Who Are The Two Witnesses of Revelation, Really?

Author's note: article written for Daily Renegade.com

WHO ARE THE TWO WITNESSES OF REVELATION, REALLY?

Who are the two witnesses spoken of in the book of Revelation?  This question circulates throughout the Christian community endlessly.  All the answers that are usually given to this question are solid and grounded in scripture so, can we really know?  Well, maybe not, but today we are going to look at a possibility that you may have never heard before.

Before we move on to the theory that will be put forth in this article, let’s look briefly at four of the primary theories that have been adopted by mainstream Christians and the scriptures on which they are based.  The first theory is that the two witnesses are not actual biblical characters but just two witnesses, or evangelists, that will come in the spirit of biblical characters, some of whom we are going to look at.  

They hold this theory because of verses like Luke 1:17 where the angel is speaking to Zacharias, father of John the Baptist, and tells him that John will go forth in the spirit and power of Elias (New Testament for Elijah).  But, when the disciples asked John if he was Elias, John answered them that he was not, John 1:21.  So, even though the return of Elijah is prophesied in Malachi 3:1 and Malachi 4:5, many believe this is a prophecy, as mentioned before, of the spirit and power of Elijah indwelling someone.

Those that refute this, say that it matters that there are two prophecies in Malachi.  They hold that John the Baptist fulfilled the first as the messenger and one who prepared the way for the Lord, but the second remains unfulfilled.

The second theory held by Mainstream Christianity is that the two witnesses represent the Jews and The Church.  They mainly use passages from Zechariah, chapter 4 particularly, and this is the view largely held by preterists (those who hold that Revelation is history).  We will not go into this very deeply.  You are encouraged to study this on your own.  Needless to say, this is not the view that will be explored here.

The third theory is that the two witnesses will be Moses and Elijah.  This is because, not only is the return of Elijah prophesied as we already established, the miracles performed by these witnesses are the same miracles that are performed by Moses and Elijah.

"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.  And if any man will hurt them, the fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.  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." Revelation 11:3-6

While we acknowledge the candlestick and olive tree imagery from Zechariah, we notice mainly that these two witnesses will be able to turn water to blood, smite the earth with plagues and withhold rain for the duration of their prophecy, which just happens to be three and a half years.  The fact that Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17) gives further credence to this view, a solid view held by many in the evangelical community.

In recent years though, the Moses and Elijah interpretation has found competition in another, that being that the two witnesses are Enoch and Elijah.  The Bible says very little about Enoch except that he walked with God and he was not, for God took him (Genesis 5:24).  In other words, and according to extra-biblical sources, one day Enoch was there and one day he wasn’t.  He had been raptured, so to speak.

The Bible has much more to say about Elijah but the one thing he has in common with Enoch is that he too, was raptured, in a sense. In 2 Kings 2:11 says,

"And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that , behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven."

The point is, the Bible never records the death of either man.

Couple this with what the Bible says in Hebrews 9:27,

"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."

And you have your foundation for this interpretation. 

 

The two witnesses will be killed and left on the streets for three days toward the end of the tribulation (Revelation 11).  Most people think that because these two, apparently, never died and the two witnesses are killed, that they have to be the ones to fill that role.  Again, this is a solid interpretation.

There are two things to point out that may shed a small amount of doubt on this view, however.  The first is that Elijah sent a letter to the king of Judah after the whirlwind event (2 Chronicles 21:12-15).  Unless you are a dedicated reader of the Bible, you likely didn’t realize this, but it is nevertheless true.  

We won’t linger on this and it isn’t difficult to find commentaries that give reasonable explanations for this seeming anomaly in the Bible but, if you take things at face value, you could easily assume that the whirlwind translated Elijah to Judah to continue his ministry, especially since Elisha, his replacement, had received a double portion of Elijah’s anointing; something that was sorely needed in the Northern Kingdom.

The second thing to point out is, Lazarus died twice.  Speaking of Elijah, the widow’s son died twice as did the man that was thrown on the bones of Elisha among others   Is it possible that the aforementioned verse in Hebrews isn’t so much to illustrate how many times one can die, but that physical death in inevitable for all and none will escape the judgment of God?  Based on the testimony of the scriptures, this is certainly the case.

So, if we have four solid interpretations of who the witnesses may be, why seek another?  As we have established, there are holes in these interpretations and, in fairness, there are holes in the interpretation to be presented here but, that’s the joy of Bible study.

This article will present the case that, if the two witnesses are indeed true biblical people, they are Daniel and John the Apostle.  The case for John the Apostle is easily made so let’s look at this evidence first and it will lend credence to the case for Daniel.

There are two stories right out of the Gospels that will be our starting point. The first is found in Matthew 20 and tells of how the mother of the Brothers of Thunder, apostles James and John Zebedee, came to Jesus and asked Him to allow her sons to sit on His right and left in His kingdom.  Jesus asks them if they are able to drink of His cup and be baptized with His baptism.  The brothers said that they could.  

Jesus told them that they would indeed drink of his cup and be baptized of His baptism (persecution and martyrdom).  James went on to die a martyr’s death but, according to church history, they tried to kill John and couldn’t, thus his exile to Patmos.  The prophecy that Jesus made about the brothers remains unfulfilled in John.

The second story comes at the very end of the last of the gospels, the Gospel of John 21:18-24.  Because of its length, the story will be summarized here.  Please follow the link and read the passage.  Our story happens after Jesus has been resurrected.  He is waiting for the disciples on the beach after they had fished all night and caught nothing.  If you remember, this is where Jesus asks Peter three times if Peter loves Him and Peter says he does.  Jesus exhorts him to, “Feed My sheep.”

Jesus proceeds to tell Peter how he will die to glorify God and asks Peter to again to follow Him. At this point, Peter being Peter, sees John and asks Jesus, (paraphrasing of course) “What about this guy, Lord?”

We will follow the scripture here:

“Jesus saith unto him, ‘If I will that He tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me.’  Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die; yet Jesus said not unto him, ‘He shall not die;’ but, ‘If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?’”

Another paraphrase would be, “Peter, If I let him live to the Second Coming, what’s it to you?”

If we think about how much the Lord loves a good mystery (Proverbs 25:2), is it not possible that John could be one of the witnesses spoken of in Revelation?  The early church seemed to think he would be around for it.  The Bible makes this clear according to the scripture above, though most think his vision of the Apocalypse is what is being referred to.

We know that God took Moses and Elijah out of the timeline and brought them to the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17).  This likely happened when God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock and His glory passed before him (Exodus 33:18-23); and, with Elijah who was also was in the rock when God was manifested to him (1 Kings 19).  

Knowing this, let’s think about the only two prophets, about whom we know for sure, were taken out of the timeline and shown the End Days.  These two would be Daniel and John.

In Revelation 10:11, John is told that he would have to prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.  How could this be?  He was old and at the end of his life.  But just a few verses later, in chapter 11, we find the story of the two witnesses.  

Many scholars have already pointed out the similarities between the book of Revelation and the book of Daniel but, look closer at the little things like; Revelation 7 speaks of four winds; Daniel 7 speaks of four winds, for instance.

The final point made here will be from Revelation 22:8-9 which says,

“And I John saw these things, and heard them.  And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.  Then saith he unto me, ‘See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: Worship God.’  And he saith unto me, ‘Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.’”

Look carefully at what the angel said, remembering that angel just means ‘messenger.’  The angel tells John that he is a fellow servant, one of the prophets.  Then he gives a reversal of the admonition given in the book of Daniel to seal up the book until the end (Daniel 12:9).  This angel looks a lot like the fellow servant and prophet Daniel.

There are other clues to the identity of these witnesses but this article is meant to prompt discussion, personal Bible study on the part of its readers, and to expose the absolute wonder of the Word of God.  Please follow the links and do your own study.

If you are new to Bible study and would like to go deeper, please visit the Bible study blog, A Reasoning Together.  If you have any questions or prayer requests, please email areasoningtogether@gmail.com.  If you would like to know how to become a Christian, there is a short video called, What Must I do to be Saved, or please read, The Gospel, post at the blog linked above.

Note: All scriptures from the King James Version and are taken from Bible Hub.com.  Many other translations and study tools can be found there.  Words of Jesus are in red.