“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. 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. 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.” - (Rev 11:1-6 KJV)
From a human, and prophetic timeline perspective, the book now shows us entering a period that is both unmistakable, and one which is eagerly anticipated by Jews and Christians all over the world. The re-building of the temple in Jerusalem.
The Jews look forward to it because, ever since the destruction of the last one, they have been prohibited from feasting on the Passover Lamb! The reason is found in the book of Deuteronomy. “Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee: But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt” - (Dt 16:5-6). They are prohibited from slaying the Lamb within their houses (the only exception was when they first came out of Egypt), but must sacrifice it in the temple!
This has been the majority rabbinic view, and some rabbis have even taken it to the extreme of undertaking a “journey” away from Jerusalem during the Passover week to avoid being obliged to keep it. Numbers 9:9-13 imposes a severe penalty for not keeping the Passover (being cut off from the people) UNLESS that person is on a journey (or unclean) and can’t keep it. For those that were travelling in the first month, a week of the 2nd month was set aside so that they could keep it on their return. By moving out of Jerusalem the rabbis hope is that they will not be held accountable for not keeping it.
Some Jews have been sacrificing Passover lambs near the Temple mount today, but have been prevented from doing so on the Temple Mount itself for fear of provoking a war. Imagine their delight at being able to once again keep this tradition when by a miracle (or so it seems) a treaty is brokered that allows them to build their temple back there. They will take this offer even it involves a compromise that means yielding the outer court area, and the holy city. (As in our text above)
This event is also what most evangelical Christians are looking forward to, and quite rightly so, because it heralds the last 7 years prior to Christs return. The first 3 and a half years (or forty two months) will see the sacrifices resuming – but they will also see the messengers of the True Passover Lamb standing there as fiery witnesses, warning them about what is to come. This message is not going to go down well, and there will be many that will attempt to kill them – hence God gives them His divine protection – they are able to answer their enemies (“kill them with fire out of their mouths”) or literally cause them to die by invoking Gods wrath on them. They also (like Elijah of old) have the power to withhold rain and strike the earth with plagues to authenticate their testimony.
Who are these two witnesses? All we are told in scripture is that they are the two olive trees, and two candlesticks that stand before the God of the earth. There are some notable features in this description. First, note, it is not the God of Heaven that they are standing before – it is the God of the earth. The word “before” can also be translated “in the sight of”, “in the presence of” or “a occupied place against which one turns his eyes”. (Strongs Dictionary of Greek and Hebrew Words). These witnesses are literally - in the anti-christ’s face!
The prophet Zechariah is given a vision in Zec 4 that echoes this similarity. In his vision, he sees a single candlestick with 7 lamps that are fed oil by 7 pipes that come from two olive trees that stand beside the candlestick. The angel that shows him this vision explains that Zerubbabel(a type of Christ) is likened to the candlestick, the lamps the eyes of the LORD (the word Yahveh is used here), but the olive trees are two anointed one which stand before (again – the word means “in the presence of” ) the Lord (Adonai used here not LORD - which was used just a few sentences ago!) of the whole earth. This ministry of the Olive trees is to anoint Gods chosen to be able to withstand the “God of this world” (our Lord’s description of him in John 14:30 is “prince of this world”, 2 Cor 4:4 Paul calls him the “god of this world”).
You may disagree with us over this interpretation, but please note the similarities and not the differences. We agree that these are God’s (our Gods) representatives, uniquely anointed to do His work. We agree that the representation as Olive trees carries over perfectly from the OT to the book of Revelation. We also agree that their mission is to oppose Satan/the AntiChrist (which is perfectly clear). So please treat this as insight we have been given, which does not in any way detract from the text. You may interpret this as standing in our Gods presence – or in opposition to the AC – whatever you choose.
Some have theorized that these men are Enoch and Elijah – the two persons in the OT whose death is shrouded in controversy. They were taken up, but did they die? The fact that they may not have seen death is one reason some commentators say they reappear to be finally killed. There is also a prophecy that Elijah will appear before the day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5) – however Elijah did appear in the spirit of John the Baptist (per our Lord in Matt 11:14), and on the mount of Transfiguration (Matt 17:3). (Moses is eliminated because it says the Lord buried him, and in Jude we are told of a dispute over his body in Jude v 9). Short answer, we cannot say for sure!
These men are ultimately killed by the beast (He endures them for forty two months, but then can finally take it no longer), and the world rejoices over their death, but 3 and a half days later, they are taken up in a cloud. There is an earthquake that shakes the city, and it seems that their ministry has an effect, because we see people giving glory to God!
This signals the end of the second woe – it began with a world war (Rev 9:12 – the sixth trumpet), ended with a peace, but then the earth was troubled with the testimony of these men. The third woe follows quickly upon the heels of this one (Rev 11:14) and we shall pick that up next week.
These men overcome the enemy “…by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Rev 12:11) . Our Passover enables us to bear witness to His resurrection, and our testimony transcends the fear of death. These are the weapons that we wield against “the god of this world”. Hallelujah!