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the context in vain for any outpouring of the Spirit or for any Acts period miracle or for
any evidential miracle from God. The same is true of Rev. 8: 5, 7-11, also 11: 13, 19,
also 16: 17-21. In fact in all passages which describe signs in heaven and earth there is
no mention of the outpouring of the Spirit nor of miracles from God in the days prior to
the return of Christ. It is only Joel 2: 28-32 which links them but the outpouring of the
Spirit is "afterwards", that is after the return of Christ, and the signs in heaven are "before
the great and terrible Day of the Lord" that is before the return of Christ.
If we search Revelation what do we find?
"And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a
lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before
him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose
deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come
down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and he deceiveth them that dwell on
the earth in the sight of men, and he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means
of those miracles which he had the power to do . . . . ." (Rev. 13: 11-14, A.V.).
Here we see "deadly wound was healed"--the ability to raise the dead! "Fire from
heaven"--the miracle God used with Elijah to prove His existence. Here we see Satan's
beast, the false prophet, copying God. Here Satan is pretending to be God and is thus
causing deceit. Unless those miracles done in Satan's power are replicas of God's
miracles recorded in Scripture they will not have the desired effect. They will not
deceive anyone. They must be copies for II Thess. 2: 9, 10 describes them as "signs and
lying wonders, and in all deceivableness". These are strong words and people who
dabble in miracles in days prior to Christ's return, and that includes these days in which
we live, be warned . . . . . Matt. 7: 21-23 is salutary!
Some may say that the passages from Revelation, Thessalonians and Matthew refer to
a time after the church which is the Body of Christ has been taken to Glory. This is true
but Paul's epistles to Timothy relate directly to the Body of Christ and this present
dispensation. In I Tim. 4: 1-3 we read of `seducing spirits' and `doctrines of devils'
and II Tim. 3: 8 states that just "as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these
resist the truth".
Jannes and Jambres were the magicians of Pharaoh in Exod. 7: 11. How did they
withstand Moses? They copied the miracles that Moses performed. Thus we cannot
escape the fact that those who dabble with miracles in this age of full grace open
themselves to the deceit of Satan. Some may ask--are there no evidential miracles of
God promised for those days prior to Christ's return? There are two!
Revelation 11: 3-12 records that God is to miraculously support the two witnesses He
shall have in Jerusalem for the 3½ years prior to His return. Rev. 12: 6, 14, and 16
records that God is to feed and protect the people of Israel in the wilderness during the
same period. There are not other miracles recorded which relate to these times and note
that these two miracles are centred at Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside. Thus
we come to the conclusion that there is no second fulfillment of Joel's prophecy--neither