Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 24, 2014 16:53:01 GMT
Where are you reading in the Bible right now! I am reading John going slowly and mulling over what I am reading.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 24, 2014 20:47:40 GMT
Well, I'm about to go to 2 Chronicles 25 the next time I read. Occasionally I also happen to read through a couple of New Testament chapters aside from the regular reading, when something catches my eye.
|
|
|
Post by lily on May 24, 2014 23:02:04 GMT
Right now I'm reading verses out of the Book of Psalms. I just finished Psalm 113, and what can I say but, "Let the name of the Lord be praised,
both now and forevermore."
|
|
|
Post by peaceinthestorm on May 24, 2014 23:48:05 GMT
Ohhhh, fun question. Lily, I am in Psalms too. Psalm 45 has some great stuff that I believe is talking about a soon to happen wedding!!!
|
|
|
Post by Benjamin on May 25, 2014 2:01:39 GMT
Psalm 45 is an incredible Messianic psalm, that's for sure.
I've been reading through the minor prophets - I've recently finished about ten readthroughs of Malachi, and I'm now doing Amos. I'm also going through a study series by Chuck Missler on Genesis, but that's going to take a while. He's currently up to verse 3 of Genesis 1, and my wife and I have been watching for 2.5 hours already.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 25, 2014 10:46:21 GMT
Notice none of us are reading the same thing at this moment, granted not many responded. Ben: I am still having trouble with Misler's videos. For some reasons, videos put me to sleep and I have tried three times. I do like a challenge, so I plan to keep at it.
|
|
|
Post by peaceinthestorm on May 25, 2014 12:26:29 GMT
OK Benjamin, since you just finished Malachi,10 times, I have a question. Referencing Malachi 3:1 what is your opinion of John the Baptist being one of the two witnesses during the tribulation? He proclaimed Jesus's first coming. Might he proclaim the second?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 25, 2014 19:09:18 GMT
Peaceinthestorm: Ben is not on with us a lot because of the time difference, but he will answer. Many think John the Baptist is one of the two witnesses. I think he is a good candidate but there are so many good men of God in the Bible to choose from. I think it would be apt for John to be one of the witnesses.
|
|
|
Post by peaceinthestorm on May 25, 2014 21:33:56 GMT
OK, I have heard a lot of good arguments for others, especially Moses, Enoch, the apostle John and of course the other one in Malachi would be Elijah. I don't really know but I do wonder why Malachi talks about John the Baptist, and then says "Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple" and then in the next verse it says "But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears?" I guess Malachi could be talking about the first coming or there could be time, a couple thousand years, between the two verses. Just wondering.
|
|
|
Post by Benjamin on May 25, 2014 22:38:24 GMT
I think Malachi 3:1 is one of those prophecies that has multiple fulfilments. As you point out, the following verses are quire clearly regarding the Tribulation, rather than the time between the old and new testaments. As far as the two witnesses are concerned... Malachi 4:5 fills out the context -
"I will send you the prophet Elijah before the coming of the Great and terrible day of the Lord".
I don't think that Scripture necessarily demands that the Two Witnesses be either Moses or Elijah, Enoch or John the Baptist. What it definitely does present is these figures as a TYPE of witness. Don't get me wrong, the Two Witnesses may very well be recognisable to Israel (what a witness that would be!), but I don't believe that it necessarily has to be so. Israel would recognise them by their power and their miracles regardless of their specific human identities. Any speculation on whether the Two Witnesses are specific people is really going to be just that - speculation.
...to throw another option into the mix, though, read Zechariah 4:
|
|
|
Post by peaceinthestorm on May 25, 2014 23:00:09 GMT
OK Benjamin, I am going to be like the Eunuch in Acts when Philip ask him if he understood what he was reading. He said in verse 31 “How can I, unless someone guides me?”
I see that there are two olive trees one on the left and one on the right of the bowl. And it looks like two branches of the olive trees will be the witnesses. Does this give us a clue as to who they are?
|
|
|
Post by Benjamin on May 26, 2014 1:16:22 GMT
It does - but even more so the surrounding passages.
The two olive branches are identified in Zechariah as Joshua (Zechariah 3:1) and Zerubbabel (Zechariah 4:9).
Worth noting, though, is that the two men are associated with the priestly (Zerubbabel) and royal (Joshua) lines, and tie in with the image of Jesus Christ as THE branch (Zechariah 6:12).
So... while you can certainly argue that Joshua and Zerubbabel may be in some way linked to the Two Witnesses, you could also argue that each typifies what Jesus Himself was (at His first coming, being both a literal descendant of David, and an intercessor on our behalf), and is, and will be at His second coming (detailed in Zechariah 9:9). It's worth noting here that even in Zechariah 9, events of His first coming are intermingled with those of the second. People often point to Jesus quoting from Isaiah in the temple (Isaiah 61:2) and stopping at a comma; we find the same pattern all throughout Zechariah.
So, take what you will from that - I'm not suggesting that the two witnesses are Joshua and Zerubbabel, but I think that any discussion of the topic without reference to Zechariah will be incomplete.
In fact, any discussion of anything in Revelation without reference to Zechariah will be incomplete - the two books mirror each other incredibly well.
|
|
|
Post by peaceinthestorm on May 26, 2014 2:08:56 GMT
It's worth noting here that even in Zechariah 9, events of His first coming are intermingled with those of the second. All very interesting. If what you said in the above sentence is also true in Malachi, that could explain why the passage about John the Baptist is next to a sentence about the end of times.
After Philip explained the passage to the Eunuch, he was taken away by the Holy Spirit and ended up in another city. Let us know if that happens to you!
|
|
|
Post by Benjamin on May 26, 2014 2:15:12 GMT
You seem to have lost your avatar. I've fixed it for you.
|
|
|
Post by peaceinthestorm on May 26, 2014 2:31:40 GMT
OK, now I have seen a pink dolphin and it looks ridiculous.
|
|
|
Post by Benjamin on May 26, 2014 2:41:07 GMT
It's a real thing.
|
|
|
Post by peaceinthestorm on May 26, 2014 3:04:59 GMT
Whoops, I didn't mean to insult the pink dolphin. I am sure his mother thinks he is quite handsome.
|
|