WHO ARE THE TWO WITNESSES?

By Rick Lange
http://bibleprophecybyricklange.blogspot.com/
Posted with authors permission

“And there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship in it. And leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations and they will tread underfoot the holy city for forty two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days clothed in sack cloth.” Revelation 11:1-3

Who are these two witnesses and when can we expect to see them? Here in Revelation 11 it seems obvious that they are connected with the building of the temple in Jerusalem and they are placed timewise between the sixth and seventh trumpet judgments, which indicates that they come during the tribulation.

Two time periods are mentioned here. The Gentile nations will tread Jerusalem underfoot for 42 months and the Two Witnesses will prophesy for 1260 days. Forty two months and 1260 days equal the same amount of time.

In my humble opinion, I believe that this time period in the book of Revelation is listed in three different ways expressly so that we will not turn it into 1260 prophetic years. In other words, 1260 days and 42 months and 3 ½ years are all the same amount of time and John wants to make sure that we don’t use the day for a year principle here. The tribulation is going to last for either 3 ½ or 7 literal years. I give these two options because the tribulation seems to be divided into two halves, each consisting of 1260 days, or 3 ½ years.

If we go to the book of Daniel chapter 12 we see that the angel also give Daniel a time period of a time, times and a half of time, which is also 3 ½ years. In verse 1of chapter 12 we find out that this is the time of great tribulation. It comes just after the antichrist pitches his tents presumably in Jerusalem (Dan. 11:45) and may well coincide with his entering the temple and claiming to be God. At any rate, whatever he has done, it causes Michael the arch angel to stand up and pour out what seems to be the wrath of God on the antichrist kingdom.

This 3 ½ year prophecy given to Daniel may well be the last 3 ½ years of the 7 year tribulation and the worst part of it called the “wrath of God.” It is a time of destruction for the antichrist kingdom, but for the Jews it says in verse 10: “Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.” V. 10

It is also interesting to note that this particular 3 ½ year time period has some additional days for it says:

“And from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION is set up, there will be 1290 days. And again it says: “How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days.” So this time period is extended and certain blessings are added to those who survive, or hang on until the very end.

We also notice here that The angel refers to the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION and Jesus places that event at the end of time just period to His return in Mt. 24: 15, Mark 13:14 and He relates it to the flight of the Jews into the mountains and He also picks up on what Daniel said that this will be a time of trouble such as the world has never seen, or ever shall see.

A careful study of Daniel 9:26, 27 tells us several important things about the antichrist:

1. He is of the people who destroyed the city in AD 70 which means he is from the Roman Empire.

2. The Messiah will have been cut off, not having finished the mandates listed in verse 24. Bear in mind that the mandates decreed in Daniel 9:24 are given to “Daniel’s people. This would be the Jews who were in exile in Babylon with Daniel at that time.

3. And he (the prince who is to come who is of those who destroyed the city and the temple) will make a covenant with the many for one week.

4. Now since this is talking about the last week of the 70 weeks, which we know to be 490 years, then this final week would be 7 years.

5. So the antichrist confirms or makes a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will break this covenant by committing the abomination of desolation in the temple.

6. This then divides the seven year week into two periods of 3 ½ years or 1260 days.

7. To me it is very clear that the seventieth week does not continue contiguously with the other 69 weeks. Messiah is cut off after the 69th week, but the 70th week is not mentioned until the book of Revelation where I believe everything that was not finished on the cross is completed.

8. Now, don’t get me wrong. When Jesus said “It is Finished” He meant it and it was finished. Satan’s kingdom was toppled at the cross. The victory was won. The battle over man’s future was secured. But Jesus didn’t come just to save Himself so to speak. He came to build a church…to prepare a Bride, to train her to reign with Him on His throne. So while ultimate victory is an accomplished fact, we, the Bride, are being marshalled together to announce what Jesus has done and to preach the good news of the kingdom to every creature on this planet.

9. Jesus could do the whole thing by Himself, but then where would His Bride be and with whom could He share the spoils of war?

10. YOU might say in human terms that Jesus loves His Bride, not only for her body, but for her heart and mind also. He is working to preserve us entirely, spirit, soul and body. (1 Thess. 5:23.)

11. So, in other words, that 70th week has been cut off from the other 69 weeks in order to finish, both with Israel and with His church what things must of necessity be finished by His people. And in the process the two groups (Jews and Gentiles) will become one new man in Christ. Eph. 2:13-22.

Throughout the centuries theologians have had many theories about how this all works and what the tribulation and the 70th week are all about. Was it a prophecy of a literal 7 year time period? Would there be a literal temple or was that figurative? Was it in the future, or strictly in the past?

I think those questions have been answered for us. Israel is back in their literal land and they are about to build a literal temple, and the powers that be are working hard to confirm a covenant with the many. That is to say it is not just a covenant with the Jews, but a covenant with the nations to build a temple as a house of prayer for all nations and all religions and unfortunately that is going to play very nicely into the hands of the antichrist.

We are told in Daniel 9:26, 27, Rev. 11:1-3, 13:1-18, Mt. 24:15, 2 Thess. 2:3-12 that in the middle of the 70th week, he will commit the abomination of desolation by going into the temple and saying that he is God. This is the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION spoken of by Daniel the prophet and confirmed as a last day event just before the return of Christ by Jesus Himself in Mt. 24:15.

Now, this is where the 2 Witnesses come in, because they are going to prophesy during this same period of 1260 days or 3 ½ years. They will come on the scene to warn the people and to expose the deception of the antichrist and his fake millennial reign and probably to warn people not to take the Mark of the Beast.

We see how well their message is received by those set on a global solution, for they will put the Two Witnesses to death and then celebrate their deaths with glee. But in 3 ½ days, their celebrations will turn into great fear because God raises the Two Witnesses from the dead and catches them back up to heaven and this exposes the antichrist for who he is and it exposes the entire globalist cabal as well.

It seems apparent that the arrival of the Two Witnesses occurs during the first 3 ½ year period which then ends with the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which in turn triggers the great time of Jacob’s trouble, or the last 3 ½ years which includes the wrath of God upon the antichrist kingdom.

So now to our opening question: Who are the two witnesses of Revelation 11?

Revelation 11:4 says of them: “These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.” Zechariah 4: 10-14 calls them “The two anointed ones who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth.”

Malachi, in his final statement (Chapter 4) says this: “Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will restore the heart of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.

This entire chapter in Malachi is talking about the last days and he is describing in particular the final tribulation period and in this short chapter he mentions Moses and Elijah. This also helps us to place the ministry of the Two Witnesses as occurring during the first 3 ½ years of the tribulation. We know that the church will not be here for the outpouring of God’s wrath. That much we are promised. But we may be here for the first half since Paul tells us in 2 Thess. 2:4 that we will see the great apostasy and the arrival of the antichrist. But we are promised that He will save us from the wrath to come and that is why the last 3 ½ year period is called the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble. The term “Jacob” is used to identify unrepentant Israel, which if we remember his story, Jacob was his name before he had his encounter with God and after that experience, the Lord changed his name to Israel.

So now that we have the time period set, how do we identify the Two Witnesses?

Moses confronted Pharaoh with many of the plagues listed in the book of Revelation. I believe that he will confront Pharaoh again in the form of the antichrist.

And just as Moses confronted Pharaoh, (the antichrist,) so also will Elijah confront false religion and restored the hearts of the people to the God of our Fathers. Once again he will bring destruction and fire and famine upon the unrepentant, thus exposing antichrist and his false religion once and for all.

So the temple will be built during the first 3 ½ years of the 7 year tribulation and the Jews will have to flee from Jerusalem and Judea when the abomination of desolation takes place and this will bring on the time of Jacob’s trouble as the wrath of God is poured out upon the kingdom of the beast.

I believe that Jesus settled the question of who the two witnesses are when they showed up on either side of Him on the mount of transfiguration. There both Moses and Elijah stood on either side of Jesus. Peter thought that the kingdom had come as promised and he excitedly suggested building sukkahs, (tabernacles) for each one of them. After all, the feast of Tabernacles prefigures the millennial reign of Christ on the earth when He will once again tabernacle with His people.

So, I can only offer you my opinion on the matter, but I believe the Two Witnesses to be Moses and Elijah. And since Jared Kushner and others are in the process of confirming a covenant with the many, for both the land and the temple, I would say that we are looking at a very short time period between now and the ministry of the Two Witnesses upon the earth.

No matter how you interpret Bible prophecy, we are living very close to the end. Any way you look at it, we live in very interesting times and hundreds of prophecies are being fulfilled on a daily basis. When this covenant with the many is confirmed, then we will know that we have 7 years left, during which every remaining prophecy for this world will be finished. There are still many prophecies to be fulfilled concerning the millennial reign of Christ, but those are after the Lord returns. One of the next agendas we can expect to see is the arrival of the Two Witnesses as the temple is being built.

We should certainly not be dogmatic about our interpretations of prophecy, nor should we make doctrine out of them. These prophecies are forever evolving as birth pangs leading to the final return of Jesus. The main thing is to be ready. Jesus told us to watch and pray and that we must do and we must also tell others about His soon return and the great hope that we have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Are you confused yet? Don’t worry. We know what we need to do now. We need to put away sin from our lives. We need to learn how to live by the Spirit rather than by our flesh. (See Romans 8) We need to learn how to walk in victory, especially since Jesus has already won that victory and then handed it to us. We need to tell people about Jesus and His soon coming and we need to bear the fruit of the Spirit in and through our lives for we have been equipped with everything we need to overcome.