Facts about the Two Witnesses.
And why Elijah is not one of them.

1. Revelation 11:4­Two olive trees­Olive trees are symbols of life and healing. Olive trees are regenerative, possessing the ability to regenerate new cells, which allows olive trees to live hundreds, if not thousands of years. Olive is a fruit. Some fruit seeds produce oil, but olives are the only fruit that produces oil. The oil from the olive is healing and it can also be used to provide light when it is burned.

Olive oil contains oleic acid and linoleic acid, and it contains sterols such as beta-sitosterol, cholesterol, delta-7-stigmasterol, stigmasterol, and campesterol. Together, these various compounds can be used:

• externally to reduce inflammation,
• externally to soothe chaffed skin, sun burns, and itching, stings and other skin ailments,
• externally it can be rubbed over areas of internal ailments to provide relief as the oil, along with its’ healing agents are absorbed through the skin,
• internally to increase the production of bile which aids the digestive system,
• internally to aid in weight loss
• internally to provide a protective coating for the liver,
• internally to lower bad cholesterols (LDLs) and lower the risk of heart disease by cleansing the arteries,
• internally to reduce free radicals that cause aging and cell damage which can result in cancer.
• Olive oil has been used to treat muscular, joint, kidney, and chest pains, abdominal chill, typhoid and scarlet fevers, plague, and dropsies, acne, dandruff, seborrhea, eczema and psoriasis. It is used as a laxative, an antacid, and an antidote to irritant poisons and has been used to treat tumors, inflammations, burning ulcers and diabetes.
• Olive leaf tea can lower high blood pressure.

Taken in total, we see the many reasons why God used the olive tree as a symbol of Israel. Israel was a tree planted by God to bring light and new life to a dying world.

2. Revelation 11:4­Two candlesticks­Unlike modern wax candlesticks, the two candlesticks which stand before God are only the container for the fuel that provides the light. The olive oil is the fuel, and God is the one who pours in the fuel. The two candlesticks are John and Daniel. They are the ones whom God used to provide enlightenment to all of mankind concerning the things that will come upon this earth in the end of days when the world will be at its’ darkest hour, and more in need of light and direction than ever before. They will also be the ones who come to remind the world during the Wrath of God of the things that they are being judged for, and enlighten them of those things which remain of the Wrath of God. The seven trumpets and three woes are all a part of the Wrath of God.

3. Revelation 9:12­Second woe­Revelation 9:12 declares the end of the first woe and the fact that there are two others that follow. The second woe begins in Revelation 9:13 and Revelation 11:14 declares the end of the second woe. Everything that is contained between those two verses are in some way part of the second woe. The 200,000,000 horsemen are a part of the second woe. All of Revelation 10 is in preparation for the second woe as God sends John a foreshadow of what his prophecy will be during the second woe. He hears the seven thunders and swallows the book, and is not allowed to divulge any of the content of either, but he seals it all up until that time when he will “prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” More on that later. The second woe does not end until the moment after the two witnesses are slain and taken back into heaven. Only then does Revelation 11:14 declare the end of the second woe.

4. Revelation 11:5­They devour and kill­We are never told that these two witnesses are ministers of the gospel. They don’t get people saved. They have entered into conflict with their enemies through the prophecies that God gives them. Those prophecies are light, but for those who have chosen darkness, they only bring anger, resentment, rage and revenge.

5. Revelation 11:6­They have supernatural powers­They are able to turn waters to blood, stop the rains and perform whatever plague they wish as often as they wish. Jesus reached out to the world with compassion by healing the sick, feeding the hungry and and declaring God’s acceptance of all who believe. He then told us to do the same. The two witnesses are anything but ministers of salvation. They torment the earth (Revelation 11:10) with the message that grace and salvation has passed them by, and that the world must now face the remainder of the punishment of God. What is especially tormenting to the part of the earth where the two witnesses give their testimony­right in the heart of the Middle East from the temple of God­is that they are Jews. And not only that, but the two Jews that God used to forewarn all the world about betraying Israel and following the beast.

6. Revelation 11:3­They wear sackcloth­Sackcloth was frequently worn as a sign of morning and despair in the Old Testament. It was an outward form of self deprivation and humility as one sought an inward repentance towards God. The two witnesses are morning the gross sin and darkness of heart of the people who inhabit the earth after the Church has been removed. They allow themselves no earthly comforts during the time that they must spend with the condemned. They deliver a message of condemnation to the anti-Christ and all who follow him, and a promise of destruction during the final woe­the return of Jesus at Armageddon to take back the earth by force­to all those who wear the mark of the beast.

Before many people!

7. Revelation 11:11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

The New Testament word “before,” number 1909 in Strong’s Concordance, is used 790 times in the Bible. It is a word that is used to show a relationship of time or location between two objects. It is not always translated as before, but it always shows the time or spacial relationship beteen two subjects. The English word used in translation is determined by the usage in the sentence. The Greek word is also translated as before, on, upon, thereon, at, against, over, above, in, by, unto, together, with, through, come to, down to, went to, came unto, ran unto. These words all determine the tiime space relationship between two things.

In the case of Revelation 10:11 we see a particular circumstance where the word is always used to describe someone giving some type of testimony before others. This is in keeping with the rule of the physical relationship between two objects. ie: the one giving the testimony is always in front of, or before, those who are hearing it.

The reason that all of this is important is because some modern interpretations of the Bible change the meaning of the word before, meaning in front of, to words with different meanings like prophesy again about, over, against, or concerning other nations. All of these words lose the King James meaning, and the original intent of placing John physically before kings, nations and peoples once again to prophesy to them, into a less dramatic prophesying about them, which can be then explained away as the completing of the Book of Revelation on the isle of Patmos. Nothing could be further from the truth. John will make a physical appearance once again on this earth, as he stands before all the world to give a prophetic testimony of the faith of Jesus Christ.

The verses below are all those which show the same context of standing before those who hear a testimony in order to pass judgment. The last verse is John’s testimony before the world. Even before he is done with his testimony, the world will pass judgment and attempt to kill him. After his three and one-half year testimony is done, they succeed.

Mt 10:18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

Mr 13:9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.

Lu 21:12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.

Ac 23:30 And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell.

Ac 24:19 Who ought to have been here before thee, and object, if they had ought against me.

Ac 24:20 Or else let these same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me, while I stood before the council,

Ac 25:9 But Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul, and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me?

Ac 25:26 Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write.

Ac 26:2 I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews:

1Co 6:1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

1Co 6:6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.

2Co 7:14 For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth.

1Ti 5:19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.

1Ti 6:13 I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;

Re 10:11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

The God’s Word Version of the Bible is one of the most literal modern translations of the Bible and it confirms the point that is being made above. Most other translations allow for human interpretation and doctrinal corruption of the original meaning of the text.

GWV Revelation 10:11 The seven thunders told me, “Again you must speak what God has revealed in front of many people, nations, languages, and kings.”

Some additional facts­

• The two witness DO NOT prophesy during the Great Tribulation. Their testimony is 3.5 years, the same length as the Great Tribulation, but they appear during the Wrath of God and cleanse the temple after the 2300 day interruption of the daily sacrifice by the anti-Christ.
• According to Daniel 12:11&12 the 2300 days of no sacrifice lasts 1335 days before the Rapture and continues for another 965 days into the Wrath of God until the two witnesses come and remove the abomination of desolation and resume the sacrifice.
• There are many different theories about the 2300 days which attempt to place those days in the past, but not a one of them succeeds. Daniel 8, where we learn of the 2300 days, continually reinforces that the vision in which Daniel learned of the 2300 days was a vision for the time of the end, and not for any time leading up to the end.
• The two witnesses do not preach to people to get them saved, they prophesy against those who refused to get saved when they had the chance. Their prophecy torments those who hear it.
• Their prophesy does not result in anyone getting saved. The Revelation makes it clear that no one repents during the Wrath of God. However, their words could result in scaring people away from cooperating with the anti-Christ. When the armies of the earth gather at Armageddon, and Jesus rides out of heaven to slay them, those who participate in the battle and all who have the mark of the beast will be slain. If those who stay away are heeding a warning from the prophets, they will likely survive the final return of Jesus, but they will not be saved spiritually.

About Elijah

Many theories have been put forth concerning Elijah as one of the two witnesses. None of them are true. Malichi 4:5-6 say, 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Many take this to mean that Elijah is one of the two prophets. However, one of the main reasons they believe this is because they also believe that the two witnesses are primary players during the Great Tribulation. However, as we pointed out above, the two witnesses are a major part of the Wrath of God and not the Tribulation. As such, they do not appear before the great and dreadful Day of the Lord as Malichi says of Elijah.

As we read about the two witnesses in Revelation and Elijah in Malichi we see a stark contrast between the two. Elijah turns the hearts of the fathers and the children back to each other, while the witnesses seem to turn the hearts of mankind against them and what they have to say. Presumably, the hearts of mankind are being hardened even more against God since the two witnesses are only proclaiming the message that God gives to them. The ministry of Elijah in Malichi is one of reconciliation, while that of the two prophets is one of rejection.

The final reason why Elijah cannot possibly be one of the witnesses is because Jesus said that he had already come. In Matthew 17:10-13 He made His disciples to understand that John was indeed the one that was to come. 10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

It’s never a wise thing to contradict what Jesus says. The Bible actually confirms it in Luke 1:15-17 where an angel from the Lord meets Zacharias the high priest and the father of John in the temple and declares to him concerning the arrival of his new son, 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Elijah has already come, and he’s not scheduled to come again.