THE TWO WITNESSES

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="03c00500dvldtc.png"> <div> <B>Revelation</B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><B>     |     </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#00FF00" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Revelation"><U><B>home</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="a_warning_to_repent_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="THE SEVEN TRUMPET WARNINGS"><U><B>THE SEVEN TRUMPET WARNINGS</B></U></A><B> / </B><A HREF="hail_and_fire_mingled_with_blood_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="FIRST TRUMPET"><U><B>FIRST TRUMPET</B></U></A><B> / </B><A HREF="burning_mountain_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SECOND TRUMPET"><U><B>SECOND TRUMPET</B></U></A><B> / </B><A HREF="wormwood.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="THIRD TRUMPET"><U><B>THIRD TRUMPET</B></U></A><B> / </B><A HREF="sun__moon_and_stars_dimmed_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="FOURTH TRUMPET"><U><B>FOURTH TRUMPET</B></U></A><B> / </B><A HREF="the_first_woe_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="FIFTH TRUMPET"><U><B>FIFTH TRUMPET</B></U></A><B> / </B><A HREF="second_woe.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SIXTH TRUMPET"><U><B>SIXTH TRUMPET</B></U></A><B> / </B><A HREF="a_mighty_angel.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="THE ANGEL AND THE SCROLL"><U><B>THE ANGEL AND THE SCROLL</B></U></A><B> / </B><A HREF="witnesses.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="THE TWO WITNESSES"><U><B>THE TWO WITNESSES</B></U></A><B> / </B><A HREF="heavenly_sanhedrin.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SEVENTH TRUMPET"><U><B>SEVENTH TRUMPET</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="03dd2c00dvldtc.png"> <div> <A HREF="a_mighty_angel.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="THE ANGEL AND THE SCROLL"><U>Previous Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="heavenly_sanhedrin.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SEVENTH TRUMPET"><U>Next Page</U></A></div> <div>   <P><CENTER><A href="http://www.christiansunite.com/hit/" target="_top"><IMG src="http://www.christiansunite.com/hit/count.cgi?account=bryant_family_2&code=site&count=1" border=0 width=96 height=40 alt="The Christian Counter"></A><BR><font size=1><A href="http://www.christiansunite.com/hit/" target="_top">The Christian Counter</font></A></CENTER><P>   </div> <bR> <div> <B>Revelation 11:3-14</B>, "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.  And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.  And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.  And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.  The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly."</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B><U>THE TWO WITNESSES</U></B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="0b140ed0.jpg" border=0 width="320" height="237" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.revelationillustrated.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.revelationillustrated.com/"><U>Art used by permission by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992.</U></A></div> <bR> <div>  The word "witness" comes from the Greek word martus {mar'-toos}. This is where we derive the word martyr and it is indicative of the kind of death that the two witnesses would suffer. The two witnesses are described as being olive trees indicating fruitfulness and lampstands indicating the light of the truth.</div> <div>  The Easton's Bible dictionary gives the following definition of witness:</div> <div>  </div> <div>  "Witness"</div> <div>  </div> <div>  "More than one witness was required in criminal cases (Deut. 17:6; 19:15). They were the first to execute the sentence on the condemned (Deut. 13:9; 17:7; 1 Kings 21:13; Matt. 27:1; Acts 7:57, 58). False witnesses were liable to punishment (Deut. 19:16-21). It was also an offence to refuse to bear witness (Lev. 5:1)."</div> <bR> <div>  These two witnesses will convict the world of their sins. The two witnesses will be the first to execute judgement on a world that has turned its back on God. They will have the power of prophecy and miracles. They have the power to shut up the sky so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophesying. And they will have the power to turn the waters into blood and to smite the earth with all manners of plagues. If anyone comes against them, fire will come from their mouths and consume the antagonist.</div> <bR> <div>  For three and a half years after the False Prophet signs a seven-year covenant with Israel the two witnesses will stand in defiance to it. The day of the signing of this seven-year covenant will be the day that the great tribulation starts. Daniel refers to this covenant as follows:</div> <div>  </div> <div> <B> Daniel 9:27</B>, "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."</div> <div>  </div> <div>  Only when the two witnesses finish their testimony can Satan come against them. The Scarlet Beast on which Babylon rides will kill the two witnesses at this point between the blowing of the sixth and seventh trumpet warnings. The Scarlet Beast upon which Babylon the mother of harlots sits, Revelation 17:3, is the Roman Empire reborn. It is a metamorphosis of the Beast from the Sea recorded in Revelation 13. For more information on this metamorphosis see the section on the Beast from the Sea as well as the description of the Scarlet Beast later in this study.</div> <bR> <div>  Just as in the days of Jesus, it was the Roman Empire that mandated the death of Jesus, so also in the future will the Roman Empire reborn mandate the death of the two witnesses.</div> <bR> <div>  The world will rejoice at the death of the two witnesses. They will gloat and praise the power of the Roman Empire reborn. This rejoicing will last but three and a half days. At the end of the three and a half days God will perform His final miracle before His judgement falls upon a fully sinful and depraved earth. God will raise the two witnesses from the dead. This will prove to all whom see it that the authority of the true Church, of which the two witnesses are a part, is indeed greater than that of the Roman Empire reborn.</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>