Zech 4:11-12 & 13-14 describes two mysterious olive trees. They are described again in Revelation Chapter 11, which says.:
And I will give power unto 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 Lord of the earth.
And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies; and if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed.
These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire.
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.
And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry; and they shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth.
And after the three days and a half the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them that beheld them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Understanding the Two Witnesses…
THEIR MESSAGE and Who They Are
The Two Witnesses are faithful Christians who have oil in their lamps Matt 25:4 and are proclaiming the gospel message, which is a light Exo 27:20, + 2Co 4:4 that burns continually Lev 24:2, or everlastingly Rev 14:6.
Please check all Scripture references to see why I’m linking these concepts together.
They also witness against those who are enemies of God.
No one can be condemned without at least 2 witnesses.
Deut 19:15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin … at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
Also see Matt 18:16
Heb 10:28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under TWO OR THREE witnesses.
These multiple witnesses speak against corrupt, so-called Christian leaders (Ezek 34:2 onwards), and the apostasy of many in the churches today, as expressed in my poem below:
| This poem is about the church falling into apostasy. Scroll your mouse over the matching Scripture. |
| THE BLIND AND NAKED LADY |
| Casting off the clothes of a lady, you became naked. Rev 3:17 Though your feet were once with the gospel shod Rom 10:15 KJV You chose to run blindly down a crooked path, – Heb 12:13 A barefoot church of God. Eph 6:15 KJV O wall of the daughter of Zion Lam 2:18 Let your tears flow day and night Ps 80:5 You let sinful men deceive you 2 Th 2:3 And so you lost your sight. Jer 13:16 KJV You swallowed every lie 2 Th 2:11 KJV You deceitfully were fed. Prov 20:17 Through fraudulent deception Deut 32:32-35 You went wherever you were led. 1 Pet 2:25 “Rising up early and sending” Jer 26:5 KJV His servants sent letters to every son. 2 Chr 36:15 KJV Though many invitations were sent Mat 22:3 You never answered one. Mat 22:5 O wall of the daughter of Zion Ezek 13:10 KJV Could your punishment be worse? Lam 2:20 Foretold in nearly every prophecy– 2 Pet 1:19 KJV Between the lines, in nearly every verse. 2 Ti 2:15 KJV “Oh that my eyes were a fountain of tears” Jer 9:1 To weep for those who refuse to see. Is 56:10 God advises: “Return, O daughter of Zion, Hos 6:1 Return Rev 16:15 KJV Once again to me.” Jer 13:15 |
This is a song version:
The Message they bring, In More Detail
In every era, God has a message for His covenant keeping people to give to the world. Noah had a special message for his time with a dire warning. The old testament prophets had a message for the children of Israel with warnings of captivity if they hardened their hearts toward God and His principles and worshipped pagan gods.
Jesus and His disciples had a similar message of warning and Salvation – Repent, be baptised and believe on Jesus, the Way the Truth and the Life.
The Everlasting Gospel
Mark 1:14-15 … Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, … the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
The gospel of the Kingdom of God is actually a more profound message than most people realise, and is explained more fully on my page explaining the meaning and purpose of life here.
Acts 2:38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.
The same message of salvation (the everlasting gospel and three angels message, beginning Rev 14:6), and the same warnings, have been given by God’s faithful prophets down through the ages because God’s ways are absolutely constant and never change.
Mal 3:16 For I am the LORD, I change not…
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Multiple Warnings
Rev 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Before Jesus comes in the clouds at the second coming, another message is given:
• Fear God – this means to reverence God as your Lord and Master and DO NOT serve ‘sin.’
John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.Confronting Apostate Christianity –
The Elijah message is also included . . . https://nicetiming.com/2023/09/02/intolerance-can-be-a-good-thing/• Give glory to Him – This is done by trusting His Spirit to guide us in our daily life, by growing up to be like Jesus and reflecting, like a light, His character, through how we live our life.
Matt 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
• For the hour of his judgment is come – There will come a time when Jesus will take to heaven all the overcomers as promised in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. (A few teach that people will never go to heaven, but cannot Jesus visit heaven? We will be wherever Christ is. In addition the church is the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21, which comes down like a bride from heaven after the first earth is passed away.)
• Worship the Creator, not the creation – Don’t trust your life to the powerless, dead, pagan idols, but the Omnipotent God who created the universe and cares for you. Trust the One who gives you power to overcome!
Heb 11:6 For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Plus a Final Message… a Call to Repentance and Truth:
Rev 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen … because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
The great churches of this world, who claim to represent God and hold His truth, are corrupt and speak deception.
Rev 17:4-5 explains that there is a woman – a harlot mother church – who is riding a beast called Babylon the Great. This is not a good thing because Babylon ‘is fallen’ completely – The number 7 symbolises completeness in the Bible. Modern software allows you to easily count the number of times throughout the Bible it says ‘fallen’ in relation to Babylon.
Isa 21:9 = 2 times
Jer 51:8 = 1 time
Rev 14:8 = 2 times
Rev 18:2 = 2 times
The total is 7 times, God’s number for completeness!(As an aside, who but God could orchestrate all the matching hidden 7’s in the Bible?)
This message is continued in Rev 18:3 with an additional command in Rev 18:4-5 to: Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
• Receive the Seal of God’s approval, not the mark of the beast. Rev 14:9-10. Rev 15:2 Rev 20:4 (I have written more about the mark of the beast here.)
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.
WHY YOU NEED TO KNOW WHO THE TWO WITNESSES ARE NOT
In the future there will be ‘false prophets’ bringing fire down from heaven in the sight of men. Rev 13:13-14, Rev 19:20. That’s already happening with modern weapons. ‘False prophets’ can also be false teachers, perhaps even political teachers or preachers. Don’t follow any false teachers!
The two witnesses will breathe fire from their mouths, but this is symbolic of their words only (Jer 5:14). Much else may be symbolic. For example, the waters mentioned may be nations (Rev 17:15). Don’t jump to conclusions too easily, or you may be deceived.
The two witnesses will die in symbolic Sodom and Egypt “where also their Lord was crucified” which seems to be Jerusalem because of Luke 13:33. But technically, Jesus was crucified outside the gates of Jerusalem. See Hebrews 13:11-14. Does this allow for the witnesses to be killed inside or outside Jerusalem? I cannot say for sure, but Rev 18:24 states ALL the blood of the prophets slain anywhere on earth symbolically is found in Babylon. Yet Matt 23:37 says essentially the same thing of the earthly Jerusalem. There is no contradiction because it is mainly symbolic. Like Babylon, the witnesses death is in a great city Rev 18:10, and the location (Rev 11:8) shows a meaning largely hidden beneath the surface, which may not be literally Jerusalem, but symbolic in meaning.
Rev 21:9 & 10 says the church IS Jerusalem. So whatever their location at the time of death, martyrs, when they die, die in Jerusalem.
Be careful you don’t jump to conclusions about the witness’s identity.
I may be just plain wrong, but it seems to me that the two witnesses are a symbolic representation of groups of people who witness for God, and finish as martyrs, proclaiming the message of the Old and New Testament Bible. The number 2 might be a symbolic number, and NOT literal. For example ‘2’ represents humility (with the shape of 2 being bent knee and bowed head) and the first thing the Bible says about the two witnesses is that they prophecy 1260 days clothed in sackcloth. That’s not literal, it’s symbolic, just as the white raiment in Rev 3:18 is also symbolic.
“Clothed in sackcloth” is a metaphorical way of saying they prophecy in sorrow, with humility.
They prophecy in a time period of great mental and physical distress. The time period revolves around Isaiah Chapter 24, which includes nuclear war, where the earth is burned and few men are left.
The True Witness
Another point worth making is that Revelation 3:14 (with Rev 22:13) says that Jesus Christ is “the faithful and TRUE WITNESS.” In the next few verses after this, Jesus is pictured as knocking on the door of the Laodicean church asking to be let in. This is the very last church mentioned before Revelation chapter 11.
Therefore, if the two witnesses message in chapter 11 is proclaimed by groups of people witnessing for God, they will be the people from chapter 3 who have let Christ come into them (John 14:20), and are now witnessing by Christ’s authority (Rev 2:26, 11:3, 6) and power, and spirit, not their own (as Jesus said HE is the True Witness). A more detailed explanation of this was covered in Part 1 here.
If I’m misunderstanding all this, no doubt, in due course it will become more obvious!
I believe Jesus IS coming soon. Jesus said in Luke 21:25 that his second coming would preceded by worldwide distress of nations, which when you study the original Greek strongly indicates lockdowns, as shown in this link.
Surely we are near that time now!
