Rev 11 - Killing The Witnesses

[Aaron 1517]

Killing The Witnesses

Revelation 11:3-6 (ESV)

And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.

- The two witnesses prophesy; therefore, logic demands that they must be prophets.

- The two witnesses must be prophets, but will they be two future prophets who are still to come? Or, are they two past prophets whose prophecies were written in books which are now in the Bible?

- If they will be two future prophets, then certainly their extremely awesome supernatural powers would make them into modern superstars. They would be the hot topic of television shows, newspapers, and magazines. Certainly they would be the main conversation of everyone. They would be all over YouTube and every word that they spoke would be tweeted. Atheism would be totally defeated.

- A major theme that is found when studying end time prophecies is a warning about being deceived (Rev 13:14, Rev 19:20, 2 Thess 2:9-12, Eph 5:6, 1 Cor 6:9). Having two well known living legend Biblical superstar prophets performing famous miracles is about as subtle as having a tattoo on your forehead.

- If the two prophets have their writings in the word of God, then their testimony would be subtle. Yet, their message would still be very powerful for those who have spiritual wisdom. In this scenario, only those people who seek truth would find it. The wicked people would still be able to believe what they want.

- “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps 119:105). An oil lamp represents the word of God. An olive tree is the source of olive oil which represents the Holy Spirit (1 Sam 16:13).

- Can the Old Testament be one witness and the New Testament be the other witness? The problem with that is that the Old Testament was written by about 30 different people and the New Testament was written by about 10. Each one of those 40 people were witnesses, but only some of them were prophets. We are not looking for two groups of books written by multiple people, we are looking for two prophets.

- How can two dead Bible prophets fulfill what the two witnesses are said to do? First of all, it is important to understand that all supernatural manifestations of the prophets and the saints all are done by God. Prophets do not have any innate supernatural ability, so it is actually God who performs the miracles on behalf of the prophets. Therefore, God can perform the same supernatural miracles even on the behalf of dead prophets. It is written, therefore it will be done, even if the prophets are no longer alive.

- The prophet John wrote that the wicked will be given blood to drink (Rev 16:3-6). And indeed, fire will consume the enemies of the two witnesses (2 Thess 1:5-8, Heb 12:29, 2 Pet 3:10).

- In the last days the saints will receive an outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:17). It could be that the prophetic plagues might come by the will of the saints who are trying to warn people concerning the prophecies of the two witnesses. Thus, God could honor their will by the word of the two witnesses.

Revelation 11:7-13 (ESV)

And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

- If the witnesses are prophets who are already dead, then how can they be killed? Even though the prophets are dead, they live on through their prophecies which testify against the deceptions of the enemy. In this interpretation the witnesses can only be killed by the strict condemnation of their prophetic writings. Severe punishment can be put on people who speak, write, read, or listen to their prophetic testimony.

- Bibles containing the condemned books of these prophets will lie in the street of “the great city.” See the Club Adventist post titled "Rev 11 - The Great City".

- The book of Daniel from the Old Testament and the book Revelation from the New Testament witness together to reveal prophecies that give damning testimony against the Vatican.

- There could be thousands of Bibles piled up. The largest street in Vatican City is St. Peter’s Square. Vatican City has a daily average of about 17,000 visitors. A free Bible exchange program could be offered.

- The “beast” will kill the two prophets. Yet, who will ride this beast from the abyss (Rev 17:3-8)? The Vatican will direct the beast to kill the two prophetic witnesses that testify against her.

- Three and a half days after a censorship law, this prophecy says there will be a great earthquake.

- From this prophecy the saints can warn people that because of this censorship law, God will strike Rome with a great earthquake.

- For three and a half days, some people from different peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will “gaze at their dead bodies” and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb. Is this gruesome and repulsive? Or, is it glorious that some people from all over the world will intensely look at these prophecies which will be ridiculed, accused, and condemned?

- Three and a half days later the prophetic word of God will be glorified.

- After three and a half days, the two prophetic witnesses will be vindicated with great exaltation! Those who rejoiced at their death will be terrified at their vindication and with great fear people will repent.

[8thdaypriest]

We have all puzzled over the identity of the "two witnesses".

Olive oil lamps also symbolized the 7 "churches".

Revelation 1:12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. (NRS)

NRS Revelation 1:20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. (Rev 1:20 NRS)

There were 7 churches, but 5 of them received the warning to "repent or I will remove your lamp from it's place".

If you remove 5, that leaves 2.

Philadelphia and Smyrna

The church of brotherly love, and the church of martyrs.

Those are the "two lamps" that are left.

The lamp shines because of the olive oil (Spirit).

Could these be the two witnesses remaining?

I believe the "witnesses" are people BECAUSE they are called up to Heaven at the voice of God.

They have the Moses message (he turned water to blood).

The Moses message was "remember the Law of your God".

They have the Elijah message. (He closed up heaven for 3.5 years).

The message of Elijah was

"Choose you this day, whom you will serve".

Blessings,

Rachel Cory

Prophecy Viewpoint