Are Enoch and Elijah the Two Witnesses?

Are Enoch and Elijah the Two Witnesses?

Could the two witnesses in Revelation 11 be Enoch and Elijah?

Painiting by Van Dyck

A few years ago I was chatting with a very devout student of the Bible. He had written a book on the end-times and was convinced that the two witnesses in Revelation 11 are Enoch and Elijah. Could he, and many others who also believe they are, in fact, Enoch and Elijah, be right? Here are some known details:

1.   Both Enoch and Elijah were translated into Heaven without dying. (Enoch: Genesis 5:24; Elijah: 2 Kings 2:11).

2.   Moses and Elijah met with Jesus in Matthew 17. Elijah had been translated; Moses had died (Joshua 1:2/Jude 1:9).

3.   The two witnesses in Revelation 11 are directly related to the two olive trees in Zechariah 4 (Rev 11:4/Zechariah 4).

4.   These two prophesy during the 2nd woe (Revelation 11:14), which is in the midst of the seventh seal (8:1) and the sixth trumpet (9:13-14 which continues through to 11:15); a few scriptures later, during the 7th (and last) trumpet the mystery of God is complete (10:7, 11:15).

5.   The two witnesses prophesy for 1260 days. There are still 30 days at the end of these 1260 days (Daniel 12:11) and then 45 more (Daniel 12:12).

Revelation 11:4, in view of Zechariah 4, is a strange and fascinating part of scripture. And although reasons exist why some believe these two are Enoch and Elijah prophesying, I do not believe the two witnesses could possibly be Enoch and Elijah. They are forerunners, however, to the rapture of God’s people. The rapture takes place at Jesus’ 2nd coming (1 Corinthians 15:52). Following is my reasoning.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 states the chronological events:

1.   Jesus descends (:16)

2.   The dead in Christ rise first (:16).

3.   Those who are still alive on earth, together with the resurrected saints, meet the Lord in the air (:15-:17).

4.   God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus (:14).

5.   We are all forever with the Lord (:17).

And 1 Corinthians 15 states at Jesus’ 2nd coming two things must take place:

1.   The dead in Christ are raised from their graves (1 Corinthians 15:23).

2.   And we will be changed (15:51-52); both, whether living or dead, become immortal, if they are in Christ (:53).

This is in context of these prominent Scriptures:

50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.* For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

(1 Corinthians 15:50-54)

No one can see God and live, with a natural body that is. Job said: And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God… Job 11:26 (Also see Exodus 33:20.)

At present the bodies of those who are dead in Christ are separated from their soul and spirit. Their souls and spirits are now with God in Heaven (Revelation 6:9-10; 2 Corinthians 5:8), while their bodies are given to death and decay (Daniel 12:2). When Jesus returns, each soul and spirit will be reunited with its immortal resurrected body. (See Revelation 6:9-11.)

Now to get back to Enoch and Elijah. How does all this support that Elijah and Enoch cannot be the two witnesses?

The beast who comes out of the abyss (the antichrist) kills the two witnesses (Revelation 11:7). Their bodies lie in the street for 3 days. Then God first resurrects them and then He raptures them. Since flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50 above) and no one can see God and live (Exodus 33:20), Enoch and Elijah must have been changed (new bodies) before they went to heaven and met God face-to-face. Consider that we who are alive and remain, who are caught up to meet the Lord in the air, are changed—into what? A body that is immortal and which cannot die (1 Corinthians 15:54-55, Luke 20:34-36). Hence, Elijah and Enoch, who were translated (raptured) without dying were taken up, as Hebrews 11:5 says of Enoch. This means they would have new bodies—immortal and incorruptible, and therefore they could not die, as Luke 20:36 states. The two witnesses in Revelation 11, however, die at the hands of the beast.

So there you have it: the two witnesses cannot be Enoch and Elijah, nor Moses. 

*Interesting to note that this is at the last trumpet, which is the 7th trumpet, according to Revelation 11. There is not another reference to trumpets sounding after the 7th. It is at this point that the return of Jesus, the 1st resurrection, and the rapture all take place. And although Jesus returns to the earth at the 7th trumpet's sounding, it's another 30 days before He enters Jerusalem. During these 30 days (Isaiah 63:1-6, Daniel 12:11) He marches up from Bozrah to Jerusalem slaughtering His enemies along the way.