Are the Two Witnesses Standing By?

Books by Arthur A. Barnes

(in chronological order)

Did God Break His Promise?

Does the Bible Contradict Itself?

Are the Two Witnesses Standing By?

  The One Speaking is an Angel

The one speaking is an angel giving the message to John. The author of Revelation is John, the son of Zebedee. Thank God, with God and with Jesus there is no partiality, no iniquity, God makes it to rain on the just and unjust. Jesus says in Matthew 20:26-28, ”… Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto … but … to give his life a ransom for many.” In old times a man would have a son, a nephew, a cousin named John, and the oldest John would be called “Elder”. I was named after my father, so he became “Senior”; I was called and named “Junior”, only most of the time it was “Hey boy”, or “Hey son”, or “Hey you”, or “SON boy”. John was on the Isle of Patmos off the coast of Asia. The Book is addressed to all people, but namely to the seven churches. The Book was written about AD 96. We cannot pinpoint “The Day of the Lord”, but mark my word, Jesus is coming back soon (THIS generation). Some say a generation is 20 years, some say 40 years, some say 42 2/3 years. These are all confusion and speculation, mostly a way to write a book and get rich off the foolish. Psalms 90:10 is speculation and guess work that we have 70 years, and maybe 80. This was the life expectancy of that day. If we understand this, we can eliminate the word “speculation”, and say “expecting”, few reach 80 and beyond, fewer pass 90 years, and scarcely few live past 100; we have even heard of people reaching 112 and 115 years. In Genesis 6:3, God gives us 120 years, except those days be shortened. We shorten our lives by too much play, too much television, too much food, too much loss of sleep, and too much worry. God gave us 120 years to live for Him, not for ourselves! We cannot out-figure God. I have seen those that lived right, careful in everything and die early in a car wreck, heart attack, or otherwise. Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die …” So we see that we have an appointed time!

REMEMBER THE SPEAKER IS AN ANGEL! The Beloved Disciple

I believe that John, whom Jesus loved, did not intend to be held with any more special favor than the other 11 disciples were held. Not a single time did John stick out his chest and say anything to the effect that “I was more beloved than anybody; I was favored more than even Jesus’ mother!” I think not! It is a phrase that people have immortalized through the ages, and will be with us for a while. John, to keep from being puffed up, would use the phrase “that other disciple” or anything to keep himself humble. John was a son of Zebedee and did not flatter Jesus with words (as Judas might have), but kept his distance. John could have been encouraged by his mother to get on the “good side” of Jesus and obtain a special favor or two, “one for you and one for James”. But he did not take this type of flattery. Daniel was greatly beloved, Daniel 9:23. You and I, as was John, are greatly beloved. John’s mother went unto Jesus and asked Jesus for a special favor for John. She evidently knew that John would not ask for a special favor. She asked, “Jesus, let John be seated on one side of you and let James be seated on the other.” Jesus replied in Matthew 20:23 that he was not able to do that. I included this parable to let us realize how we have symbolized and spiritualized the word; for instance, “John, the beloved disciple.” Let us keep ourselves from being entrapped by such trivial, nonsensical untruths of the Bible that others are teaching. Examples: Luke was the beloved physician, Lazarus, whom Jesus loved (Beloved?). Paul said in Galatians 2:20, the son of God loved me. All in Rome are beloved of God, Romans 1:7. God loved the world, John 3:16. In John 13:34, we should love one another as Jesus said we should. Jesus said we are the loved (or beloved). Chapter 1: Understanding Revelation

REMEMBER THE SPEAKER IS AN ANGEL!

To understand Revelation, we need to understand the names of God the Father, the names of Jesus, the names of the Spirit of God, and the name of the Holy Ghost. The names of God in Isaiah 44:6: the Lord, the Lord of Host, King of Israel, Israel’s redeemer, The I Am, I am the first and the last, God, The almighty God, Mighty one of Israel; and in 2 Samuel 22:3, Savior. The names of Jesus: Son of God, Son of man, Lamb, Lamb of God, Christ, The Christ, Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, The word of God, Emmanuel, Wonderful, Councilor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, Savior, The Only Begotten, and others. I believe The Holy Spirit is different to the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit, The Spirit, The Spirit of God, Angel of God, Angel of the Lord, God’s Angel – I believe all to be God’s names, or rather names of the Spirit of God. The Holy Ghost I believe to be the Spirit of God the Father and the Spirit (or Ghost) of the Son, together in one body, The Almighty God. I believe that there is only one almighty. The reason for calling Jesus the Almighty God is a twofold reason. One reason is prophecy: the Scripture prophesied that Jesus would be called the Almighty God. To explain this and not explain it away, so God was in Jesus reconciling the world unto himself. The second reason will be discussed later in this chapter. Thomas, some call “the old doubting Thomas”, was the first to recognize God the Father in Jesus, the two persons: Holy Spirit of God and the son Jesus, in one body, John 20:28. Two in one, but God forsaken the body of Jesus, and died a million deaths as his only begotten, suffered and died on the cross – because God has no physical body, so therefore he cannot die.