Verse 11: “And it came about after 3 and a half days that the spirit of life, from God, shall enter into them. And they stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon all those who saw them.”

The latter half of Daniels 70th week is 3.5 years. Now we are looking at a resurrection happening after 3.5 days. Their message was about repentance – repentance begets life. The witnesses mainly testified to Israel during those 3.5 years that they were on earth. God is going to bring life into Israel during this time. 

Spirit of life, from God: In Genesis 2v7 we see God giving His breath of life to Adam, the father of humanity. In this passage, we see a kind of Kingdom creation/2nd creation receiving that same breath of life from God.

Verse 12: “And they heard a great voice from heavens speaking unto them, saying: ‘Come up here,’ And they went up in a cloud towards the heavens and their enemies saw them.”

Eternal life conquers death.

Verse 13: “At that hour there was a great earthquake. One tenth of the city (Jerusalem) fell and 7000 people were killed in the earthquake. And the rest were seized by fear and they gave glory to the God of heaven.”

There is a purpose for an earthquake. It shakes the earth in order to bring about a change. Even though they had hated the witnesses, when they saw them go in a cloud toward heaven and experienced the earthquake, a change happened in them.

They gave glory … at long last a proper response! God has created us to give glory to Him. Give glory to God no matter what your circumstances are.

Verse 14: “The second woe has passed; and behold the third woe is coming soon.”

Verse 15: “And the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there came about great voices in the heavens, and they said: ‘Behold, the Kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our L-rd and His Messiah, and He will rule forever and ever.”

Resurrection is followed with a proclamation of the Kingdom.

The testimony from those two witnesses was very important. They simply spoke prophetic truth and, in so doing, brought about God’s ruler ship.

As believers we won’t be here to see all these latter things taking place, but they are important for us to know about, as they teach us about the character of God. It gives us a Biblical glimpse of the Almighty God who is going to rule over His creation.

He will rule forever and ever. This is a promise!

Verse 16: “And the twenty-four elders, the ones who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their face and they worshipped God.”

Even though these elders have their own thrones they are most often getting off them and falling down before God in humility and worship. When God rules our lives we are quick to worship Him.

Verse 17: “And they said, ‘We give thanks to You, L-rd God of Hosts, the One who is and was. And You have put on great power and You will reign.”

There is a change in this refrain. Messiah is coming to set up His kingdom. Are we investing in His Kingdom or are most of our energies taken up by the kingdom we live in right now? Do we live for this one that is going to be utterly destroyed? We have the privilege of submitting to Him now.

Verse 18: “And the nations were angry (enraged); and Your wrath has come. And the time to judge the dead, and to give reward to your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to the ones who fear Your name, both small and great, and to destroy the ones who destroyed the earth.”

At Messiah Yeshua’ s 1st coming He did not come to judge man (John 12v47) but He came thatwe might have salvation. When Messiah Yeshua returns the 2nd time He is coming to judge, because the Father has given all judgment to Him (John 5v22). He is going to represent the Holiness, authority and power of Almighty God.

He is coming to bring His wages/outcomes that He has promised. (Romans 2v5-11)

Verse 19: “And the Temple (Sanctuary, Holy Place) was opened in heaven and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there came about lightening and sounds and thundering and an earthquake and great hail.” 

In the Tanakh, the ark of His covenant was the place where the tablets, with the Ten Commandments written on them, were housed. In a Synagogue, today, what is called ‘the Ark of God’ houses the Torah. The Torah is synonymous with judgement.
Judgement needs to be thought of in two ways:

1. Judgement in the sense of condemnation

2. Judgement in the sense of vindication. Lightening and sounds and thundering: (See Chapter 4v5 in regard to Mt Sinai)

When we think of Mt Sinai (Exodus 20) we need to think of two things:

1) change – God wanted to bring miraculous and G-dly change to His people. Change that would reflect the character of God’s kingdom – His laws, statutes and commandments.

2) God wanted to reveal truth to the people. There is a relationship between truth and change. The law is going to go forth from Zion (Micah 4v2) Holiness and righteousness are seen in the statutes, laws and commandments of God.

Before this change can occur, i.e. before Messiah Yeshua sets up His millennial Kingdom, Israel has to get right with God.