One of the most debated parts of the book of Revelation—along with the beasts, Babylon, and the “millennium”—is the identity of the two witnesses (Revelation 11:1-14). To say that there has been wild speculation about the identity of these two figures is putting it mildly. The popular Left Behind books and movies depict them as two very old fire-breathing prophets who appear in Jerusalem during “The Great Tribulation.” Others think they are Enoch and Elijah, since they both did not experience physical death. More recently, people have been using AI to generate “biblically accurate” pictures of the two witnesses that make them look like characters out of Dune or the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
To discover the identity of the two witnesses we need to begin by understanding what the book of Revelation is. First and foremost, Revelation is a book of the Bible. Yes, it is highly symbolic, but more importantly it is the culmination of biblical prophecy1Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993); see also Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation, New Testament Theology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993). and the canonical capstone of Christian Scripture.2Brian Tabb, All Things New: Revelation as Canonical Capstone, ed. D. A. Carson, vol. 48, New Studies in Biblical Theology (England; Downers Grove, IL: Apollos; InterVarsity Press, 2019). In order to understand you need to be saturated and deeply familiar with the Bible, especially the Old Testament, which is alluded to in virtually every verse of the book. Second, Revelation is a book written to churches facing persecution and pressures to compromise. John is shown what would “soon take place” in the 1st century to encourage the church throughout all the ages to persevere in faithful witness and to have hope in the reign of the risen Lord Jesus.
When read in light of the rest of Scripture it becomes evident that Revelation 11 is painting a picture of the church’s faithful and successful witness to Jesus despite opposition.
The Measuring of the Temple and the Trampling of the City
Just as Zechariah saw Jerusalem measured (Zech. 2), and Ezekiel saw God’s temple measured (Ezek. 40), so John sees the temple measured (Rev. 11:1-2). This symbolizes the spiritual protection and preservation of God’s people, just like the “sealing” them with a mark on their foreheads (Rev. 7:3; Ezek. 9:4). While the act of measuring in Zechariah was fulfilled in a literal temple, this act of measuring has been redemptively recalibrated because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the outpouring of the Spirit. According the New Testament, the church is now the true temple, the place where God now lives through his Spirit (John 2:19-21; 1 Cor. 3:16, 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:11-22; 1 Pet. 2:4-5; Heb. 12:22). Christians, both Jew and Gentile, are living stones and priests, who enter the holy places of the heavenly temple by the blood of Jesus, behind the torn veil. With the arrival of Jesus, something greater than the temple had truly arrived (Matt. 12:6). Despite the fact that the physical temple was still standing, Jesus declared that it had been left desolate (Matt. 23:38). Thus, the comforting image of the church being protected also serves as an indictment on the old covenant order which was passing away and came to an end when Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed in AD 70.
The court outside the temple that is “left out” (literally “cast out”, Rev. 11:2) is best understood as those who rejected Jesus, killed him, and persecuted the saints (1 Thess. 2:14-16). In the first century this was unbelieving Israel, the generation that rejected Jesus, but it also represents all those who follow in their footsteps throughout the ages. Like the Egyptians left unprotected on the night of tenth plague, they are left in the outer court because they have not drawn near by the blood of Jesus (cf. Heb 13:10). This argument for the outer court as primarily a reference to unbelieving Israel is strengthened by what Paul says in Galatians 4:21-32. Paul says the “present Jerusalem” is like Hagar, the slave woman who was “cast out” and does not inherit the promises, while the church corresponds to Sarah and the heavenly Jerusalem, those who are born of the Spirit.
The point of Rev. 11:1-2 is that the saints as “the holy city” may be trampled underfoot, they may be killed for their testimony, but ultimately, they are safe, secure, and sealed for the day of redemption. Every believer is assessed and accounted for by God; and they are under God’s care and control. This understanding of the temple is crucial for understanding the identity and ministry of what John sees next.
The Identity of the Witnesses
This measuring of the temple is followed by a story of God’s “two witnesses” who are granted authority to prophesy for 1,260 days (Rev. 11:3-4). Despite the wild theories about these two witnesses, they are best seen as connected to the measuring of the temple and symbolic of the church for several reasons.
First, Jesus is the faithful witness (1:5), so too are his people (Lk. 24:48; Acts 1:8). The saints conquer by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their prophetic testimony (Rev. 12:11), which is the same word for “witness,” and where we get our word “martyr.” Throughout Revelation it is the entire community of believers who bear witness to Jesus (Rev. 6:9; 12:11, 17; 19:10; 20:4).
Second, the time of their witness overlaps with the trampling of the city (Rev. 11:1-3). The use of days and months to measure time offers two perspectives on the same time period, which becomes clear when the immediate context of chapters 12-13 is considered. The trampling of the city for 42 months matches the time the beast makes war on the saints (Rev. 13:5-7). The prophesying for 1,260 days matches the woman’s time in the wilderness nourished by God (Rev. 12:6). In other words, for 42 months the church is persecuted, but for 1,260 days the church is protected as their bear prophetic witnesses to Christ. The witnesses prophesying for the same time as the city is trampled helps explain the purpose of measuring. God protects his people to ensure “the effectiveness of [their] prophetic witness.”3G. K. Beale and David H. Campbell, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary (Eerdmans, 2015), 220.
Third, the two witnesses are called “the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth” (Rev. 11:4). The churches in Revelation have already been identified as lampstands (Rev. 1:20), so it is safe to assume that these two witnesses as lampstands refer to the church here as well. This is also where Zechariah’s imagery of the two olive trees and the lampstand comes into play, which is a vision of God’s people being empowered and sustained by God’s Spirit through his word. The difference is that now the imagery is merged. The two witnesses are the lampstands and the olive trees because God’s people are a kingdom of priests and prophets, who are all filled with the Spirit.
Fourth, Revelation 11:7 says the beast makes war against the two witnesses and conquers them, but in Revelation 13:7 is says the beast makes war on the saints and conquers them, which are both a direct reference to Daniel 7, where a little horn makes war on the saints and conquers them, not merely two individuals. This is because, as Leithart persuasively argues, Revelation 11 is a preview of what happens in chapters 12-16. The witnesses slain by the beast (11:7) are the saints slain by the beast (13:7), and the saints slain by the beast are the 144,000 firstfruit martyrs (14:1-5).4See Peter J. Leithart, Revelation, ed. Michael Allen and Scott R. Swain, vol. 1, ITC (Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2018), 429.
Why Two Witnesses?
If the two witnesses represent God’s people, the question then is why are there two of them? Upon first glance it would seem natural to take this number as “literally” meaning two. But that is to fail to take into account what kind of literature Revelation is and its connection to the rest of Scripture. Like all the other numbers in Revelation this is symbolic. For example, Jesus is said to be a lamb with seven horns and eyes, which are the seven spirts of God (Rev. 5:6).
So what is the biblical significance of the number two? The law required two witnesses to confirm the truth or establish a charge (Num. 35:30; Deut. 17:6). This is why Jesus sent out his disciples in pairs (Lk. 10) and why two angels testified to Jesus’ resurrection and his second coming (Lk. 24:4; Acts 1:10-11; cf. Gen. 19). The Father sent his Son and Spirit to testify to the gospel, forming a double witness (Mk. 3:28-29). Thus, it seems best to understand these witnesses as symbolic for God’s prophetic voice on earth, those who testify to the truth of the gospel of the risen Lord Jesus. And this is the job of church as an embassy of God’s kingdom on earth.
The most convincing evidence for the number of witnesses being symbolic for the church is the foundational New Testament claim that the church is comprised of Jew and Gentile (Rom. 1:16). This is what Paul says is the “mystery of Christ” that was hidden but has now been revealed (Eph. 3:4-6; Col. 1:24-28). Interestingly, the Greek text of Rev. 11:8 says their dead body lies in the street. the word “body” is singular (πτῶμα); not “bodies.” Understanding the two witnesses as the Jew-Gentile church, the one body of Christ, makes the most sense of this perplexing exegetical detail (Eph. 2:15).
The Ministry of the Witnesses
Another reason we can identify the two witnesses symbolically as the church is based on how their ministry is described (Rev. 11:3-6). The Scripture-saturated reader will instantly realize that these witnesses are a mashup of all the biblical prophets. Koester notes that, “As figures that stand for the faithful generally, the two witnesses encompass the traits of individuals from many periods in the history of God’s people.”5Craig R. Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things, Second Edition (Eerdmans, 2018), 110. When characters are introduced in Revelation they are usually described with a mashup of symbolic imagery: the Son of Man (Rev. 1:13-16), the beasts (Rev. 13:1-8, 11-18; Rev. 17:8-14), the woman and the dragon (Rev. 12:1-5), the harlot in the wilderness (Rev. 17:1-5), and the bride of the Lamb (Rev. 21:9-27). In each of those cases, all interpreters of Revelation agree that symbolic imagery is used. Thus, when we come to a description of the two witnesses we should not expect them to literally be fire-breathing lampstands that are also olive trees.
Like the praying prophet Daniel, they are dressed in sackcloth (Dan. 9:3). Like the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, they are the olive trees, the “sons of oil”, that stand before the Lord of the earth (Zech. 4:14).
Like Jeremiah, their pour fire from their mouths. God tells Jeremiah, “I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them” (Jer. 5:14). This is symbolic language; their words of judgment are fire, and the people are wood. Reading this literally, expecting two individuals to breathe fire from their mouths, is a complete failure to understand how this imagery is used in Scripture. No one reading the book of Jeremiah understands it in such a literalistic manner; the same ought to be true for Revelation. Interestingly, when the disciples want to literally be like Elijah and call down fire on Samaritans, Jesus rebukes them (Luke 9:51-56). But in the next chapter he sends them out in pairs to preach the gospel and the judgment of God! They would call down “fire” as they preached the gospel. “Likewise, the two witnesses…declare the judgment of God not by calling down literal fire, a practice no longer suitable in the gospel age, but by declaring the gospel and the consequences of disobeying it.”6Beale, Revelation, 225
Like Moses and Elijah, the witnesses perform mighty signs (Rev. 11:6). The powers of these prophets is attributed to both witnesses, not divided between them, as if these witnesses are literally Moses and Elijah reincarnate. Rather, Smalley says it best when he says that the church, being filled with the Spirit, “[possesses] gifts and resources which are just as great as those which were available to Moses and Elijah.”7Stephen S. Smalley, The Revelation to John: A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Apocalypse (SPCK, 2005), 280. These signs, like the fire from Jeremiah’s mouth, and Jesus telling his disciples they can throw a mountain into the sea (Mark 11:23), are a picture of their prophetic ministry being empowered by God, effective and unhindered, until they have finished their testimony.
Finally, like their Lord, they are killed for their testimony, but vindicated and raised to life (spiritually at first). Their ministry of 1,260 roughly matches the length of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Additionally, it says the witnesses received the breath of life from God and stood on their feet (Rev. 11:11). This is an allusion to Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones, which symbolically depicts the spiritual restoration and resurrection of God’s people, not just a few individuals. Just as their prophetic ministry is symbolic, so is their martyrdom and ascent. The point is that God’s people will be rescued, resurrected, and vindicated.
Understanding the symbolism and identifying the scriptural allusions here provides great encouragement to the church. We find ourselves in the company of God’s prophets throughout the ages. We are sealed, protected, and empowered to carry out our ministry of witnessing to the gospel of Jesus.
The Vindication of the Witnesses
After the two witnesses are raised there was an earthquake, just like when Jesus died (Matt. 27:51-54), and John is told, “a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.” (Rev. 11:13). Here we find the vindication of the witnesses and the outcome of their prophetic ministry. But in order to understand the outcome of their witness and the significance of these symbolic numbers we must turn, once again, to the Old Testament.
As with all the numbers in Revelation, these numbers here cannot be literal because this would mean that the great city—which is usually identified as Jerusalem or Rome—only has 70,000 people in it. The significance of these symbolic numbers comes from the Old Testament prophets. As for the “tenth,” The prophets Isaiah and Amos both warned that only a tenth of the people would survive God’s coming judgment and be left in the city (Isa. 6:13; Amos 5:3). As for the “seven thousand,” God told Elijah that he would leave “seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal (1 Kgs. 19:18). In each case, the tenth and the seven thousand, there is only a faithful remnant left standing after God’s judgments are unleashed.
Now John sees the reverse! Now, John is told only a tenth of the city falls under judgment, and only seven thousand are killed while the rest give glory to God. The numbers are reversed from how they are used in the OT. Earlier in Revelation we learn that “the rest of mankind” not killed by the trumpet judgments “did not repent” of their idolatry and immorality (Rev. 9:20-21.) But now, with the witness of the church, it seems that they do! In other words, the church’s witnesses is successful. Wright concludes, “The martyr-witness of the church…will succeed where the plagues have failed. This is how the nations will come to glorify their creator. This is how ‘the kingdom of the world’ will become the kingdom of ‘our Lord and his Messiah’—which is precisely the point that follows immediately in verse 15.”8Tom Wright, Revelation for Everyone, For Everyone Bible Study Guides (Westminster John Knox, 2011), 100
When we understand the two witnesses in Revelation 11 as part of Scripture we have a glorious picture of the church’s work and witness in the world. The case for a symbolic reading of this passage not only does justice to the apocalyptic nature of the book and its use of the Old Testament, but it makes it incredibly relevant to churches in the first century and throughout the ages. We are reminded that God ensures his presence with his people, their spiritual protection as they testify to the gospel, and he will ensure their effective witness, their vindication, and the judgment of their oppressors. This was true in the first century, when the church was persecuted while bearing witness to Jesus, and is still true today.
