In Revelation 11:3, John is told about the two special witnesses who will preach in Jerusalem for 1,260 days (three and a half years). The Bible doesn’t tell us specifically who these two are, but some scholars say the two are representative characters, not real individuals, but symbols of the law and the prophets, the law and the gospel, the Old Testament and the New Testament. Most scholars, however, believe the two witnesses are two individuals, and they speculate about their identities.
Some say the two witnesses are Enoch and Elijah. Enoch walked with God and the Lord “took him” (Genesis 5:24). Similarly, the prophet Elijah was taken up “by a whirlwind to heaven” (2 Kings 2:11). Neither of these men experienced death. As such, some see them as the two witnesses of Revelation 11. READ MORE →
This week, John Shorey will be back with us to discuss the timing of the Lord’s return. I think it’s the right time to share with you my studies on this topic.
To me, Revelation 11 is one of the most exciting chapters in the Bible, because I am convinced that we see the Second Coming in these verses! The chapter begins with some strange instructions for John to measure the temple (11:1–2). The prophet Ezekiel was directed to do something similar after God’s people had been taken captive and exiled in Babylon (Ezekiel 40–43). What’s the purpose of these measurements? In Ezekiel, I believe God was reminding His people that the temple belonged to Him and it would be preserved. I think that same message underlies these initial verses in Revelation 11. READ MORE →
In light of recent world events, Lori and I were flipping through the Christian TV channels, trying to find something relevant to the times we are living in. Instead, we found more of the same old “love of money” gospel we have been hearing for decades.
Interestingly, it is the scientific community, not Christian theologians, announcing that we are living on the precipice of destruction. Hollywood is heralding the news that the earth is about to encounter something cataclysmic. READ MORE →
A Reuters news article portends a dire future for churches in debt, noting that a record number of churches are defaulting on their mortgages, and banks are foreclosing on churches in record numbers. In 2010, 270 churches defaulted; in 2011, 138 churches defaulted. The article notes, “That compares to just 24 sales in 2008 and only a handful in the decade before.”11
Listening to some television evangelists, you would think they have won the entire world to Christ. The Bible, however, says, “The way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”12 This is sobering, and I think we all need to examine our hearts. If we are truly in the last days, “the beginning of sorrows,”13 things are not going to get better. For the Antichrist to arrive, mankind must be in a hopeless situation. READ MORE →
What does a person do with that sort of knowledge? I confess I was afraid to do much. After all, who was I? I had been just recently released from prison. Who would believe that I was receiving visions from God? What right did I have to prophesy? Who would want to hear a warning message of impending death and disaster? So I said little about the visions until that New Year’s Eve in 1999.
On the eve of the millennium, after I had spoken of the vision, including the horrific vision of a future Los Angeles earthquake, an elderly, highly accurate, well-known prophet approached me and said, “Jim, you have declared thirty-one prophetic events—and you are right on.” READ MORE →
These nightmarish events gave me great insight into how the world systems, the Great Harlot, will be destroyed in an hour.
Since that time, our nation has experienced numerous attempted terrorist attacks, many of which have been foiled, but some, such as the attacks on military bases, have succeeded. Others came close to succeeding, such as the attempt in December 1999, when terrorists in Seattle were discovered trying to smuggle powerful explosives into the country.
Of course, domestic terrorism catapulted to an entirely new level on April 20, 1999, when we witnessed the deadliest school massacre in our nation’s history at Columbine High School in Colorado. Again, I could not have imagined what sort of terrorism was soon to follow. But on July 20, 2012, a young man went on a shooting rampage at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, shooting seventy-one people and killing twelve in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. The spirit of the Antichrist is running rampant. READ MORE →
Now for Some Good News!
Besides these and some other frightening scenarios, I saw several encouraging signs in these visions. For example, I saw that great church leaders would emerge from minorities, especially from Hispanic and Native American groups and others as well.
There will be people who come into your church who will shock you. They have been to hell and back. God is going to bring in people who will cause your hair to curl if you knew what they had done. But they have been redeemed, changed, and saved forevermore. READ MORE →
I also saw “weather more out of control than ever before.” I saw floods and mudslides, with people suffocating, buried in mud. I was driving down the street, and in a flash I saw the picture of a horrible flood. Just a few days later, on December 15, 1999, torrential rains and flash floods created devastating mudslides in the state of Vargas in Venezuela. Tens of thousands of people perished, thousands of homes were destroyed, and the state’s infrastructure completely collapsed.
One of the key phrases God gave me was death by water. This was six years before Hurricane Katrina. In front of a live audience on July 14, 2005, I announced that God told me that New Orleans would be totally under water. There would be a sea of water over New Orleans. Seven weeks later, Hurricane Katrina hit, devastating the Crescent City and vast portions of the Deep South. READ MORE →
Since that time, our nation has experienced numerous attempted terrorist attacks, many of which have been foiled, but some, such as the attacks on military bases, have succeeded. Others came close to succeeding, such as the attempt in December 1999, when terrorists in Seattle were discovered trying to smuggle powerful explosives into the country. READ MORE →
This leads us to the next item on the list: a call for a world leader. This is also happening now! I believe the Antichrist is alive today.
I wrote down, “Keep eyes on Jesus, not miracles.” In my study of Revelation, I came to realize that the Antichrist will have incredible power. His assistant also will be able to perform miracles. Don’t follow miracles, though. Follow Jesus. The scripture is clear: “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles” (Revelation 16:14). READ MORE →
