The Two Witnesses
The Two Witnesses in Revelation
Testimony to the House of Israel in the Final Days
And I will grant to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days dressed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. Revelation 11: 3-4
“Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10
And [the messenger] said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold with its bowl on top of it, and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on top of it; also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side. And the word of YHWH came to me, saying . . . “These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.” Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?” He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” Then he said, “These are the two sons of fresh oil [anointed ones] who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” Zechariah 4:2-3, 8, 11-14 (emphasis added)
I testify to everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. Revelation 22:18-19
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For the Remnant of the Ancient House of Israel
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Prologue
The book of Revelation, or Apokalypsis in Greek, which means ‘Unveiling,’ is an enigma and an epic, and of such grandeur and power as to have captivated many generations of Christians and agnostics alike. It has confounded the best biblical minds and provoked confrontations between disagreeing brothers. In order to better grasp its true message and significance it needs to be seen in the context of the whole corpus of literature we call the bible, of which it is the final and concluding piece. Further, the reader gains essential background by paying close attention to the address on the envelope, so to speak, and to the imagery that places this scroll within a particular category of scrolls in the bible: the prophets.
That God the Father is the specified originator of the text (1:1), and that He gave it to Jesus Christ to show to His servants the things which must shortly take place. But that He vouchsafed it to His servant John, the beloved apostle, by means of a messenger, or ‘angel,’ adds further specificity to the address. Galatians 2:7-9 stands as a biblical witness that the “gospel of the uncircumcision” was entrusted to Paul, even as the gospel of the circumcision was entrusted to Peter. In fact, James, and Peter, and John “gave the right [hand] of fellowship . . . that we are to be for the nations, yet they to the circumcision.”
If John was to bring the gospel to the circumcision, by the Lord’s own Plan, then do we not see in the passing of this awesome and profound vision to John, that it must be intended for the physical House of Israel, i.e. the ‘circumcision?’
Examination of the history of Asia Minor readily shows that there were Jewish communities or synagogues in those seven cities during the first century, and as the apostles were immensely faithful to their Lord, they would indeed be carrying the gospel to members of Israel, with a focus on the coming kingdom of Christ, and this scroll, leading as it does to the establishment of the kingdom of God and His Christ, the fulfillment of all the Hebrew prophets.. This kingdom is distinctive with the House of David playing a unique role (cf. Psalm 122), judging the 12 tribes, and a kingdom of priests to God – language which is utterly absent from Paul’s evangel.
In this ‘Unveiling,’ Christ Jesus is shown early on as the one who has the Key of David (3:7) and closes his message to the congregations with the words, “I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star” (22:16). Such emphasis on David is unknown in the corpus directed to the Soma tou Christou, the body of Christ, to whom Paul was sent. In fact, Paul wrote to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 5) that he no longer recognizes Christ according to the flesh. For Paul, Christ is Lord and Mystery, but never as king. Paul reserves “King” for God the Father (1 Tim. 1:17, 6:15). And his view of the kingdom of God and Christ is something spiritual into which we have already been transferred (Col. 1:13) and not an earthly reign. Therefore, this scroll is written to those who would know their Messiah according to the flesh, and would receive Him based upon the prophetic testimony demonstrating His is the Messiah of Israel.
But there is more that places this unique prophetic text in league with the prophets of the Old Testament, e.g. the 7 lampstands, the 7 eyes roving throughout the world, the millennial kingdom (so floridly detailed in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, and others), all of the temple imagery, showing a heavenly reality which attests to a reality from which Moses copied all of the earthly tabernacle and Solomon the temple of Jerusalem (cf. Heb. 8:5).
In Revelation we see the messengers (angels) serve as ‘priests’ in the heavenly temple of God, and we do not see any imagery of the transposed faithful serving in this capacity. On earth in the temple of Jerusalem past, as well as in millennial temple portrayed in Ezekiel, men serve as the priests, and it is to this function that Peter speaks in his beautiful poetic passage concerning the living priesthood which is composed of ‘living stones.’ (2 Pet. 2:4-9) There we encounter Israel as the “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” And in the millennium this vision will become manifest.
Revelation stands as a witness to Jesus Christ, and ‘Unveiling’ of His royal ruling and conquering personage, and the text witnesses this fact to itself (Rev. 19:10). It is the last of the prophetic books we have and it closes the canon. It also contains a most central and crucial section which portrays the last of the Hebrew prophets, there have been none since John the Baptist, nor shall there be any more (cf. Zech. 13:1-6) upon Christ’s return and cleansing of the daughters of Zion (Is. 4:2-6).
In sum, Revelation is a prophetic witness that completes the tradition and shows the fulfillment of all the pending prophecies of the prophets of Israel, both major and minor. It is so prophetic that it takes us to a time when prophecy ceases; and it is so prophetic that it unfurled the vision that God gave directly to Jesus Christ to show His servants.
In view of this understanding, it is incumbent upon the reader and the believer to pay special attention to the figure of the two witnesses who are the final prophets of Israel, for they are a fractal expression not only of Moses and Elijah, but also of the entire history of God’s communication with His chosen nation. It is the time to which Joel looked when he wrote:
“Yet even now,” declares YHWH
“Return to Me with all your heart,
And with fasting, weeping, and mourning;
And rend your heart and not your garments.”
Now return to YHWH your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness,
and relenting of evil. (Joel 2:12-13)
So it shall be when the remnant of the house of Israel is under siege (Rev. 12:17) and they have received the message from the last of the prophets of YHWH to “Return to Me with all your heart” (Rev. 11:3), and Christ shall return to deliver His chosen race and establish His kingdom on earth.
And in His surpassing abundant Love, God will send two more prophets who will demonstrate great spiritual power in their testimony that Jesus Christ, the root and the offspring of David, had come to His people and they rejected Him. Having died for them, and being buried and resurrected by God, He will return to deliver His people from the adversary, and from sin and death.
With this backdrop it becomes more clear that Apokalypsis is a vision conveyed to the House of Israel, yet to be read by the nations as well, particularly those who are part of the body of Christ, who can now delve into the specific role of the two witnesses and their critical role and message to the House of Israel and against the ‘Beast’ who comes out of the abyss and has come to possess God’s holy place, to make an abomination, and to slander YHWH, turning all of His people against Him. In the face of that high degree of warfare against Satan, ‘The Opposer,’ come the two olive trees, the two lampstands who stand before the Lord of the whole world. They are the most potent force God wields in the physical domain since nothing can harm them until they have completed their witness work. How fitting that the last book of prophecy in God’s word contains the figures of Israel’s last two prophets. This epic drama, the most apocalyptic of all biblical depictions, will unfold below in the deeper study of chapter 11 wherein the identity and location of the witnesses and the content of their message will also help bring into clarity the identity of the Beast, the chief of all antichrist figures.
The Time and the Setting for the Witnesses – Rev. 11:1-3
Approaching this literary unit as a whole, it can only enhance our fruitful approach to enter into the linguistic imagery of chapter 11, with a keen resolve to fix its natural setting, for the tendency of Christianity did indeed shift into allegorical interpretation with the rise of influence out of Alexandria, following in the footsteps of Philo, and under the heavily gnostic influenced thinking of Origen of Alexandria. Finally, under St. Augustine, the idea that the literal meaning of a text was only the superficial level and the more profound deeper levels had to be decoded to receive the spiritual or mystical meaning. What had not been a practice for the Hebrews, nor for the apostles of Christ, became the norm for the Christian church. The upshot has been a veritable cacophony of voices, like a tower of Babel with very little agreement on the actual meaning of any given text.
Language around the world tells us that metaphor and alternative word usage depend upon a primary word meaning which cannot be altered to mean just anything. In fact words consistently display particular meaning without which we would simply be unable to communicate, as the tower of Babel demonstrated and Paul also propounded to the Corinthians when addressing their issues with speaking in tongues. As an example, and near at hand consider Rev. 11:1. John receives a reed like a rod to measure a temple and worshippers in it. While many Christians want to take this temple to refer to the temple of the Holy Spirit within us, the physical measuring rod and people worshiping in the temple conveys a physical setting, something that can be measured with a physical rod, and the solid setting of the city of Jerusalem simply confirms the temple as physical.
In looking at the actual words used to ‘reveal’ the scene and the events, we cannot take liberties to so twist the language and word usage as to make unwarranted assumptions about actual word usage. After all, this is the real reason the biblical concordance was created, as a tool to shed light on meaning by clarifying the definitive and also the non-definitive meanings of words, to make sure that inter-textual meanings may show concord with one another, and give us a coherent and unifying sense on any given biblical theme or teaching.
The reason for mentioning this is that over time a number of writers in scripture have spiritualized the meaning of certain passages and thus lost the intended message, and verses 1 and 2 of this chapter in Revelation have suffered this kind of distortion at the hands of those not called as teachers. As a result, the locale of the chapter has been the subject of much dispute – despite indisputable corroboration in verse 8 – and even the existence of the temple has been a hot topic for debate. To spiritualize the temple and to say that it refers to the temple of Spirit inside of Christ’s members cannot be harmonized with the information in verses 1-3. Let’s start with the text.
Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers there. But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will endow my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for a thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” (Rev. 11:1-3)
Verse three is included to link the location and time stamp with the prophetic commission of the two witnesses. This smaller scaling of the chapter gives us the total time scale and location of vv. 1-14. The language of temple of God and number of worshipers there, a clear statement of physical placement, along with the outer courtyard which is language very familiar to the House of Israel, from the plans of the Temple which Solomon built, all lead toward a conclusion that this is a physical temple and the treading under foot of the holy city – a direct resonance with Daniel’s prophecy – further confirms the location as the physical Jerusalem. Contrast is drawn with the final verse (11:19) of the chapter which mentions “the temple of God which is in Heaven,” leaving the reader with a picture moving from the physical to the spiritual, and a clear contrast with verse one to ensure the identity of that physical temple as well.
The words for rod and staff, kalamos and rabdos are certainly physical with the rod or reed frequently used as a staff by men. Certainly the rabdos or rod can be used metaphorically, e.g. Jesus who will rule with a ‘rod’ of iron mentioned elsewhere in Revelation. But here the confluence of two physical implements more directly points the physical reality we are dealing with, a physical measuring rule to measure a physical temple which is connected to the holy city with the understanding that there is no measurement of the part which is trampled by the nations. This is used essentially to identify the location John is seeing, the city of Jerusalem.
And then comes a most useful time/date stamp which helps bridge this prophecy with that of Daniel who spoke of the holy city being tread upon as well. Here we see a period of time that coincides with the same length of time in verse 3, i.e. 42 months and 1260 days. So there is at least some textual support to conclude that the scene opens in the proximity of a temple in Jerusalem which is functioning, but having been established we know not when. All that we are told is that the gentiles will tread upon the city for 42 months, and the prophets of Jesus Christ will prophesy for this period as well. The coincidence of times and place reveal much more about the dialectical struggle taking place over God’s chosen nation as we will explore below.
Identity, Message, and Mission of the Witnesses
Who these prophets are is a question that cannot fairly be separated from where they appear and conduct their witnessing, which the text has shown us to be Jerusalem. This, in turn, is inextricably tied to the very important issue, viz. to whom are they sent? Again, the solution lies in the prevalence of the modern Jewish practice of aliyah which is the ‘ascent’ to Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel. This growing movement has resulted in a largely Jewish population, many of whom are devoted practicing Jews. With all of the Jews, it seems inescapable that YHWH’s target is His called nation, to make good on all His promises to wash away their sins and to restore the fortunes of Zion. (Ps. 126)
But, how can it be that the last prophets in the bible would be sent to Israel? Could it possibly be because all the prophets in the bible were God’s messengers to Israel? Even Paul, the last great prophet who completed the word of God (Col. 1:25) as a prophet of the secret administration to the ‘gentiles,’ originally preached the kingdom to the circumcision and found that they rejected Christ. His eloquent argumentation in Romans 11 shows that their rejection of the gospel was part of God’s elegant administration and plan to show “mercy on all.”
This witness and moment of decision that comes upon the physical Israel is something that fits closely with the Lord’s pronouncement to Peter (Luke 22:31) in which He stated that Satan demanded to sift the disciples like wheat. Sifting will occur in the larger field of the House of Israel as the Beast establishes His throne and kingdom, along with the abomination of desolation, a theme which we detail in the next section.
Continuing on then with the conjunction of the Temple of God and the two witnesses, it is a reasonable conclusion that they are sent to Jerusalem to witness to those caught up within the old Judaism, those of the circumcision, who may be seeing in the temple, a sign of God’s restoration – but nothing could be further from the truth. In so far as the prophets of YHWH were universally sent to Israel with a calling to repentance, it is with this objective that the final prophetic witnesses of God and Christ come to God’s chosen nation. And therein lays the rub. For the faithful are under the heel of the synagogue of Satan, a factor which shall be examined in greater depth in the subsequent sections. Who they are and to whom they are sent are indissolubly linked.
For now, let us look at the text, and examine it in light of related scriptures –
These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. (Rev. 11:4-6, emphasis added)
The precision and identity of the word usage here and in the Zechariah passage used as a header quote provide a clear message to the House of Israel, that these two prophets were seen in Zechariah’s vision. The figurative image of the olive tree cannot be misappropriated, for it is Israel’s symbol, even in the Pauline epistles (e.g. Romans) and it can only mean that these two are themselves born within the House of Israel.
Furthermore, the fire coming out of their mouths is reminiscent of that fire which Elijah called down out of heaven upon the messengers from King Ahaziah (2 Ki.1:10); and of course in Elijah’s time it did not rain for three and one-half years during the time of his prophesying. The turning of waters to blood and the prevalence of plagues call to mind the powerful works which Moses did in the sight of all Egypt and Israel. The singular and graphic imagery communicate that we are beholding an end-time Moses and an end-time Elijah, and we are better not getting sidetracked in a debate over whether it is they themselves or their spirit upon the two.
As far as Elijah is concerned, Israel already received a prophetic word from YHWH, viz. that he would come before the great and terrible day of YHWH (Mal. 4:5) and that he would “turn the hearts of fathers to sons and the hearts of the sons to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a ban of destruction.” (Mal. 4:6) The address on this scroll is to the house of Israel and Malachi closes the corpus of the prophets with this prophecy of the coming of Elijah to God’s chosen nation.
Jesus re-affirms for the inner apostolic fellowship of Peter, James, and John, that indeed Elijah will be coming – although he has already come in John the Baptist.
Elijah is coming and will restore all things. (Matt. 17:11)
Most revealing is how the Lord Himself unpacked the word in Malachi and greatly expanded word on the end-time ministry of Elijah which the House of Israel must now see in terms of other prophetic pronouncements that speak of the restoration,
“And I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and I will rebuild them as they were at first.” (Jer. 33:6-8, cf. Isa. 1:26)
Now this really does cohere with the idea of restoring all things. And thus we are left with this sense that the two final prophets of Israel prepare for restoring all things and that this must be inherent in their message as they bear testimony to Jesus Christ as the Messiah of YHWH. And in restoring all things, can we feature the return of the true spirit of holiness with the people, and the full wisdom and knowledge of God which had been given them as stewards of the oracles of God?
We can responsibly speculate that these two prophets of God can recount the Hebrew scriptures to the House of Israel and how they bear witness to Christ, and how he will be establishing His kingdom for the aeons, and how he will be sweeping away iniquity from before Him with a devouring fire (cf. Joel 2). It will be the full testimony of God’s plan of purification and deliverance from the powers of the evil one, and it will call the people to repentance (Joel 2:12-13).
And there will be hearts that are turned back to God.
By now it should be clear why these two are not from Christendom. By the prophetic word of YHWH they are called to the House of Israel and they stand in the mainstream of the Hebrew prophets – for only thus will Israel be able to hear the call of their God at the end of the time of the gentiles. A gentile witness to God’s chosen nation will not be acceptable either to God or to Israel.
This makes all questions of whether the witnesses will come from within the Church, and perhaps even from which branch or denomination to be misplaced questions, because the answer is very simple. The witnesses are not out of the Church, the ekklesia, the body of Christ. They are the two olive trees who stand beside the Lord of the world. The witnesses are from the House of Israel themselves.
Likely this will be a difficult message to accept for Christendom, for many have looked forward to the two witnesses and books and DVDs have been produced to examine them, their identity and origin. So let’s consider additional perspectives.
Since the spirit of prophecy is testimony to Jesus and these servants are true prophets that are His two witnesses – and at the mouth of two witnesses a matter is established (Deut. 19:15. 2 Cor. 13:1) – then the prophets are sent to testify to Jesus as the Messiah, the son of God, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, who takes away the sin of the world. And it is Israel and not the Church who needs this testimony.
The faithful disciple at this point knows full well that since the body of Christ, the Christian ekklesia, has received the gift of faith (Eph. 2:8) and he/she stands as a witness of God’s word, and is a witness to Christ, that do not truly need two final prophetic witnesses to Christ. We are to be witnesses ourselves – but to the uncircumcision and not to the circumcision – to bear this ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18), testifying that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. So to what purpose come the witnesses?
Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
He will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
“And this will be my covenant with them
When I take away their sins.”
As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time stubborn to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. (Rom. 11:25-32, emphasis added)
The witnesses come as the mercy of God to call the nation to repentance and to hear the final testimony with powerful works and the last witness of their resurrection that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of YHWH, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, who takes away the sin of the world.
And as counterparts to them, Christian teachers, pastors, and evangelists (Ephesians) shall continue to witness to the gift of salvation by grace to prepare His body to be watchful and awake until they are gathered to the Lord at the last trumpet (1 Th. 4:16).
There remains one question to ask regarding the commission of the two witnesses. As part of their testimony to Jesus Christ and the restoration of all things (Matt. 17:10), what is their part in helping the remnant of Israel that will travail in the “Great Tribulation?” It is here that the reader is reminded of the interrelationship of different sections in Revelation and just how they must be considered in order to derive the intended message from the text, without adding or subtracting words. In this instance we look to chapter 12 and a verse that has remained shrouded in mystery for an unknown length of time, and in recent years greatly clouded with the myth of “British Israel.”
And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male. And the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman that she might be flying into the wilderness, into her place, where she is being nourished there for a time, times and half a time, from the face of the serpent. (Rev. 12:13-14)
Coming in the aftermath of the earthly events in chapter eleven, the movement to the wilderness must be comprehended as the response to the exhortation of Christ in Matthew 24:15-16, that the faithful in Judea should flee to the mountains when they see the abomination of desolation standing in a holy place. The woman of Zion, the rest of whose offspring are under attack by the dragon who is enraged (v. 17), has a place that is hers in the wilderness so that she (collectively speaking of her children) can be nourished for the ensuing 42 months, a time period likely to be of extreme persecution.
With the two witnesses bearing testimony of Christ Jesus, and his imminent return, along with restoring everything given according to the Law of Moses and all the commandments of God (cp. Rev. 11:18), are they not also serving to show once again God’s mercy to heed the words of Jesus and flee from the presence of the dragon which is there in the Beast who is at the head of the Abomination of Desolation?
The “the two wings of the great eagle” is all the more significant by virtue of the use of the definite article for both nouns there in the original Greek text. Addressed to those who would recognize the Woman of Zion and the referent for “her children,” it would be known that this very specific eagle could most likely refer to that one in Ezekiel 17:7-8 in the parable of the two eagles.
But there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage; and behold, the vine bent its roots toward him and sent out its branches toward him from the beds where it was planted, that he might water it. It was planted in good soil beside abundant waters, that it might yield branches and bear fruit, and become a splendid vine.
And who but Israel is known in scripture as a “goodly vine?’ So the eagle planting the vine and the other eagle watering the vine can be none other than her husbandmen, God and His Messiah, Christ Jesus. And the great wings can thus be seen as the two lampstands who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth, the two olive trees who bear testimony to their Lord – and aid in the watering of the vine – who are sent for the restoration of all the good things which God conveyed to Israel, and finally, who directed the faithful remnant to leave the urban center of the “synagogue of Satan” that throbbed as the heart of the Beast’s kingdom, where his throne and temple were established, the abomination of desolation. Now the remnant of the good seed, the Adamic seed in Israel can endure the final 42 months away from the Beast and his abomination. The woman has a place there in the wilderness and her seed can grow into the “goodly vine” which Ezekiel described.
The Beast and the Completion of their Testimony
And whenever they should be finishing their testimony, the wild beast the one ascending up out of the abyss will be doing battle with them, and will be overcoming them and killing them. And their corpses will be on the broad way of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord, also, was crucified. (Rev. 11:7-8)
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the Lord. In those days they shall no longer say:
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
But everyone shall die for his own iniquity.
Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.” (Jer. 31:27-30)
In the fulfillment of their commission and in the role of the “wild beast” who finally kills them, much is given to the reader to unpack, even from the simple fact that the beast conquers them in the self-same city where the Lord was crucified. This forms a smaller fractal message within the larger chapter that contains these first eight verses.
It is crucial to note that there is no scriptural support for speculating that the witnesses begin their witness work outside of Jerusalem, or indeed even venture outside the land of Judah. With today’s technological tools they indeed may function throughout the world, without ever leaving the “promised land.” Rather, it is striking that they are introduced in conjunction with a statement about Jerusalem, and they conclude their lives in Jerusalem. On the contrary, the words of Christ and the foretelling of their death in Jerusalem in verse 8 support the reader to understand the focus of their ministry in and around the holy city. Listen:
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her!” (Luke 13:37a)
Yes, Jerusalem will kill her prophets once again, and this time directly under the auspices of the Beast who arises out of the abyss. But as verse 7 declares, the beast will make war with them only after they have finished their testimony. What perfect timing the Lord has arranged to accomplish His will (cf. Eph. 1:11). How marvelous to behold just how He does work all things! As Christ finished His ministry and finished His days in Jerusalem, so will it be with His two lampstands.
By the rule of Occam’s razor it is the most reasonable conclusion that the ministry of Christ’s end time prophets begins and ends in Jerusalem, and in the shadow of a Jewish temple built in the holy city, now become an international city. Though, it seems a fair conclusion that being trampled upon by the nations, the city will well deserve its spiritual names indicative of its harlotry, Sodom and Egypt (v. 8).
So we have addressed the question of when and where the two witnesses appear, and that is once there is a temple built in Jerusalem – more likely, the city of David, where Solomon originally built it, viz. on Mt. Zion – and spiritually, during the time frame of the 6th trumpet.
This time period of forty two months is important because it helps us to locate this set of events within the longer period of 7 years from Daniel’s prophecy regarding the seventy weeks. And, it is also duplicated in verse 3 with the time period granted to the two witnesses. The view into the future historical scene through this small window which John opened in “the day of the Lord” (cf. Rev. 1:10) gives us events on earth in the proximity of the Jerusalem temple, and a period of prophesy by two who bear testimony to Jesus (cf. Rev. 19:10) that perfectly fits within a time period of the treading of the holy city by the nations – something by the way which will be more closely controlled during the millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth, when He will rule with a rabdos of iron.
Daniel’s prophecy portrays in several chapters fractal scaling of the events of the final days all to be sealed until the time of the end. For example, Daniel 7:25 reveals that the holy ones of the Most High, Elyonin [Aramaic], will be given into his hand for time, times and half a time, i.e. three years. The ‘he’ refers back to a king who arises after the ten kings or ten horns, and becomes known in chapter 8 as ‘the little horn.’ This period has come to be known as the ‘Great Tribulation’ which Jesus called it (Matt. 24:21) and it must come after the abomination of desolation is seen standing in the holy place.
Additional disclosures in Revelation 12:14, 17 and in 13:5-7 confirms this. From this confluence of times and events in the testimony of Daniel and John, it appears clear and convincing that the man of lawlessness, aka “the little horn” of Daniel, aka “the son of destruction” in 2 Thessalonians 2, aka “the beast ascending out of the sea” in John’s scroll (ch.11) is given authority to act 42 months upon the completion of the witness of the two prophets. His authority to kill them completes the first half of Daniel’s 70th week, and inaugurating his more complete war against the holy ones of the most High (Dan. 7:21, 25, Rev. 12:17. 13:7).
It is during this second half of the week of 2520 days that the abomination of desolation is set up on day 1510 (220 plus 1290 days of Daniel 12:11. The holy ones of the remnant of the House of Israel have been counseled to head for the hills of Judea (Matt. 24:15-21) and many will do so according to the witness of Revelation 12. Many of the righteous Jews will flee once they see the sanctuary desecrated and the idolatry established [Heb. Shikootz]. This abomination will be the final clue to the Beast’s identity for those who simply cannot read the handwriting on the wall.
So the great tribulation of which Jesus spoke will be the last 42 months of the week.
To summarize what we learn about the Beast from chapters 11-13 of Revelation, we can see that he establishes his fortress sanctuary in Jerusalem, and that he first removes the sacrifice of Christ from consideration and takes it to himself (Dan. 8:11-12), that he then turns after an additional 1040 days to turn against the covenant and to end the grain offering, and in this process he will become enraged at those who give consideration to the holy covenant, while rewarding those who forsake the holy covenant (Dan. 11:30-33). We can see through the actions of the son of destruction – the Beast who is the face or presence of the serpent – that Satan is set on turning God’s people against Him, or destroying them if they do not comply. This will eventuate into the greatest tribulation in the history of God’s chosen nation, “but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.” (Daniel 11:32) Some will fall by sword, flame, captivity and plunder. Some will escape into the wilderness, to be the remnant to meet their Lord when He returns.
We are justified in drawing additional conclusions, building upon what Paul wrote about the son of destruction being revealed before Christ can return. With Revelation we can add that Christ cannot return until the two witnesses have completed their testimony, and that for the House of Israel this will also extend to the very end of the period of tribulation that will culminate in the Lord’s return for the day of vengeance.
Further, the Most High is in absolute control of the timing since the Beast must receive authority to act and make war on the holy ones for 42 months, commencing with the war he makes against the two witnesses.
That the apostate Jews help to orchestrate this rise to power of this “Son of Destruction” can be visibly seen in our current events today. The Sanhedrin have already declared that they know Messiah is on earth – an antichrist statement on its face that publicly declares that they continue their war against Christ Jesus. They are searching for their man who they say must be of the House of David, and must satisfy a few other criteria.
In building the temple for their ‘Messiah’ they will prepare the way for the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet.
And people of the faith everywhere should realize that this becomes possible only with control of the world’s money which is quite literally at the disposal of these “world powers of darkness.” They are not playing around, and they will have military might behind them, and they will use the overwhelming debt of the nations to bring them into submission to their program.
Already France, the UK, and the US have bombed Syria together from ships in the Mediterranean sea, action that investigators have shown may have been orchestrated by Israel. In these three nations or ‘horns’ do we see a shadow of the three horns which are overcome by the little horn that rises from their midst? It is just an interesting image but it calls to mind just how powerful the adversary’s kingdom will be for those of this world.
There is much more to say about this beast who receives the dragon’s authority and throne; “who is able to wage war with him?” (Rev. 13:2-4) As God set His throne on Mt. Zion, is the dragon keen to oppose God to the point of establishing His throne by the beast, likewise in the same holy place? But this will have to wait for another writing that is properly focused on the topic of this principal antichrist figure who will receive “authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation” (Rev. 13:7). And as all authority comes from God, then true believers need to understand how God will accomplish His good purposes even using the chosen tool of the adversary.
How can this be other than the “synagogue of Satan” (Rev. 3) which the Lord promised to bring before the feet of His faithful in Philadelphia and against which He claimed the Key of David to shut where no one could open? The Kingdom of Christ will be governed by Christ through His rod of iron, and David will sit upon the throne, a promise which YHWH made to His people. Against those claims the adversary, working though his government will bring about the greatest counterfeit venture in the history of the world, complete with the bona fides of the House of David.
But, too bad for them, but it is Jesus Christ who holds the Key of David, and He will open so that no one can shut, and He will shut so that no one can open. In the case of the kingdom, when he shuts the door on the synagogue of Satan, it will be closed, and the government will pass to the Lord, and He will rule until He has put all enemies under His feet.
The Aftermath of the Witnesses
Actually, enough has been written already about the celebration of their death, and that the whole world sees it, because we live in such a time of global technological transmission of information.
But there is a great irony in the peoples of the earth not allowing the dead bodies of God’s witnesses to be laid in a tomb. Are they afraid that someone might steal the bodies as could have happened with Jesus Chris? LOL – But seriously, in this technological age, who could possibly do such a thing unnoticed or better, unrecorded? Imagine the tweets and periscope broadcasts when these godly messengers are called into heaven!
But the rebellious and angry, lawless nature of the mob of antichrist observers simply cannot grant any grace to the deceased, not knowing that it is God’s plan to have evidence of His own resurrection power televised across the globe!!!!
In short, it is the counsel of God’s will that their death and laying in state in the “broad way” for three and a half days be viewed internationally, for He has a good that He plans to result from it.
What is that good? It is the glory given to the God of Heaven (11:13) after they go up into heaven, and the earthquake takes place that causes a tenth of the city to fall; a glory that complements a very strategic part of God’s plan for the reconciliation of ALL!
The parallels with the end of Christ’s life have been treated by countless commentators, the earthquake, tombs opening, and here seven thousand “names of men” being slain, displaying both parallels and contrasts.
For this writer, though, the greatest parallel with the culmination of Christ’s death comes with the witness that their resurrection gives. After 1260 days of witnessing to Christ and His saving sacrifice, His resurrection, the proof of His Sonship in God’s raising Him up, the witnesses are confirmed in their identity as the two olive trees that stand before the Lord of the earth, and now the world receives its indisputable visible confirmation of something that cannot be duplicated or executed in any way by anyone but God. So in their death and resurrection the two glorify God even more, and lead to the humbling realization over the entire earth that God is the Lord Most High, and that His word from Genesis to Revelation is a true testimony of His nature and activity. God is further glorified in this magnificent death and resurrection scene. No longer hidden behind a huge stone, all is in the open now, and doubt may no longer exist.
Yet, there is more to the aftermath of their death which is portrayed in chapters 12 and 13 pertaining to the great tribulation of which Jesus spoke. And as pointed out above, it does seem that their witness is instrumental in moving those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus into the wilderness.
With the tribulation comes God’s indignation, the ‘day’ or time period in which He executes judgment upon Israel and the nations for all their iniquity. As an olive branch to His chosen nation, He escorts them out of a principal area of warfare to wait out this time period, just as the prophet Isaiah had written.
“Come, my people, enter into your rooms,
and close your doors behind you;
Hide for a little while,
until indignation runs its course.
For behold, YHWH is about to come out from His place,
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
And the earth will reveal her bloodshed,
And will no longer cover her slain.” (Isa. 26:20-21, emphasis added)
Seen in this light of God’s love for His people, the two witnesses must be understood as an expression of that love of God, notwithstanding the plagues which they must administer in the correction of peoples. Yes, God disciplines those whom He receives.
Centrality of Revelation Chapter 11
This chapter is both central in the placement within the larger text, but also central to the understanding of Apocalypsis or “Unveiling” itself. And the challenge for Christendom has been to hear what it says without adding or subtracting a word and incurring the associated penalties. But how is that possible when the actual text conveys just a thumbnail?
This is where the fundamental principle of intertextuality helps the reader to learn more without violating the prohibition. Moreover, scripture itself enjoins this way of reading as essential to coming to know the mind of God. Certain cues in the text, e.g. epithets, terms, and phrases, link the text to other passages which may shed further light on the passage under consideration. The heading scriptures show, as an example, how Zechariah 4 helps us to understand the identity of the two witnesses in Revelation 11.
And we are permitted to make inferences from the text, but only where there is a mathematical or linguistic, or prophetic certainty and coherence. This, likewise, is an established principle of biblical interpretation. With the matter of coherence, the good student of God’s word understands the value of a “Concordance.” But such a tool really needs to be either a Greek Concordance for the New Testament or a Hebrew Concordance for the Old Testament. Using one based on English can only reproduce and proliferate the errors of translators going back to King James and before. And that encompasses the very common occurrence of word meaning being applied without any consistency. After all, if we cannot achieve concord of meaning between passages, of what value can the concordance be? And how can God’s word possibly give us a consistent message if the words used through the Holy Spirit have greatly varied meanings?
Along with chapters 12 and 13, the section on the two witnesses provides conclusive support for the truth that Apocalypsis was addressed to the House of Israel, a final prophecy to go with the testimony of their final Hebrew prophets, in the direct lineage of the ancients.
With Revelation initially written to Israel, and with the body of Christ, the Ekklesia, commissioned with the gospel of peace, announcing this day of peace, can this book be useful to members of His body in this time? Of course it can, and in many ways. God’s word is for all people, though used differently perhaps by those to whom it is addressed.
Revelation stands as the final testimony that our God will always fulfill His word and secure His promises for His creatures. The book of Revelation gives more specific detail to many of those yet to be fulfilled promises from Isaiah, Daniel, Zechariah, and the entire company of Hebrew prophets, culminating in the washing away of the filth of Israel and the resting of YHWH’s glory over Mt. Zion in a grander way than the glory of the tabernacle which Israel carried in the wilderness. The nations will be brought to heel in their rebellion against God and His people who were the stewards of His oracles.
Further, it is very useful to help Christendom discern good and evil, and to know beforehand just how the apostate House of Israel, whom Jesus called “the synagogue of Satan,” will bring about a New World Order to rule over all the nations, tribes, and peoples. It will be a beast unlike previous beasts, a kingdom unlike anything that has gone before it, and the first that will reach all corners of the earth. This book should be the go-to text to remember the distinguishing features of the beast, “the son of destruction,” so that Christians may not be misled to follow the antichrist, no matter how much he will counterfeit Christ Jesus.
The great vision which God gave to Jesus Christ to show His servants what must quickly take place reminds us that at the close of this age, God will sweep away all the iniquity just as promised. It gives us deeper insight into the complexity of God’s grander plan of salvation and how it will be realized for the different orders (1 Cor. 15:23) all the way through the millennium and into the next aeon after that, the age of the new heavens and the new earth. Everything is disclosed into the final aeon, save the “consummation” of the aeons when Christ hands the kingdom over to the Father after He has abolished all rule and all authority and power, and likewise when death, the last enemy, is abolished, (1 Cor. 15:24-26).
Postscript: False Christs and False Prophets (Matt. 24:24)
This writing has been in the works for quite a while with some fragmentary segments in print for a couple of years. This more complete offering has been awaiting a few time critical tidbits concerning Jerusalem – which include the 70th anniversary of the state of Israel celebrated this May, the establishment of Jerusalem as the capital, and the disclosure by the Sanhedrin of their belief that Israel’s Messiah is on earth at this time – so now this writing has come to be even more timely. It has partly been motivated in response to sincere questioning by several people who have recently inquired concerning the enigmatic figure of these two prophets in Revelation 11. It should not come as a revelation that this has been a favorite indoor sport of prophecy pundits, speculating on the identity of these two, where they will come from and when we will see them, and how we will know who they are – even some wonder if they themselves know who they are as yet. But this is human questioning, and not necessarily in the kind of mindset of two bond-servants and prophets known from the foundation of the world. If we recall Amos 3:7, and remain firm in the belief that God always discloses His plans to His servants the prophets, then we simply ought to seek the answers direct, straight from the Father’s mouth. These questions are better answered in God’s word apart from the traditions of men!
This writer has observed, for more than four decades, the mythos around these puzzling scriptural icons. My first encounter with “wannabes” in the category of the two witnesses came with my arrival in San Francisco in 1974 after graduating from college the year previous. My “training” began with a crazy UFO cult in the bay area that focused on a man and woman who were known simply as “the two.” “He and she,” as people called them alternatively, proclaimed a message of deliverance, a physical exodus from this world by ET craft liberating people from the evils of this world, nevermore to return. Although I was a novice in scriptural matters at the time, still I knew this was too crazy for prime time and that people were being led into mind control. Golden Gate Park was to be their pick up spot and messenger subordinates assured the large audience in the theater that the Alien taxi service would arrive without fail. One glance at the Kool-Aid glazed eyes of participants was enough to remind the sensible that there was no arguing here, for we were in the company of “true believers.” Praise God, the two witnesses had arrived, and the faithful would be “delivered.”
But these were not the only two claimants to that office that I would encounter in the subsequent 44 years. Other pairs were pointed out as “the two witnesses in Revelation.” In one case a lone individual maintained steadfastly that the other witness would come along, albeit subordinate to him. According to this “prophet” the other witness would not have to be spiritual. Well, time and circumstance has proved him wrong. It should be a steadfast rule that those who are granted such a grand office would not state it and those who would claim it would not possess it. After all, humility is the hallmark of God’s servants. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God so we have nothing upon which to stand if we climb the mountain and proclaim our own glory. No, we are to come for the glory of the one who sent us – if, indeed, we are sent.
More than four decades have passed and the fellowship of prophecy seekers has proliferated to help overpopulate the internet, and yet continues to seek out the identity of the two, with Christendom leading the pack in number of interested inquirers. But time and spiritual exploration, along with good biblical scholarship – to which we must add that it is the Lord’s timing to see these matters clarified – has begun to converge on the obvious, viz. that the two witnesses are linked not only to Zechariah 4 where they are identified by the same epithet “the two olive trees,” but also to the oft discussed prophecy in Malachi regarding the coming of Elijah, an advent which Christ Jesus corroborated in Matthew 17. Aside from the problem of two figures vs. one in Malachi, the description of prophets who can stop up the heavens for 42 months makes for a perfect coherence with Elijah in the northern kingdom of Israel. The two prophets certainly do move in the spirit and power of Elijah. Furthermore, the name of Moses is mentioned in Malachi 4:4, just prior to Elijah in verse 5, and the waters turning to blood in Revelation 11 calls to mind the events in Egypt, so we do have some scriptural warrant for seeing the power and spirit of both Moses and Elijah in the final days. [See our paper on Days of Elijah.]
Perhaps this is a good time for a sidebar in which to consider the incredible number of commentators claiming to be prophets or being dubbed as prophets by adoring followers. This is a tiresome and grievous condition for the Ekklesia, the body of Christ, because try as we all might there is not a single prophecy of more prophets of YHWH coming, nor of more apostles, apart from these two we see in John’s “Unveiling.” In fact, in 1 Cor 13 the apostle Paul directly prophesies the disappearance of tongues and prophecies and knowledge. A good argument can be made that he understood that part of his calling “to complete the word of God” in his sublime capstone revelations to the Ephesians and the Colossians, along with Philippians (cf. Col. 1:25).
There is a currently popular messianic rabbi – many call this man a prophet – who has written NY Times bestsellers who has now turned his attention to the biblical promise that Elijah is coming back. This rabbi has said that Elijah is going to kill all the false priests and ministers (presumably Christians) who are priests of Baal. Well, that simply does not hold with the Malachi prophecy, nor with the first coming of Elijah. In both cases it was to the house of Israel that he went, for God sent him to clean up the mess and it was priests who left YHWH for Baal and who were of the House of Israel who were put to the sword. Is it unreasonable that since the words of Malachi were directed to the House of Israel, that Elijah might be coming back to turn their hearts back to God, and to the Fathers, namely to the traditions which were handed down from God through their fathers? And isn’t this consistent with Jesus’ amazing proclamation that Yes, Elijah will come back and he will restore ALL things? How is it that a Jewish messianic rabbi does not understand that the two witnesses are to come to call the House of Israel to repentance, and not to kill Christian leaders, even false ones?
What did Jesus have to say about these prophets of our time, viz. the time during the last days of this present aeon? Well, he prophesied that many false prophets would come in His name (Matthew 24), as Peter said many false teachers will come even as false prophets once came in the midst of the people (2 Pet. 2:1). In short, it looks like there is only to be an expectation of false prophets, and no prophecy of true prophets, with one exception – the two witnesses! (cp. Mal. 4:5-6)
We are told – against this veritable tower of Babel of conflicting voices – that the Lord grants authority to His two witnesses to “prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” That’s all there is in Scripture pertaining to true prophets of God who are sent to bear witness. And many may argue that we don’t have much unless we speculate and of course that is risky because adding words to Revelation, as the scroll itself warns, brings very harsh consequences. But there is so much in those 13 verses, which coupled with sections of Zechariah, Matthew, and other scriptures in God’s word, tell us exactly all we need to know, particularly once the reader has realized the ones to whom Christ sends His witnesses – to most of Christendom it could come as a shock, with many expressing disbelief. Yet, this is the testimony of scripture regarding their commission.
And co-terminal with their mission is the “time of the Gentiles” (Lu 21:24), which is completed once the 42 months of treading upon the holy city is finished and the announcement of the kingdom comes and it is handed over to the His holy ones as written in Daniel the prophet, though this must await the great tribulation and the day of indignation, through all of which the House of Israel must pass.
Nevertheless, it appears in the end that the story of the two witnesses is a love story, a part of the journey of God with His many peoples and nations, all in the execution of His great loving Plan, a plan that is fitting for a God who is Love. It is all part of what Paul said to the Corinthians, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not reckoning their trespasses to them, and having placed in us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:19). And all of this is due to His Love unsurpassed, “the riches of His grace that He lavished upon us” (Eph. 1:7-8), that He should accomplish the counsel of His will, that “God may be all in all.” (1 Cor. 5:28).