Signs of the Times

Seven Easy Signs

What are the signs that Christ is coming soon? There are many, but in this lesson we will restrict our attention to seven signs that are both easy to grasp and clearly founded on Scripture.

First sign/ Christianity becoming the world’s largest religion

The eight Parables of the Kingdom in Matthew 13 look ahead to the experience of the church. The third one, called the Parable of the Mustard Seed, uses gardening to illustrate spiritual truth (Matt. 13:31–32).

31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:

32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Matthew 13:31–32

Jesus predicts that something exceedingly small, like a mustard seed, will grow to be exceedingly large, like a mustard plant towering above all the other plants of the garden.

What does this tremendous growth represent if not the growth of the church? The church indeed began exceedingly small, as only 120 people in the Upper Room (Acts 1:15). Yet the church—or, more precisely, nominal Christianity—has become the largest religion in the world. As recently as 2005, all the people throughout the world who called themselves Christians were far more numerous than the followers of any other religion. Although the organized church has split into many denominations, Christianity as a whole embraced about one third of the world's population. There were about as many Christians as Muslims and Hindus combined, these being the next two largest religious groups.¹

So, the Parable of the Mustard Seed is a remarkable prophecy. Two thousand years ago, before the church even existed, Jesus knew that He was founding a religious movement that would continue and prosper until it overshadowed all rivals.

When did Christianity rise to dominance over other religions? Much evidence indicates that the church took its ascendant place in the world during the nineteenth century. Its tremendous growth then was the result of two major developments: (1) the colonial expansion of Christian nations, and (2) the development which we will now present as the second sign of the times. We will show later in this book that several prophecies mark the nineteenth century as the beginning of the Last Days.

Second sign/ the gospel reaching to the uttermost part of the earth

Elsewhere in His teaching, Jesus explained how the professing church would become so large. The dominance of Christianity over other religions would come about through worldwide evangelism. In Jesus’ last instructions to the disciples, He viewed the bearing of gospel truth to men everywhere as a task that the church would actually accomplish.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Acts 1:8

In the words, "Ye shall be witnesses," He uses the future tense in what grammarians call "the indicative mood." That is, He is making a statement of fact. He is clearly saying that before He returns, Christian evangelists will actually reach the uttermost part of the earth.

The prophesy can be interpreted in two ways: either as a broad prediction that gospel witness will reach everywhere or as a narrow prediction that it will reach the one place furthest away. Where was Jesus when He made the prediction? He was on the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem. In relation to that specific location, where is the uttermost part of the earth? It is the directly opposite point on the globe. That point lies in the South Pacific Ocean, and the closest inhabited island is Rapa-iti. Although small and remote, it was not overlooked in the early years of the modern missionary movement. The first preacher to land there was John Davies of the London Missionary Society. Soon after his arrival in 1826, all of the island’s inhabitants adopted Christianity as their religion.²

Yet as we said, Jesus’ instruction could be understood more generally as a prediction that the gospel would go everywhere in the world. This too has been fulfilled. The modern era since 1800 has been an age of great missionary enterprise, pushing the gospel to every nation under the sun. Statistics compiled in 2001 show that the church’s goal of reaching the whole world has been substantially attained.

1. Radio with evangelical programming reaches 99% of the world’s population in a language they can understand.
2. About 94% of the world’s population lives in a culture with an indigenous witnessing church, and another 4% has a resident witness provided by outsiders.
3. In the 1990s, a broad-based initiative by American evangelicals to reach groups who had not yet heard the gospel was dramatically successful. This initiative, called The Joshua Project I, put church-planting teams in a thousand unreached cultures, about two thirds of those identified, and started churches of at least one hundred members in about half of the cultures where the teams had penetrated.³

We should not overstate the progress, however. Although the gospel is available to nearly everyone in the world today, personal evangelism has confronted only a small minority, and still a large percentage of the world’s population has never actually heard the gospel. Yet what has been accomplished so far seems in itself a fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy that the gospel would go to the uttermost part before He returned. Within my lifetime, virtually all the last places deprived of the gospel have finally heard it. Today’s global culture held together by mass communications has spread so aggressively that it has probably reached or will soon reach any remote tribes overlooked by missionaries. Thus, no uncompleted task prevents Christ from returning now.

The church’s embrace of the whole modern world is a major sign that the end is near.

Third sign/ reemergence of Israel

In AD 70 the Romans demolished the city of Jerusalem and either killed or scattered most of the Jews living in Palestine. This catastrophe is clearly predicted in the Book of Daniel.

25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

Daniel 9:25–26

Here is a brief but wonderfully rich prophecy that tells exactly when the Messiah would come. Then it reveals that after His death, the city and the Temple of Jerusalem would be destroyed.

The holocaust in AD 70 is predicted in the New Testament as well. On several occasions Jesus warned of the disaster about to fall on His nation.

20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.

24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

Luke 21:20–24

Notice that Jesus not only foresaw the destruction of the city, but also the scattering of Jewish people to all nations. History soon confirmed the prophecy. After the holocaust in AD 70, the Jewish people never in ancient times succeeded in reorganizing and rebuilding their nation. A hundred years later, very few sons and daughters of Israel remained in Palestine.

Yet unlike so many other ethnic groups throughout history, the Jews never disappeared from the world stage. Their perseverance as a people is according to prophecy. The Old Testament clearly expects them to be occupying their homeland when the Messiah comes to set up His kingdom over the earth.

15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.

Jeremiah 33:15–16

The New Testament gives us even clearer information. It says that during the Tribulation, not only will Israel be living in their homeland, but also they will have a Temple in Jerusalem; specifically, that a future world ruler will make their Temple the center of a new religion featuring himself as god. In Scripture, this evil figure in the end times is given various names, including the man of sin (below) and the Antichrist (1 John 2:18).

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

2 Thessalonians 2:3–4

All the Biblical prophecies of a future Jewish presence in Palestine were obviously doomed to prove false unless at some point in history the Jews regathered in the land. Among these prophecies are some which specifically inform us that the Jews will occupy Palestine during the end times as the result of a prior return from exile. Of particular interest is a prophecy of Jeremiah.

3 For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

4 And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

5 For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.

6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

9 But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

Hebrews 10:37

Jeremiah affirms that before the time of Jacob’s trouble, many Jews would return to the land of their fathers. In the last two centuries, many prominent teachers of prophecy have equated the time of Jacob’s trouble with the Tribulation, the intensely troubled time that will precede the coming of Christ to set up His kingdom. A strong basis for their reasoning is the close parallel between Jeremiah 30:7 and another text addressed to the Jewish nation:

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

Matthew 24:21–22

Here we find Jesus’ description of the Tribulation during its last phase. Since the Tribulation still lies in the future, the regathering that Jeremiah foresees cannot be the return of Jews from captivity in Babylon. Why? Because their reoccupation of the land at that time failed to be permanent. Centuries later, in AD 70, they were again dispossessed and scattered. The regathering that Jeremiah foresees must therefore be the flow of Jews in multiplied thousands back to Palestine in modern times. The culmination was the founding of modern Israel in 1948.

I am old enough to remember the impact that the refounding of Israel had upon the church. Bible-believing Christians everywhere were excited to see this fulfillment of prophecy. They viewed it as a sure sign that the Lord’s return was drawing near. The event was amazing however you look at it. Somehow a dispersed and downtrodden people had managed to preserve their cultural and religious identity for almost two thousand years. And then somehow they managed to establish a new nation on the same territory occupied by their ancient forefathers. The history of man had never before seen anything remotely similar.

Fourth sign/ Jewish reoccupation of Jerusalem

In Jesus’ warnings of the holocaust in AD 70, He did not view the coming Jewish dispersion as the end of the story. Look again at Luke 21:20–24 on pages 19 and 20. Rather, He stated that control of Jerusalem would remain in gentile hands only until "the times of the Gentiles" had been fulfilled. He was clearly implying that the Jews would then regain control. What did He mean by the expression "times of the Gentiles," which occurs nowhere else in Scripture? It must denote the historical period since Pentecost—the period when the church has been carrying the gospel of salvation to the whole world, gentiles as well as Jews. We conclude that in Jesus’ reference to the times of the gentiles, He intended the whole Church Age.

So, His teaching that Jerusalem would be a gentile city until the end of the Church Age gives us a strong light on our place in history. We learn from it that the recent departure of gentile power from the city is a sure sign that Christ is about to return.

Gentile control of the city has been waning now for almost two centuries. Jewish reoccupation of Jerusalem began with an influx of Jewish settlers in the nineteenth century. Then its Jewish population grew steadily until Israel attained statehood in 1948. Soon afterward, the new nation absorbed the western sector of the city into its territory. During the 1967 war, the Israelis also added the eastern sector, establishing sovereignty over the whole city.⁴ Although they have allowed Muslims to retain their shrine on the Temple Mount, this site is not outside Jewish control. Thus, it can no longer be said that the city is trodden down by gentiles. The city is not only a solid component of the nation of Israel; it is also teeming with Jews and flourishing with Jewish life and culture.

Yet Jesus said that Jerusalem would not escape gentile domination until the times of the gentiles—that is, the Church Age—had been fulfilled. The Jewish reoccupation of Jerusalem is therefore a specific and compelling sign that the Church Age is drawing to a close. Thus, as we examine our place in history, we must attach special importance to Israel’s conquest of Jerusalem in 1967.

Fifth sign/ world government

We read in the Book of Daniel about a dream that God sent to Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king. In this dream, the king saw a great image of a man, and the portions of his body were made of different metals. None of the king’s counselors could interpret the dream except the young Jewish captive Daniel, who declared that the image represented a series of kingdoms.

31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.

32 This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. . . .

44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Daniel 2:31–41, 44

Here is a difficult prophecy, but not all things worth knowing, nor all things God expects us to know, are simple.

From the head to the legs, Daniel counted four kingdoms beginning with the head of gold, which he identified as Babylon. Elsewhere the Book of Daniel helps us name the next two kingdoms. The arms and chest of silver are Medo-Persia, and the belly and thighs of bronze are Greece (Dan. 8:20–21).⁵ Next came the legs of iron. The church from earliest times has identified these as Rome.⁶ Then Daniel said, "And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided" (v. 41). It is evident, therefore, that the feet and toes together represent a single kingdom, coming fifth and last in the whole series.

For two reasons, the fifth kingdom cannot be an ancient one like the preceding four.

1. Neither Rome nor any other kingdom of the past was ever divided into ten parts. Yet such a division must exist during the period of history symbolized by the toes.
2. As the king watched the dream, a great stone fell on the feet and crushed the whole image (v. 34). Daniel revealed that the stone represents the everlasting kingdom of God (v. 44). So, the falling of the stone pictures the future moment in history when God will violently intervene to set up His kingdom in place of the degenerate kingdoms of the earth. That will happen at the Second Coming of Christ. We conclude that the fifth kingdom, the kingdom corresponding to the feet of the image, will exist at Christ’s return.

The Book of Revelation reveals that the last ruler of the fifth kingdom will be the sinister figure known as the Antichrist, also known as the Beast. How extensive will be his kingdom? Many teachers of prophecy have believed that he will rule over a confederation of ten European nations. They have argued that these must be ten in number since the last kingdom is likened to feet with ten toes. Indeed, the Book of Revelation foresees ten kingdoms at the end of the present age.

12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

Revelation 17:12–13

But for a proper interpretation, we must read the preceding passage in conjunction with another.

And it was given unto him [the beast] to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Revelation 13:7

Taken together, these two passages seem to say that the ten will give the Beast power that is worldwide in extent. So, we do not gain the impression that these ten are a group of small nations in Europe. Rather, they appear to be kingdoms spanning the whole earth. In other words, a world government will be in place before the Beast arises.

We conclude that the fifth kingdom destined to suffer the tyranny of the Beast must be a world government. Will that government arise in the future, or does it already exist? The previous four kingdoms—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome—all exercised authority over the Jews when they were living in their own land. So, it is reasonable to suppose that the fifth kingdom represents another kingdom with authority over an existing Jewish nation.

The kingdom governing the Jewish nation before it was dissolved in AD 70 was Rome, the fourth division of the image. The fifth division, the feet and toes, must therefore represent whatever kingdom has governed the Jewish nation since it reemerged in 1948. That kingdom can be none other than the United Nations, which came into being just a few years earlier, in 1945. The UN played an instrumental role in creating the state of Israel, and ever since it has sought to oversee Israel’s relations with hostile neighbors. And, as prophecy foresees, the UN is indeed a government spanning the whole world.

In my commentary on Daniel, I show that the UN perfectly matches Daniel’s description of the fifth kingdom. I show also that the ten toes represent ten regional associations that will eventually embrace all nations.⁷

Sixth sign/ apostasy in the church

In his second epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul takes up the subject of final things.

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

2 Thessalonians 2:1–2

He is seeking to counter a false teaching circulating among the Thessalonians that "the day of Christ is at hand." The words "is at hand" are better translated "has come."⁸

The effect of this teaching was to arouse anxiety and dread. Why? Because these Thessalonians understood from Old Testament prophecy and from Paul’s teaching that the Day of Christ—that is, the Day of the Lord—would bring great trouble. Divine wrath in full measure would visit the earth. The prospect of living through such a time caused them to be "shaken in mind."

Paul allays their fears. When he says, "We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, . . . , as that the day of Christ is at hand," he means that they need not worry about living through the time of great trouble, for when Christ comes at the dawning of His day, the first task on His program will be to gather the church unto Himself. He will remove His saints from the world before horror and havoc descend upon it.

How will He remove them? At the time of their departure, He will not show Himself to the whole world. Rather, as we noted in the previous lesson, He will come secretly like a thief in the night and steal them away.

42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Matthew 24:42–44

For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

1 Thessalonians 5:2

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

2 Peter 3:10

At the event known as the Rapture, all true believers in Christ will suddenly disappear and rise into His presence. Immediately afterward, history will enter its tragic climax, the period known as the Tribulation. The world will descend into unspeakable turmoil and suffer devastating plagues. Then Christ will come a second time. At the end of all the woe and misery, Christ will descend in glory, overthrow His enemies, and establish His kingdom on the earth.

Immediately following the text we quoted earlier from Second Thessalonians, Paul identifies one development preceding the Rapture.

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; . . .

2 Thessalonians 2:3

The "day of Christ" (2 Thess. 2:2 above) will not come until there is a falling away. "Falling away" is apostasia,⁹ root of our word "apostasy." The Greek word refers to a departure from true religion. Paul says that the falling away will come "first"— that is, before the day of Christ. Therefore, it must also precede the Rapture, which will initiate the day of Christ and the Tribulation.

As a side note, Paul informs readers of another proof that the day of Christ has not yet arrived. It is that the man of sin—the same person as the Antichrist—has not come onto the world scene. He seems to be implying that the Antichrist will be a recognizable figure quite early during the Tribulation.

Has the prophecy of end-time apostasy been fulfilled? Yes, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, the church of Jesus Christ is sick with apostasy. The disease that now fills the whole church germinated about 1800. At that time, doubt in the supernatural and in Biblical history began to infect organized Christianity. The Unitarians, prominent in New England, went so far as to reject the deity of Christ. After the publication in the 1860s of Darwin’s On the Origin of the Species, many churches accepted his ideas and abandoned belief in the literal truth of the Scriptures. Since then, apostasy has steadily grown and spread. Today, few churches and church bodies remain committed to Biblical faith and practice. Western society as a whole, once composed of nations that prided themselves on being Christian, has become thoroughly secularized. We once called ourselves a Christian nation. Now that concept is generally seen as backward and degrading.

In other chapters we show that the apostasy of modern Christianity is a dominant theme of prophecy concerning the end times.

Seventh sign/ global telecommunications

Prophecy contains many hints of modern technology. One prime example is in the Book of Revelation. Before we examine it, however, we need to provide some background, starting with some key information about the Antichrist.

5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

Revelation 13:5–6

Here we learn that before Christ descends to set up His kingdom on the earth, the Antichrist will reign for forty-two months. Near the beginning of this period, he will "blaspheme his [God’s] name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven." Paul foresaw the setting and occasion. After identifying the Antichrist as the "man of sin" (2 Thess. 2:3 on p. 26), he says,

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

2 Thessalonians 2:4

The blasphemy will consist of both deeds and words. He will enter the Temple of God and make it the center of a cult devoted to worshiping his own person. Not content to be received as a god equal to other gods, he will claim to be the highest god of all, the god nonpareil.

In His Olivet Discourse, Jesus warned all Jews in Israel during the Tribulation to expect severe persecution after the Antichrist takes control of the Temple. His exact wording is critically important.

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Matthew 24:15–21

In other words, as soon as the Antichrist sets foot in the sanctuary, he will almost immediately begin his intense persecution of all Jews still faithful to the true God. Thus, his violation of the Temple will be the signal to believing Jews that they must, with all possible haste, flee to the wilderness.

Jesus’ warning to anyone on his roof or in his field that he will not be able to afford even an extra five minutes to visit the house carries the implication that escape will be possible if they obey Him, but impossible if they do not. Yet if news of the event will come by word of mouth, there will be wide variation in the time of delay. Some will not hear it until hours later than others. To save five minutes by heeding what Jesus said will therefore be critical only for a few. It is far more reasonable and more respectful of His words to infer from them that all Jews will learn of the event at about the same time.

How will that be possible? Jesus provides the answer. He anticipates that those in the fields and on the housetops of Judea will be able to "see" the Antichrist as he enters the Temple. His wording strongly implies modern means of communication. By looking at screens fed by electronic networks, not only the people in Judea but also the whole world will witness the event as it happens.

It is interesting that another prophecy, speaking of an event at a slightly earlier point in history, also foresees video technology. This prophecy concerns the two witnesses who will first appear about seven years before the end of the Tribulation.

3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

6 These have power to shut heaven, that it 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.

7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

13 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.

Revelation 11:3–13

Most Christians today believe, and correctly so, that these witnesses are figures from the past who will reappear suddenly on the earth. They are generally identified as either Enoch and Elijah or Moses and Elijah. My own position is that they are Moses and Elijah.

At the end of their ministry lasting 1260 days, they will be killed by the Beast—that is, by the Antichrist—and their dead bodies will lie unburied in Jerusalem for 3½ days. During this period, all the wicked of the world will rejoice at the Beast’s victory over them. But then they will see the witnesses rise from the dead, and the raucous celebration of their deaths will instantly cease. Revelry will turn to fear. But notice the words of verse 9. It says plainly that for three and a half days the whole world will with morbid joy gaze at their dead bodies lying in Jerusalem. How can the whole world look together at a scene normally visible only if the viewer is standing no more than a few hundred yards away? The answer has become obvious only since the advent of global telecommunications. For 3½ days the people of the world will stare at electronic screens fixed hypnotically upon one picture: the bodies of the slain witnesses. The wicked will be unwilling to turn away from a sight that seems to vindicate their wickedness. Rather than risk public outrage over removal of the bodies, political leaders will allow them to lie where they fell.

Global telecommunications developed shortly after World War II. It is interesting that their coming onto the world stage roughly coincided with the refounding of Israel and certain other key signs of the times.