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God has not forgotten the Jewish people, and neither have we.
 A Publication of CJF Ministries and Messianic Perspectives Radio Network 
 
Messianic
Perspectives
®
Post Office Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78292-0345 Adar–Nisan–Iyyar 5772 / March–April 2012
Multitudes of Christians around the world look forward to the return of Yeshua theMessiah (Jesus Christ) to this planet at the “end of days.”
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 According to some polls, many people who don’t even consider themselves particularlyreligious nonetheless agree that the Lord will come back someday.
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 And as the world around us continues its descent into chaos and darkness, the cry of every redeemed heart is, “Come, Lord!”
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 Something that isn’t quite so widely known, however, is that Jesus may not be theonly biblical personage who’s slated to return at the end of this age.
 
Messianic Perspectives
®
Dr. Gary Hedrick,
 
Editor in Chief 
 
Rachel Zanardi,
 
Editor 
 
Erastos Leiloglou,
 
Designer 
Messianic Perspectives 
is published bimonthly by
CJF Ministries
, P.O. Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78292-0345, a501(c)3 Texas nonprofit corporation:
Dr.
 
Gary Hedrick
,
President
;
Brian Nowotny
,
Director of Communications
;
Rachel Zanardi, Editor; Erastos Leiloglou, Designer
. Subscription price: $10 per year. The publication of articles byother authors does not necessarily imply full agreement with all the views expressed therein. Unless otherwisenoted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version of the Bible (Nashville, TN: ThomasNelson Publishers, 1982). Visit us online at www.cjfm.org. Toll-free OrderLine: (800) 926-5397.© 2012 by CJF Ministries. All rights reserved.
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John’s End-Time Vision
Sometime around AD 95, the ApostleJohn sat down and penned the Book of Revelation.
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In a series of visions givento him by Yeshua the Messiah throughan angel (1:1), it provides an amazingglimpse into the future of our world.The book outlines itself in 1:19: “Writethe things
which you have seen
, andthe things
which are
, and the things
which will take place after this
.”So from John’s perspective, it talksabout the past (things that “have”been), present (things that “are”), andfuture (things that “will” be).The past is the vision in Chapter 1;the present (that is, John’s present)is the messages to the seven Messi-anic congregations in Chapters 2 and3; and the future is everything fromChapters 4 to 22.Revelation can be viewed as a com-mentary on the OT Book of Daniel. SirIsaac Newton, in fact, recognized thisrelationship between the two booksand wrote a dual commentary on bothof them:
Observations Upon the Proph-ecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John
(two volumes).
5
In Chapter 11, John describes a com-pelling scene that unfolds on thestreets of Jerusalem during the com-ing Tribulation:
6
And I will give power to my two witnesses,and they will prophesy one thousand twohundred and sixty days, clothed in sack-cloth. These are the two olive trees andthe two lampstands standing beore theGod o the earth. And i anyone wantsto harm them, fre proceeds rom theirmouth and devours their enemies. And i anyone wants to harm them, he must bekilled in this manner. These have powerto shut heaven, so that no rain alls inthe days o their prophecy; and they havepower over waters to turn them to blood,and to strike the earth with all plagues,as oten as they desire (vv. 3-6).
When we interpret Revelation, it’s im-portant to remember that words like“laser,” “rocket,” “helicopter,” “bomb,”or “airplane” (or their modern Greek/Hebrew equivalents) were unknownto John. After all, none of these imple-ments of war existed in his day. So hedescribes, as best he can with a first-century vocabulary, what he sees inthis mind-boggling vision (1:10-11).There are striking parallels betweenRevelation 11 and Daniel 7, where theProphet Daniel describes a future peri-od of international upheaval and spiri-tual warfare in which the “kingdom”of the anti-Messiah tramples down allopposition (Dan. 7:23-25). Ultimately,the Kingdom of God prevails and God’speople (“saints”) assume rulershipover the earth (v. 27)—but not beforethe forces of evil wreak havoc on muchof humanity.Returning to Revelation, John firstof all saw two old-fashioned streetpreachers (“witnesses”) proclaimingGod’s Word in Jerusalem. Not only dothey prophesy/preach, but God alsoempowers them to work miracles.They are able to withhold rain for ex-tended periods of time, for instance(drought is a serious matter in Israeleven today); and whenever they arethreatened, “fire . . . devours” theirenemies (v. 5). They carry on like thisfor three and a half years.One cannot help noticing the parallelswith the OT ministry of the ProphetElijah, who withheld rain (1 Kings17:1, 7) and called fire down on hisenemies (2 Kings 1:10, 12).
7
The aged Apostle continues:
When they fnish their testimony, the beastthat ascends out o the bottomless pit willmake war against them, overcome them,and kill them. And their dead bodies willlie in the street o the great city whichspiritually is called Sodom and Egypt,where also our Lord was crucifed. Thenthose rom the peoples, tribes, tongues,and nations will see their dead bodiesthree-and-a-hal days, and not allow theirdead bodies to be put into graves. Andthose who dwell on the earth will rejoiceover them, make merry, and send gits toone another, because these two prophetstormented those who dwell on the earth(Rev. 11:7-10).
Bamberg Apocalypse Folio (11th century)
 
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Evidently, the two witnesses will havegarnered a worldwide audience by thistime (note that it says the “nations” willsee their dead bodies after they are killed[v. 9] and “those who dwell on the earthwill rejoice” [v. 10]).
8
“Beast” is another name for the Anti-christ (or, anti-Messiah), whose powercomes from the Abyss, the demonic realmof darkness (20:1-3).
9
He declares war onGod’s two prophets and ultimately is al-lowed to kill them (for a purpose that be-comes apparent later). Their bodies areleft on display in the streets while peopleall over the world gloat and celebratetheir demise.But that’s not the end of the story. Notethe next three verses in Revelation 11:
Now ater the three-and-a-hal days thebreath o lie rom God entered them, andthey stood on their eet, and great ear ellon those who saw them. And they hearda loud voice rom heaven saying to them,“Come up here.” And they ascended toheaven in a cloud, and their enemies sawthem. In the same hour there was a greatearthquake, and a tenth o the city ell. Inthe earthquake seven thousand people werekilled, and the rest were araid and gaveglory to the God o heaven (vv. 11-13).
Can you imagine television program-ming worldwide suddenly being inter-rupted when this happens? First, thenews strip across the bottom of thescreen says something like: “Breakingnews (Jerusalem)—Reuters is report-ing that the two controversial preacherswho died earlier this week in Jerusalemhave been seen alive. Details to follow.”
Sermon and Deeds of the Antichrist 
(1499-1502) by Luca Signorelli
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