And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. – Revelation 11:3

Today's Scripture Reading (June 7, 2021): Revelation 11

In the opening chapters of the book of Genesis, we have some people who had unbelievable lifespans. Adam Lived for 930 years. His son Seth lived for 912 years. Only a few generations later, just before the Great Flood, Methuselah is listed as the one whose lifespan was the longest. Methuselah lived for almost a millennium; he lived until he was 969 years old.

We have no idea why the Bible lists this group of long-lived people, and every attempt to explain away the number of years these men lived has a hole in it somewhere. But one of the contrasts to the 900-year lifespans is found in the life of Enoch. Compared to the men who lived for more than 900 years, Enoch's life was cut short; Enoch only lived until his 365^th birthday. But there is another exception that sets Enoch apart. The Bible says that Enoch never died. Genesis finishes its story about the life of Enoch with this comment. "Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away" (Genesis 5:23-24). Enoch might have lived for only a short 365 years, but he also didn't die.

Thousands of years later, another man also didn't die. His name was Elijah, and he was walking with his apprentice, a man named Elisha, when Elijah's end came. The author of 2 Kings phrases it this way;

As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two (2 Kings 2: 11-12).

Although neither of these two men met with death, the author of Hebrews makes this argument. "Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him" (Hebrews 9:27-28). Death is the one thing that we all have to face. But the reality is that according to the Bible, neither Enoch nor Elijah died.

Revelation 11 introduces us to two of the most compelling characters in John's vision, the two witnesses. But like so much that is found in John's apocalypse, we know very little about these witnesses. We know that they are prophets who will proclaim a time of repentance and mourning for almost three and half years. We know that they will do so with power because no one will be able to silence them. But that is about it.

One unanswerable question about these witnesses is who they might be. And it could be that they will just be two strong Christians of that day, who are walking closely with God. But that hasn't stopped us from making our guesses as to their identity.

Some have argued that the two witnesses might be Moses and Elijah. Moses and Elijah met with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Having already appeared during Jesus's ministry, is there any reason to believe that they could not also be there at the end.

But another exciting proposal is that these witnesses might be Elijah and Enoch. The reason behind this suggestion that Elijah and Enoch might be the witnesses is that neither of the pair died. But they will get their chance to join the rest of us, who are destined once to die, at the end of the three and half years.

Or maybe it will be someone else. Like so much that we read in Revelation, we just don't know, with any authority, who the pair might be

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Revelation 12