Revelation 11:3 - Exposition

And I will give power unto my two witnesses. Omit "power." What is given follows, viz. "they shall prophesy," etc. The voice, speaking in the name of Christ, says, "My: The two witnesses of me;" τοῖς , "the," as though they were well known. There is much diversity of interpretation in regard to "the two witnesses." It seems reasonable to understand the two witnesses as representative of the elect Church of God (embracing both Jewish and Christian) and of the witness which she bears concerning God, especially in the Old and New Testaments. The following considerations seem to support this interpretation:

(a) as we have shown throughout the Apocalypse, the application is invariably to principles and societies, though this may include particular applications in certain cases;

(b) it is inconceivable that Moses and Elias, or any other of the saints of God, should return from Paradise to suffer as these two witnesses;

(c) our Lord expressly explained the reference to the coming of Elias, and declared that he had already come; and

(d) there seems no more reason for interpreting these two witnesses literally of two men, than for interpreting Sodom and Egypt in their ordinary geographical signification in Matthew 24:8 .

(a) the picture of the two witnesses is evidently formed after the pattern of Moses and Elias, on account of the conspicuous witness they bore and the hardship they suffered, as well as their preservation and final vindication. Moreover, Moses and Elias are typical of the Law and the prophets, or the Scriptures—the means (as stated above) by which the Church chiefly bears witness of God.

(b) The time during which they prophesy;

(c) the clothing in sackcloth;

(d) the appellation of candlesticks and olive trees;

(e) their power to hurt;

(f) their apparent death;

(g) the torment they cause;

(h) their resuscitation;

(i) their vindication;

(k) the immediate advent of the final judgment;—all agree (as shown below) with the interpretation given.