Standing Firm

Read Revelation 8:6–11:19

3. “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in burlap and will prophesy during those 1,260 days.”
4. These two prophets are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of all the earth.
5. If anyone tries to harm them, fire flashes from their mouths and consumes their enemies. This is how anyone who tries to harm them must die.
6. They have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. And they have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.
7. When they complete their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit will declare war against them, and he will conquer them and kill them.
8. And their bodies will lie in the main street of Jerusalem. Revelation 11:3-8

News programs occasionally report about a person who took a stand for right against a tremendous injustice or wrong. Although the person’s crusade may seem hopeless, he or she continues to stand on conviction. And sometimes this person even wins.

In this reading, two prophets stand up against the world for God’s message. Their mission is life-and-death, for themselves and for those to whom they preach.

The two witnesses were opposed for telling everyone about sin, repentance, and the coming judgment. The opposition came from everyone, not just a large majority or a powerful few. The opposition included violence. As soon as God withdrew his protection from the two witnesses, the people killed them and then celebrated their death (Revelation 11:10). Even though the witnesses were right, no one listened.

Being the only spokesperson for God’s point of view doesn’t make that point of view wrong. The majority may very well be wrong, every single one of them. If so, it doesn’t do you any good to be wrong right along with them. And if you try, the most you can hope for is to have some company in your failure, but what consolation is that? In the case of the two witnesses, virtually the entire world was wrong.

Stand up for what is right no matter how few people share your convictions. Those who have closed their minds to God’s Word will have to answer for themselves. God’s truth will stand on its own, even if you’re the only one defending it.