Revelation 11:3-13 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth.… I. THE CHARACTER OF THE TWO WITNESSES. "The two witnesses" are the Son and Spirit of God; the doctrines of their Divinity, or, more particularly, the justifying righteousness of the one, and the regenerating influence of the other. 1. These are the two principal witnesses of God in the Church. They are witnesses of the highest credibility, and to whom alone God would commit His cause. They are best qualified to give evidence upon a subject in all the particulars of which they have been personally concerned. They are the parties to whose care the whole affairs of the Church have been officially consigned. They alone are acquainted with the whole mind and will of God. 2. They are frequently spoken of as witnesses for God in other parts of the Scripture (Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 55:4; John 5:31, 32; John 15:26; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Hebrews 10:14, 15; 1 John 5:6-10, 20, etc.). 3. This view of the two witnesses is sustained by the preceding allusion. Their emblems are "water and blood." In the court of the temple are the water and the blood. Here are the altar of burnt-offering and the brazen sea; or, in other words, the "water and the blood." These are the only furniture of the court. The altar is between the entrance to the court and the brazen sea; and the brazen sea is between the altar and the door of the tabernacle. None without passing by these could enter the holy place. 4. The two witnesses we have named agree with their denomination as prophets. The claim of the Son and the Spirit to the title of the two prophets of God in the Church, above all others, is substantiated by these two Scripture declarations: "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him," and, "When He the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth." 5. Our selection of these witnesses accords with the metaphorical illustration of them in the fourth verse. They are the olive trees from which, and the golden pipes through which, the oil of grace is supplied to the Church of God. These olive trees are represented to John as still standing before the God of the earth. Are they not then "He who is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever," and the Spirit of Christ which testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow? II. The rejection of these witnesses. "And I will give unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy, clothed in sackcloth." (G. Rogers.) Parallel Verses KJV: And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. |
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