Bible Studies

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Revelations makes mention of Two Witnesses who will be given, by God, the power to call down fire on anyone that would attempt to harm them (Rev 11). The first assumption to be made is that the acts of this ‘dynamic duo’ are most certainly future, since we have yet to witness the extremity of any such activity. In other words, they are working under the order of a New Covenant reality. Beneath the Old, God was unarguably willing to bestow such power, namely upon Elijah (2 Ki 1). Yet when we read the Gospels, James and John are denied, by Jesus, during their request to release wrath, which was identical to what was done formerly (Lk 9:54). What then are we to make of this? No doubt, an inquiry as grandiose as such would certainly end in sudden death, possibly detracting from the very work Jesus came to do. However, if at present, we have assumed that Jesus was rebuking James and John because of something He would never entertain as a New Testament God, I urge you then to keep reading…

A simple word study illustrates that the word “spirit”, in this case, was actually referring to their heart posture, rather than the timing of their ask. Why were they wanting to call down fire? Wrong motives served as evidence that they were not yet mature enough to know what it was that spurred their desire to do something so drastic. Probably, their minds were fixed solely on the wrath of God, which is both a real and justifiable attribute of Who He is. Still, their anger was not birthed in the same zeal of relentless love, which is alive eternally within the heart of Jesus.

Yet never did Jesus imply that it was not OK to pray this way. For if His message on mercy and forgiveness leads us to believe that violence is NEVER to be implemented under the New Covenant, then Ananias and Sapphira have something to say in opposition against God and the Apostles who spake them dead in agreement with what the Spirit was doing (Acts 5). In the same book, Apostle Paul’s prayer breaks forth a temporary blindness unto the magician, Bar Jesus, for his witchcraft; which was hindering the work of the Gospel (Acts 13:6-12). The bulk of the book of Revelations illustrates much violence with all it’s Bowls of Wrath, Tribulations and so forth. We must not only read, but take very seriously how it is the same prayers of the saints in Revelations 5:8, that fill the very Bowls in which are later poured out in God’s great wrath (Rev 16). Are we not then to assume then, that our prayers will be inline with God, resulting in the release of His awesome vengeance? Was this not the way it was with Moses as he called forth plagues in ancient Egypt (Exod 7-12)? How many of His judgments, as illustrated in Revelations, pattern a similarity to those Moses prayed in the presence of Pharaoh?

We cannot deny a violent God who uses the least severe measures to bring forth the greatest amount of love, without also denying a vast part of Who God is. We cannot claim to fully know Him unless we submit to what the Word of God attests about Him. If we claim to love God, then we must be completely honest of everything He speaks concerning Himself – violence included. By no means should this divide us from a gentle, peaceful, loving God, Who inspired the penmanship of John 3:16, and has an ultimate desire for restoration. He said it and He meant it, even before the foundations of the earth, and will continue to do so throughout all eternity. Even still, the processes of restoration are the institution of love, and everything that hinders it is a mountain of evil that must be removed in order for perfect love to permeate the earth in its entirety (Is 9:7). For if even 1% of evil exists, the work of restoration will be counted as incomplete. And despite how contrast we might consider Jesus’ more violent actions (Rev 19:11) in comparison towards those that are not, He is yet perfectly able to demonstrate any one of His attributes without waning even a single hair’s width concerning the rest.

So who are these Two Witnesses – these mystery men of God? Popularly are they proposed as Elijah and Enoch, or Enoch and Moses, even Elijah and Moses. In fact, it was both Elijah and Moses who appeared at the Mount of Transfiguration (Lk 9:27-36), and is the most common combination of sorts. The argument attests that these men are of the most able-bodied, being that neither of them ever died a physical death; debatably Moses. Revelations informs us how they are at last are killed off by the evil Beast (Rev 11:7), permitting them to receive what is due once every man (death). The question is: “Why do we assume that death is inevitable?” This was not the way it is was pre-the fall of man. Nor will it be when Jesus returns. Can we not also presently tap into a power NOW, which once was before original sin and will be again at His Second Coming? If the same God we serve NOW is “the God of the living and not the dead (Mk 12:27)”, then why do we base our assumptions on a prerequisite that the Two Witnesses must never have died in order that they may finally do so? And even it were two of these men listed, there is yet a third who has not tasted death, and will remain alive, having never died. And lest we lock ourselves inside a box of unnecessary limitations, we ought also examine whether or not a rapture, prior to Christ’s visible Crucifixion, is even the sole qualifier for an opportunity as such.

Revelations identifies the dynamic duo as the “Two Olive Trees” (Rev 11:4), most likely referring to the ones mentioned in Zechariah 4, where we are given an illustration of Two separate trees, standing one on each side of a Lamp Stand, or Menorah, that’s flowing with oil. The Menorah may also be recognized as a representation of the Tree of Life. Jesus Himself, who is additionally crowned as “the Righteous Branch (Jer 23)” is that Tree of Life. In essence, He is the Menorah. The oil that comes from Him is the oil that permeates the Olive Trees, causing them to bud forth in abundance. Close proximity to Jesus is what keeps the Olive Trees flourishing; likewise as do we, when standing close to Him; abiding in His glorious presence (Jn 15).

Interesting enough, it is this same James and John, who requested falling flames for the burning of a village (Lk 9:54), via the rejection Jesus, who also begged permission “to sit at His side, both right and left” (Mk 10:35-45). Note again the positioning of the Two Olive Trees in Zechariah, who are synonymously Revelation’s Two Witnesses. There is “one on the left and one on the right”. Jesus (the Lampstand) sits in the middle. And even though it was John who bore witness of the Two, it would not be out of character for him to reference himself without actually revealing his identity, just as he did while namelessly describing himself as “the one whom Jesus loved” (Jn 13:23).

Might it be that these two men, who once had not the right spirit (heart motives) to ask for something that would certainly result in imminent death, should one day be entrusted with such power? The evidence seems sufficient enough. But of what conviction is this to you and I? No doubt, there are places in my own heart where construction is currently underway. Within each of us lies an interstate. The name of it is Love. Right now, traffic appears jammed, and the work is seemingly oh, so slow. Even still, the delay is in order as it provides us a potential for appropriate alignment; synchronization with the Jesus’ heart. His desire is that we would lean on His breast (Jn 13:23), just like John, so that one day we might be entrusted to do the greater works (Jn 14:12), not only OF Christ, but IN Him; so as not to perform or do miracles from a place of fleshly, destructive desire, but from a position of being birthed in the Spirit of Christ; pointing not to ourselves, rather stewarding every gift we possess to serve as a road map, pointing solely to His everlasting greatness…

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