Revelation 11:3 tells us of two witnesses, whose testimony of Jesus Christ looked much like that of Moses in some places, and Elijah in other places.

“And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”

This verse outlines their work. “They shall prophesy.” The next verse gives us a clue as to who they are. The history of the Christian church never lacked men who claimed they were these two witnesses. In fact, there are many, who at this time have convinced themselves and their followers that they are these two witnesses. Nevertheless, I will give you the truth concerning the two witnesses.

THE TWO WITNESSES ARE THE SPIRIT AND THE WORD COMING FORTH IN A GROUP OF HUMAN BEINGS.

I will now proceed to give you scriptural proof of this.

Revelation 11:4, “These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.”

Verse 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.”

Verse 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.”

THE TWO CANDLESTICKS AND THE TWO OLIVE TREES

The first question is, what are these two olive trees and these two candlesticks? The answer lies in the question. The question implies that we have already been told of THE TWO CANDLESTICKS AND THE TWO OLIVE TREES. The answer, therefore, is to be found in Zechariah 4:1-6.

“And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, THIS IS THE WORD OF THE LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by MY SPIRIT saith the Lord of hosts.”

Though shaded in the language in which it is written, the truth is nevertheless plain. The two witnesses here mentioned as the two olive trees standing before the God of the whole earth are the SPIRIT AND THE WORD. Nevertheless, the prophet did not understand and requested further explanation, as many of us might.

Verses 11-14, “Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two GOLDEN PIPES empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two ANOINTED ONES, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”

The anointed Word and the Spirit of God are the two witnesses that stand before the God of the universe.

The next question is, how could the Word and the Spirit be slain and their dead bodies cast into the streets, as shown in Revelation 11:8?

“And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.”

JESUS CHRIST was the WORD which became flesh and dwelt among us, AND He was also the Spirit, or the manifestation of the Godhead on earth in visible form. John 14:9. WE are flesh becoming the WORD, in order that we might manifest the SPIRIT PERFECTLY.

Of course, you know that the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, is spiritual BABYLON. And Babylon is the host of rebellious ones who have rebelled against God’s order, and His city JERUSALEM. We all know that the natural Jerusalem is not on God’s approved list.

LIFE FROM THE DEAD

We see an amazing truth revealed here. All that the Bible teaches about the Manchild, the 144,000, the Samson man, Gideon’s 300, etc., is linked with this 11th chapter of Revelation, actually revealing to us the manner in which this immortal life will come into our realm. We all know that when Jesus Christ comes here, we will be like Him. We also know that the work of our redemption is complete, and that Jesus Christ is not coming here again to redeem us from anything. When He comes, we will be JUST EXACTLY LIKE HIM. It is therefore imperative that something happen between now and then. This chapter of Revelation tells us exactly what will happen.

Revelation 11:11-12, “And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 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.”

If you have ever wondered how the resurrection would begin, you need not wonder any more. We have here a perfect picture of the FIRSTFRUIT COMPANY of God’s elect giving forth their lives as a sacrifice, and demonstrating once and for all the power of life over death for all men to see, and giving those who want to repent a good reason to do so. Moreover, this act will quicken the whole natural realm, and will begin the rule of God on earth. “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.” Revelation 11:15.

The next question to be answered is how do we know that these two witnesses are the 144,000? These two witnesses were one. They had one mouth, as shown in Revelation 11:5 and 12:5. Moreover, there is only one people who will take the kingdom, and though they are called by different names to describe the different areas of their work, they are the same. In Daniel 2:44-45, they are called the “stone cut out of the mountain.” In Daniel 7:18, they are called “the saints of the most High.” In Daniel 7:27, they are called “the people of the saints of the most High.” All these different pictures of the Manchild are like lines drawn on a paper, each playing its part to produce a final picture.

144,000

This is not a number of persons, but a symbolic figure. To understand the meaning of this figure, we must understand that in the Greek language, as also in the Hebrew, the letters r, m, and d have numerical significance. The letter r =100, m = 40, d = 4, and “chiliade” = thousand; therefore, we have one hundred and forty-four thousand. The same number occurs in Revelation 14:1 written in the same way, r m d. The number is the NAME OF AN ELECT GROUP OF GOD’S ELECT CHURCH.

TWELVE is the number of completion. God began to make man in Genesis, where He stated His plan for the man He would make.

Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

God’s blueprint for man, therefore, was AFTER HIS IMAGE; AFTER HIS LIKENESS. Man looked like God in his natural attributes of seeing, hearing, speaking, intellect, etc., but man was not LIKE God, in that he, man, had to grow into such a likeness with his FREEWILL choice. Thus God was not constructing a bunch of robots, but begetting sons.

Twelve squared is 144. Thus, the scripture says the city will be foursquare, meaning that when man comes into the nature of God, he will be equal with God, and equal with all other men who will be equal with God. This equality does not speak of position, for there are positions of higher authority and lower authority. Jesus was equal with God, yet He humbled Himself to the death of the cross and the contradiction of evil men, because the position in which He was demanded this action. The number, therefore, of completed man is 144.

ZERO, ZERO, ZERO

ZERO (‘zoro’ in Hebrew) means seed, or the word, or JESUS CHRIST. The meanings of zero as given show the etymological development of the word from meaning just a seed to meaning a man who is the SEED OF GOD. For proof of this, we can see in secular history men calling the son of Astarte “Zoroashtar,” meaning “the seed of Astarte,” meaning “the God man.” In short, they were calling him the Christ.

The ancient mode of expressing the fulness of anything was to repeat it three times. In Daniel 7:18, we see the phrase used “for ever, even for ever and ever.” Phrases like these are used in most ancient writings to express the immutability of the expression in its fullest degree. Thus three zeros behind 144 would be the fulness of zero being added to the meaning of 144. Let us see what it would look like.

144 = God’s completion of the perfect man

000 = The fulness of the Word or the Christ

Let us put them together and see what they mean. GOD HAS COMPLETED HUMANITY IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF JESUS CHRIST, or if you would prefer to say, in the fulness of Christ the Word.

If you still think that Revelation 7:1-8 refers to the Jews, and then read the twelve tribes named, and you will notice that they are not the twelve tribes of NATURAL ISRAEL, but SPIRITUAL ISRAEL. The name Dan was left out and Manasseh inserted. Dan means JUDGMENT. That will be taken out of our books. Manasseh means “cause to forget.” We surely will have to forget the brainwashing of sorrow and sin, pain and woe, heartaches, disappointments and betrayals from even some of the brethren, in order to rejoice in the coming age.

The twelve names of the twelve tribes of Israel represent twelve natures in the human realm, which are undergoing change through the Word and the Spirit, and bringing man to the final product.

In Revelation 21:19-20, we see the final product, 144,000, represented by stones of light and beauty. These stones were at some time ordinary rock, but they underwent great pressures and heat, and in time they became precious stones of great beauty and value.

In so short a work as this, it is impossible to show the full meaning of each thing mentioned. The 144,000 alone would take a whole book, but we do believe this will be the key to many revelations to those who are seeking. God gives us types and shadows of this FIRSTFRUIT company all through the Bible, but every type is giving us a specific lesson, and not every detail in the type is the lesson, but just that part of the type which is intended for us. We should never “strip” a type. By this, I mean we should never try to put meaning into every detail of a type. For example, the sheep is the type of the Christian and the type of Christ, but if we begin to analyze the very bleat of the sheep, then the tendency will be to get the thing out of type.

BRINGING FORTH

The overshadowing of the Ark of the Covenant, as shown in the previous chapter, is to bring forth the Christ within the BODY. The items within the Ark therefore, should depict the very nature of the Manchild. These were not all put in at once, but over a period of time. As the children of Israel walked through the wilderness, they received one piece and then another. There were three pieces.

1. The golden pot with manna
2. Aaron’s rod that budded
3. The tables of the covenant

1. THE GOLDEN POT OF MANNA

Manna was given to the children of Israel first in the Wilderness of SIN. At its first appearance, Moses commanded Aaron to preserve some of it in a golden pot. It had to be a golden pot, although not mentioned in Exodus, because all the utensils of the Holy of Holies were made of gold. Thus it is that Paul, in speaking of it in Hebrews 9:4, calls it the “golden pot.”

The manna in the Ark of the Covenant definitely means food; Spirit food with such energy beyond the ken of man’s present comprehension. In our world, we lack energy. Our realm has been sucked dry of energy to sustain spiritual life. Thus Jesus Christ says, “I am the manna.” Then He turned around, and enjoined us to eat Him; TO EAT OF HIS FLESH AND DRINK OF HIS BLOOD.

POWER SOURCE

Jesus brought within His veins the power and energy of God, and He, Jesus, was only the transport which contained the power. This power, which we lost in Adam, was regained in Christ by the same means by which we lost it. One member of the human race lost a battle, gave away a kingdom and enslaved humanity thereby. THEREFORE, it was fair and just for another member of the same human family to fight and overcome the same enemy and not only win a battle, but the whole war.

In Psalm 78:25, we read “Man did eat angel’s food.” This signifies that the manna which God gave the Israelites was the same energy upon which He feeds his angels, so that they might have power to carry out His will. We need power to heal the sick, to stop wars and, in short, to take charge of our world.

It does not take a genius to see that there is an evil intelligence in the world, wrecking good intentions and good plans, and planning horrible wrecks. Just notice how, when there is a plane crash on one side of the world, there seems to be other crashes resembling it, even at far removed places, and when there is a disaster in one spot, how there seems to be a recurrence in other places. We need POWER. I do not know if there is a preacher who is satisfied with the power we have to do that which we know to be the will of God, but I AM NOT SATISFIED. I know there is greater power ahead.

This manna represents this energy, and in so doing, it represents the very ESSENCE OF CHRIST, the anointed one within. The pot being made of gold represents the nature of God as the vessel in which the food is prepared, NOT OF MAN, BUT OF GOD AND GOD ALONE, DIVINE AND NOT HUMAN.

THE TIME

For years, many have been coming and saying they are that perfect nature of God, but the implication is very clear, in that God told Moses to preserve the manna the first day it fell, for a perpetual memorial to God’s people. The manna was given before the ark was given, thus the first symbol of the MANCHILD, or God’s final and perfect church, is the return to the church of the power of deliverance. This coming of the manna began a long time ago. There were men like Wigglesworth, Branham, and many others who have not been heard of, who can testify that this power has come to all of us in a measure. In my own ministry, although I have seen the dead raised and all manner of healing done, I am far from satisfied and still do wait on the Lord for the breakthrough which is imminent.

We see, therefore, that the time of this power has begun, and is coming to its culmination, but this manna WILL NOT FULLY COME TO US UNTIL WE ARE FULLY AGAIN IN A SPIRITUAL DESERT, even as the children of Israel were in a natural desert. I am not saying that we might not be in a natural desert, which is possible. BUT I DO SAY THAT GOD IS DIVIDING THE CHURCH FROM BABYLON, BOTH IN THE SPIRITUAL SENSE AND IN THE PHYSICAL. We are, at this time, too much distracted by the world and its system, by self and thoughts, programs and ideas. In order to separate us from our DISTRACTIONS, God will have to REMOVE SOME OF US OUT OF THE SYSTEM, AND EXILE us entirely from BABYLON. Then the power of God will come to us in its fulness. The word “us” here does not mean that all Christians will have this power, but while the power is with men, it is available for us. This power is the first sign of the Manchild.

2. AARON’S ROD THAT BUDDED

The rod of Aaron budded and brought forth fruit in one night, and this rod was laid up in the ark for a witness. The circumstances of this budding arose out of a contention among the Israelites, which first showed its ugly head in Moses’ sister Miriam and brother Aaron, who were jealous against him. Then it developed into open rebellion when Korah, Dathan, Abiram and on, all Levites, openly resisted Moses, and in so doing went against the orders of God Himself. The matter should have been resolved when the earth opened and took them all in, with their families, but God knew that rebellion is an iniquity which lingers in the hearts of men. Therefore, He gave further proof by making the rod of Aaron bud.

Numbers 17:5-8, “And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness. And it came to pass that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.”

The budding of Aaron’s rod was conclusive proof of the man whom God had chosen to be “chief.”

THE ROD

Even as the budding shows SUPERNATURAL FRUIT-BEARING and life-giving quality (having life within itself), so also the rod shows authority, rulership, and government. This symbol of the Manchild is saying that HE, that many-membered company, will be exalted to the place of rulership over the whole earth. This emblem of the Manchild signifies definitely the human quality of the rulership. A green branch symbolized SPIRITUALLY ALIVE HUMANITY, and this is the only emblem in the Holy of Holies that is not pure gold, not covered or engraved. God is well pleased with His people only when they bear fruit. We thus see, that within the rulership nature of the Manchild, there is the LOVE NATURE of God. Moses’ rod brought down the power of Egypt, destroyed armies, pushed back the waves, gave Israel water in the wilderness, and was the most feared object in the whole world, feared more than the cobalt bomb of our present day. YET through the rod, one could not see the fulness of the nature of God. It was government, it was rulership, it was law, justice, correction, but not LOVE. The rod of the Manchild will be different; IT WILL BE LOVE and LIFE for a sick and dying world. The scriptures which speak of this rod should at least be examined before closing.

Revelation 12:5, “And she brought forth a manchild who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne.”

Revelation 2:27, “And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.”

Psalm 2:9, “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potters vessel.”

Daniel 7:18, “But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.”

Daniel 7:27, “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High (manchild) whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and Him.”

Note: The pronoun used for the “saints of the most High” is “Him,” depicting a one-man, many-membered company as stated by Jesus in John 17:2, “that they all may be one, even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.”

Revelation 3:21, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me IN my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne.”

These scriptures do not refer to all saints, but to AN ELECT OF THE ELECT.

MOSES, CHRIST and YOU

Under the Old Covenant, Moses was the mediator, which is equal to Jesus Christ, the mediator of the new covenant. Even as Moses had a priest, Aaron, so also Christ has His elect.

It stands to reason, therefore, that in the final analysis of the revelation and manifestation of Jesus Christ in the earth, that a select group of this elect should spearhead the taking of the kingdoms of this world to become the kingdom of God and His Christ, by the attaining of the perfect stature to which God is bringing all His people.

3. THE TABLES OF THE COVENANT

Hebrews 9:4, “Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant.”

The tables of the covenant were two slabs of stone on which God wrote the Ten Commandments. These tables were broken soon after, when Moses descended from the mountain, and saw the Israelites engaged in idolatry along with the priest Aaron. Moses was so upset that he threw down the tables of stone and broke them. After the building of the Ark, God gave Moses two new tables, but made Moses write these himself, whereas the first were written by the finger of God. The ministry which God has appointed in the earth is His hand.

As a symbol of the Manchild, it is important to note that the necessary power will at last be given to a people, to engrave upon the hearts of men, an engraving which is engraved upon their own hearts.