Preface: I began piecing together this post months ago because of the plethora of "two witnesses" that have appeared on the Internet over the past decade and especially in recent years, and despite their utter failure to demonstrate any of the characteristics of the biblical entities described in the book of Revelation, chapter 11, many appear to have gained a substantial following of deluded individuals. This is a horrific state of affairs but is in no way unexpected. The jottings below are a distillation of just some of my personal notes on the subject but I hope that they suffice to bring some clarity on this issue where none seems to exist and, currently, only chaos reigns. I do not apologise for its considerable length since, as mentioned, it is already quite distilled.
Note, however, that from time to time I may correct some grammar or spelling mistakes or bring forth into the light something not quite clear, so this post, as with any other, will be updated, but the primary message will remain intact.
Regarding the title of this post, perhaps a better question to ask is, "Does it matter who they are?" Nevertheless, let us delve a little into the character and purpose of the two witnesses since their genetic make-up is really of no concern, except perhaps with regards to the question of what they are, but their character, their spiritual make-up is most definitely worthy of our consideration.
I will not go too deeply into this subject for, although I have written a substantial volume of notes on this for my personal study, only some things need be said to help clear up some of the incredible confusion that has arisen over recent years regarding the identity and purpose of the two witnesses referred to in Revelation chapter 11. This confusion gives rise to the plethora of false prophets claiming to be one or both of the two witnesses, in effect, acting as a demonic doorway into peoples' minds. Truth is never in confusion. Truth brings peace, which is freedom.
To begin with, is God not sovereign? Can He not choose whom He will to accomplish His plans? It fascinates me that so many would think it necessary that people from the distant past should come back as the two witnesses, namely the most common belief that this will be the actual physical manifestations of the original Moses and Elijah. Other widely held, though less common, beliefs include Enoch and Elijah, Aaron and Moses, and so forth.
There are numerous scriptures that can be quoted to show how these possibilities are not based in biblical scripture but I will point out some scripture and one general fact about all biblical scripture as themselves witnesses, and that should be enough.
Firstly, the Lord, Yeshua, clearly indicated that John the Baptiser was the fulfilment of the appearance of Elijah as described in the old testament books, particularly in the last verses of the last book, the book of Malachi.
Malachi 4:5 ASV Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come.
Matthew 11:12-15 ASV And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force. (13)For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. (14)And if ye are willing to receive it,this is Elijah, that is to come. (15)He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Matthew 17:10-13 ASV And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come? (11) And he answered and said, Elijah indeed cometh, and shall restore all things: (12)but I say unto you, that Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they would. Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them. (13)Then understood the disciples that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
Twice did Yeshua declare that John the Baptiser was the Elijah that was to come. In the first instance He made it clear that it was not necessary for one to accept that John was the Elijah to come but that one could, if one chose to, accept that he was. In the second instance He appeared to suggest that Elijah was yet to come but likewise also that he did, in fact, come. As for Malachi's prophecy, he said that Elijah would come before the great and terrible day of Jehovah, but there is nothing to imply how soon before that day, and reading it as if it only means in the few days left immediately preceding the second coming of the Lord is not actually supported by the scripture, though not ruled out, either. It could be at any time from the time of Malachi right up until that “great and terrible day”.
Some will argue that Yeshua made his statements with a conditional requirement, that being that it is so if you can accept it, and thus there must necessarily be a future occurrence of the actual original Elijah returning in order to ensure that the prophecy is fulfilled. However, I strongly disagree with that reasoning because God does not do things in indefinite ways and because, I believe, it is not the purpose of the Lord's comment. Why would the God of all glory and all creation seem uncertain about His own plans? Are not the words of Christ directly from the Spirit of the Living God? The Lord made that comment for a different reason, being that believing John the Baptiser was the Elijah to come was not essential to their faith and walk with God. They could happily continue in their faith in God without having known or believed that John was the Elijah to come and there would come no harm to them, they would not be impoverished as a result.
The reason for this is, I believe, that the appearing of Elijah was not for the sake of the believers but for the sake of the unbelievers, to bring testimony to them of the coming of the Messiah. When Yeshua made that comment, He had just been speaking to John's disciples who were sent by John to ask Yeshua if He was the one they were waiting for. As they departed, He turned to the multitudes and continued speaking, clearly also intending that John's disciples would hear this before they left. John's disciples already expected Him based on John's teachings about the coming Messiah and, in all likelihood, so did the multitudes that were listening, or they would not have been present.
This was not a crowd of pagans or atheists or corrupt teachers of the law. They were believers in God who had come to see and hear for themselves what appeared to be a possible Messiah. Was it necessary for them to believe that John the Baptiser was the Elijah that was to come according to Malachi? More simply and clearly put, would disbelieving that John was the Elijah that was to come affect their salvation? The simple answer is no, it would not, so it was not essential to their well being to believe that John was the Elijah that was to come. The Lord was not about to tempt them into error by testing them on who or what John was, for such would be a stumbling block to those with an, as yet, somewhat immature understanding of the scripture and of God. Present day misunderstandings of scripture abound due to a lack of careful consideration of the context in which events occur or statements are made. Without proper context, words mean nothing.
The other argument with regards to Elijah being yet to come is because of the statement, “Elijah indeed cometh and shall restore all things...”, implying that should “all things” not be restored, then Elijah is yet to come. However, Yeshua continues that sentence with an emphatic statement, “... but I say unto you, that Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they would.” (Emphasis highlighted with italics). In this statement, there is no given condition upon which one cannot accept that Elijah has already come. The emphasis made is in the phrase, “... I say unto you, that Elijah iscome...”. This is neither indirectly suggestive nor uncertain. The Lord was clear that Elijah didcome. This statement was not made to a multitude to whom the Lord spoke in parables but to His friends, His disciples, to whom he revealed the secrets, which are the true teachings or precepts of God, the knowledge of the kingdom, in plain language. He made no bones about it, Elijah did come.
So, on the one hand, Yeshua said that Elijah isto come and has done so, if those listening are able to accept it, yet on the other hand He said that Elijah had indeedalready come, no ifs about it. How can this be? We will see shortly why one statement in no way negates the other and that they are actually in perfect agreement.
The mistake made by far too many people is to analyse scripture on the understanding they already possess, with all of its flaws and lack of correctly structured logic but, instead, one must analyse one's own thinking on the basis that the scripture is truly inspired by God. Do not check scripture for correctness according to your thinking, rather, check your thinking for correctness in accordance with the scripture. There is no need to worry about mistakes of translation and such for the Lord always knew what would be and has accounted for it all. Just trust Him, not yourself. Scripture is the reference so please do not attempt to shoe-horn it into your way of thinking but shoe-horn your thinking into the way of the scripture. Any errors that need clearing up so as not to mislead you, the Lord will cover for you... as He does for me... assuming you actually do trust Him to do so.
Moving on... what are the things that are to be restored or, perhaps, were restored? Some say that He spoke of the temple services and worship, but all that ritual, though necessary primarily as a teaching aid at the time, was only a foggy picture of what was to come when the Lord Himself came to establish the eternal covenant, that which we understand as the new testament, a new and better covenant. Having established it then there was no more need of animal sacrifices and other such things as existed in times past. Those were only an outward expression, a parable if you like, of the true worship that would be established in true believers. The temple is where the Spirit of God dwells. When Christ first came, the Holy Spirit dwelled in Him, so He is, in fact, the new temple, but this is also true of later believers who have received the Holy Spirit, each one being a temple of God. There is no further need of imperfect, decaying, physical temples of stone and wood built by the hands of sinful man for now we have temples built by God, living stones that, once they are gathered together at the Lord's return, will be assembled into the full expression of God's living, earthly temple, which is His earthly government. On a side note, this should also cast some light on the meaning of the 144,000 and what they actually are. Remember, also, that these are not simply all Jews; they are from all the scattered tribes that are across the whole face of the earth, all sons of God brought into His family through the blood of Christ. These are the living-stones I spoke of in a previous post, these are they whose faces will shine with the light of the Glory of God. They who will teach and judge mankind on earth for the millennial reign of Christ, the millennial Sabbath, the day of peace preceding the great judgement.
So, what are these things that are to be restored? Another argument is that they are the correct understandings of truth, that is, of the righteous and foundational law of God, and the true worship of God. This, I think, is an argument with merit. The problem that arose since the establishment of the earthly worship of God through earthly structures and earthly means is that it is imperfect and man's understanding of God and, thus, of His law is flawed and has grown increasingly corrupt over the ages, returning to a state much like that just prior to the great deluge of the days of Noah. This was most clearly demonstrated by the abuse of power by the Pharisees in the days of Yeshua and is also clearly seen in the many false doctrines of the modern so-called “Christian church”. A full restoration is, indeed, in order and it would seem that the two witnesses will be involved in this process. Worship is intimately tied to righteousness and law, for true worship is to make God the centre of one's whole life, and this means to obey Him, thus walking in righteousness. The work of the Holy Spirit is to bring a person to that place where he walks in righteousness and by the very nature of his new, inner character, is in continual obeisance to God without having to even think about it. At that point, the new, Godly nature has become fully integrated into that person's psyche. This is precisely what God means when He says that He will write His law on the tablets of our hearts.
So, regarding the coming of Elijah, am I saying that the original Elijah must yet come?
That John the Baptiser was the Elijah that was to come simply means that in spirit they were essentially identical, meaning that their understanding of truth, the way they thought about things in terms beyond a mere physical existence, the way they related to both God and mankind, and most of all, their motives and desires to serve God, and so forth, were all very much alike.
The physical body does not define a man, for the body is actually both a dwelling place for a spirit and its vehicle in the physical world, a kind of mobile home for a spirit, and incredible though the body may be, the spirit or core of a man is at the seat of consciousness, the driver's seat, and that is not directly a part of the physical body although it is interfaced to the body via the brain. Think of it this way: the body is analogous to the car, the brain to the car's controls and console and the man is analogous to the driver who manipulates those controls and observes the displays in the console to determine his current (outward) situation. If we could strip away their physical bodies and leave just the spirit (the inner character) in place, then having Elijah and John stand side by side we would probably have great difficulty distinguishing between them, that is, they are spiritually as identical twins. This is what it means to have the same spirit and thus to be the same. Using the name, Elijah, provided for the listening disciples a reference to which they could look in order to understand the defining character of John the Baptiser and the true nature of his purpose. On another side note, it should be apparent that when the "driver" is in darkness, it is an easy thing for a demonic "back-seat driver" to be present and manipulate the true occupant of the vehicle without his knowing it, for he is, after all, in darkness. Do not be surprised that many "thoughts" one may have are just the babblings of demons in the background. Indeed, much of that continual noise, that lack of peace and quiet in the mind, is the direct result of the long-term influence on the brain of such demonic activity, both internally and externally imposed. Clearly, then, the extreme case of demonic possession arises when the "back-seat driver" has gained a greater level of control and access to the physical being than the rightful occupant, who, had he understood what was happening, had he light to see, could have prevented it. Many actually invite demons in by their willful wickedness, for evil is the dominion of demons, righteousness and holiness the dominion of God. The presence of the Holy Spirit will ultimately drive out that demonic presence (and I am not overstating it when I say that every single human being on earth is subject to this problem to one degree or another), but the damage done to one's psyche can take a lifetime to repair. The Spirit of God really has a lot of work to do.
Continuing, a man is not defined by his appearance or his physical make-up but, rather, he is defined by the things he says and does for these come from the "heart", the seat of consciousness, the core, wherein is found the defining character, that is, the spirit, of a man. Elijah and John did have the same defining core character, that is, the same spirit. The failing of modern teachings on these issues appears to mainly arise from the lack of understanding of just what “spirit” actually is. To have the Holy Spirit means to have been imbued with God's essential characteristics, and since the whole of creation was brought into being by the Spirit of God, it is in perfect agreement, or “resonance” if you like, with that Spirit, with its modus operandi and, thus, with those who have been imbued with that Spirit. By this can miracles come about, for miracles are not a deviation from God's natural law but rather are a manifestation of it working in the natural realm with the presence of the Holy Spirit. Decay comes about because of the lack of God's Spirit, being the result of natural processes left to run down, another way of saying, death, and it is in this condition of physical reality that we have based our understanding of the laws of nature, being the way it behaves without the presence of God, the way it behaves in a state of perpetual decay. Some time in the future I may go into some detail about the Garden of Eden, the temptation and what it actually did to mankind, why mankind fell for it and the consequences thereof, the issue of free will and additionally, how the sacrifice of the Lord brings about the reversal of the death of mankind without ever breaking faith with justice, for without justice, everything would cease to be. Furthermore and tied into all this is the correct understanding of eternal death, hell (sheol, hades, gehenna) and so forth. The task of explaining this in detail is really for the two witnesses, but the Lord has given me some insight into it for the purpose of priming the elect in order that they may recognise the two witnesses when they come into full public view. More will come in due course. However, do not misunderstand what I have said on what is spirit and think that the Spirit of God is not really an entity in itself, for it is more real than anything physical, since all things that exist in our physical realm came into being by that very Spirit, by the irreducibly complex information it brought to bear on a null and void realm. God's Spirit underpins our very existence and, thus, is existence itself. As Yeshua said, "God is a Spirit." (John 4:24). Character, spirit, is true reality, and all things are defined by it. This is true in all respects and from all viewpoints, whether scientific, philosophical, religious, political,... whatever. Nothing else need exist except God, for God is existence.
To help one understand more clearly how a man is truly defined I will simply ask; who is more of a son? The man who has his father's genetic code but has no similarity in character to his father or the man who is identical to his father in character regardless of whether he came from the same or a different genetic parent? The genes of your body only define the structure and operating specifications of the vehicle you are piloting, the temple in which you reside, but they do not define you. They provide the mechanism for the outward expression of your spirit.
It is your character, that is, your spirit that defines you for it is that which determines your motives and thus your behaviour, whether good or evil. From that defining character, from the “heart” which is your core wherein is defined your spirit, come the issues of life and death, the words and actions that either justify you or condemn you. It is the evil that arises from there which defiles a man, and not that which enters into the body. Bad fuel makes the vehicle run badly and wears it out quickly but bad thoughts, words and actions defile and destroy the man himself. We are all born with the fallen, defiled and, essentially, dead spirit of Adam, of man, so we are all still-born, and the baptismal process, wherein we are imbued with the Spirit of God, is literally a resurrection of that dead spirit with a Spirit of Life, that being of God. For God is Spirit, God is existence, existence is life. The physical resurrection can only follow this, for all things of the physical are a reflection of that which is of the spirit, all things physical follow what occurs in spirit. Again, there will be more on this in later posts when the time is right.
When a person hears the true word of God, he is given a tiny seed of God's perfect character, and if planted in good soil (a sufficiently "soft" heart, that is, humility) and watered (the Holy Spirit) and fed (the Word) it grows and eventually comes to dominate the core of that person; he develops characteristics likened to those of the Lord Yeshua and therefore to God. He may have been adopted out of the sons of Adam and into the sons of God but the rebirth of his spirit into the likeness of God means he has become a genuine son of God, and this is ultimately completed at the resurrection when his decaying body of death, marred by sin inherited from Adam, is replaced with a perfect body that will endure eternally. The work of the Spirit starts at the core and works outward, this being the establishment of the Kingdom of God, which unlike earthly kingdoms that are foisted from an external source upon a person, starts gently at the internal core of each kingdom member, having been willingly received. It is the one whose character is like his father's who is a true son despite there being no direct genetic linkage. Likewise, those who are sons of God and share God's character (inward spiritual make-up) despite their own varied personalities (outward soulish make-up) and differing genetic specifics, are siblings, they are brothers and sisters in Christ.
Based on this we can see that “Elijah” can come again and again and again, as long as the same inward character is found in those who are the “Elijahs” to come as was found in the first Elijah. Therefore, we can indeed say that Elijah has come and may yet come again, but if so, exactly who that will physically be, though somewhat irrelevant, remains to be seen. It is, therefore, reasonable to believe that at least one of the two witnesses will have the “spirit of Elijah”. Perhaps they both do, so that the last word of Malachi is perfectly fulfilled with nothing that needs be said left unsaid.
One final argument against the appearance of the original physical Moses and Elijah is that there is no precedent anywhere in scripture in which God used a non-contemporary person (from the past) to accomplish some earthly task. This is true of the scripture as a whole. To suddenly do so, when all of the book of Revelation can only be understood using scriptural precedent through the eyes of the Holy Spirit, would throw a spanner in the proverbial works. Yes, God is sovereign and can do as He wishes, but God is also orderly for if He were suddenly chaotic then we would no longer recognise Him or be able to relate to Him in the Spirit, we would no longer see Him as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. A sudden change in the way a shepherd behaves will most certainly scatter the sheep. Such is not the way that the Lord has taught us for it is not the way He behaves.
Additionally, it is not in keeping with justice since only a contemporary human being can speak from his own personal experience to his contemporaries. For this simple reason, among others, we can expect that the two witnesses will be contemporaries of others at the time of their ministry, having been physically born into that era. If the event of their appearance is coming soon, and I believe that it is, then they are alive now and were born into this world in some recent decade, perhaps after the re-emergence of Israel as a nation but not so recent that they are young and inexperienced in their walk with God, or at least, not by the time their ministries begin.
Now, as for the idea that the two witnesses are anything other than two human beings, let me destroy that nonsensical notion once and for all. The scripture clearly calls them "these two prophets" (Rev 11 : 10). Again, using scriptural precedent, we can see that there exists NO precedent for a prophet to take any form other than that of a human being. This rules out the possibilities that they are books (old and new testament sections of the bible) or tablets of stone or cherubim or angels or nations or churches or any kind of corporate body. The fact that their dead bodies end up lying in a street in Jerusalem supports the view that they are individual human beings, since such a situation with a church or nation or a book or a piece of stone makes no sense, even allegorically.
Some will say that it is all allegorical or all just symbolic, but this brings the scripture to a place of meaninglessness. How are we to understand it? What does it mean to say that a book or a stone or a church kills its enemy with fire from its mouth? The word is emphatic in its language, here, since it speaks of the enemy being killed, though some would say it means destroyed and that means only to silence the enemy (a severe stretch of the imagination), but it is in reference to a person, and what is more, destruction of a person in the scriptures always refers to the taking of his life.
How does a book or a nation resurrect and ascend into heaven and what does it mean if it is only symbolic? Given that the street referred to is in a city known spiritually as “Sodom and Egypt”, then are we to also assume that the city that is symbolically“Sodom and Egypt” is also symbolic in keeping with the symbolic nature of the rest of the text (so we have symbols of symbols or symbols within symbols, confusing multi-levelled abstractions) or is it a literal city referred to by symbols and now we have mixed symbolic and literal language with no way to discern which is which? At this point one can twist the scripture to mean anything at all. When the clear and obvious meaning, taking into account all necessary precedent, is ignored, one can no longer comprehend the scripture. God is not the author of confusion! Some may argue that a literal interpretation brings us to the point where we have fire-breathing men but on this point we can find a precedent to infer a more meaningful interpretation.
Jer 5:14 ASV Wherefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
In this example, a singular human being (a prophet) was to speak a word to the people and the destruction came in the form of a ruthless, invading army. That they took lives was no metaphor at all. The word did destroy the people as a fire consumes wood, rapidly and violently, with fiery fervour, for when God sends out His word it never returns to Him void but accomplishes all that it was intended to accomplish.
Isa 55:11 ASV so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
By the example of Jeremiah 5:14, noted above, we see that the word itself is the consuming fire and we can deduce that the fire from the mouths of the two witnesses is a word bringing down a curse upon their enemies, a curse resulting in death. The means of this death could be anything at all, and according to justice would perhaps be in line with the means by which the enemies of God intended to destroy the two witnesses, but it is the mere act of coming against the two witnesses with the primary motive being an attempt to kill them that results in death for those who attempt such foolishness. Of course, fire could literally come out of the mouths of the two witnesses but scriptural precedent does not require it.
The silly attitude that prophetic scripture is either all literal or all figurative is childish and ignores the very intent of scripture – not to obscure but to inform. It is not a puzzle for men to solve in order that they may boast of their “wisdom” to others. It is a simple word that a person of childlike humility, unhampered by a desire to prove the possession of any superior intellect, could understand. In this regard, it is always the simplest yet most meaningful and scripturally consistent interpretation that should stand. It astounds me, time and time again, how the clear and obvious understanding of the scripture seems to persistently evade the arrogant, hiding in plain sight as it were. No, God does not hide it; it is we who obscure it by our pride. We often make the same mistake as the scribes and Pharisees did; refusing to enter into the kingdom through the only gateway and preventing others from entering, also. Because of our pride, we fail to understand the revelations of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven given to us by the Lord, and then teach others the same errors, thus obstructing the way to more abundant life, or even life itself.
Mat 23:13 ASV But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter.
There were scribes and Pharisees who loved to be considered above others. They were happy to use the word of God in a "letter of the law" legalistic sense in order to create endless legislation to control, manipulate, oppress, beat down and ruin others who did not walk exactly according to their demands, but they completely ignored the spirit of the law, the Spirit of God. They showed neither love nor mercy for their fellow men, but were all too keen to demand tithes, just taxes for their supposed beneficence, and when the presence of the Lord caused them to feel threatened, to fear losing their power, they plotted his murder. Looking at leaders in our age, has anything really changed? Not according to Solomon...
Ecc 1:9 ASV That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
Of course, Solomon was quite correct.
Did you ever wonder, given that the Lord said that His followers would perform even greater miracles than He did, how is it we see none of this in our modern western churches? All the mainstream teachings and their promulgators are now corrupt, not one knows the way, not one walks with God, not one is perfectly, or even adequately, attuned to the Spirit of God and thus also to His creation. The two witnesses have much work to do in their short ministry but the Lord's ministry was of the same duration and that changed the world. Fear not, my friend, for the two last prophets will also change the world in very short order. Avoid creating strong expectations of who they may be and you are more likely to recognise them by their fruit.
Getting back to the topic, others may argue that since angels brought messages to men from God about future events or other relevant word from God then this qualifies the angels as prophets. No, it does not. Angels are messengers but are never once labelled as prophets in scripture, neither in the modern translations nor in the ancient writ. The word, angel, comes from the Greek, "angelos", which literally means, messenger. In the Hebrew, angelis a word pronounced mal'ak, meaning “to despatch”, and a prophet can also be called as such when acting purely in the role of a messenger, but the Hebrew word translated as prophet is pronounced nabee, meaning one who is inspired and comes from another word, pronounced naba, meaning to prophecywhich is to speak or sing by inspiration. No angel is ever referred to in that way and nor is any other entity besides singular human beings.
Yes, a prophet is also a messenger but he receives his messages via supernatural inspiration, typically in dreams, visions or direct inspiration from the Holy Spirit of the Ever Living God, though sometimes angels interact with him, but he is spiritually inspired of God, by the Spirit of God. Not only does a prophet speak forth messages from God but he preaches on the truth and this, too, is always inspired teaching from the Holy Spirit, that is, if he is God's true prophet.
Angels do not preach and they are literal messengers in that they are told directly what to do or convey and they go and do it. It is important to remember that no angel was ever referred to as a prophet. It is not appropriate or just for an angel, who is not human, to preach to humans and admonish them from the standpoint of a human being faithful to God, for what right has one who is not suffering the human condition to tell humans how to live and what to do or not do? God's ultimate solution to this very problem, among other problems, was to send us a human Messiah, His only-begotten son, Yeshua.
Additionally, can an angel be killed? If so, of what meaning to human salvation is the “resurrection” of an angel? It is completely inappropriate and nonsensical! It is not just.
Further to this, the two witnesses will be men because it is not an appropriate role for a woman to represent God the Son (they are Hiswitnesses in the flesh), and these two prophets represent the Lord before mankind. Additionally, no female prophet mentioned in scripture acted to bring forth miraculous signs of the form that were brought forth by Elijah; instead they all acted only as messengers, much as most other prophets did. A female prophet cannot be an "Elijah to come". Otherwise, existing scriptural precedents would not be met.
Nor can the two witnesses, being two in the flesh, be a married couple for a married couple can only stand for one since they are one in the flesh. Those who say they are two are completely wrong for the scripture is against them, and since the two witnesses are both of God then they already have only one Spirit, so the only possible division left, from which we can infer the presence of two, is that of the flesh, but a married couple is only one flesh, so they cannot be the two witnesses. It would be a miscarriage of justice, for a married couple can, being intimately entwined, act only as a single witness. Disregard all claims by married couples claiming to be the two witnesses. There are several of those, one in particular which has gained a great and deluded following. Rather, pray for them, that their eyes be opened and that they repent.
In regards to angels, of course there will be detractors who say that Moses received word directly from God, so why cannot angels be the two witnesses since they also receive word directly from God? This, of course, ignores scripture wherein no angel is ever labelled a prophet but, yes, Moses did indeed receive word directly from God; of that there is no question. However, for the reasons stated above regarding the necessity of maintaining justice and the fact that no angel was ever labelled a prophet, an angel, not being human, is not a suitable direct representative of Yeshua the Christ for the purposes of testifying before an unbelieving mankind, and the two witnesses are Christ's two witnesses. Recall that it was Christ who, through the agency of His angel, brought the Revelation to John on Patmos. We see in this example that the angel is a messenger and only a messenger, but Christ is God hidden within a human, specifically a man, so Christ's representatives as witnesses to mankind must be men or there would otherwise be a miscarriage of justice. There must be left absolutely no legal grounds for accusations against God, even frivolous ones. Of course, God is perfect in all His ways, so no such possibility can ever exist.
In any case, how would the bizarre spectacle of the “resurrection” of an angel serve as a testimony of the truth of the resurrection of the saviour of mankind, who is Himself a man?
On a side note, this issue of justice is the reason we cannot ever have a non-human messiah (extraterrestrial or angelic or animal or whatever) and why animal sacrifice accomplishes nothing for our salvation, nor can non-humans find salvation in Christ Yeshua, for it is a fundamental requirement of justice that like can only stand in for, or be a direct substitute for, like. Anybody considering altering their genetic code into something no longer fully human would cease to be human at all and risks total loss of a chance for salvation. God did not create the types with blurred boundaries. Human is human, dog is dog, mouse is mouse, oak tree is oak tree, and so forth. If the wicked offer you “eternal life” or great convenience while in this fallen state but it requires that your DNA be altered with something not of human form, rest assured that what you are actually receiving is eternal death. Though I have previously said that the physical body is the vehicle, it is also the home of the spirit within, since for a spirit to be that of a man it must be in the body of a man. As for the “mark of the beast”, any mark of the beast that identifies one as now the property of the beast must, by the clear legal requirements of justice, go with the beast to eternal destruction. Allow no markings, implants, genetic modifications, tattoos or any invasion of your flesh. Though damaged and decaying, it is still a sacred place in which the Holy Spirit can or does dwell.
The two witnesses testify for that is what witnesses do as witnesses of something they have seen or come to know, without a shadow of doubt, as the truth; in this case, the reality of a risen Messiah. All true, Holy Spirit filled Christians are witnesses of the truth but these two referred to in Revelation chapter 11 are given a special role and ministry to complete. They will testify, to the world at large, of the truth of Christ Yeshua, of His death and resurrection, of salvation through Christ and the need for it due to sin, and they will also restore the correct understanding of the doctrines of truth currently so corrupted in the "church", especially with regards to the correct meaning and understanding of what Christ Yeshua taught, the issues of mercy and justice, the coming judgement, the false causes and very real penalty for sin, its consequences and so forth. Furthermore, since at that time the false messiah (the son of perdition) will already be present in Israel (the two witnesses are resurrected immediately prior to the true Messiah's return so the false one will already have come), the two witnesses will, by their testimony, expose him for what he really is, whether anybody listens and believes them or not. Many will not but many Jews will start to turn back to God.
Finally, they will seal their testimony, to mankind, of the resurrection of the Lord by their own death and resurrection, bringing glory to God and to His Christ. The great earthquake that follows will be a reflection of that which occurred upon the death of the Lord, but instead of many dead rising, many living will go to their deaths. Having completed the process of bringing the full testimony of the truth to the whole world as was commanded to us by the Lord, they will ascend into Heaven and testify to the Lord Himself, as witnesses of the condition of the world, that the sin of the world is full and the world is ready, their mission accomplished, so the end of mankind's evil self-rule will come. The kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of God and of His Christ, in perfect accord with the scripture and in perfect accord with the Lord's prayer.
Thus we see that the two witnesses have a dual witness and testimony role, both as witnesses of Christ testifying before mankind of the truth of Christ and as witnesses of the condition of mankind testifying before Christ of the truth of the complete corruption and full measure of sin of the world of mankind. This is similar to what happened in Sodom when those with the Lord entered therein to witness for themselves the state of that wicked city. Although we could argue that they were angels and use this as a precedent for the witnesses of Revelation being angels (despite the fact that the scriptures referred to them as men), the situation is different because it was the Lord Himself who came down as a man in His pre-existent formto witness the state of that city and in combination with the testimony of prior human witnesses (whose cry was so great as to cause Him to come in the first place) we have at least two, if not more, human witnesses involved. Let us not forget, also, that the two witnesses are prophets, this being the most clear-cut precedent for their humanity. The angels themselves need not testify except to testify about other angels, namely the fallen ones, but we read that they dare not even bring a railing charge against the devil, having respect for the authority originally given to him by God. The satans (those fallen angels with a common spirit we call satan) continually bring accusations against mankind (after all, that is the meaning of satan) but such accusations are invalid because angels are not men and have no right to speak for or against a man's right or wrong ways, having not suffered man's condition, but it does not stop such an accuser from accusing, though he is restrained from standing before the Lord while slandering mankind. He may, as may other angels, bring reports of man's activities, but is overstepping his bounds when he brings accusations against mankind, that is, when he gives his opinion of what those activities represent. God is absolutely just in all matters and will not be mollified toward inappropriate accusers.
Christ, being the full expression of the Spirit of God hidden in a man, has the right of judgement of man, and He is the one who will judge. The only way one can speak for or against another who is incongruous by type is if that other one authorised the former to speak as a proxy, but only for the purpose of speaking in their behalf to convey messages. Proxies, or in this case, angels, can only act as messengers and will never partake in the legal suits regarding the activities of human beings, except where they have, themselves, engaged in interactions with mankind, such as that which led to the appearance of the Nephilim and other such abominations on the earth. Such is an element of justice that seems poorly understood in the present era and there are many other similar issues with the modern misunderstanding of the true meaning of justice which have led many to doubt the scripture in some very serious ways, especially with regards to final judgement, punishment, debts and so forth. I would expound further on these and on the two witnesses themselves but I understand from the Lord that this will be a role of the two witnesses, though I may have to say a little more in coming days, as previously mentioned.
In conclusion, then, Elijah has come and is yet to come, both these statements being perfectly harmonious with the word of the Lord, with the holy writ, once we understand just who or what this “Elijah” actually is. The two witnesses will appear once the horrific events of the fifth trumpet are complete and the angel with the sixth trumpet sounds that trumpet. I do not believe it to be far off but cannot and will not attempt to say just when that will be. It behooves us to always remember that the prophecies of the scripture are not there for their own fulfilment but are there to mark God's timing so that those who are wise will understand just where we are in the timing of God's perfect and eternal plan and how close is the return of the Lord.
The two witnesses are, simply, two ordinary Christian men, born of the Spirit of God, filled with truth and imbued with wisdom, great power and the authority to use it, and a very weighty responsibility for the outcome, which is really not an enviable position. They have an unpleasant task in that they face global opposition, even by most of those who claim to be Christians, and they must bring great calamity in order that there remain no room for doubting their word, though most will continue in wilful blindness. I could speak at length about their more personal identities, possible backgrounds, scriptures referring to aspects about them and so forth, continuing with many, many more pages on these two prophets, based on personal notes amassed over the years, but that would probably become boring to read and would be a distraction from the ultimate purpose, their ultimate purpose, which is to bring glory to God and His only begotten Son, the first-born of the dead, Yeshua the Christ. They seek His glory, not their own. All true prophecy and all true prophets point to God and to Christ, for Christ is the truth.
