
The Warnings About Fraudulent Miracle Workers.
“And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in sackcloth and will prophesy during those 1,260 days. These two prophets are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of all the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire flashes from their mouths and consumes their enemies. This is how anyone who tries to harm them must die. They have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. And they have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.” – Revelation 11:3-6 NLT.
At Pentecost God empowered the church with prophetic gifts for the preaching of His word (Acts 2:17-18). The apostles exercised these gifts in conjunction with impressive signs and wonders as the gospel went like fire through the Roman Empire (Acts2:43; 5:12-16; 6:8; 14:3). These spectacles were impressive ways to draw attention to the gospel (Acts3;6-12; 8:6-7; 9:34-35; 19:10-20). There are parts of the world where the proclamation of the gospel is still connected with miraculous interventions on the part of God.
In the Western church today, on the other hand, miracles are rarely experienced. And the miracles we do experience tend to be fairly trivial or frauds. There are repeated warnings in the New Testament concerning fraudulent miracle workers in the last days (e.g.Matt.24:24, Rev 13:13,14 etc). Texts like Eph 4:11-13 and others seem to assume that supernatural gifts will continue until the end of the age. History and international experience suggest God is still powerfully active wherever such action will make a positive difference.
One other reason for the lack of miracles in the Western world is secularization.
The sceptical nature of Western thought picks miracles apart and attempts to show that they are the products of manipulation or wishful thinking (which often they are.) If a true prophet was to arise in the Western church right now, most believers would probably reject him or her on principle. The Western church, therefore, has a lot in common with the compromised Christianity of cities like Laodicea, Thyatira and Sardis, which were comfortable with their situation in the world. Jesus did not do miracles in Nazareth because they found Him too familiar to believe (Matt 13:57-58).
Another explanation for the lack of miracles in today’s world is the sovereignty of God. In the Bible, miracles tend to appear most frequently on the cutting edge of God’s new initiatives, especially in relation to spreading the gospel in new areas. Miracles are more likely to be seen when believers are breaking new ground for the gospel than when they are self-absorbed with their comfort on this side of paradise. Only when the church is prepared to challenge society with the claims of Christ will we witness the power of God in its biblical fullness.
If, as the Bible says, “No prophecy is of a private interpretation,” (2 Peter 1:20) then we need to let the Bible tell us who these two witnesses in Revelation 11 are. Our first insight comes from Zech. 4:11-14. In this passage the olive branches pour their golden oil into the lampstands. These are the “two anointed ones, who stand before the Lord of the whole earth.” The Hebrew word used here and translated anointed is ‘hayitshaar,’ which means ‘who produces light.’ The oil flowing from the olive tree through the golden pipes to the lampstand produces light, and both fire and oil in scripture are symbols of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is given to call humanity out of darkness into the marvellous light of God’s word. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105.)
Revelation refers to these two witnesses as the word of God and the testimony of Jesus (Rev.1:2 and 9) – in other words, the Old and New Testaments. This is where Moses drew the power to turn the water into blood, and how Elijah stopped the rain from falling for three years and six months, as referred to in this text. Faith in what God said was their witness – and so it will be in the last days.
The two witnesses are clothed in sackcloth for 1260 days. Sackcloth is a symbol of hard times, distress, sorrow, and mourning. The 1260 years covered the time period between 538 and 1798 AD. This included the dark ages when the Bible was suppressed, chained to library walls and written only in Latin. The people were told they were too ignorant to read it. During that time the penalty for having a copy of God’s word (even a fragment) was certain death. The witness of the Bible was in sackcloth.
Ps..l liked the thought about have faith not to be healed, also..lve been fighting skin cancer on my nose..for years..been anointed twice, much prayers..but still deteriorating..not appropriate to operate as its been radiated..lm living with it and as Barb O says…my cure will be at 2nd Coming
I said to a friend tonight – old age is over rated! Yes we have a wonderful hope. Life is very short and eternity is very long.
we are so blessed that atm we are still allowed to have the Bible and were allowed to worship in peace and safety God bless you and your family Robyn 🙏