Examining Prophecy: The Two Witnesses

As Christians we believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God and that the prophecies written in it are also from a divine source – God. However, many people only see the Bible as a historical text. My goal is to see what its author is claiming or trying to express to us in light of the historical context and extra-biblical sources.

Before we proceed, we should first ask some basic questions about the book of Revelation.

When was it Written?

Historians traditionally date the book of Revelation to the late first century AD, around 81-96 AD, during the time of emperor Domitian’s reign, while some date it earlier to before 70 AD. Discrepancies between the 2 dates centers around when the 2nd Jewish temple was destroyed in 70 AD, a significant and somber event for the Jewish community of the time. For the purposes of this article, the specific date itself doesn’t matter too much. Going forward I will be referring to “late 1st century AD” as the time period it was written.

Who is the Author?

The book of Revelation is ascribed to the Apostle John. My focus in this article will mainly center around what John wrote about or claimed also keeping in mind the 1st century context in which he lived. It’s also important to recall that in Revelation 1, John wrote that he received a revelation of the things to come from an angel who received it from Jesus,

This shows us that ultimately his revelations came from a divine source. This will be touched on later.

The 2 Witnesses

We’ll start off by first looking at a few passages in Revelation 11 concerning the 2 witnesses. I recommend reading the full chapter for a better understanding.

• “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” (Revelation 11:3)
• “When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.” (Revelation 11:7-10)
• “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. And they 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. 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.” (Revelation 11:11-13)

The 2 Witnesses Killed

From what we read earlier we know that when the 2 witnesses are killed, their bodies will be in the streets for 3 1/2 days and people around the world will be able to see their bodies during this time and they will be able to send gifts to each other during this time. Earlier we saw that this book was written in the late 1st century AD. John, in the 1st century AD, writes that in the future, 2 individuals will be killed and the world will gaze upon their bodies and send gifts to one another all in a mere 3 1/2 days!

What we need to ask is how is this possible from a 1st century context? And yet it’s what John claimed. Today we have cameras to watch what’s going on all throughout the world as it happens and that technology is even at the palm of our hands now with smart phones. We can’t forget the gift aspect of this prophecy as well.

During John’s time, to send gifts would’ve required horses or people on foot, however, today we have services such as amazon where you can buy something and get it delivered to you or to someone else that same day (usually this costs extra money but we know that it’s possible). Knowing these facts it should strike us as strange how John could coincidentally have knowledge of these specific details of what seems to be our current society even though he lived almost 2,000 years ago.

The Great Earthquake

The next part of this prophecy I want to examine from the vantage point of current events is concerning the earthquake that kills exactly 7,000 people. In July 2018, Israel had several small earthquakes that raised an alarm for a possible “big one” and brought to question the preparedness of Israel for this event. 2 articles made an estimate as to the damage and loss that may come from a large earthquake.

The Times of Israel wrote, “Col. Itzik Bar from the IDF’s Home Front Command, put expected casualties from a major quake at 7,000 dead and 200,000 homeless.” (After tremors, experts warn a huge quake is the greatest threat facing Israel).

Similarly, The Jerusalem Post wrote, “The State Comptroller’s Office stated that according to information received by the government, the situation it needs to prepare for could result in an estimated 7,000 people killed, another 8,600 seriously injured, 37,000 lightly injured, 9,500 trapped in rubble and 170,000 left homeless.” (Israel is not ready for a major earthquake).

“Things Which Must Shortly Take Place”

As we went through the specifics of this prophecy, we saw that despite this being written almost 2,000 years ago, we can see evidence of its future fulfillment through the advancement of society and 2 articles stating the exact location and number of people that will be killed as was written in Revelation 11:13. We also examined John’s claim that he received his information from a divine source and saw that it is not possible for a normal human being to provide specifics (location, actions, numbers, duration of time) and for it to come to pass or seemingly be lining up without the aid of something beyond human comprehension. 

Below are a few questions that should be considered in light of everything we’ve looked into:

1. If the book of Revelation, at the most, only holds historic/religious value but isn’t from a supernatural source as some claim, how was John able to write about an earthquake that will specifically occur in Israel, and kill 7,000 people despite this being written almost 2,000 years ago? Also, keep in mind the 2 above articles that state an earthquake in Israel that will kill the same number of people.
2. From the perspective of someone living in the late 1st century AD, how can people from a variety of nations, languages, tribes, etc look at the dead bodies of 2 men within 3 1/2 days keeping in mind that they will physically need to be there due to limitations in technology.
3. Similar to the 2nd question, how can these people send gifts to one another in a period of 3 1/2 days given the technological limitations of the time?
4. Is it a coincidence that not just one, but 2 articles both state 7,000 people are likely to be killed by this earthquake in Israel matching what’s written in Revelation 11:13?

To the Christian, the complexity and specifics that makes up this prophecy along with the confirmation we get outside of the Bible shows us that this is more than a historically significant book, but rather God’s word. At the end of the day, this prophecy is meant to lead and point people to Jesus and God’s free gift for humanity.

Sources

1. Dating the Book of Revelation
2. When Was the Book of Revelation Written?
3. Date of Revelation
4. Who wrote the book of Revelation?
5. Where was Jesus crucified?
6. Travel, Transportation and Movement in the First Century
7. For second time in a day, earthquake rocks Israel
8. After tremors, experts warn a huge quake is the greatest threat facing Israel
9. Israel is not ready for a major earthquake