Who Are the

"TWO WITNESSES"

of Revelation?

During the climactic End-Time, God will raise up TWO

WITNESSES who will serve Him as true prophets who

will bring plagues upon the world, and who will warn

the wicked of their sins and evil. Who are these men?

Are the two witnesses of Revelation 11 two angelic beings?

Or are they human? Are they waiting in the wings to fulfill

their calling? Do they know each other? Are they already

active, today, in the Work of God, before being imbued

with extra spiritual power to accomplish their final ministry?

William F. Dankenbring

Who are the "Two Witnesses" of Revelation 11? What is their final role and function in the End-Time Work of God? We read of these two unique and fascinating servants of God:

"And I will give POWER 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 whole earth. If anyone tries to

harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This

is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power

to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying;

and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with

every kind of plague as often as they want" (Rev.11:3-6).

In recent times, a novel new theory has been put forth claiming that these two "witnesses" are not human beings at all, but two angelic messengers sent from heaven -- two "cherubim" -- mighty angels of God. According to the proponents of this theory, these two witnesses 1) do not appear on the scene until after the first "woe" of Revelation, and at the beginning of the "second woe" (Rev.9). This is the same as the sixth trumpet plague, and during this woe a third of mankind dies (Rev.9:13-16). This sixth trumpet woe, we are told, will last 3 1/2 years. The proponents of this theory further tell us that Christ will not return until the end of the 7th trumpet, which will last another 3 1/2 years, during which the seven last plagues are poured out on the hapless earth.

2) The appearance of the two witnesses, we are told, is supposedly after the sealing of the 144,000 for protection during the final plagues poured out by God on a rebellious planet (Rev.7). They appear, ostensibly, after the first woe (fifth trumpet plague), which is supposed to be "an army of evil angels" led by a superpowerful demonic angel.

Who are they? They prophesy for 42 months, or 3 1/2 years, and then are killed, and then "ascend to heaven in full view of their enemies." They are referred to as "two olive trees, two anointed ones" who stand before God.

To "prove" these are two angelic superbeings, cherubim, the author points out that "no man" has ascended to heaven, according to Christ's own words (John 3:13). Furthermore, he says, there were two cherubim who stand in God's presence -- one of each end of the Ark of the covenant, hovering over the mercy seat. Furthermore, they are depicted in Scripture as being made of "olive wood" (I Kings 6:23). Voila! The two witnesses!

Sounds interesting -- even entertaining -- but is this theory true? Does it really have a "leg" to stand on?

We know, of course, that from time to time angels of God can appear as human beings, and have done so. Abraham met with three celestial visitors who appeared as men (Gen.18:1-23). Paul speaks about Christians at times entertaining angels "unawares" (Heb.13:1). However, there is no evidence in all the Scriptures of angelic beings of God ever being KILLED! And we must remember, these two "witnesses" of Revelation, after they finish their ministry and prophecy for three and one half years, are killed!

We read in Revelation 11:

"And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends

out of the bottomless pit shall make WAR against them, and shall

overcome them, and KILL THEM. 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.

"And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall

see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their

dead bodies to be put in graves, 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

dwell on the earth" (Rev.11:7-10).

Note well! God's Word says these two individuals are "PROPHETS"! -- not angels! In every case in the Scriptures, the word "prophet" refers to MEN -- HUMAN BEINGS! The office of "prophet" was held by Abraham, as well as Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, not to mention Noah, Enoch, and the prophet Samuel in the Old Testament. Even king David was also a "prophet" of God (Acts 2:29-30).

There were also "prophets" in the New Testament Church of God, such as Agabus (Acts 11:27-28), as well as Silas and Judas Barsabas (Acts 15:22, 32). The office of "prophet" was part of the established order of rank and responsibility in the Church. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "And God hath set some in the church, first, apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles . . ." (I Cor.12:28). Paul also wrote to the Ephesians, "And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers" (Eph.4:11).

Nowhere in the Bible is an "angel" ever called a "prophet"! Therefore, these two witnesses described in the book of Revelation are TWO HUMAN BEINGS WHOM GOD WILL USE, much as He used Moses and Aaron, also prophets, to witness to Pharaoh, during the time PLAGUES were poured out on Egypt! God will use these two men in a similar way, to pour out similar PLAGUES upon the kingdom of the Beast, the anti-typical fulfillment of ancient Pharaoh!

Ascend Up To Heaven?

But what about the claim that "no man" has ascended up to "heaven"? First of all, notice that when Jesus Christ made that statement, He was clearly referring to the heaven of God's throne (John 3:13). Also, He spoke in the past tense. This statement, therefore, would not necessarily preclude two men in the future, from ascending up to "heaven."

However, we don't need to assume that the heaven of God's throne is referred to at all. When John tells us the two witnesses, when their dead bodies are revived, ascend up to heaven, he did not specify WHICH heaven! The truth is, the

Bible itself speaks of at least three different "heavens." There is the heaven of God's throne (Rev.4:1-3); then there is the heaven where the planets and stars and galaxies circulate (Gen.1:1); and finally, there is the heaven which is the atmosphere of the earth -- the heaven where the birds fly (Gen.1:20).

Which heaven did the two witnesses ascend up to?

Actually, in history, the Bible does record one man, other than Christ Himself, who, like the two witnesses, "ascended to heaven" when his ministry was finished. He was, like them, a prophet of God -- a mighty prophet -- the prophet Elijah! We read the account in II Kings:

"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 asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into

HEAVEN" (II Kgs.2:11).

Elijah was taken to "heaven"! But what "heaven" did he go to? Many have assumed that Elijah never died, and that he was taken to the heaven of God's throne. Some also assume that Enoch never died, because we read in the book of Genesis: "And Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God took him" (Gen.5:24). Does this mean God took him to heaven?

But that would contradict the plain words of the Messiah Himself. So what did happen to Enoch and Elijah?

Did Enoch and Elijah Go to Heaven?

Actually, this mystery is cleared up for us in the book of Hebrews, in the New Testament. The truth is, as the apostle Paul wrote, all the saints of God died. He enumerated specifically Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah, and said: "These ALL died in faith, not having received the promises" (Heb.11:13). Enoch was among these mentioned (verse 5). What did Paul mean, then, when he said that Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him"? (v.5). Men have assumed this meant he went to heaven and never died. But Enoch was human flesh, and all flesh dies (Eccl.3:18-20). "All go to one place; ALL are of the dust, and ALL turn to dust again" (v.19). The Greek word for "translated" here is metatithemi (#3346 in Strong's Concordance) and means, "to transfer, i.e., transport," by impl., "to exchange, carry over, change, remove, translate, turn."

In other words, Enoch was "removed" or "carried over" by God from one place to another, for his own protection. Since he was a prophet of God, and the world hated him for preaching the truth and warning them of their sins, they sought to kill him, as they have done to all God's prophets from the beginning of time. But God saw to it that he was protected -- God removed him from danger, and from their presence, to a "safe place." When his ministry was fulfilled, God "took him" -- that is, He had his angels remove him from danger and carried him to a "place of safety" on this earth. Thus he did not ascend to heaven at all!

What about Elijah? Elijah, who was taken in the sky by a chariot and fiery horses (II Kings 2:11), was not taken to the heaven of God's throne, but also was merely transferred to another location on the earth. This occurred in 896 B.C., according to Ussher's chronology. In 893 B.C., about three years later, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, appoints his son Jehoram as king, at the age of 32 years; he reigned for eight years (II Kings 8:16-18). He was a wicked king and walked in the ways of the kings of Israel (v.18). He married the daughter of Ahab (II Chron.21:6). During his reign, he received a letter from Elijah the prophet who reproached him for his apostasy and warned that he would die of a great disease of the bowels (II Chron.21:12-15).

"And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease. And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness; so he died of sore diseases" (vs.18-19). Jehoram's death occurred in 885, and his disease lasted about two years, so Elijah's letter must have been written and sent about 887 B.C. This would have been about nine years after his supposed "ascension" into heaven via the fiery chariot and horses! Thus Elijah was not taken to the heaven of God's throne, thus contradicting the words of Christ, but was taken through the atmospheric heaven surrounding the earth, and taken to a remote location to live out his life. During this time he wrote the letter mentioned above.

Again, we know that Elijah died from the New Testament witness. In Hebrews 11 we read of him, one of God's prophets who raised a woman's son to life again (Heb.11:32-35). Paul says of all these men, "And these ALL, having obtained a good report through faith, RECEIVED NOT THE PROMISE: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect" -- that is, receive the promises, eternal life and salvation (Heb.11:39-40). Thus they are still waiting in their graves for the resurrection, even as king David is (Acts 2:29).

There is no indication whatsoever that Enoch and Elijah will literally be resurrected and be brought back to earth to be the two witnesses. Rather, God Himself will raise up two men, "in the power and spirit of Elijah," men who are filled with the Spirit of God, the anti-types of Joshua and Zerubbabel (Zech.4-5). One of these men will be the one prophesied to come "in the spirit and power of Elijah," as John the Baptist did before Christ's second coming (Mal.4:4; Luke 1:13-17).

Thus the fact that the two witnesses will "ascend to heaven" when their ministry is completed in no way "proves" that they are "two angels" of God, or two spirit beings!

"Standing in His Presence"

Does the mere fact that the two witnesses stand in God's presence prove that these must be two angelic beings, who stand before God's throne in heaven?

This, too, is not the case at all. True Christians stand in God's presence every day of their lives, as they serve God. Jesus Christ declared, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt.18:20). Moses also was on the earth, and yet stood in the "presence" of God (Exo.33:15). Jonah attempted to flee from God's presence, but found he could not do it (Jonah 1:3). Job, the patriarch, experienced God's presence, and it troubled him, and made him afraid (Job 23:15).

David himself prayed to God, "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me" (Psalm 51:11). He also declared, in prayer, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" (Psalm 139:7).

To stand in God's presence, we don't need to be "in heaven"!

"The Two Olive Trees"

But the individual who claims these are two cherubims from God's throne also points out that the cherubim were fashioned out of "olive wood," and compares that fact to the fact that the two witnesses are called "two olive trees." Does this prove they are angelic beings?

Not at all! Notice!

In the book of Zechariah, we read another prophecy about a solid gold lampstand with seven lights on it, seven channels to the lights, and "two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left" (Zech.4:3). Who were these two "olive trees"? This description introduces a prophecy about God's servant Zerubbabel, a human being, saying:

"This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by

power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty. What are you, O

mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then

he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!'

"Then the word of the LORD came to me: 'The hands of Zerubbabel

have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it.

Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. Who

despise the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb

line in the hand of Zerubbabel'" (Zech.4:6-10).

Zerubbabel was one of these two "olive trees" of the prophecy of Zechariah! He was used mightily of God, against powerful opposition, to REBUILD the Temple of God during his time!

Interestingly, in chapter 3 of Zechariah, we read about another servant of God, the high priest Joshua, with Satan the devil standing at his right hand to resist him and accuse him. Zechariah declares:

"The LORD said to Satan, 'The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD,

who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched

from the fire?' Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the

angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, 'Take off his

filthy clothes.' Then he said to Joshua, 'See, I have taken away your sin, and

I will put rich garments on you.' Then I said, 'Put a clean turban on his head.'

So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the

LORD stood by.

"The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: 'This is what the LORD

Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my commandments,

ten you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give

you a place among these standing here. Listen, O high priest Joshua and your

associates seated before you, who are MEN SYMBOLIC OF TIMES TO COME:

I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. See, the stone I have set in front of

Joshua There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription

on it, says the LORD Almighty, and I will remove the sin of this land in a single

day'" (Zech.3:2-9).

Joshua the high priest was a spiritual leader of Israel during the time of Zerubbabel. He was guilty of sin -- and had to repent of his sins, before God could use him. He bitterly and totally repented, and God kept His promise and gave him a great responsibility, a great service to do -- to restore the true worship of God! He was the other "olive tree." And he, too, was a human being!

Thus the prophecy of Zechariah involved the rebuilding of the Temple of God during the days of Zerubbabel, governor of Judea, when Joshua was the high priest. These two men were used by God to lead in the REBUILDING of God's physical Temple and restoring the true worship of God! The Temple itself had been destroyed by king Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Although the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem in 537 B.C., during the reign of Cyrus, king of Persia, after being in captivity for 70 years, since 607 B.C., when Nebuchadnezzar first invaded the land, Temple reconstruction did not really get under way until 520 B.C., and was not finished until 515 B.C.

Joshua and Zerubbabel

Now notice what Zechariah says about them:

"Then I asked the angel, 'What are these TWO OLIVE TREES on the right

hand and the left on the lampstand?' Again I asked him, 'What are these two

olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?' He replied,

'Do you not know what these are?' 'No, my lord,' I said. So he said, 'These

are the TWO WHO ARE ANOINTED TO SERVE THE LORD of all the

earth" (Zech.4:11-14).

As we can see, therefore, Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel, who were used of God to rebuild His Temple, after the Babylonian captivity, were TYPES of the two END-TIME servants of God mentioned in Revelation 11, who ALSO are called the "two olive trees"! Olive oil, of course is a type of God's Holy Spirit. Therefore, these two men are "sons of oil," or men who will be mightily endowed by the Spirit of God to perform their unique End-Time ministry! In the Hebrew, the word for "anointed ones" here is ben ["son of"] yitshar ["oil," "anointing," as producing light], thus these are the "sons of oil" or "sons of light." They are filled with God's Holy Spirit, and proclaim the true light of the gospel -- the truth of God!

Notice! Cherubims are never called "olive trees" in Scripture, nor are they compared to olive trees. The fact that they were composes of olive wood, in the Temple, is an illustration of the fact that they are filled with God's Spirit, which olive oil is a type of. But they are not called olive "trees."

However, men who are filled with God's Spirit ARE compared to "olive trees" in Scripture! Notice! David declares, "But I am like a GREEN OLIVE TREE in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever" (Psalm 52:8).

God also says of the righteous, that their "children are like olive plants round about thy table" (Psal.128:3). Israel, God's people, are also compared to an olive plant. God says through Jeremiah the prophet, "The LORD called thy name, a green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit" (Jer.11:16). And speaking of Israel after Christ returns, Hosea the prophet declares, "His branches shall spread and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon" (Hos.14:6).

Who could these two men be? Why are they called "sons of oil"?

Men Like Moses and Aaron

This means that like Elijah and Elisha, they will be given a DOUBLE-PORTION of the Spirit of God, which will manifest itself in the mighty miracles and wonders which God will give them POWER to perform, according to His will and direction -- just as Moses and Aaron were led of God to prophesy and pour out mighty plagues upon ancient Egypt to compel Pharaoh to let the children of Israel to go, so these two End-Time servants of God will prophesy plagues on the End-Time "New World Order" led by modern "Babylon the Great," the prophesied Kingdom of the Beast (Rev.13 and 17-18).

In spiritual power they will be like Moses and Aaron, and Elijah and Elisha. One will be the leader, and the other will be working with him as his right hand man -- even as Moses had precedence over Aaron, and Elijah had precedence over Elisha, but they were all used mightily by Almighty YAHVEH, the Lord of heaven and earth!

Moses and Aaron brought a plague of turning waters into blood upon the Egyptians (Exodus 7:14-24). Even so, the two witnesses will turn the waters into blood in the kingdom of the Beast (Rev.11:6). This plague is described in Rev.16:

The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood

like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died. The third

angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they

became blood. Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: 'You

are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One,

because you have so judged; for they have shed the blood of your saints and

prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve'" (Rev.

16:3-6).

God used Moses and Aaron to smite Egypt with nine plagues -- including turning water to blood, frogs, gnats, a plague on livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the death of all the Egyptian firstborn, which Jewish tradition tells us may have involved a seismic earthquake, in which only all the firstborn miraculously died (see Exodus 7-12). The End-Time plagues which will be poured out on the kingdom of the Beast are listed in Revelation 16. These are the major earth-wrenching plagues which the two witnesses of God will announce and prophesy! They include seven horrendous plagues -- ugly and painful sores upon men (Rev.16:2), waters turned to blood (verses 3-6), scorching, intense heat from the sun (verses 8-9), incredible darkness (vs.10-11), drought and diversion of the Euphrates river (vs.12-16), preparing the world for Armageddon -- and a horrendous hail storm and earthquake (vs.17-21), unlike anything the world has ever seen before or experienced!

Notice how similar these plagues are to the ones God inspired Moses and Aaron to proclaim!

Men Like Elijah and Elisha

The fact that the two witnesses will be inspired of God to declare a great drought is directly connected with the power that God also gave to Elijah, who did the same thing! The apostle James wrote:

"Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain,

and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed,

and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops" (James 5:17-18).

The fact that fire will destroy all those who attempt to harm the two witnesses is directly reminiscent of Elijah and Elisha. We read that during the ministry of Elijah, when he sent a message to the king of Judah telling him that he was going to die, because he had consulted with the pagan god of healing, the god of flies, Baal-Zebub, instead of looking to the God of Israel for healing (II Kings 1:1-8), the king became angry and sent several platoons of soldiers to bring Elijah the Tishbite to him. We read the awesome account:

"Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain

went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, 'Man

of God, the king says, "Come down!"' Elijah answered the captain, 'If I am a

man of God, may FIRE come down from heaven and consume you and your

fifty men!' Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men.

"At this time the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The

captain said to him, 'Man of God, this is what the king says, "Come down at

once!"' 'If I am a man of God, Elijah replied, 'may fire come down from heaven

and consume you and your fifty men!' Then the fire of God fell from heaven and

consumed him and his fifty men.

"So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up

and fell on his knees before Elijah. 'Man of God,' he begged, 'please have respect

for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants! See, fire has fallen

from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have

respect for my life!'

"The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, 'Go down with him; do not be afraid of

him.' So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king. He told the king,

'This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to

consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?

Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You

will certainly die!' So he died, according to the word of the LORD that Elijah

had spoken" (II Kings 1:9-17).

Elisha was called of God to be Elijah's assistant. He was not somebody whom Elijah selected but a man whom God Himself picked (I Kings 19:15-21). When the time came that God was going to remove Elijah from the scene, to take him up in a whirlwind (II Kings 2:1), Elisha traveled with him, refusing to leave his side. They journeyed first to Bethel (vs.1-2), then to Jericho (vs.3-4), and then to the Jordan river (vs.5-6). They crossed the Jordan, as Elijah struck the river with his cloak or mantle, and the waters of the river parted, forming a dry path for them to walk across (v.8). At this point, Elijah asked Elisha what it was that he wanted. Notice:

"When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, 'Tell me, what can I do for

you before I am taken from you?' 'Let me inherit a DOUBLE PORTION of

your spirit,' Elisha replied. 'You have asked a difficult thing,' Elijah said, 'yet

if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours -- otherwise not.'

"As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire

and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up

to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and called out, 'My father! My