Witness the Beasts!So we are moving around a bit this week but for good reason! We are going to draw comparisons and contrasts between the two witnesses of Rev. 11 and two beasts of Rev. 13 these four characters form the supporting cast for the main conflict of Revelation and repudiate their leaders and are similar in their behavior and role to each other

So it’s not the end of the world.... or is it.. sometimes it is hard to know with everything going on, governments failing, nations warring, children starving, people hurting, babies crying, fish drowning, rivers spawning mutant animals... yup the world may not be ending but everything seems to be changing... so what do we do... where do we turn?... is this the end? WEEK 4 Conflict- Witnesses and Beasts

THEEND To Do:Week 4- BeastsWeek 5- BabyWeek 6-Nearing

Witnesses/Beasts

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MARTYR CHURCH- Revelation pictures the church as a martyr church. It is the souls under the altar—representing the church—who were "slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained" (6:9). This is precisely what happens to the two witnesses—they are martyred for their testimony (11:7).

That the two witnesses are called lampstands(like the churches) indicates how Revelation understands their role. In the words of Murray, "They represent the churches fulfilling their vocation to bear witness to Christ in the final time of tribulation,"

The Witnesses symbolize our resilience and resistance

Beast of BurdenOther than the four horsemen and the dragon (next week) the beasts are probably the most “imagematic” or iconic figures in Revelation. With their amalgamation of natural animalistic features in a supernatural combination.

TriTeraLionTigerDon

THE Two Witnesses“And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them”(Revelation 11:3–7 ESV)

The Importance of the two witnesses is not in just who they might be or could have been. The importance of the witnesses is the stand they take in defense of the Gospel and their tactics and power over death

#2 Earth Beast Beast from the Land2 horns like lambtalks like the dragon (chp 12)deceiver/liargives “breath” to “beastly image/mark”takes over economics system of allspeaker for the beast and dragon

#1- Sea Beast /Beast out of Sea10 horns with 10 crowns7 heads with 7 blasphemous namesLeopard/Bear/LionMouth/Healed Wound

Speaks for 42 months= 6 x 7War on the SaintsAuthority over PeopleKiller destoryer Evil Leader

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