1 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there.
2But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.
3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.
6 These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
7 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.
8 Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
9 For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial.
10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them.
12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
Who are these two witnesses? Some people say that they are Enoch and Elijah, while others maintain that they are Elijah and Moses. The Bible is like a jigsaw puzzle; every piece is there, but you have to put them together to see the big picture. Unfortunately, many people take verses out of their context, and this is why there exist so many religions like the Jesus Only, for example.
Let’s start piecing the verses together. This does not require too much analysis, just considerable reading (because the pieces are spread). The Bible states that Enoch and Elijah did not die. It does state that Moses died and that God hid his body. If we only look at that and nothing else, we would arrive at the conclusion that the two witnesses are Enoch and Elijah, and this is why there is so much confusion and misinterpretation of the Bible.
Let us consider each person’s ministry. Enoch really did not do anything that relates to the two witnesses. One of these witnesses has “power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying”, and their ministry is 3½ years. Elijah is the only person in the Bible to have done this. The other witness has “power to turn the waters into blood”, something which only Moses did. But Moses died, and according to the Bible, it has been established that every man shall die once, and then he will be judged. Wouldn’t this mean that Moses would die twice (they are killed in verse 7)?
The Bible clearly states that during the Transfiguration (Matthew 17), Moses and Elijah appeared. We know that Elijah never died, so how is it that Elijah and Jesus would be there in the flesh and Moses would be there in spirit? This begs the question: was Moses there in spirit? The Bible clearly states that we consist of body, soul, and spirit (something which Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to acknowledge). Did the disciples see Moses’ spirit or soul, or some other emanation?
We have seen how God hid Moses’ body after he died. Are we even sure that Moses died? Another piece of the puzzle is found in the book of Jude, verse 9: But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Michael and Satan were fighting over Moses’ body. Why? The Bible gives no direct explanation, but after piecing various verses together, we find that:
After a careful examination of the evidence, there is no doubt that Moses was, at some point, resurrected (much as Lazarus was) and will return during the great tribulation with Elijah to preach to the world, as a human, in body (recovered by Michael), spirit, and soul.
In actuality, the identity of the two witnesses is immaterial to a person’s salvation. It really doesn’t affect whether I go to heaven or not. However, the point that I am trying to make with this short essay is that people so easily misinterpret the Bible. This essay is just an example of how the Bible is supposed to be used when looking for answers; don’t just look for one verse.
