The Daily Word of Righteousness

Who Are the Two Witnesses?, #9

And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel 9:27)

The witnesses of the Lord will deliver the Divine message during the first half of the "week." Then the latter rain will cease. The "sacrifice" and the "grain offering" will stop in the middle of the week (Daniel 9:27), meaning that redemption through the blood of the cross no longer can be preached to all the world under the anointing of the Spirit of God. The time allotted for the preaching of the Christian Gospel to the nations will have come to an end. God will turn again to the nation of Israel.

Then the Lord's elect, Jewish and Gentile believers alike, will be forced to flee for their lives into the wilderness, where they will be protected and nourished by the Lord throughout the last half of the week. This is the night "when no man can work" (John 9:4). This is the "end" spoken of in Matthew.

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:14)

"Then shall the end come." Not the end of the world but the end of the preaching of the Gospel in the major cities of the earth.

The Christian witness will be overcome by the lust of the flesh (Sodom), by the lust of the eyes (Egypt), and by the pride of life (Jerusalem)—Revelation 11:8. In some cases the saints will be overcome from within, meaning they themselves will succumb to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. In other instances these three satanic spirits in the world and particularly in the worldly believers will drive out the Christian witness by economic pressure, imprisonment, torture, and murder.

The spirit of envy proceeding from the pride of life in the Pharisees and Sadducees caused the murder of that first great Witness, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The peoples of the earth will rejoice greatly that the Christian witness has been silenced because the latter-rain witness will be as John the Baptist—rebuking all who love this present world, reminding them that their deeds are evil (John 3:19).

Throughout the seventieth week God will deal with His elect, including the "called" among both the Gentiles and the Jews by race. The Lord "shall confirm the covenant with many for one week" (Daniel 9:27). The workings of the Lord during this period, especially during the latter part of the week, are described in Daniel 11:32-35. The closing days of this age are portrayed as follows:

Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. (Daniel 12:10)

To be continued.