Have you ever heard of the two witnesses? They are intriguing to many people because their identities are hidden. This is a popular topic in end of time messages. During the Great Tribulation, they are sent in response to the need for witnesses before the final judgement. They have to bring the message of Christ and let the people know what will happen.
They will come at a time when there is a false peace in Israel and a false temple is set up. Many people will be firm on their refusal to accept Christ as the Messiah. God will send delusion to those who will continuously reject Him, 2 Thessalonians 2.
Join me as I take a mirco lens of these two individuals:
- Why are the names hidden?
- Who is it most likely to be?
- Revival
WHY HIDE THEIR NAMES?
I have three suggestions to answer this question. The two witnesses are two prophets who have already walked on the earth. They will be sent to fulfil a mission. The anointed ones and the two witnesses are the same. You can read about them in Revelations 11. Compare to:
Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by The Lord of the whole earth. Zechariah 4:14
In Israel, the prophets were expected to return. The tradition of Judaism has always been to expect two of the prophets to return. It was part of the conversation in Israel. My first suggestion is based on this. God wanted to keep the people from worshipping the prophets. Prophets were moved by The Holy Spirit, they did not function on their own except when they disobeyed God. It is not by might, not by power but by the Spirit of God. The people would be tempted to focus on the messengers and not the message.
My second suggestion is that when they return to the earth, people will not know who they are. The people will not care to know who they are. In fact, when they start to speak out, the people and the leaders will try to kill them or harm them. They are given supernatural power to protect themselves. They can call down judgement as they see needed.
We who love The Lord are bothered to try to figure out who they are. But it will not matter at that point in time. They will be called heretics, fanatics, Jesus lovers and more. What I am curious about is that the devil also hides their identity.
The third suggestion which is popular, is that the focus in Israel was on the prophets and not on the Messiah. Prophets and prophecies were a huge part of their lives. More than any other people Jews lived in the prophetic. They understood that the prophecies and the laws that guided them were up until John the Baptist.
They could not figure out what was to happen next, although it was prophesied by the prophets. When Jesus came the people assumed He was a prophet, John 6:14. Even John the Baptist sent to ask Jesus Matthew 11:14. God wanted the people to be able to focus more on the Messiah and not on the prophets. Many of the Jews still missed the opportunity to know the Messiah. But many who understood, like the Messianic Jews and some Rabbinical Jews did get to know him.
WHO IS IT MOST LIKELY TO BE?
There will be no restrainer on the earth except whom God sends. Christians are the only people who have the in-dwelling of The Holy Spirit. When we pray we restrain the devil and his plans and his demons. When we bind on earth, we bind in heaven, and when we loose on earth, we loose in heaven. But when we are raptured into heaven, The Restrainer who is The Holy Spirit, will go with us. When the hour of trial begins the two witnesses will be sent to preach
Prophet Elijah seems to be everyone’s first choice. But who would be the next witness? Some say Moses and some say Enoch. Let us try to reason it out together:
Enoch. Enoch walked with God for 365 years. For those of us who enjoy these kinds of coincidences and working with numbers we would note that 365 days make up a calendar year. Even more curious is that the Jews follow the lunar calendar which is 360 days. Enoch is a candidate in the running because Enoch did not see corruption. He did not die, Genesis 5:21-24.
Moses. There are a number of reasons why I would think Moses is one of the witnesses:
- When Moses died, his body was hidden by God. I find that so sweet. If a loved one dies, you bury them and you care for the burial site. Moses who saw God and communed with Him, was buried by Him. For me this is like a love that was both ways.
- The devil fought Michael the archangel for Moses’s body, Jude 1:9 That was really bold faced don’t you think?
- Moses did mighty works for God in Egypt, compare Exodus 7 to Revelations 11:8
- Moses was called a prophet and he knew God face to face Deuteronomy 34:10.
- Moses brought the laws to the people.
- As a witness, Moses will be a very credible candidate. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Hebrew 10:28.
Elijah. Many scholars support the assumption that Elijah will return;
- The tradition in Judaism is that Elijah will come again.
- Elijah was a man of God.
- He performed works that will happen in the Great Tribulation. He has called fire down from heaven. 2 Kings 1: 10-12.
- Elijah caused the rains to stop 1 Kings17:1.
- In 1 Kings 18 the tension and the opposition between Ahab and Elijah is like a dress rehearsal for when the witnesses go into Jerusalem and carry the same message in the Great Tribulation period.
- The face off or the show down between the prophets of baal with Elijah will look similar to those who oppose the two witnesses. Malachi 4:5
- Elijah was raptured or taken up. Incidentally, I must point out that when Elisha saw his beloved teacher taken up, he felt left behind, 2 Kings 2:11-12 hahaha. Don’t you think this is a curiousity?
There is a strong case for Elijah and Moses I think. The Jewish tradition expected Moses and Elijah, John 1:21. They even mistook John for Elijah but John came in the spirit of Elijah Luke 1:17, Matthew 17:10-13.
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. Revelations 11:6
Moses and Elijah represented the law and appeared at the transfiguration of Jesus, Matthew 17:1-7. The transfiguration is a forerunner to the Second Coming. Both left in unusual ways. Here is my suggestion as one of the witnesses:
John the Revelator. John was already on the island of Patmos at this time. This has not happened as yet:
And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. Revelations 10:11
REVIVAL
They will preach for 1260 days. That means that from the day of the signing of the treaty they will appear on the earth. The principle of to the Jews first then the Gentiles is very evident. The message they bring is for the Jew. They will say that the temple is false and the sacrifice does not have repentant heart.
Their mission in the past and in the future are so important that they are anointed in a special way. They are connected to the lamps in Revelation 1. They will trigger revival by this anointing. The pipes are used for the oil to pour out. Zechariah 4:1-14 adds to Revelation 11.
In Revelations 11:7-10, the beast will make war against them, and will kill them. The people will celebrate thinking they won. They will leave the bodies in the streets and for 3 ½ days and send each other gifts. They did not even want them to be buried, such is the hate the people will have for them. They did not understand that the warnings of the two witnesses were to save them from eternity in hell.
After the 3 ½ days the witnesses are resurrected and they are raptured. The impact of this brings thousands to repentance. The days are representative of the 1260 days or 3 ½ years marking the half of the seven-year period. But more importantly is what happens when the people witness what happens next:
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. 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. Revelations 11:12-13
When the Jews witness the resurrection and rapture of the witnesses, and hear the voice from heaven then they will realise that they made a mistake. The Feast of the Tabernacle will make sense. They have been so focused on the sacrifices they did not listen to Isaiah 1:1-18. This is why it all happens in Jerusalem.
They thought they could continue the sacrifices and God will be pleased. They missed the message of Jesus. I am suggesting that when the rapture takes place they assume that they continue the sacrifices and it will be well with them. The two witnesses would come to warn them:
- Jesus is the atonement
- Law and sacrifices cannot atone
Judgement happens by the altar. But that altar is false, no longer serving a purpose. I have to stress that the Great Tribulation is for the Jews who refuse Jesus as Messiah not all of them. It would be for the non-Jews who called themselves godly, religious or Christians but did not have Jesus’s Lordship over their lives.
I pray The Holy Spirit teaches and comforts you in these days of troubles. I pray God’s provision and protection over you in Jesus name.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you Behold Israel
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