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.