Who
are the two witnesses from Revelation?
And
I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days,
clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two
lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone tries to harm
them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how
anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky
so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have
power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of
plague as often as they want.
Now
when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss
will attack them, and overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the
street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where
also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days men from every people,
tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial.
The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending
each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on
the earth.
But
after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and
they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard
a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they
went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
At
that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed.
Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified
and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Revelation 11:3-13
If taken literally,
these two witnesses:
·
Cannot be touched or
harassed or killed.
·
Fire comes out of their
mouths.
·
They can stop rain and
call down plagues.
·
They will die but rise
again.
Can that be or does John
use terminology that points to something else?
The two witnesses, also
called the two olive trees and two lampstands, relate directly to ZECHARIAH 4,
where lamp stands, olive trees and two witnesses are mentioned.
Then the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me, as a
man is wakened from his sleep. He asked
me, "What do you see?"
I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the
top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. Also there are
two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its
left."
I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my
lord?"
He answered, "Do you not know what these are?"
"No, my lord," I replied.
So
he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might
nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. Zechariah 4:1-6
Then I asked the angel, "What are these two olive trees on
the right and the left of the lampstand?"
Again I asked him, "What are these two olive branches beside
the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?"
He replied, "Do you not know what these are?"
"No, my
lord," I said.
So
he said, "These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the
earth." Zechariah 4:11-14
Zechariah, a prophet
during the exile to Babylon, contains several allusions to
Jesus/Revelation. John borrows heavily
from this book that is rich in imagery and prophecy:
Zechariah 1 – horns
Zechariah 2 – measuring
line for the temple
Zechariah 3 – the priest
Joshua and the Branch (Jesus, a form of the name Joshua)
Zechariah 4 – lamp
stands, olive trees
Zechariah 5 – scroll, a
wicked woman of Babylon
Zechariah 6 – four
horses of different color
Zechariah 9 – Jesus on a
donkey, coming of the Lord
Zechariah 12 – the one
who was pierced
Zechariah 14 – the final coming of the Lord
In Zechariah’s day, the
two witnesses were Zerubbabel (governor) and Joshua (high priest). They faced opposition and stood strong.
John wanted to say the
same thing to the church—there will be opposition, but hold strong.
So what should the
people hold on to? Jesus told us to go
and be witnesses. The "witness" of these things. The word “witness” is in Greek the word martys. It
means a historical spectator or someone who dies for their faith. It’s the same word Jesus used here.
But you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts
1:8
The power/spirit/example
of ELIJAH (who shut up the rain) and MOSES (who called down the plagues). That miraculous spirit of God can still
protect his people. Both of them were
with Jesus at his transfiguration.
The power/spirit/example
of JESUS (a type of Moses) and JOHN THE BAPTIST (a type of Elijah).
If taken LITERALLY,
these are two men who prophesied in the open for three and a half years, burn
people with their mouth like a flamethrower, die, then rise again from the
dead. That’s an incredible stretch.
FIGURATIVELY, this
represents encouragement for the church, speaking words that burn the world,
convicting it. They are attacked, but
never die. Zechariah calls them the
witnesses that bring the word to the world.
The mystery of the seven
stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars
are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Revelation 1:20
Since lampstands stand
for the church, these witnesses could be THE CHURCH.