The Two Witnesses

“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.  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.  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.” (Revelation 11:1-4) 

June 16, 2003 – We have previously discussed and discovered fully the identity of just what and who is called “Antichrist” in God’s Holy Word.  We know who it is that OPPOSES Jesus Christ.  We now turn our attention to a most critical element regarding who it is that will stand FOR Christ by opposing and testifying against this evil Antichrist.  These are those who are Anti-Antichrist.

The eleventh chapter of the Revelation of Jesus Christ unveils to us a great mystery involving Christ’s two witnesses on earth.  Who are these two faithful witnesses and how might we determine through scripture what God’s message is to the world from them?

There have been numerous possibilities offered up by Bible teachers as to the identity of these two prophetic witnesses.  Many writers, including many of the early church fathers, have seen these two witnesses as referring to the persons of Enoch and Elijah.  They see the literal return of these two Old Testament saints as necessary to the fulfillment of prophecy.  These writers base their interpretations on some sound evidences, primarily those that prophesy that Elijah must return (Malachi 4:5) before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.  Many surmise that Enoch will accompany Elijah, because both Enoch and Elijah did not die, but were translated into heaven.  Therefore it is supposed that both of these men are to return bodily and literally to witness for the Lord before they are killed by the Antichrist, and raised back up to heaven in the sight of the whole world.  Although there is much spiritual truth that can benefit us by examining this interpretation, I think that our current study on the subject will show that if these visions are too literally interpreted (by that I mean without the support of all of scripture), they cease to fit the prophetic signs available to us in scripture.

First we must recognize that Elijah and Enoch were not “only” translated into heaven, but they also were glorified – receiving their heavenly bodies.  It is only the corruptible body that can be killed, so this knowledge stands firmly and squarely against this common interpretation.  And we must note that Jesus already testified as to the identity of “Elias” (Elijah) who was to come:

“And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.  But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.  Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.” (Mat 17:10-13)

And again, Jesus says of John the Baptist,

“And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.” (Matthew 11:14)

Jesus stated that Elijah had already come in the spirit as John the Baptist.  This also explains why John the Baptist was “filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.” (Luke 1:15)

I agree with this interpretation insomuch as I expect that once we identify these two prophetic witnesses, we will see that they testify and witness according to the power and spirit of both Elijah and Enoch, that they have God’s attention and sanction as did these two great saints, and they speak His mind according to the pattern shown forth in Elijah and Enoch, and they are to be heeded by the world or the world will suffer utter loss.

Jesus shows us a pattern and gives us a clue regarding the prophetic fulfillment of the picture of those who are to witness and prophesy on His behalf.  Elijah did not physically and bodily return from heaven in his corruptible body to prophesy, rather, He returned in the person of John the Baptist, the relative of Jesus, both to testify for Christ, and to be horribly treated on the behalf of God.

Prophecy is fulfilled in patterns and in layers.  We must examine prophecy in this fashion.  We will see that the refusal to examine prophecy in this way, leads to fallacious interpretations, fanciful mythologies, and eventually erroneous conclusions.  We must examine the shadows and types, along with all the available historical information in order to come to a conclusion that matches up with scripture, and edifies, strengthens and encourages the true Church of Jesus Christ to fulfill her proper and ordained duties on the behalf of God.

The Old Testament Witnesses – Two “Sons of Oil”

Our investigation into the identity of the Two Witnesses of Revelation will start in the Old Testament, where God had two particular faithful spiritual witnesses.  We read about them in Zechariah the 4^th Chapter.  In this chapter of the prophet Zechariah, we find a Candlestick made all of gold, and on each side of this Candlestick is an Olive Tree (Zech 4:2-3).  The angel explains the mystery about these two witnesses starting with a clear and plain statement:

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”  (Zech 4:6)

Let us be unmistakably clear here.  Revelation the 11^th Chapter specifically refers back to this message in Zechariah.  Whatever we conclude about the identity of God’s two witnesses in the book of Revelation, their message is crystal clear…  It is a message of God’s unmixed, unshared, undiluted, pure and absolute Sovereignty.

God’s message through His two “anointed ones” (or “Sons of Oil”) (Zech 4:14) remains the same from the Old Testament into the New Testament.  God is the actor.  It is God whose will is primary, who works all things according to His own will and according to His own perfect plan.  This is just as John said in his gospel regarding salvation, writing that we who are saved were, “born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13).  So we can see that the Bible agrees in full that nothing is accomplished outside of the decreed will of God, for it is not by man’s might, nor by man’s power, but by the Lord’s Spirit that operations are carried out on this planet.  God’s absolute Sovereignty is the message of His two anointed servants.

The question is asked in Zechariah the 4^th chapter, “What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?” (Zech. 4:12b)  Remember that the overall theme or topic under consideration is the power and might of the Holy Spirit.  In prophetic language, the “oil” is a type or shadow of the Holy Spirit, and in this section of Zechariah, we are watching the “distribution” of the Holy Spirit from the branches of the Olive Trees into the golden Candlestick.  Our minds must be stayed on the Lord in this regard, as the scripture reminds us that it is not might, nor will, nor power outside of the Lord’s precious Spirit that accomplishes these tasks.  The two Olive Trees empty the oil “out of themselves”, by giving the Spirit liberally unto the Candlestick which itself shows forth light.  The Candlestick, in and of itself, can do nothing.  It is a vessel of honor, crafted by a craftsman to provide light to the world.  The Candlestick is not that light, but is a vessel used to show forth that light.  Just as the scripture says of John the Baptist,

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.” (John 1:6-8)

We find the shadow of this spiritual Candlestick formed by the command of God in the book of Exodus chapter 25, starting in verse 31:

“And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.  And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:  Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.  And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.  And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick.  Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.  And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it.  And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.  Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.  And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.” (Exo 25:31-40)

The mystery of the identity of the Candlesticks is shown to us in the book of the Revelation:

“…the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches” (Rev. 1:20b)

So a “Candlestick” in prophetic literature is a CHURCH.  The two anointed servants, the Olive Trees in the book of Zechariah, are pouring out the SPIRIT of GOD unto the CHURCH.  In the Bible, both Jesus Christ AND the Comforter are shown to be pouring out the fullness of God’s anointing oil into the remnant church.  And both Jesus Christ AND the Holy Spirit are said to be IN THE CHURCH, in operation and in power.  Our two “sons of oil” are, in the Old Testament, shown to be standing by the LORD of the whole earth.  We see the fullness of the TRIUNE Godhead, in prophetic picture, preparing to work the greatest mighty work which is pictured for us in the Book of Revelation.

So we find that God continuously uses “representative” language, to show beyond a doubt from scripture what it is He is referring to.  God has clearly given us Elijah and Enoch, and even Moses and Zerubbabel, as pictures of the power and authority given to the final two witnesses.  The ministries of these prophets will be resurrected during the last days.  Our text in Revelation says of the two witnesses, “These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.”  The two witnesses we seek are BOTH the two Olive Trees, AND the two Candlesticks.  They are simultaneously representative of a full and complete WITNESS CHURCH, and they operate in the power and anointing of the two Old Testament anointed ones.

Let us go through a quick overview of prophetic language, and how words and symbols are used in prophetic literature.  Some of these we have already shown or alluded to in this book, others will be seen clearly when they are read in their proper context:

1)                 Jerusalem – Stands for Christianity in its most widely used context, meaning all those who claim the name of Christ.

2)                 The Temple – Paul teaches us the Temple stands for the true Church of Jesus Christ.  Each of us is a stone in the magnificent Temple built upon Christ our foundation.

3)                 The Outer Court – Both the Temple complex which is outside of the Temple proper, and the rest of the city is pictured for us as Apostate Christianity, the false church.  The early church met in the outer court, showing that it was used properly in the beginning, but the Church was soon scattered, and the porch was given over to be trampled by the Gentiles.  By this is meant that the worldly and apostate “christians” hang around outside, but never truly enter in.

4)                 The Number 2 – Represents the complete and perfect number needed to bear witness.  Two honest and sincere witnesses are necessary to establish a fact.

5)                 The Olive Trees – First represented Christ and the Holy Spirit as God’s eternal witnesses, and second represents their testimony through their chosen vessels.

6)                 The Oil – Represents the power and anointing of God through the person of the Holy Spirit.

7)                 The Candlesticks – Represent God’s remnant Church, who testifies on His behalf, and against Antichrist.  They are properly Anti-Antichrist, and are one with the Olive Trees, as they receive their power and authority from them.

In the text we examined earlier from Revelation the 1^st Chapter, we read where John has, through the power of the Holy Spirit, unveiled the “Mystery” of the identity of the Candlesticks:

“The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” (Rev. 1:20b)

And again we read where Christ threatened to remove the Candlestick from those church bodies who do not heed Him:

“Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” (Rev. 2:5)

So we see that John is consistent in his application of the prophetic language regarding the Candlestick.  The Candlestick is the church.  Jesus does not have many bodies; He only has one, although we are many scattered bodies who make up His body.  He only has one bride, although we are many who are His bride.  Christ only has one true Church, although it is portrayed as two Candlesticks in order to complete the perfect picture of His proper witnesses.

The Church testifies against Antichrist for 1260 days

The scriptures teach that the Church will testify against Antichrist for the full period of Antichrists first rule:

“And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” (Rev. 11:3)

And so it was through the terrible first reign of the Papal Antichrist, where the true Church continued to bear witness against that cruel and false apostate.  These witnesses were exemplified by the Reformers, who unveiled the Truth and testified against Antichrist to their own detriment, to the loss of their own lives and estates.  They gave the Antichrist a deadly wound, and were able to send the fire of the Word of God from their mouths which devoured their enemies.  We see that God’s Word is perfectly fulfilled, as it is said of Jesus Christ in the 97^th Psalm, “A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about” (Psalm 97:3), and in Second Samuel, “There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.” (2 Sam. 22:9).

The true Church testifies in sackcloth, meaning that they are sorrowful and repentant.  They are not rich in a worldly sense.  They do not dress in finery.  They see the wickedness that is Antichrist, and they hate it.  They are in mourning for righteousness, and they are at warfare with all that rises up against Christ.

Just as the witnesses of the devil, the Antichrist system, receives a deadly wound – so, eventually, does God’s faithful church.  Shortly after the Pope had all temporal and spiritual power removed from him, and it seemed as though he were dead, his silent hand moved through his evil and faithful servants, the Jesuit Order, to corrupt the Doctrines of God’s church, and to feed those who call themselves Christians with corrupt and tainted perversions of the Bible.  A new dark age has swept over the earth as the devil has corrupted the world with Apostate, false Christianity.  The False Prophet (the false and corrupt, so-called Protestant churches) rose up out of the earth and as the 1^st Beast’s deadly wound was healed, the true witnesses were dealt a deadly blow.  The world has rejoiced in their death.  To this day they give one another gifts, according to the traditions of the false so-called Christian system, which is actually Antichrist, showing themselves that they have triumphed over the ones who tormented them by their preaching.  But God’s true Church would lie dead in the street only a very short time.  God by His mighty hand and through His mighty power has risen up His remnant.  God’s powerful light is going forth.  We are not that light, but we are His Candlestick, His light bearers.  As our light shines forth, it makes apparent the false and evil ways of those who have trampled the Outer Court underfoot.  Our light exposes the false and corrupt system that calls itself “Christianity” today.  Our gospel shows the plain apostasy that hangs around on Solomon’s porch, but refuses to enter in to the Temple of God.  The light causes the darkness to scatter, and the hypocrites and the religious Pharisees are once again bathed in the light of God’s never changing Word.  They are angry and gnash at us with their teeth.  The Lord will keep us even unto the end of the world, as a testimony and a witness to a perverse and evil generation.  We have stood up on our feet in the sight of the whole world.  It is a truism that if a man will not be silent, he cannot be safe.  Well, we are not dead, and we will not be silent.  Neither will we be safe in this temporal world.  God has drawn a picture for us of how this is all to end:

“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.  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.  The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” (Rev 11:12-15)

We see that there is always a faithful remnant – God’s Holy Remnant Church, who today are His true Witnesses, and His Candlesticks, they preach the message of the Two Olive Trees, that is, the Doctrines of Grace and God’s Sovereignty.   Remember, the only message of the true witnesses is this:

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”  (Zech 4:6)

There is also a remnant which will come to Him through the testimony of His two witnesses, those who see the pains and death and tribulations of those who stand boldly for Jesus Christ and come to Him through their witness.  God’s true Church is never done evangelizing, and God will continue to call His remnant to Himself.

Two Witnesses for the Devil

There are two witnesses for the devil.  His Antichrist and His False Prophet rule and reign over the minds and hearts of fallen man.  His false witnesses, are the two who bore witness against Christ in Matthew the 26^th chapter.  Let us remember what these two false witnesses said,

“Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;  But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.” (Matthew 26:59-61)

The two false witnesses, who are exemplified by the Antichrist and the False Prophet, say that God is wrong when He claims He will build His own temple, one made without hands!  The false witnesses say, “Not by God’s Spirit, but by might and by power”!  The false witnesses, just as they always have, believe that religious men and leaders must build churches and formalistic worship.

Two Witnesses for Christ

There are two beautiful and perfect witnesses for Jesus Christ.  They are His body and they are His bride.  They are his anointed preachers and His faithful servants.  They are the Old and the New Testament; they are both Enoch and they are Elijah.  They are the two faithful churches of Revelation.  They testify on earth today AND in heaven.  They sound the testimony before a wicked and perverse generation, and they have the power to send forth the fiery Word of God from their mouths which will devour their enemies.  Are you one of His witnesses?  Are you standing against Antichrist?  Are you joined to Christ, or are you joined by affiliation with the Antichrist and the False Prophet?

God’s witnesses are purified from the systems of worldly religion.  They do not seek permission or protection from denominations and synods and councils in order to prophesy.  They cannot be traced back to the Antichrist in any form or fashion.  They are Anti-Antichrist.  They speak His word…

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts”

…to those who will hate them and despitefully use them.

I am your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

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