Revelations - Two Witnesses

This is the story of the 2 witnesses:

¹And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

² But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

³ And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Revelation 11:1-3

You should already be able to put the pieces together. When does this story begin? It starts the day that the Antichrist starts persecuting God’s people. At 3 ½ years into the Tribulation, the Antichrist sets up the abomination of desolation. For the next month, the ultimatum is given to worship him as god or die. These 2 witnesses appear on the scene somewhere in that time frame. They do not live all the way until the end. We will see later in the chapter that they are killed and resurrected before the 7^th trumpet sounds.

³ And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

⁴ These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

⁵ And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

⁶ 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 11:3-6

“These are the two love trees and the two candlesticks…” What is Jesus talking about? It is a reference to Zechariah 4.

¹Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. ² He asked me, “What do you see?”

And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep.

² And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:

³ And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.

⁴ So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

⁵ Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

⁶ Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

⁷ Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

⁸ Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

⁹ The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.

¹⁰ For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

¹¹ Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?

¹² And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?

¹³ And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

¹⁴ Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
Zechariah 4

The plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel can (and I think it should) be translated as plumb line. What are the golden lamps and the “channels?” We’ve already answered that way back in Revelation 1. These are the 7 Churches and the 7 angels to the Churches.

Now, here is an interesting thought. We read in Daniel 12 that the archangel of Israel is Michael. The Greek word translated church means assembly. That is why when Stephen talks about Israel wandering through the wilderness, he calls them a church. He called them an assembly, but it was translated as church. It is not a big deal.

The interesting thought does depend on this, though. What if the 7 Churches are symbolically 7 different “peoples” that God has categorized humanity into? The 7 angels then would be 7 archangels over those 7 categories. Thus, Michael is the archangel over Israel. I don’t know if this is true or not, but it is an interesting thought.

It would also help explain a little bit about what is happening here in Zechariah 4. These 2 witnesses are apart from the 7 lamp stands. This signifies that they are of a different breed. I use this word loosely. They are still human, but they aren't classified with the rest of humanity.

There are a couple different views that I’ve heard on these 2 witnesses:

1)    These are Elijah and Moses resurrected.

2)    These are not Elijah and Moses, but instead two people that have been given the power of Elijah and Moses.

3)    These are symbolic of the Church of the End Times, and the Church can perform the miracles of Elijah and Moses.

4)    These are Elijah and Enoch sent back to earth from heaven to fulfill the Scripture, “It is appointed unto men once to die,” Hebrews 9:27.

I personally love the idea that this is symbolic of the Church of the End Times. However, I do think it is a literal prophecy of 2 people. Most likely, it is not Elijah and Moses. Whether these are two men that have been raised up and set apart, or whether it is Elijah and Enoch, I don’t care which you pick.

⁷ 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.

⁸ And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Revelation 11:7-8

Where was the Lord crucified? He was crucified outside of Jerusalem. What is happening here is called a metaphor. These two witnesses prophesy within Jerusalem. They are killed inside of Jerusalem. Their bodies lie in the street of Jerusalem. The reason it is called Egypt and Sodom is to make a point. This is poetic language. What the author is trying to do is grab our attention. The wickedness of Jerusalem under the rule of the Antichrist is compared to Sodom and Egypt. This is a place of such wickedness that it is a place of slavery/oppression for the people of God (Egypt) and God’s judgment is the only option (Sodom).

I don’t believe that there will be peace for any Jew within that city for the last 3 ½ years of the Tribulation. If you are recognized with the God of Israel, whether in nationality or in religion, you will be persecuted. Daniel says quite blatantly that you will be put to the sword, burned alive, or imprisoned (Daniel 11:33-35).

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

¹¹ And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

¹² And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

¹³ And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Revelation 11:9-13

I want to hit on this while I pass. Other versions of the Bible put this a little more clearly. It is the remnant of those living in Jerusalem that gives glory to God. After 7000 are killed, those that survive give glory. It is not talking about the remnant of God’s people. Even though there might still be some of God’s people in Jerusalem being miraculously hidden and taken care of, that does not mean that they are solely the ones giving glory to God. The reason this is important is because we just saw at the end of chapter 9 that after the 5^th and 6^th trumpet, people refuse to acknowledge and give glory to God.

Also, note that it says a tenth of the city die in the earthquake. If we do simple arithmetic, that gives us a total of 70,000 people that were in Jerusalem prior to this earthquake. The current population of Jerusalem is over 800,000. We are talking about a serious devastation to cause for the land of Israel to be forsaken. In the Old Testament prophets it talks about Israel being a wasteland and a place for jackals and other wild animals instead of human beings. Maybe this is more literally true than we would like to note...

¹⁴ The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

¹⁵ And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

¹⁶ And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,

¹⁷ Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

¹⁸ And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

¹⁹ And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
Revelation 11:14-19

Okay, now that we’ve gotten through the whole chapter, lets cross-reference some of the other passages and make our way back up to this final trumpet. In reference to Jerusalem being called Egypt, I want to show a Scripture from Ezekiel 29:

² Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:

³ Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.

⁴ But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.

⁵ And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.

⁶ And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

⁷ When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.

⁸ Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.

⁹ And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.

¹⁰ Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.

¹¹ No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
Ezekiel 29:2-11

I want to make a couple notes here. First, I think that this has an ultimate fulfillment through the Antichrist. Second, I think that this might have a fulfillment from the war between the king of the north and the king of the south. Third, I’m not sure how much of this has been accomplished in history and how much has not been accomplished. I don’t know if there has ever been a time in the history of Egypt that they were desolate for 40 years. I do know that God is going to judge them.

God has spoken over and over again about judgment upon Egypt. The nation is both literal and figurative. God will judge the literal nation. But Egypt is a symbol of slavery and oppression upon God’s people. In a sense, anyone who enslaves and oppresses the people of God is an Egyptian. These Old Testament nations all have symbolic representations. We cannot ignore this, but we also cannot allow it to eliminate the literal fulfillment of prophecy.

So the ultimate Pharaoh is Satan. Right beneath Satan is the literal fulfillment of Pharaoh: the Antichrist. This is true about Babylon and Tyre, as both the kings of these nations are likened unto Satan in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. The ultimate fulfillment is found within the Antichrist, which is as close to Satan in the flesh as you can get. His number is 666 (which we’ll see that in Revelation 13), and it is the number of man.

Also, when we’re trying to determine what the great city is, we must look into the Old Testament. We find in Genesis 10 an interesting Scripture:

⁸ And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

¹⁰ And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

¹¹ Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,

¹² And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.
Genesis 10:8, 10-12

I kept a few of the verses for context. In Ezekiel 8, when we examined that maybe why God darkens the sun and moon is because there was sun worship, it mentions that people were weeping for Tammuz. Tammuz is the supposed son of Nimrod, and people considered him to be Nimrod reincarnated. Thus, the weeping of Tammuz in the Temple was a reference to this pagan religion that weeps over the death of “god.”

Now, it says in Genesis 10:12 that the great city is called Resen between Nineveh and Calah. In Revelation 11:8, it said the 2 witnesses’ bodies lie in the streets of the great city. What is the great city? Resen is most likely the city of Karamlish in modern day Iraq. In ancient times, it was owned by the Chaldeans, which are the Babylonians. What is the great city? It is Babylon.

Also, I wanted to point out that those who believe that the seals go through the entire Tribulation match up the earthquake in the 6^th trumpet (11:13) with the earthquake from the 6^th seal (6:12). They then parallel the earthquake with the 7^th trumpet (11:19) with the earthquake from the 7^th seal (8:5).

Now, when we come to the 7^th trumpet, there is a ton of stuff going on. From the very blow of the trumpet it is proclaimed, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” Once again, I use this as another Scripture that does not support us continuing our chronology past this. It is from this time that God has claimed all the kingdoms of the Earth. This is the time when the statue crumbles (Daniel 2).

In verse 18, we have a parallel with Psalm 2:

And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Revelation 11:18

¹Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

² The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,

³ Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

⁴ He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

⁵ Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

⁶ Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

⁷ I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

⁸ Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

⁹ Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

¹⁰ Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

¹¹ Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

¹² Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Psalm 2

The end of Revelation 11 is God’s Temple in heaven being opened. Within the Temple the Ark of the Covenant was seen. This is symbolically Jesus. We’ll see this same “lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm” again in Revelation 16. Remember Daniel 7:9-11?

⁹ I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

¹⁰ A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

¹¹ I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
Ezekiel 7:14