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The Two Witnesses of Revelation 11


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And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.  Revelation 11:3
 
Malachi 4:4-5 Mentions Moses and Elijah:
Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
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In addition, Rev 11 makes it pretty clear to me that these 2 witnesses are Moses and Elijah and will demonstrate God's power in signs and wonders in the same manner in which they did in the OT:

3, And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.2
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.

Coincidence? I doubt it. Sure sounds like Elijah and Moses to me.

 

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I do agree that Moses and Elijah are the 2 most likely candidates. I also note that Moses and Elijah were the 2 seen during the transfiguration. (Matt. 17:1-3) Even with all the indicators and information which does appear to point to Moses and Elijah, I still won't go as far as to say "it has to be"  Moses and Elijah, because they are not specifically named in Revelation. And I wonder why the Holy Spirit did not inspire John to write the names "Moses" and "Elijah" (nor any other names) when describing the 2 witnesses. Yes, plenty of clues, and yes, they are the two most likely candidates. But to claim that "God hath said" (when He didn't actually say "Moses and Elijah" in Revelation) would be an error. I have heard/read Bible studies and sermons where a teacher/preacher will actually say "it HAS to be" Moses and Elijah, and that (even with all the "clues") is putting words in God's mouth. I'm not willing to go there. I will just say that Moses and Elijah are the 2 most likely candidates. 

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18 hours ago, Ronda said:

I do agree that Moses and Elijah are the 2 most likely candidates. I also note that Moses and Elijah were the 2 seen during the transfiguration. (Matt. 17:1-3) Even with all the indicators and information which does appear to point to Moses and Elijah, I still won't go as far as to say "it has to be"  Moses and Elijah, because they are not specifically named in Revelation. And I wonder why the Holy Spirit did not inspire John to write the names "Moses" and "Elijah" (nor any other names) when describing the 2 witnesses. Yes, plenty of clues, and yes, they are the two most likely candidates. But to claim that "God hath said" (when He didn't actually say "Moses and Elijah" in Revelation) would be an error. I have heard/read Bible studies and sermons where a teacher/preacher will actually say "it HAS to be" Moses and Elijah, and that (even with all the "clues") is putting words in God's mouth. I'm not willing to go there. I will just say that Moses and Elijah are the 2 most likely candidates. 

I thought you believed in  a literal interpretation,

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1 hour ago, Invicta said:

I thought you believed in  a literal interpretation

Exactly. Nowhere (in Revelation) when describing the 2 witnesses does John (inspired of the Holy Spirit) use the actual names "Moses" or "Elijah". He does give many clues which indicate it is most likely Moses and Elijah, but the difference is he did not name them specifically or literally.

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1 hour ago, Ronda said:

Exactly. Nowhere (in Revelation) when describing the 2 witnesses does John (inspired of the Holy Spirit) use the actual names "Moses" or "Elijah". He does give many clues which indicate it is most likely Moses and Elijah, but the difference is he did not name them specifically or literally.

The literal interpretation would be literal, i.e. the witness are two candlesticks and two olive trees.  That is what the angel said.  

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4 minutes ago, Invicta said:

The literal interpretation would be literal, i.e. the witness are two candlesticks and two olive trees.  That is what the angel said.  

And their LITERAL names are not given in Revelation. Even though I already agreed that the clues given point to the most likely candidates of Moses and Elijah, the fact that Revelation does NOT name their literal names is an issue. LITERALLY.  

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3 hours ago, Ronda said:

And their LITERAL names are not given in Revelation. Even though I already agreed that the clues given point to the most likely candidates of Moses and Elijah, the fact that Revelation does NOT name their literal names is an issue. LITERALLY.  

Not so sister. That is not an interpretation, it is a guess.The literal interpretation is what the scripture says and that is not Moses and Elijah.  

If we look at the previous reference to the two olive trees we find:

1 ¶  And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,
2  And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
3  And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
4  So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
5  Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power,
but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
7  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
8  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9  The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.
10  For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
11 ¶  Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
12  And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? 13  And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
14  Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

 I have highlighted a few clues above. Another will be found in

Revelation 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Note that it is a mystery, but part of the mystey is given here, the candlestiks are churches.

Edited by Invicta
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It's amazing that I've answered this 3 times now... literal literally means literal. You have quoted Zech 4, and even in Zech. 4 it does NOT give the names of the two olive trees. Nor the 2 candlesticks. Does it? I'm not trying to be facetious here, I really don't see what you are attempting to say. I literally do not see any names given in either Rev. 11:4 nor in Zech. 4. There are plenty of clues... but no literal names.

 I do not understand how you can attempt to tie in either Zech. 4 nor Rev. 11 with Rev. 1:20. There are SEVEN candlesticks given in Rev. 1:20 and they are named. However there are only TWO candlesticks given in Zech. 4 and Rev. 11 and they are NOT named. I'm not even sure what exactly you are trying to argue? So if you have any wisdom that you would like to impart about whom YOU believe the 2 witnesses to be... please feel free to give your thoughts on the matter. I would certainly hope if you are trying to proclaim that the TWO witnesses are the SAME as the SEVEN churches, that you would have more literal biblical proof to so name them.  The churches given in Rev. 1 are not the ONLY candlesticks mentioned throughout scripture. Should we take all references to all candlesticks throughout scripture into consideration? Even if they are clearly not speaking of the same 2 witnesses? There are clues both in Revelation, Zechariah, (and there may be other scripture which may or may not have relevance). But I respectfully do not see any names given in either of the verses. And I also refuse to give a name/names where the Holy Spirit has not inspired the names to be given. 

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

Rev. 11:4 "These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth."

 

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1 hour ago, Invicta said:

Well if you look at Rev 1 you will see that candlesticks are INTERPRETED and I may add divinely interpreted at Churches.  In Zech you will see that the olive trees pour oil into the candlesticks.  The oil of the Holy Spirit.  

Sir, I've had a busy day, and had to wait until my home health aide left to be able to give this my undivided attention/thought.
After having prayerfully re-studied the topic this evening, I now have some questions pertaining to your answer I hope you can answer for me.

So... if I were to entertain your theory that the 2 witnesses were 2 churches... I would also have to entertain the thought that these 2 churches would lie in the streets of Jerusalem for 3 days, AND that the entire world would see these churches' dead bodies for 3 days (before God resurrects them). 
That is an entertaining thought, but it doesn't fit the parameters given.
How could a dead church (or TWO churches) lie in the street for 3 days while the world beheld? People of kindreds, tongues, and NATIONS shall see their dead bodies for 3 days. 

So my questions to you would be:
#1 How does one church (much less 2 churches) lie in a street?
#2 How can a church (much less 2 churches) be a (physically) dead body?
    *I say physically dead because v.9 states that they "not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves". This clearly denotes physical dead bodies.
#2 How could people and kindreds and tongues and nations behold them?
     A second part of that question would be (assuming you believe this event has already taken place) how could people/kindreds/tonuges/nations have beheld this in the past?
#3 How do you reconcile that there are only two witnesses/candlesticks noted in Rev. 11 yet SEVEN churches noted in Rev. 1?

These questions are not to ridicule you in any way... these are just questions which need to be addressed to support your theory. How would these things be possible?
Thank you for your time.

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