In the beginning of Chapter 11, John said that someone said to him to measure the temple of God. After that the one talking said in Chapter 3;
"And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred
and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."
First we can assume that the one talking to John is Jesus, since He said that they were His two witnesses. Here again we see twelve hundred and sixty days. This is 3 1/2 years. We know that the first 3 1/2 years is peace, and then in the middle of the 7 year covenant, when (It) comes into the picture, destruction will come forth for the remaining 3 1/2 years. Each of the 3 1/2 periods is of course 1,260 days. This dosen't necessarily mean that they are going to witness in one of these two 3 1/2 periods. It says for 1,260 days days, so it can be possible that it could overlap both periods. So these two witnesses may start prophesying in the first half of the covenant informing the world what is transpiring and showing how this is in line with what has been foretold. Warning people that the time of the end is near and that people should repent from their unbelief and turn to Jesus to gain eternal life and avoid the wrath to come.
The voice says that they are His two witnesses. Who are they? One of them was foretold by the prophet Malachi in the last chapter of the Old Testiment and the second to the last verse, 4:5;
"Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great
and terrible day of the Lord."
Elijah was spoken of in 2nd kings. In the 1st Chapter, verse 10 and 12, Elijah was able to call down fire from heaven twice and destroyed 50 of the kings men each time. In the second Chapter, verse 1,
The writer of second kings wrote this;
"And it came about when the Lord was about to take up Elijah by a whirdwind to
heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha of Gilgal."
Elijah was going to pass his mantle to Elisha and in verse 11 it says;
"Then it came about as they were going along and talking, that behold, there appeared
a chariot of fire and horses of fire which seperated the two of them. And Elijah went
up in a whildwind to heaven."
Elijah never died. What he has been doing all this time, although it is not a lot of time in heaven, is unknown. But we do know from Malichi that he will return before the day of the Lord. It was interesting that in the first chapter of the gospel of John that the Jews sent priest and Levites from Jerusalem to go and ask John the baptist if he was Elijah. He told them no. The thing is, after all those years since Elijah was taken up to heaven, it was still on their minds what had happened to Elijah and what Malichi wrote about him returning. They must have beleived that it had happened and that it would be possible that Elijah could return.
So what about the witness number two or is he the witness number one. Elijah was born after the flood, but prior to the flood, there existed a prophet named Enoch. Enoch was the great great grandfather of Noah. If only Noah and his family made it through the flood, then where did all the knowledge of what took place as far back of the Garden of Eden come from. Moses came well after the flood, so where did he get the information about the genesis (origin) of creation and what had occured on the the earth that brought about the flood. All this information came from the the first prophet of God, Enoch. Enoch was first spoken of in the book of Genesis in the 5th Chapter when Moses was referring to the decendents od Adam. In verse s 21-24, Moses writes;
" (21) And Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah.
(22) Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of
Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. (23) So all the days Enoch were three
hundred and sixty-five years. (24) And Enoch walked with God; and he was not,
for God took him."
So when Elijah got to heaven, he met Enoch. These are the only to men in human existence who have been recorded as never dieing and being caught up into heaven while they were still alive, never have experiencing death. In the book of Hebrews, the author wrote this in the 9th Chapter, verse 27;
"And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment."
Enoch and Elijah still need to experience death. one of the things good about them getting to return after the cross, they will be the only men born before the cross who will get the priveledge of becoming a New Creation. Enoch wrote the first book that was inspired by God. When Enoch was here, he was caught up into heaven and asked to write down what he was shown. Enoch was shown the origin of man. Enoch was shown a lot of what existed in heaven. He was also shown things that would take place in the end times. He saw the cross. He wrote of the holding places of the spirits who are waiting judgement and the four different holding realms. When the Council of Laodecia did not include Enochs book when deciding which books should be included in the Bible. I don't think that it was a mistake, because if Jesus wanted it in the Bible at that time, it would have been in it. The things that Enoch wrote are good to know now in the days that are coming. Enochs book was one of the writtings found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The book of Enoch was refered to by Jude, the brother of Jesus, in his epistle in the 14th and 15th verses;
"and about these things also Enoch, inthe seventh generation of Adam, prophesied,
saying, 'Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute
judgement upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which
they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners
have spoken against Him'."
Also the writer of Hebrews wrote this in the 11th Chapter, verse 5;
" By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found
because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up
he was pleasing to God.
So we know that the writer of Hebrews knew about Enoch and you could argue that he got this from the Book of Genesis. What we cannot dispute is that there was a book of Enoch that was known and read, even as far forward as the days of Jude, because Jude quoted the writings of Enoch. If the Book of Enoch was not the inspired word of God, then Jude would not have refferenced it.
So one day soon, out of the blue, we will see Enoch and Elijah when they return. They will be a gift to mankind.
The Peace of Jesus be with all of you.
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