Revelation 11:3, “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in sackcloth and will prophesy during those 1,260 days.”
The only two that could have given power to the two witnesses to perform their duty were God the Father or the Lord Jesus Christ. Witnesses is the plural form of martus, from which the English word martyr derives, since so many witnesses of Jesus Christ in the early church paid with their lives. It is always used in reference in the New Testament to persons so therefore the two witnesses must be actual people, not movements. The Word of God requires a testimony of two people to confirm a fact or verify truth (Deut 17:6; 19:15; Matthew 18:16; John 8:17; 2 Cor 13:1; 1 Tim 5:19 Heb 10:28), so therefore these two witnesses have to be two persons. Prophesy propheteuo is here used with the primary meaning of telling forth the divine counsels of God. Prophecy does not necessarily refer to predicting the future. Here though the word is translated propheteuo but the other Greek word translated would be propheteia signifying the speaking forth of the mind and counsel of God. The primary mission of the two witnesses is to speak forth the judgments of God to warn people of the impending doom that is coming there way through the preaching of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 1,260 days refers to the length of there ministry the last three and one-half years of the Tribulation, when Antichrist’s forces will oppress the city of Jerusalem (v.2), and many Jews, and believers in the Messiah will be sheltered in the wilderness (12:6).
Sackcloth was rough, heavy, course cloth wore in ancient times as a symbol of mourning, distress, grief and humility. Jacob put on sackcloth when he thought Joseph had been killed (Gen 37:34). David ordered the people to wear sackcloth after the murder of Abner (2nd Samuel 3:31) and wore it himself during the plague God sent in response to his sin of numbering the people (1 Chron 21:16). King Jehoram wore sackcloth during the siege on Samaria (2 Kings 6:30), as did King Hezekiah when Jerusalem was attacked (2nd Kings 19:1). Job (Job 16:15), Isaiah (Isa. 20:2), and Daniel (Daniel 9:3) also wore sackcloth. The purpose of the witnesses them wearing the sackcloth is an object lesson to express their great sorrow for the wretched and unbelieving world racked by God’s judgments, overrun by demon hordes, and populated by wicked, sinful people who refuse to repent. They will also mourn because of the desecration of the temple, the oppression of Jerusalem and the ascendancy of the Antichrist.
Revelation 11:4, “These two prophets are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of all the earth.”
Zechariah 4:1-14 is the backdrop for this. Charles calls this a bold and independent interpretation of Zechariah’s symbols. The two olive trees in Zechariah’s vision are Joshua, the high priest and Zerubbabel, the Jewish governor under the Persian king Darius). The seven churches were described as seven lampstands. The historical fulfillment here was in Joshua rebuilding the post-exilic temple with the Joshua being the religious leader and Zerubbabel being the political leader (Zech 3:1-10). This prophecy also refers to the restoration of the Temple in Israel in the Millennium (Zech 3:8-10). The two olive trees and lampstands refer to the light of revival, since olive oil was commonly used in lamps. The connecting of lamps to the trees is intended to depict a constant automatic supply of oil flowing from the olive trees into the lamps. This symbolizes that God will not bring salvation blessing from human power but by the power of the Holy Spirit (Zech 4:6). Like Joshua and Zerubbabel, the two witnesses will lead a spiritual revival culminating in the building of a temple. Their preaching will be instrumental in Israel’s national conversion (Revelation 11:13; Romans 11:4-5,26), and the temple associate with that conversion will be the Millennial temple.
It is hard to say who these two Prophets will be. Some have suggested they are representative of the Law and the Church the new and the Old. More than likely though this is a reference to the Law and the Prophets. The reasons for such a position is that Elijah called fire down from heaven (2nd Kings 1:10,12) and pronounced a three-and-one-half-year drought on the land (1 Kings 17:1; James 5:17) –the same length as the drought brought by the two witnesses (Revelation 11:6). Moses turned the waters of the Nile into blood (Exodus 7:17-21) and announced the other plagues on Egypt recorded in Exodus chapters 7-12. Malachi 4:5 predicted the return of Elijah and the Jews believed that God’s promise to raise up a prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15,18) necessitated his return (John 1:21; 6:14;7:40). John the Baptist came as Luke 1:17 says, “He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah, the prophet of old. He will precede the coming of the Lord, preparing the people for his arrival. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will change disobedient minds to accept godly wisdom." But the Jews did not accept Jesus John did not fulfill the prophecy in relation to Malachi 4:5. Moses and Elijah furthermore appeared with Christ as the Transfiguration, the preview of the Second Coming (Matthew 17:3) Elijah never died but was transported to heaven in a fiery chariot (2nd Kings 2:11-12) and God supernaturally buried Moses’ body in a secret location (Deut 34:5-6; Jude 9). Since the Word does not say who exactly the Prophets will be this position above cannot be accurately defended since the identity of the two is still a mystery.
Revelation 11:5-6, “If anyone tries to harm them, fire flashes from the mouths of the prophets and consumes their enemies. This is how anyone who tries to harm them must die. They have power to shut the skies so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. And they have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to send every kind of plague upon the earth as often as they wish.”
God has used fire in the past to incinerate His enemies (Lev 10:2; Numbers 11:1; 16:35; Psalm 106:17-18). The third trumpet judgment resulted in the poisoning of one-third of the earth’s flesh water supply (8:10-11). Added to that, the three and one half year drought lasting throughout the 1,260 days of their preaching (v.3; Luke 4:25; James 5:17) brought by the two witnesses will cause widespread devastation of crops and loss of human and animal life through thirst and starvation. The Moses and Elijah like Prophets have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to send every kind of plague upon the earth as often as they wish.
Revelation 11:7-10, “When they complete their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit will declare war against them. He will conquer them and kill them. And their bodies will lie in the main street of Jerusalem, the city which is called "Sodom" and "Egypt," the city where their Lord was crucified. And for three and a half days, all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will come to stare at their bodies. No one will be allowed to bury them. All the people who belong to this world will give presents to each other to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them.”
This is the first of thirty-six references in Revelation to the beast and sets the stage for more detailed to come in Revelation 13 and 17. Here the beast is described as coming out of the bottomless pit indicating that he is empowered by Satan. Satan is depicted as a dragon (12:3,9), this figure is not Satan. The revelation about him in Chapter 13 indicates that the beast is a world leader (often called Antichrist) who imitates the true Christ, rules over the people of the world, and demands their worship (13:8). The abyss is the prison for certain demons.
The Jews would have considered this a great horror that one of there own was dead to lay in the street without a proper burial (Deut 21:22-23) of which God forbade and the ancient world thought that exposing a dead body was the ultimate way of dishonoring and desecrating them. That Sodom and Egypt are used is significant, for Sodom refers to the depths of moral degradation (Genesis 19:4-11) and Egypt is a symbol of oppression and slavery. Where their Lord was crucified refers to outside the city limits as Josephus points out for us (Ap 1.197; Sib. or 5:154, 226,413). Montague points out that “their Lord’ was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem but within the city limits of Rome, which were understood to embrace the entire empire” (138). The celebration of the earth’s inhabitants over the death of the witnesses is a perverse counterpart to the Jewish feast of Purim—a “day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.. And gifts to the poor” (Esther 9:19, 22).
Revelation 11:11-12, “But after three and a half days, the spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood up! And terror struck all who were staring at them. Then a loud voice shouted from heaven, "Come up here!" And they rose to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched.”
The partying and the merriment of the “dead witness day” will be suddenly and dramatically halted by a most shocking event. If this event itself is shown on TV it will be repeated over and over like ESPN’s sport center’s top ten plays. No doubt the people surrounding the witnesses will think, “Oh Joy the Prophets will continue to torment us with fire, preaching and repentance come again to do miracles among us.” The reality though is that a loud voice shouted from heaven, "Come up here!" And they rose to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched.” Much like John is summoned up to heaven in 4:1 so here the two witnesses will be lifted up to heaven. This two man Rapture will no doubt also be replayed endlessly for the entire world to see. It is reminiscent of the ascension of Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) and the mysterious death and burial of Moses (Deut 34:5-6). Luke 16:31 says, “"But Abraham said, `If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.’ “ This shows why the two witnesses will not preach again after their resurrection for the simple fact that signs and wonders do not make the gospel believable.
Revelation 11:13, “And in the same hour there was a terrible earthquake that destroyed a tenth of the city. Seven thousand people died in that earthquake. And everyone who did not die was terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
The emphasis here upon them giving glory to the God of heaven is a mark of repentance in Revelation and elsewhere in Scripture (4:9; 14:7; 16:9; 19:7; Luke 17:18-19; Romans 4:20). This passage then describes the reality of the salvation of Jews in Jerusalem, as God fulfils His pledge of blessing for Israel (Romans 11:4-5, 26). The second terror is past, but look, now the third terror is coming quickly (v.14). The third woe will sound bringing with it the final, violent bowl judgments and the return of Christ in glory to set up His kingdom. Tachu (quickly) means “soon” Revelation 2:16; 3:11; 22:7, 12,20) and expresses the imminency of the last woe, which is the seven bowl judgments ushered in by the sounding of the seventh trumpet.
Pastor David
