Prophecy
9
The Two
Witnesses –
Revelation 10:1-11:19
_____________________________
Revelation
11:4
These
are the two olive trees, and the two
candlesticks standing before the God
of the earth.{4} Jesus
said to me, “To help you better
understand the role and purpose of my
Two Witnesses, they are the two olive
trees and the two lampstands that
stand before my throne.”
To understand
these symbols (the two olive trees
and the two lampstands), we need
first to examine a vision given to
Zechariah.[62] Zechariah
was a Levite who received a vision
from God shortly after Israel’s
Babylonian captivity ended. In his
vision, Zechariah saw a golden
lampstand located in Heaven. He saw a
bowl sitting on top of the lampstand
and seven lamps were located around
the edge of this fixture. He also saw
seven golden pipes coming from two
olive trees that were located on each
side of the lampstand. The seven
pipes carried fresh olive oil to each
lamp so that the seven lights never
went out. As a priest, Zechariah
should have had some understanding of
what he saw, but he could not figure
out the meaning. Finally, an angel
explained the vision to Zechariah.
The lampstand
represented the nation of Israel. God
had chosen the descendants of Abraham
to be a nation of priests, a light to
the Gentiles. Israel had been set
apart from the other nations to be
trustees of His gospel, but over the
years, Israel became unfaithful to
God and the Benefactor sent His
trustees into Babylonian captivity
for seventy years. Now that
Israel’s captivity was nearly
over, a new beginning was underway
for Israel. God wanted Zechariah to
understand why Israel had previously
failed. He also wanted to make sure
that Israel understood His purpose
for choosing it as a nation of
trustees/priests.[63]
In the
vision, Zechariah saw two olive trees
on each side of a golden lampstand.
The olive trees were alive and they
produced an endless supply of fuel
oil. (The two olive trees represent
the never ending energy and power of
the Holy Spirit.) As long as the
candlestick remained connected to the
two olive trees, the lamps would burn
forever. The seven lights on the
lampstand represented God’s
love. God wanted Israel to radiate
His two laws of love throughout the
world and He wanted Israel to teach
others about the Lord’s perfect
ways and laws.[64] The
candlestick with its seven lamps and
the two olive trees beautifully
portrayed God’s connection and
purposes for Israel.[65] This
imagery also contained a warning. If
Israel did not remain connected to
the two olive trees (the Holy
Spirit), Israel could not be a light
to the Gentiles and Israel’s
trusteeship would end.
About 500
years later after Zechariah’s
vision, Israel rejected the Son of
God when He came to Earth as the
Messiah. God responded by abandoning
the nation of Israel. Using a new
covenant, God redefined the offspring
of Abraham because He had made
several promises to Abraham. All
believers in Christ are now the heirs
of Abraham.[66] God
gave the trusteeship of His gospel to
Christians. The transition from one
lampstand in Zechariah’s vision
to seven lampstands in John’s
vision reveals that the seven
churches replaced Israel as the
trustees of the gospel.[67]
Unfortunately,
church history confirms that the
seven churches in Revelation mirrored
Israel’s behavior. Like Israel,
Christianity has gone through endless
cycles of apostasy and revival and
God will soon turn the trusteeship of
His gospel over to 144,000 servants.
Just before the Great Tribulation
begins, God will raise up a diverse
group of honest-hearted people from
every language, religion, and
culture. These people will be the
final trustees of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Like Gideon’s tiny army
of three hundred soldiers,[68] this
tiny group of diverse people will
accomplish all that God wants done.
Not by might or human power, but by
God’s Spirit the gospel will go
quickly throughout the world. Jesus
will give the 144,000 the words to
speak and Jesus will validate their
testimony through His Two Witnesses.
The Holy
Spirit (represented by the two olive
trees) will bear witness that the
144,000 speak for God by enabling the
144,000 to speak about subjects which
they could not otherwise know. I
believe the 144,000 will be able, as
needed, to read people’s
thoughts, just as Jesus read the
thoughts of the Pharisees and
Sadducees in Matthew
12:25-37. They will also work
signs and wonders just like Jesus.[69] The
144,000 will proclaim God’s
will; specifically the demands of His
two laws of love (represented by the
two lampstands). The demands of the
Ten Commandments will test the heart
and faith of each person.[70] Currently,
few people will listen to the gospel
of Jesus, but God will shake up the
world with an overwhelming display of
wrath. He will bring the world to a
standstill so that everyone can hear
His servants, the 144,000. God’s
Two Witnesses will validate the
testimony of the 144,000.[71] The Ten
Commandments will declare their
gospel is true. The Holy Spirit will
impress every sinner’s heart
with their need of a Savior.
Persecution will intensify and
everyone will be tested.
The two olive
trees represent the two functions of
the Holy Spirit. These functions are
sometimes described in the Bible as
two rains such as the early rain and
the latter rain.[72] To
appreciate the importance and
function of these two rains, please
consider the setting. In Bible times,
Israel’s economy was based on
agriculture. Farmers planted crops in
the autumn and in the spring. The
autumn crop matured in early spring
and the spring crop matured in the
autumn. Both crops were nourished by
two rains, the early and the latter
rain. The early rain softened the
soil to receive the seeds and weeks
later, the latter rain brought the
crops to maturity. So it is with the
work of the Holy Spirit. His first
work is to soften the soil of the
human heart so that seeds of truth
might take root and grow. His second
work is to bring people to spiritual
maturity in preparation for the
harvest.[73] For
1,260 days, during a period of great
distress (sackcloth and ashes), the
Holy Spirit will “rain” on
everyone.[74] Millions
of people will hear and thoughtfully
consider the gospel of Jesus for the
first time in their lives (the early
rain experience) and a numberless
multitude will embrace the gospel of
Jesus. They will be tested and after
passing the test of faith, given a
sinless nature. Jesus will impart His
righteousness to the sinner and place
a seal on his forehead; indicating
that he will not fall back into sin.
Remember, two
lampstands plus two olive trees
equals Two Witnesses. Together, the
Ten Commandments (two tablets
defining the two laws of love) and
the ministry of the Holy Spirit make
up the Two Witnesses. As you know,
God’s two laws are very simple
to understand, but they are
exceedingly difficult to fulfill
because of our sinful natures. The
carnal nature inherently loves self
above everything else and it will do
whatever it takes to honor, exalt,
defend, and fulfill itself. The
carnal nature is self seeking,
selfish, arrogant, competitive, and
subtle. The carnal nature is
naturally hostile toward God’s
two laws of love. Paul wrote,
“Those who live according to the
sinful nature have their minds set on
what that nature desires; but those
who live in accordance with the
Spirit have their minds set on what
the Spirit desires. The sinful mind
is hostile to God. It does not submit
to God’s law, nor can it do so.
Those controlled by the sinful nature
cannot please God.”[75] Man’s
biggest problem is his carnal nature
and the removal of the carnal nature
(the sealing process) is the most
wonderful gift that God can bestow
upon those who live during the
judgment of the living! When the
carnal nature is removed, ex-sinners
will have no further conflict with
God’s two laws of love! “I
will put my laws in their minds and
write them on their hearts. I will be
their God, and they will be my
people.”[76]
Revelation
11:5
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.{5} If
anyone tries to harm my Two
Witnesses, fire comes from their
mouths and devours them. This is how
anyone who wants to harm them must
die.
The Two
Witnesses are described as
fire-breathing witnesses because in
John’s day, fire-breathing
dragons were the most invincible
objects that John knew about. For
example, in the fifth trumpet John
saw an angel come down from Heaven
with the key to the Abyss and after
the Abyss was opened, he saw a great
swarm of locusts come out. God used
language and concepts which John
understood, using mythical objects to
describe spiritual concepts. Of
course, we know there is no literal
key to the Abyss because the Abyss
that John saw does not exist
physically. The devil’s angels
are not an actual swarm of locusts
and fire-breathing lampstands and
olive trees do not exist. Metaphors
and personification are literary
tools that can be used to describe
things when language is insufficient.
Jesus used a
metaphor to describe the Two
Witnesses when he told John they will
be fire-breathing witnesses. I
believe John understood that no one
can thwart their mission and everyone
who rejects their testimony will be
destroyed by fire – eventually.
Jesus frequently silenced the
arguments and sophistry of the
Pharisees and Sadducees with a few
well chosen words[77] and the
same will hold true for the 144,000.
Their testimony will be invincible.
The leaders of the world will not be
able to trap the 144,000 with clever
arguments because Jesus Himself will
be speaking through the lips of His
servants. Thus, the whole world will
hear “the testimony of
Jesus” because the Holy Spirit
will take words from Jesus and put
them in the mouths of the 144,000.[78]
Revelation
11:6
These
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.{6} These
men [witnesses] have power to shut up
the sky so that it will not rain
during the time they are prophesying;
and they have power to turn the
waters into blood and to strike the
earth with every kind of plague as
often as they want.
The word
“men” is not found in the
Greek text. It has been supplied by
well-meaning translators. The
antecedent of the pronoun
“These” refers to “the
Two Witnesses” mentioned in the
previous verse. The KJV correctly
translates this phrase saying,
“These have power to shut
heaven, that it rain not in the days
of their prophecy. . .”
We learned in
Prophecy 7 that the 144,000 will be
ordinary people like Moses and Peter.
When Moses was filled with Holy
Spirit power, he could call down
plagues on Egypt at will. Peter
healed the lame man at will because
Holy Spirit power had been given to
him. Remember, the 144,000 will be
sealed and empowered before the Great
Tribulation begins. Once empowered,
God will work signs and miracles
through them. This power will be safe
in the hands of the 144,000 because
their carnal natures have been
removed. Like Elijah, they will ask
God to withhold the rain[79] so that
multitudes of disbelieving people
will witness that they truly speak
for Almighty God. Months and months
without rain can be a powerful
validation! This end time display of
divine power parallels the showdown
that took place on Mount Carmel long
ago when Elijah triumphed over
Jezebel’s 450 prophets of Baal.
Revelation
11:7
And
when they shall have finished their
testimony, the beast that ascendeth
out of the bottomless pit shall make
war against them, and shall overcome
them, and kill them.{7} When the Two
Witnesses have finished their
testimony (at the end of their 1,260
days of empowerment), the beast that
comes up from the Abyss will attack
them, overpower them, and kill them.
Three
passages of Scripture are required to
identify the beast that comes up from
the Abyss. First, we know that an
angel king is released from the Abyss
in Revelation
9:1-11. Second, we know that
a beast will come up out of the Earth
in Revelation
13:11-18. Third, Revelation
17:8 says the wicked
will be astonished when they actually
see the beast that comes up from the
Abyss (comes up out of the Earth)
because he once was visible, he is
not visible today, but he will come
out of the Abyss and be visible! When
these specifications are aligned, it
is obvious that Lucifer, the angel
king of the Abyss, is “the
lamblike-dragon-speaking” beast
that will kill the influence and
testimony of God’s Two Witnesses
at the end of their 1,260 days.
The story of
Lucifer is described in different
places and different ways in the
Bible[80] because
God wants His people to be prepared
for the physical appearing of this
incredible enemy. The world has never
seen anything that can compare with
the appearing of Lucifer. It is
ironic that millions of Christians
anticipate a coming Antichrist, but
their expectations are far too low
for the Antichrist who is coming.
What man on Earth can descend from
the sky with millions of angels in
attendance? What man on Earth can
call down fire from Heaven at will?
What man on Earth can abolish the
religions and governments of the
world? Earth has never seen an
equivalent to the appearing of
Lucifer. To make this matter clear,
God uses repetition and enlargement
to give mankind an encompassing view
of Lucifer and his purposes,
ambition, and ultimate destruction.
There is so much more to
Lucifer’s physical appearing
than one prophecy can convey. The
devil’s signs and wonders will
be so deceptive that if possible, the
very elect (the 144,000) would be
deceived.[81]
The Bible
declares the beast from the Abyss
will kill God’s Two Witnesses.
This one specification has misled
millions of people into believing the
Two Witnesses have to be two people.
When people hear me say that the Two
Witnesses are not two people, they
often ask: “If the Two Witnesses
are the Ten Commandments and the Holy
Spirit, how can Lucifer kill
them?” Actually, this question
has to be restated. “If the Two
Witnesses are two lampstands and two
olive trees, how can Lucifer kill
them?” The solution is found in
personification.
