After writing Part I, it took me a while to come up with the second part. I have been battling with spiritual oppression after posting part I that it kind of drained my energy. I did feel much better after uttering a prayer for spiritual warfare. I am also grateful to those who included me in their prayers.

Anyway, let’s talk about End Times. I know a lot of you are scared whenever this topic is brought up. I know I was scared before. I kept thinking and hoping either that day will never come or I won’t have to be here to witness it. But the Lord made me realize that His reason for sending His prophets to share their visions and prophecies is to prepare us for what is to come. Para hindi tayo mabigla at sabihing, “Lord, wala man lang warning?” Para hindi natin sisihin balang araw ang Diyos sa mga mangyayari dahil tayo mismo ay alam natin kung bakit pinahintulutan ng Panginoon na mangyari ang lahat ng mga ito.

End Times still scares me. But my God is bigger than my fear, and I love God and His every Word. That includes all the prophecies written by the prophets. If you are still scared, pray to the Lord for strength, courage as well as for knowledge, and understanding. We can get through the Tribulation by allowing Christ to be the source of our courage and strength.

In my previous blog (End of Church Age Part I), I discussed chapter 12 of the book of Revelation. To recap, I talked about the meanings of the woman with 12 stars on her head, the dragon who we all know is Satan and the two wings that God gave the woman. I needed to start with Rev 12 to introduce 2 key “persons” in Rev 11.

Before I begin with Revelation 11, we need to understand that this is a vision witnessed by John, meaning the things he saw could be one continuous event or flashes of different events. Not everything written in the book of Revelation is in chronological order, like, everything starts with Revelation 4 then events in Revelation 5 occur, and so on. The entire Revelation 11 is a sort of summary of the 7-year tribulation period (the last week of Daniel’s 70-week prophecy) that involves the Two Witnesses. When John saw this vision, he was observing the events within that 7 year period in relation to the Two Witnesses.

After John ate the scroll given to him by an angel, he was taken to another vision. Rev 11 opens with him being told to measure the temple but leaving out the court outside the temple “for it was given to the GENTILES and they will trample/tread the holy city for 42 months” v.2. This verse is the one Jesus mentioned in Matthew 24:15 and can also be found in Daniel 11:31. This “42 MONTHS” is the second half of the 7-year tribulation period where the Beast and the Antichrist are given authority for 3.5 years (42 months) to do whatever they want.

V.3 tells us about Two Witnesses who will prophesy (speak the word of God) for 1,260 days (42 months or 3.5 years). This period is the first half (first 3.5 years) of the tribulation period. 

These Two Witnesses are the 2 Olive Trees (anointed servants – Zechariah 4:14 / spiritual leaders of the flock of God) and the 2 Lampstands (churches –  Revelation 1:20) who stood before the Lord of the earth (Christian witnesses to the Messiah). The “fire that comes out of their mouths” is the Word of God (Jeremiah 23:29). They also have the power to shut down the heavens so it will not rain (blessings / favor, teachings – Deuteronomy 32:2 | Proverbs 16:15, | Malachi 3:10).

Their mission is to spread the Word of God but after 3.5 years (end of the 1st half of the 7-year tribulation period), the Beast from the abyss / bottomless pit shall rise and destroy these 2 Witnesses. Their death marks the begining of the Great Tribulation (the 2nd half of the 7-year period).

The 2 Lampstands which symbolize 2 Churches are the same 2 Wings that the Lord attached to the Woman (True Church of Christ) in Revelation 12: The Eastern Orthodox Church and the Western Roman Catholic Church. The 2 Olive Trees are the 2 leaders of these churches: the Patriarch (Eastern Orthodox Church) and the Pope (Roman Catholic Church). 

These 2 Witnesses (2 Churches) will be destroyed and desecrated by their common enemy (the Beast from the Abyss) because of what these 2 did during the 2nd Council of Nicaea when they allowed the restoration of the graven images in worship houses. The Lord is angry with these 2 Churches for misleading His flocks and for abusing all the authority and power the Lord has given over the heavens and earth. Because of the restoration of these graven images / icons, most of the Lord’s flock are under the curse of idolatry (Romans 1:18-32). 

The Lord will use the Beast to remove all pagan churches and all graven images and icons inside worship houses, so the Beast will be given authority to do everything “they” want for 1 hour—equivalent to 1 week—(Rev 17:12). The Lord will allow the death of his 2 Witnesses (Zechariah 13:7 | Rev 11) due to idolatry (Zechariah 13:2)  because ALL IDOLS MUST GO (Isaiah 2:18) before the 7th Trumpet sounds. 

The churches’ ruins will lie on what is metaphorically called Sodom (Rome) and metaphorically Egypt (Turkey) and everyone who hates these 2 churches will gloat and celebrate over their dead bodies (destroyed churches).

V.8 uses “Sodom” and “Egypt” to metaphorically show that there are TWO locations that are far apart from each other. Rome was spiritually called Sodom because it was known for the sin of sodomy (like Sodom); Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, located in Turkey) was known for idolatry and structures (like Egypt). Based on historical facts, the headquarters of these 2 oldest and largest Christian Churches are located in Rome and Constantinople, which were both under the same empire THAT CRUCIFIED THE LORD.

V.11-12 But the Lord has chosen these 2 Churches as instruments to spread Christianity all over the world. So God will call them back to life after 42 mos (or less) wearing “new robes that are washed.” Their faith in God saved them, not their works or everything else they had done. Two-thirds (from the Church of God) shall perish and one-third (sealed) shall survive the Lord’s testing (Zechariah 13:8-9).

V.13 Then there will be a great earthquake that killed 7,000 (households in Jerusalem alone), which is also the same earthquake that takes place during the 7th Bowl of God’s Wrath (Revelation 16).

I do believe that v.14 is another vision if the 2nd woe John was referring to is the 6th Trumpet, and is not a sort of continuation of v.3-13 because the 3rd woe (7th Trumpet) is sounded before the great earthquake takes place. It seems to me that during the 2nd woe (6th Trumpet), the 2 Witnesses are still dead but are resurrected before or during the 3rd woe (7th Trumpet). But take it with a grain of salt. I humbly admit that I can be wrong with how I interpret v.14.

There are many different interpretations out there, which I have also read and tried to understand. But this is the truth that I know of. These interpretations were also shared to me by other Christians who are well-versed with the bible. I am not forcing anyone to believe this interpretation, but please do pray for God’s Spirit of Understanding to help you discern the meaning behind John’s vision in the book of Revelation.

I would really like to continue and write about Revelation 13 (and a portion of Revelation 17) next, but I do not know when I’ll be able to do so. Unfortunately, every time I try to write something about God, even just a personal testimony, and post it on my blog or Facebook page, I often get sick or have anxiety and panic attacks, and then there’s depression. But I do pray that the Lord will always give me the courage and strength to continue writing things about Him. I am not really good at speaking, for if I were I would have turned this into a vlog! But the Lord gave me writing, which I really love. Besides that, I did ask him to give me a talent or a skill. This was it. So I want to use writing as my medium to talk about God and everything about Him.

If anyone of you is interested to know more and can’t wait for my next blog, feel free to DM me and we can discuss the remaining chapters of the Book of Revelation. I’m not saying I’m an expert on this matter but I really would love to talk to you about this book and perhaps we can learn something from each other.

May God bless you and keep you.