And I will commission my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the Lord…If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and devours their enemies…When they complete their witness, the beast coming up from the abyss will make war with them, conquer them, and kill them. Their dead body will be on the street of the great city, spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And those of the peoples, tribes…nations will behold their dead body for three and a half days, not permitting them to be placed in a tomb. Those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, making merry, sending gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented them.

After three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them and they stood; and a great fear fell on those beholding them. And they heard a voice from heaven saying to them: “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven…At the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell, and 7,000 people were killed…and the rest of the people became afraid and gave glory to God in heaven. The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is coming quickly. Revelation 11: 3-14

This episode of the two witnesses closes the interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets. It is a prophecy that’s been fulfilled, but it also has prophetic significance for the experience of believers in the end times.

That there are two witnesses puts them in alignment with ancient Israel’s legal system, in which at least two witnesses are required in order to establish truth. The witnesses, symbolically, are two olive trees and two lamp stands. From Zechariah 4: 11-14, we learn that they are the Lord’ s anointed ones. The Hebrew word for anointed means “who produces light.”

The oil from the olive trees contributes to the fire of the lamp stands that produce light. Both “oil” and “fire” in the Bible are symbols of the Holy Spirit from whom prophecy is given (2 Peter 1: 20, 21). it is said that God’s Word is a lamp that guides us (Psalm 119: 105). And of course, God’s Word is all of the Bible. Therefore, the two witnesses in this scenario are the Old and New Testaments. Each corroborates the other. The Old Testament bears witness to Jesus (John 5: 39); the New Testament bears witness to Jesus’ life, words, works, death and resurrection.

Because of the distress and sorrow of the Bible’s obscurity during the Middle Ages, the two witnesses were, so to speak, clothed in sackcloth. Nevertheless, even among evil hurting them through ridiculing and  contradicting them, i.e., trampling upon God’s Word; the witnesses were still able to shine their light on those who would receive it. This lasted from A.D. 538 (the beginning of the papal church’s reign) to A.D. 1798 ( the point at which the papacy’s worldwide rule ended). That’s a span of 1,260 years (a day equals a year in prophecy).

When that medieval period was near its end; all across Europe, but particularly in France (the abyss’ beast and the great city), a mindset was developed. It was called the Age of Reason, and it made atheism acceptable. As such, the French Assembly voted against religion on Jan. 21, 1793. At that point, Bibles were thrown into the streets and burned.

Spiritually, France was equated to Egypt because of pride and a denial of God. It was Pharaoh who said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord” (Exodus 5: 2). France was also spiritually likened to Sodom, for when the Bible was banned and burned, moral degradation increased. As Egypt and Sodom are figurative terms, so is the expression “where also our Lord was crucified,” again meaning France, where the written Word was crucified.

From the oppressors’ point of view, the Bible was dead. Merriment ensued, for no longer would the guilty consciousness of the oppressors be tormented by having to face truth and righteousness. This situation lasted for three and a half days, meaning three and a half years (a day in prophecy equals a year). After that time of moral decay, in which it was learned that reason alone doesn’t work, life was breathed back into the Bible when the French Assembly reinstated religion on June 10, 1796.

The Bible’s enemies saw the Bible’s resurrection and its rise to popularity around the world. At the same time, due to having killed the witnesses, a great earthquake of turmoil, destruction and crime shook the country. This resulted in a partial collapse of the country. There was much anguish and despair, and seven thousand died. In Scripture, the number seven represents completeness; meaning the seven thousand killed is a representative number of the totality of those who had turned against God.

The rest of the world saw the consequences of the Age of Reason. That included the ultimate consequence of trying to hurt the witnesses, for it was realized that the two witnesses have the power to devour enemies in a lake of fire (from the Word of their mouths). As a result of all these things, much respect was given to God, along with much repentance.

In this symbolic portrayal of the two witnesses, God’s people can also see themselves. For we will too, now and future, experience the bitterness of scorn and persecution as we carry out our commission. In other words, the historical application to France can be seen as a prototype fulfillment of prophecy. Ultimately, there is to come a future fulfillment when the Bible’s testimony is finished for the whole world.

As we bear witness, it may sometimes seem that our enemies have won. But we have the prophecy of the two witnesses to show us that God will breathe victory into our end-time, final push of the gospel; enough so to light up the whole world.

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There’s more detail in my article The Two Witnesses Identified. Click here to read it.