If I Were Told the Future - Lesson 57

The Two Witnesses

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The Two Witnesses

Welcome to this lesson! Let's pray together:

Lord,

We wish to continue to identify the characters which play a part in the last moments of history, and today, we will study the two witnesses.

Who are these two witnesses? We humbly ask You to answer this question, through Your inspired Word.

In Jesus Christ we pray.

Amen.

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The Two Witnesses

Revelation 11:1-3

Comments

Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod.

And the angel stood, saying, ŤRise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.

But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months.

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.ť

The two witnesses appear only once in the Bible, in the book of Revelation chapter 11, in the context of the period of 42 months, or 1260 days.

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Revelation 11:2	Comments
The Gentiles (...) will tread the holy city under foot for 42 months.	The period of 42 months, or 1260 days (42 x 30), during which the two witnesses work, corresponds to the period of 1260 years, from A.D. 538 to 1798, which we studied several times in our previous lessons. These 1260 years were a time of persecution for the believers faithful to God.
Revelation 13:5,7
[The beast] was given authority to continue for forty-two months. (...) And it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.

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Revelation 11:3	Comments
And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.	The darkness of this period of 1260 years is emphasized by the fact that the two witnesses are clothed in sackcloth, a sign of sadness and mourning.
Genesis 37:33,34
And [Jabob] recognized it and said, ŤIt is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.ť Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

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Revelation 11:3,4	Comments
I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.	Many clues help us to discover the identity of these two witnesses. First, we are told that the two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before God. What does that mean?

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Zechariah 4:2-4	Comments
He said to me, ŤWhat do you see?ť So I said, ŤI am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.ť So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, ŤWhat are these, my lord?ť	The two olive trees and the two lampstands refer to this prophecy given to Zechariah. So the answer given to Zechariah is of great interest for us...

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Zechariah 4:5,6	Comments
Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, ŤDo you not know what these are?ť And I said, ŤNo, my lord.ť So he answered and said to me: ŤThis is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the Lord of hosts.ť	God's answer indicates that the two olive trees, which bear oil, and the lampstands, which bear light, symbolize something resulting from the work of the Spirit of God, and not from the power of men.

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2 Peter 1:20,21	Comments
(...) knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.	There is, indeed, something which bears light (as lampstands do), and which results not from the power of men, but rather from the work of the Holy Spirit (the oil taken from the two olive trees): it is the Word of God. The two witnesses thus symbolize the two parts of the Word of God: the Old Testament and the New Testament.

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Similar to a lampstand, the Word of God is a source of light:

ŤYour word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.ť (PSALM 119:105)

ŤWe also have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.ť (2 PETER 1:19)

ŤFor the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light.ť (PROVERBS 6:23)

ŤFor it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.ť (2 CORINTHIANS 4:6)

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John 5:39	Comments
[Jesus said:] ŤYou search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.ť	Both the Old and the New Testament bear witness to Jesus and His work, one announcing His coming, and the other confirming that He truly came. These two witnesses agree to establish this fact: Jesus is the Messiah promised by God, and His sacrifice gives us access to eternal life.
Deuteronomy 19:15
By the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.

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Revelation 11:5	Comments
And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.	Symbolized by the two witnesses, the Word of God is a fire devouring its enemies. But this action also calls to mind two famous Bible characters.
Jeremiah 5:14
Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

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Numbers 16:28,35	Comments
Then Moses said: ŤBy this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will.ť (...) And a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men.	The deeds of the two witnesses remind us of Moses' and Elijah's.
2 Kings 1:12
So Elijah answered and said to them, ŤIf I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.ť And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

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Revelation 11:6	Comments
These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy.	Similar to Elijah, the two witnesses have power to shut heaven for a prophetic period of Ťthree years and six monthsť, that is, for 1260 years (3˝ years x 360 days). But what do the words Ťto shut heavenť mean?
Luke 4:25
But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months.

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Leviticus 26:18,19	Comments
And after all this, if you do not obey Me, (...) I will make your heavens like iron.	During the 1260 years, from 538 to 1798, the two witnesses Ťshut heavenť to men's prayers, because of their great apostasy.
Deuteronomy 28:15,23
If you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments, (...) your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze.
Proverbs 28:9
One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination.

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Revelation 11:6	Comments
And they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.	Furthermore, the two witnesses, like Moses, have power to strike the earth with all kinds of plagues. What does that mean?
Psalm 105:26,29-32,34,36
He sent Moses His servant. (...) He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish. Their land abounded with frogs (...). He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and lice in all their territory. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. (...) He spoke, and locusts came (...). He also destroyed all the firstborn in their land.

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Revelation 2:22,23	Comments
Indeed I will cast [that woman Jezebel] into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death.	The lesson ŤLetter to the Church of Thyatirať showed us that, during these 1260 years, Europe, plunged into apostasy, went through a dreadful famine, followed by an epidemic of bubonic plague, killing 40% of its population. The Hundred Years War added to these scourges. Interestingly, Jezebel, a symbol of the apostate Church, was the sworn enemy of Elijah, a symbol of the two witnesses.

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Deuteronomy 33:4	Comments
Moses commanded a law for us, a heritage of the congregation of Jacob.	The choice of Moses and Elijah to symbolize the Bible is not only due to the nature of their deeds. Moses is closely associated with the law, and Elijah with the prophets. So, by combining ŤMoses and Elijahť, we get Ťthe Law and the Prophetsť, an expression which designates the Word of God.
1 Kings 18:22
Then Elijah said to the people, ŤI alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.ť

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ŤThe Law and the Prophetsť is an expression designating the Word of God:

ŤDo not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.ť (MATTHEW 5:17)

ŤI worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.ť (ACTS 24:14)

ŤWe have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote - Jesus of Nazareth.ť (JOHN 1:45)

Ť[Paul] solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets.ť (ACTS 28:23)

Ť"All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.ť (LUKE 24:44,45)

ŤAnd after the reading of the Law and the Prophets (...).ť (ACTS 13:15)

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2 Corinthians 3:14,15	Comments
For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament (...). But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.	Finally, the Word of God associates the name of Moses with the Old Testament. In fact, Moses symbolizes the people of God under the Old Covenant, that is, the people of Israel; and Elijah symbolizes the people of God under the New Covenant, that is, the Church. Let's look at the following verses...

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Malachi 4:4,5	Comments
Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.	The very last chapter of the Old Testament speaks of Moses and Elijah. God uses this strategic place to invite us to remember Moses (the Law), that is, to look at our spiritual roots, in the Old Testament. Then He announces the coming of Elijah (the prophet), inviting us to look at the hope of salvation, in the New Testament.

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Revelation 11:7	Comments
Now when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.	Shortly before the end of the 1260 years, the Word of God suffered the attack of a beast, symbolizing a kingdom, a political power. This beast comes out of the bottomless pit. Now, in our lesson about the fifth trumpet, ŤThe Locusts from the Bottomless Pitť, we also saw a power which came out of the bottomless pit...
Daniel 7:23
The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom.

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Revelation 9:2,3,11	Comments
[The star] opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. (...) And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.	Led by the angel of the bottomless pit, that is, Satan, the locusts of the fifth trumpet also came out of the bottomless pit. So the beast coming out of the bottomless pit is a political power led by Satan. In fact, the locusts of the fifth trumpet and the beast of Revelation chapter 11, which kills the two witnesses, both symbolize the same power: France in the 1790s.

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Revelation 11:7

Comments

Now when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

Just as we have seen in the fifth trumpet, the French people, deeply disgusted by centuries of abuse and corruption from the Church of Rome, rebelled in the 1790s.

Unfortunately, out of their blind rage, they also attacked the Word of God. So, on November 10, 1793, the French National Assembly decreed in Paris that Christian religion should be abolished, and the Bible suppressed.

Thus were killed the two witnesses.

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Revelation 11:8	Comments
And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt.	In the years following this decree which killed the two witnesses, blasphemous acts took place. This sad spectacle is illustrated by the recalling, Ťspirituallyť, of the names of Babylon (the Ťgreat cityť), Sodom, and Egypt. Let's see the meaning of these names.
Revelation 18:10
That great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.

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The years 1793 to 1797 are symbolized by Babylon, Sodom, and Egypt:

        BABYLON         |         SODOM         |          EGYPT
------------------------|-----------------------|------------------------
ŤAgainst the king of | ŤLook, this was the | ŤPharaoh said, "Who is
Babylon (...). You said | iniquity of your sis- | the Lord, that I should
in your heart: "I will | ter Sodom: she and | obey His voice to let
ascend into heaven, I | her   daughter (...) | Israel go? I do not
will exalt my throne | committed abomination | know the Lord."ť
above God's stars."ť    | before Me.ť           |
       (ISAIAH 14:4,13) |    (EZEKIEL 16:49,50) |            (EXODUS 5:2)
========================|=======================|========================
Babylon indicates USUR- | Sodom indicates IGNO- | Egypt indicates NEGA-
PATION of God's throne. | RANCE of God, and de- | TION of God. Out of fu-
French people institut- | pravity   of morals. | ry against the apostate
ed the Goddess Reason | The French Revolution | Church, the French peo-
in place of God, as a | gave   rise to vile | ple decreed that the
sign of absolute con- | scenes of debauchery | whole of  Christianity
tempt for religion.     | among the people.     | was abolished.

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Revelation 11:8	Comments
And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.	Jesus identifies with His people and His mission. By indicating that the two witnesses were killed Ťwhere also our Lord was crucifiedť, this prophecy testifies to the abominations committed against His name and His cause.
Matthew 25:40
Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.

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Revelation 11:9	Comments
Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves.	From 1793 to 1797, all the Bibles found were burned in public, to demonstrate the complete rejection of God and His will.
Psalm 79:1,2
O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance; Your holy temple they have defiled; they have laid Jerusalem in heaps. The dead bodies of Your servants they have given as food for the birds of the heavens, the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth.

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Revelation 11:10	Comments
And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.	Since the Word of God testified that their behavior was disgusting, men rejoiced at having destroyed it between 1793 and 1797.
John 7:7
The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.

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Revelation 11:11	Comments
Now after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.	Just as foretold, three and a half years after the decree of November 10, 1793, which had abolished Christianity and the Bible, the French government realized its error. On June 17, 1797, it removed all restrictions regarding religion and the Word of God. This is how the two witnesses came back to life, after the three and a half prophetic days.

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Revelation 11:12	Comments
And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ŤCome up here.ť And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.	After that, God raised the two witnesses to heaven, thus indicating that His Word would now be respected and honored, as the second verse shows us.
Daniel 4:22
It is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth.

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Revelation 11:12

Comments

And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ŤCome up here.ť

And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.

As foretold, shortly after the return of religious liberty in 1797, Bible societies appeared, spreading the Word of God in many languages throughout the world.

In 1804, the British and Foreign Bible Society initiated the trend, followed by the American Bible Society in 1816, and many others afterwards.

Thanks to all these efforts, the Bible has become, and still is, the greatest bestseller of all times.

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Revelation 11:13	Comments
In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell.	ŤIn the same hourť, that is, at the end of the 1260 years, Ťa tenth of the cityť (Babylon) fell. In fact, France, one of the Ťten kingsť supporting the apostate Church, decided in 1798 to put an end to the political reign of the pope.
Revelation 17:12,16
The ten horns which you saw are ten kings (...). And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate.

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Revelation 11:13	Comments
In the earthquake seven thousand men were killed.	With the number 7000, the prophecy once again refers to Elijah's life. The 7000 faithful having not bowed to Baal counterbalance the 7000 unfaithful, which personify the political institution of the apostate Church. The fall of this Church, in 1798, is symbolized by the death of these 7000 men.
1 Kings 19:18
[God said to Elijah]: ŤI have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal.ť

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Revelation 11:13	Comments
In the earthquake seven thousand men were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.	The prophecy of the two witnesses ends with the repentance of men, after the fall of the apostate Church in 1798. This attitude contrasts with the stubborn unrepentance of sinners, shortly before the return of Jesus.
Revelation 9:20
But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands.

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Let's end this lesson with a prayer to God:

Heavenly Father,

It is written: ŤGive glory to the Lord your God before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains.ť (Jeremiah 13:16)

The two witnesses, which symbolize Your Word, call men to repent, and urge them to respond to Your invitation to salvation.

May we all hear the message of Your two witnesses, and put it into practice, while it's still time to do so. In Jesus Christ we pray.

Amen.

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