Who are the Two Witnesses? Revelation 11:3-6.

After measuring out the temple, God grants authority to two witnesses who will minister during the 42 months (or 1260 days) when the temple is trample by the nations. “Two witnesses” is based on the Jewish law required two witnesses to establish a fact (Num. 35:30, Deut. 17:6).

Jesus sent out his disciples two-by-two as witnesses to the villages of Galilee (Mark 6:6-12)

Revelation 11:3 - "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth."

This chapter continues the interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpet judgments. John received a measuring rod and was told to measure the temple, the altar, and the worshipers. However, he was told not to measure the court outside the temple, because the Gentiles would overrun it for three and a half years .

During that time, two divinely authorized witnesses would prophesy. They would have power to summon fire from heaven and to strike the earth with plagues. At the end of their testimony the beast from the pit will kill them and leave their bodies in a street in Jerusalem .

But, three and a half days later, God will resurrect their bodies and draw them up to heaven.

At that time a powerful earthquake will level a tenth of Jerusalem and kill seven thousand people. When the seventh trumpet sounds, loud voices in heaven proclaim Jesus as the possessor of the world's kingdoms, and the twenty-four elders praise Jesus as the Lord God Almighty who will begin to reign.

He will judge the dead but reward His servants. The chapter ends with the opening of the temple in heaven.

Throughout history, regardless of how dark and evil the times are, God has His witnesses. Noah was His witness in pre-flood days. Abraham was His witness in Canaan centuries before the Hebrews occupied Canaan .

Joseph was His witness in pagan Egypt. Gideon and other judges were His witnesses in the times of the judges, when "the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals" (Judges 2:11). Elijah stood for the Lord in the days of wicked Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Daniel was God's faithful witness in Babylon .

Revelation 11:3–14 follows on the heels of a brief assertion that the Gentiles will possess the temple's outer court and trample Jerusalem for forty-two months. We learn also that God will authorize two witnesses to prophesy during those forty-two months. Here we gain information about the two witnesses' ministry, what happens to them, and God's immediate response.

The passage ends by alerting us to the fact that the second woe has ended, but the third woe is coming soon.

After measuring out the temple, God grants authority to two witnesses who will minister during the 42 months (or 1260 days) when the temple is trample by the nations. “Two witnesses” is based on the Jewish law required two witnesses to establish a fact (Num. 35:30, Deut. 17:6). Jesus sent out his disciples two-by-two as witnesses to the villages of Galilee (Mark 6:6-12).

The physical description of the two witnesses is drawn from various Old testament passages. They are clothed in sackcloth. Sackcloth is a coarse cloth usually made of goats’ hair and black in color and was worn as a sign of mourning (Gen 37:34; 2 Sam 3:31).

They are also described as “the two olive trees and the two lampstands.” The background for this description is Zechariah 4. Lampstand here should be understood as a menorah, a synagogue lamp that was used in the temple as well. It had a single stick in the center with three sets of arcs out from the base, for a total of seven candles.

Recall that the description of Christ in chapter one talked about seven lampstands, perhaps there was one menorah with seven lights. The image in Zechariah are identified with the “two who are anointed to serve the Lord.”

In the context of Zechariah, these are most likely to be identified with Zerubbabel (the governor) and Joshua (the high priest) of the post-exilic community. One major difference is that while there are two olive trees, there is only one lampstand.

“Fire” destroys their enemies. This is a difficult point to understand since there is no Old Testament reference to fire coming out of anyone to destroy enemies (although Elijah and Elisha both call fire from heaven.) Aune 2:613 lists several extra-biblical references 2 and 3 Enoch, for example.).

One possibility is to see this fire as representing the word of God, as in Jeremiah 5:14, “Because the people have spoken these words, I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes.” In 2 Samuel 22:8-9 God “breathes fire,” a metaphor of judgement, “Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.”

These two witnesses have the power to withhold rain, cause water to turn to blood, and to strike the earth with plagues during the 3 and a half years of their ministry. The power to cause drought is punitive (Aune 2:615), as with Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1, etc.

Turning the water to blood is an allusion to Moses in Exodus 7:14-19), this would also cause famine. The Egyptians were struck with “every kind of plague” (1 Sam 4:8); the implication is that the same types of plagues that were present in Exodus will be available to these two witnesses.

Literal interpretations of the two witnesses are two prophets active during the final conflagration, the great tribulation. Based in Malachi 4:5-6, there was a Jewish expectation that Elijah would return before the Messiah. In John 1 John the Baptist is asked if he is Elijah.

Jesus called John the Baptist “the Elijah that is to come” (Matt 11:14l; 17:10-12). Peter says some think Jesus is Elijah (Matt 16:14; Mark 6:15 the crowds thought that John was Elijah).

A second common suggestion for the two witnesses is Elijah and Enoch. A second common suggestion for the two witnesses is Elijah and Enoch. this view is at least as old as Augustine. He thought Elijah and Enoch will be killed together at “the end of the world by the Antichrist” (Ep. 193.3, 5; De gen ad litt. 9.5; cited by Aune, 2:617).Aune also draws attention to the Acts of Pilate 25 as representing the view the two witnesses are Enoch and Elijah.

In Revelation 11:3–12 is a description of two individuals who will help accomplish God’s work during the tribulation: “I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth” (verse 3). Nowhere does the Bible identify these two witnesses by name, although people through the years have speculated.

The two witnesses in Revelation will have miraculous powers to accompany their message (Revelation 11:6), and no one will be able to stop them in their work (verse 5). At the end of their ministry, when they have said all they need to say, the beast will kill them and the wicked world will rejoice, allowing the bodies of the fallen prophets to lie in the streets (verses 7–10). Three and a half days later, however, God’s two witnesses will be resurrected and, in full view of their enemies, ascend to heaven (verses 11–12).

There are three primary theories on the identity of the two witnesses in Revelation: (1) Moses and Elijah, (2) Enoch and Elijah, and (3) two unknown believers whom God calls to be His witnesses in the end times.

(1) Moses and Elijah are seen as possibilities for the two witnesses due to the specific miracles that John says the witnesses will perform. The witnesses will have the power to turn water into blood (Revelation 11:6), which duplicates a famous miracle of Moses (Exodus 7).

And the witnesses will have the power to destroy their enemies with fire (Revelation 11:5), which corresponds to an event in Elijah’s life (2 Kings 1). Also giving strength to this view is the fact that Moses and Elijah both appeared with Jesus at the transfiguration (Matthew 17:3–4).

Further, Jewish tradition expects Moses and Elijah to return, based on the prophecy of Elijah’s coming in Malachi 4:5 and God’s promise to raise up a prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18), which some Jews believe necessitates Moses’ return.

(2) Enoch and Elijah are seen as possibilities for the two witnesses because of the unique circumstances surrounding their exit from the world.

Enoch and Elijah, as far as we know, are the only two individuals whom God has taken directly to heaven without experiencing death (Genesis 5:23; 2 Kings 2:11).

Proponents of this view point to Hebrews 9:27, which says that all men are appointed to die once. The fact that neither Enoch nor Elijah has yet experienced death seems to qualify them for the job of the two witnesses, who will be killed when their job is done. In addition, both Enoch and Elijah were prophets who pronounced God’s judgment (1 Kings 17:1; Jude 1:14–15).

(3) Two unknowns are seen as possibilities for the two witnesses because of the lack of specificity in Revelation 11. Scripture does not identify the two witnesses by name, and no well-known person is associated with their coming.

God is perfectly capable of taking two “ordinary” believers and enabling them to perform the same signs and wonders that Moses and Elijah did. There is nothing in Revelation 11 that requires us to assume a “famous” identity for the two witnesses.

There is an interesting passage in Zechariah 4 that gives us a prototype of the two witnesses of Revelation. Zechariah has a vision in which he sees a solid gold lampstand. On top is a bowl of oil, and an olive tree stands on each side (verses 3–4). The lampstand gives its light without human maintenance, being constantly supplied by the olive oil flowing from the trees into the bowl.

God’s message to Zechariah was that God’s work (rebuilding the temple) would be accomplished “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” (verse 6).

Zechariah asks about the meaning of the olive trees and the branches supplying the oil, and the angel who speaks to him says, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth” (Zechariah 4:14, ESV). In other words, God’s power to sustain His work is flowing through two individuals set apart for the task.

In Zechariah’s context, these two individuals are Joshua (the current high priest) and Zerubbabel (the current governor of Judah). We can also see a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ here, as the Messiah would combine the offices of priest and king. Then we come to Revelation 11:4.

In the description of the two witnesses, John says, “They are ‘the two olive trees’ and the two lampstands, and ‘they stand before the Lord of the earth.’” John quotes from Zechariah 4. The two witnesses of Revelation, like Joshua and Zerubbabel, will have God’s power flowing through them to accomplish God’s work.

So who are the two witnesses of Revelation? The Bible does not say. All three views presented above are valid and plausible interpretations that Christians can have. The identity of the two witnesses is not an issue Christians should be dogmatic about.