Previously: Revelation 11: identity of the two witnesses (final)
First post in the Revelation series
Well, it turns out I was not accurate when I said that the last post was the final one exploring the identity of the two witnesses, LOL. Way back in September, I stopped writing about Revelation. We were in chapter 11, the interval period between the sixth and seventh trumpets, and the two witnesses. I was stumped at that time as to who the two witnesses were. But, I believe that in the mean time God has shed some light on the two witnesses for me. So, I want to revisit that chapter in the light of what I have learned over the past eight months. This might be where I must part ways with the historicists, but we will see.
“Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.” Revelation 11:1-4
By way of review, the two witnesses are two olive trees and two lampstands. First, a witness: a witness is a testimony, so we have two testimonies that witness of the God of the whole earth: the Old Testament, and the New. There are two Temples that witness to the God of the whole earth: the Temple of the Old Testament, whose plan was first given to Moses in the wilderness from the mouth of God, then permanently built by Solomon, destroyed first by the Babylonians, then again by the Romans. And there is the Temple of the New Testament, made of living stones: the ekklesia (church) in whom indwells the Spirit of the Living God.
Second, the two witnesses are also called two olive trees. These two olive trees have already appeared in Scripture …
To be continued …
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Update: continued in Revelation 11: identity of the two witnesses, continued
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