One way of coming at who the two witnesses really are is to observe that Israel, whether literal Israel or spiritual Israel, has repeatedly been oppressed by Babylon (literal or spiritual).

Some of the periods of oppression were long (1260 years), and some are fairly short (the future).

If there are long periods of oppression, then perhaps it makes sense to think of the two witnesses in abstract and symbolic terms, such as the Old and New Testaments.

On the other hand, if we have the future wrapup of the great controversy, and it takes place over a few years, then it might make more sense to think of the two witnesses as tangible individuals doing a specific work.

For example, here is a quote that describes future witnessing:





I agree that this is the only game in town. I believe that when Daniel 11/12 talk about being "wise", they are referring to this sort of thing -- understanding how God works, what is implied in the great controversy, how we can be successful in cooperating with the Spirit to finish the work, discerning the threats from the world, and so on.

There's another quote that I always come back to when thinking about witnessing for God:

glenm, Succinctly said, I don’t see that the amount of actual time in which a prophecy is to take place is substantively determinative of the meaning of its symbolism.

And the understanding of The Two Witnesses of relatedly being (in the Historical Age) the Word of God =(Old and New Testament) and more specifically in the Eschatological Age, “Moses and Elijah” in a message and possibly through one or more individuals who are bearing this message is seen in the fact that the last testimony in the Old Testament is a summary admonishment to recall and heed the work of both Moses and Elijah (Mal 4:4-6) which are representative of God’s Law and Prophets (Matt 5:17; 7:12; Luke 16:16; 24:27; John 1:45; Acts 13:15; 24:14; 28:23; Rom 3:21; cf. Lam 2:9= the OT Scriptures and by extension, the Word of God, thus also our OT&NT Bibles today).

So that symbolism is still in force even if it is more specific of Moses and Elijah (with also Jeremiah’s ministry alluded to) in its final/eschatological application, as the expected circumstances demand it.

Rather than two specific individuals, could it be the books of Daniel and Revelation being presented (and studied as Ellen White recommended!) to the world by those who are wise?

I think there are multiple ways of saying it. If we look at the core cross references on the original passage (Revelation 11:3-6), the names that pop out are Moses and Elijah. These names are also mentioned in connection with John the Baptist as the forerunner of Christ's first advent (Malachi 4:4-6).

But this reference to Moses and Elijah doesn't imply that the two witnesses in the end times are two specific individuals. Rather, the inspired material that I'm familiar with indicates that the two witnesses are groups of people used by God.

I like the idea of linking the witnesses to those who are "wise" in Daniel 11/12. Daniel 11:33 says that that the wise "instruct many".

If someone says that the two witnesses are Moses and Elijah as symbols of God's messengers, or the Old and New Testaments, or Daniel and Revelation, or the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, or the 144,000, I'm not going to quibble with them.

What seems pretty clear with all these definitions is that there are great truths to be shared from the Bible, and God uses human agents empowered by the Spirit to share those truths. So the two witnesses can be defined in various ways.

Another way of coming at this is to back up a few verses, and consider Revelation 10:11. John is told that he must "prophesy again".

I take this to mean that the three angels' messages are to be repeated after 1844 (2SM 104).

This is especially pertinent during the loud cry period, when God's people work in cooperation with the fourth angel (Revelation 18:1-5) to warn the world.

Here is a quote that brings this together:

I just posted a second part of a prior study together covering the topic of Rev 10's Angel|the 3+1 Angels, especially the Third Sealing Angel Gabriel, and more, on my blog, all in precursor relation to, as internally linked, my study on Rev 11, which all may be helpful here. See those here provided links for more.

Understanding the actual message of the Two Witnesses (starting from the clearly stated Moses and Elijah allusions, and thus, as already stated, main work) should/will lead to its proper interpretation. Even if this is done by a group, it still has to be ascertained that the work of these two great men of God is being done. And so a soul-searching must be done by the Church and its member to make sure that they themselves are not being condemned by this pointed work.

In the light of the “Passion of Christ” themes intertwined in the work of the Two Witnesses (cf. this post), I have found the following SOP to be quite illustrative of, and indicatively allusive tp what is also involved in the work of the Moses Witness.



Similarly, the "Elijah Witness" also involves the call for Israel, now in their own country, to turn away from mixing in the worshipping of idols and thus completely falsifying the Religion of God. (Cf. 1 Kgs 18:21). Both Witness Messages have modern applications in rejecting communally living by and doing the work of God according to, the Law and tenets of Capitalism.

I think I misunderstood you when you said, "two witnesses as tangible individuals", I took that to mean specific individuals rather than a group of people.

Yes, but my question was more. The answer did not give me any meaning other than what I've heard repeated. Maybe instead of "What part do you see", I should have asked, "How" do you see the health message playing in the loud cry or anything else in the end time message or events?

In regards to the Loud Cry Message which is (a) said to be health-related; (b) dovetails with the Third Angel’s message; and (c) the repeating of the Second Angel message, this part of this recent post shows how these themes are indeed intricately and interdependently linked.

I've been thinking about whether there's a way to tie down further who the two witnesses really are.

In the first place, we know that the Revelation 11:3-6 cross references point at Moses and Elijah. We also know that EGW defines the witnesses to be the Old and New Testaments (GC 267).

So how do we unify these items of inspired evidence?

One way is to note that Moses and the Old Testament represent the concept of "law", while Elijah and the New Testament point forward to and describe the ministry of Christ ("gospel"). Both of these points are captured in Malachi 4:4-6.

How does this idea fit in with the ministry of the SDA Church? There are several verses in Revelation that specifically define the distinctive mission of our church. I am thinking in particular of these three:



The remnant is characterized by two things: (a) they keep the commandments, and (b) they have an ongoing walk of faith with Jesus Christ and abide in the prophetic witness about His ways.

So if we follow this model, the two witnesses are Moses and Elijah, or the Old and New Testaments, or the law and gospel. These are three ways of saying the same thing.

Here's a quote that talks about how we are to proclaim the law and the gospel together:



My understanding is that the two witnesses ultimately represent people proclaiming the three angels' messages, especially the last part of Revelation 14:12. In other words, we proclaim a message about honoring God's law through the power of Christ in our lives.

Here's another quote that ties all this together: