You really are a laugh a minute. You think that I didn't know that you would attempt to pummel me with your head knowledge of the scriptures?
Yes, I can laugh because once again you respond to biblical correction by talking about my supposed
“head knowledge” rather than demonstrating your interpretation from the text.
Of course I know all of what you have quoted.
Really???
Then you should also understand why those Scriptures create serious problems for your identification of Jesus and John the Baptist as the Two Witnesses.
However, in all that you do know, you still cannot prove me wrong that John and Jesus were the TWO Witnesses of Rev. 11, as they were prophesied to come, being the "TWO Anointed Ones" in Zech. 3 and 4.
That claim has already been challenged repeatedly. The burden is on
you to demonstrate that Zechariah 4 and Revelation 11 identify those two witnesses as
Jesus and John the Baptist. Repeating the identification does not prove it.
Did you notice anything at all about "the golden oil emptying out of themselves" in Zech. 4:12,
That is a
misapplication of Scripture. Yes, Revelation 11 clearly draws upon the imagery of Zechariah 4—the
two olive trees and lampstands. I do not dispute that connection.
But Revelation 11 never mentions the
“golden oil,” nor does it say that the oil identifies the Two Witnesses as
Jesus and John the Baptist.
You are taking one element from Zechariah’s vision and assigning it a meaning, then using that meaning to establish identities that Revelation 11 itself never gives.
So show me the actual biblical chain:
Where does Scripture say that the golden oil of Zechariah 4 means Jesus and John the Baptist are the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11?
That is the connection you need to prove—not merely assume.
and how it was revealed in Rev. 11:6 that the TWO Witnesses have "power to SHUT heaven, [so] that it rain not in the days [1260] of THEIR prophecy".
Hmm... in all of your biblical wisdom, what does both the "oil" and "rain" symbolize?
Gladly... if you receive it.
You asked what I understand the
“rain” of Revelation 11:6 to signify. Okay...let’s allow
Scripture to interpret Scripture.
Deuteronomy 32:2:
“My
doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew...”
There is our first biblical definition:
rain is used figuratively for God's doctrine/Word "FOR" salvation coming down to His people.
Likewise:
Isaiah 55:10–11 compares rain coming down from heaven and accomplishing its purpose with
God's Word going forth from His mouth and accomplishing His purpose.
So what does it mean when heaven is
shut so that there is no rain?
Scripture answers that too:
Deuteronomy 11:16–17 warns Israel that
because of unfaithfulness, God would
“shut up the heaven, that there be no rain.”
And Amos gives us the
spiritual picture:
Amos 8:11:
“I will send a famine in the land,
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.”
There you have it.
The Two Witnesses having authority to
“shut heaven, that it rain not” (Rev. 11:6) signifies God's authority working through His witnesses to bring His Word of
judgment upon an unfaithful congregation. The withholding of rain pictures a famine of hearing God's Word so that they cannot find salvation.
And yes, Revelation 11 deliberately recalls
Elijah, through whom God literally withheld rain for three years and six months (1 Kings 17:1; Luke 4:25; James 5:17) as an example! But that does NOT make Elijah one of the literal Two Witnesses, any more than the Moses imagery of water becoming blood makes Moses necessarily one of them as some traditional teachings.
These Old Testament prophets provide the
spiritual imagery of the authority God gives His witnesses.
So no, Earburner, I don't need to insert the Holy Spirit “
raining” into John 7:39—a word that isn't even there—to explain Revelation 11.
Scripture already interprets the rain for us.
And I would also add this:
In Revelation 11, the
Two Witnesses represent the faithful witnesses of the New Testament congregation, commissioned with authority to proclaim God's Word throughout the symbolic
1,260 days. I understand this as the period of Gospel testimony while God continues sealing His people (Rev. 7:1–4).
Now compare Revelation 12:
Revelation 12:5–6
“And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the
woman fled into the wilderness, where
she hath a place prepared of God, that
they should feed her there
a thousand two hundred and threescore days.”
The woman represents the congregation of God—Israel continuing into the New Testament Church after Christ's ascension. She is pictured in the
wilderness, yet God preserves and nourishes her there.
And notice the number:
1,260 days.
That is the SAME symbolic period found in Revelation 11:
Revelation 11:3
“And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy
a thousand two hundred and threescore days...”
That is no coincidence. Revelation 11 pictures the Church
testifying, while Revelation 12 pictures the Church
preserved and nourished during the same symbolic period!
This is the
Church age—the days of Gospel testimony, not merely 1,260 literal twenty-four-hour days.
Now look carefully at Revelation 11:6:
“These have
power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have
power over waters to turn them to blood, and to
smite the earth with all plagues,
as often as they will.”
Notice those words:
“in the days of their prophecy.”
The authority belongs to God's faithful witnesses throughout the period of their testimony. Through the authoritative Word entrusted to them, their testimony is unto
salvation for those who believe and judgment upon those who reject it. They are pictured with authority to shut heaven, withhold rain, turn waters to blood, and smite the earth with plagues.
Now, Earburner, think carefully about your interpretation.
If these Two Witnesses are literally your vision of
Jesus and John the Baptist, show us where Jesus and John together exercised all these functions
during the same 1,260 days of their joint prophetic testimony, humm?!
When did Jesus and John together shut heaven so that it did not rain during their prophecy, literally?
When did they together turn waters into blood, literally?
When did they together smite the earth with every plague
“as often as they will”, literally?
And when exactly did Jesus and John have a joint
1,260-day ministry fulfilling Revelation 11?
Humm!!!
Simply identifying Jesus and John as the Two Witnesses does not make the details fit.
Your interpretation must account for the whole prophecy, not merely selected similarities.
Selah!
And consider Zechariah 14. The
Feast of Tabernacles finds its spiritual fulfillment in the New Testament congregation—the faithful Elect who are gathered in Christ and worship the true King, the LORD of hosts.
But what happens to those who refuse to come to the King—those who reject the truth and even oppose God's faithful witnesses?
They receive NO RAIN.
Consider wisely:
Zechariah 14:16–18
“And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
And it shall be, that whoso will not come up... unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts,
even upon them shall be no rain.
And if the
family of Egypt go not up...
that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen...”
There it is again:
no rain and plagues upon those under God's judgment.
Now compare that with Revelation 11:6: the Two Witnesses have authority that
“it rain not in the days of their prophecy,” and they have authority
“to smite the earth with all plagues.”
Compare Scripture with Scripture! Rain withheld.
Plagues. Egypt. Judgment.
And what is the great city spiritually called in Revelation 11:8?
“Sodom and Egypt!”
That is precisely why Revelation 11 should be interpreted by comparing Scripture with Scripture—not by forcing Jesus and John the Baptist into the identity of the Two Witnesses.
Selah!