If you are a serious student of Scripture, and I hope you are, then, you’ve probably noticed that Bible commentators have a tendency to skip over the Bible’s most difficult passages. If they comment on them at all, they do so while quickly passing by them on their way to an easier passage to exegete. When it comes to Bible prophecy, there is arguably no more difficult passage of Scripture in all of the Bible than Revelation 11:1-14. In this passage, we are told about God’s end-time “two witnesses.” In order to prove the sincerity of my intention to conduct a serious study of Bible prophecy in this publication, I’ve elected to begin piecing together Bible prophecy with this most difficult prophetic passage.   

The late president of Dallas Theological Seminary, Dr. John Walvord, called Revelation 11:1-14 “the most difficult [passage] in the Apocalypse.” As proof, he cited a comparison of commentaries that revealed the widest kind of disagreement. In his commentary on the Greek New Testament, Henry Alford writes, “No solution has ever been given of this portion of the prophecy.” Then, Alford goes on  to add, “Any apocalyptic commentary which explains everything is self-convicted of error.” In other words, the famous Greek scholar concedes that this difficult passage is, and will forever remain, uninterpretable.

Many will undoubtedly nod their heads in feigned humility at Alford’s assertion, agreeing with him that anyone who suggest a certain interpretation of this difficult passage is guilty of extreme hubris. I, on the other hand, find it hard to believe that God has purposely put something in His Word that is to forever remain unintelligible. What would be the point of putting it in His Word? While I admit, as the Bible clearly teaches, that “the secret things belong unto the Lord our God,” I also believe that “the things which are revealed belong unto us” (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Granted, “the things of the Spirit” must be “spiritually discerned,” but they are discernible with the Spirit’s illumination (1 Corinthians 2:14). Here, is where true humility is found. It is not in saying that we will never be able to understand difficult passages, but in saying that we will not be able to understand any Scripture without the aid of the Spirit. The correct interpretation of God’s Word is not dependent upon our intelligence, but the Spirit’s illumination.

To rush into this difficult passage, a passage within which biblical scholars fear to tread, on feeble feet of fallible clay would truly be foolhardy. Yet, let me assure you that such is not the case when it comes to my commentary on this difficult passage. Although I firmly believe that all I plan on writing is biblically sound, I readily confess my fallibility and the possibility that what I’ll write may be proven wrong over time.

As I have readily confessed my fallibility, I would like to call upon you to do likewise. You know, as well as I do, that the prejudices of our preconceived ideas can blur the Scripture so that its true meaning is obscured from plain sight. Again and again we automatically interpret passages to mean what we’ve been taught and have always thought. God forbid that someone dares to suggest another possible interpretation. The moment they do, they are immediately denounced and their interpretation discounted; not necessarily because their interpretation is contrary to what the Scripture says, but because it is contrary to what we say. 

All I ask of you, the reader of this publication, is that you weigh what I will write with the Scriptures. If you decide it lines up with the Scripture, then, you must change your beliefs to fit into what the Bible says. On the other hand, if you decide it dose not line up with the Scripture, then, discount what I write and hold on to your beliefs. In addition, send us your scriptural rebuttal. If it does prove us wrong, we’ll be glad to share it in this publication for all to read.

If this publication begins to generate serious discussion among serious students of Bible prophecy, we may launch a forum on our Time For Truth website where ongoing discussion can take place online. Of course, this is dependent upon your feedback and willingness to participate in a serious ongoing discussion, as well as your help in promoting this publication to others. I would love to see this occur, but must admit that I’m skeptical of it happening. For the most part, when it comes to Bible prophecy, today’s evangelicals are unwilling to even listen to anything different from what they’ve always thought and been taught. Furthermore, they want the complex subject of Bible prophecy reduced down to a few cute cliches that fit on bumper stickers or T-shirts. They certainly don’t want to participate in the arduous and time-consuming task of a deep excavation of the prophetic scriptures in order to uncover treasured truths that will help us to understand our times and to know what we ought to do.

Are you one of the rare modern-day “children of Issachar,” a child of God who wants to understand the times so that you will know what you ought to do (1 Chronicles 12:32)? Are you someone who is willing to “study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed, but who rightly divides the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15)? If so, I invite you to come along with me on this exciting adventure of piecing together Bible prophecy. In addition, I invite you to ask questions, offer feedback and even submit scriptural rebuttals of anything we’ve written that you feel is contrary to what the Bible says. We’ll be glad to include your questions and our answers, your edifying comments, and your scriptural rebuttals of us in this publication. Again, it’s all contingent upon your willingness to accompany us on this journey and your willingness to invite others to come along as well.

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