Thought from today’s Bible reading from Revelation 6-11.
Revelation 11 contains the description of “two witnesses” who would be granted authority by the Lord and would prophesy on His behalf (Revelation 11:3). There are different theories as to the identity of these two witnesses or prophets. I will not take the time to delve into them in this brief article. Regardless of who or what the two witnesses represent, they revealed the will of God and were killed for it (Revelation 11:7). Notice the reaction of the people to the death of the two witnesses:
“And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 11:10).
The only crime committed by these two witnesses was that they spoke the word of God. But the word of God was so hated that the people rejoiced, celebrated, and exchanged gifts upon learning of their deaths. Truth “tormented” them; therefore, they had contempt for those who taught the truth.
It should not surprise us when we are persecuted in various ways for teaching the word of God. Even today, the pure, unadulterated word of God is not popular. Many simply do not love the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10). Paul told Timothy he needed to be willing to suffer for the gospel (2 Timothy 1:8). Remember what Jesus said:
“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).
If people are hostile toward the gospel, we should not try to change the message to make it more appealing. Some are simply not interested in the truth and will aggressively oppose it. We should expect this and prepare to deal with it. And while they might rejoice as we are made to suffer, we may also rejoice as we look to the reward.
Tomorrow’s reading: Revelation 12-18
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
