Christian churches that are strong in moral conviction and behavior act as leaven in society. They have a powerful influence on the behavior of non-Christians. But because of the current lawless-grace-rapture emphasis of today's churches, the moral conviction and behavior of Christian people have been very greatly weakened. The lampstand, the moral light by which all nations are to guide their conduct, has been withdrawn. The leaven is being removed from society and the result is more evident each day.

From our point of view, the clearest (but by no means the only) portrayal in the Scriptures of the overcoming of the saints, and the resulting revelation of Antichrist, is found in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Revelation.

As we understand it, the "two witnesses" of Revelation, Chapter 11 are a symbolic portrayal of the latter rain—the double portion of God's Spirit that the Hebrew Prophets declared would be given to the Lord's servants in the last days.

Because of the type of miracles that will be performed by the two witnesses, such as fire coming out of their mouths and the shutting of the heavens so it does not rain during their prophecy, it has been conjectured that the two witnesses are two prophets of the Old Testament who will appear on the earth before the close of the age.

But the teaching is just this—conjecture. It is important to realize that in no passage of the Old Testament or the New Testament is it suggested that two prophets of the Old Testament will bear witness on the earth in the last days. The similarity of the miracles to those performed by Elijah and Moses is not a strong enough reason to overcome the lack of scriptural support for the return of these two men.

Elisha would be a much more likely candidate. The incidents in the life of Elisha of the two bears slaying forty-two youths (two witnesses during forty-two months); Elisha's death through sickness (the overcoming of the witnesses); and the raising from the dead of the man who touched Elisha's bones (the reviving of the witnesses); provide a stronger symbolic basis than the similarity to the works performed through Moses.

What would Elijah and Moses preach? The Law of Moses? The Gospel of Christ?

It is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God that is to be preached as a witness in the last days (Matthew 24:14), and it is the members of Christ's Body on whom the power of the Spirit will abide so they may be witnesses of the Lord Jesus (Acts 1:8).

The "rapture" teaching is that the Church is in Heaven with the Holy Spirit at the time of the prophesying of the two witnesses. How, then, can the two witnesses prophesy without the Holy Spirit? This is just one of the numerous inconsistencies and conflicts contained in the pre-Antichrist-rapture teaching.

The concept of the reincarnation of two prophets, or their descent from Heaven, is without precedent in the Scriptures. It is not God's way to summon people from the past to perform the work of the Kingdom. Each new generation of saints has its own opportunities and challenges. Many who are last in time will be first in the Kingdom of God.

To be continued.