Bible Doctrine
The Two Witnesses Of Revelation 11 Are None Other Than Moses And Elijah Come Back In The Time Of Jacob’s Trouble
In Revelation 11, the Holy Spirit tells us that, in the time of Jacob’s trouble with the rise of the Antichrist, God sends His Two Witnesses to the Earth to preach and warn His people for a space of three and a half years. We are not given the names of these two individual but we are told what they do and how they do it.

In Revelation 11, the Holy Spirit tells us that, in the time of Jacob’s trouble with the rise of the Antichrist, God sends His Two Witnesses to the Earth to preach and warn His people for a space of three and a half years.
The Old Testament ends with some amazing prophecy regarding the events that will take place in the time of Jacob’s trouble. In Malachi 4, the six verses we find there pack a wallop of a prophecy punch. Verse 1 through 3 talks about the coming Day of the Lord that will take place at the end of the Battle of Armageddon.
“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” Revelation 11:1-3 (KJV)
Verse 4 tells us to “remember the Law of Moses”, verse 5 prophecies that God will send Elijah the prophet before the actual 24 hour Day of the Lord takes place, and verse 6 says that the combination of these two events “shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers”.
The next time we read about Moses and Elijah together is in Matthew 17 on the Mount of Transfiguration. They appear in the sight of Peter, James and John to discuss upcoming and future prophecy events with Jesus Christ.
“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.” Matthew 17:1-3 (KJV)
In Revelation 11, the Holy Spirit tells us that, in the time of Jacob’s trouble with the rise of the Antichrist, God sends His Two Witnesses to the Earth to preach and warn His people for a space of three and a half years. We are not given the names of these two individual but we are told what they do and how they do it.
“And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. 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 11:5,6 (KJV)
Evidentially, these Two Witnesses have the power to make it stop raining, call down fire from Heaven, turn the water into blood, and smite the Earth with as many varied types of plagues that they wish to smite it with, whenever they wish to do it. Now, where have we heard this before?
- Elijah Stops The Rain For Three And A Half Years: “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” 1 Kings 17:1 (KJV)
- Elijah Calls Down Fire From Heaven To Consume His Enemies: “And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.” 2 Kings 1:12 (KJV)
- Moses Turns The Water Into Blood: “And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.” Exodus 7:20 (KJV)
- Moses Has The Power To Smite With Multiple Plagues At Will: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.” Exodus 8:5 (KJV)
A lot of commentators teach that it is Elijah and Enoch because, as they reason, Enoch never died. This will not hold. First of all, as shown above, the Two Witnesses perform exactly the combined ministry of Moses and Elijah. Enoch did not call down fire from Heaven, and had no power to smite with plagues. Yes, Moses did die, but he didn’t die in any sort of normal way. Jude tells us that after Moses’ death, the Devil himself sought to steal Moses body, now why would he want to do that?
“Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” Jude 1:9 (KJV)
Could it be that Satan knew of the prophecy of Moses as one of the Two Witnesses and sought to nullify it by stealing the body of Moses? Sure looks that way. Enoch fits none of the characteristics mentioned in Revelation of the Two Witnesses, and the only reason why people include him in the list is because he never died. Not a very good reason in light of Revelation 11. Not only do Moses and Elijah fit the bill perfectly, they have a prior history of being mentioned together and appearing together. Moses and Elijah are type of the Law and the Prophets in the time of Jacob’s trouble, while Enoch is a type of the Church who is raptured out. When Enoch is mentioned in Jude, he is prophesying the Second Coming of Jesus Christ with – guess who? – the redeemed Church which is His Body by His side!
“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 (KJV)
Compare Jude 1 with Revelation 19:11-15 and you will see what I mean.
God prepares you all through the entire Bible to be able to understand the identity of who the Two Witnesses will be when they arrive on the scene during the time of Jacob’s trouble. It can be no other than the twin team of Moses and Elijah as prophesied in Malachi, projected in Matthew and produced in Revelation.
“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:7 (KJV)
