Who are the two witnesses (Revelation 11:3)?
Day 21
B. Hodge, Biblical Authority Ministries, June 12, 2020
When
Israel and Judah (again, that is, Israel collectively) were judged previously
for her sin, and sent into captivity there were also two witnesses according to
Nehemiah 9:26.
"Nevertheless they were disobedient And rebelled against You, Cast Your law behind their backs And killed Your prophets, who testified
against them To turn them to Yourself; And they worked great provocations. (NKJV, emphasis added)
The
Law of Moses (by the prophet Moses) and
the rest of the Old Testament by the mouth of the Prophets (Luke 24:27) both testified against Israel and her
adulteries again. The witnesses were these two as Paul says in Romans 3:21.
Keep in mind other passages that confirm this such as Luke 16:29-31 and Acts 26:22. There is no reason to assume that the two witnesses at Israel’s judgment
this time are any different.
As a clarifying note, the prophets were forerunners to apostles who now share that office and supersede it in the church as direct representatives for Christ, as opposed to merely mouthpieces of God (Hebrews 1:1-5, Luke 11:49, 1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 3:5, and 2 Peter 3:2). Prophets also existed in the New Testament but the authority of the apostles was above that of prophets (e.g., Acts 13:1). And God’s vengeance upon the Jews satisfied the complaints of the prophets and apostles in Revelation 18:20.
A
brief description of the two witnesses includes, “They have the power to shut
the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they
have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with
every kind of plague, as often as they desire.” (Revelation 11:6). These are
clearly the marks of prophets (e.g., prophesying for example) including the
finger prints of prophets like Moses (plagues on Egypt) and Elijah (shutting up
the rain).
The
two witnesses are described as two olive
trees and two lampstands (Revelation 11:4). The two olive trees and two lampstands are discussed in Zechariah 4:1-14. The olive trees are the Word of the Lord (Zechariah 4:3-6). The
lampstands that are fed by the olive trees that feed the lampstands with two
gold pipes and oil drains are called the “anointed ones” (Zechariah 4:11-14).
Scriptures called the prophets the “anointed ones” in 1 Chronicles 16:22 and
Psalm 105:15.
For
judgment, it required two or three witnesses (e.g., Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15,
Matthew 18:16, 2 Corinthians 13:1, 1 Timothy 5:19, Hebrews 10:28). Where the
Jews found two false witnesses to
come forward to put Jesus to death (Matthew 26:59-60), God used two witnesses
to confirm the harlotry of ungodly Israel and Jerusalem—the Word of God,
beginning with Moses and prophets—which is collectively the Old Testament.
These are the two witnesses called against those who killed the Lord.
Re-Read Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15, Matthew 18:16, 2 Corinthians 13:1, 1 Timothy 5:19, Hebrews 10:28, and then read Revelation 11:3-8.
