Who Are The Two Witnesses In Revelation?

Name: Enni
Question: Hello again. Hey, my question is who are the two witnesses?! Are they the two churches? Philadelphia Smyrna

Answer: Thank you for the question Enni.

The Bible does not specifically say who the Two Witnesses are from the book of Revelation. However, we can get a good idea by analyzing Scripture. I should add, they are not churches, but men.

It’s most likely, the Two Witnesses will be Enoch and Elijah. Some think they will be Moses and Elijah, but Moses does not qualify.

I will explain all of this.

The Two Witnesses Of Revelation

We can read about the Two Witnesses in Revelation 11:3-12. In verse 4, God calls them the two olives trees and two candlesticks who stand before Him, (also see: Zechariah 4:11-14). This tells us, they will reside in Heaven with God until their testimony on earth.

When God sends them to earth, they will appear in Jerusalem during the Tribulation, specifically, the Midst of the Week. The Two Witnesses will then provide a Testimony for God against the Antichrist. The entire world will witness this through television, the internet, and so on.

It is important to remember, the entire point of their Testimony, along with the Saints, is to break the reign and kingdom of the Antichrist. That would be Satan who will claim to be God.

The Testimony of the Two Witnesses and the Saints will cause many people to begin to doubt that Satan is God. Further, their Testimony will result in the Fifth Vial pouring out, (Revelation 16:10).

Now in order to identify who the Two Witnesses are, let’s see what happens after their Testimony.

The Two Witnesses Are Killed

Revelation 11:7
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.

This Beast is the Dragon who looks like the Lamb, that is Satan, (Revelation 12:9, 13:11).

Not only are the Two Witnesses killed, but “their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city” of Jerusalem, (Revelation 11:8). The fact the Two Witnesses can be killed tells us, they are men, and not churches.

Yet,

“…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.”

Revelation 11:11

Moments later, “a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud”, (Revelation 11:12). The Seventh Trumpet then sounds which means, Jesus Christ has finally returned.

So let there be no doubt in your mind, while the Two Witnesses are in Heaven today, they are sent to earth as men, and they are killed.

This thought becomes more intriguing when we consider Hebrews 9:27 which states,

It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.

God’s Word clearly indicated, every man that has ever existed on earth must die once.

Yet, we know of two men who never died.

Those two men are Enoch and Elijah who God took to Heaven due to their good works, (Genesis 5:21-24, 2 Kings 2:11).

Enoch And Elijah

Since Enoch and Elijah were taken, then obviously they never died. This makes them excellent candidates to be the Two Witnesses in Revelation.

In my opinion, there is no question that Elijah will be one of them.

Turn your Bible with me to,

Malachi 4:5
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

Who will send Elijah, and when?

God will, right before the Day of the Lord, which begins the Millennium at Jesus return.

That means, Elijah will return to earth during the Tribulation, making him a solid fit for one of the two. As a side note, the prior verses in Malachi 4 perfectly align with 2 Peter 3:10, so we know for certain the time frame being given.

When we factor it all together, it seems reasonable to believe, Enoch will be one of the Two Witnesses of Revelation, and Elijah is a perfect fit for the other.