Zerubbabel and the Two Witnesses

Submitted by Michael S, Oct 31, 2016 at 23:54

Hi, Jon. I'm sorry for the slow reply. I've been recovering from surgery, and not quite myself. You said,

"It is my understanding that Zerubbabel in Zechariah 4 and Haggai 2 is symbolic of 1 of the 2 witnesses. It won't be him reincarnated or anything like that. These messages are highly veiled messages to 1 of the 2. It does appear the Bible does support this."

I agree with you. I have not studied very much about the two witnesses; though I have had a notion for some 40 years that they represent (1) the "true" church, and (2) the Jewish people. My reasoning is simple: both of these have been "witnesses" (literally, "martrys") of God's power: the Jews, at the mount with Moses; and the Christians of the miraculous, holy life of Jesus. Neither of these, for the large part, have seen miracles, visions, etc., but both groups connect to them through eyes of faith, and testify what they believe to the world. As a consequence, both were "martyrs", in the commonly understood sense, during the time of the apostle John. Even today, Christians and Jews are singled out more than anyone else for persecution because of their faith and testimony.

Concerning Zerubabel, we have:

Zechariah 4:
[1] And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,
[2] 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:
[3] And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
[4] So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
[5] Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
[6] 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.
[7] 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.
[8] Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[9] The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.

My Jewish History teacher, an Orthodox rabbi, understood this as a "messianic" (in the Jewish understanding) prophecy: Zerubbabel was in line to be the King of Israel, the successor of King David. Because Z. never did become a king during his lifetime, my teacher considered this prophecy to be an error on the part of Zechariah.

My own understanding, is that Z. is a stand-in for Messiah, who was to be a DESCENDANT of Z. In Matthew 1, we have:

[13] And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
[14] And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;
[15] And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;
[16] And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

According to Christian doctrine, the true church is the "body of Christ", Jesus' flesh-and-blood manifestation in the earth. We are therefore the "Zerubbabel" witness. By elimination, Jeshua the High Priest (Zerubabel's contemporary), was a stand-in for the Jewish people.

Because both Jews and Christians have been persecuted for some 2000 years for their witness, I am unable to ascertain just when this "Two Witnesses" period is to happen. Revelation says of them, however,

Rev. 11:
[3] And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
[4] These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
[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.
[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.

If "The Christians of United States" were to represent the "Christian" witness, and Israel were to represent the Jews, then the period of greatest power for both would be the years immediately ahead of us; and indeed, the whole world hates both of us. If "The beast" is, say, the US President elected in 2020, as might very well be, then the time when he rises up to kill them would be around Summer, 2024. This is a possibility.

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