“And I will appoint my two
witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they
stand before the Lord of the earth.” If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes
from their mouths and devours their enemies”.
Revelation 11:3-5
Many have tried their hand at identifying
the “two witnesses” of Revelation chapter 11, but their efforts will always be
doomed to failure if they think to identify this pair as characters of the
modern world.
Why?
Because, according to my Apocalypse Now? Or Then? series, the
Book of Revelation was long ago fulfilled in the literal sense (though our own age may be a running a kind of
parallel to it). Thus I wrote: “There is a
pronounced dichotomy here between the standard interpretations of Revelation
and the actual words of the author. St. John said emphatically that these
events were to happen “soon”; that is, soon for St. John’s era and
generation of the C1st!”
Those who call themselves preterists have the right idea, and the
best hope of historically identifying such characters in the Book of Revelation
as the “two witnesses”.
And the best effort that I have
so far encountered towards this end – and it is very good indeed – is the one
by preterist, Adam Maarschalk, in: “The Two Witnesses Killed by the Beast
(Revelation 11:3-13)”.
The only element that I would
like to see added to this identification is for Adam Maarschalk’s two
candidates, Ananus
ben Ananus and Jesus ben Gamaliel to be biblically identified as well.
Anyway, here is Adam Maarschalk’s most compelling account of this biblical mystery: https://adammaarschalk.com/2017/02/04/the-two-witnesses-killed-by-the-beast-revelation-113-13/
Ananus ben Ananus and Jesus ben Gamaliel
I would like to propose that the two
witnesses were two first century high priests, Ananus ben Ananus and Jesus ben
Gamaliel (also known as Joshua). According to Josephus, they led the peace
movement in Jerusalem when the Zealots were determined to rebel and incite war
with the Romans, hoping to gain full independence for Israel. As we will see,
their roles, deaths, the aftermath of their deaths, and the timing of their
deaths line up with a number of details John saw in Revelation 11. Here is a
short summary of these two men.
1. Ananus: The appointment of Ananus
as high priest is recorded in Antiquities 20.9.1. He was appointed in 62 AD. Josephus called him “the
ancientest of the high priests” and “a very prudent man” (Wars 4.3.7), “a prodigious lover of liberty” who “preferred peace
above all things,” and “a shrewd man in speaking and persuading the people” (Wars 4.5.2). Ironically, in December 66 AD he was appointed as a
general over Jerusalem, one of 10 generals appointed to prepare for war with
Rome (Wars 2.20.3). A long speech given by Ananus against the Zealots is
recorded in Wars 4.3.10.
2. Jesus: The appointment of Jesus as
high priest is recorded in Antiquities 20.9.4. He was appointed in 63 or 64 AD, but only for about a
year (Ant. 20.9.7). From that time on, Josephus said, Jerusalem was “greatly
disordered” and “all things grew worse and worse” (Ant. 20.9.4). Josephus
referred to Jesus as “a friend and companion” (Life
41.204), and
called him “the eldest of the high priests next to Ananus.” Josephus added that
“although he was inferior to [Ananus] upon the comparison, he was superior to
the rest” (Wars 4.5.2). Jesus also gave a long speech against the Zealots,
which is recorded in Wars 4.4.3.
The Zealot Temple Siege
Ananus and Jesus were both killed at
the same time during the Zealot
Temple Siege
of February-March 68 AD. This siege took place after the Zealots appointed a
fake high priest, Phannias, who “did not well know what the high priesthood
was” (Wars 4.3.6-8), and he unworthily presided over that post until
Jerusalem was destroyed. In a sense, Ananus and Jesus represented the final
lampstands, the final oil-bearing olive trees, of the temple before it was
destroyed.
Phannias was a fraud, and the people
of Jerusalem finally had enough of the Zealots. Ananus and Jesus led them in an
uprising:
“And now the people could no longer
bear the insolence of this procedure, but did altogether run zealously, in
order to overthrow that tyranny… The best esteemed also of the high priests,
Jesus the son of Gamalas, and Ananus the son of Ananus, when they were at their
assemblies, bitterly reproached the people for their sloth, and excited them
against the zealots…” (Wars 4.3.9).
In his speech (Wars 4.3.10), Ananus
said that he would lead the people in an all-or-nothing attack against the
Zealots, and that he would not spare his own body in that effort. In that
battle, Ananus and his followers actually gained the upper hand against the Zealots,
forcing them into the inner temple and gaining control of the rest of the city
(Wars 4.3.12). Ananus then chose 6000 armed men to keep the Zealots
surrounded and under guard. Unfortunately, as we will see, this strategy came
undone because of the trickery of John Levi of Gischala (Wars 4.3.13-14).
Revelation 11:5-6
In Revelation 11:5 we read that fire
would proceed out of the mouths of the two witnesses to devour their enemies
who would try to harm them. Compare this to what Jeremiah was told:
“Because you speak this word,
behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire,
and this people wood, and it shall devour them”
(Jeremiah 5:14).
For more on God’s word being like a
fire, and having the power to “slay” people, see Jeremiah 23:29 and Hosea 6:5.
Revelation 11:6 says that the two
witnesses would “have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the
days of their prophecy…” Note that during the days of Elijah “it did
not rain for three years and six months” (James 5:17; Luke 4:25). This
matches the duration of time that the two witnesses would prophesy (Rev. 11:3).
During the Roman siege in 70 AD, Josephus gave a speech to the Zealots in which
he mentioned that the springs of water were “almost dried up” while Jerusalem
was in the hands of the Zealots, but suddenly had more than enough water once
the Romans arrived. This indicates that there was a lack of rain during the
time that the Zealots controlled Jerusalem:
“…and as for Titus, those
springs that were formerly almost dried up when they were under your power
since he is come, run more plentifully than they did before; accordingly, you
know that Siloam, as well as all the other springs that were without
the city, did so far fail, that water was sold by distinct measures;
whereas they now have such a great quantity of water for your enemies, as is
sufficient not only for drink both for themselves and their cattle, but for
watering their gardens also” (Wars 5.9.4.409-410).
Josephus said that Ananus had “the
mastery of those that opposed his designs, or were for the war” (Wars 4.5.2). Josephus didn’t give many details about how he mastered
his opponents, but this indicates that Ananus remained untouchable for a
significant period of time even while the Zealots had their way in Jerusalem.
Revelation 11:7-9
Revelation 11:7-9 says this about the
two witnesses:
“Now when they finish
their testimony, the beast that ascends out of
the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.
And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great
city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also
our Lord was crucified. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and
nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days, and not
allow their dead bodies to be put into the graves.”
Here “the beast” is mentioned
for the very first time in the book of Revelation. (As we discussed in the
previous post, it seems evident that John expected his readers to be familiar
with Daniel’s description of the fourth beast in Daniel 7.) Here is also the
first mention of “the great city” (later mentioned in Rev. 14:8;
16:19; 17:18; 18:10, 16, 18-19, 21). “The great city” is clearly
defined as Jerusalem, the place where Jesus was crucified (e.g. Luke 9:31).
It’s significant that the beast
oversees the deaths of the two witnesses in Jerusalem. This has a bearing on
whether the beast was Roman, as many suppose, or Jewish, which is the view I’m
presenting in this series. As we saw in our study of Daniel, the Romans were
not in Jerusalem from August 66 AD until April 70 AD, except for a few days in
November 66 AD when Cestius Gallus led a failed attack on the city. If
the events of Revelation 11 took place anytime between late 66 AD and the
spring of 70 AD, the beast that overcame the two witnesses was Jewish, not
Roman. The events which I believe fulfilled this prophecy took place
in February-March 68 AD.
In February 68 AD, Ananus urged the
people of Jerusalem to oppose the lawless Jewish Zealots who had taken over the
temple as “blood-shedding villains.” John Levi of Gischala was a Zealot leader
who had recently come to Jerusalem, but he pretended to be on the side of
Ananus and was invited to be an ambassador to the Zealots (Wars 4.3.13). John quickly betrayed him and falsely claimed that
Ananus had invited the Roman general Vespasian to conquer Jerusalem (Wars 4.3.14).
In response, the Zealot leaders Eleazar
ben Simon and Zacharias ben Phalek requested help from the Idumeans, who lived
south of Judea. The Zealots told the Idumeans that “unless they would come
immediately to their assistance… the city would be in the power of the Romans.”
Even though the Zealots were trapped in the inner temple, they somehow managed
to sneak out two messengers to deliver this message to the Idumeans (Wars 4.4.2-3). In fulfillment of Revelation 9:13-16, the Idumeans quickly prepared an army of
20,000 directed by four commanders (Wars 4.4.2):
“Now these [Idumean] rulers were
greatly surprised at the contents of the letter, and at what those that came
with it further told them; whereupon they ran about the nation like madmen, and
made proclamation that the people should come to war; so a multitude was
suddenly got together, sooner indeed than the time appointed in the
proclamation, and everybody caught up their arms, in order to maintain the
liberty of their metropolis; and twenty thousand of them were
put into battle-array, and came to Jerusalem, under four
commanders, John, and Jacob the son of Sosas; and besides
these were Simon, the son of Cathlas, and Phineas, the son of
Clusothus.”
When the Idumeans came to Jerusalem,
at first Ananus’ guards prevented them from coming into the city. Jesus gave a
speech in which he denied that anyone had betrayed Jerusalem to the Romans. He
invited the Idumeans to help deliver the city from the real enemies, the
Zealots, but the Idumeans were not persuaded (Wars 4.4.3-4).
In the midst of a terrible storm and
an earthquake that night, most of the guards were allowed to go home and some
of the Zealots managed to come out of the temple and use saws to cut through
the gates. This allowed the Idumeans to enter the city, and the Zealots joined
them in slaughtering the guards (Wars 4.5.1). The next day the Idumeans, working on behalf of the
Zealots, hunted down and killed Ananus and Jesus, who had long tormented the
Zealots by opposing their war and working for peace:
“[The Idumeans] sought for the high
priests, and…went with the greatest zeal against them; and as soon as they
caught them they slew them, and then standing upon their dead bodies, in way of
jest, upbraided Ananus with his kindness to the people, and Jesus with his
speech made to them from the wall. Nay, they proceeded to that degree of
impiety, as to cast away their dead bodies without burial…
I should not mistake if I said that the death of Ananus was the beginning of
the destruction of the city… He…preferred peace above all things; …he was a
shrewd man in speaking and persuading the people, and had already
gotten the mastery of those that opposed his designs, or were for the war…
And this at last was the end of Ananus and Jesus” (Wars 4.5.2).
So John and Josephus both described
two individuals in Jerusalem who were hated, basically invincible for a while,
finally killed, and not allowed to be buried.
Revelation 11:10 (Festival of Purim?)
Revelation 11:10 describes the
reaction of those who were glad to be rid of the two witnesses:
“And those who dwell on the earth
will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because
these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.”
The word “earth,” as we discussed
earlier, often means “land,” i.e. the land of Israel. This is certainly the
case here, as the two witnesses were based in, and killed in, Jerusalem.
In the previous verse we read that
“peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations” would see the dead bodies of the two
witnesses. Why was there such a diverse population at that time? Was it because
it took place during a festival, when Jews from various nations would be
gathered in Jerusalem? If so, the description in verse 10 sounds like the
festival of Purim:
“Purim is a Jewish holiday that
commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, who was plotting to
kill all the Jews. This took place in the ancient Persian Empire… The day of
deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing. Based on
the conclusions of the Scroll of Esther (Esther 9:22): “…that they should make
them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and
gifts to the poor.” Purim is therefore celebrated among Jews by: Exchanging
reciprocal gifts of food and drink… Eating a celebratory meal… Other
customs include drinking wine or any other alcoholic beverage,
wearing of masks and costumes, and public celebration (Wikipedia: Purim).
The deaths of Ananus and Jesus are
commonly said to have taken place in February or March 68 AD. The Fast of
Esther and
Purim are typically celebrated from the 13th – 16th of
Adar. In the year 68 AD, the last day of Adar was March 22nd,
according to our modern calendar (“The Jewish war: a new tr.,”
p. 191). Therefore, since each Jewish month was 29 or 30 days, we can know
that the Fast of Esther and Purim took place around March 4-7 in 68 AD.
It appears that when the Zealots
celebrated Purim in March 68 AD, they not only celebrated the deliverance from
Haman that took place in Esther’s day, but they also celebrated being free from
Ananus and Jesus and all their efforts to oppose the Zealots and achieve peace
with Rome. After all, they believed the lie told by John of Gischala –
that Ananus had invited Vespasian to capture Jerusalem, and that Ananus
intended for them all to be captured by the Romans.
A short while later, another Zealot
leader, Simon Bar Giora, found out that Ananus was dead. He was at Masada
because Ananus had previously driven him away from Acrabattene, a toparchy of
Judea, because of his tyranny there (Wars 2.22.1-2). When Simon “heard of the death of Ananus, he…went into
the mountainous part of the country. So he proclaimed liberty to those
in slavery, and a reward to those already free, and got together a set
of wicked men from all quarters” (Wars 4.9.3). This is just one example of how the Zealots behaved as
if they were free of the “torments” of Ananus and Jesus.
Revelation 11:11-12
“Now after the three and a half
days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet,
and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from
heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they ascended to heaven in a cloud,
and their enemies saw them” (Revelation 11:11-12).
At this time, I don’t have much
insight into what these verses mean or how they may fit the narrative described
above (or any narrative described by Josephus or any other first century
historian). Does this simply mean that heaven validated their message of peace?
Did Ananus and Jesus embrace the gospel and become followers of Christ
(something Josephus wouldn’t have mentioned)? I hope to gain insight on these
verses in the future. In the meantime, those who read this are invited to share
any insight you may have.
Revelation 11:13
Revelation 11:13 reads this way:
“In the same hour there was a
great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven
thousand men were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of
heaven.”
In Wars 4.4.5 Josephus described an earthquake that took place the
night the Idumeans broke into Jerusalem, the day before Ananus and Jesus were
killed:
“[F]or there broke out a prodigious
storm in the night, with the utmost violence, and very strong winds, with the
largest showers of rain, with continued lightnings, terrible thunderings, and amazing
concussions and bellowings of the earth, that was in an
earthquake… anyone would guess that these wonders foreshowed some
grand calamities that were coming.”
That same night the Idumeans
slaughtered those who had prevented them from coming in:
“The zealots also joined in the shouts
raised by the Idumeans; and the storm itself rendered the cry more terrible;
nor did the Idumeans spare anybody; for as they are naturally a most barbarous
and bloody nation, and had been distressed by the tempest, they made use of
their weapons against those that had shut the gates against them… Now there was
at present neither any place for flight, nor any hope of preservation; but as
they were driven one upon another in heaps, so were they slain… And now the
outer temple was all of it overflowed with blood; and that day, as it came on,
they saw eight thousand five hundred dead bodies there”
(Wars 4.5.1).
Did 7000 die in the earthquake, and
another 1500 die by the swords of the Idumeans? In any case, John’s prediction
of 7000 deaths is very close to the 8500 deaths mentioned by Josephus.
Furthermore, this earthquake and the deaths of Ananus and Jesus were less than
24 hours apart, certainly qualifying as taking place “in the same hour.”
Typically, estimates of Jerusalem’s
population in the first century range from 30,000 to 100,000 people, so it’s very reasonable to conclude that 7000 deaths in 68 AD
represented a tenth of the city falling. Even if the normal population was
closer to 30,000, it would have been higher at the time of that earthquake if
it took place around the festival of Purim. This was a minor festival, so the
population may have doubled, but it wouldn’t have swollen to 250,000 or more as
it would during the major festivals.
Jerusalem Took a Turn for the Worse
The deaths of Ananus and Jesus marked
a significant turning point for Jerusalem, according to Josephus:
“I should not mistake if I said that
the death of Ananus was the beginning of the destruction of the city, and that
from this very day may be dated the overthrow of her wall, and the ruin of her
affairs, whereon they saw their high priest, and the procurer of their
preservation, slain in the midst of their city… to say all in a word, if Ananus
had survived they had certainly compounded matters… And the Jews had then put
abundance of delays in the way of the Romans, if they had had such a general as
he was” (Wars 4.5.2).
After their deaths, the Zealots and
the Idumeans “fell upon the people as upon a flock of profane animals, and cut
their throats.” Others endured “terrible torments” before finally meeting their
deaths. At least 12,000 died in that massacre (Wars 4.5.3).
Then one of the Zealots told the
Idumeans that they had been tricked, and that Ananus and the high priests never
did plot to betray Jerusalem to the Romans. So the Idumeans regretted their
actions, saw “the horrid barbarity of [the Zealots who] had invited them,” and
they left Jerusalem (Wars 4.5.5). The Zealots, no longer hindered by the high priests or
even the Idumeans, then increased their wickedness:
“[T]he zealots grew more insolent, not
as deserted by their confederates, but as freed from such men as might hinder
their designs, and put some stop to their wickedness. Accordingly they made no
longer any delay, nor took any deliberation in their enormous practices, but
made use of the shortest methods for all their executions, and what they had
once resolved upon, they put in practice sooner than anyone could imagine…” (Wars 4.6.1).
In summary, Ananus and Jesus were two
former high priests, and the most prominent of the high priests during the
Jewish-Roman War. As such, they fit the Old Testament imagery of olive trees
and lampstands representing those who stood before the Lord in the service of
the temple. Until the time of their deaths, they were immune to the harm that
their enemies wanted to inflict upon them. They gave speeches predicting the
destruction that would come to Jerusalem because of the Zealots and due to the
rejection of their message of peace. Jerusalem experienced a drought during
that time. They were killed by the Zealots (and their cohorts, the Idumeans)
just as the Zealots gained full control of the city. They were not allowed to
be buried, and their enemies rejoiced over their deaths. This happened at the
same time as an earthquake and the deaths of 8500 people. ….
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