Two or Three Witnesses

Two or Three Witnesses

Matthew 18:16 “But if he will not hear thee, then take one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.”

Matthew 22:29 “Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.”

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rom time to time someone garners a lot of publicity while attempting to predict the end of the world. In the process many, who stake their lives on such erroneous statements to the point of financial ruin, not to mention the emotional stress endured by friends and family. They sell everything, move to the mountains and desert places, hoping for that which is false. Did not Jesus warn us of such deceivers?

   So where do they all go wrong? How can so many mislead so many? I believe the answers lie with the two scriptures above.

The first is originally intended to be administered in a court of law requiring two or three witness to establish guilt or innocence. The second is referring to being asked, by the Sadducees, concerning one’s wife in the resurrection. So how do these passages relate to the subject of the end of the world and when it should take place?

The answer is that first of all any doctrine must be established by two or three other passages. Far too many attempt to build a teaching based on one verse thus ignoring all others.

   Second, there is error in not knowing the scriptures and power of God; which means that because one takes it upon himself to build a doctrine upon one verse he is in error; and thus produces an erroneous teaching.

Setting the record straight with two or three witnesses:

   An in depth study of Mt.24:1-31; Mk.13:1-37; Lu.21:7-38; 2Thess.2:1-17; Dan.9, 10, 11, and 12 are all in agreeance with the God’s timetable for the end times, including the ingathering (rapture) of God’s children, the Church [the bride of Christ].

The disciples asked same three questions in the three gospel accounts, and Jesus answered all  three questions in the order in which they were asked, leaving no doubt as to the timetable of the end of the world.

Three questions:

1.     When shall these things be?

2.     What shall be the sign of thy coming?

3.     And of [or when is] the end of the world.

Three answers; these things must come to pass before the end of the world:

1.     Deceivers and many antichrists will come.

2.     Wars and rumors of wars, nations against one another, famines, earthquakes all over the world, and pestilences. [You may say, But we’ve always had these things. Yes, we have but never so many in so many different places one right after the other. (the Beginning of sorrows)

3.     Unparalleled persecution of the church [and Israel]

4.     Kingdom gospel is to be preached to the end. [of the world]

5.     The Great Tribulation

6.     Sun, moon and stars cease to shine [darkness, real, not symbolic]

7.     Then the sign of the Son of Man (Jesus Christ, the bridegroom)

8.     Then the ingathering of God’s Firstfruits [the Church and Israel]

The Feast of Trumpets [Ingathering of Firstfruits:] [the day when all the Firstfruits of the crops were gathered and offered unto the Lord at the end of the growing season.]

Author’s Note: ladies and gentlemen; we, you are I as believers in Christ [including the believers of Israel] are the Firstfruits of God’s harvest!!! Though the crop endure the harsh weather nature brings, yet we will be a part of that great harvest when the Lord God sends his angels to gather the harvest!!!

All this fits perfectly and is in harmony with the rest of Scripture, including Revelation wherein the prophecies are fulfilled with pin point accuracy.

The following passages describe the last day, the day of the end of the world [as we know it]. They also describe the Feast of Harvest [Ingathering] and emphasize the darkness of that day when the sun, moon and stars refuse to shine.

·       Amos 5:18-20 “Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! To what end is it for you [what can you benefit from it]? The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light .As if a man did flee from a lion and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

·       Zephaniah 1:14-18 “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and it hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and distress, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung. Neither their silver not their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for hew shall make even a speedy deliverance of all them that dwell in the land.”

·       Joel 2:30-32 “And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and the remnant whom the Lord shall call.

·       Isaiah 13:9-13: Behold the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. for the stars of heaven and the consolations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

·       Isaiah 34:2-6, 8 “For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain shall also be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off the vine, and as a fig from the tree. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, and the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in Idumea. For it are the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.”

·       JOEL 3:15 “The sun and moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.”

·       Acts 2:19-20 “And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood and smoke, and fire, and vapor of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: and it shall be that whosoever shall call upon the name of the: Lord shall be saved.”

·       Revelation 6:12-17 “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and islands were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand.”

·       Revelation 11:15-19 “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.

·       1 Corinthians 15:52 “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised, incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Here we can see the “last trumpet” is sounded which agrees with Rev.11:15-19 when the seventh or last trumpet is sounded. Rev.6:12-17 parallel both Rev.11:15-19 and 1Cor.15:52, save that in one the trump is sounded but the darkness is not mentioned, whereas, in the other not mention of a trumpet is recorded and yet the similarities are so close that one is almost compelled to conclude them to be describing the one and same event.

Author’s note: the preceding passages describe the wrath of God and stand in stark contrast to the great tribulation. Whereas, the great tribulation is the time of persecution of Israel and the Church by the Anti-Christ and man.

A note of comfort:

Throughout these passages the writers pen words of comfort and peace as opposed to panic and chaos. Though the end times will be filled with violence and chaos, yet we are to remain steadfast, full of faith, joy and expectation.

Even Jesus spoke hope and faith to the disciples and not despair. He went on to say that all the negative things aforementioned are destined to come to pass. It is the last of the last days.

The question remains—how close are we to the last day?

Are we in the beginning of sorrows now?

I don’t know, but what I do know is that when I see the signs noted above; then I know my redemption draws nigh.

We may have to endure the great tribulation—but we are not appointed unto wrath [the wrath of God].

I am comforted by those thoughts.

This is where all those false prophets err. They know not the Scriptures or the power of God.