Reprove compassionately. Soft words and hard arguments do well together. Passion will heat the sinner’s blood, but compassion will heal his conscience.
George Swinnock

The Two Witnesses

The Two Witnesses

THE TWO WITNESSES – REVELATION 11:3 – 13

AN OVERVIEW

BY: JIM FOX

Rev. 11:3

A – The 2 witnesses will have authority granted to them. B – They will prophesy for 1260 days. C – They will be clothed in sackcloth.

Rev. 11:4

A – They are two olive trees and two lampstands, that stand before the Lord.

Rev. 11:5

A – If anyone tries to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours them. B – If anyone tries to harm them, they must be killed in that manner.

Rev. 11:6

A – They have the power to shut up the sky. B – They have the power over water, to turn it to blood. C – They have the power to smite the earth with every plague.

Rev. 11:7

A – When they have finished their testimony: 1 – The beast that comes out of the abyss will make war with them. 2 – The beast will overcome them, and kill them.

-More-Rev 11:8

A – Their bodies will lie in the street.

Rev. 11:9

A – People from all nations will look at their bodies for three and a half days. B – They will not permit the two witnesses bodies to be laid in a tomb.

Rev. 11:10

A – Those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and will make merry. B – They (the nations) will send gifts to one another. C – The reason is because the two prophets had tormented those who dwell on the earth.

Rev. 11:11

A – After three and a half days the breath of life from God came into them. B – They stood on their feet. C – Great fear fell on those who saw.

Rev. 11:12

A – A loud voice from Heaven said “Come up here”. B – They went up into heaven in a cloud. C – Their enemies beheld them.

Rev. 11:13

A – And in that hour there was a great earthquake. B – A tenth of the city fell. C – 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. D – The rest were terrified and gave glory to God.

QUESTIONS AND THOUGHTS

Rev. 11:3
-MoreA
– What is the authority granted to them? B – What does sackcloth look like? C – 1260 days is half of the tribulation period.

Rev. 11:5

A – What is the fire that proceeds from their mouths? B – Anyone who tries to harm them MUST be killed in that manner.

Rev. 11:6

A – What is every plague that they smite the earth with? B – Look at the miracles of Moses for a clue. C – They can do it as often as they want. D – What does this freedom mean?

Rev. 11:7

A – The beast makes war with them, and overcomes them.

  1. Was there a battle?
  2. Is this the first time that the beast is seen? B – Where are the two witnesses?
  3. Rev. 11:8 says Jerusalem, but where in Jerusalem?

Rev. 11:9

A – What does the breakdown of “peoples, tribes, tongues,”

etc. signify? B – Why did they not let the two witnesses be laid in a

tomb?

  1. Maybe they didn’t want them to disappear(?) like Jesus? C – Why did they lie in the street for 3 1/2 days?

Rev. 11:10

A – The two witnesses tormented those “who dwell on the earth”.

Rev. 11:13

-More-A – The REST were terrified and gave glory to God.

  1. Who is the rest?
  2. How were they terrified?
  3. How did they give glory to God?

WHO ARE THE TWO WITNESSES?

In John 1:19ff, we see the Priest’s and the Levite’s going out to see John the Baptist, to find out who he was. You will see that they thought that John was 1 of 3 people.

  1. The Messiah. 2. Elijah. 3. That Prophet.

We see that they were expecting the Messiah. They also knew Malachi 3 & 4 where God promises to sen the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord. In Duet. 18:15 Moses declares that the Lord will raise up a prophet like unto himself. Hey may not be Moses, but he would atleast be like Moses, and he will show up in the power of Moses.

Most Biblical authorities all agree that the first witness is Elijah. The Jews were expectin his return, and Elijah had never died a physical death, having been caught up in a whirlwind to God.

Now the identity of the 2nd witness is where some disagreements come in. Some authorities see Enoch as the 2nd witness because he also had never died physically.

A key to deciding who the 2nd witness is found by looking at Revelation and observing the actions of the two witnesses. The two witnesses have 4 distinct powers available to them.

  1. Fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. 2. The power to shut up the sky, so that it would not rain. 3. The power to turn water into blood. 4. To smite the earth with every plague.

The first 2 abilities you will recognize as belonging to Elijah. But -More-what do the last 2 have in common with Enoch? Nothing. Who do they remind you of? Moses. And what makes this even more interesting is that who buried Moses? God did. And we see in Jude that Michael disputes with Satan over the body of Moses.

And then to top it off in Luke 9:32,33 we see Jesus meeting with none other than Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration. Possibly they were discussing future plans? Peter who was with Jesus at that time describes in 1st Peter that they were discussing his impending death.

Sources: The OPEN Bible (NASB) Tape of Rev 12 by Chuck Missler Donald Barnhouse Commentary on Revelation ‘ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ³ ****** ON**LINE VISALIA ****** ³ ³ 3/12/2400 24 Hours a Day FidoNet 205209 ³ ³ OVER 300 BIBLICAL TEXT FILES ³ ³ BIBLE STUDIES, CULTS, NEW AGE, CREATION TO ABORTION ³ ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ209-734-9412ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ&fraq34;