Two Witnesses

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AS already discussed, Revelation is not a mystery, but Jesus’ solution of

one (Rev 1:1). Consequently, we can’t go to that book with our doctrines

in place and expect to learn what Jesus may have for us there. The Two

Witnesses of Rev 11:3-7 are good examples of why. Most believe these

two witnesses to be a couple of Old Testament saints like Enoch and

Elijah, but they might be someone else entirely:

Rev 11:3 ... and I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and

they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in

Taking the day-year principle of Eze 4:5-6 into consideration again,

those two witnesses would have to witness for 1260 years. No one in this

Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks

Hummm ... olive trees and candlesticks. What can those figures mean?

Unless the Lord’s Two Witnesses are a pair of real elderly fruit-bearing

olive trees and a couple of really ancient, oil-dripping candlesticks, then,

like it or not, we are dealing with figurative language. So let’s see if we

can find biblical definitions for olive trees and candlesticks.

To sort these figures out we probably need to apply one of the rules

of hermeneutics1. Now, hermeneutics is not a discipline we play games

with to fit our doctrines. It is a sound study of how to interpret either the

spoken word or a written document. Hermen-eutics has some excellent,

time-tested rules. Among them is the rule of “scriptural adjacency.” That

rule states: When you read something you don’t understand, first study

the surrounding text, then the chapter, then the book in which that

chapter appears, then the testament that contains that book, and finally,

relate the verse to the whole Bible. That is one of the rules, and it’s a

We don’t go to the Old Testament for definitions of New Testament

figures when there are New Testament definitions that fit

In Rev 11:4 quoted above, the Two Witnesses of the Christian Era are

described as olive trees and candlesticks. To find the correct definition

for those figures, we should find the closest contextual address which

explains them. Lo and behold, right in Revelation we find candlesticks

Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My

right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are

the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which

Right in Revelation 1, candlesticks are defined as churches. Now if

candlesticks are churches in Rev 1, then guess what? Candlesticks are

still churches in Rev 11. The only way they would not be Churches is if

the Lord God Himself changed the symbolic meaning of that word

1 Hermeneutics is the science of interpretation, especially of the Scriptures The branch of

theology that deals with biblical exegesis.

2 Candlesticks and olive trees are used figuratively in Zec 4, but the figures within that

chapter were defined for us as things that existed during Zechariah’s time (the Jewish

leader Zerubbabel being one of them). So on the basis of the definitions in Zec 4, could

Zerubbabel and “the two anointed ones” be the Two Witnesses of Rev 11? Not very likely

since he died about 2500 years ago. We see no end-time reference to a personage like

Zerubbabel in the New Testament, and furthermore Revelation does not call the two

witnesses of the Christian Era “anointed ones.” However, since Zechariah’s two “anointed

ones” are not clearly identified, they might possibly be an OT reference to the Two

somewhere between Rev 1:20 and Rev 11:4. No change of definition

appears there (or anywhere else in Scripture for that matter) so the

candlesticks of Rev 11:4 are churches. That interpretation is not the

product of some clever theologian’s overactive imagination.

Candlesticks are churches because the Bible itself defines them as such.

So, if the seven candlesticks of Rev 1 are seven churches, what do

you suppose the two candlesticks of Rev 11 might be? Why, two

churches of course. But if the Two Witnesses are only two churches,

which churches are they? Probably every denomination in the world

would like to believe it is one of the Two Witnesses (with the rest of

Christendom being heretics, of course), but God’s churches of the

Christian Era are far broader than man’s sectarian restrictions, and the

Olive Trees figure positively identifies who they are.

Still applying the principle of scriptural adjacency, we first try for

a definition of olive trees in Revelation and then in the rest of the New

Testament. Four times in the Old, and twice in the New, Israel is defined

as an olive tree.1 Old Testament verses are included in footnote, but we

still don’t use Old Testament definitions to define New Testament

figures when there are New Testament definitions that fit perfectly:

Rom 11:17 And if some of the [Jewish] branches be broken off,

and thou [the Gentile church], being a wild olive tree, wert grafted

in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of

Rom 11:24 For if thou [the Gentiles] wert cut out of the olive tree

which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a

good olive tree [the Jews]: how much more shall these [Jews],

which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

1 Jer 11:16 The Lord called your name, “A green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form;”

With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, And its branches are worthless.

Isa 17:6 Yet gleanings will be left in it like the shaking of an olive tree, Two or three

olives on the topmost bough, Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree, Declares the

Isa 24:13 For thus it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, As the shaking

of an olive tree, As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over.

Hos 14:6 His shoots will sprout, And his beauty will be like the olive tree, And his

Revelation is a New Testament book, and a New Testament

definition for olive trees appears in Romans 11. According to that whole

chapter, the Gentile church is one olive tree, and the Jewish people are

and the other witness is the Gentile church!

If we just accept the scriptural definitions for olive trees and

candlesticks, we are not left with a lot of doctrinal options. Take a

realistic look at history. The nation of Israel could not have maintained

its identity through nineteen centuries of dispersion, under constant

persecution, were it not for the protecting hand of the Lord our God. The

Bible itself affirms it. Listen to what Scripture says:

Jer 31:35-37 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light

by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light

by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The

LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before

me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from

being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven

above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched

out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they

Our eternal Heavenly Father has not forgotten those words. He

stated right there that the children of Israel would be a nation before

Him forever, so He has remembered His chosen people all along. The

Lord’s plans for the physical seed of Israel throughout all time, including

the Christian Era, is recorded in too many Scriptures to ignore.1

1 Gen 17:7 speaks of an unconditional everlasting covenant with the physical seed of

Abraham. Lev 26:44-45 shows that Israel’s restoration was not to be conditional. Isa 11:11

speaks of a second restoration of the Jews. Isa 26:20-27:1 speaks of a final hiding of the

children of Israel followed by Satan’s complete judgment. Isa 27:12-13, in context with

the above, speaks of a final re-gathering of Israel. Jer 30:4-8 speaks of the time of Jacob’s

trouble and future restoration. Jer 30:18-24 states that a restoration for the tents of Jacob

will take place in the latter days, i.e. not the first restoration of 536BC. Jer 31:35-37

speaks of the permanent nation of Israel. Jer 33:24-26 is a definitive unconditional covenant

with Jacob’s descendants. Eze 16:60-63 speaks of an unconditional everlasting covenant

with the Jews. Eze 37:1-28 speaks of an unconditional future restoration of Israel,

followed closely by Armageddon in Exe 38-39. Hos 11:9-10 speaks of a future restoration

of Israel from the West. Joe 3:1-3 predicts the restoration of Judah, followed by Armageddon.

Amo 9:11-15 speaks of an Israel restored to the land. Zec 8:8 speaks of a postexilic,

unconditional restoration of the Jews to Jerusalem and the land. Zec 10 and 12 are more

prophecies of a future restoration of the Jews. Zec 14 speaks of Armageddon, with

the Jews in Jerusalem. Luk 21:24 speaks of a dispersion, the time of the Gentiles, and a

restoration following. Rom 11:11 states that the Jews have not fallen so as to be lost. Rom

11:17 states that only some of the branches were broken off. Rom 11:17 states that the

church was grafted in among the Jews. Rom 11:28 states that the gospel-age Jews are still

elect. Rom 11:29 states that God’s calling of the Jews is irrevocable. Rev 7:4-9 speaks of

the 12 tribes of Israel in the Christian Era. Rev 12:1-6 speaks of Israel in the Christian Era.

Rev 15:3 is a passage primarily about the Christian Era; there are two songs, one for the

Replacement theology1 notwithstanding, from the multitude of

verses cited in the footnote, it appears that the Lord never intended to

forget the physical seed of Israel. Let me tell you how important that is.

If the Jews could not trust the promises God made to them in the Old

Testament, how can the Church trust the promises God made to us in the

New? It’s comforting to know, despite man’s doctrines to the contrary,

that our God is an absolutely Holy God who keeps His Word in eternity.

Psa 33:11 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the

thoughts of his heart to all generations.

But if the Two Witnesses are two churches, when are they going to

witness? If we stand by the day-year principle, they would have to

Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they

shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

The time of the Two Witnesses cannot come after the time of the

Gentiles because Jesus told us there would be only ONE generation

following 1967: “This generation [after the time of the Gentiles] will not

pass away until all things are fulfilled” (Luk 21:24, 32). A generation

cannot be over 70 years (Psa 90:10), and is usually considered to be 40

years, so we have to look back in history for these 1260 years. The

author could find only one 1260 year time period that had any spiritual

significance at all during in the whole Christian Era:2

1 Simply stated, Replacement Theology is the belief that the Church, as adopted Israel,

has totally replaced the physical seed of Abraham and that God is completely finished

with the Jews of the Christian Era. This view holds that during this era, the Church is all

the Israel there is. The Scriptures cited in the preceding footnote, plus Rom 11:15, stand

2 Since there have been Hebrew believers all the way back to Abraham’s time, and the

Church has existed since Pentecost, why do the 1260 days start in 688 AD? Before that

date, both Jew and Christian were free to worship in Jerusalem, even on the temple mount

itself. After 688 the Moslems persecuted the Christians and Jews and drove them out of

the land. That is when the most final of all the dispersions of the Jews took place. By now

we should begin to get the picture. God’s Word is eternal, and regardless of what nation

ruled in the Holy Land, that old temple site was always of inestimable importance to the

1948AD - 1260 = 688 AD and the Dome of the Rock!

And this fits history perfectly! As of 1948, the Jews are no longer

witnessing in the nations. The Abomination that maketh Desolate was

set up in 688, and the Jews were driven into the “wilderness” of the

nations at that time.1 Now, 1260 years later, there is a new autonomous

nation of Israel, and the Jews are back in the Holy Land again. So the

Jewish people are one of the Two Witnesses of the Christian Era.

We can see 688 to 1948 as the time of Jewish witness, but what

about the second witness, the Church? How can the church’s time of

witness be over since we are still here? Well, look at what has happened

to the Church since 1948. Most Christian homes have a Bible, but few

Christians still read them or continue to witness to the lost. The immorality,

involvement in the occult and satanism in the western nations has

mushroomed since 1948, and the church has done little to slow the

decay. As a result of our apathy and questionable lifestyles that

followed, much of the Gentile church has fallen into apostasy.

Most churches in this country are terminally ill, many have already

fallen away, and Europe is far worse. Many are beyond reach, “the sin

unto spiritual death” (1 Jo 5:16). Since our battle is really spiritual, one

is inclined to wonder if the coming destruction of the visible Church

may not be more spiritual than physical. If it is, we are frighteningly

1 Eze 20:35 “And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people,” shows the Gentile

2 The National Council of Churches (to which your own church might belong) joined the

World Council of Churches in 1948. That organization has a declared goal of causing

social change rather than teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what “Liberation

Theology” is all about. It is reported that through them, millions of dollars from mainline

denominational churches (your tithes included) have gone to buy guns to support various

third-world insurgent “liberation fronts.” As a result, it appears that the Gentile church has

fallen into apostasy. As one indicator of church conditions, elders and deacons within

mainline churches have become occultists and satanists or are into New Age.

Rev 11:7 And when they [the Two Witnesses] 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

One way or another, in the final hours of this age, the Two

Witnesses are going to be destroyed. Read Rev 11:7 in the original

Greek or in any translation you like. All predict the end of the visible

Church. How can that be? Didn’t Jesus promise that the gates of Hell

would not prevail against His church? Yes, but the true Church that

remains isn’t all those big buildings out there, the Church is only a

remnant now... a few hairs hidden in a hem of the Lord’s garment (Eze

For the first time since the invention of the printing press, books on

astrology, satanism, and the occult are outselling the Bible. Truth has

fallen in the street (Isa 59:14), and the consciences of our people have

been seared as with a branding iron (1Ti 4:2). This will eventually lead

to a worldwide rejection of the Bible and of the Lord. As the spiritual

decay deepens, a ruthless and devastating evil will be unleashed upon

this planet, and it will come with an intensity unknown since the flood.

What is a true Church to do when conditions become unbearable? Later

in this book, you will read how we may become united with the faithful

Jews, to stand with them in steadfast array against the enemies of the

Isa 11:13-14 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the

adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah,

and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the

shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them

That verse may not seem applicable to a true Church today, but it’s

relevance will be explained in later chapters.

Arutz Sheva Israel National Radio, 11/11/2001, 10:52am

On the Hussan bypass road, near Beitar Illit, a very powerful bomb

was discovered and safely detonated this morning. It contained a

120-mm mortar shell. Two mortar shells were fired at the Rafiach

Crossing in southern Gaza in a pre-dawn attack this morning. There

An Islamic Jihad terrorist was killed early this afternoon in an

explosion at his place of work in Bethlehem. PLO sources say that

the man probably suffered a "work accident" in the course of

preparing explosives. They say they are continuing to check,

however, whether he had been targeted by Israel.