At the conclusion of the second half of Daniel's seventieth week ("after three days and an half") the eternal Life of God will enter the witnesses and they will stand on their feet. This means they are raised from the dead. Then they ascend into the heaven in a cloud.

Paul stated:

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (I Corinthians 15:51-54)

Notice that the dead shall be changed and raised at the last trumpet. The seventh trumpet is described in the tenth and eleventh chapters of the Book of Revelation, the passage we have been studying.

Notice:

But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. (Revelation 10:7)

Notice further:

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)

Since the dead are to be changed and raised at the last trumpet, the seventh trumpet, since there is no mention in the verses following Revelation 11:15 of the dead being changed and raised, and since in Revelation 11:11 there is a description of the dead being changed and raised ("the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet"), we conclude that Revelation 11:11 is describing the change and resurrection declared by the Apostle Paul in the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians.

It is our point of view that the witnesses of all ages will be changed and raised upon their feet at this time.

In our vision we have mentioned previously we saw the graves opened and the dead stand on their feet. Then something took place I had not anticipated. I had always thought that the moment the dead were raised they would ascend to meet the Lord in the air. But this is not what took place.

Instead there was a marvelous time of fellowship during which the people who had been raised greeted each other as the saints do during an assembling. It was only after they had had ample time to enjoy the wonder and glory of what had taken place that they began to ascend. The whole "cloud," if you wish to call it that, of witnesses slowly and majestically rose to meet the Lord in the air.

The wicked were watching all this take place and were absolutely helpless to do anything about it. "Great fear fell upon them," as the Scripture says.

I did not hear a voice say, "Come up here!" But two thoughts came clearly to my mind.

One was, "You have prepared a table for me in the presence of my enemies."

The second was, "If God were to do nothing else to the wicked they would destroy themselves because of what they have just seen. But this is just the beginning of their sorrows."

To be continued.