Sunday School Notes: Revelation 11:3-4

³ And I shall give to my two witnesses even [that] they will prophesy for 1,260 days clothed with sackcloth. ⁴ These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands which are standing before the Lord of the Earth.

This week we started looking at the two witnesses, and trying to determine who these witnesses are, whether literal or symbolic. If they are literal, are they actual Old Testament prophets (e.g., Moses, Elijah, Ezekiel, Isaiah…), or some as-yet-unknown people that will turn up at the end? If they are symbolic, what do they symbolize?

First, note that the witnesses are given a prophetic calling. While the outer court of the temple has been given to the nations, and the holy city is trampled on, these witnesses are given the calling and authority to prophesy. As we will see, their prophetic ministry involves declaring God’s judgment upon the nations. So God is sovereign both over the nations attacking God’s people (see last time’s discussion on the measuring of the temple), and the denunciation of, and warnings against, those attacking.

What does verse 3 tell us about these witnesses?

1. There are two of them. What’s the significance of that? According to Deuteronomy 19:15, one witness is not enough to bring a charge against someone for an offence; there must be two or three witnesses. Jesus drew on this in Matthew 18:16 when he said that, in situations of church discipline, if the offender doesn’t listen when you lovingly rebuke them on your own, you take one or two others with you that the charge may be established on the testimony of two or three. If the two witnesses are proclaiming God’s judgment upon  the nations (i.e., unbelievers), then there is a judicial aspect to their calling. This would help explain the fact there are two of them. Why only two? Could there be some further symbolism in the fact there are only two? We’ll come back to that.
2. They wear sackcloth. Numerous passages in both the Old and New Testaments attest to the fact that sackcloth is the clothing of choice for those in mourning, or lamenting, or in repentance (e.g., Genesis 37:34; 2 Samuel 3:31; 1 Kings 20:31-32; Psalm 55:13; Jeremiah 4:8; Daniel 9:3; Jonah 3:5; Matthew 11:21). If the witnesses are coming with a message of judgment, this would certainly be appropriate attire. These witnesses are not coming for a happy-clappy big tent revival. This is serious business, and it’s not at all good news for those the hard-hearted, godless people they are preaching to.
3. Their ministry has a set duration: 1,260 days. Remember the math? Assuming a 30-day month, 1,260 days = 3.5 years = 42 months. This is the same length of time that the holy city is to be trampled underfoot by the nations. We could understand this as a tit-for-tat kind of thing: “You trample us for three-and-a-half years, and then we’ll prophesy against you for three-and-a-half years!” Or, perhaps these are concurrent events. While the holy city is being trampled for three-and-a-half years, those doing the trampling are being warned through the prophetic word of the witnesses. And if we understand the “holy city” to be shorthand for “God’s people,” then this could be talking about the persecution of the church while those persecuting are being prophesied against. That seems entirely possible to me, especially given that’s what we’ve seen throughout church history. Our gospel is one of joy for those the Lord will save, but for the rest, it is condemnation. So whenever and wherever the gospel is preached, the church makes that proclamation in the midst of opposition.

With regard to this period of time, we looked at Daniel 7:23-27, since it mentions “time, times, and half a time,” which is a 3.5 “time” period. The same formula is in Daniel 12:7, but in Daniel 7, it comes within a context that speaks of the rising of a “beast” that will devour the whole earth and trample it down, and a king that will speak against the Most High and wear out the saints of the Most High. Furthermore, the saints will be given into the hand of this king for “time, times, and half a time.” I’m sure we’ll be considering this passage again (there’s a “beast” in Revelation 13, as I’m sure you’re aware), but for now it’s interesting that the “time, times, and half a time” period is spoken of in the context of persecution of “the saints of the Most High.”

Why “time, times, and half a time”? Why not say plainly “three and a half years/days/seasons”? I haven’t come across many compelling reason, except perhaps two. First, the fact that 3.5 x 2 = 7. Daniel does speak of a 7 week period of time (9:27), so perhaps there are two periods of tribulation and/or judgment? Or maybe this is speaking of two phases of church history? We should keep this in mind as we discuss chapters 12 and 13. Another reason could quite simply be that the Lord inspired this particular formula with the intention that it be used here in Daniel, and again in Revelation to help us see a connection between the two passages. If we believe that all Scripture is inspired, and that God is ultimately the author, then I don’t see why this couldn’t be a possible explanation.

We moved quickly on to verse 4, but we skimmed through it since we were nearly out of time. The language used here of the witnesses is clearly figurative (olive trees and lamp stands), and points back to Zechariah 4. Zerubbabel laid the foundations of the new temple, which is represented by the lamp stand. The olive trees on either side of the lamp stand are “the anointed ones who stand before the Lord of the whole earth.” We recall from Revelation 1:20 that the lamp stand represents the church. This is consistent with the lamp stand as a representation of the Old Testament temple, since that was a symbol of Israel. Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah, and the grandson of Jehoiachin, the exiled king of Judah, and a descendant of David. With Zerubbabel is Joshua, the High Priest, and these two are the “anointed ones.” They have been faithful to see the restoration of the temple, a work that the Lord promises to bring to completion (4:6). This work will prevail in the midst of opposition (3:1-2; 4:7, 10).

Using Zechariah 4 as our backdrop, Revelation 11:4 presents to us a picture of the church (lamp stands), anointed by God as faithful witnesses of God’s judgment (Joshua and Zerubbabel are a priest and a king, functions of the church according to Revelation 1:6; note also that the witnesses are prophets, so here we have represented a prophet, a priest, and a king–the three offices of Christ). The church will stand despite opposition by the power of God’s Spirit (olive oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit). This ties back to 11:1-2 where the church will be persecuted and suffer externally, but is protected spiritually. Also note that the two witnesses stand before “the Lord of the Earth,” a reference to Zechariah 4:14.

So we have layers of meaning, as the symbols paint a picture for us. The two witnesses are the church (lamp stands), and they echo the ministry of Joshua and Zerubbabel as priest and king, faithful to do the Lord’s work despite the efforts of those who would try to stop them.

More on this next time!