April 5, 2022
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
The medieval period, or the time period between AD538 and AD1798, is critical for understanding the operations of the Lord on this fallen planet. Otherwise, no distinction is made as to the Lord’s protection of His followers during times of extreme darkness. In divine foresight, He would not allow the world to go 1260 years without a witness of His plan of salvation. No way!
The number two symbolically represents witness. Jesus, the second member of the “divine Us”, Elohim, is the faithful witness of Revelation 1:5 spoken of by Jeremiah in the book bearing his name (42:5). Christians are called to be faithful witnesses to the Savior in good times and bad. Christians who lived and died during these 1260 years are examples to us. The acute persecution under which they remained faithful to Jesus will be repeated just before His return. Ironically, it is in good times—times of ease and plenty—that human nature is most vulnerable to the wiles of the devil. That is why Jesus introduced Himself as the Faithful and True Witness to the last-day church (Revelation 3:14). The relative ease still enjoyed in many parts of the world is soon to end. His Word is often referred to in a double sense:
These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. 11:4
John the Revelator is paralleling terminology from Zechariah 4:2. Jesus referred to the written word of His day, as the law and the prophets (Luke 16:16) and Moses and the prophets (Luke 16:31). He even humbly referred to Himself as reliable in the eyes of others only in light of other witnesses (see John 5:31, 8:13-18)
The law concerning witnesses was and is practiced in civil courts as practical and fair: Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. Deuteronomy 17:6 (*more examples, both civil and religious below)
Today we refer to the Word of God as the Old and New Testaments. There is a powerful dimension in a plurality of witnesses. As I read the Bible, the Holy Spirit testifies to my spirit that His word is true and reliable. The Holy Spirit is often symbolized as fire! Beloved, pray that the fire of the Spirit of God will “kill” anything in your life that doesn’t belong in the life of a true witness of Jesus. There are former unbelievers in our day who had entered an honest quest to disprove the Bible, the key word here being honest. Instead, they honestly found it to be true and the enemy of God residing in them was devoured!
And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. Revelation 11:5
It was the Word of God that nourished His followers (see Revelation 12:6,14) throughout the one thousand two hundred and sixty days. Isaiah referred to the Word as the law and testimony. He was distressed that Israelites of his day were failing to distinguish between true and false prophets.
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20
*Deuteronomy 19:15, Matthew 18:16, 2 Corinthians 13:1, 1 Timothy 5:19, Hebrews 10:28