The Two Witnesses: who are they?

There is much speculation about who the Two Witnesses in Revelation 11 will be. The middle chapters of Revelation describe the Great Tribulation. This is the point in the end time that events will be so horrendous that unless the Lord cut them short, no man would be left alive. The rapture has taken place and the world is given over to its own evil devices, except for those who have converted to Christianity and for the 144,000 supernaturally sealed evangelists the Lord has sent. But the Lord in His mercy never leaves us completely alone, and in this case, He sends two witnesses so that a thing can be established (Deu 19:15; 2Cor 13:1). These two witnesses preach, prophesy, and call for repentance for 1260 days non-stop.

These two, clothed in sackcloth, stand in the Jerusalem street, likely near the Temple. The bible says that the everyone hates them, these who are not named in scripture. They are hated so much that the world celebrates their eventual death and they lay in the Jerusalem street for three days before supernaturally being resurrected and ascending to heaven before the astonished eyes of the people.

Speculation abounds as to the identity of the Two Witnesses. I am of two minds. I think it is almost pointless to dwell on searching out the details of prophecies for which there is no knowable answer. The bible does not name them, period. Anyway, we will be raptured before the appearance of these witnesses, and before other unknowable prophecies' details come to pass, such as before the antichrist is revealed and before learning exactly what "Wormwood" is. So spending time and energy to search out the unknowable things out is not a way to bear fruit for His Kingdom. Revelation 10:4 even says there are part of the Tribulation that are coming (The Seven Thunders) but were deliberately sealed up and John was prohibited from writing about them. However, on the other hand, it is good to mildly speculate, and read the scriptures to connect the dots. The following was a dot that connected for me.

We read in Hebrews 9: 27 "...it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment." However, we know that many have died twice. Lazarus, Jesus's friend died and was buried four days before being raised to life again, to die later at a second time. So my opinion is, since the scriptures have been proved not to mean, to die ONLY once and then the judgment, it must mean to die AT LEAST once and then the judgment.

People have said that the two witnesses must be Elijah and Moses because it was those two who appeared with a glorified Jesus in Matthew 17:3. And also that Moses was known previously for being used of God in producing miracles that involved turning waters into blood (Ex 7:17-21) and the Witnesses will also turn waters into blood (Rev 11:6) and since God is consistent... However, if the scriptures say it is appointed for a man to die (at least) once and then judgment comes...it leaves two men who never died who would make that scripture moot: Enoch and Elijah.

Hebrews 11:5 "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God." Enoch did not die.

2Kings 2:11 "As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven." Elijah did not die.

It seems obvious to me that after having witnessed for 1260 days the scriptures would be fulfilled if Enoch and Elijah's appointment with death was on the street of Jerusalem. Otherwise they would be two men who had not died once. Again, Enoch or Elijah may have a part to play in the unknowable Seven Thunders events that includes their appointment with death, so they may not necessarily have to be one of the two witnesses based on the "die once" verse.

Therefore, I cannot make a doctrine out of this. Ultimately, I find it helpful to dwell not on the identity but on the miracle. God's love is so deep that even in humanity's darkest days, when hearts heavy as stone and hard as glass refuse and blaspheme Him, He STILL sends the message to us. Jesus saves.

Comments

  1. I rather see Moses instead of Enoch on the scene. The title "Two WITNESSES" itself should give a lot of clues here.

    Moses and Elijah were found in the mount of transfiguration. These two prophets are revered as the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah) even today among the Jews. When these two appear, they will go to the Jews sayin, "we are the witnesses of the voice of God, Who you worship, when He said "This is my beloved Son. Hear ye Him". We heard His voice with our own ears. O people of Israel, you believe that we are of the Old Testament and now believe that we were also on the Mount of transfiguration, in the New Testament and that we are the witnesses of that voice. Believe now that the One Who your forefathers have rejected and killed is your Messiah." This is the mission of the two WITNESSES apart from the signs and wonders that would take place at their word during the tribulation period. It is again falsely assumed that the 144000 of the children would be great evangelists through out the whole world. There is no solid evidence from the Bible to believe this.
    The 7 year tribulation period is the time of Jacob's trouble. Israel did not believe in Jesus Christ, their Brother, a type of Joseph of the Old Testament. Joseph was sold to the Gentiles by his brothers, Israel's children. Later during the 7 year famine, the brothers come to Egypt looking for food but to their amazement find their lost brother. Likewise, during the 7 year tribulation period, 144000 of the children of Israel would believe in Jesus Christ, their Messiah.

    The only reason to believe that it would be Enoch is that he did not taste death. In that case, we can argue that there would be people who would be caught up together alive, who would never taste death.

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