Tim Moore/US Correspondent.
When Marvin Gaye sang, “Can I get a witness?” in 1963, he was not speaking in theological terms. The phrase itself is said to have originated in the African American church in the 19th century and has been used in legal and religious settings ever since.
A single testifier lacks standing—in ancient Israel and in a modern courtroom. But the testimony of two or more credible witnesses provides the basis for admissible, reliable evidence. There are exceptions to this rule, as I experienced once when serving on a jury.
Another obvious example is the eyewitness testimony of Almighty God. With His statement, “In the beginning…” He revealed how the universe was created and how He filled the earth with life. His credibility is absolute, so I do not need another witness to corroborate His account. Anyone who rejects His testimony to posit other theories is engaging in foolish speculation. Similarly, no one can know what will happen at the end of the age unless God reveals it to us (Matthew 24:3). Jesus made this point to His disciples when they expressed great eagerness to know the timing of His restoration of the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6).
But God did reveal much about the End Times through His prophets, just as He indicated to Amos: “Certainly the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret plan to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).
And, He revealed many more details to Paul and Peter and John—including an entire book that describes itself as “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place…” (Revelation 1:1). Why did Jesus choose to reveal so much detail about the end of the age to John and, in turn, to us? Because “the time is near” (Revelation 1:3).
An Urgent Testimony
It is easy to get so caught up in the spectacular detail of the book of Revelation (with its letters to the Seven Churches, the Seal, Trumpet, and Bowl Judgments, and all the other activity John sees in Heaven and on Earth) that we miss the point of this book.
Jesus clearly wants to offer encouragement to the Church as it awaits the Rapture. He also was pointed in His admonition for churches (and individual Christians) who have lost their First Love, allowed heresy and apostasy to creep into their doctrine, tolerated the intolerable, or cooled in their faith to the point that Jesus is standing outside knocking at the door to get back in! But there is another reason that God the Father willed for Jesus Christ to offer this sweeping revelation. And that is out of His great love and mercy.
God would be justified in pouring out wrath on an unrepentant world with no warning whatsoever. Those who have rejected Him would receive their just reward—death and damnation. But God always warns before He pours out judgment:
- He did so before the Flood, when Noah was a preacher of righteousness while he was building the Ark.
- He did so with Sodom and Gomorrah, when He sent two angels to rescue Lot and his family (and validate the wickedness of the cities).
- He did so with Nineveh, when He sent Jonah (the reluctant messenger) to warn them of their impending fate.
You might say, “But God did not always offer a clear path to avoid His wrath.” Let’s consider Jonah’s seeker-sensitive message (sarcasm intended). When he finally arrived at Nineveh, still smelling suspiciously fishy, the succinct message he delivered for a single day was, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4). No appeal to repentance. No overt offer of salvation. No hint of a second chance.
Yet the people of Nineveh, “from the greatest to the least of them,” understood the inherent choice before them. They chose to believe in God and repent. By order of the king, they put on sackcloth and ashes, humbled themselves before Almighty God, and prayed that God might “turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish” (Jonah 3:5-9).
The heart of God is revealed in His response: “He relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it” (Jonah 3:10). Jonah was angry that God’s anger had been turned aside. He admitted that his initial refusal to obey God’s commission was “in order to forestall this” outcome. As he said, “I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity” (Jonah 4:2). Sadly, Jonah said he would rather die than see the Ninevites saved.
Scripture is clear: some of those who are perishing choose wrath rather than repentance.
God’s Final Appeal
Toward the end of the Trumpet Judgments, John records a dramatic scene playing out in Jerusalem and another in midheaven.
Shortly after the sixth trumpet sounds, John is given a little book to eat. It tastes sweet but makes his stomach bitter. Much like the book given to Ezekiel, this book likely represents the final outpouring of God’s prophesied wrath. While the judgments of God are righteous and true to the believer (tasting good), they are “lamentations, mourning, and woe” to the unbelieving world—thus bitter as their implications are digested (Ezekiel 2:10).
Indeed, the following chapter in Revelation reveals God’s plan to send two great prophetic witnesses to testify to the world from Jerusalem. They have power from on high to cause worldwide drought, fresh water to turn to blood, and plagues to ensue “as often as they desire” (Revelation 11:6). So ominous is their message that they wear sackcloth.
For three and a half years, the Antichrist will be unable to silence these two witnesses—until God removes the hedge of protection He has raised around them, and they are struck down halfway through the Tribulation. Even then, God validates their message and their faithfulness by resurrecting them three days later, then calling them heavenward with a Rapture-like call, “Come up here” (Revelation 11:12).
Just three chapters later, John records the commissioning of an angel who flies in midheaven (the air above the earth), preaching the eternal Gospel to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.
What is the point of these final appeals to a rebellious world? To prove that even in wrath, He remembers mercy (Habakkuk 3:2). The same God that sent Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners will demonstrate once again His great love for mankind (Romans 5:8).
Tragically, most of the people in the world will reject the grace, love, and mercy of God, even as the Seal and Trumpet Judgments are inflicting them grievously. Isn’t that true right now? Billions are rushing headlong toward Hell, oblivious and apathetic about the free offer of salvation that could be theirs. And that is where you and I come in.
What Is Your Response?
Some Christians read Revelation and focus on the judgments and the wrath. I read the book and see the great love of God revealed by the fact that He warns those who are perishing. Similar to the four Gospels and all the other 61 books of the Bible, Revelation is a love letter from God to His wayward creatures.
With regard to the two witnesses and the circumnavigating angel, you might think, “God doesn’t really need me to share the Gospel. He’s able to get that message of salvation out without me.” That is true, but it misses the point of the Great Commission. God has chosen to involve you in His great mission to save a lost and dying world. That charge is both a responsibility and a privilege—and is accomplished both to the glory of God and to our great blessing.
Knowing the end of the story as laid out in Scripture (and Revelation in particular) and failing to warn those destined for destruction would smack of Jonah’s callous disregard for the people of Nineveh. Instead, the way to receive the blessing for not only reading but also “heeding” the prophecies recorded in Revelation is to act on your understanding while you have breath.
Each of us is surrounded by “dead men walking”—souls destined for Hell unless they repent and embrace Jesus Christ in this lifetime. Even if the Lord comes as soon as I hope, there are some who will not live to enter the Tribulation. So, the question God would pose to professing Christians who embrace His prophetic Word and discern that the time is near remains: “Can I get a witness?”
