Rev. 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets [John and Jesus] tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
In that verse, you selected the correct word "imply" for the understanding of "torment".
However, in that verse it also "implies" that a person who is in the midst of repentance towards God can also be in a form of torment, before they come to the personal realization of His Gift of their salvation.
Some people can go through extreme tragedy of vexation, pain and suffering, only to realize that it was the day when they finally repented towards God, and discovered the JOY of their deliverance through faith in Jesus.
Tormented-
Strong's Number - G928
Greek: βασανίζω
Transliteration: basanizō
Pronunciation: bas-an-id'-zo
Definition: From G931; to torture: - pain toil torment toss vex.
KJV Usage: torment (8x), pain (1x), toss (1x), vex (1x), toil (1x).
Occurs: 12
In verses: 12
Wow!
People...
Earburner's flawed explanation of Revelation 11:10 does not agree with the context of Scripture. He is attempting to redefine the word
"tormented" to mean the suffering someone experiences during repentance. But that interpretation completely ignores what Revelation 11:7–10 actually says.
Let us examine the passage carefully and allow Scripture to interpret Scripture rather than force the passage to fit his that the Two Witnesses are Jesus Christ and John the Baptist. Here are six points to consider:
1. The people were rejoicing over the DEATH of the Two Witnesses, NOT repenting!
Revelation 11:10 states:
"And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth."
Now, Earburner need to explain:
Since when does genuine repentance cause people to celebrate the death of God's prophets?
The passage explicitly states that these people
REJOICED when the Two Witnesses were killed. They made merry and exchanged gifts because the prophets who had tormented them were now dead!
This is not a picture of repentance. It is a picture of
hostility toward God's testimony and relief that His messengers have been silenced.
Consider what Jesus said:
John 3:19–20:
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved."
Do you see the connection?
The wicked hate the light because it
exposes their evil deeds. Likewise, those dwelling upon the earth rejoice because the testimony of the Two Witnesses has tormented them.
Their reaction demonstrates resistance to the truth, not submission to it.
Earburner have confused
conviction that leads to repentance with
torment that produces hostility toward God's Word.
These are not the same thing!
2. Earburner's Greek definition does not support his interpretation
He appealed to the Greek word
basanizō (G928), which means to torment, torture, vex, or cause pain.
But where does this Greek word mean REPENTANCE?
Nowhere!
He have simply selected a possible sense of the word, such as pain or vexation, and then assumed that the pain must refer to someone repenting.
That is not biblical exegesis.
A word must be understood according to its context, not according to an imagined situation that the passage never describes.
Consider
Revelation 9:5:
"And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be
tormented five months: and their
torment was as the
torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man."
The same Greek verb is used here.
Does this mean the people were repenting? Hello?
Certainly not! The following verses describe their desperate suffering, and Revelation 9:20–21 explicitly declares that the survivors
repented not.
This demonstrates that torment does not necessarily produce repentance. People can experience torment while remaining hardened against God.
Therefore, Earburner appeal to Strong's Concordance proves nothing about repentance in Revelation 11:10.
3. Revelation 11 explicitly identifies plagues and judgments
Earburner previously argued that Jesus and John the Baptist did not actually bring the plagues described in Revelation 11:6 because the people repented.
But read the passage!
Revelation 11:6:
"These
have power to shut heaven, that it
rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have
power over waters to turn them to blood, and to
smite the earth with all plagues,
as often as they will."
The Scripture identifies the authority of the Two Witnesses to bring judgment.
Yet you insist that the plagues did not occur because people repented. What a joke!
Where does Revelation 11 say that repentance prevented these judgments?
It does
not!
Nor does Revelation 11:10 say that the people repented.
Instead, the passage tells us that the people were tormented by the prophets and celebrated their deaths.
HIs explanation inserts repentance into a passage that describes opposition, persecution, and rejoicing over the apparent defeat of God's witnesses.
Earburner is using an
assumption to
explain away the very Scripture he is supposed to interpret.
Furthermore, if Earburner claim that Revelation 11:6 describes literal powers exercised by Jesus and John, he must demonstrate from Scripture
how they jointly fulfilled these specific prophetic activities. You cannot simply declare that the judgments were canceled by repentance without biblical evidence!
4. Your identification of Jesus and John creates serious chronological problems
Revelation 11:3 states:
"And I will
give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall
prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth."
If the Two Witnesses are Jesus Christ and John the Baptist, then he must demonstrate that both fulfilled this testimony for 1,260 days.
But Scripture tells us that John was imprisoned and eventually beheaded during Jesus' earthly ministry (Matthew 14:3–12).
Jesus, however, was crucified later.
Revelation 11:7 declares:
"And
when they shall have finished
their testimony, the
beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and
shall overcome them, and
kill them."
Notice that the passage describes the completion of their testimony followed by the beast overcoming and killing
both witnesses. Not one of them because one died earlier before testimony is finished. Such foolish!
Revelation 11:8–9 then describes
their dead bodies lying
exposed in the street of the great city for three and a half days.
But where does Scripture teach that the dead bodies of Jesus and John lay together on physical streets of Jerusalem, exposed publicly for
three and a half days?
It does
not!
In fact, Scripture tells us otherwise.
Matthew 14:12 tells us that
John's disciples took his body and buried it.
Matthew 27:57–60 tells us that
Joseph of Arimathaea took Jesus' body and laid it in his own new tomb.
Not lying together on the streets of the city for 3-1/2 days!
Yet Earburner somehow overlooked that in Revelation 11:9 which says that the dead bodies of the Two Witnesses
would not be permitted to be placed in graves. Hello, Earburner?!
How do Earburner reconcile this contradiction with your interpretation, humm?!
He cannot claim a literal historical fulfillment when the recorded historical events do not match the prophecy.
If Earburner believe these descriptions are symbolic, then he must explain
consistently what they symbolize rather than selectively treating some details literally and ignoring others.
(Continue to point five on the next post)
