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Ron Reese (23 Apr 2012)
"The two witnesses--Take it literally"


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THE TWO WITNESSES--TAKE IT LITERALLY

When attending Bible School, many years ago, in Hermeneutics class, we learned about the 23 principles one should use in interpreting Scripture. One of those principles is called "The Direct Statement Principle". The definition is, "That principle under which God says what He means, and means what He says. This is an important principle, and we enunciate this because of the attempts of many people to spiritualize the Word of God, and to make it a mystical book. To many people, God's Word is not to be taken literally at all."

When we start to spiritualize, or allegorize, or interpret Scripture to not be literal, we are standing on dangerous ground. Many liberal denominations, and liberal churches do this all of the time. Once one starts down this road, it is a very slippery slope. If we do not like the literal interpretation of a certain Scripture, we start to take license, and liberty, to attempt to change it to our liking. Soon one is left with believing those Scriptures which suit his fancy, and ignoring the rest. The Word says that, "ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God."

To carry "The Direct Statement Priciple" one step further, it means to take every Scripture literally, unless it is not possible to do so. This includes the Book of Revelation, which, to many, is to be taken only as an allegory, or a mystic book. The purpose of this email is to encourage all Bible students to believe that the two witnesses in the Book of Revelation are literally two men.

We have no legitimate reason to believe these two witnesses are the 144, 000, or that they are the Jews and the Church, or anything other than two men. When the Word gives us great detail, PROVING CONCLUSIVELY that these are two men, why should anybody doubt the Word of God, and try to twist the Scripture into meaning something other than what is so obviously stated?

Here is what the Word of God says about the two witnesses, PROVING CONCLUSIVELY that they are LITERALLY TWO MEN:

1. Rev. 11:3--It gives us the exact length of their ministries, and prophecies, of 1260 days.

2. Rev. 11:3--It tells us what they would be wearing--clothed in sackcloth.

3. Rev. 11:5--Fire proceeds out of their mouths, and destroys their enemies. This same thing happened literally in the O.T.

4. Rev. 11:6--These same TWO witnesses have power to stop it from raining.

5. Rev. 11:6--These same TWO witnesses have power to turn water into blood.

6. Rev. 11:6--These same TWO witnesses have power to smite the earth with all plagues. God does not need ALL of the Church, and ALL of the Jews, or 144,000 people, to performed these things in # 3--# 6. All He needs is TWO PROPHETS.

7. Rev. 11:10--This verse should remove ALL doubt in anybody's mind that these two witnesses are literally TWO MEN. It reads, "...THESE TWO PROPHETS tormented them who dwelt on the earth." It is a witness to the awesomeness of God's power, that so much could be accomplished with just TWO PROPHETS.

8. Rev. 11:8--This verse gives us even more detail, by describing the city of Jerusalem, where these TWO PROPHETS are killed.

9. Rev. 11:9--This verse gives us the length of time the TWO PROPHETS lay in the streets of Jerusalem--three and one-half days.

10. Rev. 11:10--The people of the earth shall rejoice over the dead bodies of these TWO PROPHETS, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another.

11. Rev. 11:11--The Spirit of life from God entered into them, and these TWO PROPHETS stood upon their feet, and great fear fell on them which saw them.

12. Rev. 11:12--A great voice said unto the TWO PROPHETS, "Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."

When the Word of God gives us this much detail about the lives and ministries nd deaths of these two witnesses, and refers to them as TWO PROPHETS, let's not doubt that God says what He means, and means what He says. Anything other than a literal interpretation of these two witnesses, is simply doubting God's ability to communicate to us what He is so obviously saying.

Let us not become like the liberal theologians, and try to spiritualize, or allegorize, the Book of Revelation. We should always take the Scriptures literally unless there is a very good reason not to.

Over the past 40 years, I have read so much speculation on the identity of these TWO MEN, OR TWO PROPHETS. Most, but not all, believe that one of these men is Elijah. The leading candidates to be the other man appear to me Moses, Enoch, and John, although other candidates have been mentioned.

I have read all of reasons why Moses just HAS to be one of them, including that he appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration with Elijah. There are three main reasons why I do not believe that Moses is one of the two witnesses:

1. Moses has already died once.

2. Moses was not a good speaker. His brother, Aaron was his spokesperson. He seems like an unlikely candidate to be seen prophesying, with his mouth, for three and one-half years.

3. The main reason that I don't think Moses is a good fit is that God wants to glorify His Son. He wants the Jews and the rest of the world to be drawn to His Son, Jesus. The Jews would worship Moses, almost like a cult hero, if he should be one of the two witnesses. Moses is a very popular figure in Jewish history.

I maintain that there has to be a reason for God to only Rapture two people in the Old Testament, the same as the number of witnesses in the New Testament. The Word tells us that one of those two, Elijah, would be sent to earth, by God, in the last days. It only makes perfect sense that the only other man to be Raptured, without dying, was Enoch. It is my contention that the two witnesses are probably Elijah and Enoch.

Below is a recent post by Robert Rose. The Book of Nicodemus, although not part of Scripture, names the two witnesses, as Elijah and Enoch. I encourage you to read Robert's post, referenced below:

http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/apr2012/robertr421.htm

Maranatha!

Ron Reese
rgreese49@aol.com


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Zechariah 12:3,9:
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people; And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.


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