We are looking at the two witnesses that just kind of pop up out of nowhere in the middle of the book of Revelation. We are not exactly sure when they come on the scene chronologically. Most likely, I believe, they come on the scene at the very first of the Tribulation Period and they continue to about the midpoint. We saw last time that the scriptures don’t tell us who they are. We can make educated guesses, but there is no certainty. We find that they are invincible for three and a half years in Revelation 11:5.
Starting in Revelation 11:6, “These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.” Their power is immense. Very similar abilities to Elijah and Moses in the Old Testament which is why some people believe that is who they are, but we cannot prove that. Knowing who they are is not an important piece of the puzzle. What we do want to know is: what are they doing? We get a clue from the fact that they are witnesses. They are witnessing to something. Obviously, they are witnesses of the Lord. In some capacity then, they are witnessing to the Lord Himself. To His glory. It’s very possible, and I tend to lean this direction, that what these men are doing is not only pointing to the Lord and witnessing of the power and the glory of the Lord, but they are also evangelizing and telling people of the gospel. Recall, when the church is raptured from the earth, all believers are gone for a time. There will be no Christians, no believers, on the earth after the rapture of the church. So, they need to have a witness. The people that are left on the earth need to have a witness for them to come to Christ. Where do those witnesses come from? Well, I believe most likely it is these two witnesses that do exactly that. They come forth and they proclaim the truth of the gospel, and they point people to the Lord Jesus and many people start getting saved. Remember in Revelation 7, we have one hundred forty-four thousand Jews that are followers of the Lord and a great multitude of Gentiles. Where did they come from? If faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, someone had to proclaim to them the gospel. I believe that it is very likely that these two witnesses are sent for that particular purpose. Not just to frighten the world and demonstrate God’s power and bring about great miracles, but to point to Christ and then many people come to Christ resulting from their witness. I believe that is probably the case. So, we have three and a half years where these men are doing exactly that, and no one can touch them or harm them in any way.
