Now, let’s drop on down to verse 11:

“Then I answered and said to him, ‘What are these two olive trees — at the right of the lampstand and at its left?’ 12 And I further answered and said to him, ‘What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?’

13 Then he answered me and said, ‘Do you not know what these are?’

And I said, ‘No, my lord.’

14 So he said, ‘These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth,’” [Zachariah 4:11-14].

In the text that we have from Zachariah, on either side of the golden lampstand (some translations say, “candlesticks,” but more specifically, it is “lampstand”) are two olive trees. The picture there is that the two olive trees feed the lamps with the oil. You know, of course, that the oil, which was burned for centuries and centuries and centuries, was olive oil in this region of the world. So the picture here is that the two olive trees, in their fullness, in their fatness, feed the lamps, which make up the lampstand. The suggestion is this, that these two trees probably represent Joshua, the priest, and Zerubbabel. And the lampstand represents Israel. That is the depiction, the vision, of Zachariah here.

Well, there is a connection. As we have seen, and will see as we go along, there is a connection, something that had transpired before, something that would have been, perhaps, familiar in the vision of John here in Revelation, chapter 11.

The two witnesses in the vision are the two lampstands bearing the light of God’s Word. And, like two olive trees, full of fatness, full of oil, if you will, they continue to express this witnessing of the Gospel to the world. These two witnesses represent the church, full of God’s spirit, which gives light to the world. Like Jeremiah in Jeremiah 5, verse 14 [“Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts: ‘Because you speak this word, Behold, I will make My Words in your mouth fire, And this people wood, And it shall devour them.”], the judging Word that he speaks of there, the warning Word that calls to repentance and life, which they proclaim, is like a devouring fire, a devouring flame, that goes out to destroy those who are their foes—those who would oppose the Word.

This figure may also remind us of the consuming fire that came down from heaven at the call of Elijah and devoured his enemies, 2 Kings 1:9-10 [“Then the king sent to him (Elijah) a captain of fifty with his fifty men. So he (the captain) went up to him (Elijah); and there he was, sitting on the top of a hill. And he spoke to him: ‘Man of God, the king has said, “Come down!”’

10 So Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, ‘If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.’ And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.”].

Like Elijah of old, the two witnesses have the power to shut up heaven, that it not rain during the time of their prophesying; and like Moses the law giver, they have power over the waters to turn them to blood; and they have the power to bring plagues upon the earth. And they do this as often as they desire—not to indicate willful acts, but rather, to indicate that their desires are the desires of God. [Revelation 11:6: “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.”]

The Two Witnesses Killed and Left Dead for Three and a Half Days (verses 7-10)

“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.”

It would be hard to understand how these two witnesses that John sees and writes about could refer to two specific individuals, especially since the beast is described as making war upon them [“When they finish their Testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them,” verse 7]. But, here again, this could be readily applied to the church, because when we get over to chapter 13 and verse 7, we will see specifically that the beast makes war upon the saints [Revelation 13:7: “It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.”].