PROPHECY

The Two Witnesses

Also: 1260 days, two olive trees and two lampstands, Revelation 11, 1,260 days of prophesying

The two prophets of Revelation 11 who prophesy in sackcloth for 1,260 days, are killed by the beast from the abyss, and are raised after three and a half days. They are Christ's chosen ones representing him on earth during the judgment, and their testimony is what accepting the mark rejects.

(Re 11:3, 4) And I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days dressed in sackcloth. These are symbolized by the two olive trees and the two lampstands and are standing before the Lord of the earth.

Representatives of Christ

While Jesus was on earth he was God's representative. During the last days his chosen ones represent him, standing before him and prophesying the coming judgments of God to the world. The imagery comes from Zechariah 4, where the two olive trees are "the two anointed ones who are standing alongside the Lord of the whole earth." The witnesses are not two individuals from the past returned; they are the seed of the woman, the remaining ones on earth against whom the dragon wages war (Revelation 12:17), empowered for a fixed period of 1,260 days.

When they appear

The Sacred Secret study on this site places their appearance at the opening of the 1,260 days. The holy ones who have died do not exist anywhere; when the period begins, the Sacred Secret, the Jerusalem above, gives them birth from non-existence as new creations, just as it gave birth to Christ (Revelation 12:5). Those still alive on earth complete the witness, and once the full number is complete, all are brought forth together just before the seventh trumpet (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).

Their death and resurrection

(Re 11:7) And when they have finished their witnessing, the wild beast that ascends out of the abyss will make war with them and conquer them and kill them.

The beast from the abyss is the eighth king, which has ascended only once. Any interpretation that has the witnesses killed in 1918 and the beast ascending again in 1945 has the prophecy fulfilled twice, and the text does not allow that. After three and a half days "spirit of life from God entered into them" and they are called up to heaven (Revelation 11:11, 12).

Why they matter for the mark

The mark of the beast is more than a mark. It is the rejection of the testimony the two witnesses give. Just as the Pharisees sinned against the holy spirit by refusing the one God sent, those who take the mark refuse those Christ sends. That is why the choice during the tribulation is stark: the witnesses' testimony on one side, the image and the mark on the other.

SCRIPTURES CITED

Revelation 11:3-4
“I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days…”
Revelation 11:7
“the wild beast that ascends out of the abyss will make war with them…”
Revelation 11:11-12
“spirit of life from God entered into them…”
Zechariah 4:11-14
“These are the two anointed ones who are standing alongside the Lord of the whole earth…”
Revelation 12:17
“wage war with the remaining ones of her seed…”
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
“those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first…”