The Two Witnesses
By Peter GoodGame:
Revelation 11:1-14
By Peter GoodGame:
Revelation 11:1-14
1. I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there. 2. But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3. And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." 4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6. These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
7. Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. 8. Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9. For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. 10. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
11. But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. 12. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on. 13. At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14. The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
In order to understand how the events of Revelation relate to the 70th Week of Daniel it is crucial to understand when the ministry of the Two Witnesses takes place. The 70th Week is divided in half by the Abomination of Desolation, creating two equal halves of exactly three and a half years (also shown as 42 months, or 1260 days).
I. First we will examine the latter half of the 70th Week and show how it is highly unlikely that the 1260 day ministry of the Two Witnesses encompasses any part of it.
A. Antichrist given power over the saints.
The latter half of the 70th Week begins with the setting up of the Abomination of Desolation in the rebuilt Jewish Temple by a future Roman leader. Jesus predicted this event in Matthew 24:15-21 and He warns the Jews to flee to the desert when they see this occur. He describes the time after the Abomination as a time of "great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equalled again." This time will be the most terrible time of tribulation ever because this is when the Mark of the Beast will be enforced, and all who refuse to take it will be killed. The latter half of the 70th Week corresponds with Revelation 13:5-10,
The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast--all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. He who has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.
During this time the Antichrist is given authority over virtually the entire world. The saints on the earth will either be taken into captivity, killed, or be forced to flee. The Antichrist is given authority over every person within his kingdom, but not over every place. There will be a protected area in the mountainous desert of southern Jordan (Daniel 11:41). It is to this refuge where the Jewish remnant of Revelation 12:6-17 will flee. They are protected for the entire last half of the 70th Week, also shown as 1260 days (12:6).
Jesus uses very stern language in His description in Matthew 24:15-21 because this is a time when God Himself grants the Antichrist the power to take over the world and to persecute the saints. The prophet Daniel echoes Revelation 13:5-10 in his description of the last half of the 70th Week,
He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time. (Daniel 7:25)
Daniel and Revelation are both clear that the last half of the 70th Week is a time in which the Antichrist is given power and authority over the saints who are in his kingdom. Jerusalem is the center of the Antichrist's religious empire, and it is inconceivable that the Antichrist would allow the Two Witnesses, these two mighty saints, to continue in their ministry during the very same time period when he is given authority over all the saints. Because of this, we can be certain that the ministry of the Two Witnesses does not include any part of the last half of the 70th Week.
B. Jerusalem trampled on by the Gentiles for forty-two months.
Revelation 11 begins by setting forth two time periods. First we are told that the Gentiles will trample on the holy city of Jerusalem for forty-two months (11:2). This must obviously refer to the last half of the 70th Week, because the first half of the 70th Week is a time when Israel controls the city and the Temple priests are going about their duties of sacrifice and offering. The "trampling" of Jerusalem by the Gentiles refers to the last half of the 70th Week, a time when the Antichrist takes over the Temple and the city, eventually making Jerusalem his capital (Daniel 11:45).
The ministry of the Two Witnesses could not include any part of the time period when the city is trampled on by the Gentiles because wherever they go they have the power to destroy any enemy that seeks to harm them (Revelation 11:5). Wherever they go, they would in effect create a "trample-free zone." (Indeed the only "trampling" that might take place during the ministry of the Two Witnesses would be done by the enemies of the Two Witnesses as they trampled each other in their rush to get out of the Two Witnesses' way!) The ministry of the Two Witnesses stands in the way of any Gentile takeover of the city of Jerusalem. If the forty-two month period of Gentile rule over Jerusalem is the last half of the 70th Week, then the 1260 day ministry of the Two Witnesses must occur during the first half of the 70th Week.
II. An impossible situation resolved.
We have already shown how the Antichrist is given power over all the saints for the entire last half of the 70th Week, and when we look at the ministry of the Two Witnesses we see that they, too, are given power over any that seek to harm them. The question then is: Who wins? Would the Antichrist defeat the Two Witnesses because he is given power over all the saints, or would the Two Witnesses defeat the Antichrist because they have the power to destroy their enemies? There is no satisfactory answer to this question except to conclude that we are dealing with two separate time periods. During the first half of the 70th Week the Two Witnesses carry out their ministry for the full 1260 days, then, at the midpoint of the 70th Week, the power that these saints have been granted expires. This is the exact same time when the Antichrist is then given his power over all the saints, and he first uses this power by exterminating his two most hated enemies. Revelation 11:7 reads,
Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.
The time of the ministry of the Two Witnesses, during which they are given power over their enemies, may not overlap the time during which the Antichrist is given power over his enemies. The Two Witnesses minister in the first half of the 70th Week and the Antichrist rules during the last half of the 70th Week.
III. The purpose of the ministry of the Two Witnesses
There are a few prophetic models which are dependant upon the Two Witnesses ministering during the last half of the 70th Week. The question that must be raised is: What would be the purpose of a ministry during this time period? The Antichrist has taken over the Temple and the city, the remnant has fled to the mountains, and the Mark of the Beast is being enforced. Who would the Two Witnesses preach to? Every citizen of the Beast's kingdom is forced to take the Mark of the Beast or is killed, or else forced into hiding. There would be no one to preach to except for those who have taken the Mark, and they are beyond help, having made their eternal decision to serve the Beast. Preaching to these people is useless.
On the other hand, if the Two Witnesses minister during the first half of the 70th Week, they have much to say and an audience that needs their wisdom on a number of important issues. Their ministry includes "prophecy" (11:3) and "testimony" (11:7) and could cover many crucial topics.
1. They could testify against the "covenant" that has been made between Israel and the Roman prince (Daniel 9:27). Isaiah refers to this covenant as one made with "death" and "hell" that is based on "lies" and "falsehoods" (Isaiah 28:15), and the Two Witnesses could alert Israel to these facts.
2. They could testify against the animal sacrifices taking place in the Temple. In Isaiah 66 God compares the sacrifices to murder and compares them to an offering of pig's blood, an animal that is unclean and unacceptable according to Mosaic Law. The Two Witnesses could remind Israel that the ultimate sacrifice has already been made through the death of the Messiah and that they are offending God through their irrelevant offerings.
3. They could warn Israel of the coming Temple takeover and the blasphemy soon to take place by the Antichrist. They could echo Jesus' words of warning for the Jews to flee from Israel at the sight of the Abomination.
4. They could prophesy on a number of issues, perhaps even revealing the message of the Seven Thunders of Revelation 10:4.
Admittedly, no one knows the exact message that will be given by the Two Witnesses because it is not specified in Scripture. However, the points that have been made above do provide common sense reasons which favor a pre-Abomination ministry of the Two Witnesses.
IV. The importance of the ministry of the Two Witnesses as it relates to the Seventieth Week and the chronology of Revelation.
The conclusion of the Red Moon Rapture position is that the Two Witnesses do indeed minister in the first half of the 70th Week, beginning on the day the "covenant" of Daniel 9:27 is initiated, and continuing for 1260 days until the day that the Temple is taken over by the forces of the Antichrist, setting up the Abomination. The Two Witnesses are then killed on that very day by the Antichrist, which is the first day he is given power over the saints.
Three and a half days after the Two Witnesses are killed they are resurrected by God and taken up into heaven. At this time there is a severe earthquake in Jerusalem. Revelation 11:14 then reads, "The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon." Referring to Revelation 8:13 we learn that the Three Woes refer to the 5th, 6th and 7th Trumpet judgements. The Second Woe is the 6th Trumpet judgement, the demonic invasion of the 200 million which is responsible for the deaths of a third of humanity. At the time of the resurrection of the Two Witnesses, three and a half days after the midpoint of the 70th Week, we find that the 6th Trumpet judgement has ended.
This fact creates a benchmark within the 70th Week of Daniel and within the judgements of Revelation. From this we know that the seven Seals are opened, and the first six Trumpets are blown, prior to the resurrection of the Two Witnesses, which is three and a half days after the midpoint of Daniel's 70th Week.
The above conclusion is reinforced by the very clear chronology of the book of Revelation itself. Chapter 6 begins with the Seal judgements, Chapters 8 and 9 deal with the first six Trumpet judgements, then Chapter 11 deals with the ministry of the Two Witnesses, which concludes with their death at the midpoint of the 70th Week, and their subsequent resurrection. Revelation 11:14 then gives the information that the 6th Trumpet judgement has ended, which is indeed the very last judgement that was described, back in 9:13-21.
Chapters 6-10 are all pre-Abomination, then Chapters 11, 12 and 13 deal with the midpoint events of the deaths of the Two Witnesses, the flight of the Jewish remnant, and the setting up of the Abomination of Desolation, respectively. The concluding Bowl judgements are then dealt with in Chapter 16. The chronology of Revelation should be, for the most part at least, understood in the order in which it was written.
