Two Witnesses

Text and Content

The Two Witnesses appear in Revelation 11:3–13. God grants power to the two witnesses, and they prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. The text calls them "the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth" (Revelation 11:4). Fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. They can shut heaven so that it does not rain, turn the waters to blood, and smite the earth with various plagues.

When they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit (the abyss) kills them. Their bodies lie for three and a half days in the street of the great city, "which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt." The text identifies this city as the place "where also our Lord was crucified." Those who dwell on the earth rejoice over their deaths and send gifts to one another. After three and a half days, the Spirit of life enters them; the two witnesses stand on their feet and ascend to heaven in a cloud. A great earthquake follows, a tenth of the city falls, seven thousand people are killed, and the remnant give glory to God.

Background

The Greek word translated "witness," martys, denotes a person who gives testimony in a court of law. The word later became an established term for one who died for the faith, that is, a martyr. The fact that there are two witnesses reflects the law requiring that a matter be established "at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses" (Deuteronomy 19:15). In Scripture, sackcloth signifies mourning and repentance.

The 1,260 days are the same period as the "forty and two months" of Revelation 11:2 and the 1,260 days of Revelation 12:6. This period is read in connection with the "time and times and the dividing of time" of Daniel 7:25, that is, three and a half years.

Broader Biblical Significance

The imagery of the olive trees and the lampstand comes from Zechariah 4. Zechariah sees a vision of a golden candlestick and two olive trees, which are identified as "the two anointed ones." These two are commonly understood to be the governor Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua. The power to shut heaven so that it does not rain recalls Elijah, while the power to turn water to blood and bring plagues recalls Moses and the ten plagues. The sequence of persecution and death followed by resurrection and ascension is read as following the path of Jesus Christ.

Interpretations and Issues

• Two literal individuals: Some of the early Church Fathers held that Enoch and Elijah, who were taken to heaven without tasting death, would return in the last days. Others, citing the powers described in the text, identify the witnesses as Moses and Elijah. Dispensationalism generally regards them as two prophets who will minister in Jerusalem in the future.
• The witness of the church: Because the candlesticks represent churches in Revelation 1:20, this view reads the Two Witnesses as a symbol of the whole church bearing witness amid persecution. On this reading, "two" signifies valid testimony as required by the law. This interpretation is widely held in symbolic readings within the Reformed tradition.
• Historicist interpretation: In the tradition that reads Revelation as a sequential account of church history, the Two Witnesses are sometimes identified as the Old and New Testaments. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is known for this interpretation.

The text does not name the Two Witnesses. Any identification with specific individuals is therefore a matter of interpretation.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, this passage is frequently used in sermons on the end times to exhort believers to continue bearing witness even in suffering. At the same time, some new religious movements have applied the symbols of Revelation directly to their own leaders or organizations. Denominational judgments on such interpretations are covered in the article on heresy designations.