The Two Witnesses And The Theatrical Spectacle Of Prophetic Convergence

4 "Moreover lie on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. According to the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity.

5 For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be to you a number of days, even three hundred ninety days. So you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

6 Again, when you have accomplished these, you shall lie on your right side, and shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. Forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it to you.

7 You shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm uncovered; and you shall prophesy against it."

Ezekiel"s assigned posture was itself part of the prophecy. His body, the number of days, and his face directed toward Jerusalem all testified that the city was under judgment and would be besieged.

6 "Forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it to you."

The text itself explains the symbolic relation: a day in Ezekiel"s acted sign represented a year of iniquity. The sign was therefore not random theater. Every part of it carried meaning.

2 "In the fifth of the month, which was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin"s captivity,"

Ezekiel"s acted prophecy in chapter 4 belongs to the opening period of his prophetic work. It therefore warned of the coming siege years before Jerusalem"s final destruction.

2 "So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

3 On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

4 Then a breach was made in the city..."

Counting from the fifth year of Jehoiachin"s exile to the eleventh year of Zedekiah gives approximately six years. Depending on where within Ezekiel"s fifth year the acted sign began, the elapsed time may be described approximately rather than to an exact number of months.

The important point is the pattern: the warning was visible well before the judgment arrived. The people were not left without advance testimony.

2 "Leave out the court which is outside of the temple, and don"t measure it, for it has been given to the nations. They will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months.

3 I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."

Forty-two months and 1,260 days both describe a period of approximately three and one-half years. During that period, the two witnesses do not remain silent. They prophesy impending destruction.

15 "The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, "˜The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!""

18 "The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your bondservants the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints, and those who fear your name, to the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth."

The testimony of the witnesses stands immediately within a larger account of the Kingdom, divine judgment, reward for God"s servants, and destruction for those destroying the earth.

5-12 You won't need to worry about dangers at night or arrows during the day. (6) And you won't fear diseases that strike in the dark or sudden disaster at noon. (7) You will not be harmed, though thousands fall all around you. (8) And with your own eyes you will see the punishment of the wicked. (9) The LORD Most High [יהוה] is your fortress. Run to him for safety, (Mat 17:5) (10) and no terrible disasters will strike you or your home. (11) God will command his angels to protect you wherever you go. (12) They will carry you in their arms, and you won't hurt your feet on the stones.

1. All involve a conspicuous testimony given before a judgment.

2. Ezekiel was assigned a definite period of prophetic activity.

3. Both Ezekiel and the two witnesses concern a city identified as holy or belonging to God.

4. Both testimonies are connected with siege, trampling, opposition, and destruction.

5. In many prophetic accounts, the warning precedes the full execution of judgment.

It is therefore logical to ask whether Ezekiel"s long public warning provides a scriptural pattern that can help us understand why Revelation's witnesses testify for three and one-half years. And, can the fact they are given a specific time period for their Witnessing help us identify what is unique and special about "their" prophecy?

Revelation does not say, "The two witnesses have a direct connection to Ezekiel's or other prophecies"

Ezekiel demonstration represented Israel and Judah"s years of iniquity, while Revelation's two witnesses are described as prophesying in sackcloth. The similarity is they were each given a length of testimony. The great difference is Ezekiel's prophecy was for several years into their future. The two witnesses prophecy, on the other hand, is a warning for those of us alive at the time of their witness.

The conclusion you must arrive at from considering this material must be yours and yours alone. That is "your" faith and you are being judged on what your faith is.

9-17 After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands, (10) as they shouted, "Our God, who sits upon the throne, has the power to save his people, and so does the Lamb." (11) The angels who stood around the throne knelt in front of it with their faces to the ground. The elders and the four living creatures knelt there with them. Then they all worshiped God (12) and said, "Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen!" (13) One of the elders asked me, "Do you know who these people are that are dressed in white robes? Do you know where they come from?" (14) "Sir," I answered, "you must know." Then he told me: "These are the ones who have gone through the great suffering [tribulation]. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and have made them white (washed white by their faith in Christ). (15) And so they stand before the throne of God and worship him in his temple day and night. The one who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. (16) They will never hunger or thirst again, and they won't be troubled by the sun or any scorching heat. (17) The Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to streams of life-giving water, and God will wipe all tears from their eyes."

7-15 ..."Why are you amazed?" the angel asked me. "I will tell you the secret meaning of the woman and of the beast that carries her, the beast with seven heads and ten horns. (8) That beast was once alive, but lives no longer; it is about to come up from the abyss and will go off to be destroyed. The people living on earth whose names have not been written before the creation of the world in the book of the living, will all be amazed as they look at the beast. It was once alive; now it no longer lives, but it will reappear. (9) "This calls for wisdom and understanding. The seven heads are seven hills, on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings: (10) five of them have fallen, one still rules, and the other one has not yet come; when he comes, he must rule only a little while. (11) And the beast that was once alive, but lives no longer, is itself an eighth king who is one of the seven and is going off to be destroyed. (12) "The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet begun to rule, but who will be given authority to rule as kings for one hour with the beast. (13) These ten all have the same purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. (14) They will fight against the Lamb; but the Lamb, together with his called, chosen, and faithful followers, will defeat them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings." (15) The angel also said to me, "The waters you saw, on which the prostitute sits, are nations, peoples, races, and languages.

5-12 You won't need to worry about dangers at night or arrows during the day. (6) And you won't fear diseases that strike in the dark or sudden disaster at noon. (7) You will not be harmed, though thousands fall all around you. (8) And with your own eyes you will see the punishment of the wicked. (9) The LORD Most High [יהוה] is your fortress. Run to him for safety, (Mat 17:5) (10) and no terrible disasters will strike you or your home. (11) God will command his angels to protect you wherever you go. (12) They will carry you in their arms, and you won't hurt your feet on the stones.

7 "Surely the Lord יהוה will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets."

This establishes the principle behind the comparison. Before a major divine act, יהוה provides revelation through those appointed to speak for him.

13 "God said to Noah, "˜I will bring an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them and the earth.""

Noah was informed before the Flood and was given time to act in faith. Judgment did not arrive without warning. Noah's decades long activity of building the ark was a theatrical spectacle warning his wicked contemporaries.

4 "Jonah began to enter into the city a day"s journey, and he cried out, and said, "˜Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!""

5 "The people of Nineveh believed God..."

Jonah"s warning was not meaningless because destruction did not happen immediately. The interval gave people an opportunity to hear, believe, and respond. They repented and were spared. Later, they returned to their bad ways and were destroyed.

11 "This whole land will be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years."

Jeremiah plainly announced the judgment and its duration before Jerusalem"s destruction. Ezekiel's acted out sign added another vivid testimony to that same approaching reality.

37 "As the days of Noah were, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

38 For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship,

39 and they didn"t know [chose not to know] until the flood came and took them all away, so will the coming of the Son of Man be."

Jesus himself used an earlier period of warning and judgment to illuminate a later one. That confirms that comparing such patterns is a valid way to examine Scripture. Since the two witnesses are tied to the last days, they may be the theatrical spectacle we can expect in these end of days! The people took no note of Noah building the Ark but it was plain to see. Will the preaching of the two witnesses be similar?

4 "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end. Many will run back and forth, and knowledge will be increased."

9 He said, "Go your way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.

10 Many will purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked will do wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand; but those who are wise will understand."

1 "This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John."

13 "However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming."

14 "This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come."

34 "So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly.

35 For it will come like a snare on all those who dwell on the surface of all the earth.

36 Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man."

Ezekiel's warning began some six years before Jerusalem was broken.

The two witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days, approximately three and one-half years.

Both accounts place a prolonged and conspicuous testimony before an act of divine judgment.

While these prophecies are all different, the similarities are real. Since the two witnesses are described as acting in the end of days: Might the two witnesses, by being appointed by God to prophecy for three and one-half years right to the end of Satan's system, might they serve in a way very different from Ezekiel's and Noah's prolonged warning before Jerusalem"s and then the whole world's destruction?

Yes! If properly understood, the last prophecy of the two witnesses, and the contemporary appearance of the one who is the little horn and the eighth head/king, is very different from times gone by. If this understanding is correct, then this convergence of prophecy is happening as a sign God's destruction of "all" the wicked using his War of Armageddon is happening; it seems to be in progress now. Survivors will thus need to perceive that warning while it is still in progress, because when it ends, so do all God's enemies. It is stated as lasting 42 months or 3 1/2 years, and Bible prophecy seems to indicate it started in the fall of 2024. If so, we will all be in paradise or dead in the spring of 2028! God knows I don't know if this is all true. I can't "know" because my faulty reasoning is involved... But, I so believe the Bible has led me here. Just YOU think: If it is true, and we miss God's warning; can we have faith it is happening when it does; and we are actually face to face in the midst of it? We are facing Armageddon for God's sake! (Zep 1:12-2:4; Mal 3:16-4:3)

Yes. They might reflect the end of days warning.