Friday, September 2, 2022

Ian Boxall on Revelation 11:4-6 and the "two witnesses" as "representative figures of the prophetic ministry of the Church"

  

4–6 Are these two witnesses two particular individuals, or representative figures? Revelation’s reception history provides plenty of interpretations favouring the former, whether as two specific eschatological figures (Moses and Elijah, or Elijah and Enoch) or as two historical personages of the commentator’s own age. That they are recognisable individuals seems to be confirmed by the specific allusion to Old Testament figures in John’s description. First, they are identified as the two olive trees and the two menorahs which stand before the Lord of the earth. John’s allusion is to Zechariah’s vision of two olive trees flanking a seven-lamped menorah, a branch of each pouring out olive oil into the menorah (Zech. 4:1–14, a passage which has already influenced John’s description of the heavenly throne-room in Revelation 4). Zechariah’s angel identifies the two branches of the olive trees as ‘the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth’ (Zech. 4:14). In other words, they are the prince Zerubbabel, governor of Judah after the return from exile, and the high priest Joshua.

 

The further description of the activities of the two witnesses in verse 6 echoes the stories of Moses and Elijah. Like Elijah, they have power to shut up heaven, to prevent rain from falling during the time of their prophesying (1 Kgs 17:1–7; 18:1, 41–46). Like Moses, they have power over the waters, to turn them to blood and to strike the earth with every plague whenever they want (echoing the plagues of Egypt: Exodus 7–12, esp. Exod. 7:14–25). Both Elijah and Moses were figures expected by Jews and early Christians to return in the last days (e.g. Mk 1:2; Mt. 17:9–13; Acts 3:22; based on Deut. 18:18; Mal. 4:5–6).

 

However, these allusions are not enough to exhaust their significance, and there are grounds for interpreting them as representative figures. In verse 5 the power of their prophetic word is likened to fire which comes out of their mouths and eats up their enemies. While Elijah’s ability to call down fire from heaven (e.g. 1 Kgs 18:36) is often cited as a parallel, a closer fit is with Jeremiah (Jer. 5:14). The fire-like breath of the Messiah (Isa. 11:4; 4 Ez. 13:10; cf. Rev. 1:16; 19:15) may also lie in the background. In other words, a multiplicity of biblical figures and roles, primarily prophetic, underlies the description of the witnesses (indeed, Enoch rather than Moses was a favourite companion to Elijah for earlier commentators, and some have detected echoes of Peter and Paul, who shed their blood for Christ in the very heart of Nero’s Rome: Sweet 1979: 185). Moreover, far from one being a returned Elijah and the other a prophet like Moses, both of them exhibit all of the characteristics described. What they do, they do together (see Strand 1981).

 

It is perhaps better, then, to view them as representative figures of the prophetic ministry of the Church. The menorahs have already been explicitly interpreted as symbolising the Christian congregations (1:20). That there are only two menorahs (of the complete number of seven) may point to the prophetic ministry being reserved to only part of the Church (note the distinctive charism of prophet at 1 Cor. 12:10, 28). On the other hand, it may be a sign that only a fraction of the Church lives up to the Church’s prophetic vocation (only two menorahs, the congregations of Smyrna and Philadelphia, receive untarnished praise in Revelation 2–3). The allusion to Zerubbabel and Joshua, the two olive trees, evokes the royal and priestly dimension of the Church, here linked to the prophetic ministry. Similarly, the eschatological figures Moses and Elijah are appropriate models for the Church’s witness in the last days. Indeed, they may serve as particular inspiration for John himself: his two prophetic rivals in Pergamum and Thyatira, ‘Balaam’ and ‘Jezebel’, are named after figures active in the times of Moses and Elijah respectively. Finally, there may be a particular twist in the image of the two olive trees. The olive is traditionally a symbol of peace (e.g. Gen. 8:11; Hos. 14:6); yet little peace will be promised in the short term for the prophetic witnessing Church. (Ian Boxall, The Revelation of Saint John [Black's New Testament Commentary; London: Continuum, 2006], 163-65, emphasis in original)

 

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