Who Are the Two Witnesses?

hen do they prophesy? What is their message? Who are they? Two individual men or two organizations? Why are they compared to olive trees? Why candlesticks? Do they really have supernatural powers? Who will kill them? Revelation 11:1-15 gives us the answers. We will use the historicist interpretation of prophecy. This lesson is illustrated with full-color drawings.

John says, "And there was given me a REED like unto a ROD: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the TEMPLE OF GOD, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the COURT which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the GENTILES: and the holy city shall they tread under foot FORTYand TWO MONTHS" (Rev. 11:1-2).

What is the "REED like unto a ROD"? A 12 1/2 foot long measuring device made of iron. In Hebrew the word is "kaneh" and from that we get our word "CANON" or the books of the Bible recognized as canonical or genuine. The REED is therefore the Bible. Christians are measured by the rule of scripture. God uses it to chasten us because "Shall I come to you with a ROD?" (1 Cor 4:21) and "He that spareth the ROD hateth his son" (Pr. 13:24).

What is the "TEMPLE of GOD"? The real temple of God always symbolizes the New Covenant CHURCH of Israel because "the HOUSE of GOD ... is the CHURCH of the living God" (1 Tim. 3:15). "Ye are the TEMPLE of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them" (2 Cor. 6:16). "As living stones, ye are built up a spiritual HOUSE" (1 Peter 2:5).

What is the "COURT of the GENTILES"? When Solomon built the Temple, he added an OUTER COURT to accommodate GENTILES who desired to worship God. The Temple of Israel and the Court of the Gentiles are here contrasted. Protestant churches in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian nations were measured using Bible standards by the time of the Reformation and suffered affliction. ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES in Latin-German nations are not measured by Bible standards but follow human traditions and enjoy wealth and power. Protestant reformers used the Bible to determine what the New Testament congregation should be like, but they didn't try to reform the Roman Catholic Church. They left it out or "cast it out."

When are the 42 MONTHS? The four Gentile Empires of Daniel 2 have possessed the Holy Land for a combined total of "42 MONTHS" or 1260 days which symbolize 1,260 years (Num. 14:34; Ez. 4:6): Babylon possessed Palestine for 90 years, from 624 to 534 B.C. Medo-Persia for 200 years, from 534 to 334 B.C. Greece for 304 years from 334 to 30 B.C. and Rome for 666 years from 30 B.C. to 636 A.D. Now 90 + 200 + 304 + 666 = 1,260 years. Just as the Gentiles "tread under foot" the physical Jerusalem for 42 months (1,260 days), so also they "shall" "tread under foot" the "New Jerusalem" or all TRUE CHRISTIANS for 1,260 YEARS because "HEAVENLY JERUSALEM" is the "ASSEMBLY and CHURCH of the FIRSTBORN" wherever they may dwell (Hebrews 12:22-23).

The Roman Catholic Church oppressed true Christians for 1260 YEARS (606-610 A.D. till 1866-1870 A.D.; see Dan. 7:25) until it lost its temporal power. Also, from Constantine to the massacre of Huguenots, Christians have been oppressed for 1,260 YEARS. Constantine ascended the throne in A.D. 312. Claiming to be Christian, but really Catholic, he persecuted "heretics." Huguenots were massacred in 1,572. A.D. The "millenium" of Papal Rome was from 533 A.D. when Emperor Justinian decreed the Bishop of Rome "Head of all the Holy Churches" to 1534 when Parliament abrogated Papal supremacy in England.

"And I will give power to my TWO WITNESSES, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the TWO OLIVE TREES, and the TWO CANDLESTICKS, standing before the God of the earth" (Rev. 11:3-4).

Who are the TWO WITNESSES? Deuteronomy 19:15, John 8:17 and 2 Cor. 13:1 require two witnesses to establish any fact. "In the mouth of TWO or THREE WITNESSES shall every word be established" (2 Cor. 13:1). This presupposes free speech and freedom of the press and freedom of religion, because in order for the agreement of two witnesses to be meaningful proof, they must have the freedom also to disagree and to be independent of eachother.

These TWO WITNESSES are called "TWO CANDLESTICKS" because a candlestick is a CONGREGATION of GOD'S PEOPLE (Rev. 1:20). Zechariah saw in his vision only ONE CANDLESTICK because only the KINGDOM of JUDAH remained in Palestine (Zech. 4:11-14). John saw TWO CANDLESTICKS depicting the KINGDOM of JUDAH as well as the "lost" tribes of the KINGDOM of ISRAEL Christianized by this time. The House of JUDAH and the HOUSE of ISRAEL are the "JEW and the GREEK." Both "shine as lights in the world" (Phil.2:15).

The "TWO OLIVE TREES" symbolize ISRAEL and JUDAH. "ISRAEL ... his beauty shall be like the OLIVE TREE" (Hosea 14:6). "The Eternal called thy name, A green OLIVE TREE... house of ISRAEL and ... house of JUDAH" (Jer.11:16; see also Zechariah 4:3 and Romans 11). King David sang, "I am like a green OLIVE TREE in the house of God" (Ps. 52:8). Isaiah 61:3 also mentions these "TREES of RIGHTEOUSNESS."

Isaiah 43:10 says of Jacob (both houses of Judah and Israel), "Ye are my WITNESSES saith God." Isaiah 44:8 says, "Ye are even my WITNESSES" (both houses of Israel). Psalm 114:1-2 says, "JUDAH was his sanctuary (church) and ISRAEL his dominion (state)." Yes, "What are these two olive trees? ... the two anointed ones" (Zech. 4:11-14). Joshua was the High PRIEST and Zerubbabel was the KING (Zech. 3:8; 4:9; 4:14). Notice that the KING came from JUDAH and the PRIEST came from LEVI (Israelite). Then in Acts 1:8 Christ says to his disciples, "Ye (the church) shall be WITNESSES unto me ... unto the uttermost parts of the earth." In the Reformation the TWO WITNESSES were the STATE (British-Israel) and the CHURCH (Protestantism). Furthermore, Christ said, "Search the scriptures for they are they which TESTIFY (or witness) of me" (John 5:39). Many Bibles were also burned just like the Protestant martyrs. Therefore, any combination of Protestant CHURCH, Israelite STATE and/or the BIBLE constitutes the TWO and/or THREE WITNESSES needed to establish a fact. These witnesses stand before "the god of the earth" meaning "his holiness the pope" who blasphemously claims to be god.

"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. 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" (Rev. 11:5-6).

What is the FIRE? This refers to the power given to Moses and Elijah (Nu.16; 1Ki.17:1; Luke 4:25). But symbolically, Jeremiah 5:14 defines the fire by saying, "I will make MY WORDS in thy mouth FIRE, and this people wood, and it shall devour them." "Must in this manner ber killed" refers to the final judgment of HELL FIRE. "He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Eternal. Is not MY WORD like a FIRE? saith the Eternal; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces" (Jer. 23:28-29). No rain implies a SPIRITUAL DROUGHT during the sway of the Papacy just as Elijah foretold a physical drought (1 Ki. 17:1; James 5:17) during the sway of Jezebel "and it rained not on the earth for the space of three years and six months" (1,260 days). "That is why it is called the "Dark Ages" (1.260 years) -- "a FAMINE of the HEARING of the WORDS of the LORD" (Amos 8:2). "Turn waters to blood" denotes the bloodshed of WARS inflicted by God on the enemies of his witnesses (see Rev. 8:8-9). Metaphorically, "WATERS" are "PEOPLES": Goths, Vandals, Huns, Saracens and Turks were permitted by the Lord to scourge the offenders. Europe's RIVERS, the natural defensive positions, have RUN with BLOOD in warfare. France and Spain in particular, who persecuted Christians and Israelites and their scriptures, have experienced many wars and revolutions while Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian countries who persecuted the witnesses far less, have suffered less.

"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. 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. And they of the peoples and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies THREE DAYS and a HALF, and shall NOT SUFFER their dead bodies to be put in GRAVES. 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. And after THREE DAYS and a HALF the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great FEAR fell upon them who saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, COME UP HERE And they ascended up to HEAVEN in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them. 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" (Rev. 11:7-13).

Who is the BEAST? The fourth BEAST of Daniel 7::3-8, the red DRAGON or the Pagan Roman Empire now changed to the "Holy Roman Empire." From the twelfth century onward, the Waldenses and Albigenses (in France), the Wycliffites (in England 1350 onward) and the Hussites (followers of Huss and Jerome in Bohemia, 1480 onwards) all finished their testimony by declaring the Papacy was Antichrist and the doctrines of transubstantiation, purgatory, prayers to saints and angels, and infallibility of Papal councils were unbiblical. They asserted that the scriptures were the sole and absolute authority in matters of faith and practice. Therefore, the "Holy Roman Empire" -- the fourth BEAST or red DRAGON -- made war against these "heretics" and used the Inquisition against them.

The "GREAT CITY" of ROME was called by the Reformers "Sodom" because of its pride and sexual impurities; and "Egypt" because of idolatry and oppression of God's people. Jesus the Messiah was crucified in Judea, a Roman province, by a Roman governor. By the edict of Caracalla, the city of Rome was decreed to be co-extensive with the Roman empire.

Who were the English witnesses? John WYCLIFFE (1320-1386) translated the Latin Bible into the first English Bible in 1382. Fifty years after WYCLIFFE'S death, in 1438, priests dug up his bones from the grave and burned them in his village of Lutterworth, and then threw the ashes into the river Swift. WYCLIFFE'S writings influenced John HUSS of Bohemia. HUSS'S writings then stirred Martin LUTHER of Germany.

Queen Mary, daughter of Henry VIII, began to reign in 1553. She reigned only five years. But about 288 men, women and children were burnt to death in her short reign. When the Pope of Rome heard of it, he was glad and there were special celebrations. The first martyr was John ROGERS. He had done much in the translation of the Bible into English. The date of his martyrdom was February 4th, 1555. On November 10th, 1558 the last martyrs were burnt at Canterbury for a total of THREE YEARS and NINE MONTHS-- "after three days and a half."

Another English fulfillment: The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes took place on the 17th of October, 1685. The English Revolution followed in 1688 and the coronation of WILLIAM of ORANGE and Queen Mary took place on the 9th of April 1689. The interval is THREE-AND-A-HALF YEARS. In the reign of William III the Bill of Rights was passed (1699). That bill made it impossible for any but a Protestant to sit on the throne of England. That Bill said to Protestants, "COME UP HERE."

Who were the French witnesses? The revocation of the Edict of Nantes and the final massacre of the HUGUENOTS occurred in 1685 but 105 years later, in 1790, a summons from Louis XVI, invited the common people to come together for the exercise of legislative power in the affairs of the realm. This was the "great voice from heaven" saying "COME UP HERE" They responded in a great CLOUD which inspired FEAR in the mind of king, nobles and clergy. They took possession of supreme power, disestablished the church, confiscated the estates of the clergy and nobles, imprisoned and decapitated the king, abolished all titles, proclaimed faith in God a superstition, and proclaimed France a Republic not a kingdom.Thousands were guillotined who were suspected of sympathizing with the former regime. This was called the "Reign of TERROR" This "EARTHQUAKE" caused a "TENTH of the city to fall." In other words, France was overthrown as a loyal part of the Holy Roman Empire. And "the remnant were AFFRIGHTED, and gave glory to the God of heaven" (Rev. 11:13). When people were tired of the terror, a public decree was made recognizing the existence of God and a future life, and convoking a national assembly in the Deity's honour. The assembly in honour of "the GOD of HEAVEN" was held in the presence of thousands -- Robespierre officiating as priest.

From the death of these French witnesses to their resurrection was 105 years. Now THREE-AND-A-HALF LUNAR DAYS, days of the moon instead of the earth, turn out to be 105 earth-days or 105 years exactly. The moon turns upon its axis just once in thirty days. Consequently, one day of the moon is just 30 times longer than one day upon earth. From 1685 to 1790 is 105 years.

Another French fulfillment: The Duke of Savoy, the sovereign of these VAUDOIS, by an edict dated January 31, 1686, forbade the exercise of their religion on pain of death and ordered their churches demolished and their ministers banished. Savoy and French troops attacked them on the 22nd of April 1686. Many Vaudois were killed or imprisoned and permitted to depart about the beginning of December 1686. Papists REJOICED. The VAUDOIS were kindly received by Holland, Brandenburg, Geneva and Switzerland. Towards the end of the year 1689, about THREE-AND-A-HALF YEARS after the attack on the 22nd of April, they passed the Lake of Geneva secretly, and entering Savoy with their swords in their hands they recovered their ancient possessions, and by the middle of April 1690, established themselves in it, notwithstanding the opposition of the troops of France and Savoy; of whom they, who were comparatively few, slew great numbers with inconsiderable loss; causing FEAR and TERROR in their enemies, till the Duke himself, who had now, left the French interest, by his League, and an Edict signed June 4th, 1690, just THREE-AND-A-HALF YEARS after their total dissipation, recalled the rest of them and re-established them with liberty to the French refugees also. This fulfillment includes the resurrection of both the WALDENSES and ALBIGENSES -- two witnesses --which have been a united people, and dwelt together in these valleys of Piedmont ever since the conclusion of the Crusades against the ALBIGENSES in the 13th century.

Another French fulfillment: Protestants were massacred at Paris beginning on the eve of St. Bartholemew's Day, 1572. thirty or forty thousand HUGUENOTS were slain in a few days. "Their dead bodies lay in the streets of the great city" because they WEREN'T allowed to be BURIED because they were "heretics." The usual death for "heresy" was burning, the ashes being afterwards thrown to the winds or cast into rivers.The practice of exhuming the bodies of heretivcs already buried was derived from paganism; but Papal practice went even a step further, in holding a formal process against a dead body, if after death suspected of heresy. The people REJOICED and SANG Te Deums and struck medals. But in THREE-AND-A-HALF YEARS, HENRY III, who succeeded his brother Charles IX, entered into a treaty with the HUGUENOTS, which was concluded and published on the 14th of May, 1576, whereby all the former sentences against them were revised, and the free and open exercise of their religion was granted to them: they were to be admitted to all honours, dignities and offices, as well as the Papists; and the judges were to be half of one religion, and half of the other; with other articles greatly to their advantage." They were told "COME UP HERE."

Who were the German witnesses? In 1499, the BOHEMIAN BRETHREN sent representatives throughout Europe to find if there were any other witnesses with a similar testimony to their own, and found none, because of the Papal extermination. This is why they were clothed in SACKCLOTH. On December 16th, 1513, a Papal Bull was issued calling the remaining Bohemian dissenters to present their case before the ninth session of the Fifth Lateran Council convened for May 5th, 1514, with the object of completing the extermination of all "heresies." That day came and the representatives from different "TONGUES and NATIONS" of the Church of Western Europe gathered in the Lateran Church at Rome to hear the famous proclamation of triumph, "Jam nemo reclamant, nullus obsistit." No witnesses appeared to testify to the truth. Their voices were all silent as if they were DEAD. The council orator exultingly declared: "Now, no one contradicts, no one opposes." To the Pope he said: "The whole body of Christendom is now seen to be subjected to its head, that is to thee." The same day, the Pope issued an edict, one purpose being "the perpetual elimination of all heretics from the Church Visible." Penalties were increased. One was the DENIAL of BURIAL to heretics, and that involved eternal damnation. When the Council was dissolved, a plenary indulgence was granted, and a Te Deum was sung. There were splendid banquets, general REJOICINGS and congratulations, and SENDING of GIFTS When the General Council was dissolved in 1517, historians of the Papacy such as Roscoe in his "Life of Pope Leo X" confirm the remarkable accuracy of merry-making, banqueting and exchanging gifts among the leaders of the Church mentioned in verse 10.

In 1179, the third General Council of Lateran, under Alexander III, enjoined princes to make war upon the "heretics," to take their possessions for a spoil, to reduce their persons to slavery, and to WITHHOLD from them Christian BURIAL. This was supposed to involve eternal damnation. The Council of the Roman Church also repeatedly issued edicts from 1514 to 1517 excommunicating the souls of the "heretics," ordering the SCRIPTURES in the common tongues to be BURNT, ordering the BONES of the Protestant martyrs to be DUG UP and burnt, and Christian BURIAL to be REFUSED to all "heretics."

From 5th May, 1514 when the council orator officially declared: "Now no one contradicts, no one opposes," to 31st October, 1517 when LUTHER posted up his theses to the Wittenburg Castle Church door in Germany, defying papal Rome and inaugurating the Reformation, are THREE-AND-A-HALF YEARS. Within a month, LUTHER'S protest, which he supported by the Scriptures, aroused all Europe. Thus the witnesses figuratively "STOOD on their feet" after being as "dead bodies" for 3 1/2 years. In 1516 ERASMUS had published his New Testament in Greek which made possible the translation of the Bible into the common tongues from 1517 onward. "ERASMUS laid the egg, and LUTHER hatched it." This shows us how interdependent the two witnesses were. ERASMUS the scholar of the Bible text and LUTHER the preacher of the Bible text. Prince FREDERICK in Germany protected Martin LUTHER .Then Germany in 1532 granted full toleration to Protestants with the Pacification Decree of Nuremberg. This was followed by more decrees; till at Augsburg in 1555, Protestants were put on an equal footing with Romanists and admitted as judges in the Supreme Imperial Chamber. Thus German witnesses ascended into the German political heaven after hearing the "COME UP HERE" decrees.

In 1523, in an address to the Diet of Nuremberg, Pope Adrian unconsciously testified to the fulfilment of this prophecy in verse 11 when he said, "The heretics HUSS and JEROME seem now to be alive again in the person of LUTHER." In 1528 LUTHER himself wrote the following: "We are not the first ones who applied the Antichristian kingdom to the Papacy: this many great men have dared to do many years before us and that frankly and openly under the greatest persecution. The old divinely-ordained WITNESSES confirm our doctrine, and the BODIES OF THESE SAINTS ARISE as it were among us with the NEWLY-VIVIFIED GOSPEL, and awaken much confidence." In 1530 the Reformers began to be known as "Protestants" which comes from the Latin word meaning "WITNESSES." LUTHER said in his "Table Talk:" "The Papists in Germany are filled with FEAR " (2:29).

What was the "great EARTHQUAKE"? Earthquakes in the Bible symbolize POLITICAL UPHEAVAL. The English REVOLT against the Papacy by King HENRY VIII, EDWARD VI, Queen ELIZABETH, JAMES I, and Parliament's Act of Supremacy in 1534 where the British monarch became head of the Church of England rather than the Pope, caused "the TENTH PART of the city" of Rome to fall. Ten nations had supported Rome for centuries. The adoption of the Book of Common Prayer, together with the ratification of the "Thirty-nine Articles" by Act of Parliament and Queen ELIZABETH in 1571, completely severed England from Rome. Since Denmark, Norway and Sweden were never part of the Roman territory to begin with, they don't count as one of the ten. But in a larger sense, the separation of the Protestant nations of Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, England, Scotland (1518-1558) and the United Provinces of Holland (1581) from Papal Rome revealed these nations as the Lord's portion -- his TITHE or TENTH of the priesthood to serve God.

In the days of Elijah there were "SEVEN THOUSAND" who did not bow the knee to Baal images or kiss them just as in the Protestant Reformation there were "SEVEN THOUSANDS" plural meaning seven tribal sub-divisions (cp. Ex. 18:21; Nu. 10:36) or SEVEN northern PROVINCES of HOLLAND that rebelled against the Spanish yoke and papal rule. The Netherlands of Holland were once composed of seventeen Provinces, under the cruel rule of Philip II of Spain. After a struggle lasting 37 years, their independence as a Protestant power was virtually acknowledged in 1609. They were Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Friesland, Groningen, Overyssel and Guelderland forming the Dutch Republic. They were symbolically "SLAIN" in the eyes of Rome. It is significant that the remnant "gave glory to the GOD of heaven" rather than saints or the Virgin Mary, showing that the Protestant religion had arrived.

By means of the Counter-Reformation, the formation of the Jesuits (1540) and the Council of Trent (1545-1563), aided by the military might of Emperor Charles V and Philip of Spain and their successors, the Papacy halted and turned back the Reformation in non-Israelite European nations.. In 1629, Emperor Ferdinand, by military might, restored all the ecclesiastical lands and offices in northern Germany to the Roman Catholic Church.

But Israel went into idolatry in Solomon's reign (958 to 918 B.C.), bringing "seven times" or 2520 years punishment which ran out in 1562 to 1602 A.D. We should therefore expect Israel to start coming out of idolatry in that same era.

The Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 was the end of the Reformation Era. and Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, England, Scotland and Holland were established and recognized by international law as permanent Protestant nations.

The Treaty of Ryswick, in 1697 made peace between Papal and Protestant nations of Europe. The Treaty of Carlowitz in 1699 seriously diminished the Ottoman Power. From the time of these two treaties, the power of Rome and Turkey has waned.

"The second woe is past; and behold, the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become (lit. "are becoming") the kingdoms of Our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev. 11:14-15).

Throughout the seventeenth century the Turks attacked the Holy Roman Empire and besieged Vienna. At the close of the century the fourteenth Papal Crusade, with the united armies of Venice, Savoy, Germany, Austria and Poland turned the tide of battle. The second woe passed away in1699 when Turkey signed the Treaty of Carlowitz with the Holy Roman Empire. Turkey gave up huge territories including Hungary, Transylvania, and the Ukraine. After that, there was no more fear of Turks invading central Europe. Turkey was again defeated in 1791 by Russia. All the events from Revelation 9:13 to 11:14 occurred during the era of the Sixth Trumpet or Second Woe. The third woe or the seventh trumpet came "quickly" in the eighteenth century. The growth of infidelity and atheistic Communism led to the French Revolution which began the final judgments on the Papacy..

The Protestant Reformation's triumph began the foundation of the Stone Kingdom (Dan. 2:44-45) and the mountain of the Lord's house (Isa. 2:1-5) manifested humanly and imperfectly first by the British Empire and then by the United States.

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