And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 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. 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.

One of the clearest prophecy in the Old Testament of the Messiah was Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

When the people of Jerusalem say Jesus that day riding in through the city gates on that donkey, they knew, they knew that this was their Messiah. They begin singing Hosanna to the Son of David and to lay their cloaks and palm branches in his path to make way for Him.

During the time of the Tribulation another of Zechariah’s prophesy will be fulfilled and just like Jesus’ Triumphal entry, the Jewish people will know God is reclaiming them for himself.

Zechariah 4:1-7 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. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

John sees these two witnesses, the two olive trees, the two lampstands the fulfillment of God’s promise to bring grace to his people, Israel. When the Jewish people who have been fooled by the Anti-christ, see these two heroes of God, see their miracles and hear their message of repentance for the sins of their nation, a message ampliphied by the sackcloth, garments of mourning that they wear, When they hear, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand”, they will listen and they will repent by the millions upon millions. Turning from their false Messiah to their true coming Messiah.

The hear the message, the see the fulfilled prophecy from Zechariah and they also see the undeniable miracles.

Look again at Revelation 11:5-6 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. 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.

These prophet heroes have the power of Moses in calling down plagues, the power of Elisha and Elijah in calling down fire from heaven and in stopping the rain from falling. The Jewish people will recognize them by these miracles of power and know they are the forerunners of their Messiah. This forerunner was the very last prophecy of the old Testament in

Malachi 4:5-6 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

During Jesus first coming that forerunner was John the Baptist, as Jesus said but during the time of the tribulation that role will be filled by the Two. For this reason many people believe that one of the Two will be Elijah, returned to earth after his ride to heaven in the fiery chariot of God. Many believe the other to be Moses who God separated to Himself by taking him high on a mountain before he died. Both these men were with Jesus when the disciple say him transfigured before their eyes.

The Transfiguration Mark 9:2-4 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.

We don’t know if God will bring back Moses and Elijah or even Enoch who was the other Old Testament saint that did not see death. It is more likely that the Two witnesses of Revelation 11, like John the Baptist aren’t the literal Elijah and Moses but instead they are the fulfilment of that office, of forerunner and prophet in the same manner and power as Moses and Elijah. I don’t know, no one knows but it sure would be amazing to sit up there in heaven with the raptured New Testament believer and watch Elijah and Moses go down to earth as we were going up to heaven, knowing what they were about to do in God’s power to the sin living, idol worhsipping, God deniers of the Anti-Christ’s kingdom.