16 Blood also represents life, but it is corruptible fleshly life.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11)

For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off. (Leviticus 17:14)

Water represents eternal life. Blood represents the life of the flesh. The two witnesses of the last days possess the authority and power to change what is living and life-giving into what is mortal and corruptible.

The transformation of life (water) into death (blood) is in harmony with the same concept we noticed before—there will be no blessing of the Lord on any of the worldly churches throughout the period of the Divine testimony borne by the anointed remnant. All the eternal life remaining in the Laodicean churches will be turned into death.

Notice carefully the symbolism of the following expressions:

And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, . . . . (Exodus 7:21)

Can you visualize the corruption and death here, especially as it relates to the members of the Laodicean churches? Compare Exodus 7:21 (above) with the following portrayal of the waters of the Holy Spirit flowing out from the saints in the Day of the Lord:

And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. (Ezekiel 47:9)

Please keep in mind that Jesus spoke of the unconverted as "fish" who are to be caught by the Gospel net, and also of the Holy Spirit as a River of Life in the believers.

The voice of our Lord Jesus Christ is "as the sound of many waters" Revelation 1:15). This is because His voice speaks through the many members of His Body, each being the source of "rivers of living water."

Woe! woe! woe to those who resist the end-time testimony of the saints! What spiritual life those rebels possess will be turned into corruption and death. It is the will of God that the nations of the earth, the Jews, the Christians, and everyone else realize clearly that Christ the Righteous is coming in the clouds of glory to redeem His saints and to destroy the wicked out of the earth.

Today the testimony is unclear because of the uncertain sound being given by the churches. But before Jesus returns, the way of the Lord will be made straight. All persons will perceive what is of the God of Heaven and what is not of the God of Heaven. The love and justice of God require that such a clear testimony be given before the Day of Judgment arrives. Fish, in the Scriptures, represent mankind.

Jesus makes us fishers of men (compare Isaiah 60:5 where the "forces of the nations" are placed in association with "the abundance of the sea").

In the present hour there are many deceiving doctrines, some of which are proceeding from "Christian " churches, that promise to bring to their adherents the blessings of God.

In the days that even now are upon us these false "waters" will be turned into blood. It will become apparent to everyone that the true salvation, which can be found only in the Lord Jesus Christ, brings righteousness, holiness, and stern obedience to the Father into the personality and behaviour of the disciple.

The current "Christian" teachings that comfort the sinful and self-centered will be revealed for what they are—a cesspool of death.

The end-time testimony will cause the line to be drawn sharply between the worldly churches and the saints of God, in preparation for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven.

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