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The Battle of Armageddon
The Two Witnesses
The Antichrist and his kingdom will bring great trouble to the earth. But he will also be troubled. Irritations will increase with the message of Christ's imminent return preached throughout the world. Every tribe and nation will be made aware of the timetable of the end, the eventual fall of the Antichrist, and the coming kingdom of Christ. To add to his miseries, two powerful prophets will appear in Jerusalem and will witness there for three and one-half years, guaranteeing the truth of the kingdom message of the 144,000 servants of God.
The identity of the two witnesses has caused great speculation, with general agreement that one of them will be Elijah:
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Malachi 4:5
The other witness is usually thought to be either Enoch or Moses.
Those who choose Enoch do so because like Elijah he did not die (Hebrews 11:5), and it is thought that his exemption from death was in view of his coming martyrdom during the great Tribulation. His message must also be considered. Evidently this prophet had been given a revelation of the second coming of Christ and had announced it to his generation:
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Jude 1:14-15
Some build a strong case for Moses, citing his appearance with Elijah on the mount of Transfiguration as an association with that prophet in God's plan of the ages. They also point to the similarity of many of the plagues of the Time of Jacob's Trouble to those brought by Moses in the deliverance of Israel from Egypt.
These two witnesses will be miraculously protected for "a thousand two hundred and threescore days" (forty-two prophetic months of thirty days each). Their power to bring plagues will draw the attention of the world to their ministry and message:
These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. Revelation 11:6
They will undoubtedly herald the countdown of the Tribulation timetable, pointing to the time of the Lord's return to set up His kingdom. It seems likely that many of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the kingdom of Christ will be repeated by these men of God. Perhaps they will cry that the great stone of Daniel's vision is about to fall from heaven, bringing the downfall of all earthly rule and establishing the millennium kingdom (Daniel 2:44-45
(verse 44) And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, [but] it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
(verse 45) Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream [is] certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.Daniel 2 verses 44-45).
When the two witnesses have concluded their work they will be slain, and television cameras will beam the sight of their dead bodies lying in the street of Jerusalem to the entire world. The news of their death will cause a celebration among the ungodly of all nations:
And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. Revelation 11:10
After three and a half days they will be resurrected and will ascend to heaven in a cloud while their enemies watch, paralyzed with fear.