Study In Revelation 19 Series

STUDY IN REVELATION 19

The Final Triumph Over Evil [part III]

The Two Witnesses & Israel Turns To God

Rev. 11: 3-13

[Part IV] A Preview of the Third Woe

Rev. 11: 14-19

vs. 3-4: The two witnesses are sent by, ƒ The UN ƒCNN ƒGod.

1. They are sent for a set time, which is 3 ½ years.

2. We know they are true prophets because of their message, which will be condemnation of sin and salvation, only through Jesus Christ.

3. We can also see that they are true prophets by their dress. They are wearing,

„$5000 suits „gold rings on ever finger and $600 socks „sackcloth

Too often today we judge the success of the minister [prophet] by how well he does, not by the message he brings.

I personally believe that we have had enough of the get rich quick preacher. America is dying for some real old fashioned gospel preaching. It is time to stop making God some spiritual slot machine…

4. The “two olive trees” mentioned in verse four are described in Zechariah chapters four and five and portray Zerubbabel and Joshua, the governor and high priest who were anointed by the Holy Spirit to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple after the Babylonian captivity. Clarence Larkin comments: “Zerubbabel and Joshua are types of the ‘TWO WITNESSES’ whose work it will be to proclaim that the time has come to rebuild Jerusalem and re-establish the Temple worship, for the ‘KINGDOM OF HEAVEN’ is at hand” (87).

These two olive trees are described quite clearly as two people who stand beside the Lord. These two people are obviously very special to the Lord, and to witnessing for Him, and their mission here in Revelation is to witness to the testimony of Jesus Christ. They have come for one reason, to preach Jesus and Him crucified.

vs. 5-6 The witnesses possess unusual power.

If you notice, these men will have the same protection from the Father that was granted unto Moses when he stood before Pharaoh. Surely, Pharaoh could have had Moses killed for his demands, but he was spared.

It was no accident that Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s house – God placed him there to be a step-brother to the man who would eventually become Pharaoh – and we need to see that. This same protection that Moses had will be the same super-natural protection that the witnesses have.

2 Kings 1:10-12 talks about Elijah having the power to call fire down from heaven so that he would not be captured. The two witnesses will have the same power.

2 Kings Chapter 1, 10-12 says, “Elijah answered the captain, "If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!" Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men. At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, "Man of God, this is what the king says, ’Come down at once!’ "If I am a man of God," Elijah replied, "may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!" Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

So what?

Very important application: God gives you power and authority – and if you use it, you shall ALWAYS have it! It is when it is not used that God removes it (Parable of the Talents – Matthew 25). If we do not continue to work for the Lord, He will remove His gifts to us and we will become as lazy as the world.

God needs willingness!

Who are the “two witnesses?” Some say that the passage is simply an allegory symbolizing the law and the prophets.

Some say they are a symbol of the law and the gospel, or to put it another way the Old and New Testaments.

Still others say the 144,000 Jews, others the church and on and on…

It is hard to believe anything other than these are two real men. Some identify them as

Enoch and Elijah or Elijah and Moses. Scripture doesn’t tell us the names of these two men but their ministry is much like that of Moses and Elijah. To say that these are actually Moses and Elijah is pure speculation but we know for certain that the same spirit that dwelt in these two prophets of old will be with these two “end time” witnesses.

When Jesus said in Mt. 11: 13-14 that John the Baptist was Elijah, He didn’t mean that Elijah had reincarnated. He was stating that the same spirit that drove Elijah was now present in John. The same can be said of the two witnesses of the end time. The same spirit that drove Moses and Elijah is now present in these two men.