suffering than they already endured.
But you did follow my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, steadfastness, persecutions, and sufferings: those things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I endured those persecutions. Out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you remain in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. From infancy, you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 3:10-15)
Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn't fall. (1 Corinthians 10:11-12)
Yahweh said to Moses, "Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring forth my armies, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I stretch forth my hand on Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them." (Exodus 7:1-5)
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, "I have sinned against Yahweh your God, and against you. Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to Yahweh your God, that he may also take away from me this death." (Exodus 10:16-17)
There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been, nor shall be any more. But against any of the children of Israel a dog won't even bark or move its tongue, against man or animal; that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel. All these your servants shall come down to me, and bow down themselves to me, saying, "Get out, with all the people who follow you;" and after that I will go out.'" He went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. Yahweh said to Moses, "Pharaoh won't listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt." (Exodus 11:6-9)
I want to emphasize one of the key points of this passage related to the two witnesses, and that is the phrase those who dwell on the earth. These are the ones who experience torment, not the two witnesses. In the book of Revelation this code phrase is used to identify all those who cling to the counterfeit system of thinking and living and defining reality enforced on this planet. It is these underlying premises that react violently to the light of the true glory, nature and disposition of God brought by the Lamb in stark contrast with those of this earth. This light always produces torment in the hearts of those who resist the power of selfless love, and this is becoming more clear throughout history. Yet we still remain infected with this spirit of trading, of selfishness, of independence and pride that are all part of the inheritance as humans that we received from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We struggle to admit that our own hearts are in desperate need of cleansing and purifying to free us from anything that reacts negatively to purity, love, kindness and the kind of justice that God represents.
Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?' His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him. So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don't each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds." (Matthew 18:33-35)
Torment is the experience that people feel whenever their resistance to true love is exposed in the presence of purity, humility, kindness and unsurpassed passionate, selfless love. Does this mean that the torment people experienced was because of love, or were they using negative kinds of torment on their enemies? The question must always return to the exclusive standard of what is true, real and right – comparing and testing everything to the way Jesus treated and related to people.
From all that we have seen, the kind of torment people felt from these two witnesses was a mixed bag, something like both light and dark, good and evil, the kind of God the ancient serpent insisted to Eve that she should become like. Witnessing for God may indeed make many people feel highly uncomfortable, but I believe it is essential that we not taint our testimony for God with ungodlike attributes and tactics that give any credibility to the enemy's accusations against Him. This mixed testimony introduces confusion into the hearts of all who are longing to know the kind of love we are meant to thrive in forever. It is time to renounce the confusion of spirit and contradictions that muddy the waters of our witness, and turn to focus our attention and affections on the Lamb who alone is the example who never casts any shadow over the reputation of His Father.
When our witness corroborates with the testimony of Jesus that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, then it is freed from all double-mindedness and the power of God can be released to accomplish what it is designed to do – save people from their sins and liberate them to live in peace and joy.
