Identity of the 'Two Witnesses' hidden in plain sight - Part 1

Before we get into this, please could you read the passages we are mostly dealing with in Revelation  HERE

        Over the years I've both read and contemplated various theories and interpretations regarding the identity of the 'Two Witnesses' mentioned in the New Testament book of Revelation.

       The 'Revelation' itself contains a first hand account of what the apostle John was permitted to see regarding the things which must first take place on Earth before the return of the Messiah, Jesus Christ; who restores all things.

"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written within it; for the time is near."

Revelation 1: 1-3

An apology and quick word of explanation

Before I continue, let me first start by admitting that:

      I am a nobody in this world of academic or scholarly accomplishments; having no letters after my name, nor any outstanding achievements to boast of or lean upon which might persuade you of my right to present spiritual or theological matters etc.

       So why would God bless someone like me with the understanding of such a wonderful mystery? The answer to this may be below:

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened unto you. For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks will find; and to him that knocks it shall be opened. The Gospel of Matthew 7: 7-8

So maybe God sometimes simply loves to bless the foolish, the least likely and extremely unworthy children in His kingdom too? After all, the scriptures do say this:

 "For you see your calling brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence".

1 Corinthians 1: 26-29

       So although to some I might not seem a fit or worthy candidate to receive, present or represent God's truths, for which i agree; Nevertheless, I pray that you all might show me some grace and be long suffering with me while I present my findings?   Many thanks.

        Okay, enough said... i'll press on...

       In a sense, part of what I'll be proposing here isn't anything particularly new; At least not as far as 'who' I believe these Two Witnesses to be.
However, throughout this blog entry I do hope to maybe make a more convincing case that we feel we can trust in this matter.
       Yet although this matter of identity is indeed hugely important and key, it almost becomes secondary to that which I am excited to divulge to you all.
      I'm hoping that after i've shared with you that which I believe was graciously given me to marvel over, it will likewise thrill you just as deeply. That it might also excite you and ignite or rekindle your love for the majesty of God, as we stand in awe at just how precise, articulate and in control He truly is.
       I believe or hope that this extra and maybe even more important discovery regarding these two men might cause your heart as a believer to sing for joy; and maybe that some non believers who are reading this might find cause to believe, or at least feel a tugging to know more about Jesus Christ.

      So, right off the bat I'd like to agree with many that I believe Moses and Elijah to be the Two Witnesses of Revelation. Now I understand and appreciate that many have differing views on this, but ask that you ride this out with me.


Surface Text Clues in Revelation

       First off, dealing not with my personal revelation per say, but just as importantly, taking a look at the surface text in the book of Revelation, we see even here that it gives strong clues to their identity possibly being Moses and Elijah.

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth....These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

Revelation 11: 3,6   

       What stories and miracles in particular stand out for us about Moses and Elijah in their ministries? Well, many things of course, but if you were to ask most people this question regarding Moses, they'd likely come back with God using him to deliver the children of Israel out of the hands of Pharaoh in Egypt.
       Moses was allowed to strike the Egyptians with plagues, in order to bring Pharaoh to repentance and release God's people from their bondage he'd held them under. Likewise here in Revelation with staggering similarity we see the same kinds of details as recorded in the Exodus account.
       In Exodus we read how Moses turned the Nile to blood. So too here in Revelation we see the same judgment and curse being dished out by the Two Witnesses. Seeming almost as if God didn't want us to miss this parallel, so to bring understanding to who these Two Witnesses were in the last days.

        Likewise, Elijah in the old testament book of 1 Kings was allowed to strike the land with a

terrible curse and prevent the rain from falling, so to cause the evil king Ahab to repent of his Baal worship and ill treatment of God's people. The scripture also tells us that his drought lasted well into the third year before God instructed Elijah to go talk again to Ahab; that he might repent, and the curse be lifted. This three and a half years drought is the exact same time period indicated in Revelation after God declares his witnesses would prophesy 1260 days; during which time they have the power to hold back the rain as a curse and witness. Again, almost making it obvious who the 2nd witness is.

       Yet this has not been enough proof alone for many people, although it is wonderful evidence and is very compelling.


Elijah to Return

       Another strong pointer to make as to Elijah being one of the two, has to be the prophecy in the book of Malachi that reads:

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” Malachi 4:5-6

       The first obvious point to make here is that according to scripture and Jewish understanding, Elijah must return right before the dreadful day of the Lord. Indeed Jesus Christ Himself admits that Elijah will return before the end.
       Many believers claim that the above prophecy was fulfilled in John the Baptist; and in part it was, although clearly not literally as the 'dreadful day of the Lord' did not happen, and Jesus Himself clearly explains that Elijah did come in type in John the Baptist, but that Elijah will indeed come at the end to restore all things:

       As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Do not tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist. Matthew 17

       Obviously, according to Jesus, the 'literal' Elijah is still to return at the end of this age, to do something very similar to what John the Baptist was sent by God to do.
       If John was nothing else, he was a witness to the world concerning Christ Jesus being both Messiah and the literal Son of God. He also came to bear witness to the truth concerning mankind's hypocrisy.
       Yet John the baptist was not the literal person of Elijah, although in many ways, clearly he had the same Spirit, ministry and qualities that the end days Elijah will have. This is why Jesus drew this parallel, so that in hindsight we might recognise Elijah when he comes. 

       In other words, by drawing huge comparison and unity between what John the Baptist said, did and also what happened to him; Jesus has given us the tools we need to recognise Elijah when he comes. John himself admitted he was not literally Elijah when he was asked:

Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
And he answered, “No.”

       John made clear here that he was neither the Messiah nor Elijah or the Prophet; the prophet being Moses. Even here it is clear as to who the religious authorities of the day were expecting to come before Messiah would show up in the last days.

John 1:19-21

       Yet something terrible happened to the Jews regarding their Messiah: 

Just as they had not recognised John the baptist as the one who was to come to prepare the way for Messiah; so killed him. Likewise they did not recognise their Messiah in Jesus; nor expect Him to come first as the sacrificial suffering lamb of God, and so killed Him also; just as Jesus had predicted they would. Likewise just as John himself had bore witness to:

The next day John saw Jesus coming unto him, and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world".John 1:29

       It's therefore reasonable to assume that when Elijah returns, he too will be commissioned to bare witness to Jesus being 'the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world'. Yet there will be a huge difference between the witness of John the Baptist and that of Elijah; which I hope to show to you as we progress and this difference is what makes this whole thing so powerful, wonderful and beautiful.

So what on earth is going on? 

       The way I see it is like this: The last days events as recorded in revelation are, among other things, the time which God has chosen to restore the remnant of the Jewish nation back to faith and back into the commonwealth of divine counsel and salvation. It is the end of their punishment for rejecting and killing their own Messiah; and is the time for the scales to be removed from their eyes regarding these things. 

       In short, their curse is over and God will no longer be separated from them. They will no longer be without their native home and Messiah will be restored to them forever. There are plenty of scriptures in the prophets to substantiate this viewpoint. In fact even in the New Testament the apostle Paul admits that they will be returned to the truth, grafted back in to their own family of God, which they were separated from through unbelief concerning the rejection of their own Messiah.  

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved,as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”

Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, (so that the gospel & salvation could go out to the whole world), but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Romans 11: 25-28

     Israel are going to be shown and led to the truth that Jesus Christ 'was and is' their Messiah and are finally going to believe as a nation; and Elijah as one of the Two Witnesses will play a huge part in this restoration. On that day their eyes will be opened by the witnesses testimony and God will pour out His Spirit and grace on them and they will be saved and all things will be restored; just as the scripture in Zechariah predicted:

"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."
Zechariah 12:10

      Jesus is the Son referred to here. He is also the one who was pierced through. He is also the first born from the dead:

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Colossians 1:18

But who are the fathers?  

        So we have established that Elijah could be one of the Two Witnesses; that through their witness and testimony the Jews will believe on Jesus Christ (Yeshua haMashiach) and be saved: but who are the fathers mentioned in the prophecy of Malachi? 

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” Malachi 4:5-6

       God made covenants and promises with the old testament fathers; promising that Israel would be
saved and would be His people forever. God keeps His promises and will do this not because the Jewish people of those final days deserve it, but because He promised the fathers. 

       Now the fathers (ie Abraham, Isaac, Joseph etc) all were shown the 'still yet to come' Messiah, and they believed by faith; and so were saved because of their faith in what He would come and do for them. 

       Therefore, currently the Jewish fathers who were saved by their faith in the coming Yeshua haMashiach (Jesus Christ) are estranged from current Israel because of Israel's state of unbelief. 

       

       Therefore, through the witness of these Two Witnesses (among other things), end time Israel will indeed believe and be saved; and thus will be reinstated and rejoin their patriarchal fathers. This is done because God promised for the sake of the patriarchal fathers: 'The hearts of the father's will be turned again to the hearts of their children' (or their offspring)

Elijah, along with Moses will witness Jesus Christ to the children of Israel, but what exactly will be witnessed?

Please Continue HERE