Bob Josey: The Two Witnesses (Revelation 11:3)

Post date: Sep 29, 2019 8:37:34 PM

6. The Role of the Two Witnesses During the Tribulation (Revelation 11:3-13)

Introduction

Thus far in our overview of the end times we have studied why studying future prophetic events is relevant for believers today, why there are so many views on future prophecies, the seventy weeks of Daniel, the event that begins the seven years of Tribulation, the Day of the LORD, and the role of the unholy trinity during the Tribulation Period. Today, we are going to begin a study of the significant role of the Two Witnesses during the first half of the Tribulation Period.

The Two Witnesses (Revelation 11:3-13)

A. Their Identity (Revelation 11:3)

Who are these two men? The three most common views are that they are either Moses and Elijah, Elijah and Enoch, or two unnamed/unknown men. I want to share with you from my study why I believe that the two men will be unnamed and unknown men who had never lived before. Moses and Elijah are thought to be the two men because of their similar miracles and similar plagues inflicted by them in the Old Testament which are similar to those of the two witnesses (11:5-6). Additional support is given for the identification of Elijah because of the prediction (Mal. 4:5) that he will appear "before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes." Christ said this prophecy of Elijah was partially fulfilled in His lifetime by John the Baptizer. (Matt. 17:10-13; Mark 9:11-13; cf. Luke 1:17). Also, both Moses and Elijah were involved in the transfiguration in Matt. 17, which anticipated the Second Coming and the Messianic Kingdom. Some think that the two men will be Elijah and Enoch because they were translated to heaven without dying.

There are several problems with these men being the two witnesses. One, all three men were prominent characters in the Old Testament. Since this is the case, why were their names not mentioned. Second, Moses had already died once and became only a spiritual being. Would he be given a human body again, to die again, and then become spiritual being again? That makes no sense. Some have identified the two witnesses as Enoch and Elijah inasmuch as they did not die but were translated to heaven. Even though they did not die, they had to become only spiritual a being before entering heaven because Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:50, “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”

B. Their Ministry

1. To be Witnesses and Prophets (Revelation 11:3-5)

11:3 – The Lord revealed to John that He had chosen two men to be His’ witnesses and prophets for 3½ years. The two men were given the power and authorly to be God’s witnesses in the first half of the tribulation period. I will explain later why they probably ministered the first half and not the second half of Tribulation Period. In Matthew 28:18 Jesus told the disciples that He had been given all authority in heaven and earth by the Father. It will be no different in the Tribulation Period with these two witnesses.

Many today think that a witness is just someone who shares the gospel with individuals. However, when Jesus gave His’ marching orders in Acts 1:8 to be His’ witnesses in every part of the world, He was expecting them to fulfill the two aspects of being a witness. What are the two aspects of being a witness for Jesus? One is called an active witness (subjective witness). An active witness is the subject of the action who actively shares the gospel with people. A passive witness (objective witness) is basically a Christian who is the object of people observing them to see how they act and react to other people and situations. Basically, do they act and react as a Christian should?

Today we have the same marching orders from Jesus as the disciples did. We are to be witnesses in all parts of the world. We are to be active witnesses in that we are supposed to share the gospel with people. We are also passive witnesses because people are always observing us. We are all Ambassadors of Christ and, therefore, should act appropriately. What are some of the main objections to people becoming Christians? Hypocrisy is high up on the list. People do not want to give up their sinful lifestyles.

Notice that the two witness are also to be God’s prophets. Some think that the ministry of the prophet is just to foretell the future. As a matter of fact, the ministry of the prophet of Israel was twofold – foretelling and forthtelling. Much of what the prophet declared was not predictive in its nature i.e. foretelling the future. The majority a prophet’s ministry was forthtelling i.e. to declare to Israel during the nations spiritual decline to confess their sins, to repent, and to take the commands of the Law of Moses seriously. The prophets warned Israel that if they didn’t confess their sins, repent, and take the Law of Moses seriously that the Lord would discipline them. The discipline could take many different forms such as drought, insects eating their crops, invasion and the possible occupation of other nations in Israel, and the slaughter of many people. We know from biblical history that each of these curses occurred. We also know that there were other biblical prophecies that were fulfilled such as the destruction of the Temple and the cities in Israel, particularly Jerusalem, and the killing of many Israelites as occurred in 722 BC when Assyria invaded Israel and in 605 BC when Babylonia invaded Israel. In both cases many of the Israelites were taken as captives to Assyria and Babylonia. After returning to the land of Israel under the leadership of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel, the people of Israel continued to be disobedient the Law of Moses. The final straw that broke the camel’s back was when the people of Israel rejected their Messiah. In AD 70 the Lord scattered the Jewish people around the world for 1900 hundred years. This is called the diaspora.

In the case of the two prophets, their message will be twofold. One, they will preach the gospel of the Kingdom of the Messiah. (Matthew 24:14) The gospel of the kingdom of the Messiah will be that the people in the world need to trust in Jesus as the Messiah and repent of their sins because the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. If they do not, they will not enter the Messianic Kingdom and God’s eternal judgment at the Great White Throne will follow. Two, if they don’t trust in Jesus as the Messiah and repent of their sins, God’s wrath poured out on the earth will follow. If God kept His promises to Israel through the prophets about the curses He sent, God will certainly keep His’ promises through the two prophets of pouring out His’ wrath upon the earth during the Tribulation Period

They will prophesy their message for 1260 days or 3 1/2 years. This will probably be in the first half of the Tribulation Period, because the Antichrist will not come out of the Abyss until the second half of the Tribulation Period. At that time, he will murder them.

Lastly, they will be clothed in sackcloth. Sackcloth was made of goat’s hair or camel’s hair, It was black in color. It’s interesting that modern English word "sack" is ultimately derived from the Hebrew word śaq. The Hebrew word śaq made its way into the Greek language as sákkos. The shape of a sackcloth resembles a grain sack. Sackcloth was most frequently worn during times of mourning, sorrow, or repentance. The prophets often wore sackcloth and also encouraged Israel to wear it in the face of God's approaching judgment. Elijah (1 Kings 1:8) and John the Baptist (Mathew 4:3) both wore sackcloth garments. The two witnesses will wear it to encourage those on the earth in the Tribulation Period to repent and to warn them that God’s wrath that will be poured out on the earth.