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Abaddon & Apollyon
Revelation 9:11 “And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.”
We have seen how sometimes Sheol is mistranslated or misunderstood as “hell”, however where Sheol is actually the resting place for souls,
Abaddon is hell, “the place of destruction” – which is the literal meaning of Abaddon in Hebrew (Abadon H11 – ‘ăḇadôn). Click here to read more on our previous post about Abaddon.
2 Witnesses
Revelation 11:3-4 “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.”
Back in Zechariah 4 we read about the vision of what is explained here in Revelation about the 2 Witnesses, called the Olive Trees. In verse 3 we read, “Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left”, and then verse 12 and 14 says.. “And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches.. “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside YHWH of the whole earth.””
The Olive Trees and Lampstands represent the Anointed (by olive oil). In Matthew 17 we see who these two witnesses are, as they appeared to Yeshua and the 3 disciples that saw them : Moses (representing the Law) and Elijah (representing the warnings and spirit of the Prophets). Click here for our previous posts on these 2 Witnesses.
Sodom & Egypt
Revelation 11:8 “And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Messiah was crucified.”
There are three big themes of “worldliness” and sin that we can learn a lot from in the old testament (the left side of the Bible ignored by most), and that is Sodom & Gomorrah, Egypt and Babylon. We learned that Sodom H5467 – sᵊḏōm means “burning” or scorched. Click here to read more on other posts from Sodom.
Egypt’s role in the Laws (Moses saved after almost killed as a baby) and Yeshua the Messiah (having to escape to Egypt when He was a baby) is quite extraordinary. We looked at the Hebrew meaning of the word Egypt (Mitzrayim H4714 – miṣrayim) – which is also fascinating. The “mitz” part have to do with “squeezing” or “pressure” between two paths. The “ayim” means “double”, which represents the two paths – which are the physical and spiritual path. The physical is represented by Moses, and the spiritual represented by Yeshua – both physical and spiritual Laws. This is also reminiscent of the previous topic of the 2 Olive Tree Witnesses, as Olive oil (used for anointment and being “set apart”) can only be produced by “squeezing” and pressure of the olive itself. Click here to read on previous posts about Egypt.
Temple Opened & Ark of Covenant
Revelation 11:19 “Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple.”
We also read later in Revelation 15:5, “After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.” But later in Revelation 21:22 we read about Jerusalem, “But I saw no temple in it, for YHWH God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” So there will be no Temple in the new Jerusalem, but the Temple is in Heaven, with the ark of the Covenant.
There are some of the prophecies about the Temple, includes where Yeshua himself says in John 2:19, “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I shall raise it.” There is a misconception today that a third temple still have to be built, or will be built by men, but that is not correct. Click here to read our previous posts about the Temple, and the other prophecies made about it. People get their idea from the “third temple” from Ezekiel 40, but it is clearly explained that the Temple is so big, it won’t fit inside Jerusalem – that is because this Temple described is in Heaven!
We also learned right from the beginning in Genesis, the word Ark in Hebrew is Teba H8392 – tēḇâ, meaning a box, chest and even coffin. The same Ark which was used for Noah, and for Moses (placed inside an “ark”/Teba by his mother on the nile river). In all these cases, the Ark represents a Covenant that is made by YHWH with His people. In the same way, Yeshua’s tomb represents an Ark as well. We also learned, inside the Ark of the Covenant, was placed the Laws, called Torah – which are the agreement (also called Testimony) between YHWH and Israel. The Ark of the Covenant misteriously disappeared between the old and new testament, with prophecies by Jeremiah that the ark will not be seen by people anymore. Here in Revelation, we finally see where the Ark is – in Heaven. Click here for previous posts on the Ark.
The accuser
Revelation 12:10 “for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down”
The first time we learned about this accuser, the devil, was in Genesis 3, where he deceived Adam and Eve. Verse 13, “The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”” The devil got something right, to deceive Eve and sin became part of their lives. And because of sin (which is disobedience – click here to read more on “what is sin?”), the devil have become the accuser – pointing out our sins to the Creator. We even see this role being played with Job, where the devil can still approach YHWH and point fingers and accuse Job of only being loyal because YHWH blessed him, Job 1:6 “Now there was a day when the sons of Elohim came to present themselves before YHWH, and Satan also came among them.”
This is what the devil loves to do! Accuse. The role of Judgement however is with YHWH, which He gave to Yeshua. So we have the accuser and the judge. This is why Yeshua repeatedly taught that we should not judge or accuse each other – because if we do, judgement on us will be even worse. The greek word for accuser is G2723 – katēgoreō (click on the link to find other scriptures related to this word). For example, we see the pharisees tried to accuse Yeshua, in Matthew 12:10 ““Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” — that they might accuse Him.”
We also see why the devil has a right to accuse, and it comes down to the Covenant not being kept, the Torah/Laws, which Moses represents. Yeshua says in John 5:45, “Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you — Moses, in whom you trust.” We see here in this Chapter of Revelation 12, that after Yeshua was born, war broke out between the dragon and the angels (verse 7 “And war broke out in heaven”), and then the devil was cast out of heaven. He couldn’t touch Yeshua, so he went after Yeshua’s followers – read more about these followers in the next topic below: Laws.
Laws
Revelation 12:17 “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Yeshua”
The greek word here for the “commandments” is G1785 – entolē, which are the Laws given by Moses. For example, the first place we see this greek word is in Matthew 5:19, “Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven”. In Matthew 15:6 Yeshua is telling the pharisees, who adds their own laws and tradition to YHWH’s Torah, “Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.”
John 15:10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
1 John 2:5 “But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.”
Keeping the commandments comes first, with a pure heart that wants to be obedient – then we can abide in His Love, the love of YHWH will be perfect in us. 1 John 2:3 says, “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.” In Matthew 22 Yeshua repeats the two greatest commandments, and He says in verse 40, “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
The world hates YHWH’s Laws, the devil hates it too.. that is why he goes out with all he has to make war .. not against those who are free to do what they want, but against those who strive to “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Yeshua”
Click here to learn more about Torah, or the topic of “Laws”.
