The prophecy of the two witnesses

Each of us no matter our race, religion or background have come to understand a common human experience. We've seen much of the same things, we've done a lot of the same things, and hardly anything on the news at this point is a shock to us. We've heard it all before. We've come to accept the world we live in as just the way things will always be. But, this study will be an interruption to the modern human experience, because it covers something that will soon shape our world, because It's coming, it's coming soon…

God's Two Witnesses are about to be given power. We've all heard about Noah's Ark. We've heard about Moses parting the Red Sea. We've heard about Sampson fighting lions. We've all heard these great Bible stories, right? But one thing that many of us have not heard about, are the Two Witnesses, why is that?

Book of Revelation chapter 11. Right before Jesus returns, God will give power to His Two Witnesses and it describes this vision that God gives John about them. John writes how one day these powerful Witnesses will come, and they are not going to just preach the gospel… They will be given power that will give evidence to the world that Jesus is King and that He is coming back. The Book of Revelation says that these two prophets or witnesses will have fire that comes from their mouths, they will have the power to stop the rain, and will even be given the miraculous powers to cause plagues to fall upon those who refuse to listen. It says that for three-and-a-half years they will be doing miracles, to basically prove to the world who Jesus is, before he returns.

The miraculous stories that we've all read about in the Bible will one day be visible again, right before our very eyes! So, what the Bible says about the Two Witnesses is extremely powerful. It's exciting. It's so important. The power of God is going to be on the scene going viral.

So why on earth don't we hear many sermons and messages about the Two Witnesses. It's a powerful thing that's going to happen. Well, there are a few reasons. The main reason is because there's a lot of debate about who exactly the Two Witnesses are. We all have opinions about this. I'm sure many of you have seen so many different perspectives. Some believe that the Two Witnesses will be Enoch and Elijah, some believe that they might be Moses and Elijah and some even say that the whole thing is symbolic for the old and new Testament. The issue is, we all have opinions on who they might be. We all have these guesses, these theories. And because we haven't been able to pinpoint exactly who they are in the scripture, we don't hear many sermons about them. No one wants to say or create something that might not be right, so we just stay silent.

Well today that changes, my friend if you follow this story from beginning to end giving it your full attention, I tell you this… By the end of this story you will no longer wonder about who the Two Witnesses might be, but you will know without any doubt, exactly what and who they are.

Enoch and Elijah

The Bible never specifically gives the names of who the Two Witnesses will be. They were just making really good guesses that it might be Enoch and Elijah. They had a great argument for why it could be Enoch and Elijah. The main argument was found in The Book of Hebrews Chapter 9:27. It says, “everyone at some point is going to die”. But the thing is, Enoch and Elijah are two individuals who never died. They were just taken from the earth by God. The argument is that since we all have to die, and they never died, maybe they have to return to earth at some point, as the Two Witnesses. So that they can one day die, because the Bible says that all people will have to die eventually.

But when Jesus returns, there will be people on earth who are caught up to Him. People who never die. They are alive to see Him return and they are just gonna be caught up to Him. the Bible says that, everyone who comes to Christ, has already died with Him on the cross. It says that everyone who believes in Christ has literally already died with Him on the cross. And so, since we know that Enoch and Elijah, obviously believe in Christ, some say that perhaps they have already died in the same way, since they have faith in Christ. Maybe both of them have died with Him on the cross. So, they don't have to die.

Moses and Elijah

The most common perspective is the argument for the Two Witnesses being Moses and Elijah. Why Elijah? Why would they say Elijah is one of The Two Witnesses? well, when the Two Witnesses are given power, The Bible says that they will do miraculous things to prove to the world that Jesus is exactly who he said He is, and that He is about to come back. it says that The Two Witnesses will be able to make fire fall down from the sky, and the interesting thing is, the prophet Elijah did the same thing when he was here. He also made fire fall down from the sky to show people the reality of God. It makes sense, that if the Two Witnesses are going to be making fire fall down from the sky, perhaps one of them is Elijah. Makes sense, right? The other interesting thing about Elijah, is what the Prophet Malachi says in chapter 4 verse 5.

Check this out:

I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.

So here in the Old Testament the Prophet Malachi writes, that before the Lord comes, Elijah will come to earth again. I Mean that's it's kind of convincing, isn't it? So, we're gonna come back to that.

But what about Moses? Why is he a candidate for one of the Two Witnesses? Well, if the Two Witnesses are going to be doing miracles and will be given power to send plagues into the world… If there is one guy in the Bible who had something to do with miracles and plagues, its Moses. When he was trying to tell the Pharaoh to let God's people go, the Pharaoh wouldn't listen, and he refused to obey God. Plagues were sent into Egypt to punish them and something very similar is going to happen when The Two Witnesses are here on the scene. So, you can see why there is this great argument for Moses of also being one of them. There is something else that is an extremely convincing argument for Moses and Elijah. This is actually the most convincing argument for them.

We know how Elijah never died, he was on earth and then he was just taken up to another dimension, into heaven in a chariot of fire. He never had to see death. God just took him. But Moses, he did die. But even though Moses died, apparently something might have happened to his body and somehow Moses is still alive, because when Jesus was here, almost two thousand years ago, He ran into Moses and Elijah standing together. So, in Matthew chapter 17, Jesus was walking with Peter James and John, and eventually they came to this mountain and two figures appeared, right there before them. When the followers of Jesus looked at him, Jesus changed His clothes. Appeared white, His face began to shine like the Sun and then He began speaking with these two individuals, who we learned in verse 3, are Moses and Elijah and the followers of Jesus were shocked. They see Jesus here talking to Moses and Elijah, His face has changed, His clothes are different, and they heard this booming voice coming from the sky saying: “this is my son, listen to Him”.

They were scared out of their minds. This is all interesting because for some reason. Jesus had this meeting with Elijah and Moses. So, many believe that this whole scene was a preview of how Moses and Elijah will one day return, right before the Second Coming.

Every question has a concrete answer in the Bible. We just have to discover it…

John the Baptist

Let’s go back to Matthew chapter 17:

Matthew 17:10 - The disciples asked Him, “why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus Replied, to be sure Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I will tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.

Matthew 17:11-13 - Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

So basically, the disciples asked why the scripture says that Elijah is going to come before the Lord. Jesus lets them know that Elijah had already come, but in the form of John the Baptist. Before Jesus began His ministry, John the Baptist was on the scene, preaching about the kingdom of God. John the Baptist preached with such fire in such intensity that it got him in trouble and he was killed for his faith. And Jesus is just letting His followers know, that when He says that Elijah is going to come, it was speaking about how John the Baptist in the spirit of Elijah would come first, to prepare people for the Ministry of Jesus.

Luke chapter 1:13 - “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.”

Luke chapter 17 - And he will go on before the lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous to make all people ready and prepared for the lord.

Compared to what is said in Malachi chapter 4… now we see why Jesus said that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of the prophecy about Elijah. so, it says that Elijah will come, he will turn the hearts of parents to their children and children to their parents, here in Luke the angel tells John's parents, this kid you're having John. He's gonna have the spirit of Elijah and he will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous. It's referring to the same thing. Now we see why Jesus said that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of the prophecy about Elijah Coming back into the world. So, this is a great discovery, but now it leaves us with more questions Because this whole thing in Malachi about Elijah coming was a huge piece of why Elijah might be one of the two witnesses, right?

So, how do we get down to the bottom of who the two witnesses are. Well, this is where the journey begins…

The Two Witnesses revealed

“Pray for wisdom pray for insight and pray for revelation”

In revelations chapter 11, John is speaking with an angelic being. He's receiving another vision for guarding the end times. The Book of Revelation is full of these visions. We know that he's seen the Beast and that was interpreted by the angel as this wicked king, who would arise. We saw that John had a vision of a woman who was clothed in the sky and she gave birth to a son, so he saw many visions. He saw a vision of Babylon the great prostitute, he saw visions and then the angel always follows up with the interpretation of what the symbols in the vision meant. Now the only thing that's interesting about this Two Witnesses’ vision, is That the angel doesn't really go into detail to let John know, What the two witnesses represent. He has this vision of these two Witnesses, these two prophets, these two bold entities, proclaiming God's Word to the world and that's basically all were left with. The angel doesn't really break down what the Two Witnesses represent.

We see here that the Angel is talking to John and he's  speaking with the voice of God and says,

Revelations 11:3 - I will appoint my two witnesses and they will prophecy for 1260 days. (Referring to the three-and-a-half-year point at the beginning before the Antichrist starts to enforce his evil hand) and it says that they would be clothed is sackcloth.

Revelation 11:4 -They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the lord of earth.”

‘They are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, and they stand before the Lord of the earth if Anyone tries to harm them fire comes from their mouth and devours their enemies This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die They have the power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they're prophesying and

They have the power to turn waters and blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.”

When you are imagining John receiving this revelation, what comes to mind when you hear about The Two Witnesses? maybe two people, maybe two individuals, maybe two prophets.

Since we weren't there, we didn't personally see what John saw and since the angel doesn’t go into too much detail, about the identity of these two prophets, these Two Witnesses.

It's hard to imagine anything other than just two individuals. It says that once the two witnesses have finished their testimony, the Beast that comes up from the abyss will attack them overpower and kill them. It says that their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city, who just figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, for three and a half days. People will see their bodies and will gaze on their bodies and even refuse them burial, but after three and a half days they stood on their feet and then they went up to heaven and they heard the voice say, come up here!

That is all that we are given about the two witnesses. There's nothing there that really indicates that the two witnesses are just two individuals. That's just pretty much what we have always envisioned. When we read this, some say that perhaps the two witnesses represent two multiple bodies of people because it says that their bodies will lie in the public square that could be two Bodies or it could be many bodies, right?

So, when it says two witnesses, how are we going to find out who they are, what they are

And how are we gonna get down to the bottom of it? The angel broke down what the Beast represented, if the angel had never explained what the Beast or the dragon represented, many of us would still be thinking that one day a giant dragon with multiple heads will come out of the earth and then there's going to be this beast arising out of the sea. A lot of us would think that's actually going to look just like that. But, thankfully the angel interpreted it and allowed us to know that this beast and the dragon represented a kingdom. So, if you want to know what the two witnesses represent, we have to do some detective work. We have to look at the keywords that the angel has given us.

Let me say this, when the angel was speaking to John about the coming beast, he was talking about the future Antichrist. If the angel had never given John, the interpretation, how would we have been able to find it? How would we have been able to find out that maybe this beast represents a king or a kingdom? By looking at the keywords, we would have seen the word beast. Then we would have looked throughout the scripture. To search whenever a prophet was referring to word beast and how it was interpreted in the past. We saw in the Book of Daniel how he saw beasts and that those beasts represented kingdoms and Kings. So even if John had not been given the interpretation of the vision in detail in Revelation, we could have done detective work to discover that the beast represented a kingdom or king. Just by looking at how the symbol of beasts was used in other parts of the Bible.

The same thing can be done here, even though we aren't given the two witnesses interpretation in detail, which just led us to have all these different speculations as to what they are. We can do detective work, and the key is in verse four. He says exactly what the two witnesses are he just lets you know, he says:

“They are the two olive trees and the two lampstands”

So, if we want to discover who the two witnesses are and what they are, all we have to do is discover what and who the two olive trees are and what the two Lampstands are. If we can understand the two olive trees, we can understand who the two witnesses are if we can understand the two lampstands then we can understand what the two witnesses are.

Are you ready to begin?

The two olive trees

Zechariah 4:2 - He asked me, “what do you see?” I answered. “I see a solid gold lamp stand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps.

Zechariah 4:3 - also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of bowl and the other on its left.

Zechariah 4:11 - then I asked the angel, “what are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”

Zechariah 4:14 - So he said, “these are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.”

So, the olive trees represent two who are anointed, two individuals or two groups of people. The question is, has an olive tree in the Bible ever been used to refer to one person. Or does an olive tree find its use trough scripture to refer to multiple people?

Jeremiah 11:16 - The lord called you a thriving olive tree with fruit beautiful in form. But with the roar of a mighty storm he will set it on fire, and its branches will be broken.

((The people of God, where separated in to two kingdoms:

(Gentiles) = House of Israel, Northern Kingdom (Ephraim)

(Jews) = House of Juda, Southern Kingdom.))

Jeremiah 11:16 - The Lord called you a thriving olive tree with fruit beautiful in form.

What about those who aren’t Israelites, what about those who are of a different race? Can they also be among the people of god? by a means. The apostle Paul was writing a letter to the Romans, to gentiles, people who aren’t Jewish and when he was writing his letter, he was explaining to them in chapter eleven, that the moment they come to faith in Jesus, they become a part of the Jewish olive three.

Romans 11:24 - You were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree!

When you read the context of the chapter, you will see that the cultivated olive tree represents the people of Israelite ancestry and gentiles. Even those who aren’t from Israel can be grafted into it. Technically, Jesus is from the tribe of Judah. And so, through Christ you actually become a part of the tribe of Judah, which makes you a part of the House of Judah olive tree. No matter your race no matter your background, because in Christ we are all truly one. You are now a part of his olive tree. Included in the house of Judah through him, through is blood. The people of god are rising up, even right now the revival of power is upon us and whenever God is about to use his people in a mighty way, Satan tries to creep in an create chaos and division.

look at what Zechariah says about all trees:

You see Zechariah was a prophet of the Old Testament. He is known of receiving many apocalyptic visions from God. Here he's about to get a vision of the end times as well.

What do you see: Zachariah answered…

I see a solid gold lamp stand with the bowline at the top seven lamps on it with seven channels - the lamps. Also, there are two olive trees. By it one on the right of the bowl and with the other on its left. Then I asked the angel. What are these two olive trees on the right and left of the lamp stand? Again, I asked him what are these two olive branches beside the two pipes that pour out golden oil? And he said do you not know what these are to my lord? I don't know. So, he said these are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth. And That's all he says. I'm like, come on King. Give us a little more than that. But that’s all the angel says. The angel says these two olive trees are the two who are Anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth. Okay, so that helps us out a little. Now we know that the two olive trees represent Two who are anointed. So, there are either two people or two groups of people, who are anointed to Serve the Lord.

We're not done yet. So, now we have to discover this. All right, has an olive tree in the Bible ever been used to refer to just one person? Or does an olive tree find its use throughout the scripture referring to multiple people

Well, let's look at Jeremiah 11:16

Jeremiah he is calling for the repentance of his people, Israel, the Jewish people. Many have turned away from God, many have stopped hearing His voice. The prophets and Jeremiah trie to reach them to see how important they are in God's eyes. He wants to know how they are important. They are his prized possession and look what he says to the Jewish people!

the Lord called you a thriving Olive tree with fruit beautiful in form, but with the roar of a mighty storm. He will set it on fire and its branches will be broken. The Lord Almighty who planet you has decreed as a stir for you because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and Aroused my anger by burning incense to Baal.

what did it say in verse 16? the Lord called you a thriving olive tree. Wow…

Who did he call a thriving olive tree? The Jewish people, this tree is not shown to reference one person It is shown to reference a body of people, a body of many making up a nation. And this reference is referring to the Jewish people and Jeremiah says, because they are turning against God, if they don't repent he says what's going to happen. With the roar of a mighty storm that olive tree will be set on fire and your branches will be broken.

That are some very loaded verses

So, this olive tree represents the Jewish people. Is there any reference in the New Testament about an olive tree? representing a group of people? We're about to find out.

Romans 11:24 -

And Jeremiah he says that the Jewish people, until they repent, they are representing an olive tree that will have their branches broken off. And look at what Paul said. Paul was writing his letter to the Romans and he was talking to Gentiles. I am talking to you Gentiles What is a Gentile? A Gentile is a person who's just not Jewish. Whether you're Indian Native American of Asian, whatever you may be if you're not Jewish, you're a Gentile. So, God sees humanity basically in two groups. The Jews and everybody else are the Gentiles. Paul here is writing This letter to Gentiles letting us know that because we have come to faith in Jesus, we are included in God's people. We're not Jews by ancestry perhaps, but because of faith in Christ, we have become God's people and so Paul here is saying that Yes, the Jewish people are an olive tree. They are an olive tree, but certain branches have been broken off because they Did not hear the voice of God and did not believe in the man who was sent. So, because of that, God has to build up this other olive tree that He's also going to use to serve Him and He says, that you as the Gentiles are now also part of the olive tree.

So, I'm talking to you Gentiles and He says, if some of the branches have been broken off and you though a wild olive tree, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root. Do not Consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. I support the root, but the root supports you. this is too deep. Remember Jesus said; you believe in me and remain in me. You continue to bear fruit. This is exactly the policy of referring to here. He's referring to how those who have faith in Christ basically become olive trees. Just because God has now called you his people, doesn't mean He's just going to throw the Jewish people away. Just because you have faith in Christ and you have now become an olive tree, does not mean that the olive tree of the Jewish people will be thrown away. They Are still an olive tree. He's just still working on them. He's not done yet that's why it says if some of the branches have been broken off and you Gentiles know a wild offshoot have been grafted in among the others Don't become arrogant do not consider yourself superior to those other branches, if you do remember you know, it is the root that supports you, so he's playing back to what Jeremiah was saying, because here is was - Jeremiah said.

That with a mighty roar the original olive tree the Jewish people, He said. That there's gonna be these broken branches and here Paul is talking about what broken branches and again, He's writing to Gentiles and he says;

You will say that branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in and that's true that's granted, but they were broken off because of unbelief and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant but tremble and polish along the Gentiles, who aren't Jewish. Know that those who are broken off from the olive tree, are because of unbelief. Don't get arrogant. Just continue to have faith. Just continue have faith and be grateful. God is not done with his people of Israel. Look what it says. This is deep.

And if they do not persist in unbelief They will be grafted in for God is able to graft them in again. Here Paul says that the Jewish people, the moment that one of his covenant people Descendants of Israel, once one of them comes to faith in Christ, they can be grafted back into the olive tree. They can once again become an olive tree. Gentiles through faith. We have been able to come in all three and he says that once they come to faith the, you’re coming back into your home. It rests upon not how many rules you can follow in the Old Testament But it's about if you can have faith in God's beloved son Jesus...

So,

God is able to graft them in again, and then this is it. After all, if you Gentiles if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature and contrary to nature, were grafted into a cultivated olive tree. how much more will these the natural branches be grafted into? Their own. Get the picture. We have become an olive tree graphed into this great olive tree. He says the moment the people come to Christ these natural people, they will be grafted into their own olive tree.

So,

Believers in faith, who aren't Jewish by ancestry, we have become a part of this olive tree. The moment God's Jewish people come to faith. They will become their own olive tree. How many olive trees is that?

two olive trees…

This is why Zacharias says these two olive trees, these are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth. Not just Jews not just Gentiles but Jews and Gentiles grafted into one all tree but both still separate, serving God. This is why Paul said, I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery Brothers and sisters. So that you may not be conceited. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in and in this way all Israel will be saved. My friends, Paul just prophesied. He says yes, there has been this falling away, this unbelief in Jesus, but once the full number of Gentiles has come to faith those who aren't Jewish then something will happen and the Jewish with either people of Israel will somehow Come to faith in Christ

Now of course not everyone's gonna come faith in Christ, but a large number will and once that happens like we just looked at once that happens. They would be grafted into what their own olive tree. So, let's go back to Revelation

Who are the two witnesses that will prophesy for three and a half years with the Holy Spirit power? Who are they? Did it say that they were two people? did it say there was just two individuals? No, it said that they are the two olive trees…

You see

When the day comes for God to pour out his Holy Spirit. The Spirit is already here it's already within His people, but when the power comes That's going to only be unveiled

When both his olive trees are ready for service and that can only happen when you have two olive trees. But we're still waiting for the repentance of his people Israel. Once they come to faith in the understanding of the Messiah Jesus You have two olive trees ready for surface built up ray to? operate and Holy Spirit power and they will be appointed and the testimony of the two witnesses shall begin

Now, I've said a lot. And I'll say this. There's a lot more we have to uncover here It says the two witnesses are not only the two olive trees, but also the two lampstands. So where are the two lamps in this? We got to break that down.