2 Witnesses of Rev. 11=144,000 Christians; no Pre-T. Rapture

[holyisthelord]

the Two Witnesses of Rev. 11=144,000 Christians who will witness in pairs

Rev. 1:26: "the seven lampstands are the seven churches"

Rev. 2-3: only two churches are not rebuked: Smyrna & Philadelphia ("brotherly love")

Rev. 11:4: the "two witnesses" are "the two lampstands"

Matt. 10: "He sent them out two by two" [to witness the Gospel]

These two witnesses will be witnessing about Jesus in all "the great cities" (Rev. 11:8)- i.e. the Babylons "the great city" (Rev. 17:18)- of the Earth, including Rome, New York City, Hollywood Babylon, Paris Babylon, San Francisco ("Babylon by the Bay"), etc. They will have miraculous powers like Moses & Aaron to testify to their truth! They will be resurrected to show the whole world that Jesus really rose from the dead!

Many cities including Paris currently or in the past have fit the description of Mystery Babylon, including Paris which was the capital of Napoleon Empire & was thereby a foreshadowing of "the great city which rules over the kings of the Earth." (Rev. 17:18) This site discusses the many Babylons throughout world history: http://primaryproofsofchristianity.com/bible.html

The Bible indicates there are many Babylons by applying the language of Rev. 17-18 to many cities in the Bible, including Jerusalem (Deut. 4:6, Lam 1:1), Nineveh "the great city" (Jonah 1, Zeph. 2:15), Babylon, Tyrus/Tyre (Ezekiel 26-27), etc.

Only these people (who are equal to the 144,000) will be sealed so that they won't be harmed by the locusts (Rev. 7,9) and won't suffer in the wilderness of famine and thirst (Rev. 12) like the Jews & Jesus did (Exodus 16-17, Matt. 4).

"Pray at all times that you may be worthy to escape these things" (Luke 21) that "are about to come upon the whole habitable Earth" (Rev. 3:10), which you can only do if you "keep My Word of endurance" (Rev. 3:10) by meditating on God's holy Bible "day and night" (Psalm 1).

[holyisthelord]

Debate Question: Who are the Two Witnesses? When is the Rapture?

[cnorman18]

I ask again: Is your metaphorical interpretation the only one possible and admissible, or could others hold a different opinion and be correct?

[Cathar1950]

I have read that it was Moses, Enoch and Elijah.
Enoch and Elijah because they were taken to Heaven alive but interesting enough because there is doubt that Moses died or God took his body he qualified but many think it is Moses and Elijah because they were Hebrew models of Jesus.
I don't think it really says.

[drs]

Debate Question: Who are the Two Witnesses? When is the Rapture?

The rapture(reaping) will occur at the last trumpet after the two wittnesses are resurrected in Jerusalem.



1 Corinthians 15 (New King James Version)
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.



Revelation 11 (New King James Version)

The Witnesses Resurrected

11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they[e] heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.� And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

Seventh Trumpet: The Kingdom Proclaimed

15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms[f] of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!� 16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying:


“ We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
The One who is and who was and who is to come,[g]
Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,
And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,
And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,
And those who fear Your name, small and great,
And should destroy those who destroy the earth.�

19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant[h] was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.



Revelation 14 (New King James Version)

Reaping the Earth’s Harvest

14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.� 16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped

[holyisthelord]

IF YOU ARE NOT A LITERAL VIRGIN, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE MUCH OF THE SUFFERING DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION VERY SOON. (Revelation 14:1-4 "These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins", Revelation 7, 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, 1 Corinthians 7:27-28 (the word "tribulation" & "spare" appears here in the Greek, the same word applied to the Great Tribulation in Revelation), Isaiah 56 & Matthew 19 both say eunuchs for the Kingdom are rewarded more) Therefore, prepare yourself by diligently seeking God through prayer and "meditating on the law of the LORD day & night" (Psalm 1) so that you are not part of the 2/3 of lukewarm Christians who will "fall" in the "wilderness" because of temptation and end up in Hell forever "where the fire is not quenched." (Mark 9:48)

As there are types of Christ & the Antichrist, so there are Types (foreshadowings) of the two witnesses (144,000=12x12,000)
-Moses & Aaron
-Elijah & Elisha
-Paul & Barnabas
-Paul & Silas
-the 12 Apostles
-the 12 minor prophets
-the 4 major prophets
-the 24 elders (which include some of the above-mentioned people)

[ChristianGuy]

As far as the Witnessess go, they could be literal people but I don't think so.
It says that the witnessess are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, not just the two lampstands.

Revelation 11:4
4. "These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth."

I think that Jews are described as God's "Olive Tree." There are a lot of refrences throughout the Bible that would indicate this, but the cleraest is probably in

Romans 11:16

"And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;"

This speaks of how Christians are grafted in to the Jews, or God's Chosen People. (side note : Does that mean that all Jews are going to Heaven? Certainly not. Only those who accept the Christ are. They are God's chosen people, provided thay believe on Jesus.)

Now, I believe the Lampstand (also called Candlestick or Menorah depending on translation) is sybolic as well.

The Bible often speaks about the candlestick giving light to the world.

Luke 8:16 "No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light."


11:33 "No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light."

Matthew 5:15 "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house."

Mark 4:21 "And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?"

I believe that the Candlestick is the Christian Chirch. I think that this passage of Revelation indicates that the believing Jews and the Chtristians will unite as the Church and they will witness around the entire world during the last days.

I am not claiming to be right. I suppose Enoch could float back out of the sky and walk around, but I really don't think so. That is simply my interpretation based on letting the Bible interpret the Bible.

[micatala]

the Two Witnesses of Rev. 11=144,000 Christians who will witness in pairs

Rev. 1:26: "the seven lampstands are the seven churches"

Rev. 2-3: only two churches are not rebuked: Smyrna & Philadelphia ("brotherly love")

Rev. 11:4: the "two witnesses" are "the two lampstands"

Matt. 10: "He sent them out two by two" [to witness the Gospel]

These two witnesses will be witnessing about Jesus in all "the great cities" (Rev. 11:8)- i.e. the Babylons "the great city" (Rev. 17:18)- of the Earth, including Rome, New York City, Hollywood Babylon, Paris Babylon, San Francisco ("Babylon by the Bay"), etc. They will have miraculous powers like Moses & Aaron to testify to their truth! They will be resurrected to show the whole world that Jesus really rose from the dead!

Many cities including Paris currently or in the past have fit the description of Mystery Babylon, including Paris which was the capital of Napoleon Empire & was thereby a foreshadowing of "the great city which rules over the kings of the Earth." (Rev. 17:18) This site discusses the many Babylons throughout world history: http://primaryproofsofchristianity.com/bible.html

The Bible indicates there are many Babylons by applying the language of Rev. 17-18 to many cities in the Bible, including Jerusalem (Deut. 4:6, Lam 1:1), Nineveh "the great city" (Jonah 1, Zeph. 2:15), Babylon, Tyrus/Tyre (Ezekiel 26-27), etc.

Only these people (who are equal to the 144,000) will be sealed so that they won't be harmed by the locusts (Rev. 7,9) and won't suffer in the wilderness of famine and thirst (Rev. 12) like the Jews & Jesus did (Exodus 16-17, Matt. 4).

"Pray at all times that you may be worthy to escape these things" (Luke 21) that "are about to come upon the whole habitable Earth" (Rev. 3:10), which you can only do if you "keep My Word of endurance" (Rev. 3:10) by meditating on God's holy Bible "day and night" (Psalm 1).

Speaking as a Christian, I would point out that prophecy is a very inexact art, and that we have many examples of people making particular interpretations of prophecy that have turned out to be very wrong.

As one example, I will simply note that one can probably not find anyone portrayed in the gospels who understood prophecies concerning the Messiah the same way modern Christians do. If one accepts Christianity and that these prophecies referred to Jesus, then these prophecies were completely misunderstood by those who lived at the time of Jesus.

In addition, even when can make a case that a prophecy is 'fulfilled', it is often fulfilled in a way not expected by those who expected the prophecy to be fulfilled. Again, consider the Messianic prophecies. People of Jesus' time did not expect 'two comings' and did expect Jesus to be a political figure, an earthly king.


I would suggest that much of today's 'prophetic hysteria' surrounding the end times is misguided. THese prophecies are highly symbolic, and interpretations are highly subjective. It is very unlikely that those making very specific interpretations, like those in the OP, are going to prove to be right.

[holyisthelord]

The Bible IS exact, but you have to pray and read extremely diligently to attain the truth. It took me many many many hours pondering Revelation & the rest of the Bible to come up with what I posted above, but now that I made that discovery, I know the whole Bible confirms it to be correct.

[McCulloch]

The Bible IS exact, but you have to pray and read extremely diligently to attain the truth. It took me many many many hours pondering Revelation & the rest of the Bible to come up with what I posted above, but now that I made that discovery, I know the whole Bible confirms it to be correct.

How will you react when you discover that you are wrong, like so many other interpreters of prophesy have been before you?