And I will empower my two witnessesThe identity of the "two witnesses" has been a subject of much debate. They are often seen as prophetic figures who will testify during the end times. The empowerment by God suggests divine authority and protection. The number two is significant in biblical law, as two witnesses are required to establish a matter (
Deuteronomy 19:15). This could symbolize the sufficiency and reliability of their testimony. Some interpretations suggest they represent the Law and the Prophets, or figures like Moses and Elijah, who appeared with Jesus at the Transfiguration (
Matthew 17:3).
and they will prophesy for 1,260 days
The period of 1,260 days is equivalent to 42 months or 3.5 years, a time frame that appears in various forms throughout prophetic scripture (Daniel 7:25,Revelation 12:6). This period is often associated with tribulation and persecution. It reflects a time of divine judgment and testing, aligning with the second half of the seven-year tribulation period described in Daniel's prophecy (Daniel 9:27).
clothed in sackcloth.
Sackcloth is a coarse material traditionally worn as a sign of mourning, repentance, or humility (Jonah 3:5-6,Matthew 11:21). The attire of the witnesses indicates their message is one of repentance and warning. It underscores the seriousness of their mission and the somber nature of their prophecy. The use of sackcloth connects them to the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament, where prophets often wore sackcloth to convey messages of impending judgment (Isaiah 20:2,Jeremiah 4:8).
Persons / Places / Events
1.
Two WitnessesThese are prophetic figures empowered by God to deliver His message. Their identity is debated, with some interpretations suggesting they symbolize the Law and the Prophets, or specific historical figures like Moses and Elijah.
2.
1,260 DaysThis period is significant in apocalyptic literature, representing a time of trial and tribulation. It is equivalent to 42 months or 3.5 years, often seen as a period of divine judgment or testing.
3.
SackclothA garment of mourning and repentance, indicating the somber and serious nature of the witnesses' message. It symbolizes humility and the call to repentance.
Teaching Points
Empowerment by GodThe two witnesses are empowered by God, reminding us that true spiritual authority and power come from Him. We should seek God's empowerment in our own lives to fulfill His purposes.
The Role of ProphecyThe witnesses' role is to prophesy, highlighting the importance of speaking God's truth in a world that often rejects it. We are called to be bold in sharing the Gospel, even in the face of opposition.
Significance of SackclothThe sackcloth signifies repentance and mourning. As believers, we should live lives marked by humility and a continual turning away from sin.
Perseverance in TribulationThe 1,260 days symbolize a period of trial. We are encouraged to persevere in faith during difficult times, trusting in God's ultimate plan and timing.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Revelation 11:3?
2.How do the "two witnesses" in Revelation 11:3 inspire your faith journey?
3.What is the significance of "1,260 days" in Revelation 11:3 for believers today?
4.How does Revelation 11:3 connect with Old Testament prophetic ministries?
5.In what ways can you "prophesy" as the witnesses do in Revelation 11:3?
6.How does the "sackcloth" attire symbolize humility in your spiritual life?
7.Who are the two witnesses mentioned in Revelation 11:3?
8.What is the significance of the 1,260 days in Revelation 11:3?
9.How do the two witnesses fit into the end times prophecy?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Revelation 11?
11.In Revelation 11:3–6, how do the two witnesses perform miracles that seemingly defy natural laws?
12.Who are the two witnesses in Revelation?
13.What does 42 months symbolize in the Bible?
14.What future events does Revelation predict?What Does Revelation 11:3 Mean
And I will empowerRevelation 11:3 opens with the Lord’s promise: “And I will empower….” The speaker is Christ, who alone supplies the supernatural strength His servants need. He does the same for believers throughout Scripture:
•Luke 24:49—He clothes His disciples “with power from on high.”
•Acts 1:8—“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”
•Zechariah 4:6—“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the LORD of Hosts.
What empowerment looks like here:
– Miraculous authority to call down plagues (Revelation 11:6).
– Divine protection until their task is finished (11:5).
– Unwavering boldness to confront a hostile world (Acts 4:31).
my two witnessesThe phrase is personal—“my.” These individuals belong to the Lord and testify for Him. Scripture consistently requires two witnesses to establish any matter (Deuteronomy 19:15;John 8:17). The pairing also recalls the “two olive trees” and “two lampstands” inZechariah 4:3, 11-14—prophetic symbols of Spirit-filled servants.
Possibilities for their identity (kept literal, future, and personal):
• Moses & Elijah—miracles match turning water to blood (Exodus 7) and shutting the sky (1 Kings 17).
• Elijah & Enoch—both were taken up without dying (2 Kings 2:11;Genesis 5:24).
Regardless of who they are, they serve specific roles:
– Bear legal testimony against the Antichrist’s regime.
– Call Israel and the nations to repentance (Malachi 4:5-6).
– Affirm Christ as the rightful King (Matthew 17:3-5).
and they will prophesyTheir primary task is to speak forth God’s message. Prophecy in Scripture both foretells and forthtells:
•Jeremiah 1:9-10—God puts words in His prophet’s mouth to uproot and to plant.
•1 Corinthians 14:3—Prophecy edifies, encourages, and comforts.
Here it also warns, as seen in the judgments they unleash (Revelation 11:6).
Content likely includes:
– The gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 24:14).
– A call to repent before the final wrath falls (Revelation 14:6-7).
– Specific announcements of coming plagues, paralleling Moses before Pharaoh.
for 1,260 days1,260 literal days equal 42 months, or “time, times, and half a time” (Daniel 7:25; 12:7). Revelation uses the same span for several end-time events:
• The woman (Israel) is preserved 1,260 days in the wilderness (Revelation 12:6).
• The beast rules 42 months (Revelation 13:5).
Key takeaways:
– God sets a precise calendar; evil cannot shorten or lengthen it (Daniel 9:27).
– This three-and-a-half-year ministry likely occupies the first half of the Tribulation, ending with their death at its midpoint (Revelation 11:7) as the beast rises to full power.
clothed in sackclothSackcloth is the rough garment of mourning and repentance:
•Genesis 37:34—Jacob mourns Joseph.
•Jonah 3:5-8—Nineveh repents in sackcloth.
•Matthew 11:21—Sackcloth marks genuine contrition.
Why it matters here:
– Their attire visually preaches repentance.
– It contrasts with the world’s luxury under the Antichrist (Revelation 18:7).
– It links them to prophets like Elijah (“a hairy garment,”2 Kings 1:8) and John the Baptist (Mark 1:6), underscoring authenticity and separation from worldly trappings.
summaryRevelation 11:3 presents two literal prophets, personally empowered by Christ to deliver a three-and-a-half-year message of repentance during the Tribulation. Their authority comes from God, their number satisfies His legal standard, their prophecy warns and invites, their timeframe aligns with Daniel’s end-time calendar, and their sackcloth underscores urgent mourning over sin. God’s meticulous plan, steadfast power, and gracious call to repent shine through every phrase.
(3-14)
The TwoWITNESSES.--It is the opinion of one able and pre-eminently painstaking commentator that "no solution has ever been given of this portion of the prophecy." I quote this that none may be disappointed when no satisfactory solution is given here; further light in the knowledge of the Bible, and the light of history, and, above all, the aid of the Holy Spirit, may show what the real solution is. At present it is best to lay down the lines which seem to lead in the direction of such a solution. First, the aim of the present vision must be kept in mind; and secondly, the vision in Zechariah (Zechariah 4, all), on which this is professedly built, must be remembered. Now the aim of our present vision seems to be to explain that in the great progress towards victory the Church itself will suffer through corruptions and worldliness, but that the true Temple--the kernel, so to speak, of the Church--will be unharmed and kept safe in her Master's hands. But the position of this hidden and enshrined Church will not be one of idle security; in that Temple will be reared in secret, as the rightful king Josiah was, those who will witness undaunted and undefiled for their Lord; throughout the whole of that chequered period of profanation and pain there will never be wanting true witnesses for righteousness and faith. To assure the sacred seer that this would be the ease, to exhibit the nature of their work and its results, is the apparent aim of the vision. If this be so, the witnesses can scarcely be literal individual men, though it is true that many literal individual men have played the part of these witnesses. Turning to the foundation vision in Zechariah, we find that the vision there is designed to encourage the weak and restored exiles in their work of rebuilding the Temple; they are shown that, weak as they are, there is a hidden strength, like a sacred stream of oil, which can make them triumph over all their difficulties: not by might or power, but by God's Spirit, the mountain would become a plain (
Zechariah 4:6-7), and "Grace! Grace!" would be the triumphant shout when the headstone of the Temple was raised. In both visions, then, our minds are turned to the hidden sources of divine strength; there is a safe and secret place measured off by God, where He gives His children strength--not of ordinary might or power, but strength of grace. This is the grace which made Zerubbabel and Joshua strong to achieve their work; this is the grace which can make the two witnesses strong to do their part in the building of that more glorious spiritual temple which is built on the foundation of Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone. The witnesses, then, stand as the typical representatives of those who, in the strength of God, have, through the long ages, borne witness for Christ against all wrong and falsehood, against a world in arms or a Church in error, or against a nominal Christianity in danger of becoming as corrupt and as cruel as heathenism. Such witnesses stand, like the two columns Jachin and Boaz, before the true Temple of God.
(3)AndIwill give . . .--Translate,And I will give (omit "power")to my two witnesses,and they shall . . . These are the words of God Himself; the omission of the words "and the angel stood" fromRevelation 11:1 prevents any confusion of thought on this point. Two witnesses were required for competent evidence (Deuteronomy 17:6;Deuteronomy 19:15,et al.), and there has constantly been a sending forth of God's chosen messengers in pairs-- Moses and Aaron, Elijah and Elisha, besides Joshua and Zerubbabel, alluded to by Zechariah; and in New Testament times our Lord sent forth His disciples "two and two," as afterwards Paul and Barnabas, or Paul and Silas, went forth to preach. There is, besides the mere mutual support which two can give, a need for the association of two different characters in the same sort of work: the energy and the sympathy, the elucidator of doctrines and the messenger to the conscience, the apologist and the evangelist, the man of thought and the man of action, the Son of Thunder and the Son of Consolation; it is well that in a world-wide work this duality of power should be brought into play. The witnessesprophesy: the word prophesy must surely be allowed a much wider meaning than merely to predict or foretell future events. The compass of their work, as described afterwards, embraces much more than this (seeRevelation 11:5-7): they work wonders, showing tokens that remind us of the days of Moses and Aaron; their words are mighty; their life is a testimony. . . .
Verse 3. -
And I will give power unto my two witnesses. Omit "power." What is given follows, viz. "they shall prophesy," etc. The voice, speaking in the name of Christ, says,
"My: The two witnesses of me;"
τοῖς, "the," as though they were well known. There is much diversity of interpretation in regard to "the two witnesses." It seems reasonable to understand the two witnesses as representative of the elect Church of God (embracing both Jewish and Christian) and of the witness which she bears concerning God, especially in the Old and New Testaments. The following considerations seem to support this interpretation:
(1) The vision is evidently founded on that inZechariah 4, where it is emblematical of the restored temple, which only in the preceding verse (Revelation 11:2) is a type of the elect of God's Church (vide supra).
(2) The Apocalypse continually represents the Church of God, after the pattern of the life of Christ, in three aspects - that of conflict and degradation; that of preservation; that of triumph (see Professor Milligan's Baird Lectures, 'The Revelation of St. John,' lect. 2 and 5.). This is a summary of the vision here.
(3) Much of the Apocalypse follows our Lord's description inMatthew 24. In that chapter (vers. 13, 14) we have, "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Again, a brief description of this vision. . . .
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
Andκαὶ(kai)Conjunction
Strong's 2532:And, even, also, namely.I will empowerδώσω(dōsō)Verb - Future Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1325:To offer, give; I put, place. A prolonged form of a primary verb; to give.myμου(mou)Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473:I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.twoδυσὶν(dysin)Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural
Strong's 1417:Two. A primary numeral; 'two'.witnesses,μάρτυσίν(martysin)Noun - Dative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3144:A witness (judicially) or figuratively (genitive case); by analogy, a 'martyr'.andκαὶ(kai)Conjunction
Strong's 2532:And, even, also, namely.they will prophesyπροφητεύσουσιν(prophēteusousin)Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 4395:From prophetes; to foretell events, divine, speak under inspiration, exercise the prophetic office.for 1,260χιλίας(chilias)Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 5507:A thousand. Plural of uncertain affinity; a thousand.days,ἡμέρας(hēmeras)Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 2250:A day, the period from sunrise to sunset.clothed inπεριβεβλημένοι(peribeblēmenoi)Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 4016:From peri and ballo; to throw all around, i.e. Invest.sackcloth.”σάκκους(sakkous)Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 4526:Sack-cloth, a sign of mourning. Of Hebrew origin; 'sack'-cloth, i.e. Mohair.
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NT Prophecy: Revelation 11:3 I will give power to my two (Rev. Re Apocalypse) 
