Introduction
This is a question that has fascinated me ever since I have been interested in eschatology (study of the end times). The Book of Revelation was one of the first books of the Bible that I read as a young man when I started to become interested in the things of God. I think the fascination with end-times prophecy is of course that it pertains to events that are still in the future. And now fast forward nearly 40 years later, we are that much closer to the Lord Jesus returning to the earth. So, what of this question about the identity of the final two witnesses spoken about in Revelation chapter 11?
Many theories about the identity of the two witnesses
I have heard many interesting and fascinating theories and I hope to eliminate some of the more fanciful propositions in this blog. Some of the theories that I have heard are that they are Elijah and Enoch because they supposedly are the only two humans who have never died. Some say Moses and Elijah because these two men represent the Law and the Prophets and they were both seen on the Mount of Transfiguration by Peter, James, and John.1 Some even say that the two witnesses are not men but the two testaments: The Old Testament and the New Testament. Another theory is that it is Elijah and John the Apostle who wrote the Book of Revelation. Perhaps this is because, in Rev. 10:10, John was told to eat the scroll and prophesy which then leads straight into chapter 11 when John was told to go and measure the temple of God in Jerusalem. This makes some sense. Of course, that would mean that John would need to be resurrected as he died circa AD 100 probably in Ephesus. The theories abound and so we need to make some sense of all this.
Two literal men alive in the last days
The first thing to say is that I think they are two literal men who are alive in the last days. Revelation 11 uses personal pronouns and they are called “prophets” in Rev. 11:10 and “men” in verse 6. They have bodies and they are attacked and killed by the beast in verse 7.
The prophet Elijah will be sent by God before the great and dreadful Day of the Lord, right at the end of days.2 He will have a restoration ministry in turning the hearts of the fathers to their children and vice a versa. The extra-biblical book of Sirach says, concerning Elijah,
"At the appointed time, it is written, you are destined to calm the wrath of God before it breaks out in fury, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and to restore the tribes of Jacob."
Elijah’s role of restoration
So we can see that it was expected by the Jews that Elijah would have a prominent role of restoration. This supports what is written in Malachi 4. The brothers would be restored once more in the end, the northern and southern tribes of Israel. This restoration of the family is prophesied many times in the Old Testament such as Hosea 1:11, “The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited,…”
And Jesus mentioned that Elijah had in fact come in the form of John the Baptist, not that he was literally John the Baptist.3 Figuratively speaking John the Baptist was a type of Elijah and well could have been the final Elijah if the Jews had accepted Jesus as the Messiah. It seems very likely from all the evidence that a man will be selected towards the end of days to have a ministry in the same vein as the prophet Elijah of old similar to John the Baptist. My personal opinion is that it won’t actually be the Elijah, resurrected, but a man in the spirit and power of Elijah. This witness will be able to do very similar acts to that of the historical Elijah such as having the power to cause it not to rain.4 So, one of the witnesses almost definitely looks to be an Elijah-type person, a prophet, and a man of God.
Two olive trees
A further piece of information regarding the identity of these two men that is very interesting lies in verse 4. John reveals the identity of these men by saying that these two men are “the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth”. So here, I believe, we have a huge cryptic clue as to the identity and function of the two witnesses. It is a clue that leads us to further information in the Old Testament in Zechariah 4 which specifically talks about a gold lampstand and two olive trees. Zech. 4:14 finally identifies these two olive trees as being men who are anointed or chosen to serve the “Lord of all the earth.” The same phrase is used in Rev. 11:4 and it is just too similar to be a coincidence. In fact, one of my favourite sayings by Scottish Christian writer and minister, George McDonald, is…
"if God is in the things that coincide then He is in the coincidence of things."
In other words, there is no such thing as a coincidence! God is in control and works through all circumstances. Of course, the Zechariah chapter does have a different context but as we have seen, prophecy can and does often have primary and secondary fulfillments. In the original context, the two olive trees are often understood to be Zerubbabel and Joshua when the temple was rebuilt after the 70-year Jewish exile in Babylon. Zerubbabel was the governor who led the rebuilding of the new temple and laid the foundation of the second temple in Jerusalem. Together with the high priest Joshua these two men are the two olive trees perhaps representing both a royal and priestly ministry of restoration of worship to the Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit. This was emphasised in Zechariah’s prophecy, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.”5 The olive trees signify a continual source of oil which in turn signifies the Holy Spirit. These two men would lead Israel in the power of the Spirit back to worship God in Spirit and in truth in the post-exilic period.
Two witnesses will also have a ministry of restoration
And I believe in a similar vein, the two witnesses of the end times will have a similar ministry. They will be empowered by the Spirit to have a prophesying ministry of restoration. They will minister in the first 3 ½ years at a time when the new Jewish temple has either been rebuilt or at least marked out to be rebuilt. They will be there when the Jewish sacrificial system can recommence for the last week of the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel. I believe that they will even encourage the church at a time when the church will be suffering hardship and persecution. They may even give more details on how the church may escape to the safe place in Jordan upon their demise at the halfway point.
Conclusion
Who exactly they will be, nobody knows. But there are a few things that we do know: we do know where they will operate—Jerusalem at the site of the real original temple in the old city of David and also most likely at the Western Wall where many Jews gather each day in prayer; we do know when—the first half of the 7 year tribulation period; we do know what they will be doing—restoring family relationships, prophesying and witnessing; we do know how they will die—they will die at the hands of the beast from the abyss when he attacks and overpowers them; and we do know partially who they will be—they are most likely two men (human beings) from the last generation who will operate and have a ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit one of which will be in the spirit of Elijah.
These two men will have some very important things to say because that is their ministry. They will speak and operate by the power of the Word of God and it will be backed up by fire and the power of every kind of plague. Everything that these men will do and accomplish will be by the spoken word so we had better listen when the time comes.
They will likely start their 1260 day ministry on the special day known as Sh’mini Atzeret. See the post “The countdown to Sh’mini Atzeret 2029“.
4 Responses
Hi Steve,
Greetings from the Sunshine Coast.
Are you interested in different points of view?
If so, I’ve just updated the following article on my own website re. the two witnesses subject.
Here’s a link: https://nicetiming.com/2022/08/30/who-are-the-two-witnesses/
As you can see, it’s fairly comprehensive, and may give you some more ideas. I hope you have the time to check it out.
Regards,
Rob
Good post Steve. In the light of recent events, the Eschatological type Facebook groups have been seeing extremely high daily posts and post discussions. Of late, I see many of these theories of the witnesses being the old and new testaments, law and grace, differing views on which actual people, and recently 2 demographic churches even. Some seem to have what at a glance may seem plausible cases…but IMHO, even if one simply just reads Revelation and doesn’t venture further into other canon books…I agree it’s pretty clear these are physical people who will facilitate the resumption of the Jewish daily sacrifices, as well as, prophesy in the streets not far from the western wall as you mentioned, have powers to supernaturally deal with those who come against them, …but ultimately be overcome by the Antichrist after 1260 days of ministry after which laying dead in the streets for 3 days for the whole world to see etc. How can this be seen and anything other than physical people really?
You make some good points and references on who these two may be. Be good to finally see these guys on the scene, and have that marker for the start of the 70th week.
Thanks Steve, exciting and scary
Thanks Steve for your well researched article and for the conclusions you draw as to the identity of the Two Winesses and when they are likely to appear.
God’s continued wisdom and understanding in all that you are exploring and doing in your ministry.
And may He keep you, Cathi and family safe.
Ray