Are the two witnesses in Revelation 11 literal persons or symbolic?
I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.
Views: 17
We are sure these two witnesses are symbolic, not literal persons. Why? Why not two prophets?
Because the two witnesses appear in highly symbolic…
(1) The two witnesses appear during the same 42-month period as the symbolic ‘outer court’.
“Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.” – Revelation 11:2,3
The altar and the temple refer to heaven, the place of the Most High YHWH God’s presence. The “court” outside the temple must therefore refer to earthly Jerusalem, which was destroyed and given over to the nations to be trampled for “forty-two months“. Nations can never trample the heavenly temple. So the “court outside the temple” symbolizes earthly Jerusalem, which has been trampled since AD 70 for a period of forty-two months. This period is the same as the 1,260 days during which the two witnesses testify.
But does the 42-month trampling of Jerusalem really refer to AD 70, or does it point to a future third Temple?
Yes, 42-month period refer to, and began in, the year AD 70 Jerusalem was destroyed. This explained by Lord Jesus in Luke chapter 21.
“And while some (disciples) were speaking of the temple (pointing to the 1st century temple), how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings,
(Jesus pointing to the temple) said, 6 “As for these things that you see (the Temple that disciples saw around AD30), the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down (of this temple disciples were looking at).
24 …and Jerusalem (The one disciples looking at) will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles (given over to the nations), until the times (42-months) of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” – Luke 21:5-6,24
But could it be that Jesus and disciples were talking about the future third Temple?
No, they were ‘speaking of the temple’ that they were seeing and pointing to, and they praised ‘how it was adorned with noble stones’. It is nonsense if someone says ‘they were talking about the future temple’, because how can the disciples see that the future third Temple ‘is adorned with noble stones’? So those who believe they were talking about the future third Temple are also talking nonsense.
Therefore, both the “court outside the temple” and the two witnesses are symbolic. Then the time of “42 months” and “1,260 days” should also be symbolic.
(2) The two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands
“These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed.” – Revelation 11:4,5
Jesus Christ himself explained that the lampstands represent churches. The two witnesses are called the two olive trees and the two lampstands; therefore, the two witnesses (the two olive trees) represent two churches. No flesh-and-blood man could pour fire out of his mouth, which is why the two witnesses should be understood as symbolic.
(3)The Beast makes war on them and kills them
“And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.” – Revelation 11:7,8
In these verses, the beast is symbolic, and the bottomless pit is symbolic (a non-existent situation). The street is symbolic, the great city (should be Babylon the Great city) is also symbolic. The place where the two witnesses lie is symbolic – the same symbolic place where their Lord was crucified, which is called or symbolized by Sodom (symbolic sexual immorality?) and Egypt (symbolic desolator?).
How can a flesh-and-blood man be killed by a symbolic beast? How can a real man die in a symbolic place and lie on a virtual (symbolic) street? The whole of Revelation chapter 11 is highly symbolic: the “outer court” is symbolic, the “42 months” and “1,260 days” are symbolic, the “two olive trees” and “two lampstands” are symbolic, the “beast” is symbolic, and the street where their Lord was crucified is also symbolic.
Therefore, the two witnesses must be symbolic. They will be killed in a symbolic street of a symbolic city, and they will be resurrected and go to heaven in a symbolic way. I don’t know whether you agree.
Amen.
Views: 0