Are Enoch and Elijah the Two Witnesses?
Are Enoch and Elijah the Two Witnesses?
Could the two witnesses in Revelation 11 be Enoch and Elijah?
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| Painiting by Van Dyck |
A few years ago I was chatting with a very devout student of the Bible. He had written a book on the end-times and was convinced that the two witnesses in Revelation 11 are Enoch and Elijah. Could he, and many others who also believe they are, in fact, Enoch and Elijah, be right? Here are some known details:
1. Both Enoch and Elijah were translated into Heaven without dying. (Enoch: Genesis 5:24; Elijah: 2 Kings 2:11).
2. Moses and Elijah met with Jesus in Matthew 17. Elijah had been translated; Moses had died (Joshua 1:2/Jude 1:9).
3. The two witnesses in Revelation 11 are directly related to the two olive trees in Zechariah 4 (Rev 11:4/Zechariah 4).
4. These two prophesy during the 2nd woe, which is in the midst of the sixth trumpet; a few scriptures later, during the 7th (and last) trumpet the mystery of God is complete (11:15).
5. They prophesy for 1260 days, which is all but the last 30 days of the tribulation (Daniel 12:11).
Revelation 11:4, in view of Zechariah 4, is a strange and fascinating part of scripture. And although reasons exist why some believe these two are Enoch and Elijah prophesying, I do not believe the two witnesses could possibly be Enoch and Elijah. They are forerunners, however, to the rapture of God’s people. The rapture takes place at Jesus’ 2nd coming (1 Corinthians 15:52). Following is my reasoning.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 states the chronological events:
1. Jesus descends (:16)
2. The dead in Christ rise first (:16).
3. Those who are still alive on earth, together with the resurrected saints, meet the Lord in the air (:15-:17).
4. God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus (:14).
5. We are all forever with the Lord (:17).
And 1 Corinthians 15 states at Jesus’ 2nd coming two things must take place:
1. The dead in Christ are raise from their graves (1 Corinthians 15:23).
2. And we will be changed (15:51-52); both, whether living or dead, become immortal (:53).
This in context of these prominent Scriptures:
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannotinherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.* For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal mustput on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
(1 Corinthians 15:50-54)
No one can see God and live, with a natural body that is. Job said: And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God… Job 11:26
At present the bodies of those who are dead in Christ are separated from their soul and spirit. Their souls and spirits are now with God in Heaven (Revelation 6:9-10; 2 Corinthians 5:8), while their body are given to death and decay. When Jesus returns, each soul and spirit will be reunited with its immortal resurrected body. (See Revelation 6:9-11.)
Now to get back to Enoch and Elijah. How does all this support that Elijah and Enoch cannot be the two witnesses?
The beast who comes out of the abyss (the antichrist), kills the two witnesses (Revelation 11:7). Their bodies lie in the street for 3 days and then God resurrects, and then raptures them. Since flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50 above) Enoch and Elijah must have been changed (new bodies) before they went to heaven and met God face-to-face. Consider that we who are alive and remain, who are caught up to meet the Lord in the air, are changed—into what? A body that is immortal and which cannot die (1 Corinthians 15:54-55). Hence, Elijah and Enoch, who were translated (raptured) without dying were taken up, as Hebrews 11:5 says of Enoch. This means they would have new bodies, raised immortal and incorruptible and could not die. The two witnesses, however, die at the hands of the beast.
So there you have it: the two witnesses cannot be Enoch and Elijah, nor Moses.
*Interesting to note that this is at the last trumpet, which is the 7th trumpet, according to Revelation 11. There is not another reference to trumpets’ sounding after the 7th. It is at this point that the return of Jesus, the 1st resurrection, and the rapture all take place.
