Two Witnesses
Today’s passage: Revelation 11:1–14
Focus verse: “And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days.” (Revelation 11:3)
As we work our way through the second of three woes, we come across two witnesses. God appoints them to prophesy for 1,260 days, almost three and a half years.
In a bit of intriguing imagery, God refers to them as two olive trees and two lampstands.
Centuries earlier, the prophet Zechariah mentioned two olive trees in his future-focused prophecy in Zechariah 4.
He says God anoints these two olive trees to serve him. Zechariah also sees these two olive trees standing on either side of a golden lampstand, which holds seven lamps.
Looking just at the book of Revelation, we see seven lampstands in Chapter 1 referring to the seven churches. But here the two lampstands refer to two people.
These two witnesses have extraordinary power. If anyone tries to hurt them, flames will shoot from their mouths to kill their attackers.
They also have power over the weather and can cause a drought to occur (consider 1 Kings 17:1). They can turn water into blood (consider Exodus 7:14–20). They can also afflict the earth with plagues whenever they want to.
God protects them and gives them great power. Yet when they finish all that he calls them to do—their 1,260 days of testifying about him—the beast attacks them and kills them, martyring them for their obedient witness for God.
That’s not the outcome we’d expect for such powerful people who do exactly what God tells them to do. Yet they die anyway.
The people on earth refuse to bury these two witnesses. Instead, they celebrate their death by giving presents to each other. They’re happy because these two prophets had tormented everyone on earth.
We don’t know if this is because of their words or their actions, but we do know the people didn’t receive it well. This shouldn’t surprise us. Jesus said that as his followers and disciples everyone will hate us.
But God doesn’t forget the two witnesses. After three and a half days, the Almighty breathes life into their lifeless bodies. They resurrect and stand. Fear grips everyone. God calls them home, whisking them up to heaven in a cloud (consider 2 Kings 2:11).
The earth quakes, destroying one tenth of the city. Thousands die, and the survivors give glory to God.
This ends the second woe. The third is about to begin.
Questions:
- Do we expect God to reward everyone who obeys him?
- How should we respond if the world hates us?
- What does it say about us if the world doesn’t hate us?
- Do we think God will always protect those who serve him?
- How willing are we to be God’s witness, regardless of the cost?
[Discover more about the hate unbelievers will have toward Jesus’s followers in Matthew 10:22, Matthew 24:9, Mark 13:13, Luke 21:17, and John 15:18–19.]
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Read more in Revelation Bible Study: Discover Practical Insights from John’s Epic Vision.
Discover practical, understandable insights from the book of Revelation.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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