The Two Witnesses
Revelation 11 introduces us to the two witnesses who have been waging a war against the Antichrist in the name of the Jewish people for the 3.5-year period.
- “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. (Revelation 11:3–14)
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The Scriptures make clear that the two witnesses are immensely powerful individuals in the likeness of prophets of old, like Elijah. Many prophecy scholars believe that one of these two will be Elijah as prophesied.
- Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. (Malachi 4:5, 6)
It is often maintained that Elijah and Enoch will be these two end-time foes to the Antichrist that are opposing him and preventing him from getting back into the temple for the entirety of the 3.5-year period. This is based on the alleged theory that neither died. Both were taken into heaven without dying (Genesis 5:24 and 2 Kings 2:11). There are several problems with this. Chief among them is that nowhere in Scripture is it taught, or even hinted at, that God has kept Elijah and Enoch in some special place apart from the other saints only to send them back later so they can taste death.
If the aforementioned nations are the prophesied nations that make-up the final kingdom, then we see that they are a perfect composite of all the major kingdoms of the world as presented in Daniel and manifested in history, as well as individual players, who controlled Jerusalem! They are all combined into one, and they will have as their leader a European man, probably of Grecian ancestry, at their head.
I personally believe Enoch and Elijah’s catching away to the Lord was a scriptural precedent to establish the truth of the rapture of the church. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). When the believer dies, they will receive a glorified body. We put on immortality! When? At the resurrection? No. That is when our dead bodies, our flesh, are raised to incorruptibility. Throughout the book of Revelation, just refer to the fifth seal, or chapter 8, the dead in Christ are alive and recognizable and clothed in robes.
Remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus, as related by Christ (Luke 16:19–31)? Both are awake, alert, and recognizable, though not in their fleshly bodies. How can this be? It is because we are living spirits! We have souls, and we live in fleshly bodies. Our spirits, through the agency of the soul, can be seen and engage in the spirit dimension. They are the true us!
The Bible says it is appointed unto everyone once to die, then judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Those who think these two must be the literal Elijah and Enoch argue that these are the only two people who never died. The Bible never says this though. It says Enoch did not see death, meaning he was raptured. Elijah was much the same. Their fleshly bodies were changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye exactly in the same way that any raptured Christian will have theirs done. There is no way to take this fleshly body into the presence of the Lord. It is contaminated with sin. Hence, their body died! They just did not feel it or taste it (see it).
This must be true because though there is nothing known of Enoch after he was translated into the presence of God, Elijah appears with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus, and he appeared robed in light (Matthew 17:3,4). He too is awaiting his resurrected body. Elijah and Enoch left their earthly bodies behind when they went to heaven because there is no way to take man’s contaminated flesh into the presence of God.
Yet Elijah is promised to come, right? Yes, but it is the spirit of Elijah that rests on someone that this scripture is speaking of, not the actual Elijah. The proof of this is that Elijah came before Christ at His first coming. We know him as John the Baptist.
- Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! (Matthew 11:11–14)
What Malachi refers to is that someone in the spirit and power of Elijah will arise before the coming of the Lord. This happened once before and will happen again. Revelation tells us that this time, this “Elijah” will have a partner with him. It will not be Moses or the literal Elijah or even Elisha, it will be two men who operate in the ministry and anointing of Elijah. As Moses and Aaron contended with Pharaoh in defense of the nation of Israel, so these two will defend Israel with signs and wonders against the Antichrist for a time.
Scripture tells us exactly who these two are in fact, so there is no reason to guess. They are the “two olive trees and two lampstands” that stand before the Lord. We find them in Zechariah 4.
- So, I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.” So, I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?” Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees—at the right of the lampstand and at its left?” And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?” Then he answered me and said, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” So, he said, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.” (Zechariah 4:2–4,11–14)
If you look at the immediate context surrounding this vision, you find two historical individuals that Satan is coming after: Joshua the High Priest and Zerubbabel, the governor of the land at the time of the rebuilding of the first rebuilding of the temple. In Zechariah 3, Satan is accusing Joshua the High Priest before the throne of heaven. In chapter 4, Zerubbabel is specifically given a word from the Lord as the vision of Zechariah is unfolding that he will defeat the enemies of the Lord “not by might nor by power” but by the Spirit of the Lord.
If we overlay the historical facts about Israel at the time of the return from Babylonian captivity to rebuild the temple onto the events of Revelation, we have a perfect allegorical match for the two witnesses. In Revelation, the temple has been rebuilt; and it will be Israel’s leaders who lead this effort, both secular and religious, the coming high priest, and Israel’s prime minister. These two will perfectly mirror the ministry of Aaron and Moses before Pharaoh in their stand against the Antichrist. Considering the imagery of Zechariah and the timeline, it is likely that at the revealing of the Antichrist and the Jewish opposition to him that will mount, these two will have a revelation themselves of who Christ is. The implication of being described as both olive trees, which is connected to the Jewish people, and lamps, which speaks of anointing, suggests they are indeed Messianic Jews, though they may not be when they initially lay the foundation of the coming temple.