Chapters 8 through 11 of Rev. give us the events that transpire in the Old World from the opening of the seventh seal down to the Lord’s appearance at the battle of Armageddon. In these chapters, we learn about seven angels that will sound their trumps. With the sounding of each trump, events are revealed with ever increasing detail. The sounding of the last three of these trumps are also referred to as woe’s.

The fifth angel (first woe) gets a total of twelve verses but the sixth angel (second woe) gets much more press, a total of 34 verses scatted over three chapters.

During the second woe there is great destruction, for example, “the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates…were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them”.

It’s quite obvious that Gog’s army which is to lay siege against Jerusalem for a total of 42 months has something to do with this great slaughter among mankind. But there is also to be a counter force in opposition to Gog’s power, the “two witnesses”. We read from Rev. chapter 11:

“and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. 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.”

After these “two witnesses” have accomplished “the days of their prophecy” that is “a thousand two hundred and threescore days” they are overcome, we read:

7 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.
 8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
 9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
 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 tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
 11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
 12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
 13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
 14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

Now for the part that I find especially intriguing about this woe. It is the fact that John chooses to tell us about his mission and does so right smack dab in the middle of telling us about the second woe.

John is given a “little book” and told to “eat it up”, we read from Rev chapter 10:

 9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
 10 And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
 11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

The angel defines for us exactly what John’s mission is, he says “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”  This is 100 percent consistent with what we learn about John’s mission as defined in D&C 7:3, we read:

“And the Lord said unto me: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, because thou desirest this thou shalt tarry until I come in my glory, and shalt prophesy before nations, kindreds, tongues and people”.

Sounds very much like the mission given to the “two witnesses” doesn’t it? I don’t think there is any coincidence that John tells us about his mission within the context of the second woe. I do think its kind of amazing is that we have been so slow to take the hint.

Certainly, nobody is more qualified to fulfill this mission than John. As a translated being John shares a characteristic with those who shall live upon the earth after it receives its paradisiacal glory, we read from D&C 101:

29 And there shall be no sorrow because there is no death.
30 In that day an infant shall not die until he is old; and his life shall be as the age of a tree;
31 And when he dies he shall not sleep, that is to say in the earth, but shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and shall be caught up, and his rest shall be glorious.

That is, he is still able to die and therefore could “lie in the street of the great city… three days and an half” as the scriptural account testifies. Could it be that John will be one of the “two witnesses”?

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