誰是兩個見證人─啟示錄   

這週我們來到啟示錄十一章3-6節，來看聖經中最有趣的兩個人物。

我要使我那兩個見證人，穿著毛衣，傳道一千二百六十天。

他們就是那兩棵橄欖樹，兩個燈臺，立在世界之主面前的。

若有人想要害他們，就有火從他們口中出來，燒滅仇敵。凡想要害他們的都必這樣被殺。

這二人有權柄，在他們傳道的日子叫天閉塞不下雨；又有權柄叫水變為血，並且能隨時隨意用各樣的災殃攻擊世界。 

有許多對於誰是這兩個見證人的推測，就像對啟示錄其餘部分的推測一樣。魏肯生（Bruce Wilkinson）告訴我他認為是以諾和以利亞，這是最普遍的推測，這樣的推測也很合理，因為他們是聖經紀錄沒有死亡的惟二人選。聖經清楚說人一定會有一死。再一次，未來會有許多人因著被提而沒經歷死亡。 

很有趣的是，貫穿整個教會時期，許多聖經學者和神學家相信這兩位見證人是舊約和新約。當我第一次讀到這種說法，我有些半信半疑，但我越研讀其立場越覺得有道理。我還沒下定論，但確實有足夠價值來思考，以下是此思想學派的簡短解釋。 

這二人有權柄叫天閉塞不下雨，並且能用各樣的災殃攻擊世界。聖經還有其他方式寫到這兩個見證人如何應用在舊約和新約，讓我們一起來思考以下的經文。 

他們作完見證的時候，那從無底坑裡上來的獸必與他們交戰，並且得勝，把他們殺了。

他們的屍首就倒在大城裡的街上；這城按著靈意叫所多瑪，又叫埃及，就是他們的主釘十字架之處。

從各民、各族、各方、各國中，有人觀看他們的屍首三天半，又不許把屍首放在墳墓裡。

住在地上的人就為他們歡喜快樂，互相餽送禮物，因這兩位先知曾叫住在地上的人受痛苦。

過了這三天半，有生氣從神那裡進入他們裡面，他們就站起來；看見他們的人甚是害怕。

兩位先知聽見有大聲音從天上來，對他們說：上到這裡來。他們就駕著雲上了天，他們的仇敵也看見了。

正在那時候，地大震動，城就倒塌了十分之一，因地震而死的有七千人；其餘的都恐懼，歸榮耀給天上的神。

第二樣災禍過去，第三樣災禍快到了（啟示錄11:7-14）。 

讓我們繼續來看為何許多人認為這兩人是新舊約的原因，聖經上說這兩個人穿著毛衣，傳道一千二百六十天。正如我們先前所談到的，此先知性觀點是與當時的歷史時期有所連結。當時羅馬帝國下令建造教皇地位。除了有權柄的神父可以閱讀聖經，其他人這麼做皆違法，多半時候是會被處以死刑的。當然，看起來聖經本身好像是從一個謙虛立場來發預言，鮮少人注意到。 

在法國文藝復興時期，後來在法國大革命中達到某種程度的顛峰，那時期有幾年的時間，可能有三年半左右，看起來似乎整個焦點在於摧毀聖經，將其從地上連根拔起。似乎聖經令人丟臉與輕蔑到一個地步，在地上完全沒有影響力，死路一條。就在突然間，宗教改革的力量重新組合，恢復重視聖經如同神的話再次成為全球性運動。所以用舊約和新約代表兩個見證人非常貼切，因為聖經真的起死回生，再次以更大能力被高舉至超越地上一切的地位。 

簡短探索此立場並不是要對其作公道的評論，但從宗教改革一直到1844年復臨運動期間，這是一般對此經文應驗的普遍性與廣為流傳的瞭解，當時已經開始教導所有啟示錄都關乎未來。再一次，我在這裡提出是因為此立場普遍不被現代末世論所認識，它所帶出來的價值不亞於其他對於兩個見證人的推測，特別是當許多人相信撒迦利亞書所提到的兩棵橄欖樹就是新舊約。無論如何，能將所有思想學派考慮進去都是有助益的。直到目前為止，我還沒看到任何一個說法可以作為教條；因此，我認為我們對誰是兩個見證人保持敞開的態度才是智慧。 

 (摘自喬納 word for the week,Week35, 2017)

 
Who Are the Two Witnesses? The Book of Revelation
Week 35, 2017
Rick Joyner

         This week, we come to Revelation 11:3-6 and two of the most interesting characters in the Bible:

         "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

         These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

         And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.

         These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

         Like the rest of the Book of Revelation, there is much speculation about who these two witnesses are. Bruce Wilkinson told me that he thought these were Enoch and Elijah. This is one of the most common assumptions, and this makes sense as these are the only two recorded in Scripture to not have died. The Scripture is clear that it is appointed to every man to die once. Then again, we have multitudes that seemingly will not die because of the rapture.

         Interestingly, many biblical scholars and theologians throughout the church age have believed these two witnesses to be the Old and New Testaments. When I first read this, I was dubious, but the more I studied the position, the more sense it made. I still have not concluded this to be the case, but it has enough merit to consider. Here is a brief explanation of this school of thought.

         These two have the power to shut the sky and strike the earth with plagues. There are other ways that what is written about these two could be applied to the Old and New Testaments. So we will consider this:

         When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.

         And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

         Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.

         And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

         But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them.

         And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.

         And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

         The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly (Revelation 11:7-14).

         To continue the reason for why many thought that these are the Testaments, it was written that these two would “prophesy in sackcloth for forty-two months,” or 1,260 days. As we covered previously, this prophetic perspective is linked to the historical period where an imperial decree established the papacy. During that time it was against the law for anyone but an authorized priest to read the Bible, and for much of that time it was capital punishment. Certainly it looked as if the Scriptures themselves were prophesying from a humble position to which few paid attention.

         During the French Renaissance, which in some ways was consummated in the French Revolution, there was a period of several years, which could have been three and a half years, when it seemed that the entire focus was to destroy the Bible and eradicate it from the earth. It seemed that the Bible was so discredited and scorned that its influence on the earth had ended and it was dead in the streets. Then almost as suddenly, the forces of the Reformation regrouped. There was a worldwide movement to recover esteem for the Bible as God’s Word. It could well have seemed that these two witnesses, the Old and New Testaments, had indeed been raised from the dead and were elevated to a place high above the earth with greater power.  

         This brief exploration of this position does not do justice to it, but this was the general and popular understanding of the fulfillment of this text throughout the Reformation and until the 1844 Advent Movement, when it began to be taught that all of Revelation was about the future. Again, I am presenting it here because this position is hardly known in modern eschatology. It carries about as much merit to it as the other speculations about these two witnesses, especially since so many hold to the belief that the two olive trees of Zechariah are the Old and New Testaments. Regardless, it can be helpful to consider all the schools of thought. To date, I have not seen any that one could be dogmatic about, and therefore I think wisdom requires that we remain open to who or what these two witnesses are.