Two Witnesses Identifying the Second Witness
Revelation 9:12-11:14 ESV “The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come. 13Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet [2nd Woe], and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before Yahweh, 14saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand [200,000,000 troops]; I heard their number. 17And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound. 20The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries [drug, medication, pharmacy sorceries] or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” “1Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2He had a little scroll [Book of Daniel] open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land [angel has landed on earth], 3and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write [because John understood what they said], but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” 5And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of Yahweh would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets. 8Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll [Book of Daniel] that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9So I went to the angel [John is on earth during the Tribulation!!] and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11And I was told, “You must again prophesy [in the 21st Century] about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”” “1Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise [from the dead] and measure the temple of Yahweh [John is alive in Jerusalem during the Tribulation] and the altar and those who worship there, 2but 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 [3 ½ years]. 3And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days [3 ½ years], clothed in sackcloth.” 4These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5And 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. 6They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may 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 kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7And 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, 8and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city [Jerusalem] that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord [Yahshua] was crucified. 9For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11But after the three and a half days a breath of life from Yahweh entered them, and they stood up on their feet [Elijah’s first resurrection, John’s second], and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud [Elijah’s second ascension, John’s first], and their enemies watched them. 13And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the Divine One of heaven. 14The second woe has passed [6th trumpet]; behold, the third woe [7th trumpet] is soon to come.”
We don’t have to search far to find the identity of the first witness. Elijah will be one of the two witnesses, according to Malachi 4:5-6 ESV “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of Yahweh comes. 6And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” Malachi does not tell us how long before the Day of Yahweh that Elijah appears, but Revelation 11 above spells it out, exactly 1,260 days before the Day of Yahweh, the Two Witnesses appear on the world scene.
John the Revelator is identified as the second witness in the following Scriptures: Revelation 11, John 21:21-23, Matthew 20:22-23, Luke 9:51-56, Mark 3:13-19, Revelation 10:1-4; 9-10.
Revelation 11:1 ESV “Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of Yahweh and the altar and those who worship there,” John is commanded to rise from the dead and measure the Tribulation Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem. This passage puts John on earth, in Jerusalem, during the Tribulation. I believe John is the only prophet who gets to fulfill his own prophecy!
John 21:21-23 ESV “When Peter saw him, he said to Yahshua “Lord, what about this man?” 22Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Yahshua did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”” Master Yahshua hinted to the fact that it may be His will that John be alive on earth during end time events.
Matthew 20:22-23 ESV “Yahshua answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”” Yahshua has given us a very subtle clue here. Yahshua states plainly that John will drink the Master’s cup. What cup? The cup of capital punishment, or martyrdom. First Century John was the only Apostle to die of old age, not martyrdom! John has a date with destiny as the other witness to fulfill this prophecy of Yahshua!
Luke 9:51-56 ESV “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55But he turned and rebuked them. 56And they went on to another village.” Calling fire down from heaven to consume their enemies is the signature supernatural gift of the two witnesses. John didn’t get to do it in the First Century, but he will in the Twenty First Century! Revelation 11:5 ESV “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.”
Mark 3:13-19 ESV “And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15and have authority to cast out demons. 16He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, 19and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.” Yahshua named John a Son of Thunder. Why? In Revelation 10:3-4 ESV “and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”” John understood what the seven thunders uttered. He was going to write it down in his scroll of Revelation, but the voice from heaven told him not to write. Did Yahshua know something about John and his relationship to thunder, that John did not know back in the days of his calling? Yahshua knew that John would have a special relationship with the voice of thunder!! When John returns as the second witness, do you think he’ll be allowed to tell the message of the seven thunders? I believe he will!! Why else would Yahweh have let him understand what they said? It’s a message for the Great Tribulation time!
Revelation 10:1-2; 9-11 ESV “Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land,” “9So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.” A couple things are revealed in these verses. We see John on earth in the 21st Century with the angel, digesting and proclaiming the fulfillment of the little Book of Daniel. Not only did John prophecy and write down prophecy in the 1st Century, but he is told that he will get to prophecy again. . .in the 21st Century!!
There may be other hints in the Scriptures that John is the second witness of Revelation 11, but these few passages whet our appetite for the fulfillment of prophecy in the end times. John has to finish his testimony that he started when he walked with Yahshua in Judea in the First Century. He doesn’t have to wait much longer to cross his finish line.
Special thanks to Pastor F.M. Riley and Steve Cioccolanti for their faithful and diligent study of Yahweh’s Word.
Gene Benjamin II February 22, 2014
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