The book of Revelation speaks of two prophets who will have a miraculous ministry during what appears to be the 70th week of Daniel (Revelation 11). Who are these two prophets who are called God's "two witnesses" (Rev. 11.3)? The Bible does not give the personal names of these two men. They are specifically described in Revelation 11. There may be a general allusion to them in Revelation 13.7, which mentions the "beast" making "war with the saints", and overcoming them. This particular description, in Revelation 11.7 and in Revelation 13.7, is based upon Daniel 7.21 which states, "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them". This theme is repeated in Daniel 7.25, Daniel 8.24, and Daniel 12.7. The theme is that of the beast making war against Jewish saints, of whom the two witnesses are outstanding examples.

Thus, we may see general references to these two witnesses (if we include them with the Jewish saints who endure the Great Tribulation period) in Revelation 11, but also in Revelation 13, in Daniel, and, by implication, in Matthew 24.14-28. But the specific description of these two witnesses, and their activity, is seen in Revelation 11.

A careful examination of the activities of these two men, along with the context and the locale of their activities, mitigates against these two prophets being part of the New Testament Church. There are a number of reasons why we should doubt that these two men are New Testament Church ministers:

The duration of their ministry is said to be "1260" days (three and one-half years). This parallels what we know from the Scripture as the stated length of the Great Tribulation period. This Great Tribulation period, according to Jesus, begins in the city of Jerusalem (in fact, apparently in the temple of the city, see Matthew 24.15,16), and He only mentions the great danger to Jews in Jerusalem and in Judea.

Very similarly, the ministry of the two witnesses is seen only in the area of Jerusalem. The New Testament Church is worldwide, and, if as some propose, the New Testament Church fled Jerusalem and Judea by 66 AD, then we have no reason to assume that these two prophets (nor the 144,000) were members of the New Testament Church. History makes no mention of them. The important point about the location of their ministry is that it seems to be a ministry to the Jews, and is centered around Jerusalem and Judea. The ministry of the New Testament Church is to every nation (see the Great Commission).

The ministry of these two prophets is not an apostolic ministry. There is no evidence that any apostle or minister of the New Testament church has ever called fire down from heaven, turned water into blood, caused three and one-half year droughts, and put plagues upon people in general. Any student of the Bible knows that these powers were exercised by the Old Testament prophets, Moses and Elijah. That is not to say that these two witnesses are to be identified personally as Moses and Elijah. They come in the "spirit and power" of Moses and Elijah (see Luke 1.17, which says that John the Baptist, for example, shall go before the Lord "in the spirit and power of Elijah"), but they themselves are not actually incarnations of Moses and Elijah.

Jesus rebuked His disciples because they wanted to call down fire from heaven and consume the Samaritans. He told them, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of" (Luke 9.55). Most definitely, then, these two witnesses are not New Testament Church ministers. This is not the spirit of the Age of Grace. Jesus said of the Age of Grace (the church age), "For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them..." (Luke 9.56).

While those who hold a post-tribulation rapture of the church might disagree with this, a careful study of the ministry of the two witnesses reveals that they do not operate during any time period in which we might expect the New Testament Church ministry to be present. Let me explain: those who hold that the Great Tribulation occurred must have trouble with Revelation 11.2, which says of the Gentiles, that they shall "tread (the city) under foot forty and two months". Let me explain further:

We know that the city meant is Jerusalem. This cannot, however, possibly mean the period 66-70 AD, because: (1) the Romans did not actually capture the city ("tread it under foot") until it fell in 70 AD, and moreover, the Jews were led away captive into all nations when the Romans did take the city (Luke 21.24), and the Romans continued to occupy the city far longer than 42 months. Therefore, the first century scene does not fit Revelation 11.2 at all; and (2) the post-tribulation idea of the New Testament church being the actual object of the Great Tribulation at a future date does not fit either. For one thing, the ministry of the two prophets does not fit the ministry of the church, as we have noted. For another thing, the focus of the Great Tribulation is on Jerusalem and Judea. Jesus made that clear in Matthew 24.15-28. The Great Tribulation itself represents the attempts of the beast to destroy the saints of God in Jerusalem and in Judea, and is not an attempt by the beast to destroy the worldwide apostolic New Testament Church. There is no scriptural evidence of that being the case.

The two witnesses obviously represent some form of leadership of the Jewish saints seen in Revelation chapter 11, chapter 13, as well as in Daniel. It would be incongruent to mix in the New Testament Church with this Jewish situation. The angel Gabriel tells Daniel concerning the Great Tribulation, that it will be against "thy people", that is, the Jews (Daniel 12.1). Michael the archangel, however, will stand up for the Jews. The angel promised Daniel that Daniel's people (the Jews) would be delivered from the Great Tribulation ("every one that shall be found written in the book", Dan. 12.1). To this agrees the prophet Jeremiah, who writes of "the time of Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30.7). Jeremiah prophesies that "(Jacob)...shall be delivered out of it". The same Hebrew word, tsor, is used to describe this "trouble" in both Jeremiah 30.7 and in Daniel 12.1. This is a Jewish happening, which simply does not match the New Testament Church period. The apostle Paul tells of a future deliverance of "Jacob" (Romans 11.25-27).

Revelation 12, which also speaks of the Great Tribulation period, plainly shows us that the Woman, which brought forth the Man-child (Jesus), is Israel (and not the New Testament Church, since the New Testament Church did not bring forth the Man-child). It is this Woman, which will flee into the wilderness (see Ezekiel 20.30-49 for a description of how God proposes once more to deal with Israel as a nation in the wilderness, since God always deals with Israel or Jacob as a nation). It is the remnant of the Woman's seed that the dragon makes war against, when he is eventually cast down to the earth, and is no more the prince and power of the air, or the "accuser of the brethren" (see Rev. 12.9-13). These Jewish saints will "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 12.17). I believe this will involve the two witnesses and the 144,000 Jews. Revelation 12 explicitly identifies the Woman as Israel (Jacob) and not the New Testament Church. This is very important to understand that both the New Testament Church and the nation of Israel have separate but intertwined destinies.

The conclusion must be that the saints described variously in Daniel 7-12, Matthew 24.15-28, Revelation 11,13, are Jewish saints. The New Testament Church did not exist before the Day of Pentecost (it had not been founded), and we must conclude that the period of the Great Tribulation falls outside of the New Testament Church age, occurring after the church has been caught up from the earth. The two witnesses, who are primary actors in the Great Tribulation, simply do not appear to be New Testament Church leaders. Their characteristics and ministry are not apostolic at all.

The very name given to these two prophets, "witnesses" ("martyrs"), identifies them as being destined to sacrifice their very lives for the sake of the Lord. Revelation 11.7 states:

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.

Notice the phrase "shall make war against them". This sounds as though the witnesses were the leaders of a much larger group of people. One usually does not "make war" on two individuals. Indeed, Revelation 7 speaks of 144,000 Jews out of the twelve tribes, which, we later learn, will be "redeemed from the earth" (Rev. 14.3). These 144,000 are noteworthy in that they are "virgins", and "are not defiled with women".This is not something said of the New Testament Church saints (Paul encourages the Gentiles to marry if they cannot contain, although he prefers himself to remain single). This is not a hallmark of the New Testament Church insofar as the term "virgins" go. Marriage is an honorable estate.

We understand this statement in Revelation 14 simply to mean that these 144,000 have never committed fornication and have never married. This could also be spiritualized, meaning that they simply never went back on God, and never were deceived into any kind of a Babylonian worship with any other "woman" (that is, "church"). They are "the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb" (Rev. 14.4). This does not mean that these are apostolic New Testament Church saints of the first century, but is speaking of the Great Tribulation itself. The fact that the 144,000 are deemed "firstfruits", however, seems to indicate that others follow them in salvation during the Great Tribulation Period.

Naturally, no one can be saved during the New Testament Church Age without Acts 2.38: (1) faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, (2) genuine repentance, (3) water baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and (4) the baptism of the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance.

Every period of time during which God has dealt with mankind, He has required (1) faith, (2) repentance, and a (3) blood sacrifice.

Before Calvary, animal blood was used to roll sins ahead, but since Calvary, only the blood of Jesus is accepted as a sacrifice for salvation. Now, the blood of Jesus must be central to all salvation. Animal sacrifice no longer has any efficacy in the area of salvation. It will never again have efficacy.

Ephesians 1.13 tells us that we in the New Testament Church Age are "sealed with that holy Spirit of promise". Ephesians 4.30 tells us that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit of God "unto the day of redemption". Paul recognizes our redemption when we are born again of the water and of the Spirit, but he also makes it quite plain that there is a future day of redemption (of the body). Romans 8.23 states that we, who have been born again, are "waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body". Paul teaches us that when the Lord returns from heaven, He "shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body" (Philippians 3.21).

However, in Revelation 7 we see how the 144,000 Jews are sealed with "the seal of the living God" (Rev. 7.2). This sealing is actually done by the angels in the "foreheads" of the 144,000. Rev. 14.1 also tells us that the 144,000 have their "Father's name written in their foreheads". We have mentioned that they were "redeemed from the earth" (Rev. 14.3). While we cannot precisely understand the precise details of salvation, we can observe two things: (1) their salvation cannot happen without the blood of Jesus Christ, and (2) the Bible does not plainly state that these 144,000 obeyed the Acts 2.38 plan of salvation as we know it in the New Testament Church Age. We cannot prove that Acts 2.38 is the precise commandment, since it is not given during this time period. Calvary has forever changed God's way of salvation, but the details of the application of Calvary are up to Him after the New Testament Church leaves the earth.

Since the 144,000 Jewish saints are sealed by the angel of Revelation 7, we should think that the two witnesses were saved in a similar manner. We assume that these two prophets are men born of women, and require salvation like anyone else. It is not that the elements of Acts 2.38 (faith, repentance, water baptism, baptism of the Spirit) are not basic components used in the Great Tribulation period, but we do not see any plain evidence that Acts 2.38 itself is specifically preached during the Great Tribulation period as it is in the New Testament Church Age.

The two witnesses do not preach it, nor do the 144,000, insofar as the Scripture speaks. This indicates to us that there is somewhat of a change, since we realize that the New Testament Church has been caught up from the earth before God turns again to the Jews in the tribulation period (Romans 11.25-27). This is startling to those of us in this church age. It is no doubt as startling to some, as the New Testament Church plan of salvation was startling to the Mosaic covenant people. The New Covenant is an "everlasting covenant" (Hebrews 13.20), but so then is the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 17.7). All of the people of the New Covenant will be caught up from the face of the earth at the pre-tribulation rapture, but the people of the everlasting Abrahamic Covenant (who are left on earth) will go through the Great Tribulation so that God may deliver Jacob, as He has promised. The two witnesses will lead the prophesying of this time period. They will be followed by the 144,000 Jews.

Those who believe the New Testament Church is represented in the future by these two witnesses have some who teach that the Jews and Jerusalem in particular will be the sworn enemies of the two witnesses.

But while the two witnesses are murdered in Jerusalem, it is evident from the Scripture that the enemies of the two witnesses are the nations of the world under the leadership of the beast.

The two witnesses are killed by the forces of the beast in the city of Jerusalem, while trying to minister to their fellow Jews. The angel tells John the murdered witnesses will "lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified" (Rev. 11.8).

Revelation 11 tells us that the world ("people, kindreds, and tongues and nations") shall see the dead bodies of the two witnesses for three and one-half days, and "shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves" (Rev. 11.9). This passage was not understandable in John's day because revelation or the technology did not exist to make it understandable. Today, however, with the advent of television and satellite technology, we can finally understand how it is possible for a worldwide simultaneous viewing of dead bodies in the streets of Jerusalem. It is not the Jews who rejoice over the death of the two witnesses, but rather it is "they that dwell upon the eath" who "shall rejoice over them (i.e., the two dead witnesses) and shall send gifts one to another" (Rev. 11.10). Thus, we can see that the enemies of the two witnesses are not the common Jews, but rather it is the beast and the nations of the world who hate them and finally kill them. Obviously, their mission is to reach God's people, Israel, one more time.

The powerful ministry of the two prophets comes to a tragic end when the beast manages to kill them in Jerusalem, and to overcome the saints of God (Rev. 11.7, Rev. 13.7, Daniel 7.21, etc.). But after three and one-half days, a miracle takes place. While the world is watching them, "the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them" (Rev. 11.11). Rev. 11.12 says, "And they heard a great voice...saying...Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them".

This is a separate resurrection from the return of the Lord at Armageddon, and it is separate from the rapture of the New Testament Church. It may represent the resurrection of the tribulation saints. This is why we understand that the first general resurrection comes in a series (a tagma, as 1 Cor. 15.23 calls it).

This incident should not be confused with the rapture of the New Testament Church. This happens in the city of Jerusalem. The rapture of the New Testament Church is a worldwide event. There is no evidence that the world will even be aware of what is happening in the rapture of the church. Paul calls it a "mystery" (1 Cor. 15.51,52).

The resurrection of the two witnesses climaxes the Great Tribulation period (which ought to also be known as the Wrath of The Beast), and ushers in sounding of the trumpet of the 7th angel, and the cry from heaven that "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev. 11.15). The unmixed Wrath of God will next be poured out upon a God-rejecting world (Rev. 6.17, Rev. 11.18). The cosmic calamities immediately following the close of the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24.29-31) will herald the glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ at Armageddon. Zechariah 14.5 "...and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee". Saints of God-fellow Christians-let's not fall for these prophetic winds of doctrine that sweeping through Pentecost, and destroying the faith of some, but let's stand for the old paths.

Who are the two witnesses? We don't know their names, but they are Jewish saints who will stand up to the beast and who will sacrifice their lives for the Lord Jesus Christ during Jacob's Time of Trouble. The mission of the New Testament Church is to preach this gospel in all the world to every nation. We are to proclaim the soon coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and to be ready to meet Him. Are you ready?

-William B. Chalfant