The second to last verse of the Old Testament, Malachi 4:5 says: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.” Verse 6 warns of total destruction – these are the final concepts of the OT. It could not be more clear that Elijah will be one of the two witnesses during the fulfillment of end times bible prophecy. Elijah went up to heaven alive in a chariot of fire. Jews are ready every Passover with an extra seat for Elijah in case this is the year he comes back.
For the role of the second witness, many people consider Enoch, who was taken up to heaven without dying. Genesis 5:24 tells us that “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Hebrews 11:5 adds: “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him.’”
Moses is also often considered, but Jude 9 makes it clear Moses already died: “Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses…”
Pastor Steve Cioccolanti suggests we consider The Apostle John. Just before John gets to see the future with the two witnesses, Revelation 10:11 says: “And they said to me [John], “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” This could definitely be a suggestion that John himself will return later.
John 21:21-23 “Peter seeing him [John] said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” Jesus *said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”
In Mark 10:39 Jesus said to John “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.” John 18:11 clarifies that this baptism is death by execution/martyrdom “So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”
John is the only apostle to have died a natural death (not killed as a martyr.) Tertullian says that John was plunged into boiling oil by the Emperor Domitian in AD 95 (Tertullian, Early Church Fathers, Vol 3, Part Second, The Prescription Against Heretics, Ch 36, p. 489) John emerged unscathed and was sentenced to exile on Patmos where he received the Revelation. Many assume he died after returning to Ephesus, but there is no specific recorded time or method of his death.
In Luke 9:54 John (and his brother James) speak as if they have been given the same power as Elijah: “When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”
And as Pastor Steve suggests: Who better to receive testimony on the fulfillment of the Book of Revelation about than its author? Maybe he is right – and the second witness is the Apostle John.
In some ways, however, I hope he is not right about all of this being fulfilled in the 21st century…
Revelation 11:10 says: “And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.” It makes sense that the gift giving is associated with Christmas and Hanukkah… and after all the research I have done, I strongly suspect the week of December 21-28, 2019 is the time to watch for the fulfillment of end times Bible prophecy. I would not be surprised at all if the two witnesses are killed December 24, 2019… except for the fact that their ministry would already be under way if that were the case, and I am not aware of such witnesses currently…
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Ignoring the possible timing suggested in my own prophecy books, listen to Pastor Steve:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExYTjMDbpmQ&w=854&h=480]
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