104    The Bible and the Future of the World 

    God gave Moses the power to perform signs: to turn the rod into a snake, 

to turn water to blood (Ex 4:1 9), and other signs. Notice that these signs 

were performed for both the people of Israel (Ex 4:30) and the Egyptians (Ex 

7:10, 7:20). So also, the signs of the two prophets of Revelation will be for 

both faithful Christians and evildoers (some of whom will repent). 

Moses and Aaron Approach Pharaoh 

     Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, `Thus says the 

L

ORD

, the God of Israel,  Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to 

me in the wilderness.  '   (Ex 5:1). 

     The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and 

their foremen, `You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as 

heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves.'   (Ex 5:6 7). 

    As soon as Moses and Aaron began their prophesying against Pharaoh, 

the sufferings of the Israelites were increased by Pharaoh (Ex 5:5 19). So too 

will the persecution of Christians increase even more than before, during the 

days of the two prophets of Revelation. The two prophets will begin their 

prophesying at the beginning of the 3  years of the Church's Crucifixion, 

the years of the Church's greatest suffering. 

God Speaks Words of Comfort to the Israelites 

      `Say therefore to the people of Israel,  I am the L

ORD

, and I will bring 

you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you 

from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and 

with great acts of judgment, and I will take you for my people, and I will be 

your God; and you shall know that I am the L

ORD

 your God, who has 

brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring 

you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; 

I will give it to you for a possession. I am the L

ORD

.  '   (Ex 6:6 8). 

    God's words to the Israelites during their time of suffering are also God's 

words to the Church, to comfort  Christians during the time of great 

suffering. The promise to bring the Israelites into the land of Abraham, 

Isaac, and Jacob is God's promise to bring the Church into the time of the 

Millennium, the time when Christianity will inherit the earth. 

Miracles and False Miracles (Ex 7:8 13) 

     So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the L

ORD

commanded; Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and 

it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the