Christ's Two Witnesses, Who were they?
The question should be not who were they, but what are they? The books from the Left Behind series would have you believe that they are two people, Moses and Elijah. They are wrong. According to Scripture which is the Word of God, they are the Old and New Testaments.
The following study will explain.
Christ's Two Witnesses Revelation 11: 1-13
Christ revealed that the message of His soon coming would be proclaimed again. Revelation 10:11. However, it would be given in the setting of the discovery made as a result of the disappointment when Christ did not appear in 1844. It is a judgment-hour message announced by the 2300-year prophecy. Daniel 8:14. This work must first be completed in heaven, and then Jesus will come.
There is further revelation here of the attempt to destroy Christ's two witnesses- a part of Satan's tactics in his battle against Christ. He attempted to destroy Christ's evidence of Himself. There have been many times when the devil has tried through various means to destroy God's Word, the Bible. But he is not sufficiently powerful to do this. Peter declared, "But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." 1 Peter 1:25.
This battle between Christ and Satan over the two witnesses continued for 1260 years. Christ message (the Bible) is the foundation of all truth. It is the message of the two witnesses which illuminates the minds of people with regard to the special last-day message to be proclaimed to the world before Christ returns. The teachings and traditions of men must have no part in the truth of God in these latter days. In preparation for the coming of the Lord let us be willing to align ourselves on the side of Christ's two witnesses.
REVELATION 11: 1-13
1. And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
The Angel calls special attention to "the temple," "the altar" and the worshipers. God was directing His people to take a look at the heavenly sanctuary, with its services, and examine carefully the work being done there for them. David said, "Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people." Psalm 77: 13-15.
The first thirteen verses of this chapter are brought to our attention after the sounding of the sixth trumpet and before the sounding of the seventh. It is God's method of allowing His people to know that not matter what takes place on earth, His people can have the assurance of salvation. And it is further evident that as a result of the continued proclamation after 1844 of the work of Christ in cleansing the heavenly sanctuary, His people would gain a more complete understanding of Christ's work in the most holy place.
It is obvious that the true worshipers are those who by faith in Jesus Christ have entered the temple to avail themselves of the plan of redemption revealed there. The Gentiles are those who have made no profession of serving God. They have not entered into any examination of God's great plan of redemption. Their worship of Him is either fake or hypocritical; therefore, they engage in treading down "the holy city" for a period of forty-two prophetic months.
The Gentiles here are that power spoken of by Daniel (Daniel 7:7, 8, 23, 25) who would direct their activities against the saints of God. Therefore, "the holy city" is understood to represent God's people.
How long is forty-two prophetic months? This is identical with the time period of Daniel 7:25. It is referred to as "a time and times and the dividing of time." This same expression is used in Revelation 12:14. In each case this period is interpreted to be 1260 prophetic days. Revelation 12:6. Applying the rule of interpreting prophetic time given in Ezekiel 4:6, these 1260 days become 1260 years, since each day stands for one year.
The practice of allowing thirty days for each month is a Bible method. A look at Genesis 7:11 show that the great flood began "in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month." The flood ended "in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month." Genesis 8:4. These five months are called "an hundred and fifty days." Genesis 7:24; 8:3. It is clear that 42 prophetic months would be 1260 prophetic days or 1260 literal years.
How are the worshipers to be measured? What is the standard of measurement to be applied? It has to do with character. We must be like Jesus. He said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as you’re Father which is in heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:48. John indicates His followers will reach that goal. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." 1 John 3:2, 3.
God has a standard He uses in the judgment. It is His holy, divine and righteous law. Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14. The principles of God's law were written on the heart of Jesus. Psalm 40:7, 8. And those same principles we must allow Him to write on our heart. He says, "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." Jeremiah 31:33.
Before the principles of God's law can be written in the heart we must see ourselves as sinners. Romans 3:23. We must reach the place where we cry from the depths of our hearts, as did the leper who came approaching Jesus, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." Matthew 8:2.
"Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. Jesus is able and willing to forgive sin. 1 John 1:9. Jesus came to this world and willingly went to the cross to open a fountain "for sin and for uncleanness." Zechariah 13:1. That fountain is the precious blood of Jesus. "But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:5. Paul asserts the assurance of salvation in these words: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10:9, 10.
3. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
4. these are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Christ promised power to His two witnesses. Who are they? Here is Jesus' own answer. "But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." John 5:36, 39. Therefore, one witness to the fact that Jesus is the Christ is His message, His gospel, His words and the life He lived. The other witness is the Scriptures. The Scriptures had to be the Old Testament, since the New Testament had not then been written. The two witnesses then are the witness of the gospel and the witness of the Old and New Testaments. They have been given power to withstand all the attacks brought against them.
He alludes to Zechariah’s prophecy of the two olive trees which are explained to represent the Word of God. Zechariah 4:11-14. When God's Word is accepted it gives light. Psalm 119:130. His Word illuminates our path so that our feet can take right steps. Psalm 119:105; Psalm 85:13. The Old Testament witnesses to Jesus (John 1:45) just as the New Testament does.
5. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
6. These have the 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.
How does one hurt God's Word? This may be done by opposing the Bible teachings. In Christ's day there were those who taught "for doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:9 "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
That kind of worship is unacceptable. Jesus said of them, "Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition." Matthew 15:6.
In Elijah's time it was a serious thing to be in opposition to God. King Ahaziah of Samaria tried it and a judgment of fire came forth and devoured to bands of fifty men each and their captains. 2 Kings 1:1-18. Likewise both the Old and New Testaments have already recorded a judgment of fire against the wicked that are in opposition to God and His revealed will. Malachi4:1, 3; Revelation 20:15.
The Bible teaching concerning the punishment of the wicked is clear. They are to be burned up, root and branch and reduced to ashes on the earth. They will be destroyed. Psalm 145:20. They shall perish. Psalm 37:20. They will be devoured. Revelation 20:9. They will come to an end. Philippians 3:19. Even the devil himself will be destroyed. Hebrews 2:14. God help us never to pervert the teaching of God's Word.
By the Word of the Lord, Elijah shut heaven so there was no rain for three and one-half years. By the Word of the Lord, Moses during the plagues in Egypt turned the waters into blood. God's Word is true. Whatever judgment is promised in the Word will meet complete fulfillment. God promised Jeremiah: "Behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them." Jeremiah 5:14. "Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" Jeremiah 23:29. There is no power which can compete with God's Word. "For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12.
The time when these two witnesses were to be dressed in sackcloth was that period of 1260 years of papal supremacy (538-1798). The Bible was suppressed. It was not used publicly. It was kept from the laity.
"The synod of Toulouse, 1229, presided over the papal legate, celebrated the close of the Albigensian crusades and perfected the code of the Inquisition. It has an unenviable distinction among the great synods on account of its decree forbidding laymen to have the Bible in their possession." History of the Christian Church, Philip Schaff, Volume 5, page 812.
France was very zealous in persecuting and attempting to destroy the Bible. The Spanish inquisition also persecuted people for following the Bible and its teachings. Despite the numerous attempts to stamp out God's Word, it was preserved. The Bible was not available as we have it today. Oftentimes individuals would copy it by hand and translate it into the language the common people could understand. Salesmen who sold their wares from house to house would sew portions of the Bible in their clothes and when they found an opportunity to share the Scriptures they did, but with great caution.
There was a concerted effort to destroy the pious Huguenots which resulted in the terrible St Bartholomew massacre on August 24, 1572 in which at least 30,000 were put to death. See History of the Christian Church, by Philip Schaff, Volume 8, pages 864,865. There were other groups, such as the Albigenses and the Waldenses who were sincere Christians and great defenders and promoters of the Bible. Whenever they were apprehended they were put to death because of their stand for God's Word.
How many today would have been willing to take their stand for the Bible had they lived during those times? Would people today, if called upon to sacrifice life or family for their faith in the Bible, be willing? What is our attitude toward the Bible? Do we reject part of God's Word? Or are we willing to follow all the teachings of the Scriptures? Millions during the papal supremacy were willing to lay down their lives in favor of Christ's two witnesses. Today Bibles are readily available everywhere, yet they are often neglected. The apostle Peter, when telling of the experience that he and James and John had when they actually heard the voice of God on the Mount of Transfiguration (2 Peter 1:16-18) said, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts." 2 Peter 1:19.
7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out to the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
8. 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.
9. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
11.And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered unto them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
As the 1260 years of papal supremacy were ending, the symbolism used here indicated an attack would be made upon the Old and New Testaments. The beast which represents some power (Daniel 7:17,23), either religious or political, was to be victorious over Christ's two witnesses for a short period of time. Where was this vision to meet its fulfillment? It was to be in a place which could appropriately be represented by Sodom and Egypt.
Sodom represents the depths of moral degradation. Genesis 19:4-11. Ezekiel 16:46-56; Jude7. Egypt has stood through the centuries as a symbol of atheism, infidelity and opposition to God. Exodus 5:2. The country of France rose up in rebellion against God and by law established fornication. The Lord was crucified in the person of His martyred saints. One historian gives the following account of the things taking place in France at this time.
"The National Convention abolished the Gregorian calendar and the names of the months and days; as it had already abolished the Christian era and made the new era date from the 22nd of September 1792, the birthday of the French Republic. The year was divided into twelve months of thirty days each. The remaining five days were called sans-culottides and were consecrated to genius, to labor, to actions, etc.
"Infidelity and atheism reigned supreme. The National Convention abolished the Sabbath, and the leaders of the Paris Commune declared that they intended 'to dethrone the King of heaven as well as the monarchs of the earth.' Finally, November 10,1793, the leaders of the Paris Commune-Hebert, Chaumette, Momoro and the Prussian Anacharsis Clootz- prevailed upon the National Convention to decree the abolition of the Christian religion in France and the substitution of the worship of Reason instead. Momoro's young and beautiful but prostitute wife, who had been a dancer, personated the Goddess of Reason; and as such she was enthroned on the high altar of the Cathedral of Notre Dame and worshipped by the members of the National Convention and the Paris Commune.
"Gobel, the constitutional Bishop of Paris, and several other ecclesiastics were compelled publicly to apostatize from Roman Catholic Christianity and to accept the new worship of Reason. While the Cathedral of Notre Dame was thus profaned by being converted into a temple of atheism, the other Catholic churches were plundered and subjected to every kind of sacrilege, and the mass vestments and church ornaments and implements were carried through the streets in blasphemous, processions. Over all the public cemeteries was placed the inscription: 'Death is an eternal sleep.' The tombs of the French kings at St. Denis were violated, and the remains of the dead monarchs were cast into a common ditch, so that the people might forget every vestige of royalty. Such were the crowning acts of that Reign of Terror which cost the lives of more than a million Frenchmen." The Standard History of the World, by Israel Smith Clare, Volume 7, pages 3386,3387.
Now this beast of the bottomless pit was atheistic France which did its work during the French Revolution beginning in 1789. The Papacy had laid the ground work for the French Revolution during her years of supremacy when tradition was exalted above God's Word.
"It was popery that had begun the work which atheism was completing. The policy of Rome had wrought out those conditions, social, political, and religious, that were hurrying France on to ruin. Writers in referring to the horrors of the Revolution, say that these excesses are to be charged upon the throne and the church. In strict justice they are to be charged upon the church. Popery had poisoned the minds of kings against the Reformation, as an enemy to the crown, and element of discord that would be fatal to the peace and harmony of the nation. It was the genius of Rome that by this means inspired the cruelty and the most galling oppression which proceeded from the throne.
"The spirit of liberty went with the Bible. Wherever the gospel was received, the minds of the people were awakened. They began to cast off the shackles that had held them bond slaves of ignorance, vice and superstition. They began to think and act as men. Monarchs saw it and trembled for their despotism.(Absolute power, tyrannical control).
"Rome was not slow to inflame their jealous fears. Said the pope to the regent of France in 1525: 'This mania (Protestantism) will not only confound and destroy religion, but all principalities, nobility, laws, orders, and ranks besides.'
...A few years later a papal nuncio warned the king: 'Sire, be not deceived. The Protestants will upset all civil as well as religious order....The introduction of a new religion must necessarily introduce a new government.'...And theologians appealed to the prejudices of the people by declaring that the Protestant doctrine 'entices men away to novelties and folly; it robs the king of the devoted affection of his subjects, and devastates both church and state.' Thus Rome succeeded in arraying France against the Reformation. 'It was to uphold the throne, preserve the nobles, and maintain the laws, that the sword of persecution was first unsheathed in France.'" The Triumph of God's Love, pages 163,164.
The three and one-half year period was the time when by decree religion was abolished in France. It was on November 26,1793, at the Council of the Commune at Paris, that all worship, save that of Reason, was prohibited. Restrictions were not removed until June 17,1797.
"When France publicly rejected God and set aside the Bible, wicked men and spirits of darkness exulted in their attainment of the object so long desired-a kingdom free from the restraints of the law of God....
"God's faithful witnesses, slain by the blasphemous power that 'ascendeth out of the bottomless pit.' were not long to remain silent. 'After three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.' Revelation 11:11. It was in 1793 that the decrees which abolished Christian religion and set aside the Bible passed the French Assembly. Three years and a half later a resolution rescinding these decrees, thus granting toleration to the Scriptures, was adopted by the same body."- The Triumph of God's Love, page 169.
Men may connive to wipe out God, religion, and the Bible. But this is not possible. Isaiah says, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD." Isaiah 54:17. What Isaiah says is correct because, "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God." Psalm 62:11.
12. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
13. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Here is a prediction that Christ's two witnesses would again gain favor. How was this fulfilled? Bible Societies were organized, such as the British Bible Society in 1804 and the American Bible Society in 1816. Their objective was to make the Bible available to people everywhere in their own languages. The Bible since then has been translated and printed in more than a thousand languages and dialects.
There is also here in verse 13 the prediction that in one of the ten kingdoms into which western Rome had been divided there would be great trouble represented by the earthquake. There seems to be the suggestion here that those who had opposed God's two witnesses would finally come to the place where God would be recognized. The slaying of the "seven thousand" may have reference to the getting rid of the nobility during the French Revolution.
SUMMARY
The world in these latter days is again setting itself against God, against the testimony of the two witnesses and going into idolatry. The inspired forecast of our time is: "This knows also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent(having no self control in sexual matters), fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;(lovers of material things) having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
The characteristics mentioned here are not compatible with genuine Bible Christianity. In the battle which Satan continues to fight against Christ, he is seeking to destroy God's law. If he could successfully do this, then anything goes. He tries to urge people to do their own thing. this is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12; 16:25. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Galatians 6:7.
"Unhappy France reaped in blood the harvest she had sown. Terrible were the results of her submission to the controlling power of Rome. Where France, under the influence of Romanism, had set up the first stake at the opening of the Reformation, there the Revolution set up its first guillotine. On the very spot where the first martyrs to the Protestant faith were burned in the sixteenth century, the first victims were guillotined in the eighteenth. In repelling the gospel, which would have brought her healing, France had opened the door to infidelity and ruin. When the restraints of God's law were cast aside, it was found that the laws of man were inadequate to hold in check the powerful tides of human passion; and the nation swept on to revolt and anarchy."-The Triumph of God's Love, page 166.
"When error in one garb has been detected, Satan only masks it in a different disguise, and multitudes receive it as eagerly as at the first. When the people found Romanism to be a deception, and he could not through this agency lead them to transgression of God's law, he urged them to regard all religion as a cheat, and the Bible as a fable; and casting aside the divine statutes, they gave themselves up to unbridled iniquity.
"The fatal error which wrought such woe for the inhabitants of France was the ignoring of this one great truth: that true freedom lies within the proscriptions of the law of God. "O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea. There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. But whoso hearkeneth unto Me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear or evil." Isaiah 48:18, 22; Proverbs 1:33.
"Atheists, infidels, and apostates oppose and denounce God's law, but the results of their influence prove that the well-being of man is bound up with his obedience of the divine statutes."-Ibid, pages 168,169.
Among the many blessings which attend those who are willing to their lives to be in harmony with the principles of God's righteous law is this: "Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is a great reward." Psalm 19"11
written by Harold Metcalf, Basic Bible Study Helps