The Transfiguration and Revelation have the two witnesses in common 529-1 - 11 - 6

The Transfiguration, Matthew 17:1-3, “1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.” The Shekinah Glory!

Revelation 11:3, “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”  During the first half of the tribulation, the two Witnesses will be Elijah and Moses. This is based on the powers given to them by God in the past that will match those prophesied to happen during the tribulation.

2 Kings 1:12, “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.”

Revelation 11:5, “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.” 

1 Kings 17:1, “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.”

James 5:17, “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.”

Exodus 4:9, “And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.”

Revelation 11:6, “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.” Here Elias is responsible for the 3 ½ year drought and Moses for turning the water to blood.

Matthew 17:8, “And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.” Elias and Moses were taken up after their meeting with Jesus. 

After the first 3 1/2 years of the tribulation, the beast murders the two witnesses. Their bodies will lay on the streets putrefying for 3 1/2 days and then they will be called to heaven. Revelation 11:12, “And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.” 

Just as Elias and Moses were with Jesus during the Transfiguration they will be the two witnesses during the first half of the tribulation.

As an aside, 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” This verse is so wonderful because when we are with the Lord we shall be like him. I still grief for the prideful Dr. Hawkins who attributed God's creation to the forces of gravity. Had Dr. Hawkins given his life to Jesus and he would have traded his twisted body for a glorified body.

A list of the "Faithful" persons of Hebrews 11 and the demonstration of that faith 543 - 4 - 5

Hebrew 11:1-3, “1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

The list of faithful persons in Hebrews 11 include Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David also, Samuel and the prophets. A few examples of their demonstration of faith.

Hebrew 11:4, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.” Cain offered God the works of his hands as a farmer while Abel offered the blood of a lamb. Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable to God and Cain’s was not. While Leviticus has a provision for offering grains as a sacrifice, Cain’s offering was not in accordance with it.

Genesis 5:21-24, "And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." Although Enoch pleased God, few of his descendants survived the flood, only Noah his three sons.

For 120 years Noah follow the dictates of God and built the ark. One can only imagine the ridicule he and his family endured building an Ark in a dry climate that had never known rain.

God appeared to Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia and said, “Leave your country and your people, and go to the land I will show you.” Abraham settled in Harran and stayed there until after his father died and then obeyed God commend to “go to the land I will show you.”

When God told Abraham to take his only son and sacrifice him he did not hesitate. Abraham Left the next day to fulfill God’s command. This was not the moral equivalency to the sacrificing of children to pagan gods. Abraham knew that Isaac was the son of promise and through him he would be the father of nations.

Hebrew 11:11, “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” Although Sarah laughed at the prophecy she would have a son in an another year, she still was rewarded with the child of promise.

Hebrew 11:26, “Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.” Moses fled Egypt and discovered God in the wilderness. Through faith, he led God's people out of Egypt and to the edge of the promised land.

The Prophets, Hebrew 11:36-38, “36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

Paul end this chapter with a promise to us, the Holy Spirit? Hebrew 11:39, “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”

Elijah and Moses will be the two witnesses of Revelation Chapter 11. 526-1 - 4 - 2

Elijah and Moses will be the two witnesses of Revelation Chapter 11.

Revelation 11:3, "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth."

Revelation 11:6, “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.”

Elijah could call fire from heaven and cause no rain for three and a half years. 1 Kings 18:1, “And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.”

Although three and a half years isn’t clearly stated as the time that the heavens were shut up, James and Luke clarify the time.

James 5:17, “Elias (G2243) was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.“

Luke 4:25, “But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias (G2243), when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;”

Elias, G2243, Of Hebrew origin H452, God of Jehovah; Elijah, the name of the famous prophet and of two other Israelites: - Elijah, Eliah; Helias (that is, Elijah), an Israelite: - Elias.

When under attack, Elijah could call down fire, 2 Kings 1:10, “And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.”

When challenging the pagan god Baal Elijah again called down fire, 1 Kings 18:37-38, “Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.”

When Pharaoh would not release the Israelite’s, God used Moses to call down 10 plagues on Egypt. Each plague was a repudiation of one of the Egyptian gods and similar to those recorded in the Book of Revelation.

The plague of waters turned to blood will be repeated during the tribulation as will be painful boils and huge hail stones. Just as there was a profound darkness that could be felt by the Egyptians, this will also be repeated during the tribulation.

Exodus 9:11, "And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians."

Revelation 16:2, "And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.”

The identities of Two Witnesses will be Elijah and Moses based on powers given to them by God both in the past and during the Tribulation.