THE TWO WITNESSES (VERSES 3-14)

“‘And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.’

4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.”

Prophesying for 1260 Days (verses 3-6)

“‘And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.’

4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.”

These two witnesses that are mentioned here are “witnessing” for this period of time that we spoke about, during this period of trial, tribulation, and so on. They are “clothed in sackcloth” [verse 3], representative, perhaps, of their recognition of the difficulty of the trouble, the trial, the deaths even, of those who would be faithful to the Lord.

We might wonder, then, “Who are these witnesses?” Well, we don’t know; they are not identified specifically by name. But by their behavior, by some things which are associated to them, they bear relationships to two well-known prophets. They bear resemblance to both Moses, as the great law giver, and to Elijah, as the great prophet of the Old Testament.

There have been a number of interpretations, a number of suggestions, given about these two witnesses. Some have said that these refer to the Law and to the Prophets of the Old Testament. Others have said that they represent both the Old and the New Testaments, or Covenants, which both are, in effect, witnesses. Others have thought that these refer to actual persons, like the two that we just mentioned, Moses and Elijah. Still others have interpreted these two witnesses as representing the church in its total work, its total involvement, in bearing witness to the world through preachers, ministers and individual members. Well, again, we are not clear whether they represent specific individuals, or not, but there are some things which are representative of the two that we mentioned, Moses and Elijah.

In these four verses that we read [verses 3 through 6], they are called “the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth,” [verse 4]. This is a clear reference to a vision in the long ago, which we can read about in Zachariah, chapter 4. I want us to look at that—Zachariah, chapter 4, beginning with verse 1:

“Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, ‘What do you see?’

So I said, ‘I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. 3 Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.’ 4 So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, ‘What are these, my lord?’

5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, ‘Do you not know what these are?’

And I said, ‘No, my lord.’

6 So he answered and said to me:

‘This is the Word of the LORD to Zerubbabel...,’” [Zachariah 4:1-6a].