August 21, 2018
AN EXPOSITION OF THE TWO WITNESSES – PART 4
October 23, 2009
In Parts 1 through 3, I attempted to make a case that the two witnesses of Revelation and Zechariah were actually two flesh and blood men who preached in the spirit of Moses and Elijah, and also that they represented God’s Old Testament witness, the Assembly of Israel, and His New Testament witness, the local churches of Christ. I finished Part 3 by saying I would elaborate on the figures listed in the two scriptures that follow.
Revelation 11:3-4
And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. [4] These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Zechariah 4:2-3,11-14
And said unto me, What seest thou? 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: [3] And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. [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 be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? [13] And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. [14] Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
Since the two witnesses represent the two olive trees, the church and Israel, as their representatives they appear in Revelation as two lamps on a Menorah, fed by the oil from the bowl on top of it. The candlestick is a Menorah with seven pipes that feed seven interconnected oil lamps with light producing fuel. The Menorah itself, with its seven lamps, the number meaning “completeness” or “fullness,” represents the fullness of the Godhead. The oil that gives the light to the world represents the Holy Spirit that presents the Word to enlighten the world in truth. The two olive trees are Israel, the natural olive tree, and the Church, the engrafted wild olive tree, and the two witnesses represent them both. The two olive branches, through which the oil of the Spirit passes from the two Menorah bulb pipes to empty out into the world, are the two witnesses, as attested by verse 14.
Zechariah 4:14
Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
The Menorah of Zechariah 4:2 = The Lord of the whole earth = The God of the earth in Revelation 11:4 = The Fullness of the Godhead that indwells Christ
The oil represents the light of truth by the Spirit through the Word from the Godhead.
The Two Olive Trees = The Old Testament Assembly of Israel and the New Testament local called out Assemblies of Christ, called churches, which are represented by the two witnesses.
The Two witnesses = The two candlesticks or two lamps (two individual lamp bulbs) = The two anointed ones = The two olive branches out of the olive trees.
Lord willing, in Part 5, I will begin to answer a question as to whether there will be an Elijah who preaches in the same spirit of Elijah as John, that comes to prepare the way for Christ’s Second Advent.