Cutting the
biblical concept of "Witness" loose from the adventuristic
confusion of the cults and sects and returning to a wholly
biblical approach!
An in-depth study of a difficult and much abused
Scripture.
Just who are the
'Two Witnesses' of Revelation 11?
Numerous explanations have been put forward over the years by
various believers. Are they purely symbolic figures? Or are they
actual people who will live, and apparently preach the gospel,
just prior to our Lord's return to this earth? As with all
difficult Scriptures, we need to consider such factors as
context, setting and also factors which might affect us in our
exegetical task and which could lead to us reading things into
the text (rather than the other way around!)
The first thing which we need to take into account in our
consideration of this subject is that references to the Two
Witnesses are confined to just one Bible book; Revelation, and
this is a book written in the apocalyptic style. This might sound
immediately obvious but is amazing how often this factor is
quickly lost sight of, especially, perhaps, in the case of the
biblically more naive. Revelation is a book filled with symbols;
we find beasts emerging from the sea, we see a 'bottomless pit'
described, we find John taking a book from the hands of an angel
and then......eating it! We discover the description of a
fabulously beautiful 'New Jerusalem' descending from heaven to
earth. A city made of a form of gold which appears as glass. We
also have a continual use of numbers which are multiples of
seven. Yes this is a book of intriguing symbols in which eternal
truths are painted in the most ravishing and compelling of
colours! Yet it is patently not the sort of literal or historical
account which we might find in books such as 1&2 Kings (in
the Old Testament), or in the gospels or Acts (in the New
Testament), this fact should immediately alert us to proceed with
caution.
Upon realizing that this wonderful book is written in the genre
of apocalyptic writing, our first task should certainly not be to
press ahead in having a go at interpreting its often bewildering
array of symbols but, rather, to initially stand back and
consider just what was normally involved in this form of writing!
And here all too many have gone astray - they have been careless
here, preferring to apply a 19th & 20th century adventuristic
approach to this book; looking upon it as a challenge to their
heroic biblicism! This approach leads to the view that this book
is a sort of puzzle, but one which can certainly be solved by any
“spiritual” enough to take up its challenge!
But this approach is seriously flawed and has usually been
slow to recognize that most of the book's symbols are firmly
rooted in Old Testament teaching, and should not be cut loose
from that.
Moreover, this approach has normally shown little interest in
taking full account of the genre of apocalyptic writing, and what
can be expected from it.
So, in considering the topic of the Two Witnesses, let us - first
of all - briefly rehearse what we can expect from apocalyptic
literature, then, secondly, consider what the Bible itself says
about the concept of 'Witness'.
Biblical Apocalyptic
Apocalyptic writing - when placed in a biblical setting -
can normally be expected to stress the battle between Satan and
God in this present age. Powerful nations are immediately painted
in dramatic colours and seen as servants of Satan in attacking
God's people. No matter how bad things might get, however,
apocalyptic thought stressed that God and His people ultimately
triumph over their enemies! Everything which happens upon this
earth is included within God's great plan for Mankind, His divine
purposes cannot be thwarted, even though - for the present -
Satan and his demons might cause havoc. When the end of this age
comes, that end will bring huge cosmic disturbances which all the
living will witness. Encouragement of God's people is vital
within this form of writing, Christians are encouraged to
look forward to the time when we will be in the very presence of
God who will wipe away every tear from our eyes! The apocalyptic
form normally occurred within a scenario where God's people were
under foreign domination/suffering religious persecution, but the
message is; it is but a blip in time and God's kingdom is
truly eternal!
But apocalyptic was rarely perceived as a kind of puzzle in which
every symbol was to be cunningly interpreted at every stage -
usually such writing only had a few main points to get across and
would be understandable to all the Godly oppressed! But we
probably do need to recognize a difference here between
Revelation and the other apocalyptic book of Daniel; while it may
well have been the Spirit's purpose not to make much of Daniel
clear to those who first came to it (Daniel 12: 4) Revelation,
apparently, held no such agenda! As its name suggests, it was
meant to be a revealing (Rev 1: 1) - this is quite different to
being a puzzle only meant to be worked out by those smart enough!
The keys to the more difficult parts of this book will be found
elsewhere in the Bible - especially in the Old Testament.
But - for the most part - it is the broad brush strokes in this
book which are more important than the detail (though all too
many 'prophecy buffs' have seen it the other way around!)
With all of this in mind, it will now be helpful to consider the
matter of the Two Witnesses to see how some of these points can
be applied. (For any wanting to go right through the book of
Revelation in, perhaps, a fresh study I would unhesitatingly
recommend the approach of Hendricksen to be found in More Than
Conquerors on Baker Books).
So let us now attempt to sweep aside the frequent abuse which the
subject of the Two Witnesses has suffered (even if often by
well-meaning people), and apply a truly biblical
approach;
The Biblical Concept of 'Witness'
In fact, the concept of 'Witness' is a recurring biblical
theme, especially in the writings of John (the Greek word,
Martureo - witness - occurs 21 times in John's Gospel). When he
came to pen Revelation, John returns to this theme of 'witness'.
Yet it is in the Old Testament, specifically the Torah, that the
vital biblical concept of 'witness' is first introduced. In the
judicial procedure of Israel one witness was never sufficient to
condemn. The approach was, 'By two or three witnesses let
every matter be established' See Deuteronomy 17: 6 & 19:
15. This became a deeply ingrained principle of Jewish law. So,
as with so many difficult Revelation sections, we find help in
the Old Testament. But the concept of 'Two Witnesses' continues
into the New Testament; . Note Matthew 18: 16 & 2 Corinthians
13: 1, and how this principle also came to be applied to solving
disputes within the Church. Moreover, those who were sent forth
with the gospel were clearly commissioned to be the Witnesses
of Jesus!
"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1: 8 -
NKJV)
In fact, the principle of Two Witnesses as testifying to the
righteousness of God is clearly foreshadowed, or typified, in the
ministries of Elijah and Elishah, clear types of John the Baptist
and Jesus respectively! So the first Two Witnesses under the New
Covenant were clearly John the Baptist and Jesus
Himself!
But this principle
of 'Witness' was to continue throughout the Church age; see Luke
10: 1-2. Those sent out with the gospel were to witness 'Two
by two'. When Revelation 11: 3 says, "...I will give power
to my two witnesses", it is speaking of the same power which
was to come upon the Church when the Spirit was given, it speaks
of the age of the Church just as we read in Acts 1: 8. The Two
Witnesses, therefore, symbolize the witness of the Church
throughout the Church age; God wishes the principle of
'Let every matter be established by two witnesses' to be
used by His Church; The world will receive its adequate warning
and the glorious gospel of Christ will indeed be preached ' as
a witness'.(Matthew 24:14). (Hendricksen has, fairly
conclusively, shown that the periods of time in Rev 11: 1-3 refer
to this present age of the Church).
Many came to mistakenly see the mission of the Church as 'race
against the clock evangelism' - that is: preach Christ to
everybody before they die, otherwise they are lost, when no such
Scripture ever says such a thing! God indeed wants His Church to
preach Christ and the message of the gospel all round the world
but not in some desperate arm-twisting manner of getting
everybody to 'accept Christ', but, rather, as a witness. We
cannot rob God of His sovereignty!
The Witnesses and the Olive Trees
The Witnesses are the 'Two Olive Trees' of Rev 11: 4, fulfilling
the prophecy of Zechariah 4: 1-14 which so evidently looked
forwards to the mission of the Church. Notice how the two olive
trees of Zech 4 are so closely associated with the Seven
Candlesticks - verses 2-3 & 11-12. The Seven Candlesticks
appear, of course, in Revelation 1 to 3 where they are clearly
shown to refer to the Church in its various instituitions and
groupings - see Revelation 1: 20. (the difference being, perhaps,
that the Seven Candlesticks refer to the visible church as it
actually functions upon earth - warts and all! Here we see the
visible church functioning in its often flawed forms and
frequently falling short - as we all do!)
The Two Olive Trees and Two Witnesses, however, seem to be
representative of the pure, invisible Church as seen from heaven.
Here the invisible, Spirit-filled Church is reduced to its most
vital component of Witness to the Christ - its most vital
function upon earth! So the Olive Trees are the Two Witnesses,
first foreshadowed by the ministries of Elijah and Elishah and
then initially realized under the New Covenant by John the
Baptist and Jesus, but now continuing to be realized wherever
Christians preach the gospel! So, in a real sense, we are all
part of the mission of the Two Witnesses! It should be seen at
once that this is a wholly biblical approach which does not cut
Revelation loose from the rest of God's Word - which should not
happen.
Once we can see that Revelation 11 is set in the age of the
Church's worldwide mission, we can see that we do not necessarily
need to posit any future specific individuals yet to arrive on
the world scene. As specific individuals, John the Baptist and
Jesus have already come and gone, yet those of us who go out and
witness with the gospel continue to wear their mantle, continuing
the witness of the Church - Luke 10: 1-2, Acts 1: 8. A few
commentators agree that Revelation needs to be 'earthed' on the
rest of God's Word and uphold the principle for a while, but then
appear to suddenly cast aside the principle, indulging in all
kinds of flights of fancy! But we should be cautious! This is the
inspired Word of God which must be treated with respect - read
the warning of Revelation 22: 18-19!
The Witnesses.......Then the End
We now need to return to our text of Revelation 11. Verse 5
speaks of the Witnesses having the power to send fire out of
their mouths in order to devour their enemies, but we must
realize that this book paints in colourful symbols. This may well
simply refer to the power which is granted to the Church at the
present time; compare this with Matthew 16: 19, Matthew 18: 18
and Luke 10: 17. Satan is angry because he cannot prevent the
growth of the invisible, spiritual Church at this time. Of
course, this does not mean that he is unable to keep many people
in religious darkness, he certainly does that; but it
does mean that nobody and nothing can snatch God's
own elect out of God's hand as Jesus Himself said in John 10:
27-29 and Paul underlined in Romans 8: 28-39. Neither does this
growth refer to any particular denominations of course. We just
do not see the true situation from our perspective - indeed, any
more than Elijah did - review 1 Kings 19: 9-10, 18. We may be
assured that the true, invisible Church is growing! Verse 7
speaks of the Witnesses finishing their testimony when the
'Beast' which had emerged from the 'bottomless pit' overcomes
them. This probably speaks of a future world kingdom/ruler who
will stage an all-out attack on Christianity. Indeed, for a very
brief time all witnessing will cease - perhaps the prophecy of
Amos 8: 11-12 speaks of the same time.
Revelation 11: 10 describes global merry-making over the final
complete ban on Christian witnessing all over the world and, yes,
this could well be literal. This should not sound so far-fetched;
even today worldwide persecution of Christians is rapidly
increasing. Indeed, increasing pressure is now being placed upon
Christians not to evangelize even in Britain and America
(lest people of other religions are offended)! But this stopping
of all Christian witnessing will only be possible because the
Church will have concluded its mission and Christ's return is
absolutely imminent! And this is the next thing which we see in
Revelation 11; verses 11-19.
Robin A. Brace, 2000
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