August 14: DEVOURING ENEMIES
And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. Revelation 11:5
In the context of recent verses, the commission divinely handed to John becomes, by extension, the commission of God’s church. It is true that, apart from living and speaking under the direction of the Holy Spirit, any attempt at righteousness amounts to only filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). We must realize that every commission from the Lord is also aided by Him. The singleness of purpose—saving souls—in God’s message to the world never calls for “lone rangers” (notice that mouth is singular but modified by their: their mouth!). In the Lord’s saving work, it is a comfort and a delight—even in the midst of bitter rejection by unbelievers—to be accompanied and comforted by His Spirit (see Luke 12:12), to be fortified by truth that does not change, and to rely on that which is infinitely greater than ourselves. Thank God that none of us are “lone rangers”! There is a divine “plurality” to effective witnessing.
The powerful imagery of our verse today brings to mind a host of lessons found in Scripture. The prophet Zechariah spoke of Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the royal governor, both of whom lived up to the call to restore the temple. The activity of the two witnesses of Revelation 11 resembles these two. Keep in mind that the temple of our body needs restoration and cleansing. Jesus has made us kings and priests to His God and Father (Revelation 1:6). Each of us has a royal and priestly role to fulfill. There is not enough space to expound upon the activities of Moses and Elijah, who come to mind with the wording found in Revelation 11. In one instance, Elijah was called (2 Kings 1:3) to confront King Ahaziah for looking to Baal-Zebub (just another name for Satan per Matthew 10:25; 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15, 18,19). The king did not like Elijah’s message and dispatched a military contingent (twice) of 50 men against him. In both instances they were devoured by fire from heaven (see 2 Kings 1:10,12). This is a foreshadowing of the executive judgment of Revelation 20:9: And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts: “Because you speak this word, Behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, And this people wood, And it shall devour them. Jeremiah 5:14
A personal note from the writer: I am thankful to have been taught very early of the truth and reliability of God’s word, along with the fact that He is love. Later, in reading that word for myself, I encountered point after point, each serving as a rebuke to the way I was living, specifically addressing many of the poor choices I was making, overall selfish attitudes, and man-made traditions I placed above His word. In asking for His help to overcome these things, I have found His love to be a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). Indeed, the word that proceeds from His mouth devours the enemies within me that would stand as roadblocks to eternal life. We each must face enemies within ourselves. If there is any negative spirit within me that wants to harm (or ignore) any part of the message of the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth, my prayer is that it will be killed in this manner, for “Many waters cannot quench love” (Song of Solomon 8:7)
We know from the words of Moses that the LORD’s love is the foundation of His law: Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. And he said: “The LORD came from Sinai, and dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints. From His right hand came a fiery law for them. Yes, He loves the people… (Deuteronomy 33:1-3a)