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| The Identity of the Two Witnesses of Revelation Once again, I am going against the conventional wisdom of the majority of bible scholars and eschatology experts who, for the most part, believe the identity of the two witnesses to be Moses and Elijah. My feeling is that they are only half right. I think that they are right about Elijah. Some of the miracles the two witness are to perform were performed by Elijah, such as: Revelation 11:6 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. Elijah did those things. 1 Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. Although Moses performed the miracles of turning water into blood and sending many other plagues on the Egyptians. However, Elijah was the one who did not die, but was caught up into heaven. As it is “appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” (Hebrews 9:27). Therefore, I think Elijah is one of the two witnesses. Since everyone is appointed to die once, Elijah did not die yet. The two witnesses will be killed at the end of their ministry: Revelation 11:7 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. Who then is the other? Here are two clues: John 21:21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? 22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. Revelation 10:11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. Jesus told Peter that if it is his will that John “tarry” until his return, what business was that of his, hinting that he might keep John from dying until his return. And then in Revelation John is told that he must prophesy again before many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings. We know that the Apostle John was not martyred, although all the other apostles were. There is no record in the bible of the death of the Apostle John. There are extra biblical reports stating that John died peacefully in his sleep in Ephesus. I have no way of knowing whether this is correct or whether, since there was no report of his being martyred, the belief that he died a natural death is just a speculation. Everything I have been able to find concerning the death of John comes from the Roman catholic church tradition. There is no verifiable information about the death of John to be found. In light of the fact that (1) Jesus hinted at John “tarrying”, which does not necessarily mean on earth but could mean that he was brought to heaven, just like Elijah and that these two are awaiting the time to return for their final ministry and eventual death, and (2) the promise to John that he will have to prophesy again sometime in the future makes the identity of John as the second witness a compelling argument, I think. |
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