The Two Witnesses

Only unhindered evangelism during tribulation

Prophecy with Power

• Rev.11:5-6, “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth…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.

Who Are They?

• The whole crux of the matter revolves around Hebrews 9:27, which states “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”

• The only two men who never faced death were Enoch (see Gen. 5:24) and Elijah (see 2 Kings 2:11).

• Scripture would be contradicting itself if these two men never died physically.

The Exception?

• Lazarus, the ruler’s daughter, and many others who were raised from the dead and thus died more than once. (Matt. 9:24; 11:11).

• They may have been dead by human standards, but not by God’s; their spiritual bodies had not separated from their physical bodies.

• The only true exception to Christians not facing death is those who will be alive at the time of the rapture.

Jewish/Gentile Witness

• Enoch was a Gentile and Elijah was a Jew, so they also symbolize the tribulation witness of both the Gentiles and Jews during the tribulation period.

• Also harmonizes with the two Church lights for Christ during the tribulation period- those severely persecuted (Smyrna) and those that flee from last days Babylon (Philadelphia).

Enoch’s Message

• Jude 14–15: “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: ‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

Analogies for Elijah

• 1 Kings 18:38 makes mention of Elijah bringing “fire from heaven.”

• James 5:17 says Elijah held rain from the earth.

• 2 Kings 2:11 notes that Elijah went straight up to heaven without dying.

• He ushered in Christ’s first coming with call for repentance.

Lampstand Visions

• Zech. 4:2, “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 the left.”

• Rev. 11:4, “These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the land of the earth.”

Lampstand Meaning

• Single Lampstand in Zechariah’s vision is OT Witness for Christ, with the two olives representing Gentiles prior to Abraham and Jews from Abraham in OT.

• Two Lampstands in Revelation vision is both the OT and NT witnesses for Christ that will be highlighted throughout the tribulation period.

Alternate Lampstand Meaning

• They may also represent churches.• Rev. 2:5b, “If you will not repent, I will

come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” (Church at Ephesus.)

• The OT single lampstand could be a type of the church of Philadelphia or Smyrna, as the Jews were unified at that point.

• The 2 lampstands in Revelation could represent 2 lights for Christ-Smyrna/Phil.

Elijah and The Law

• Mal. 4:4+6, “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes…He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” (Pentateuch-word for law.)

Elijah’s Results

• Caused some Jewish people to repent before the judgment of Christ’s second coming wrath.

• The “fathers” and “children” may represent literal relationships within the family unified through faith in Jesus or symbolic for OT law harmonized with NT teachings.

• Elijah witnessed to Jews in “the land”. • Repentance delayed “wrath” on the land.

Elijah will Restore

• Matt. 7:11, “Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished.”

• Elijah’s witness will fall mostly on deaf ears again, but some will repent and eventually leave the systems of the world and be hunted down after abomination.

• ?Restoration of Jewish Law and/or right relation with Christ and/or right family relations.

Two Witnesses Die

• Rev. 11:7, “When they had finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.”

• In agreement with Matt. 7:11 prophecy; as John the Baptist (type of Elijah) was killed, so will they kill the end times Elijah, but not before their testimony was finished.