3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
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.
7 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.
8 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.
9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10 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.
11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Here's what we know about the two witnesses:
1. They prophesy 1,260 days
2. They are protected by fire coming out of their mouth
3. It will not rain during the 1,260 days that they're on the earth
4. They can turn water into blood
5. They can smite the earth with plagues as they wish
6. They are killed by the anti-christ
7. Their bodies will lie in the street 3 days in Jerusalem
8. Everyone on the earth will rejoice and give gifts to one another when they die
9. After 3.5 days they will be resurrected and go up to heaven
First, I want to talk about who these two people could be. The bible doesn't mention specifically who they are in Revelation, but I think the bible does give clues as to who these two witnesses could be.
Case for Moses & Elijah:
Matthew 17 starts off with Jesus taking Peter, James, and John up to a high mountain to show them the transfiguration. What's interesting though is that the last verse of the previous chapter says this:
Matthew 16:28:
28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
So right before the transfiguration chapter, Jesus says that there are some people standing there that will not taste death till they see Jesus coming in his kingdom. Then he takes them up on the mountain and they see Moses and Elijah.
Another thing that Revelation mentions is that it will not rain for 1,260 days which is 3.5 years. The book of James mentions that Elijah prayed for this in the old testament and it didn't rain on the earth for 3.5 years:
So right before the transfiguration chapter, Jesus says that there are some people standing there that will not taste death till they see Jesus coming in his kingdom. Then he takes them up on the mountain and they see Moses and Elijah.
Another thing that Revelation mentions is that it will not rain for 1,260 days which is 3.5 years. The book of James mentions that Elijah prayed for this in the old testament and it didn't rain on the earth for 3.5 years:
James 5:17:
17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
Jesus actually mentioned this drought as he was being led to the cross. Here's what he said in Luke 23:
28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.
30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
31 For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
Jesus actually mentioned this drought as he was being led to the cross. Here's what he said in Luke 23:
28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.
30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
31 For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
I believe verse 31 is talking about the drought during the end times. Notice verse 30 is practically quoted in Revelation 6:16:
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Another one of the miracles of the two witnesses is turning water into blood. Moses did this in Egypt.
Exodus 7:19:
19 And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.
Also, both Moses and Elijah had unusual ends to their life on earth. Elijah was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire.
2 Kings 2:11:
11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Moses died and was buried by God:
Deuteronomy 34:5-7:
5 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.
6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth–peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
Another unusual thing about Moses's body is that Satan tried to do something with the body after it was buried. The book of Jude discusses it briefly.
Exodus 7:19:
19 And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.
Also, both Moses and Elijah had unusual ends to their life on earth. Elijah was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire.
2 Kings 2:11:
11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Moses died and was buried by God:
Deuteronomy 34:5-7:
5 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.
6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth–peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
Another unusual thing about Moses's body is that Satan tried to do something with the body after it was buried. The book of Jude discusses it briefly.
Jude 1:9:
9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
My personal opinion is that the two witnesses will be Moses and Elijah. Some people try to say that Enoch will be one of the witnesses because he was taken to heaven without having to die. They point to the verse in Hebrews that say that it is appointed unto men once to die. The problem with that logic is that aren't there going to be a whole lot of people that don't die who go up to heaven in the rapture? I think the verse in Hebrews is talking about a spiritual death. Similar to how God told Adam he would die the day he ate the fruit. He died spiritually that day, but lived for hundreds of years after that.
Which 3.5 years are they on the earth for?
Daniel's 70th week is basically divided into 2 halves. The abomination of desolation happens at the 3.5 year mark. The first 3.5 years is 1,260 days and the 2nd half is 1,290 days. I'm not going to go through the proof of that timeline in this article.
I believe the witnesses will be on the earth for the 2nd half of Daniel's 70th week. The reason I believe that is because of what happens right after they are taken to heaven.
Revelation 11:12-15:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
13 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.
14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
So right after they go to heaven there's a great earthquake then the angel sounds the 7th trumpet and says "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord...". That's when Christ begins the 1000 year reign.
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