WHO ARE THE TWO WITNESSES?

Two Witnesses

“The seven lampstands are the seven churches” (Revelation 1:20b).

Satan has two tactics to undermine and destroy the church of God, deception and distraction. When he can’t win on the first count he often resorts to the second. Many good Christians who would never be deceived by the devil’s false doctrines fall for the second trap; they become preoccupied with things that keep them off the mark of the gospel. Such it is with the identification of the two witnesses of Revelation chapter 11. Throughout church history theologians have argued over who these two shadowy figures are and when they shall arrive on the scene of history. Guesses range from Moses and Elijah, to Enoch and Elijah, to Joshua and Zerubbabel. Of course, no one can definitively prove that any of these men will return to the earth at the end of time, or any time for that matter. And certainly no one can prove that their bodies will someday lie lifeless in the streets of Jerusalem. All of this makes for good after dinner conversation or the fodder for heated debate but it edifies no one. Let me remind you that when the church gets off on such issues the gospel is lost and the devil has scored a victory. Nevertheless, the two witnesses are part of God’s revelation and thus they must represent something that would edify the hearer. And they do indeed. So let me cut through the chase and tell you very simply that the two witnesses do not represent two specific individuals who come to earth at the end of time, but they represent the church itself in every age. Why do I say that? For six reasons. First, verse 4 likens these men to lampstands and Revelation has already identified lampstands to be the seven churches to whom the book was written, which are representative of all churches of all ages (Revelation 1:20 cp. 11:4). Second, the tenth and eleventh chapters of Revelation are part of the interlude between the 6th and 7th trumpet and both chapters aim to explain what the church will be doing during these “latter days.” Chapter 10 indicates the church will be the prophetic voice of truth to the entire world (10:10-11). Chapter 11 depicts the church as those two witnesses who are slain for their testimony to that truth, only to rise again (11:7, 11). Third, the use of the concept of two witnesses comes right out of the Old Testament and connotes the number of witnesses needed to testify in a legal case (see Deuteronomy 19:15). In other words, the church is the substantial witness to the truth of God. Fourth, the time that the witnesses will prophesy is 42 months or 1,260 days (see vss. 2-3), which is the time used throughout Revelation to represent the church age. This church age period is also designated by 3 1/2 years or, by the Hebrew phrase found in the book of Daniel “time, times and half a time” (Daniel 7:25). (This period of 3 1/2 years is also the same as the second half of the 70th week of Daniel, but we shall reserve comment on that for another time). The bottom line is that these time frames refer to the very same period, the entire church age. Fifth, the two witnesses are referred to as “the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the Lord of the earth.” If one goes back to Zechariah chapters 3 & 4, one sees that these lampstands in Zechariah’s day were the two men tasked with rebuilding the temple, men who would be anointed by the Spirit of God and protected by God, Joshua and Zerubbabel. Just as these two Old Covenant men were called to rebuild the temple of God in Zechariah’s day, so the two witnesses of Revelation 11 represent the New Testament people of God who will likewise rebuild the spiritual temple of God in the church age. Sixth, the response of the world regarding these witnesses is exactly how the world always responds to the true church. It persecutes the church and rejoices over the church when it thinks it has destroyed her (10). But as always the church is never destroyed, only forced into the wilderness. The end of the story is that the church, though it often experiences temporary defeat, always comes back to life and is raised up by God unto eternal glory (11-12). To summarize, the story of the Two Martyrs is a story to comfort the people of God and it chronicles how the church will eventually conquer the world through death and resurrection. It also teaches us that martyrs then and now are safe in the arms of Jesus Christ the moment they die. What comfort this would bring to the first century Christians who were seeing loved ones martyred in the streets. What comfort it brings to us 21st century Christians who feel the hot breath of the world closing in on us. So put yourself squarely into the story of Revelation 11. You are the anointed voice of God. You WILL be persecuted….and possibly killed. And you will rise again to be with God forever in triumph and glory. And the church age? It has an end. It will only last for a figurative 1,260 days. And when that last day is spent, the judgment will come and all whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be “safe and secure from all alarm.”