The Fiery Furnace
Part 7 of the Two Witnesses Series
There is a beautiful picture of the overcomer church of the last days in Daniel chapter three. Everyone knows the story of the fiery furnace. It is about king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon setting up a golden image that he requires everyone to bow down and worship. Three Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to worship the image. Nebuchadnezzar represents the anti-Christ or beast in the last days. The three Jews represent the overcomers in the last day church.
When the Jews refuse to worship the image, they are brought before the king. He tells them to worship it or they will be thrown into a fiery furnace. Here is their response:
Dan 3:16-19 “We do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up”.
The king is enraged and orders the furnace to be heated up seven times its normal rate. The Jews were tied up and cast into the furnace. To the king’s astonishment, he saw four men walking about in the midst of the fire!
Dan 3:24-25 “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire? They answered, ’True O King’. He then answered and said, ’But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods’”.
Their bonds were removed, they were not hurt by the fire and one like a son of god was walking around with them. The fire is the tribulation, the three Jews are the last day overcomers and the fourth person is Jesus. The last day overcomers overcome the beast by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony and they love not their lives even unto death. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not love their own lives even to the point of death. The overcomers in the last day church will die rather than worship the beast. As a result, they are in the very presence of Jesus in the sanctuary!
The guards who threw the three Jews into the fire were killed by the fire coming out of the mouth of the furnace. This is a foreshadow of the fire coming out of the mouths of the two witnesses.
Rev 11:4,5 They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.” If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.
If the enemies of the overcomers attempt to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and kills them. This goes on for three and a half years. We don’t know if this is literal or spiritual, but the result is the same. The overcomers are protected during the three-and-a-half-year tribulation. Remember the promise to the church of Philadelphia? I will keep you from the hour of testing that is coming upon the whole earth. That hour of testing is the great tribulation. The Holy Spirit anointing (the first witness) is upon the overcomer company (the second witness) as they both testify of the truth during the tribulation.
What about the apostate Laodicean church in the tribulation? She is stripped of everything she has accomplished and bragged about. She goes from having everything to having nothing. Just like Israel in the wilderness, she is forced to trust in God alone, and just like Israel, she is taken to a wilderness where God nourishes her back to health during the tribulation. The lovingkindness of our God is overwhelming!
Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
Verse 10 describes something remarkably interesting that is rarely, if ever, talked about. After the two witnesses have finished their ministry, they lay their lives down just like Jesus did when He had finished His ministry. Those who dwell on the earth rejoice and celebrate and send gifts to one another because they are dead. The two witnesses have tormented them for three and half years!
We always hear about how bad the Christians are persecuted in the tribulation but what about the unbelievers who are following after the beast? The unbelievers are tormented during the entire tribulation period! The overcomers stop the rain from falling! They turn the waters into blood! They strike the earth with plagues as often as they desire! When the unbelievers strike back at the overcomers in an attempt to stop the torment, they are devoured by fire! There is no doubt that the Laodicean Christians will be disciplined and reproved during the tribulation, but nothing compared to what the unbelievers go through!