The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

Praise the Lord! ye heavens, adore Him;
Praise Him, angels in the height;
Sun and moon, rejoice before Him;
Praise Him, all ye stars of light.
Praise the Lord, for He hath spoken;
Worlds His mighty voice obeyed;
Laws which never shall be broken,
For their guidance He hath made.
Praise the Lord, for He is glorious;
Never shall His promise fail;
He shall make His saints victorious;
Sin and death shall not prevail.
Praise the God of our salvation;
Hosts on high, His power proclaim;
Heaven and earth, and all creation,
Laud and magnify His name.
Chapter 23: Rev. 11:3-10
Two Witnesses Prophesying in Sackcloth
"And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two
hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the
two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth."--Rev. 11:3,4.
The Greek word translated witnesses in this vision is used thirty-two times in the New
Testament, and invariably refers to individuals, generally the Apostles, and the many
other witnesses of the resurrection of Christ. It always has contained in it the thought of
one who bears testimony, either in a judicial sense, as in Matt. 18:16; 26:65,or one who in
any way or manner, testifies to the truth of what he has seen or known, as in 1 Tim. 6:12; 1
Thess. 2:10; Rom. 1:9; Luke 24:48; Phil. 1:8. In the latter instance the word is rendered
record. The word is also used in the Scriptures in the same sense as the word martyr is now
used, that is, to describe one who suffers persecution or even death in bearing witness to
the truth. It is so rendered in the case of Stephen. (Acts 22:20.) It is translated martyr in
Rev. 2:13 and 17:6, the first instance referring to "Antipas, my faithful martyr"; and the last
instance in connection with the vision of the symbolical harlot woman, the apostate
Church who is represented as "drunken with the blood of the martyrs [witnesses] of Jesus."
In Heb. 12:1, the same Greek word is used to describe the Old Testament saints. It has been
divinely arranged that the "Word of God" requires the "man of God" to have it become a
witness, and it is in this way that the word seems to be used in this vision.
Examining carefully the symbol, we note first that the expression, "These are the two olive
trees and the two candlesticks [lampstands]," seems to mean that these two witnesses are