The Two Witnesses

 

And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for p1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. (Revelation 11:3-6 ESV).

 

The “two witnesses” in this story represent the place and the purpose God gives to his church and, by association, to every person who has faith in Jesus. The church is a witnessing community—this is who we are and what we do. We witness to each other and to our communities how life is to be lived “in step with the Holy Spirit” (Galatians 5:25); “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly” with God (Micah 6:8). We do this because Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14). We are his witnesses.

 

We need to let this identity define us. There is a persistent notion limiting God’s claim on who we are. We have learned to look to preachers, missionaries, chaplains, and evangelists as full-time kingdom witnesses. But God makes no such distinctions. All who come to Jesus in faith are recipients of the Holy Spirit, who sends us into the world as witnesses (cf. Matthew 28:19-20). Whatever your vocational position, all people are sent to share the good news of life made new in, through, and for Jesus.

 

The “two witnesses” are not dressed in the latest designer clothing. God dresses them in sackcloth. This is a subtle but firm reminder that we need to drink from the same well of repentance and forgiveness as everyone else does. We witness in humility, not self-­righteousness or pride. It is a sobering moment in history revealed to us so that we might be reminded of our task today.