Two Witnesses - A Biblical Perspective

[TribulationSigns]

Who Are the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11?​

The Bible does NOT teach that the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11 are two literal men who suddenly appear at the end of the world or even the first century. Revelation itself identifies them symbolically:

“These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.”
— Revelation 11:4

Elsewhere Scripture identifies the candlesticks as the churches (Revelation 1:20), while the olive-tree imagery is used for God's covenant people (Romans 11). Likewise, Christ calls His people His witnesses (Acts 1:8).

Therefore, the Two Witnesses represent the faithful and Chosen Church—the Elect of God bearing witness to Christ throughout the New Covenant age!

Why "two" witnesses? Because under God's law, a matter is established by the testimony of two witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15). Jesus even sent His disciples out two by two (Mark 6:7; Luke 10:1). Thus, “two” signifies the divinely established and trustworthy testimony of God's people rather than requiring us to understand them as only two individual men. We, Christians, are the witnesses of Truth. Selah.

Their Power to Prophesy for 1,260 Days​

Revelation 11:3 says:

“And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days...”

The 1,260 days are symbolic, representing the period in which the New Covenant Church is commissioned and empowered to carry the Gospel into the world for the purpose of salvation. This corresponds with Revelation 12, where the woman—the Church—is nourished by God for 1,260 days.

What is the “power” given to the witnesses?

It is the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God.

Jesus told His disciples:

“Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me...”
— Acts 1:8

This began particularly with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Acts 2 connects this with Joel's prophecy that God's servants would prophesy. Therefore, prophesying here does not mean that Christians can predict future events. God's people prophesy when, empowered by His Spirit, they faithfully proclaim the Word God has already given.

For this symbolic 1,260-day period, the Church carries the Gospel throughout the world. Through that Gospel witnessing, God secures His Elect as the church grows...UNTIL...

When Their Testimony Is Finished​

Then Revelation 11:7 says something extremely important:

“And when they 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 them.”

Notice the timing: when they have "finished their testimony".

The beast cannot come out and kill their witness BEFORE God has completed the purpose for which He commissioned His witnesses. Their Gospel testimony continues UNTIL God's saving purpose through that testimony has been accomplished. Selah!

Compare Christ's words:

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
— Matthew 24:14

Therefore, their death occurs only after their testimony has been completed. God's Elect who were appointed to be gathered through the saving Gospel witness will have been accounted for. Satan cannot stop God's salvation program prematurely.

But what does it mean that the witnesses are “killed”?

It does not necessarily mean every Christian on earth will be "physically murdered."

Rather their death represents the death or silencing of their Gospel witness within the external Church which is a great city. The beast (the body of false prophets and christs) makes war against the saints and overcomes their truthful testimony with their own lies. The faithful Word that once brought living water is rejected, suppressed and finally driven out. The candlestick's light goes out.

Please understand that the true believers themselves remain spiritually alive in Christ. They are the "oil and wine" that will not harm during the Great Tribulation. Anyway what has been “killed” is their effective testimony within the apostate external congregation, right in the streets of the Great city. The street represents public and common space WITHIN external church, where that testimony had been heard. The imagery is not simply that the witneses are somewhere inside a physical city, but rather pictures them lying openly in the place where the people of that city ordinarily gather and where public testimony would be heard. In other words, inside the churches all over the world.

Why Does the Unsaved World Rejoice?​

Revelation 11:10 explains:

“And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.”

Why would anyone celebrate the disappearance of God's truthful testimony of Two Witnesses?

Because the faithful Gospel does more than say, “God loves you.”

It also confronts man with sin, repentance, judgment, and the absolute authority of God.

The Word exposes man's rebellion. It declares that man's own righteousness cannot save him. It tells him that God's law—not man's feelings, traditions, or opinions—is the final authority.

That faithful testimony torments the rebellious conscience. The enemies (professed Christians, false prophets, and christs) hate this so they are trying to silence (kill) them.

Therefore, when the faithful witness is finally silenced, the unsaved rejoice. The voice that continually testified against their sin appears to be gone. They no longer have to hear the uncomfortable testimony of God's judgment. They can preach or do whatever they like to hear in the church.

This is why Revelation specifically says they rejoice "because" the prophets had tormented them with truth and corrections.

Then Comes the Symbolic 3½ Days​

But Revelation does not end with the witnesses lying dead.

“And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.”
— Revelation 11:11

The 3½ days represent a short period of spiritual silence following the killing of their testimony. This also parallel to the half an hour of silence in Revelation 8:1. It is because God will finally judges the unfaithful church for being unfaithful and silence His Witneses. Before He judges His House, He wants His chosen Elect to come out so that they will not partake of church's plagues.

Remember the witnesses are not "spiritually dead"—they are always God's Elect and already possess eternal life. Rather, they are “dead” in the particular sense that their Gospel witness has been silenced within the city. You need to understand this first.

Then something dramatic happens:

The Spirit of life from God enters them, and they stand upon their feet.

This means their testimony becomes alive and active again.

There had been silence. Now they speak.

There had been apparent defeat. Now they stand.

There had been immobility of the Elect. Now they are prepared to move OUT of the apostate church, moved by the Spirit of Life.

The imagery parallels Ezekiel 37, where the breath of God enters the dead bones and they stand upon their feet. Revelation uses similar resurrection imagery to describe the revival and mobilization of God's faithful witnesses.

(Continue to next post - "Feet")​

 

[TribulationSigns]

Why Does Scripture Mention Their “Feet”?​

This detail is important!

Throughout Scripture, feet are associated with being sent forth with the Gospel:

“How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace...”
— Romans 10:15

And:

“And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”
— Ephesians 6:15

Therefore, when the Spirit causes the Two Witnesses to stand upon their feet, the picture is one of God's people becoming mobilized again. They rise from the silence imposed upon their testimony. They will not prophesy about salvation anymore but JUDGMENT against the abominations around them, warn that judgment is coming, and ultimately separate themselves from the apostate city.

“And Great Fear Fell Upon Them Which Saw Them”​

Their enemies thought they had won.

They thought the troublesome testimony had finally been silenced.

But suddenly the faithful stand again.

Those believers who had been pushed aside, ignored and accused of being unloving, judgmental, heartless, legalistic, hateful, homophobic, sexist, and treated as spiritually “dead” are now openly speaking. This time with warning and separating themselves from the apostate congregation as their enemies behold them.

That does not mean the world watches two corpses physically climb onto their feet. Rather, those who opposed the faithful see their renewed spiritual activity, warning of judgment and departure from apostate church.
And they fear.

Why?

Because their apparent victory over God's witnesses was temporary. The people they thought had been silenced are standing again by the power of God. Their departure also exposes the spiritual condition of the city they are leaving behind.

The witnesses stand, warn, and come out; those remaining behind recognize that something serious is happening. Their fear may manifest itself through anger, hatred, accusations and reviling against the saints.

So Revelation 11 is not primarily predicting two supernatural men performing miracles in Jerusalem.

It is revealing the history and final trial of Christ's witnessing Church:

The Two Witnesses = God's faithful Elect Church.

The 1,260 days = the symbolic New Covenant period of Gospel testimony.

Their power = the Holy Spirit working through God's Word.

Their testimony = the Gospel going into the world to gather God's Elect.

Their death = the silencing of faithful Gospel testimony as the beast overcomes their witness in the apostate external Church.

The world's rejoicing = relief that the Word which exposed their sin and warned of judgment has been silenced.

The 3½ days = a short symbolic period of silence and apparent defeat.

The Spirit of life entering them = God reviving their active testimony.

Standing upon their feet = God's witnesses becoming spiritually mobilized again to speak, warn, and come out of the apostate city.

Their enemies beholding them = those who opposed the truth witnessing this revival and separation with fear.

The Two Witnesses therefore cannot finally be defeated. Satan may be permitted to kill their testimony for a 3-1/2 days/half an hour, but he cannot destroy the eternal life God has placed within His Elect.

The Gospel accomplishes exactly what God sent it to accomplish. The witnesses finish their testimony. The Elect are gathered. The beast is permitted to rule in God's Church for a little season. The faithful stand again by the Spirit of God.

And then the end comes.

Therefore, the traditional Church teaching that the Two Witnesses are two literal men who will someday be physically killed by a literal beast or whatever is a false interpretation of Revelation 11. The passage is symbolic: the Two Witnesses represent the faithful Church, and their “death” represents the silencing of their truthful testimony within the apostate external congregation.

Selah!

 

[Jay Ross]

We should be careful to discover a forest of camouflage and miss seeing the two images of the messages overpowered by the deluge of peoples fanaticise as to who they are, and what their entity types might be.

Shalom

 

[Truth7t7]

Who Are the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11?​

The Bible does NOT teach that the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11 are two literal men who suddenly appear at the end of the world or even the first century. Revelation itself identifies them symbolically

Your Claims Are "False"

The (Two Witnesses) will have literal bodies that die, and lay in a literal Jerusalem street for 3.5 literal days as a literal world watches their dead bodies, this literal unsaved worlds population will exchange literal gifts with one another celebrating their deaths because the (Two Witnesses) have tormented the wicked world through literal plagues brought by themselves, a complete "Future" literal remake of Moses/Aaron against Pharaoh of Egypt for 1260 literal days

After the (Two Witnesses) are literally raised to heaven in the sight of the unsaved world a literal great earthquake takes place in Jerusalem as the 2nd woe is complete, the 3rd woe takes place in the 7th Angel/Trump sounding (The End) as the final judgment takes place in Rev 11:18

Jesus Is The Lord

(Future Literal Events Unfulfilled)

Revelation 11:3-19KJV
3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
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.
7 And when they 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 them.
8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

 

[TribulationSigns]

We should be careful to discover a forest of camouflage and miss seeing the two images of the messages overpowered by the deluge of peoples fanaticise as to who they are, and what their entity types might be.

Shalom

What? LOL.

I am not sure what you mean by a “forest of camouflage,” because that does not actually address the biblical argument I presented.

My post did not merely speculate about the “entity type” of the Two Witnesses. I compared the symbolism of Revelation 11 with other Scriptures: witnesses, candlesticks, olive trees, prophetic testimony, the 1,260 days, the beast overcoming them, their testimony being silenced, and their later standing upon their feet.

If you believe the Two Witnesses must be two literal individual men, then please show that from Scripture and explain why Revelation itself identifies the candlesticks with churches, why God repeatedly uses corporate imagery for His witnesses, and why their “death” can be understood as the silencing of their testimony within the great city.

Simply saying that people may be distracted by “camouflage” does NOT refute any of those points.

I am perfectly willing to consider a biblical correction, but the correction needs to come from Scripture. Please show specifically where my interpretation of Revelation 11 is wrong and demonstrate from the Bible why your interpretation should be preferred.

The weakness in your reply is that you only criticized the discussion without engaging your spiritual argument.

Do better.

Shalom

 

[TribulationSigns]

Your Claims Are "False"

The (Two Witnesses) will have literal bodies that die, and lay in a literal Jerusalem street for 3.5 literal days as a literal world watches their dead bodies, this literal unsaved worlds population will exchange literal gifts with one another celebrating their deaths because the (Two Witnesses) have tormented the wicked world through literal plagues brought by themselves, a complete "Future" literal remake of Moses/Aaron against Pharaoh of Egypt for 1260 literal days

After the (Two Witnesses) are literally raised to heaven in the sight of the unsaved world a literal great earthquake takes place in Jerusalem as the 2nd woe is complete, the 3rd woe takes place in the 7th Angel/Trump sounding (The End) as the final judgment takes place in Rev 11:18

Jesus Is The Lord

(Future Literal Events Unfulfilled)

Wow...

You have repeated the word “literal” many times, but simply calling everything literal does NOT demonstrate from Scripture that Revelation 11 is meant to be interpreted that way. Not wise!

In fact, your interpretation immediately runs into a serious problem: you are not consistently reading the chapter literally.

If the Two Witnesses must be two literal men, in a literal Jerusalem, for 1,260 literal days, whose literal dead bodies lie in a literal street for 3½ literal days, while people exchange literal gifts, then why suddenly stop being literal with the rest of the passage?

Revelation 11:5 says:

“Fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies.”

Are you saying literal flames will physically shoot out of these two men's mouths and burn people to death?

Verse 4 says:

“These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.”

Are these two men also literally botanical olive trees and literal candlesticks?

And verse 7 says:

“The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them.”

If your rule is that the imagery must be physical and literal, then what exactly is this beast? Do you expect a literal animal to physically climb out of a literal bottomless pit and attack these two men, humm?

You cannot insist upon literalism whenever it supports your interpretation and then quietly recognize symbolism whenever literalism becomes impossible. LOL!!!!

That is precisely why Revelation must be interpreted by comparing Scripture with Scripture.

Revelation itself already tells us what a candlestick represents:

“The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.”
— Revelation 1:20

So when Revelation 11 identifies the witnesses as “two candlesticks,” we already have biblical precedent within Revelation itself for understanding candlesticks as representing the Church - a body of believers, not literal pieces of furniture or two literal men.

Likewise, the fire coming from their mouths does not require two supernatural men functioning like human flamethrowers that you are dreaming about. Scripture repeatedly associates God's Word with fire:

“Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD.”
— Jeremiah 23:29

And:

“Behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.”
— Jeremiah 5:14

Notice did God said that the people are literal wood? See... notice that Jeremiah did not literally breathe fire onto Israel. God's Word in his mouth was called fire because it pronounced God's judgment.

The same principle applies to their “death.”

The faithful witnesses are not spiritually dead—they belong to Christ. Their death signifies that their testimony has been overcome and silenced within the external covenant congregation. That is why their bodies are pictured lying openly in the “street” of the great city. The great city (church) continues to exist, and people continue gathering there, but the faithful testimony of the Word of God has been rendered dead in its midst.

And notice something else you overlooked. Revelation 11:8 does not simply call the city Jerusalem. It says:

“the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.”

The text itself explicitly tells us to understand something spiritually. Jerusalem had spiritually become Sodom and Egypt. Obviously Jerusalem did not literally become the geographical city of Sodom and simultaneously the literal nation of Egypt.

So the very passage you are demanding we read literally warns us against the wooden literalism you are imposing upon it.

The same applies to the 1,260 days, the witnesses, olive trees, candlesticks, fire from their mouths, beast, bottomless pit, great city, Sodom, Egypt, death, resurrection, earthquake, and the rest of Revelation's prophetic imagery. We must allow Scripture to interpret Scripture rather than arbitrarily deciding which symbols become literal whenever they fit a predetermined end-times system.

Quoting Revelation 11 back to me and repeatedly inserting the word “literal” before everything is not an interpretation of the passage. It merely restates your assumption and speculation!

If you want to refute my position biblically, then demonstrate from Scripture why the two candlesticks must be two individual men despite Revelation identifying candlesticks with churches; explain why the fire from their mouths is literal despite Jeremiah using the same imagery for God's Word; explain how Jerusalem can literally be Sodom and Egypt; and explain why the beast and bottomless pit should suddenly become symbolic while everything surrounding them must remain literal.

That is the issue that needs to be addressed!

The book of Revelation is a book full of signs and symbols. It requires spiritual discernment and careful comparison of Scripture with Scripture—not a selective literalism that calls something “literal” simply because a flawed particular end-times tradition of yours requires it.

Selah!

 

[Jay Ross]

What? LOL.

I am not sure what you mean by a “forest of camouflage,” because that does not actually address the biblical argument I presented.

My post did not merely speculate about the “entity type” of the Two Witnesses. I compared the symbolism of Revelation 11 with other Scriptures: witnesses, candlesticks, olive trees, prophetic testimony, the 1,260 days, the beast overcoming them, their testimony being silenced, and their later standing upon their feet.

If you believe the Two Witnesses must be two literal individual men, then please show that from Scripture and explain why Revelation itself identifies the candlesticks with churches, why God repeatedly uses corporate imagery for His witnesses, and why their “death” can be understood as the silencing of their testimony within the great city.

Simply saying that people may be distracted by “camouflage” does NOT refute any of those points.

I am perfectly willing to consider a biblical correction, but the correction needs to come from Scripture. Please show specifically where my interpretation of Revelation 11 is wrong and demonstrate from the Bible why your interpretation should be preferred.

The weakness in your reply is that you only criticized the discussion without engaging your spiritual argument.

Do better.

Shalom

How important is it to determine the entity types of the two witnesses? I do not believe that knowing the entity of the two witnesses changes the message of this chapter.

The chapter ends with the killing of 7,000 soles during the resulting turmoil in the city of Jerusalem.

The message is that the forces of darkness did not overcome the two witnesses.

Shalom

 

[TribulationSigns]

How important is it to determine the entity types of the two witnesses? I do not believe that knowing the entity of the two witnesses changes the message of this chapter.

The chapter ends with the killing of 7,000 soles during the resulting turmoil in the city of Jerusalem.

The message is that the forces of darkness did not overcome the two witnesses.

Shalom

I think you are STILL missing the point of what I am saying.

You asked, “How important is it to determine the entity types of the Two Witnesses?”

It is extremely important! Because if you misunderstand who the Two Witnesses are, then you will misunderstand what their testimony, death, resurrection, departure, the great city, the earthquake, the seven thousand slain, and the remnant all represent. Selah!

You cannot simply say, “The message is that the forces of darkness did not overcome the Two Witnesses,” and then move on. Revelation 11 itself gives us symbolic details that must be interpreted by comparing Scripture with Scripture.

And Revelation 11:13 is a good example:

“And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.”

You are reading this as though God is predicting a literal earthquake in geographical Jerusalem that literally kills exactly 7,000 human beings. Come on!

But that does not follow the symbolism of the chapter.

First, “the same hour” connects this judgment directly with the witnesses standing upon their feet and coming out of the fallen city. At the same time the faithful witnesses are restored from their silenced condition and depart from the apostate congregation, God shakes that city in judgment.

The earthquake represents a great shaking by God—judgment upon an unfaithful covenant congregation whose foundations have become corrupt. Scripture repeatedly uses shaking and earthquakes as images of divine judgment. Not literal earthquake.

Second, the “city” has already been identified spiritually. Revelation 11:8 itself says that this great city is “spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.”

So why suddenly insist that verse 13 must be talking about literal buildings falling in modern geographical Jerusalem?

No, the city represents the external covenant congregation which has become apostate.

Third, the “tenth part of the city fell” is also symbolic. The tenth in Scripture is associated with that which belongs to the Lord—the holy portion, the offering, and priestly service.

Leviticus 27:30 says:

“And all the tithe of the land… is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.”

So the falling of the tenth part signifies that what once represented God’s holy portion and priestly testimony in that congregation has fallen. Christ’s faithful testimony is no longer ministering there. The house has become desolate. The kingdom represenative was taken from New Testament congregation, just as God did with Old Testament Congregation at the Cross.

Then we come to the seven thousand slain.

This is where comparing Scripture with Scripture becomes especially important.

Seven and its multiples repeatedly signify completeness or totality. Consider 1 Kings 19:18:

“Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal…”

Notice how the seven thousand there represent the complete body God had preserved for Himself.

Likewise 1 Kings 20:15 says:

“After them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.”

The point is not that Revelation is giving us a newspaper prediction that exactly 7,000 corpses will someday be counted in Jerusalem.

The seven thousand signify the totality of those remaining within that fallen congregation who come under God’s judgment. In the language of Revelation 11, they are “slain” because the city has become spiritually dead and has been abandoned to judgment.

The study I am presenting understands this as the completeness of those left in the fallen city being slain under divine judgment.

And then notice the contrast:

“and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.”

Who are the remnant?

They are not another group of unbelievers standing among 7,000 literal corpses.

They are the faithful people of God—the witnesses who have been called out of the apostate city. They recognize what God has done, fear Him with reverential fear, and give Him glory.

That fits perfectly with the preceding verses.

The witnesses were silenced in the streets.

The Spirit of life causes them to stand.

They are called to come up out of the fallen city.

Then at that same hour, judgment shakes the city.

The holy portion falls.

The totality of those remaining there are under spiritual judgment.

And the remnant who escaped recognize God’s judgment and glorify Him.

That is a coherent progression.

In fact, the study says plainly that when the believers are called to stand and leave the city, there are no true believers remaining within that fallen congregation. Without the assembly of saints and the Spirit dwelling in them, it has ceased to function as a true Church of God.

So yes, determining the identity of the Two Witnesses matters enormously.

If you begin by assuming they are two literal future men, then you naturally turn everything that follows into a literal future drama in geographical Jerusalem.

But if Scripture identifies the witnesses through the imagery of candlesticks, olive trees, testimony, prophets, and the Church, then the rest of the chapter must be interpreted consistently with that symbolism.

The same applies to the city, their death, their standing upon their feet, their ascent, the earthquake, the tenth part, the seven thousand, and the remnant.

This is why I keep saying that we cannot interpret Revelation by simply turning prophetic symbols into newspaper events like you do!

We have to compare Scripture with Scripture.

And one more important point: Revelation 11:14 says:

“The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.”

The actual final judgment comes with the seventh trumpet beginning in verse 15. So verse 13 is not describing the final destruction of literal Jerusalem immediately before the end. It is describing the judgment and fall of the apostate external congregation before the seventh trumpet brings the final consummation. Remember that God must judge His House first?

So the issue is much deeper than asking what “entity type” the witnesses are.

If you get the witnesses wrong, you WILL get the entire prophetic picture wrong like many others here.

Shalom

 

[Truth7t7]

Revelation 11:5 says:

Are you saying literal flames will physically shoot out of these two men's mouths and burn people to death?

You were clearly shown that Elijah spoke literal words upon this earth and fire came down upon two different groups or 102 men that were devoured by literal fire upon this literal earth, after the words of Elijah were spoken

2 Kings 1:10-12KJV
10 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
11 Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.
12 And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

Verse 4 says:

Are these two men also literally botanical olive trees and literal candlesticks?

You avoid the direct interpretation of the two olive trees and candle sticks, as the very scripture Zechariah 4:14 below in context tells the reader (These Are The Two Annointed Ones) simple, clear, easy to understand, as you disregard this basic biblical truth

Zechariah 4:14KJV
14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

And verse 7 says:

If your rule is that the imagery must be physical and literal, then what exactly is this beast?

The Bible clearly teaches that (The Beast) is a future literal living human man

(The Number Of A Man) (His Number)

Revelation 13:18KJV
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

This literal human man (The Beast) will be cast alive/living into the lake of fire

Revelation 19:20KJV
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

So when Revelation 11 identifies the witnesses as “two candlesticks,” we already have biblical precedent within Revelation itself for understanding candlesticks as representing the Church - a body of believers, not literal pieces of furniture or two literal men.

Clearly explained above in Zechariah 4:14, the olive trees and candlesticks are (The Two Annointed Ones) as scripture interprets itself, your claim these represent the church is 100% "False"

The faithful witnesses are not spiritually dead—they belong to Christ. Their death signifies that their testimony has been overcome and silenced within the external covenant congregation. That is why their bodies are pictured lying openly in the “street” of the great city. The great city (church) continues to exist, and people continue gathering there, but the faithful testimony of the Word of God has been rendered dead in its midst.

The scripture teaches literal dead bodies, laying dead in a literal street in Jerusalem, the Great city is where Jesus was crucified Jerusalem

And notice something else you overlooked. Revelation 11:8 does not simply call the city Jerusalem. It says:


The text itself explicitly tells us to understand something spiritually. Jerusalem had spiritually become Sodom and Egypt. Obviously Jerusalem did not literally become the geographical city of Sodom and simultaneously the literal nation of Egypt.

So the very passage you are demanding we read literally warns us against the wooden literalism you are imposing upon it.

Scripture clearly interprets the literal city upon this literal earth as Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified

Revelation 11:8KJV
8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

 

[Truth7t7]

In fact, the study says plainly that when the believers are called to stand and leave the city, there are no true believers remaining within that fallen congregation. Without the assembly of saints and the Spirit dwelling in them, it has ceased to function as a true Church of God.

Your claims in symbolic allegory are 100% "False", as you add to scripture things not seen "Scary"!

Revelation 22:18-19KJV
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

The (Two Witnesses) who were laying dead for 3.5 literal days in a literal Jerusalem street are raised from the dead before the unsaved world watching

Your claim that believers (The Church) are called to stand and leave the city is "False" as you add to scripture words that arent seen "Scary"!

The (Two Witnesses) will in the "Future" ascend up to heaven in a cloud as the unsaved world watches

No place does it state believers are called to stand and leave the city as you "Falsely" claim

Revelation 11:11-13 KJV
11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

 

[Jay Ross]

And Revelation 11:13 is a good example:

“And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven.

You are reading this as though God is predicting a literal earthquake in geographical Jerusalem that literally kills exactly 7,000 human beings. Come on!

Yes, it is a good example of the misinterpretation of the Greek Root word G:4578 which I understand to have the meaning of Turmoil.

In every occurrence of Greek words with the embedded Greek Root word G:4578 occurring, I believe that the correct translation should be turmoil. Have you ever seen or heard of and earthquake occurring when an Angel is seen coming down to the earth from heaven in the scriptures except in Matt 28

Matthew 28:51-54: - 51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,[1] 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.​

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54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the turmoil and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"​

Now what I am suggesting that there was great turmoil in Jerusalem at that time and the resulting outcome of that turmoil was that 7,000 people where killed.

It would seem that you did not understand what I had written.

Also your references to 1 Kings 19:18 and 20:15 does not support your determination as the number who are killed during the turmoil.

If you get the witnesses wrong, you WILL get the entire prophetic picture wrong like many others here.

Your own statement condemns you in that, in MHO, you have got wrong the entity type of the two witnesses.

Shalom

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[1] This verse is describing an earthquake.