Black Christian Mind

Nat Turner was Archangel Michael and Moses, and Gabriel was Elijah – the Two Witnesses
by Sabrina Dawkins

Nat Turner was a witness in the Bible. He was executed in Jerusalem, Virginia, and therefore his body figuratively lay “where also our Lord was crucified” (Revelation 11:8). Turner even said to Thomas R. Gray, “Was not Christ crucified?”

In his confession, Nat said, “And about this time I had a vision, and I saw white spirits and black spirits engaged in battle, and the sun was darkened. The thunder rolled in the heavens, and blood flowed in streams.” And Revelation 12:7 indicates, “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.” Turner said that on May 12, 1828, “I heard a loud noise in the heavens, and the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said the Serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and that I should take it on and fight against the Serpent.”

Michael argued with Satan over the body of Moses (Jude 1:9). Why? Because it was his own body. In Matthew 17:2, Jesus transfigured before Peter, James, and John, “and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” And Moses and Elijah appeared and were talking with Jesus (Matthew 17:3). Genesis 28:12 is a metaphor for the reincarnation of angels: a ladder on earth reaching up to heaven on which the angels ascended and descended. John the Baptist did not know that he had been Elijah in a past life (John 1:21). Jesus knew: “But I say unto you that Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them” (Matthew 17:12).

Stephen said in Acts 7:53 that they “have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.” Moses brought them the law (Exodus 34:29). And Stephen himself was an angel: “And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15). Jesus told Nathanael: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man” (John 1:51). And Stephen said, before being stoned to death, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). A follower of Christ as Nathanael was, Stephen did see the heavens open and the Son of man. And as he was being stoned to death, he said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). And notice, the Bible does not say that he died, it says that after he said this, “he fell asleep” (Acts 7:60). Christ had told his disciples, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. And whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25). Revelation 2:11: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches: He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death” (Revelation 2:11).

Christ told his disciples that he must go in order for the Comforter to come (John 16:7). The Comforter is the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost (John 14:26). Paul, an apostle of Christ, said, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). So Stephen did not die the second death, he fell asleep in Christ, in whom he believed. His spirit was kept alive through Christ, whom he called on, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). Through Christ, Son of man, the spirits of angels are kept alive. They can therefore reincarnate here and avoid the second death. By having the Holy Spirit, the angels are kept alive, which is why they are able to ascend and descend “upon the Son of man” (John 1:51). Christ is within them (John 17:23). And when he came to wake Lazarus out of his sleep, Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection, and the life: He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (John 11:25- 26).

Nat Turner said, “And I then found on the leaves in the woods hieroglyphic characters, and numbers, with the forms of men in different attitudes, portrayed in blood, and representing the figures I had seen before in the heavens.” Hieroglyphics are found in Egypt, where the children of Israel had been slaves. And Moses was sent by God to bring them out of Egypt and slavery (Exodus 3:10). Deuteronomy 28:68: “And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again. And there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.” Ships were used in the transatlantic slave trade. And the children of Israel were figuratively brought back to Egypt: slavery.

It is said of the two witnesses that “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” (Revelation 11:6). Elijah said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, I stand before Him, and in these years there will be neither dew nor rain except at my word!” (1 Kings 17:1). “And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood” (Exodus 7:19).

The two witnesses are said to be prophets (Revelation 11:6; Revelation 11:10). Nat was called “the Prophet” by fellow slaves. In The Confessions of Nat Turner by Thomas R. Gray he said, “Others being called on were greatly astonished, knowing that these things had happened, and caused them to say in my hearing I surely would be a prophet, as the Lord had shewn me things that had happened before my birth.”

After Nat gave his testimony to Thomas Gray, he was executed. “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” (Revelation 11:7). He was born just eight days before Gabriel was executed on October 10, 1800, for planning a slave revolt, also in Virginia. “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” (Revelation 11:9). The public viewing of Malcolm X’s body was February 23 to 26. And he was killed upon completing his testimony, in the form of an autobiography—the real Elijah for a while deceived by the false one.

References

[Edwin Miller]. (2018, October 1). Malcolm X The Autobiography of Malcolm X Part 01 Audiobook [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rYcbiF5Tt8

Gray, T. R. (1832). The Confessions of Nat Turner. Retrieved August 17, 2019, from https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/The_Confessions_of_Nat_Turner_by_Thomas_R_Gray_1832

[Myron Wyant]. (2016, November 25). The Autobiography of Malcolm X Audiobook Part 2 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbQJHcK_g4Q&t=20014s

[thepostnihilist]. (2013, December 4). Reincarnation of Two Witnesses – Nat Turner / Moses & Malcolm X / Gabriel Prosser [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiKxTx-tdtQ&t=4s (my YouTube video)