The two witnesses

In Revelation chapter 11 of the Book of Revelation we see two witnesses. There is much debate about who they are, but there is also a good takeaway for your spiritual life.

You may want to read before

• The 3,5 years
• The two beasts

The call

The story begins with the measurement of the temple. The temple was the place of God’s presence, and in the Old Testament it was primarily the place of sacrifice, but it no longer has that function because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. So the question is, what is the purpose of the temple now?

In this vision, some parts of the temple are measured and God takes possession of them, others are not (and are left to the Gentiles to do as they please). The image goes from the temple to the altar to the worshipers (from the largest to the smallest) and shows the focus of the temple: It is the people who worship, so the relationship with God is defined by worship. The reference to the altar reminds us of the suffering church in the fifth seal. So worship means here means loyalty to the point of death. And this is reflected in the two witnesses.

The identity of the two witnesses

There is much dispute as to who the witnesses are: They could be

• historical figures who embody characteristics of prophetic figures, such as John the Baptist, Elijah, etc.
• ancient prophets who come alive, or
• the two witnesses are symbols.

The text itself gives us the clue. “ They are ‘the two olive trees’ and the two lampstands, and ‘they stand before the Lord of the earth’”. This is a reference to the prophet Zechariah (where it is identified with the high priest Joshua and the descendant of David: Zerubbabel), but also a reference to the seven churches which are identified with the lampstands.

This is further confirmed by our discussion of the 3.5 years, which refers to the entire time between Jesus first and second coming, so we have to assume that these are not people, but the Church itself.

There are many ways to associate them with specific persons, but the best match is Moses and Elijah, as they reflect well the miracles, letting fire fall from heaven on their enemies is very typical of Elijah, as well as stopping the rain which reflects Elijah’s ministry, while turning water into blood reflects the first plague under Moses.

You may have noticed that they are not working together as a Moses and an Elijah but as two witnesses who acting as one.

So what are they reflecting? The Church. Only the church has this life span. It could be seen

• as Moses (witnessing to Egypt and Pharaoh) being a witness to the world, and
• Elijah (witnessing to Israel and Queen Jezebel) being a witness to the Church itself (restoration).

You could also see this as

• Moses witnessing to Israel (Old Covenant) and
• Elijah (coming again as John) witnessing to the Church (Old Covenant fulfilled)

to show that it is one church, whether outward or inward, directed whether Israel or extended Israel (church).

So why not one witness if there is one church? Well, one witness has no value and there are acting very much in common.

But there is one thing strange about them.

The character of the two witnesses

They are clothed with sack clothes which is

• a sign of individual mourning or national distress,
• an indication of submission when offering prayers,
• a sign of repentance,
• an indication to clothes of prophets indicating the coming judgment.

So they come to call the fallen world for repentance.

They are able to perform signs and wonders. In the Old Testament background, these plagues referred to miracles to teach the people that there is only one God (and relying on others is not reliable as the trumpets teach).

The only power they use to destroy their enemies is the fire from heaven, which in the story of Elijah was God who sent the fire. In the end, they are even overcome by the beast.

In the end, they are overcome by the beast. How is this possible? Did Jesus not say that the Church would not be overcome?

If you look at the text in Matthew you will see that the word used “overcome” is different from the one used in Revelation. In Revelation it describes a one-time overcoming, while in Matthew it is a permanent overthrow.

And most importantly; they are defeated “AFTER they finished their testimony”!So the church seems to be defeated and the whole world celebrates because the witnesses are now silent and even humiliated in death because they are not buried.

But there defeat is turned into victory because after 3.5 days (parallel to the 3.5 years) they will be resurrected and lifted up to heaven, just as Jesus was lifted up to heaven.

The whole story is full of surprises:

• Moses and Elijah are known for their powerful miracles that are the turning points in their stories. Here their powerful ministry did not change anything. It was their death as martyrs that made the difference in Revelation. By the way, none of them died as martyrs in the Old Testament.Their death is connected to Jesus’ death on the cross. The point of victory is his death and resurrection. Jesus is the faithful witness because he is faithful even to death and is therefore triumphs, and when the witnesses follow his example, they will also conquer.
• This story is also a reversal of the story of Esther, where God’s people, threatened with genocide, are allowed to fight back and have a great victory. As a reminder, the Jews celebrate this time and send gifts to each other in remembrance of this day. In Revelation there is no heavenly intervention. They are killed and their enemies send gifts to each other. In Esther the victory was the killing of their enemies, in Revelation it is the conversion of their enemies.
• The Old Testament usually describes a remnant that is saved, but the majority falls under judgment. Here it is the opposite. 7000 die in the earthquake which is ten percent of the people. But this means that 90% were spared. Furthermore, these 90% give God the glory, which in Revelation is always positive as sincere worship.

The witnesses and the beasts

If you look at the beasts, they follow a pattern, as they are described, and act like the witnesses, in harmony and complementing each other.

At the end there is another interesting chiasmus: “Here is” and “If someone” shows an equivalence between “Who has understanding: Count” and “He who has ears, let him hear”, i.e. knowledge should lead to action (hear=obey in Hebrew) and “wisdom” with “patience and faith of the saints”, showing that the Weishiet should result in patience and faith.

But otherwise witnesses and the beasts are very different.

Both (try to) reflect Jesus the overcomer.

• The source of the witnesses is the worship of God, while the source of the beasts is the vengeful defeat of the dragon.
• The actions of the witnesses are signs that invite for repentance, while for the beast they are signs of submission.
• The witnesses come in humility, allowing temporary defeat, while the beasts never allows a sign of weakness.
• The beasts use manipulation, fear, discrimination and death to achieve their goals; the witnesses use none of these.
• The beasts act out of panic because time is short, the witnesses act without fear because they know that when their time comes, their work is done.

So when you look at your life as a believer, which category do you fall into? Are you more like the beasts or the witnesses? What would it mean/cost to be like the witnesses?

Dig Deeper

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