1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 Revelation: Prophets of God's Mercy Scripture Reading: Revelation 11:1-14 This chapter in Revelation is one of the places in the book in which the interpretive principles of the commentator show through very clearly.&amp;nbsp; Over a century ago, Henry Alford, a reputable New Testament scholar and commentator, wrote that Revelation 11 is &quot;undoubtably one of the most difficult [chapters] in the whole Apocalypse&quot; … and &quot;no solution has ever been given to this portion of the prophecy&quot; (Alford, The Greek Testament, IV:655,658). The approach I have employed in our study of Revelation is to take words and phrases literally whenever it is possible to do so … of course, allowing for obvious symbolic language.&amp;nbsp; With that in mind, the terms in this chapter will be taken normally.&amp;nbsp; The temple is a reference to a rebuilt temple, during the time of tribulation … the 'two witnesses' are two individuals … 'great city' is Jerusalem … the 'forty-two months' are a literal three and a half year time period … the earthquake is a literal earthquake. The two witnesses are prophets (Rev 11:3,6) who have the power to do miracles to buttress their message of God's judgment and salvation, like Old Testament prophets also did.&amp;nbsp; They are sent to proclaim God's message to &quot;peoples and tribes and languages and nations&quot; (Rev 11:9, cf. 10:11).&amp;nbsp; Eventually, like the prophets of old, they will be killed by the enemies of God.&amp;nbsp; This chapter is another display of God's mercy to an unbelieving world.&amp;nbsp; The prophets of old were always a display of divine mercy in the face of impending judgment.&amp;nbsp; God is patient and faithfully beckons rebels to receive His mercy.&amp;nbsp; It is suicidal folly to love the darkness of evil more than the light of life. Bethel Baptist Church https://bethelbaptistscs.org/ <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/39569060/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/197004100