J-14. WHO Are The TWO WITNESSES? Part 1. DOWNLOAD to SAVE as a PDF Doc to read OFFLINE. J-14. WHO ARE THEY THE TWO WITNESSES? Part 1. In the book of Revelation chapter 11, we read in verse 3 these words. Revelation 11:3. “And I will give power unto my TWO WITNESSES, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” I was always taught that the two witnesses were either two of the following three people depending upon whose book I was reading. Some would say that the two witnesses were Moses and Elijah, and others have said the two witnesses were Enoch and Elijah. Well for me I was not content in what others were saying that these two witnesses MIGHT be, so I asked the Lord who these two witnesses were and he told me to read this WHOLE passage of Scripture again. So I read all of chapter 11 again, but I did not see what the Lord wanted to show me, so he told me to read it again. So I read it again. Finally, I told the Lord that I just was not getting or understanding what he was trying to show me, then he spoke to my heart and said: “Do not think of my two witnesses as two people, but rather think of the two witnesses as two groups of people.” So I read this passage again and began to see clues in the other verses as to who these two witnesses are. The next verse, verse 4 in Revelation chapter 11 reads. Revelation 11:4. “These (Speaking of the two witnesses) ARE the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.” First of all, the word ARE speaks of ALREADY being on the earth. And according to some prophecy teachers, the two witnesses will be SENT down from heaven. And then I began to think or to ask the question talking to God, “WHAT TWO OLIVE TREES”? Scriptures came to my mind. This is how the Holy Spirit teaches us the word of God at times. As we ask questions, read the word of God, and meditate and think upon what we read, then we receive insight or revelation as to what these verses truly mean in light of the WHOLE word of God. Now, when these words, “the TWO OLIVE trees”, popped out, or off the page, so to speak, the Holy Spirit brought to my remembrance of what I had read about Israel being the natural olive tree and how we as Gentiles who became Christians were considered or called a wild olive tree being grafted into the natural olive tree, which represented Israel. A Christian does not become a Jew, but rather we are grafted into God's people Israel to become a people of God. In other words, we become a WITNESS to the one true God, where before the cross the only people of God were the Jews or Israel. Well, I could not remember what book of the Bible that I read about these TWO olive trees, so I picked up a copy of Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and looked up the word “olive” searching for the phrase “olive tree”. Today with computers you can now type phrases, but back then there were no personal computers. Kind of giving away my age. Anyway, here is what I found. The word “olive” is found 38 times in the King James Version of the Bible, so I scanned down the list of verses where the word olive was found looking for the word “tree” and I found 20 references with the phrase “olive tree”. I was quite astounded that there were so many references to olive trees, and I myself had only remembered one such reference, so I began to look up each and every reference to see what these olive trees were. Now I want YOU, the reader and seeker of the truth, to remember to think or view the two witnesses which ARE the two olive trees as being two GROUPS of people, rather than just two individual people as we were previously taught. Sometimes we have to UNLEARN some things that we have come to believe as the truth before we can, in fact, come to the knowledge of THE TRUTH of the WHOLE word of God. Now open your Bible to Romans 11:17-25. By the way, this is the ONE passage that came to my mind when I saw that the two witnesses ARE the TWO OLIVE TREES. Romans 11:17-25. “And if some of the branches be broken off, and YOU, being a WILD OLIVE TREE, and were grafted in among them, and with them are partakers of the root and fatness of THE OLIVE TREE: 18. Boast not against the branches. But if you boast, you bear not the root, but the root you. 19. You will say then, The branches were broken off, that I may be grafted in. 20. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear: 21. For if God spared not the NATURAL BRANCHES, take heed that he spares not you. 22. Behold therefore the goodness and the severity of God: on those which fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, IF you CONTINUE in his goodness: otherwise, you also shall be cut off. 23. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. 24. For if it were cut out of the OLIVE TREE which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good OLIVE TREE; how much more shall these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own OLIVE TREE? (This does NOT mean that the church becomes “spiritual” Israel. For you see, ALL of the BRANCHES were cut off leaving only the ROOT, which is Jesus, the New Covenant. Please read the study called Dd-60. ARE CHRISTIANS GRAFTED INTO ISRAEL?) 25. For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part has happened to ISRAEL, until the fullness of the Gentiles have come in.” I want you to see from this passage of Scripture what the Lord showed to me through the Holy Spirit, and that being, that the TWO OLIVE trees, which ARE the TWO WITNESSES, are in fact two GROUPS of people rather than just two individual people as we were previously and falsely taught. God's people Israel are their OWN olive tree called the natural olive tree. So the Jews are ONE witness. And the Gentile people are called the wild olive tree, but not all Gentiles are WITNESSES of God. So more precisely the other WITNESS of God is the Gentiles who are believers in Jesus Christ. Please keep in mind that those who taught us wrongly did not KNOW that they were wrong, but only taught what they themselves came to believe. I am sure that they taught us what they sincerely believed to be the truth, so do not stop considering them to be our brothers and sisters in Christ. But please be as the men of Berea, spoken of in the book of Acts chapter 17 and verse 11 that searched the Scriptures daily to see if what they were being taught was, in fact, the TRUTH based upon the WHOLE word of God. Now before the pre-tribulation rapture teaching came along I am not sure that even anyone ever gave it a second thought as to who the two witnesses are. But when the question was asked by POST-tribulation believers as to WHO would teach the gospel IF the church was not on the earth during the great tribulation. This is when Christians began speculating and writing books as to who were the two witnesses in Revelation chapter 11. But AFTER I saw the truth of the POST tribulation rapture I began to wonder WHY God would send down from heaven two witnesses to preach the gospel when that job was given to the CHURCH? I am getting ahead of myself so let me just say again that the two witnesses ARE the TWO OLIVE TREES and not two individual people that God will send down from heaven during the time of great tribulation. So again, the TWO GROUPS of people who are the ONLY TWO WITNESSES in all the earth who stand for the only true and wise God ARE number 1, the true believers in Christ Jesus, the Son of God, otherwise known as Christians or formally known as the WILD OLIVE TREE; and number 2, the other witness standing before the one true God is ISRAEL, which is the NATURAL OLIVE TREE. So you see we have TWO different GROUPS of people who stand for the God of the earth, and it is these TWO GROUPS who are the TWO WITNESSES spoken of in the book of Revelation. We see symbolic language showing these two GROUPS of people all through the book of Revelation and not only in chapter 11. Let me say this again. We can see these TWO GROUPS, the Jews, who believe in Almighty God the Father, and the Christians, those who believe in Jesus, the Son of God, as their savior all through the book of Revelation as well as the rest of the word of God. Take a look at Revelation 20:4 which says. Revelation 20:4. “...and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the WITNESS of Jesus AND for the WORD of God.” Once you come to the knowledge of the truth that the two witnesses are the Jews and the Christians, then you will begin to see subtle references all through the word of God of these two different groups of people that stand for the God of the earth. Here in this verse, we see the Christians who have the WITNESS of Jesus, and the Jews who do not have the witness for Jesus but do have the WITNESS for the WORD of God, the Old Testament of the Bible. Turn to Revelation 15:3 and read. “And THEY sang the song of Moses the servant of God AND the song of the Lamb.” I want you to notice TWO different songs that cannot be sung by any ONE individual group of people because they are victory songs sung by those who have been brought victory by the one whom the song is about. The children of Israel were brought to victory by Moses being delivered from Egypt through the Red Sea. So the remnant of Jews who will be saved alive to go into the Millennium, in the mortal bodies, will sing the song of Moses. And we as Christians are brought to victory through the blood of the Lamb. So the victorious Christians will sing the song of the Lamb. We each have our own song to sing. It will not be until the end of the 1000 year reign of Jesus that these TWO witnesses for the one true and only Almighty God will become ONE. Right now in this present world when a Jew becomes a Christian they are no longer a Jew in the eyes of God. And when a Gentile becomes a Christian we are no longer a Gentile. Those IN Jesus Christ are no longer male or female, a Jew or a Gentile, but rather all believers in Jesus ARE Christ's. And ONLY those of us who ARE in Jesus Christ at his coming will be given eternal life. The remnant of Jews will be saved ALIVE in their MORTAL bodies and go into the 1000 year reign of Jesus to be taught of the Lord. So again we can see two groups of people who are the only two WITNESSES for the God of all the earth. And these two witnesses are the children of Israel, the Jews, and the believers in Jesus, the Christians. Let's look at one more verse found in Revelation that I find interesting. Open your Bible to Revelation chapter 21 and read verses 12 through 14 that talks about the New Jerusalem, the city of God. Revelation 21:12,14. “And had a great wall and high, and had TWELVE gates, and at the twelve gates twelve angels, and the NAMES of the TWELVE TRIBES of the children of ISRAEL... 14. And the wall of the city had TWELVE foundations and in them the NAMES of the TWELVE APOSTLES of the LAMB.” The twelve foundations with the names of the twelve apostles obviously represent the church, or true believers in Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God. And the twelve gates with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, in turn, signify the children of Israel, the Jews. So again the only two GROUPS of people who are WITNESSES for the one true God in all the earth are clearly named as being Israel and believers in the Lamb of God, which we all agree are Christians. The Christians I will refer to as SPIRITUAL Israel and the Jews I will refer to as NATURAL Israel. Both are Israel, in that, both groups are the only PEOPLE of God, but yet there are two groups of people from different backgrounds. Natural Jews are NOT saved. When a JEW accepts Jesus as their Messiah, then they are no longer considered to be a JEW, but rather they are called Christians. In just casually reading the Scriptures there appears on the surface to be only ONE group of people who stand for God because God is breaking down the walls that divide us. Let me explain what I mean. Look at Ezekiel 37:16-19 which says. “Moreover, you son of man, take you ONE stick and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of his companions; then ANOTHER stick, and write upon it for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companion. 17. And join them one to another into ONE stick, and they shall be ONE in your hand. 18. And when the children of your people shall speak unto you saying, will you show us what you mean by these? Say unto them, thus says the Lord God. 19. Behold I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in your hand of Ephraim and the tribes of his fellows, and will put them with the stick of Judah, and make them ONE stick and they shall be ONE in my hand.” The stick of Judah symbolically represents the church or spiritual Israel. And the stick of Joseph or Ephraim represents the Jews or natural Israel. There are many other references to these two groups throughout the Old Testament but for space, we will only look at a few of them. Here is one found in Psalm 78:67,68,71 that says. “...Jacob his people AND Israel his inheritance.” Then in Psalm 149:2, we read. “Let ISRAEL rejoice in him that made him; let the children of ZION be joyful to their King.” Then read Jeremiah 51:35 which says. “The violence that has been done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitants of ZION say: my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldean, shall JERUSALEM say.” Hosea 1:11 says. “Then shall the children of JUDAH AND the children of JERUSALEM be gathered together, and appoint themselves ONE head and they shall come up out of the land (This verse I personally believe is a prophecy of the rapture or where the two witnesses are caught up to be with the Lord in the air and every eye shall see them): for great shall be the day of Jezreel.” Jezreel is speaking of being a type or shadow of Jesus during the world to come. Now, this may be getting off the subject a little, but it all ties together showing that Revelation chapter 11 reveals to us a type, figure, or shadow of the rapture AT the LAST trumpet. Take notice of the phrase “be gathered together” and compare it with the coming of Jesus, that great and notable day of the Lord where we will all be gathered together to meet the Lord in the air and then taken to the place called Armageddon to execute vengeance upon the ungodly. Please read the J-4. THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS! for a deeper understanding of this subject of the faithful believers being gathered together to meet our Lord in the air to escape the wrath of God at our Lord's coming. The phrase “come up out of the land” can be compared to “caught up together” at the time of the rapture of the church into the air. Also, the phrase “great shall be the day of Jezreel” can be compared to “the great and notable day of the Lord” which refers to the second coming of Jesus to execute the wrath of God. The verse before the above verse shows us a prophecy of how we as Christians will help Jesus execute vengeance upon mystery Babylon and how the Muslims and those who are left alive of the nations will serve the Jews during the 1000 year reign of Jesus. Let's continue with some other examples of the two groups of people or TWO WITNESSES found in the Bible. Joel 2:32 says this. “And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in MOUNT ZION AND in JERUSALEM shall be deliverance.” Zephaniah 3:10 reads. “In that day, says the Lord of the host, shall you call every man his neighbor under the VINE AND the FIG TREE.” The Bible refers to the fig tree as Israel, natural Israel, the Jews, and refers to the vine as the church, the body of believers in Jesus. More precisely Jesus is the vine and we are the branches in the vine. Now let us return to the book of Revelation chapter 11 now that you have seen the two different groups of people as being the TWO WITNESSES. Read Revelation 11:11,12, which I believe is a type or example of the rapture or being caught up to heaven. Take note of the similarities. Read Revelation 11:11,12. “And after three and a half days the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet: and great fear came upon all those which saw them. 12. And they heard a voice from heaven saying unto them, COME UP HITHER, and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud: and their enemies beheld them.” Jesus said in Matthew 24:29-31 that his COMING would be immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days, which we all agree is the great tribulation lasting three and one-half years or prophetically 3 1/2 days. BOTH Christians and the Jews will be killed during the entire 3 1/2 years of the great tribulation. The bodies of these TWO WITNESSES laid in the streets for three and a half days and there was none to bury them. They are resurrected and come to life by the Spirit of God. They hear a voice from heaven. They ascend up to heaven in a cloud. And their enemies beheld them. Now to ME, just two individual bodies or only two people not being buried for three days during a war in the Middle East where the Islamic Muslim nations are seeking to kill every last Jew and Christian they can find does not seem that significant to be mentioned. BUT if so be the 3 1/2 days prophetically represents both a literal three and one half of 24 hour days and the full 3 1/2 years of the great tribulation, then the significance of why God would point this out that the two witness are two GROUPS of people is magnified greatly. I mean think of thousands of Jews and Christians lying dead in the streets of Jerusalem for 3 1/2 years and no one bothers to bury them. The smell would be horrific. And even if it is a literal 3 1/2 years of thousands of dead bodies in the streets of Jerusalem, that kind of news would NOT be left out of the GLOBAL news channels. Let's begin examining this possibility by looking at the dead bodies lying in the streets in other verses to see if they are just two individual bodies or many, many bodies. Look at Psalm 79:2,3 which says. “The dead bodies of YOUR SERVANTS have been given unto the fowls of heaven, the flesh of YOUR SAINTS unto the beast of the earth. 3. Their blood they have shed like water round about Jerusalem: and there was none to bury them.” Notice again that there are TWO groups of people just like the Holy Spirit told me and now I am telling you. Here in this verse, we see God's SERVANTS or the Jews as one WITNESS for Almighty God and then we see God's SAINTS or the Christians as the other WITNESS for Almighty God and his Son Jesus. These two groups of people, the SERVANTS of God and the SAINTS of God are TWO WITNESSES who are being prophesied to be slain and shed their blood for believing in the one true and only Almighty God and are now lying dead in the streets all around Jerusalem. Now please notice that the bodies of just two individuals’ cannot be lying in the street ALL AROUND Jerusalem. Neither will the spilling of the blood of just two individual people be likened to “their blood being shed like water round about Jerusalem”. This is a lot of blood being spoken of in this verse which is certainly not the description of just two individuals as we have previously been taught by those that teach the PRE-tribulation point of view. Plus, the blood would only be shed in one or at most two spots and NOT ALL AROUND Jerusalem. Also, the word “servants” is plural and the word “saints” is plural. So to ME, these plural words mean a minimum of two saints and two servants, which make a minimum of four witnesses and not just two single people. Therefore, to ME, the two witnesses are many people from two GROUPS of people that the Bible clearly identifies as being the Christians and the Jews. Now compare this verse we just read in Psalm chapter 79 with Revelation 11:9 where we are told about the TWO WITNESSES. Revelation 11:9. “And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three and a half days, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.” Both passages of Scripture speak of TWO WITNESSES of God and both verses speak of their bodies being left on the ground and NOT buried. However, from the verse in Revelation ALONE apart from the WHOLE word of God there has come the INTERPRETATION that these TWO WITNESSES are just two individuals being either Moses and Elijah or Enoch and Elijah, which is just SPECULATION at best. I mean ask yourself if any of these men are called an OLIVE TREE. And more specifically are any of these three men a DIFFERENT olive tree because Revelation 11 says that the two witnesses ARE THE TWO olive trees and not just one kind of olive tree. So then, in light of the WHOLE word of God, we can clearly see that the TWO WITNESSES are in fact two GROUPS of people, namely the church, spiritual Israel, coming from the wild olive tree, and the Jews, natural Israel, being their own natural olive tree. Let's continue to look at Revelation 11:3 for some more clues. “I will GIVE power unto my two witnesses...” Notice that the word says, “I will GIVE power unto my two witnesses” and not “I will SEND two witnesses down from heaven who will have power.” You see the TWO WITNESSES are already here in the earth. The church and the Jews are already witnessing for God. Some Christian believers already have the fullness of the Holy Spirit dwelling in them and they are doing the works that Jesus did when he was on the earth as the Son of man, born of a woman. Please read the study entitled N-4. JESUS THE SON OF MAN! and N-5. JESUS is THE CHRIST!. But the church as a whole is not walking in the POWER of the Spirit of God which God has intended us to walk. Some may ask if the Jews will work miracles like the church in the last days. I see this as a possibility because any person can have FAITH and not be saved. But in truth the Jews simply prophesying the plagues upon their enemy is all that is needed. In other words, the Jews do not need to be saved to show signs and wonders. It is prophesied that God will pour out his Holy Spirit upon the Jews as the “latter rain” in the last days, but this would then make them be Christians seeing that the Holy Spirit will not dwell in an unclean vessel. So I myself see this latter rain outpouring upon the Jews AFTER the rapture. Let us get back to the Christians being given power and begin with Luke 24:49. Luke 24:49. “And you are WITNESSES of these things. And behold, I send the PROMISE of my Father upon you: tarry you in the city of Jerusalem, until you be endued with (Or be given) POWER from on high.” Then we see in Acts 1:8, which says. “But you shall receive (Or be given) POWER after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be WITNESSES unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria and to the uttermost part of the earth.” Or more precisely, standing before or for God in all the earth. The early first century church did indeed walk in this POWER of the Holy Spirit, but through the many years of the church, this power of the church has become less and less. I believe that in the last days this power of the Holy Spirit will be given again or restored to the church. Some may say that the Holy Spirit has already been given to us, so how is the power that is given to the two witnesses going to be the Holy Spirit? Is God going to give us the Holy Spirit again? Well not exactly, but in a matter of speaking, yes, in that God is going to bring revival to the church and once again empower them with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Read it for yourself in Acts 2:1-21. But for now, I am only going to quote verses 16-20 where the early church first receives the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:16-20. “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17. And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 18. And on my servants and my handmaids I will pour out in those days of my Spirit and they shall prophesy. 19. And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. 20. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon into blood, BEFORE that great and notable day of the Lord comes.” Yes, it is true that the Holy Spirit is already given to all believers who receive God's promise to us by FAITH, but these signs that are spoken of by Joel have NOT yet occurred. So there is going to be another pouring out of the Spirit of God. The Bible calls this latter-day outpouring the latter rain. The LAST DAYS in truth actually began with the birth and or the ministry of Jesus, but the last days have continued till now and yet will continue until Jesus comes again to receive his bride, the church, without spot or blemish. A day is as or likened to being 1000 years long to God and a 1000 years is as one day. Now two of those 1000 year-long days are nearly over and the third 1000 year long day of the Lord, beginning the world to come, is drawing near. Hosea 6:3 sheds more light on the subject of two outpourings of the Holy Spirit. Hosea 6:3. “And he shall come unto us (A prophecy of the Holy Spirit coming to dwell is us) as the rain, as the LATTER and the FORMER rain unto the earth.” Just as the rain comes early to prepare the soil and nourish the crops to help them grow and get a good start being deeply rooted, so has the Holy Spirit already come to the early church to begin the dynamic growth of believers. And so in like manner will the church be revived in these last days to bring in the harvest with the power endued from on high with the Holy Spirit just as the LATTER rain comes in the days right before the harvest. But the Holy Spirit will not come upon you automatically without you wanting or desiring a closer walk with the Lord. Every true born again believer has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, but NOT all Christians have stirred up the Holy Spirit dwelling in them to walk in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Zechariah 10:1 says it his way. “ASK you of the Lord rain in the time of the LATTER rain: so the Lord shall make bright clouds and give them showers of rain, to everyone grass in the field.” Most every Christian at one time or another has commented on the good old days of revival or how wonderful it was in the early church when miracles were done at the hands of the apostles. Well, the Bible says that the last days will be GREATER than the former days. In other words, we are living in the threshold of the greatest glory of God ever. Look at Haggai 2:7-9. “...and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of the host. 8. The silver is mine, and the Gold is mine says the Lord of the hosts. 9. The glory of this LATTER house (Speaking of the church in the last days) shall be GREATER than the former (The early church), says the Lord of the hosts: and in this place will I give PEACE, says the Lord of the hosts.” Remember that the vessels of gold and silver are true believers in the one true and only Almighty God. There are many that SAY they are Christians, but they do not bear the fruit of being Christ-like, which is what the word Christian means. The book of Timothy speaks of vessels of gold and silver and the vessels of wood and hay being in a great house and when tried in the fire the vessels of wood and hay are burned up. Please read the study called F-2. Is ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED BIBLICAL?, which teaches that the Lord will say to many Christians to depart from him because they are living in sin. Here is what Job has to say about the last days. Please read Job 5:19-24 which speaks of the great tribulation period. Here is verse 24. Job 5:24. “And you shall know that your tabernacle shall be in PEACE and you shall visit your habitation, and you shall NOT SIN.” Some Christians are fearful of going through the great tribulation, but if WE draw nigh to God, then he WILL draw nigh to us. We have just read two verses where God PROMISES to us PEACE in the last days. So BELIEVE the word of truth and you shall have PEACE and not fear death. For a deeper understanding of walking in a greater power, having peace and living your life free from sin please read the studies titled F-12. How YOU can live YOUR LIFE FREE from SIN! and G-3. The POWER & the AUTHORITY of the Believer and J-42. HOW to PREPARE for the GREAT Tribulation! There are a couple more points that I would like you to see that show us that the two witnesses are two GROUPS of people and not simply two individual people as some of us have been taught. Let us read Revelation 11:4 again. “These (Referring to the two witnesses) ARE the two olive trees, AND (Or the two witnesses are not just the two olive trees, but these two witnesses ARE ALSO) the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.” Now we know that we as Christians are candlesticks. That is to say, the church is a candlestick. Please read Revelation 2:4,5. “Nevertheless I have somewhat against you because you have left your first love. 5. Remember therefore from whence you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto you quickly, and will remove your candlestick out of his place, except you repent.” Now while Jesus is talking to the church he is actually speaking to each and every individual believer concerning THEIR candlestick or LIGHT. I believe that Jesus is saying to us to rekindle that first love we had when we first became Christians and our LIGHT was once shining brightly. The point for this study is that we as Christians are called candlesticks. Our light is to show forth Jesus as the Son of the living God whom God raised up to be the savior of the people. As for Israel being a candlestick, we know that one of the symbols for Israel is the Menorah, which is a candlestick with seven bowls. Oil in the Bible is one of the types, shadows, or figures representing the Holy Spirit ANOINTING. The Old Testament prophets did not have the Holy Spirit dwelling IN them, but they were at times ANOINTED with the Holy Spirit to do mighty works showing signs and wonders. In Zechariah chapter 4 we are plainly told that the two olive trees are the two ANOINTED ones, which we have learned through this study are the Christians and the Jews. Zechariah 4:2-14. “And said unto me, What see you? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: (This candlestick is a description of the Menorah, which again is a symbol of Israel) 3. And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 4. So I answered and spoke to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5. Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Know you not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts. 7. Who are you, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. 8. Moreover, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 9. The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. 10. For who has despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; (This is a prophecy of Jesus and the seven churches or more precisely the church because the seven churches in Asia are representative of the whole church) they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. 11. Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? 12. And I answered again, and said unto him, What are these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? (When we obey the ANOINTING of the Holy Spirit, then power or virtue flows out of us and at times we can feel this presence of God flowing out of us. Jesus said to the woman with the issue of blood, who touched me when the whole crowd of people was pressing up against him. Jesus felt that power or virtue or the ANOINTING flow out of him to heal the woman) 13. And he answered me and said, Know you not, what these are? And I said, No, my lord. 14. Then he said, These ARE the two ANOINTED ONES that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” The literal meaning of the Hebrew word translated as “ones” also means sons and children. Now are we the SONS of God and the Jews are the CHILDREN of Israel. But at this present time, the children of Israel are not yet ANOINTED. Again, the anointing will come UPON God's people Israel in the WORLD to come. To ME, it is crystal clear that the two witnesses in Revelation chapter 11 during the time of great tribulation are ANOINTED Christians and ANOINTED Jews. Remember that God seals 144,000 Jews. So to ME, it does not appear that God is going to ANOINT every single Jew, but rather anoint 12000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. God may save alive more than these 144,000 Jews to go into the Millennium in their mortal bodies. But again to ME, it appears that only 144,000 will be sealed or ANOINTED. Now, please be sure to read part two of this study called THE TWO WITNESS PART 2 where I will explain WHY only ONE witness, the CHURCH, will be taken up and given eternal life BEFORE the 1000 year reign of Jesus but the SECOND witness, the JEWS, will be given eternal life at the END of the 1000 year reign of Jesus. For you see, it SEEMS like BOTH of the two witnesses are caught up at the SAME time in Revelation chapter 11. But in truth, there will be TWO harvests. The first harvest of the first group of believers in Jesus will be right BEFORE the Millennial reign of Jesus and the harvest of the second group of believers will be after the 1000 year reign of Jesus has ended. Also, there is one more point regarding SOME Christians gathering arms for the last days. Jesus said that he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword. And Jesus also said that he who seeks to save his life shall lose it. Let us read Revelation 11:5. “And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devours their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he MUST in this manner be killed.” This teaches ME that we MUST use only God's WORD against those who seek to harm or kill us. Then concerning Revelation 11:6 of these two witnesses having the power to shut up the heavens so it does not rain during the 3 1/2 years of great tribulation, I believe this is speaking of literal rain in the middle east particularly over Israel's enemies who most everyone in the world knows in the Islamic Muslim countries. The more time that goes by more and more peaceful Muslims will be forced to choose sides to either join the radical Muslims or die along with those who are not Muslims. God's word will come to pass whether we prophesy the plagues or not. Just the mere teaching and talking about the prophecies of the last days is prophesying those plagues. But I believe some Christians and some Jews will prophesy the plagues under the ANOINTING when the time of great tribulation begins. Now, there may be some Christians who resist the truth who will cling to the teaching that the two witnesses are two individual people whom God will send down from heaven back to the earth. And they will dogmatically demand that these two witnesses are either Moses and Elijah or Elijah and Enoch. Well, I myself see a problem with this “interpretation” because it CONTRADICTS other parts of God's word. Hebrews 9:27 clearly teaches us in simplicity with no interpretation needed that God appointed man to die only ONE TIME and then the judgment. Hebrews 9:27. “And as it is appointed unto men ONCE to die, but after this the judgment:” Well, if so be that Moses is one of the two witnesses, then we have a CONTRADICTION with Hebrews 9:27 because Moses has already DIED ONCE and the two witnesses will be killed so that would have Moses dying TWICE. That only leaves one possibility for the two witnesses to be just two individual people. And those two individual people would have to be Elijah and Enoch, who some Christians claim to have never died, but rather they ascended into heaven. Well, to me, that presents another problem because that interpretation CONTRADICTS John 3:13 which clearly teaches us that NO MAN has ascended into heaven except for the Son of Man, Jesus. John 3:13. “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” Please read the study J-16. DID ENOCH AND ELIJAH DIE? Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus. So, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading >>>D-0. THE BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of JESUS!<<< And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading >>>C-0. THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH!<<< This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century. So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament.
To learn more TRUTH, then please return to
VERSES USED TO TEACH THAT JESUS PREEXISTED!
To me, the best way to know the ONE true God in ONE person is to know who Jesus TRULY is according to the WHOLE word of Almighty God. So please read ALL of the studies under the heading >>>N-0. WHO is JESUS ACCORDING to the BIBLE?<<< and you will see that the Bible itself teaches us that Jesus was CREATED by his God and Father. And if you have any questions related to the correct meaning of certain verses of Scripture on this subject of who Jesus is please read all the studies under the two headings >>>U-0. VERSES used for THE TRINITY!<<< and >>>V-0. VERSES used to TEACH that Jesus PRE-EXISTED!<<< These two headings have ALL of the studies that I have on who Jesus truly is according to what the Bible itself teaches us in simplicity. I compiled these three headings to make it easy for my readers to send just one, two, or three links to those you desire to help understand what the Bible itself teaches concerning who Jesus is in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. If you have any questions, please feel free to write to me. My contact email is MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail .com. Thanks again for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of Almighty God.
Your Brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark.
RETURN to HOMEPAGE at
The end. Please pause or turn off the reading aloud feature on Microsoft Edge browser. Click here to learn HOW to use the Microsoft Edge reading aloud feature.
Always be faithful to share, to preach, and to teach the whole gospel of Jesus Christ! |