We think the eleventh chapter of the Book of Revelation is speaking of the events of our day. The meaning of the passage has been hidden until the present hour by the use of symbolic language.

It is our point of view that the tenth and eleventh chapters of the Book of Revelation portray that which is beginning to take place in our time. We believe that the two witnesses refer to Christ and His Body testifying to all nations of the soon coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth. They will receive a double portion of the Holy Spirit in order to fulfill their ministry, as portrayed by the two olive trees that empty into the two lampstands.

The overcoming of the witness does not mean Christ Himself has been overcome but that His witness has been driven from the cities of the earth. Remember, the Lord told us that when His brothers are sick He is sick; when His brothers are in prison He is in prison (Matthew, Chapter 25). So it is that the overcoming of the witness is the overcoming of Christ in that special sense.

Since we have set forth in other writings the reason for our interpretation, showing the relationship of Revelation, Chapter 11 to Zechariah, Chapter Four, we will not repeat our explanation at this time. Instead we shall emphasize the message given by the two witnesses.

The eleventh chapter of Revelation does not present the message preached by the two witnesses. Rather, works of judgment are emphasized in the eleventh chapter because the witness is preparing the way for the soon coming of the resurrection of the dead and the Day of Judgment.

Divine works of judgment are a necessary aspect of the last-day testimony because of the resistance of the nations to the Gospel of the Kingdom, and also because works of judgment portray accurately the attitude of God toward the earth and are a forerunner of what is to be expected when the Day of the Lord arrives.

We believe the actual message the two witnesses will proclaim is announced in Isaiah, Chapter 40.

Isaiah, Chapter Forty

Verse one.

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. (Isaiah 40:1)

The comforting of Zion is the third work of Christ and will be, we believe an important aspect of the ministry of the two witnesses.

And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. (Isaiah 51:16)

To plant the heavens.

To lay the foundations of the earth.

To say to Zion, "You are my people."

God's people are in a wilderness of moral weakness, various disabilities, and doctrinal errors. They are a large pile of very dry bones. If the Spirit of God does not move on the dry bones the Lord will find a confusing state of affairs when He appears.

To be continued.