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Now before I get into Revelation chapter 11, and you can turn back to chapter 11, but I just want to give just a quick overview of the book of Revelation, just so that you can understand where we are in chapter 11, because tonight I want to preach about the two witnesses of Revelation 11. But just to give you a little bit of a frame of reference of where we are, the book of Revelation tells a story in chronological order. A lot of people don't believe that, they think it just skips around at complete random. But really, if you read the book of Revelation, it's very logical and very chronological as you go through it. You start out in chapter 1, you've got John on the Isle of Patmos, the Lord Jesus Christ appears to him and is going to give him this revelation. In chapters 2 and 3, you have special messages to the churches at that time, to the churches that were existing in John's day. So he gets those messages out in chapters 2 and 3. In chapters 4 and 5, you have a scene in heaven, just describing what it's like in heaven before the throne of God, talking about the things that are seen there. Then in chapter 6, you really begin the events of the end times, the future events that the book of Revelation tells us about. In chapter 6, of course, he goes through the six seals. And in those seals we see wars, we see famines, we see pestilence. And it's very easy to see that the events being described in Revelation 6 are the exact events being described in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and so forth. And those events are called the Tribulation. And that Tribulation, the word Tribulation is trouble or affliction. That time of Tribulation that's described in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 is laid out in Revelation chapter 6. Then after the Tribulation, and if you read Matthew 24 and Mark 13, this is very clear. After the Tribulation, the sun and moon are darkened at the end of chapter 6. Then in chapter 7, God clearly says that He's not going to hurt the earth or the trees or the sea. He's not going to damage the environment, as it were, of the greenery and the plant life and so forth. He says, until we've sealed the servants of God in their foreheads. And He seals the 144,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel. Then right after that, there appears in heaven, out of nowhere, in chapter 7, a great multitude of people that no man could number of every nation, every kindred, every family. This huge multitude appears in heaven and John says, where do these people come from? And he says, these have come out of great tribulation. And they've washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. After that great multitude of people appears in heaven that was so big that no man could number, and it was of all nations, all kindreds, then beginning in chapter 8, He begins to pour out His wrath upon the earth. And God begins to pour out His wrath with the seven trumpets. And those involve, of course, horrific things, and I'm going to get into that a little bit later in the sermon, but turning water into blood, burning up all the trees and sending these locusts from hell and so forth. So He starts to pour out His wrath. Now the mistake most people make is they think that the tribulation is the time when God pours out His wrath. Well, that's not true at all. Because during the tribulation there are wars, there are famines, there are pestilences, and there's great persecution and affliction of God's people who are being persecuted for not worshiping the Antichrist and so forth. But God doesn't pour out His wrath until after the tribulation, then the sun and moon are darkened, then He begins to pour out His wrath. And it's very clear at the end of chapter 6 and the beginning of chapter 7 that God has not started pouring out His wrath at all. He has not done any of these cataclysmic things to the earth, and the day of His wrath does not come until the end of chapter 6 after the tribulation. So God pours out His wrath in chapters 8 and 9. Then in chapter 10 we talk about the angel that's going to blow the 7th and final trumpet of God's wrath. And then in chapter 11 that trumpet's going to be blown. And then at the end of chapter 11 He says, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. So so far we've been in relatively chronological order, I mean it makes sense. It lines up with everything Jesus taught in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and John. It lines up perfectly how there's going to be a time of tribulation, then the sun and moon are darkened, then of course Matthew 24 teaches Jesus Christ will come in the clouds, the trumpet will sound, and those that are dead in Christ, the asleep in Jesus, will be caught up into the clouds with those of us that are alive and remain. Most people call that the rapture, the Bible calls it the first resurrection. We're all going to be caught up together, that's the great multitude that appears in heaven in Revelation 7, then God pours out His wrath, then comes the millennial reign of Christ. But when you get to the end of chapter 11 something interesting happens, because in chapter 12 all of a sudden we take a huge leap backwards. So basically chapters 1 through 11 are in perfect chronological order, then all of a sudden in chapter 12 you're at the birth of Christ. And then He basically goes through the whole chronology again. The book of Revelation is not that complicated once you understand that He goes through the whole thing twice. He goes through the whole thing up to chapter 11. And God wants us to understand the Bible, that's why He makes it real obvious that He's jumping back in time in Revelation 12, because all of a sudden He starts talking about the birth of Christ right away. Well obviously we know that happened thousands of years ago. And then He starts to tell the story of the tribulation again. Then in chapter 14 Jesus comes in the clouds and reaps the earth of all the believers in chapter 14. And then in chapter 16 He pours out His wrath, and this time it's described as the seven vials of God's wrath. He pours out His wrath on Babylon, and then we have the battle of Armageddon, the millennial reign of Christ, and so forth. So that's just to give you a quick overview of the book of Revelation. Now if you look at the seven year period that's described in the book of Revelation, which involves first the tribulation and then the pouring out of God's wrath, there's always a natural dividing of that seven year period into two, three and a half year periods. I mean if you're reading the book of Revelation you will constantly see this number coming up at you over and over again, 42 months. Or it'll say three and a half years, or it'll say 1260 days, or 1290 days. You know you'll see these numbers that are all approximately three and a half years. Because there's an event that takes place at the midpoint of the week that's known as the abomination of desolation, where basically that's where the Antichrist declares himself to be God, declares himself to be Jesus Christ. And that's where the very intense persecution of God's people begins. And then very shortly thereafter is where the rapture takes place. So roughly the first half of the seven years, and I'm not saying exactly, I'm saying roughly a little more than three and a half years, the first half is the tribulation. And then a little bit less than three and a half years but roughly the second half is God pouring out His wrath on this earth. And we're not here for God's wrath. We're going to be here throughout the tribulation, most definitely, but we're going to be gone during the period of God's wrath. Now where does Revelation 11 fit into this? Are you in Revelation 11? Where does Revelation 11 fit into this? Well, according to the chronology that I gave you, I was saying that this is basically the end, this is basically the end of the seven years, the seventh trumpet, the end of God's wrath. So let me just prove that to you from the Bible, okay? Look at verse number one of Revelation chapter 11. Let's get into the Scriptures now. It says, And there was given me a reed like unto a rod, and the angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple, leave out, and measure it not. For it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two months. So there we have that number popping up again that pops up throughout the book of Revelation. It says, And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days. Of course, if you do the math on that, that's 42 months of 30 days each. You come out with exactly a thousand two hundred and sixty. He says, I will give power to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days. So the first question is, well which thousand two hundred and threescore days? Is it the first half, or is it the second half? Well later in the chapter, these two guys are going to be killed. And when they are killed, right after they're killed, the seventh trumpet sounds. Right after they are killed and resurrected, the seventh trumpet sounds, which proves that we're basically dealing with the second half of things, not the first half at all. Now let's go through this and understand who these witnesses are. It says in verse 3, I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. Now these guys are here during the time of God pouring out His wrath upon the earth. Now they're witnesses, and then the Bible says they shall prophesy. Now what is a witness? Well when the Bible talks about witnesses, one of the most famous verses that comes to mind is where he said ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and unto the othermost part of the earth. What he's saying there is, you're going to basically preach the Gospel. You're going to be a witness of these things. You're going to testify of these things. You're going to preach the Gospel to every creature. So when the Bible says that they're a witness, he also says they're a prophet. Those are basically two words that are talking about the same thing. He's saying these are preachers. These two guys are preachers. Now the word prophet means preacher. A lot of people have tried to correct me on that and said no, a prophet is somebody who can read into the future. That is not biblical. The Bible says in Proverbs 31, the words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. There's no mention of future events. It's just preaching. And many times the Bible uses the word prophet or prophesy just about anybody who's preaching the Bible on any subject. They're called a prophet or a preacher. So these guys are preaching. They're two preachers. Now it says in verse 4, these are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the god of the earth. Now what is that a reference to? Well keep your finger on Revelation 11 and go back to Zechariah 4. Now Zechariah is a book in the Old Testament that's very cryptic. It's very difficult to understand. It's a very deep book. Thank God for the book of Revelation that's much more clear and easier to understand. The Old Testament sometimes is a little bit cryptic. But in Zechariah chapter 4, the Bible mentions these two olive trees and these two candlesticks. And so if we go to Zechariah 4, we can get a little bit of information. Not a whole lot, but the Bible does mention them. It says in verse number 1, and the angel that talked with me came again and waked me as a man that has wakened out of his sleep, 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 the seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps which are upon the top thereof. So he's describing a candlestick, and you might have seen pictures of these before right? This seven, this seven, uh, lamped candlestick where it has the seven pipes leading up to the seven lamps of the seven candlesticks. And so this is something that is described a lot in the Bible, you might have seen pictures of it. In the book of Exodus, he goes into great detail about this candlestick with the seven different pipes, how it would be located in the holy place in the tabernacle. He says in verse 3, And the 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, that's why I'm asking. And he starts talking about something else, he doesn't really answer the question. But then down at the bottom he asked again, verse 11, Then answered I and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick, and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again and said unto him, What be these two olive branches? I don't know why he's not getting an answer, but he's asking a third time. What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes emptied the golden oil out of themselves? He must have really wanted to know. And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my Lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. So we're not getting a whole lot of help from Zechariah chapter 4, it's the first thing I take from that. But he did say these are the two anointed ones. So far what we know about these guys, go back to Revelation 11, is that they're witnesses, they're prophets, they're preachers, and he says they are anointed ones. Now that anointing clearly throughout the Bible is talking about the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon someone, someone who's filled with the Holy Ghost, someone who's preaching in the power of the Holy Ghost. The Bible calls that their anointing. And throughout the Bible that metaphor is used. Now when I think of a candlestick, I look throughout the Bible just every mention of a candlestick, because these guys are likened unto candlesticks or olive trees. And if you look throughout the Bible at candlesticks, first of all you have the candlestick that's in the holy place shining the light. You know, I think of the Bible saying, Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. And I also think of Revelation chapter 1, when he said the seven candlesticks are the seven churches. And then I think of in Matthew where he says, No man having lighted a candle puteth it under a bushel, but he puts it on a candlestick, that it may give light unto all that are in the house. He said, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. But when he gives that parable in Mark and Luke about the candlestick being put up on a candle, I'm sorry, the candle being put up on a candlestick as opposed to being hidden under a bushel, it's always followed by this statement, For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed and hid that will not be known. And when Jesus preached that, he said, What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in the light, and what I tell you in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. So God throughout the Bible likens a preacher unto a candlestick. He likens a church unto a candlestick because they are proclaiming God's Word as loudly as possible from the rooftops, not trying to conceal anything, not trying to hide anything. And that's what we ought to be as a church and that's what I ought to be as a preacher, somebody who doesn't hide anything. We just preach everything. Now I don't know about you, but I hate it when I'm listening to preaching and I feel like the preacher, he knows something or he believes something and he holds back. See he's putting the candlestick under a bushel is what he's doing. There are certain parts of the Bible that are considered inconvenient or unpopular and so a lot of times preachers will put the bushel over that part of the Bible and, oh, let's not talk about that chapter or let's not use that word that's a Bible word or let's not go into that subject because we're afraid we're going to offend people. All preaching, what God calls every prophet to do and every witness to do is to take the bushel off and to put it up on a candlestick and say, thus saith the Lord and to preach the whole counsel of God from Genesis to Revelation and just shine it as far as it will shine. You say, why do you, somebody said, why do you put your preaching on the internet and then it's going out there, so many people, you're going to get persecuted for that. I'm just trying to shine the light as far as it will shine. I just want to preach it as loud as I can and let it resound and thunder out across the whole world the doctrines of the Bible, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, the doctrine of eternal security of the believer, the doctrines of heaven and hell, and the doctrines of the book of Revelation. Hey, let's preach it as loud as we can to as many people as we can and let's not hold anything back. That's what Jesus is trying to teach us when he likens a preacher or a church onto a candlestick. They're shining the light. They're dispelling ignorance amongst people. Many people today are ignorant of the book of Revelation, let alone the rest of the Bible, but people are ignorant today and you say, why preach on this? Preach something that I need. Preach something that's going to help me. Look, this will help you to learn the Bible. And that's what you need today in the last days, to know the Word of God. And so that's my job as a preacher is to shine that light and to illuminate the ignorant with the truth of God's Word. And so he said these are the two candlesticks, the two olive trees. Let's go back to Revelation 11 there and keep reading. He says in verse 5, and if any man will hurt them, he said, wait, hurt them? Well guess what? Preach the Word of God, people want to hurt you. And that's why Jesus, when he gave that exact statement in Matthew 10, where he talked about what I tell you in the ear, preach it upon the housetops, the next thing he said is fear not them which kill the body. He said, well why do you have to talk about people killing my body? You know, you just told me to preach the Word of God and then you tell me somebody's going to want to kill my... He says, fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, rather fear in which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Fear God only. Fear man. But people will want to hurt you when you preach the Word of God. He said if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth. You want to talk about a fire-breathing preacher. Fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies. And if any man will hurt them, he's saying if any man wants to hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven that 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. 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. So these two guys are men that God's going to send to this earth, these witnesses, these two prophets, he's going to send them upon this earth, and again this is in the latter half. This is while God's pouring out his wrath. This is after the believers have already been caught up in the clouds and taken away to be with the Lord in heaven. As he's pouring out his wrath, he has these two men on this earth preaching and testifying. He doesn't leave the earth without representation of his word. So these two men are sent, while God's pouring out his wrath, to preach the word of God upon this earth. People don't want to hear it, they're angry about it. And because of that, these men are able to punish those who rise up against them and attack them. They're able to bring down these plagues of God's wrath upon the people that are on the earth at that time. Now, a lot of people have questioned, you know, who are these guys? Now it's possible that these two guys are just two guys that we don't know their name and we have no idea who they are. They're just two men that God's going to send for this specific purpose. But what's interesting about these two men is that they can be killed. Because at the end of the 1203 score days that they preach upon this earth, and they're preaching every day, the Bible says they're going to be killed. So doesn't that tell us that this is mortal man that we're dealing with? This is mortal man that can be killed. So these are human beings, even though they're given power to perform miracles, they are men because they can be killed. Now, some have said these are just two guys and they're just guys. We don't know their name, we don't know who they are, they're just two guys that God is going to use in this way. Now others have said this is Moses and Elijah come back, basically, to life to preach and to be used in this way. And then there are others who have said Elijah and Enoch or made other speculations about this. Now if you would, go to Matthew chapter 16. Now if you ask what I believe about it, and I usually like to spend the most time preaching on what I know for sure. And when I come to something that I don't know for sure, I usually just try to stay away from it and just preach the part that I know for sure is true. But on this one, I would tend to agree with people who would say that this is Moses and Elijah. Now the reason that I believe that it probably is Moses and Elijah is primarily because of what I'm going to show you in Matthew 16 and 17, but there's a lot of other evidence too that would lead you to believe that. Look at Matthew 16, 28, the Bible says, "'Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.'" Now some people at the time I'm sure misinterpreted that, that Jesus is saying that His second coming is going to happen in their lifetime. Because isn't that what it sounds like? When He says some of you, it seems to indicate like, well, you know what, a lot of you that are older, you're going to be dead when this happens. But some of you that are here, some of you young guys, you won't even taste of death till you see the Son of Man coming in His glory, coming in His kingdom. But that's not what He meant. Because if we get it in context, look at the next verse. He says there be some of you. So is He saying all of you? He says some of you that are standing here. Some people will not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. Look at verse 1 of chapter 17, "'And after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them, and his face did sign as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.'" Now when Jesus Christ comes in His kingdom, when He comes in His glory, the Bible is very clear to describe Him in this exact way. His face shining as the sun, His raiment as white as the light, and this blinding image of Jesus Christ in His glorified form. So when Jesus said there be some of you standing here that shall not taste of death till they see, He's talking about this sneak preview that He's showing them in the mount where He shows them what He is going to be like in His second coming when He's shining in brightness and glory and power. Even like they've ever seen Him before, I mean they've always seen Jesus up to this point as mortal man. But what's interesting is that when they are shown this image of Jesus Christ coming in His kingdom and in His glory, look who's with them in Matthew 17 verse 3. And behold there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with them. Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord it's good for us to be here. If thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias. Now this is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke and in another place it says He said this because He didn't know what He was saying. He just kind of said this because He just didn't know what else to say. And it says in verse 5, while He yet spake, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud which said, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye Him, and when the disciples heard it they fell on their face and were sore afraid. So the association here with Moses and Elijah and Jesus Christ's second coming is interesting, right? Because He says, hey there's some of you that are not going to take us dead until you see the Son of Man coming in this kingdom. And then we see Jesus show up, glorified, bright as white, transfigured, and who's He got with them? Two guys. Moses and Elijah. So that makes sense. Now here's the other reason why it's very possible that these two guys are Moses and Elijah. They did a lot of similar miracles. Go to 2 Kings chapter 1. 2 Kings chapter 1. If you remember Moses in the Old Testament was the man that God used to perform the miracle of turning water into blood in Exodus. And you remember how Elijah was the one who prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth for how long? By the space of three years and six months. So according to the book of James, when Elijah walked on this earth, he prayed to God that it would not rain for exactly three and a half years. Three years and six months. How long is it not going to rain when these two witnesses are there? The Bible said that they had power to shut up heaven, that it would rain not on the earth in the days of their prophecy. How many days was that? 1203 score, which is three and a half years. So basically these two witnesses, they're going to turn water into blood like Moses and they're going to shut heaven from raining for exactly the same amount of time that Elijah did. Three and a half years. That's interesting. Now remember when anybody wants to kill these two prophets during this cataclysmic time of supernatural events and God pouring out His wrath? You remember what happens when somebody tries to hurt these guys? Fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies. Well look, there's something similar about Elijah. Look at 2 Kings chapter 1 verse 7. You may not have even heard this story. There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who've read the Bible cover to cover and those who haven't. If you've read the Bible cover to cover, you know something. If you haven't read the Bible cover to cover, you know nothing. So look down if you would, 2 Kings chapter 1 verse 7. And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you and told you these words? This is the king speaking. And they answered him, he was a hairy man and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins and he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite. Then the king said unto him, A captain of fifty with his fifty. So basically it takes 51 guys to go arrest Elijah. And he went up to him and behold he sat on the top of a hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down. And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. That's pretty amazing. I mean that's a pretty powerful man right there. He said, Don't talk to me like that. And I mean they're burned up. They're gone. Again also he said unto him, Another captain of fifty. Isn't it funny how people just play with God today and they think he's just a joke. They play around with God. They play around with church. They mouth off to him. God's got a lot of power. He can pretty much do whatever he wants to do. And he does do whatever he wants to do. Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly. So now he's telling him, Hey, you better hurry up and come down. And Elijah answered and said unto him, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. There's a hundred and two casualties that have been burned up. And imagine this. They're all there. I mean these burned up, I mean picture this. The burnt bodies of these hundred and two men are all there. So the third guy, he wises up a little bit. It says, And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty, verse thirteen. When the third captain of fifty went up, he didn't say, Come quickly. He came and fell on his knees before Elijah and besought him and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life and the life of these fifty thy servants be precious in thy sight. Behold, there came fire down from heaven and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties. Therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight. And the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah, Go down with him. Be not afraid of him. And he arose and went down with him unto the king. So we see here kind of a similar miracle to what's going on in Revelation 11 where basically these soldiers are coming to rough him up or to arrest him or to bring him into custody and he basically is able to have them consumed with the fire of the Lord. And so it's a similar miracle. So that's another reason why there's strong evidence that these two guys could be Moses and Elijah come back. Now some people will bring up this scripture. Go to Hebrews chapter 9 if you would. Go to Hebrews chapter 9. Now let me tell you some interesting things about some of these Old Testament characters. First of all, Moses, the Bible says that Moses died in the mount. If you remember, Moses was shown the promised land, but he was not allowed to enter the promised land. In Deuteronomy chapter 34, Moses is shown the promised land and then the Bible says that Moses died in the mount. But here's what's interesting about it. The Bible also says that God buried him. Now that's an interesting thing, isn't it? God buried him. And the Bible says that no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day. So that's out of the ordinary, is it not? That God buried Moses. Now Moses is a pretty important character in the Bible. In fact, I looked up, Moses is mentioned I think 848 times. The name Moses. I mean, isn't that a lot? Eight hundred and sometimes Moses is mentioned. The name Jesus is mentioned 900 and sometimes. So he's mentioned a lot, I'll put it that way. No man knew of his sepulcher because God buried Moses. He went up into the mount with God. God showed him the promised land. He died and then God buried him in a place that no one knew about. That's interesting. That's in Deuteronomy. You can look that up later for sake of time. It's in Deuteronomy 34, the final chapter of Deuteronomy. Another interesting thing about that is that in the book of Jude, the Bible says that Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil or striving with the devil or battling with the devil, that Michael the archangel disputed with the devil about the body of Moses. Now we look at that and we say, well what's the dispute? But the Bible says Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses. Dirst not bring against him a railing accusation but said the Lord rebuke thee. So there's a significance to the body of Moses, is there not? God took special care to bury it and he buried it in a secret place and there was some kind of a battle between the devil and Michael the archangel about that body. We don't understand all the details of it. So that's kind of a little bit of evidence also that maybe there's something in store for Moses, some kind of a role in the end times that he would be one of these two witnesses. Now the other thing about Elijah, how did Elijah die? Well the Bible never even flat out says Elijah died. Elijah is with his protege Elisha and the Bible just says that God told him that his master was going to be taken from his head this day. And if you remember, God sends a fiery chariot to swoop down and pick up Elijah and Elijah is caught up to heaven in a whirlwind in a fiery chariot, in the sight of many witnesses. And so that's an interesting fact about Elijah. Now the reason that people throw Enoch into the mix, some people throw in Enoch as a possible candidate for these two witnesses. And you say, why are you spending so much time on this if it's all speculation? Because we're just learning the Bible. We're learning about Deuteronomy, we're learning about 2 Kings, we're learning about a lot of stuff that you need to learn about and you know, if you read the Bible you'll see these things. Well the thing about Enoch is that the Bible, are you in Hebrews 11 or Hebrews 9? Just jump forward to Hebrews 11, it's just one page over. Look at Hebrews 11 verse 5, the Bible says, by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God. So the Bible's clear that Enoch did not die, but that Enoch was taken directly up to heaven without dying, sort of like Elijah was. Now some people, go back to Hebrews 9 now, verse 27, some people will point to this and I'm going to show you why there's a little bit of a flaw in their thinking. In Hebrews 9.27 the Bible says, and as it is appointed unto men wants to die, but after this the judgment. Some people will take this verse, Hebrews 9.27, take it totally out of context and just say, see, everybody has to die once. Now that's not what that teaches and I'm going to give you the context to explain to you what that verse does teach. And here's what I've heard people say, it has to be Enoch and Elijah because they didn't die and they have to come back just so they can die. Because everybody's got to die at least once. Because it's appointed unto men wants to die. Has anybody ever heard that one? Yeah I've heard it many times. And that doctrine is out there. Now here's the thing about that, they're misunderstanding this passage. Let me give you some reasons why. First of all, not everybody's going to die. Because the Bible very clearly says in 1 Corinthians 15, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the trump shall sound and the dead shall be raised up incorruptible, but wait a minute, we that are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds. I mean think about it, there could be people here today that will never even die physically. If we endure unto the end of the tribulation and when Jesus Christ comes in the clouds and the trumpet sounds, the Bible says we shall not all sleep. We will not be asleep in Jesus and that's what the Bible calls the dead in Christ, He calls them asleep in Jesus. Our bodies will not sleep in the dust of the earth as it says in Daniel 12. Many of us could be living in the generation and if we can handle all that persecution and not be beheaded and not be killed, we may be the ones that are caught up in the clouds. Wouldn't that be exciting? Wouldn't that be cool? I don't want to die. Who wants to go through that? There's just no good way to do it. I'd rather just look up and see Jesus Christ coming in the clouds right after the sun and moon are darkened and to see Him light up the sky with His glory and to be blinded by the sight of Jesus Christ shining in all of His glory and to just be caught up in a moment. That's how I want to go. Forget a car wreck. Forget cancer. I want to hang out until that moment and who knows, I might be the first one to go before that. I don't know. Hopefully I make it to the end. That's my goal. So that doctrine kind of goes out the window, doesn't it, about how everybody's got to die once because there are going to be multitudes of people who never die who are caught up. But not only that, there are many people in the Bible who died twice. So this kind of goes out the window again. Think about a guy like Lazarus. I mean Lazarus died and he was dead for four days. Jesus Christ raised Lazarus from the dead and when Jesus raised him from the dead, he was back to life. But guess what? Eventually he died again. This time they waited a little longer before they buried him, but he was dead. So Lazarus was a guy who died twice. There are a lot of other people that died and Elijah raised a dead body back to life again in the Bible. There was a guy who was thrown on the bones of Elisha. He came back to life again. Remember when Jesus went into the town of Nain and there was a funeral of a woman's only son that had died? Jesus walked up and touched the coffin and the guy sat up in the coffin and came back to life. But they didn't live forever. They were brought back to life, but they didn't live forever. They died a second time. So this doctrine that, well everybody's going to die once, that doesn't hold up. Look what the Bible is actually saying. Let's get the context. Look at Hebrews 9.25. This is about Jesus. And it says this, "...nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others." So he's talking about in the Old Testament, every year the high priest brings the blood of goats and calves and brings the blood of the lamb. He's saying they offer these sacrifices every year with blood of others. He said if Jesus was like that, he says in verse 26, "...for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world. But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." And look at the word and. So this is connected with what he just said. "...and as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." So what the Bible is saying here is that it's appointed unto men once to die. Why? Because the wages of sin is death. That's why. So we have to die once to pay for our sins. And of course if we die in our sins, we go to hell and stay there for all of eternity. You know, eventually we'll be moved to the lake of fire. So the Bible is telling us here that just as we, because of our sins, are appointed once to die and after this the judgment, he said, so Christ was once offered, he's saying, Jesus died for us one time to pay the price for our sins. Just as we would have to die once if we die in our sins and be punished and be judged for our sins, Jesus Christ did that for us. So this isn't saying that everybody has to die, this is saying that Jesus died for us so that we don't have to die. And thank God if we do die physically, oh death where is thy sting and oh grave where is thy victory? Because even if we die physically, it's just a departure to be with Christ in heaven. And so Jesus died precisely so that we would not have to die. So to take this scripture and turn it around, you must die at least once, it doesn't really make any sense because it's kind of the opposite of what this is teaching because this is teaching hey Jesus did that for you. So you've got to be careful to get the context and not just take a verse and just run with it. Oh, the point of the man wants to die. Well no, there are people who died zero at the rapture and there are people who died twice throughout the Bible because they were resurrected on this earth and so forth. So that's that. Let's go back to Revelation 11. So I don't really see any evidence that it's Enoch. I don't see any kind of a tie-in. I think that he is just symbolic of the rapture because he's basically caught up without dying. That's a precursor or a foreshadowing of the fact that many of us will also never die and be caught up. I believe that it's probably going to be Moses and Elijah because there's just so much correlation between Moses and Elijah and the end times. Jesus coming in His glory. He's got Moses and Elijah with Him. The miracles are the same. The style is the same. Not only that, but the Bible says in Malachi chapter 4, He says, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Now obviously we know that Jesus, while He was on this earth, He pointed to John the Baptist and said, this is Elijah the prophet. And He said that Elijah is already come. And He talked about, because He said, you know, why did He say that Elijah has to come first? He said, well Elijah's already come. And He pointed to John the Baptist and they understood that He spoke of John the Baptist. But here's the thing though. We know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is the day when the sun and moon are darkened. And if you don't know that, you must not read the Bible at all. Because I mean there's a lot of scripture, Old Testament and New, that say that the day of the Lord is the day when the sun and moon will be darkened. Very important, significant event in scripture. Brother Dave preached about it in the camp. He's showed all the different scriptures and so forth that deal with that. And so the day of the Lord being there, and if you look at the timing when these two prophets would come on the scene, basically if they're going to be preaching for 1260 days, they're basically showing up just in time for before the day of the Lord, okay? And so that's a perfect timing. So you know, obviously we know John the Baptist fulfilled that. But if John the Baptist was Elijah showing up before the first coming, it would make sense that another Elijah shows up right before the second coming. And what in the world is all that talk about? Moses' body and what it needs to be, how it needs to be handled. And the fact that Elijah was caught up with a chariot of fire into heaven. These are all things that point to that. But let's hurry up and get through this. I don't want to spend too much time on that. I just wanted to give you the different sides of that whole discussion. But the Bible says after three and a half years of preaching, after three and a half years of defending themselves by just basically consuming their enemies with the fire of the Lord, it says that they will finally, at the end of that three and a half years, be overcome and killed. Obviously in God's timing, obviously if God's kept them alive for three and a half years, He probably could have kept them alive longer. He allows them to die. That's part of His plan. And it says in verse 8, 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. Now what city is that referring to? Think about this. Where was Jesus crucified? Jerusalem. And He said it's necessary that a prophet would perish in Jerusalem. Jesus died in Jerusalem, right outside the gate of Jerusalem. And so this city that's spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, that's the spiritual condition of Jerusalem today, by the way. Sodom and Egypt. They don't believe on Christ over there. They reject the Lord Jesus Christ. People say, I'm going to go tour the holy city, the holy land. Well you know what? God did choose that city and He's going to use it once again to rule from and to reign from during the millennium, but I'll tell you something right now, it's a spiritual Sodom over there and it's a spiritual Egypt. Because if you don't believe in the Son of God, He said, you don't have the Father, but He that acknowledges the Son hath the Father also. Look at verse 9, and they of the people and kindreds and tongues of nations. Not just the people in Jerusalem, is it? He's saying everybody in the world, He said, shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer or allow their dead bodies to be put in graves. Now this right there would have been hard to understand a few hundred years ago, right? Wouldn't you have looked at that and said, well if their bodies lay in the street, how does everybody in the whole world of every language, every tongue, every tribe see those bodies? Are they all going to tour and parade through? It doesn't make any sense, does it? How about with the invention of TV? How about with the invention of the internet? How about with the invention of satellites? This will be easily fulfilled. So you know what, I think sometimes we run into things in the Bible and we say, oh that can't be true, that doesn't make any sense. But wait a minute, it's just because we don't get it. We don't understand. And I think the closer we get to the end times, the easier this stuff is to understand. Because a couple hundred years ago people were like, what does that mean? And somebody might have really struggled with this. I'll bet you there have been people throughout history that this might have tested their faith and they said, God I know the Bible's true, but I mean I believe it, but how can everybody see this? Maybe all just doesn't mean all. Some Calvinist probably taught them that. But honestly, with the internet, with TV, worldwide they can be seen by every tribe and every kindred. Because it can be projected onto the webcam, there'll be a webcam, you know, pointed on their dead bodies. And they're saying they won't even bury them. They don't even want to do the honor of burying them because they hated these men. Keep reading. When they see their dead bodies they're not going to allow them to be put in graves, they're just going to leave them laying in the streets dead. And it says, and they shall rejoice, or they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another. I mean this is like Christmas for them. I mean, it's like buying a Christmas present, it's like, hey let's celebrate those two guys, those two preachers of God's word that are left on this earth that are smiting us with these plagues and so forth. He says, you know, let's rejoice, let's throw a party. They're dead, and let's just enjoy watching the body and just rejoice in it. This is a pretty hateful thing to do, don't you think? And it says, because these two prophets tormented them that dwelled on the earth, and after three days and a 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. So at this point a lot of people have changed the channel, you know, three and a half days later, but those that saw them, and those that were physically there with them, yeah they're affrighted when they see these two dead bodies come back to life. And it says they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them which saw them, verse 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. 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. Now here's a key verse in verse 14, the second woe is past, and behold the third woe cometh quickly, I'll talk about that in a second, and the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. So this is why I'm saying clearly that these two guys' ministry is definitely in the second half of the week, of the seven year period. Because as soon as they are caught up, he says, the second woe is over, and behold the third woe cometh quickly, and then boom, the seventh trumpet sounds. Now look if you would at Revelation 10, just go back a few pages. What you have to understand about the sounding of the seventh trumpet, it's a very significant event, because the Bible says in verse 6 of chapter 10, and swear by him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth and the things that therein are, and the sea and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer, chapter 10 verse 7, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. So this is basically an it is finished moment, an it is done moment. I mean this is the finality of it, when that seventh trumpet sounds. Now, what is the third woe? It says in verse 14, the second woe is past, and behold the third woe cometh quickly. You say you're going too deep, well get some smarts, okay, read the Bible. But anyway, what is the third woe? Well just to back up a little bit, I'll just quickly explain it to you. In Revelation chapter 8, when God starts pouring out his wrath with the seven trumpets, chapter 8 gives us the first four trumpets that sound. And if you remember when the first trumpet sounds, God smites the earth, there's fire and brimstone and hail and so forth. When he gets to the second trumpet, he smites the sea, and turns the seas into blood and turns them into bitterness and so forth. When he smites with the third trumpet, he smites the fresh water supply, and a third of it becomes bitter and wormwood and so forth. When the fourth trumpet sounds, he smites the sun and the sun is scorching men with heat, it's blacked out for a third part of the day and a third part of the night, the heavenly bodies. So God's pouring out some serious wrath in chapter 8. I mean he's damaging the salt water, he's damaged the fresh water, he's damaged the grass and the trees that are all burned up, he's messing with the sun and moon. But wait a minute, he gets to the end of it and he says, whoa, whoa, whoa, he gives three whoas. Whoa, whoa, whoa, under the inhabiters of the earth and the sea, he said, by reason of the three voices of the trumpets of the angels which are yet to sound. He basically is saying, you think this is bad? You think these four trumpets are bad? He said, these are nothing. Wait till you get the other three trumpets. So the three whoas are the three final trumpets. Now the fifth trumpet was when God sent those horrible locusts that would sting a man, and their sting is like the sting of a scorpion when he strikes a man. Who's ever been stung by a scorpion? Anybody been stung by a scorpion? One that's an Arizona native. Are you an Arizona native? That's why he's been stung by a scorpion. Nobody else moved here, and so we didn't get stung by scorpions yet, but I've had scorpions in my house way too many times, and I shouldn't even be bringing that up because it's not a very happy subject with my wife, but when we find scorpions in the house, it's not a fun thing. Thank God we haven't been struck by them yet, but I've talked to people who've been struck by them, it's a serious wound, and sometimes people can have a very serious reaction. God's going to send these horrible locusts from hell that sting people like scorpions. Even with the sixth trumpet, he sends this army of 200 million of these horsemen that are breathing fire, that people are dying of smoke inhalation, people are being burned up. It's just a horrific hell on earth type scene with both the fifth and sixth trumpet. That's the first and second woe. Well, when we get to the very end of these guys' testimony, he says the second woe is passed and the third woe cometh quickly. So what's the third woe? It must be something really bad, right? Because it's worse than the stuff that happened in those first four trumpets. It's something really bad because it's comparable to those demon locusts from hell, it's comparable to that army of horsemen that's described in Revelation 9, breathing fire and smoke and so forth. Let's see what it is. It says in verse 15, and the seventh angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders which sat before God in their seats fell upon their faces and worshipped God saying, we give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art and wast and art to come because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned. And the nations were angry and thy wrath has come and the time of the dead that they should be judged and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets and to the saints and them that fear thy name, small and great, and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. Now so far we haven't really seen anything bad happening, have we, in those verses? He doesn't really describe anything bad. He says that the time has come that he's going to destroy them that destroy the earth, so there's some kind of destruction. Now in verse 19 it says this, and the temple of God was opened in heaven and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament and there were lightnings and voices and thunderings and an earthquake and great hail. Now it's easy to kind of read over that and to basically be kind of looking for the third woe. I mean I don't know if you've ever thought that. When I read this, the first few times I read it I kind of scratched my head like, okay, where's the third woe? You know, because you're looking for something big that's really just going to destroy. Because you saw, I mean you saw the fifth trumpet, you saw the sixth trumpet, it's like this is the big one, this is the third woe, woe unto them if they were to this point. And you're kind of wondering like, what is it? But then of course we go to chapter 12 and all of a sudden we're back at the birth of Christ and we start the whole thing over. Start over the whole tribulation, the whole thing over. Well let's compare this with the seventh vial, okay? Go to Revelation 16. You see, if you understand that the book of Revelation is going in chronological order up to verse 11, then starts over in chapter 12 and goes through everything again from a different angle, you say, why would he tell the story twice? Well why did he tell us the four gospels? I mean couldn't he have just consolidated it all into one gospel? But instead he gave us Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to give us four angles. Why did he give us the book of the kings and the book of the chronicles? Because you can learn more by comparing the two, just like you can compare the first half of Revelation, and it's really easy because it just splits right down the middle. You can compare the first half of Revelation with the second half and see these events playing out. See, if you just read the first half, you're kind of scratching your head, where's the big woe? Now the woe was mentioned, you just missed it. Because he said that there were lightnings and voices and thunderings and an earthquake and great hail. Now he's not going into great detail, but is an earthquake something that you want to happen? And is great hail pleasant? No. So the third woe that's mentioned is basically a great earthquake and great hail. Now we don't get as much detail on it when we're in Revelation 11, but in Revelation 16 God gives a little more detail. Because look at verse 17, the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven from the throne saying, it is done. Isn't that similar to what was said about the seventh angel in Revelation 10? It is done. There shall be time no longer. And there were voices, does this sound familiar? Thunders and lightnings and there was a great earthquake. Now same thing as in Revelation 11, but here there's a little more detail. There was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great. Now the reason that's significant is because there have been some serious earthquakes on this earth. And in the book of Revelation before this point, there were serious earthquakes. This must be one major earthquake. Now you say, what's so bad about an earthquake? Well earthquakes carry so much other destruction with them. Remember the earthquake in Japan that brought the tsunami? And of course Luke talks about a tsunami in Luke chapter 21. But remember the tsunami that floods and destroys, I mean, just the collapsing of buildings, the carnage of an earthquake unlike anybody's ever seen. And what about this? Remember Fukushima? Remember all that radioactive material that was stored at Fukushima? When that earthquake and that tsunami came through, it unleashed all this toxic radioactive garbage into the air and surrounding Fukushima power plant. Now let me tell you something, there are power plants like that all over the world. It's not just Fukushima. That one got hit by a tidal wave, but there are power plants like Fukushima. There's one in Phoenix. I mean, there are nuclear power plants all over the world and when they have this radioactive material and nuclear waste, you can't just throw it in the trash. You don't just throw it in a landfill. You don't just throw it in the recycle bin. Some of this stuff takes a thousand years to decay. And they just have to keep storing it all the time, they have to store it. And they have to keep cooling it all the time, keeping it cool. And that's what happened at Fukushima, they couldn't keep it cool anymore. And it got exposed and it got released and then there was an explosion that threw it up into the atmosphere. Imagine Fukushima just happening all over the world. I mean, imagine the carnage of this earthquake. Power plants are exploding, tidal waves are releasing radioactive garbage. I mean, that's pretty bad right there. It must be bad if he's putting it on par with the other two woes, but it doesn't stop there. Not only is there this monstrous earthquake, unlike anything the world has ever seen, look at verse 19, and the great city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nations failed. What does that mean? That means that skyline in Phoenix comes crashing down. That means that the skyline of San Francisco, California comes crashing down. I mean, he said the cities of the nations fell. I mean, New York City just collapses. I mean, think about 9-11. Now imagine just every skyscraper in the world being shaken and knocked down. You know what God's saying? What you build is nothing to me. I mean, this is God's wrath. You say, why is God so mad? What would make him so mad to just shake the earth at the foundations and to collapse every city in America and in the world? You know why he's mad? Because he sent his only begotten son to pay the price for everybody's sins, to sacrifice himself, and he's mocked, he's ridiculed, he's spat on, he's rejected, he's hated, and people want to just live a filthy, sinful life and say, it's funny, we were out soul wanting today. Remember that guy we talked to today, Brother Segura? We were out soul wanting today, and Brother Segura is bringing the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ to this guy. And this guy said, well, but, man, it's just messed up. It's like God's some kind of a dictator, and he said, you know, it's just messed up that we're even put in this position where we have to believe or go to hell. Why should I have to believe so I don't go to hell, you know? Why am I even put in that situation? But you know what it is? You put yourself in that situation with all the sin you've been doing your whole life every day. You're the one who put yourself in that position. Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels. You're a sinful person, and the ways of sin is death. At least God, in the goodness of his heart, has loved you, and can you imagine sacrificing your son for anybody? I can't. There's nobody in this room that I would sacrifice my son for. I mean, I'll just be honest with you. And I have four sons. I almost said three. I have four sons. And I wouldn't sacrifice any of my sons for you. But you know what? What if I only had one son? Then it would even be a major sacrifice. And look, you say, well, he's God, this and that. But you know what? That's what he used to show us his love. He said it's as if, it's as the love a man would have for his only begotten son. He said Jesus Christ, the only begotten son, was sacrificed. That's what the Bible is teaching, is the good news that Jesus paid it all. But people don't take it as good news. They get mad about it. No, I just want to sin and live a filthy life and have no consequences. And it makes God mad. You say, well, I don't understand. Well, if you don't understand, I mean, that's your problem, but it makes God mad. If you made that sacrifice that I just said I wouldn't make for anybody in this room, what if you made that sacrifice and somebody said, I don't even care. I don't care what you did. I don't appreciate it at all. It's nothing to me. I mean, would you be filled with rage? I think that's why God uses that terminology to help us understand. I mean, if you sacrificed your only begotten son to save someone and then people didn't care, people said, you didn't build that, you didn't do that. They said basically, you know, hey, I gave my son, my son died so that you could live. And then they said, no, I don't believe you. My son was cured by a doctor. What if my son had to give some organ, and obviously this is far-fetched, I'm just trying to bring it home. You know, what if some vital organ was transplanted from my son? My son's heart was transplanted into your body and we say, we did that to save your life because we love you, and he said, no, you're lying. This heart came from somewhere else. See what I mean though? That's basically what's happening. Jesus does everything. He gets no glory for creating the earth. He gets, you know, people look, it's amazing, these atheists, they look at nature, they look at it and they marvel at it, but they don't give the God the glory for it. When I go to the zoo, I'm praising God the whole time. When I go to the aquarium, I praise God the whole time. And they look at the creation, God gets no glory. God sends his only begotten son to die on the cross, he gets no glory for it. He gets mocked, he becomes a cuss word. He becomes something that's just basically just, the only time he's even mentioned is just when they get mad, they just throw his name out there for no reason, just throw out the name of Jesus for no reason. And then you wonder why he's mad? When he sees the sodomy and the filth and the adultery and the murder and the wickedness, he's mad. And he's so mad, he's going to grab this earth and shake it and say, what now? What now, Stephen Hawking? How's your wheelchair doing, buddy? How's this feel on you, buddy, huh? You rolling down the stairs yet? How you doing, Richard Dawkins? You blaspheme my name? You hate me? You mock me? You ridicule me? What now? As every sky, I mean you'd think 9-11 was bad, this is 9-11 everywhere, at once. Do you see why it's the third woe? Starting to make sense now? When you see it's an earthquake that's so bad that every skyscraper in the world collapses, every major city falls. But it's not even done yet, it's bad. He said, the cities of the nations fell. Don't pass over that phrase, that's a significant phrase. The cities of the nations fell. Keep reading. And great Babylon came in remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not, I mean that's Hawaii. Hawaii is engulfed. Every island fled away. You know why it fled away? Because a big tidal wave just went over it with this earthquake. This is a major earthquake. Every island fled away, but it's not even done with that. He says in verse 21, remember the great hail from back in Revelation 11? And there fell upon man a great hail out of heaven. Every stone about the weight of a talent. And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was exceeding great. So this is a major plague of hail. And look, they're not even blaspheming God because of the earthquake, they're blaspheming God because of the hail. And I don't know exactly what a talent is, you know, and I can look it up and so forth, but when you look stuff up, I don't know about you, I never really know if it's accurate. You know, you look things up and you kind of, but I know this, whenever people talk about in the Bible, because I just like to compare scripture with scripture, a talent of gold or a talent of silver, it was always a lot. It was not a small amount, it was a large amount. And these are heavy metals, you know, these are precious metals that weigh a lot. And I mean, we're talking about, think about this, we're talking about a hail stone that comes down on you like a brick. I mean, it comes down on you like a piece of lead. I mean, it weighs a lot. Whatever it weighs, and I'm sure somebody could tell me what it means, you know, it's exactly this point, this many pounds, but whatever it is, man, it's heavy. And when it hits you, it's like somebody just dropped a rock on your head. I mean, it's like somebody, he calls it a stone, a hail stone. I mean, it's like somebody dropped a piece of lead on you. I mean, it's going to be, it's going to be bad. Thank God for salvation. You know, thank God we're not going to have to face this. Whoa. I mean, don't you just, the only word that you can say is just whoa. You know what I mean, when you read it, you're like, what does that word mean? Well, just whoa, whoa, whoa be unto you if this is where you are when this happens. And so is God a loving God? Yes, but you know what? A lot of people don't preach this sermon. God's a loving God, but wait a minute, He's a God of wrath and judgment. And this chapter ought to convince you of that. And so let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your Word, dear God, and please help us to study and to learn it. There are things in the Bible, you even flat out told us in 2 Peter chapter 3 that there are things in the Bible that are hard to be understood. And Father, help us not to run away from those things, help us to keep studying and keep reading and trying to understand them the best that we can. Help us to put into practice the things that we do understand and to believe the things we do understand. And the things we don't understand, help us to keep praying and keep reading and keep coming to church and keep learning more. Maybe there were some people here tonight that were new to this subject. Maybe a lot of it went over their head, but I guarantee you they learned something. And then others maybe here that have really studied and read and spent time meditating on this, they probably learned the most because they understood these things. Father, please just help us to study and to learn and to grow and to not blow off parts of the Bible and say that they're not important. If the book of Revelation were not important, you would not have given it to us. So thank you for your word and thank you for the blessing of hearing these words. And in Jesus' name we pray.