Part II- The Holy City

The holy city in the old testament is identified as the city of Jerusalem in the following verses of scripture: 

1.  Neh. 11:1  And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts to dwell in other cities.

2.  Is. 52:1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

3.  Dan. 9: 24  Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 

The holy city in the new testament is identified as the Lord’s church or new Jerusalem in the following verses: 

1.  Rev. 21: 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

2.  Rev. 3: 12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

3.  Rev. 22: 10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. 

Part III-Gentiles to tread under foot  

To tread under foot means to possess or have the victory as the following verses show: 

1.  Ex. 24: 10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.

2.  Deu. 1: 36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD.

3.  Deu. 11: 24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

4. Jos. 1: 3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

5.  Jos. 14: 9  And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God. 

Based on the above verses we can conclude that the Gentiles have been given to possess the holy city or new Jerusalem (the church) for "forty two months."

Part IV-Forty and Two Months 

There are four different ways that the scriptures express the period of time three and a half years.  These are found in the following verses: 

1.  Rev. 11: 3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

2.  Rev. 12: 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

3.  Rev. 12:14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

4.  Dan. 7: 25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

5.  Dan. 9: 27  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

6.  Dan. 12: 7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

7.  Lk. 4: 25  But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;

8.  Jam. 5: 25  But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; 

Three and one half plus three and one half equals seven.  Seven represents completion in the scriptures.  There are two testaments and only two testaments.  Taking both the old testament and the new testament together gives us the complete word of God.  By studying the two witnesses in Rev. 11:3 we come to the conclusion that they represent the law and the prophets.  Thus they are the old testament.  By studying the woman in Rev. 12:6 we are drawn to the conclusion that she represents the new testament.  By studying the times in which three and a half years is used in the scriptures we are drawn to the conclusion that regardless of the form in which it is presented it represents either the new testament age or the old testament age.  It is during the new testament age that the Gentiles have been given to tread under foot (possess) the holy city (church) and to walk the court thereof.   

Rev 11:3-6  “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.  4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.  5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.  6  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will." 

The use of the term "two witnesses" is found seven other times in the scriptures as follows: 

          1.  Deu. 17: 6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

          2.  Deu. 19: 15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

          3.  Matt. 18: 16  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

          4.  Matt. 26: 60 But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses.

          5.  2 Cor. 13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

          6.  1 Tim. 5: 19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.

          7.  Heb. 10: 28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 

In each of these verses, two witnesses were needed in the execution of justice.  One witness was not sufficient to establish the guilt of anyone in judgment.  This was true both in the old testament and in the new testament. 

The number two is otherwise associated with the scripture subject of witness.  For instance, frequently, two individuals are placed in juxtaposition to one another to teach us spiritual lessons.  In Romans chapter 5 Adam and Christ are compared and contrasted illustrating the doctrine of "federal headship."  Likewise, true vs. false worship are compared in the lives of Cain and Abel.  Fleshly birth vs. new birth are compared in the births of Ishmael and Isaac.  God's election by grace is illustrated by the fraternal twins Esau and Jacob.  Also as the prophet Elijah was the forerunner of the prophet Elisha, so John was the forerunner of Christ.  Similarly, God instituted the law of marriage in the garden of Eden, that the husband and wife might mirror the relationship of Christ to his bride, the church.  Furthermore, Christ sent out his 12 apostles and the seventy other ministers in pairs to be witnesses of his gospel kingdom.   

The two olive trees are described for us in Zec. 4: 2 “And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:  3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof."  We are told what these two olive trees represent in Zec. 4: 6  "Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts."  Thus the two olive trees are "the word of the Lord."  This is further verified in Zec. 4: 11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?  12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?  13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.  14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth."

Thus the "two olive trees" are the "two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth" which are also called the "word of the Lord."  At the time this was written the "word of the Lord" consisted of the "law and the prophets." 

The term "two candlesticks" is not found elsewhere in the scriptures.  However, the context of Rev. chapter 11 and the term "candlestick" gives us a clear picture as to who or what the "two candlesticks" has reference to.  Previously in the 1st chapter of Rev. the Lord told us of seven golden candlesticks, which he said, are the seven churches.  Candlesticks give off light.  As the Lord told the disciples, "Ye are the light of the world," so the church gives off spiritual light to God's people.  In Psalms 119: 105 NUN. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."  Thus the word of the Lord is a lamp or candlestick.           

Part II – Identification of the Two Witnesses 

We read concerning Elijah the prophet in 2 Kings 1: 10  "And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.  11 Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.  12 And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty."  Also, we read of Elijah in James 5: 17  "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.  18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit."  Elijah truly was a great prophet and the things written above connect him to Rev. 11, v.5 and the first half of v.6.   

We read concerning Moses in Ex. 7: 19 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.  20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.  21 And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt."  We read in Ex. Chapters 7 thru 12 also concerning Moses where God used Moses to smite the land of Egypt with all manner of plagues.  Therefore, Moses fits the description given in the last half of Rev. 11:6. 

In the scriptures, Moses is the representative of the law and Elijah is the representative of the prophets.  They were witnesses of the Lord as illustrated in Lk. 9: 28 And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.  29 And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.  30 And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:  31 Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.  Thus we can conclude that the "two witnesses" and the "two candlesticks" are the "law and the prophets," i.e., the old testament.  The law and the prophets were no doubt witnesses throughout the old testament age, but are they a witness unto us today?  This we will attempt to answer next.