Luke 9:28-33 “Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. (29) As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. (30) And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, (31) who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. (32) But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. (33) Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"--not knowing what he said.”
The second reason why Moses is the most likely candidate for being the second witness is his position of being co counsellor with Elijah to the Lord Jesus. That particular truth is revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, the context of which is our Lord’s transfiguration on the mountain. This passage reveals to us that the two men that appeared to the Lord on that occasion were Moses and Elijah. This incident occurred just before our Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection. And so we see that of all the Old Testament prophets, Moses and Elijah were the two chosen by God to discuss with His Son that which Jesus was about to accomplish through His death on the cross. So why did God choose these two men? The answer to that question is revealed in the following passage of scripture.
Zechariah 4:11-14 “Then I answered and said to him, "What are these two olive trees--at the right of the lamp stand and at its left?" (12) And I further answered and said to him, "What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?" (13) Then he answered me and said, "Do you not know what these are?" And I said, "No, my lord." (14) So, he said, "These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.”
The context of the above quoted passage of scripture is an account of a vision given to the prophet Zechariah. In the vision Zechariah asked the angel to explain to him the meaning of the two olive trees that he was shown. And so in response to Zechariah’s request the angel revealed that the two olive trees represented two anointed individuals that continually stand beside the Lord of the whole earth. The Lord of the whole earth referred to in this passage is in fact the Lord Jesus Christ, and the two olive trees (anointed ones) mentioned in this passage are the same two olive trees standing before the God of the earth, which we read about earlier (Revelation 11:4). Therefore both passages reveal to us that there are two individuals who are called by God to stand in the presence of the Lord Jesus, to commune with Him as His counsellors. And so in light of the previous passage that we read where Moses and Elijah communed with the Lord Jesus about His decease which He was going to accomplish at Jerusalem, it is very clear that these two men have been chosen by God to stand in these anointed callings as the Lord’s counsellors. Therefore we can be fully assured that it is Moses and Elijah that will be the Lord’s two witnesses on the earth during the final half of the anti-Christ’s reign. When they originally walked on the earth, both men had powerful ministries demonstrating the gift of the working of miracles, and as we will see later in this section, that same gift will be very prominent in their ministries once again.
Revelation 12:6-17 “Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. (7) And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, (8) but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. (9) So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. … (13) Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. (14) But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. (15) So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. (16) But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. (17) And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
We have established thus far that Moses and Elijah are the two witnesses which will be on the earth during the final forty two months of the anti-Christ’s reign. And so now we want to establish what role the two witnesses will play in the earth during that period. As we will see in this section, there are two main roles that the two witnesses will play. Their first role which we will discuss now is their ministry to the Jewish saints. In that regard, we looked at the above quoted passage of scripture earlier when we saw that the Jewish saints will flee to the Lebanon mountain range when they see the sign of the anti-Christ standing in the Jewish temple. Nevertheless this passage also reveals two further truths to us; firstly it declares that God has prepared a specific place in the mountains for the Jewish saints to flee to, and secondly it declares that God will feed them there for a period of one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Hosea 12:7-9 “A cunning Canaanite! Deceitful scales are in his hand; He loves to oppress. (8) And Ephraim said, 'Surely, I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself; in all my labours they shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.' (9) "But I am the Lord your God, ever since the land of Egypt; I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast.”
We have already mentioned that the Jewish saints that flee to the mountains at that time will number in the hundreds of thousands. So the question is asked where they will live during that three-and-a-half year period. The answer to that question is that Moses and Elijah will be waiting in the mountains to receive the saints, and will lead them to a specific location chosen by God. In the above quoted passage of scripture God tells us the type of accommodation the Jewish saints will live in during that time. In this passage, the cunning Canaanite who loves to oppress refers to the anti-Christ. And so we see in this passage that during the reign of the anti-Christ, God will make the Jews live in tents as in the days of the appointed feast. The appointed feast that God is referring to in this passage is the feast of Tabernacles. During the feast of Tabernacles the Jews are required to build temporary shelters (booths) made from tree branches, etc, which they must live in for seven days; the purpose being to remind the Jews that they dwelt in temporary shelters in the wilderness when God delivered them out of Egypt. And so we see that God will once again make the Jewish saints live in temporary shelters (booths) made from tree branches, etc, for three-and-a-half years.
Michael E.B. Maher
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