• Reviving the Two Witnesses
    Revelation—Its Grand Climax At Hand!

    • 13. (a) What is denoted by the fact that the anointed Christians were symbolized by two witnesses? (b) What prophecy of Zechariah is brought to mind by John’s calling the two witnesses “the two olive trees and the two lampstands”?

      13 The fact that they were symbolized by two witnesses confirms to us that their message was accurate and well founded. (Compare Deuteronomy 17:6; John 8:17, 18.) John calls them “the two olive trees and the two lampstands,” saying that they “are standing before the Lord of the earth.” This is an evident reference to the prophecy of Zechariah, who saw a seven-branched lampstand and two olive trees. The olive trees were said to picture “the two anointed ones,” that is, Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshua, “standing alongside the Lord of the whole earth.”​—Zechariah 4:1-3, 14.

      14. (a) What was indicated by Zechariah’s vision of the two olive trees? and the lampstand? (b) What would the anointed Christians experience during the first world war?

      14 Zechariah lived in a time of rebuilding, and his vision of the two olive trees meant that Zerubbabel and Joshua would be blessed with Jehovah’s spirit in strengthening the people for the work. The vision of the lampstand reminded Zechariah not to ‘despise the day of small things’ because Jehovah’s purposes would be carried out​—“‘not by a military force, nor by power, but by my spirit,’ Jehovah of armies has said.” (Zechariah 4:6, 10; 8:9) The small band of Christians persistently carrying the light of truth to mankind during the first world war would similarly be used in a rebuilding work. They too would be a source of encouragement and, few as they were, would learn to rely on Jehovah’s strength, not despising the day of small beginnings.

      15. (a) The fact that the anointed Christians were described as two witnesses also reminds us of what? Explain. (b) What kind of signs are the two witnesses authorized to perform?

      15 The fact that they were described as two witnesses also reminds us of the transfiguration. In that vision, three of Jesus’ apostles saw him in Kingdom glory, accompanied by Moses and Elijah. This foreshadowed Jesus’ sitting down on his glorious throne in 1914 to accomplish a work prefigured by those two prophets. (Matthew 17:1-3) Fittingly, the two witnesses are now seen to perform signs reminiscent of those of Moses and Elijah. For example, John says of them: “And if anyone wants to harm them, fire issues forth from their mouths and devours their enemies; and if anyone should want to harm them, in this manner he must be killed. These have the authority to shut up heaven that no rain should fall during the days of their prophesying.”​—Revelation 11:5, 6a.

      16. (a) How does the sign involving fire remind us of the time when Moses’ authority was challenged in Israel? (b) How did Christendom’s clergy defy the Bible Students and stir up trouble for them during the first world war, and how did these fight back?

      16 This reminds us of the time when Moses’ authority was challenged in Israel. That prophet uttered fiery words of judgment, and Jehovah destroyed the rebels, consuming 250 of them by literal fire from heaven. (Numbers 16:1-7, 28-35) Similarly, Christendom’s leaders defied the Bible Students, saying that these had never graduated from theological colleges. But God’s witnesses had higher credentials as ministers: those meek persons who heeded their Scriptural message. (2 Corinthians 3:2, 3) In 1917 the Bible Students published The Finished Mystery, a powerful commentary on Revelation and Ezekiel. This was followed by the distribution of 10,000,000 copies of the four-page tract The Bible Students Monthly with the feature article entitled “The Fall of Babylon​—Why Christendom Must Now Suffer—​the Final Outcome.” In the United States, the irate clergy used the war hysteria as an excuse to get the book banned. In other countries the book was censored. Nevertheless, God’s servants kept fighting back with fiery issues of the four-page tract entitled Kingdom News. As the Lord’s day proceeded, other publications would make clear Christendom’s spiritually defunct condition.​—Compare Jeremiah 5:14.

      17. (a) What events in the days of Elijah involved a drought and fire? (b) How did fire issue forth from the mouths of the two witnesses, and what drought was involved?

      17 What of Elijah? In the days of the kings of Israel, this prophet proclaimed a drought as an expression of Jehovah’s indignation on the Baal-worshipping Israelites. It lasted three and a half years. (1 Kings 17:1; 18:41-45; Luke 4:25; James 5:17) Later, when unfaithful King Ahaziah sent soldiers to force Elijah to come into his royal presence, the prophet called down fire from heaven to consume the soldiers. Only when a military commander showed proper respect for his position as a prophet did Elijah consent to accompany him to the king. (2 Kings 1:5-16) Likewise, between 1914 and 1918, the anointed remnant boldly drew attention to the spiritual drought in Christendom and warned of fiery judgment at “the coming of the great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah.”​—Malachi 4:1, 5; Amos 8:11.