The Two Witnesses

I Will Send Them Apostles and Prophets

In the Book of Revelation chapter 11 we see mentioned a very mysterious pair; “My Two Witnesses” (vs.3). Most people have trouble understanding much of The Word of God because they fail to look at the big picture. God is concerned with the smallest details but also paints a broad picture that spans the expanse of history. How wonderful is our God that knows every hair on my head Mt: 10:30 and therefore is intimately involved with my life, but is also in control of the entire course of history.

As we explore and try to uncover who these Two Witnesses are, I would like to review some points I have covered in other posts. In the discussion of “The Great Whore” I pointed out how that literally from the very beginning in the garden the world has been in a fallen state. This is not how creation is meant to be. When Adam ate of the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” He knew that he was naked because he went from being God conscience to being self conscience. At that moment mans perception of God became veiled. We were blinded by sin. We no longer could see and hear Gods voice plainly, but as through a veil. What God had made for man, man gave to the devil, and he has been the pervading spirit in the world since. Jesus said Satan is the God of this age.

So then man found himself in a place where he no longer walked with God. He was blinded and deceived. The enemy of God wanted to destroy the object of His love; “The apple of His eye”. Satan had set about to corrupt all of the institutions of man, and deceive man into thinking that “we shall be as God” The spirit behind all of mans institutions tries to place self on the throne and make God into a myth. The devil and his Nephilim taught men how to be independent from God, and worship the works of our own hands. But “God so Loved the World” that He would buy it back. He would pay the ULTIMATE price for His willingness to Love us.

Now because we were separated from God we no longer could discern the voice of the Good Shepherd. The very thoughts that come into your head come from somewhere. Where do they come from? One of three places; Self, through the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life 1Jn:2:16; the Devil and his minions with lies, deception and murder; Or God by His Holy Spirit and messengers. Every false religion in the world is mans attempt to reach God by his own efforts. How futile. For the finite to understand the infinite would be like trying to put all the oceans in a glass; but God is able to reveal Himself. For man to reach God would be like a man trying to take a running jump and land on the Sun; but the Sun’s rays reach us as God is able to reach us. In this lays the answer to the Two Witnesses. They are how God reaches us; they are “The Spirit” and “The Word”, for they bear witness of Him.

With this in mind, let us look at how this has been manifested. With man separated from God, He provided a way for us to find our way back. He gave us Two Witnesses to testify of Him. They were revealed in the Lord Jesus Himself Jn:1:14: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” Jn:6:63: “It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

The Spirit and the Word agree. If you have a spirit that tells you something that is contrary to Gods word, that spirit is not of God. 1Jn:4:1: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”. On the other hand if you have the Word with the wrong spirit or without the spirit you also err. “For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.” 2Cor:3:6.

Knowing the Word is not enough. Jn:5:39: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40: And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” The Word is given as a Witness to know the Father as the Spirit reveals Him. We can not know the Word without the Spirit, and we can not know the Spirit without the Word. The Word would be just dead letter (like a dead body lying in the street) without the Spirit; and without the Word, we would not know what spirit we were listening to. Lk:9:55: “But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.”

Most of fundamentalist Christianity interprets the Book of Revelation as though it were literal. It is obviously metaphoric and drawing word pictures. It was written in the spirit and must be understood from the spirit. Rev.1: 10: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11: Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What you see, write in a book,” So if he was “In the Spirit” and saw spiritual things, how than can they be understood with a carnal material mind? Many of the keys to understanding this book are in the Old Testament and particularly the Prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. If you ever see a book titled “The Book of Revelation Made Easy” Please don’t waste your money. Although God promised a blessing to read it, it was not meant to be easy to understand. In it is contained great power and mystery. If the spiritually immature could so easily gain access, it would be like putting an atom bomb in the hands of a two year old, or like having George Bush in the White House. It is after all the “Revelation of Jesus Christ”
Having laid this ground work, let us look at the scripture in Revelation 11. I have put the actual verse in RED and my comments in contrast.

1: 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. Remember what the Temple of God is. Jn:2: 19: Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.20: Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21: But he spoke of the temple of his body. Eph:5:30: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

2: But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: This is the outer court, that which is not part of the temple. and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. 3 ½ years

3: And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 3 ½ years again. Here we see that this number is a representation of a time period. If you add them together you get 7 or the complete cycle of the “week”. These two witnesses are the great men of God that spoke the Word of God in power and called upon Israel to return unto the Lord. They moved in the Power and Spirit of The Word. 4: These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. The olive trees are the source of the anointing oil (spirit) that fed the candle sticks which gave off light. The light of the world which is the Word of God (see Zech.4:2-5)
Vs. 6: Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

5: 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. God’s divine protection was upon them. No man could do anything to them unless God allowed it. They knew this so there was no fear in them.

6: These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: Elijah and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. Moses. Here are the two great examples of the Two Witnesses. Moses delivered the Word, and was the Apostle of God, and Elijah was the Prophet of the Lord calling on the power of the Spirit. These appeared with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. Both had there bodies taken into the Spirit, Elijah never saw death.

7: And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. All that had gone before was to give testimony and Witness of He that was to come. Even the Lord Jesus Himself, who was and is the incarnation of the Word empowered by the Spirit, came to complete the testimony of the Fathers plan. Then; Eph:4:11: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets;” The early church moved in demonstration and power of the word and the spirit. When Peter walked if just his shadow fell on someone they were healed. Acts:5:15. Paul was not converting the multitudes by his Televangelism. Although he was well educated and an intellectual, He knew that it would not be by a wonderful theological debate that the lost would come to the truth, but by the WORD of the SPIRIT. 1Cor:2:4: “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:” Jn:6:63: …. the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. This lasted only a short time. As the enemy tried to counterfeit the spirit with the Law; the church became spiritually dead. When Constantine came along there was mostly infighting and the dead remains of the ministries of the Apostles and Prophets (word and spirit – the two witnesses)

8: And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, which is the city of God the church; but why the reference to Sodom and Egypt? Sodom speaks of the selfish nature. Ezek:16:49: “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.” Egypt represents the love of this world and its riches. What is being described here is a false Jerusalem, a false church that has all the pretence and words, but not the life.

9: And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, 3 ½ significant of the time from the early church till the end time church. and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. No they built shrines and monuments and alters to them in defiance to the word of God. They turned the humbleness of the ministry of Jesus and the sackcloth of the apostles and prophets into glitzy palaces, to be used for power and control.

10: And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. . Isa:1: 21: “How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. 22: Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
23: Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loves gifts, and follows after rewards: they judge not the fatherless; neither does the cause of the widow come unto them.” They make merry with gifts, does this sound anything like the pagan holiday of the winter solicits we call Christmas that is an orgy of consumerism. Jer.10: 2: “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3: For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4: They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.” This sounds like a Christmas tree to me. They make pretence at being pious but the truth is that if the Holy Spirit were guiding by His Word, The Great Whore would not be making merry and being drunk with the blood of the saints. Isaiah 58 paints a picture of the church today.

11: And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. Mal:4: 1: “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.2: But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.3: And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.
4: Remember ye the Law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 5: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
This is the day all of creation has been waiting for. God is in this day raising up Apostles and Prophets with the Spirit and Power of His Word. Hag:2:9: “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.”

12: 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. Isa:40:9: “O Zion, that brings good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that brings good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!”

13: 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.
We are living in the day that the shaking must come, It is meant to brake us loose from the bonds of this world. It may come by way of a nuclear bomb here in this country, we are on the verge of World War III. The world knows that the time is at hand. They can see the hand writing on the wall. You don’t have to be a believer to see it but you do have to be a believer to know what it means. Mt:9:37: “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; 38: Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.”; Apostles and Prophets, the Word and the Spirit, His Two Witnesses. Give us the real thing. Amen, so be it Lord Jesus.