THE TWO WITNESSES
Lesson
16
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Point 6.
What do the
144,000 accomplish that is so
great? They proclaim the
gospel to every nation, kindred,
tongue and people during the
seven trumpets. Because
they walk with God as Enoch did,
these people reach a level of
spiritual maturity above all
other people.
These understand
better than any others the
sufferings and works of Christ.
The highest honor God can bestow
upon a Christian is to allow the
Christian to enter into
Christ’s suffering. See
II Corinthians 6:3-10, Mark
10:38,39.
What does
spiritual maturity involve?
The 144,000 know what it means to
live by faith as Jesus lived by
faith. These people know
what complete and full submission
to the will of God means. These
would rather die than willfully
commit a sin. These carry
the responsibility of the gospel
during the judgment hour to a
reeling world – a mission
whom many people can’t
understand. These people
are serious students of
God’s Word.
These are
recipients of the latter rain or
outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
These are both a demonstration
and proclamation of the character
of Jesus. These are the
choice fruits of heaven’s
harvest. These might be
thought of as 144,000 clones of
the Apostle Paul!
When does this
maturity occur? Before the first
trumpet takes place. “Do not
harm the land or the sea or the
trees until we put a seal on the
foreheads of the servants of our
God.” Revelation 7:3 Since
these people are yet to appear,
and it is obvious the first
trumpet has not sounded, it is
self evident that the sealing of
the 144,000 is taking place right
now! Jesus says, “My
eyes will be on the faithful in
the land, that they may dwell
with me; he whose walk is
blameless will minister to
me.” Psalm 101:6
One last comment
on the identity of the 144,000.
In Revelation 12, the story of
the true church (represented by a
women) and a terrible dragon is
told. The woman wears a crown of
12 stars on her head. From
the Greek, we learn that these
stars are set in a
“stephanos” or crown of
victory. Stars symbolize
messengers or angels and by
applying the words of Daniel 12:3
to Revelation’s symbolism we
find a very beautiful fit.
“Those who are wise (or
teachers) will shine like the
brightness of the heavens, and
those who lead many to
righteousness like the stars for
ever and ever.” In
other words, the crown of victory
is set with 12 stars that
represent the glorious triumph of
the 12 tribes. The 144,000 are
“stars” in every sense
of the word!
Point 7.
Are 144,000 a
literal number? If the
number is symbolic and does not
represent a literal number of
people, then the scripture must
tell us the meaning of the
symbol. Since no such description
exists for any number in
Revelation, we can feel free to
regard the number as literal.
Numbers are not symbolic in the
Bible. For example, in
Revelation 17, John saw a beast
having seven heads and ten horns.
The heads and the horns are
symbolic – not the numbers!
The number 144,000 is a literal
number. The term
“servants of God”
suggests that these people will
powerfully lead the proclamation
of the everlasting gospel. The
work of the 144,000 will be to
first gather “remnant
1” and then march into
Babylon to gather “remnant
2.”
Bible
Truth and Holy Spirit Power
Manifested through 144,000
Two Witnesses
control the 144,000
This brings us to
the heart of Revelation’s
story: the Two Witnesses.
Who are they? How do they relate
to the 144,000?
Notice the
following comments from
Revelation 11 about the Two
Witnesses:
- The Two
Witnesses prophesy for
1,260 days in sackcloth.
{V3}
- These are
the two olive trees and
two lamp stands that
stand before the Lord.
{V4}
- Anyone
that tries to harm them
must die by fire. {V5}
- These men
have the power to shut up
the sky and prevent rain
(during the 1,260 days)
and the power to turn
water to blood and strike
the earth with any plague
as often as they want.
{V6}
- After
1,260 days are ended, the
beast that comes up from
the Abyss will attack
them and kill them. {V7}
- Their
bodies lie in the street
of the city called Sodom
and Egypt, where Jesus
was crucified. {V8}
- The earth
will rejoice that the Two
Witnesses are dead. {V10}
- After 3 ½
days they live again.
{V11}
- They
ultimately go up to
heaven in a cloud. {V12}
Revelation 11 is a
chapter describing the two
instruments God uses in the
conclusion of the plan of
salvation. These two
powerful instruments used
together might be compared to a
cutting torch. When oxygen and
acetylene are mixed together, a
hotter and more penetrating flame
is obtained than using either gas
alone. God has always used
these Two Witnesses to cut
through the barrier of sin.
The Two Witnesses are brought
into prominent focus in the final
days of Earth because sin has
almost destroyed the people of
earth. The distress caused
by the trumpets is carefully
designed to give credibility to
the Two Witnesses. They
will offer salvation to all who
want to be saved!
The Two Witnesses
are:
- The Bible
(two lamp stands)
- The Holy
Spirit (the two olive
trees producing the oil)
The Bible appeals
to the intellect and the Holy
Spirit appeals to the heart. It
is through these cooperative
agencies or “witnesses”
that God works for the salvation
of man. “I will put my laws
in their minds and write them on
their hearts.” Hebrews 8:10
In Zechariah 4, we
learn that God’s work on
earth will be completed through
the power of the Holy Spirit.
“’Not by might nor by
power, but by my Spirit,’
saith the Lord Almighty.”
Zechariah 4:6 In this same
chapter, Zechariah saw a lamp
stand with seven lights on it.
Pipes were connected to the
lights from two olive trees that
stood close by.
Golden oil from
the olive trees flowed through
the pipes enabling the lamp stand
to burn continually.
Zechariah asked
the meaning of what he saw and
the angel said, “These (the
lamp stands and the two olive
trees providing oil) are the two
who are anointed to serve the
Lord of all the earth.”
Zechariah 4:14
As mentioned
above, Zechariah saw a lamp stand
with seven lights. John saw
Jesus standing in the midst of
the seven lamp stands in
revelation 1:12. In
Revelation 11:4, John mentions
two lamp stands standing before
the Lord. The harmony of
these references might be
explained by saying that Jesus
was encircled by the seven lamp
stands. John sees two of
the seven lamp stands in front of
Jesus and describes the scene
accordingly.
Some have
suggested the two lamp stands
represent the Old and New
Testaments. In any case,
the Word of God contains light.
King David said, “Your word
is a lamp to my feet, and a light
for my path.” Psalm 119:105
The Apostle Paul says, “the
word of God is living and active.
Sharper than any double-edged
sword, it penetrates even to
dividing soul and spirit, joints
and marrow; it judges the
thoughts and attitudes of the
heart.” Hebrews 4:12
The Bible is an
inspired witness revealing
God’s love and beneficence
for His creation. God necessarily
inspires the Bible, for man is
unable to understand God without
divine revelation. The
Bible is still the world’s
bestseller. The Bible is still
the most widely translated book
in the world. Owning a
Bible is still the hope of
millions in third world
countries. As a book, the
Bible has no equal its existence
has endured the assaults of
nations, dictators, infidels and
skeptics, and yet its message and
purpose remain unchanged.
The second witness
or agency God uses to impress
mankind is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was poured out
upon the disciples at Pentecost
and thousands of people believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ and were
baptized! Jesus promised
the power of the Holy Spirit to
his disciples, “You will
receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes on you; and you will
be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and
in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
Cutting through
prejudice, bias and ignorance,
the Holy Spirit makes the Word of
God more than a book of old
manuscripts. The Holy
Spirit brings conviction, comfort
and hope. Jesus said,
“When the Counselor comes,
whom I will send to you from the
Father, the Spirit of truth who
goes out from the Father, he will
testify about me…When He
comes, he will convict the world
of guilt in regard to sin and
righteousness and judgment.”
John 15:26; 16:8
The combined
testimony of these Two Witnesses
is harmonious, truthful and
winning. When brought face
to face with these Two Witnesses,
like Pharaoh, man has to do one
of two things. Either he
surrenders to the evidence of
truth or hardens his heart.
During the seven trumpets, every
person will be brought face to
face with these Two Witnesses in
all their glory. All will
have the opportunity to hear the
full gospel calling for the
worship of Jesus. Great
power will attend those
proclaiming the last message of
salvation. The Bible and
the Holy Spirit will validate the
truthfulness of their message.
One last point
about the Holy Spirit must be
made. There is a sin that
cannot be forgiven. It is
the sin of rejecting the Holy
Spirit. Jesus said,
“every sin and blasphemy
will be forgiven men, but the
blasphemy against the Spirit will
not be forgiven.” Matthew
12:31
How is it that God
can forgive every sin except sin
against the Holy Spirit? It
is only through the prompting of
the Holy Spirit that we yield our
lives to Jesus. If we
harden our hearts to the
conviction of the Holy Spirit and
refuse God’s call of
salvation – we cannot be
saved. “The man
without the Spirit does not
accept the things that come from
the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness to him, and he cannot
understand them, because they are
spiritually discerned.” I
Corinthians 2:14 God cannot save
a rebellious person. Sin is
rebellion against God. He
is going to rid the universe of
rebellion. Sin will never
appear again!
Some think the Two
Witnesses of Revelation 11 to be
the prophets Elijah and Moses.
Hal Lindsey in his book,
There’s a New World Coming,
states on page 162 “Now who
are the two witnesses going to
be? I believe they will be Moses
and Elijah!” He
appeals to Malachi 4:5 for
support. “See, I will
send you the prophet Elijah
before the great and dreadful day
of the Lord comes.”
Lindsey reasons that the physical
person of Elijah must come to
announce the coming of Jesus.
Remember our study
in lesson 2 where the Jews
interpreted the Elijah prophesy
of Malachi as literal and their
prophetic understanding, among
other things led them to reject
Messiah! The prophecy of
Malachi cannot be taken
literally. Jesus said to
the disciples concerning John the
Baptist, “And if you are
willing to accept it, he is the
Elijah who was to come.”
Matthew 11:14 As a matter of
fact, the angel told the father
of John the Baptist that” he
(John) will go on before the
Lord, in the spirit and power of
Elijah, to turn the hearts of the
fathers to their children and the
disobedient to the wisdom of the
righteous – to make ready a
people prepared for the
Lord.” Luke 1:17
From scripture it
is clear the Two Witnesses are
not two literal men but rather
two partners working for the
salvation of mankind. They
are the Word of God and the Holy
Spirit. The 144,000
personify the Two Witnesses
because they preach the message
of salvation with the same power
and spirit of Elijah!
Note: The
NIV translates the plural form of
the pronoun “they” to
say “men.” Verse 6 in
the NIV reads, “These men
have the power to shut up the
sky…” The KJV reads,
“These have the power to
shut heaven, that it will not
rain…” We cannot press
either translation very hard for
the KJV also differs from the NIV
on the third angels’ message
in Revelation 14:9. The NIV
says, “If anyone worships
the beast…” and the KJV
says, “If any man worships
the beast…” Surely, the
KJV is not suggesting that women
can worship the beast!
144,000 Servants x
2 Witnesses = Enlightened World
With the identity
of the Two Witnesses established,
notice again what Revelation 11
says:
- The Two
Witnesses prophesy for
1,260 days in sackcloth.
{V3}
- These are
the two olive trees and
lamp stands that stand
before the Lord. {V4)
- Anyone
that tries to harm them
must die by fire. {V5}
- These men
have the power to shut up
the sky and prevent rain
(during the 1,260 days)
and they have power to
turn water to blood and
strike the earth with any
plague as often as they
want. {V6}
The expression of
the Two Witnesses prophesying in
sackcloth describes a period of
distress and calamity. In
Bible times, the renting or
tearing of the clothes and
wearing sackcloth often expressed
great anguish. Sackcloth is
a course and disagreeable
material to wear. So it is, the
Two Witnesses do their final work
on earth in a time of great
distress. People will be
angry, frightened and cruel as
Satan leads the world to focus
their frustrations on God’s
people.
Earlier in this
chapter, we learned that the
144,000 are the spiritually elite
or first fruits of the harvest of
earth. We know they are
uniquely sealed prior to the
opening of the fourth seal and
the beginning of the seven
trumpets. We know they are
without fault or blameless.
We know they sing a new song of
experience that others can’t
sing. John the Baptist was a
representative of these people.
Just as he was filled with the
Holy Spirit to prepare the Jews
for the coming of Jesus at the
first advent, these will be
filled with the Holy Spirit to
prepare the world for the coming
of Jesus at the Second Advent!
God grants to the
144,000 the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit in great abundance
and with their knowledge of the
scriptures they become the
leaders of God’s cause on
earth. The 144,000 have no
equals. Even though they
come from different backgrounds
and languages, even though they
may not know each other, their
message and lives are in perfect
harmony. Their source of
knowledge and inspiration is the
same! Their work is both a
proclamation and demonstration of
God’s truth.
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