The two witnesses in Revelation chapter eleven!
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Q.: Who are they? Are they Elijah and Moses, or someone else coming in the spirit of Elijah and Moses only? |
The Two Witnesses!
GOD has two special Witnesses that were murdered or destroyed and resurrected again. Of these GOD says: “And if any man will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.” [Revelation 11:5].
Now it is true that GOD gave us special Pentecostal Power to be His special Witnesses and we could say that the gift of tongues fires out of our mouth, but I would not go as far as to say that anyone could hurt Moses or Elijah up in heaven who have already experienced the physical resurrection. How then could they be slain and their bodies lie exposed for three and half prophetic days or three and half years? In their glorified immortal state they would not be subjected to death.
JESUS declared of the Old Testament Scriptures, “They are they which testify [witness] of Me.” [John 5:39] and again :”This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a Witness unto all nations.” [Matthew 24:14].
Protestant Commentator George Croly wrote: “The ‘Two Witnesses are the Old and New Testaments…..The essential purpose of the Scriptures is to give Witness to the mercy and verity of GOD. Our Lord commands, ‘Search the Scriptures,…they are they which testify [witness] of Me.’
To hurt the Word of GOD is to oppose, corrupt, or pervert its testimony, and turn people away from it. Judgment fire pronounced against such will devour them in the lake of fire [Malachi 4:1; Rev.20:15, ; 22:18,19].
“And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and
they shall prophecy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in
sackcloth.”
Now remember that Revelation 10 stops all wild speculations for the end-time after the great disappointment which occurred in 1844 A.D. at the end of the 2300days/years of Daniel 8:14 and the Arab league in 1840 A.D.. Let us not be fouled by the Roman Futurism adopted by Protestants, that there will be such a thing as 3 ˝ years etc. still to come. No more date setting please for this side of the second coming! It is only certain events remaing to be fulfilled such as the Sunday-law enforcement, the mark of the beast 666
The period of the 1260 days is variously referred to in the Scriptures. It appears in three forms: As 1260 days in Revelation 12:6
As 42 month in Revelation 11:2 and 13:5
As 3 ˝ times in Daniel 7:25 and 12:7, Rev.12:14.
These all refer to the same time period and can easily be calculated. A time is a year, as evident from Dan. 11:13, marginal reading. A year has 12 month, and a biblical year contains 12 month and exactly 30 days each. As an example, the record of the flood in Genesis 7 and 8 that it came on the 17th day of the second month [7:11] and the waters subsided on the 17th of the seventh month [8:4].
That the flood continued for five month-from the second to the seventh month. Reference in Genesis 7:24 reveals that “the waters prevailed upon the earth 150 days. Our calculation shows 5 months. This text mentions 150 days, or 30 days to a month. One prophetic day stands for a literal year [Ezekiel 4:6 Numbers 14:34].
Thus we have a definite measure for calculating the prophetic periods, bearing in mind that in prophecy a day is equal to a year of ordinary time.
During this time of the 1260 years the witnesses are in a state of sackcloth, or obscurity, and GOD gives them power to endure and maintain their testimony through the dark and dismal period.
How are the two Witnesses further identified? “These are the two olive trees, and they the two candlesticks standing before GOD of the earth.” Verse 4
Evident allusion is made here to Zechariah 4:11-14,
where it is implied that the two olive trees are taken to represent the word of
GOD. David testifies, “The entrance of Thy words gives light and Thy word is a
lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” [Ps.119:130,105]. Reference is
made to the sanctuary of GOD where the oil of the olive trees fed the seven
branched candlestick continually day and night. [Hebrews 9:2]
To compare Moses and Elijah to olive trees and candlesticks is unreasonable and
nowhere found in Scriptures. The setting of the Two Witnesses in Revelation
chapter eleven shows by its first two verses and the last two, that it refers to
the judgment of the heavenly temple sanctuary of GOD.
Papal Rome had outlawed the Holy Scriptures during its long reign of 1260 years from 538 A.D. to 1798 A.D.
“And they have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy; and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.” V.6
In what sense have these witnesses power to shut heaven, turn water to blood, and bring plagues on the earth? Elijah shut heaven so that it did not rain for 3 ˝ years, but not on his own, but on the word of the Lord.
Moses by the word of the Lord turned waters of Egypt to blood. Just as these judgments, recorded in their testimony [witness], have been fulfilled, so will every threatening and judgment pronounced by them against any people surely be accomplished. Of these two, only Moses was dead and resurrected again. Elijah never saw death and went up in a chariot of fire.
“As often as they will” means that as often as judgments are recorded on their pages to take place, so often they will come to pass. An instance of this the world is yet to experience in the last seven plagues.
“And when they shall have finished their testimony [their witness], the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” Verses 7,8
When they shall have finished their testimony or witness, that is, in sackcloth. The sackcloth state ended. A “beast” denotes a kingdom or power [Dan.7:17,23]. The question remains, when did the sackcloth state close? And did such a kingdom make war on them for 1260 years?
We already showed that the 1260 years of papal supremacy had outlawed the Word of GOD from 538 to 1798 A.D. but the tenth part of the city is apparently the most wicked part and the greatest offender.
France or the Franks, were one part of the 10 Divisions of the Roman Empire after its collapse. Three of them were uprooted by the little horn power according to Daniel 7 and 8 in order for the little horn to grow exceedingly great, greater than Alexander the great. This cannot refer to Antiochus Epiphanes who never changed GOD’S laws and times. The Papal see however claims divine power to modify divine law and changed the Sabbath to Sunday and the time from sundown to the darkest hour of midnight.
France was the atheistical power here compared to spiritual Egypt. On the 1st November in 1793 A.D. the holy Scriptures were banned in France and also GOD’S weekly cycle. After exactly 3 ˝ days of years, as the Bible prophesied, till June 1797 the Scriptures or the two Witnesses stood on their feet again.
Were they exalted to heaven after that date? Oh yes, shortly after 1797, in 1804, the British Bible Society was organized and followed by the American in 1816.
Before 1804 the Bible had been printed and circulated in 50 languages. But by 1942 translated in whole or in part to 1,058 languages and has since been voted the number one best seller in the world.
The Bible is exalted, next to JESUS CHRIST our Logos up to heaven more than Moses and Elijah. For more details www.come2jesus.info/apocalypse.htm