Understanding the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11:4

Appreciating the rich symbolism of Old Covenant metaphors and their fulfilment in Jesus – and in us.

At Christmas time especially, we all have an enhanced appreciation of light and its capacity to decorate and illuminate, brightening up the gloom. As our Editor-in-Chief expands on elsewhere in this final 2018 issue of Prophecy Today UK, the scriptures emphasise that God is light, and in that light we find life (1 John 1:5; John 1:4).

That we might learn this lesson, the Lord has written it into the DNA of Creation. Life on this planet is completely dependent upon light: for energy, warmth and food. It is from light that Earth gets its vibrant colours, its daily and seasonal rhythms and its water cycle. Since the dawn of civilisation, light has been central to human culture and communication, giving comfort, guidance and security – whether warming fires or the gentle glow of evening lamps.

Put simply, in light is our life: and this physical and social lesson points us towards a greater spiritual reality.

The Bible reminds us that the world’s physical light originated in the spoken, creative word of God. The immortal words of Genesis 1: “Let there be light!” spoke light into darkness and life into a lifeless void. Revelation reminds us that at the end of history, physical light sources will be replaced by God himself (Rev 21:23, 22:5). Intentionally, the Bible is book-ended with references to God as the eternal and true source of Light.

In light is our life: and this physical and social lesson points us towards a greater spiritual reality.

But not just the Light – God is our light, personally as well as universally. We see this most clearly in Exodus, where God’s presence leads the Children of Israel through the wilderness towards the Promised Land, appearing as a pillar of fire by night “to give them light on the way they were to take” (Neh 9:12).

It is here that we learn that God desires to lead his children in the way they should go, illuminating their path. This idea was built into the communal life and worship of Israel through the rich symbolism of the menorah. Though this is celebrated most prominently at Hanukkah, it is worth meditating on again as we approach Christmas and celebrate the coming of Messiah, the True Light, into the world.

The emblem of the State of Israel.God with Us

The distinctive seven-branched candleholder is apparently the oldest continuously used religious symbol in the Western world (perhaps the entire world) and serves as the main symbol on the official emblem of the State of Israel, referencing the miraculous endurance of the Jewish people. Scripturally, it first appears in Exodus 25, where God instructs Moses on how to make this elaborate lamp to light the Tabernacle, the community’s place of worship and meeting with God.

Shining continuously in the centre of the Israelite encampment, the menorah signified the presence of God dwelling in the midst of his people. It was David who later sang: “You are my lamp, O Lord, the Lord shall enlighten my darkness” (2 Sam 22:29).

Known in rabbinic culture as the ‘light of the world’, the menorah was a constant reminder to Israel of their God-given mandate to display his glory, truth and faithfulness to the nations. And it was close to the menorah in the Temple courts in Jerusalem that the Son of God later dared to declare “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Beautiful Detail

But there is more meaning within God’s instructions for the menorah that often gets missed. Made of pure gold and all of one piece despite its ornate details, the menorah speaks of God’s majesty, purity and his all-sufficiency. We have no need to attach anything to the Lord; he is more than enough.

Beaten and hammered into shape, the menorah speaks of God the Son: sinless and pure, but afflicted and stricken – made perfect through suffering (Heb 2:10). Similarly, the menorah’s light was fuelled by pure olive oil, the crushed fruit of the ‘eternal’ olive tree, just as Jesus was “crushed for our iniquities” (Isa 53:5). The oil also speaks of his anointing as our King and Great High Priest.

Shining continuously in the centre of the Israelite encampment, the menorah signified the presence of God dwelling in the midst of his people.

The unique, distinctive shape of the menorah - three branches on one side, three on the other and one in the middle – is also full of meaning. The six branches, biblically the number of fallenness, symbolise imperfect humanity while the seventh represents Yeshua, dwelling in our midst, making us perfect. The six branches are traditionally dependent on the central candle, the shamash or ‘servant’, from which the others are lit, just as Yeshua, the Servant of Isaiah 42, humbled himself to become “a light to the Gentiles”.

So, hidden in the branches of the menorah is a picture of our Servant King, and a picture of us, his people, together living in the pattern of our Master: children of the light (Eph 5:8). This new community of faith shines forth light in the darkness, as God always intended. Indeed, some see in the menorah a picture of the olive tree of Romans 11, in which Jew and Gentile are joined together in Yeshua, or the vine of John 15, symbolising Yeshua as the source of life and love for all believers.

The menorah is quite obviously shaped like a tree – which in Scripture connotes both life and wisdom (e.g. Prov 3:18). The ornate almond blossoms are reminders of our authority as a priesthood of believers, just as Aaron’s staff budded with almond blossoms to symbolise God’s approval for the Levitical priesthood. Some see the buds and blossoms on the menorah as a symbol of believers being the ‘first fruits’ of a greater harvest to come, since almond trees blossom early, heralding the spring.

In the menorah we also see a tree that is continuously ablaze but not consumed: a vivid reminder of the burning bush where God met Moses so powerfully, as well as the Day of Pentecost when tongues of fire appeared over the heads of the disciples. We are reminded that as living sacrifices, God desires to indwell us with his glory - not consuming us but shining out through our lives to the rest of the world. We are also reminded of the need to be filled continuously with the oil of the Holy Spirit, that we might be prepared for his return (Matt 25).

Children of Light

The menorah is a beautiful Old Covenant picture of God dwelling with/in man and man dwelling in/with God: a picture fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming and also in us, “sons of light and sons of the day” (1 Thess 5:5). “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Cor 4:6).

As we receive the light and life of Yeshua within our souls and become part of his Living Menorah, so we ought naturally to shine in the midst of a dark world, radiating his light to the lost. Just like the nation of Israel was and is called to be a light to all other nations, so we are called to “let our light shine before men, so they will see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:14-16).

The menorah is a beautiful Old Covenant picture of God dwelling with/in man and man dwelling in/with God: a picture fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming and also in us.

Christmas affords us all opportunity in this respect, that through us others might be drawn to “the true Light which gives light to every man” (John 1:9).

What an incredible gift: that our God, who “dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Tim 6:16), laid aside his garments of light (Ps 104:2) and took on human flesh, that we might become “children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as stars in the universe, holding fast the word of life” (Phil 2:15-16). Glory! This is what Christmas should celebrate – and it is what the world desperately needs.

No-one holds a candle to our Lord Jesus, who brought light and life to all who believe

As we approach the traditional season of Christmas, we (in the Northern Hemisphere) are all too aware of the gathering gloom of midwinter, and are anxious to help dispel the darkness with a multiple array of bright lights.

The Prophet Isaiah addressed this dilemma when he proclaimed that “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light” (Isa 9:2) – although he was thinking more of man’s spiritual condition than their general environment.

Written around 600 years before Christ, this is one of his many references to the coming Messiah, and points (in the preceding verse) to the very region where he would engage in most of his earthly ministry – “Galilee of the nations [or Gentiles]”.

In the midst of the oppression of Roman occupation, a Jewish virgin would give birth to a son, who would be ascribed a series of majestic titles including ‘Prince of Peace’.

Feast of Dedication

As with Christians, Jews at this time of year also light up the darkness with a glittering host of candles to celebrate Hanukkah, the feast of Dedication.

I well remember sharing the excitement of the occasion with Jerusalem residents five years ago, as joyful groups celebrated in restaurants festooned with brightly coloured lights and menorahs.

Though not among the prescribed seven feasts dating back to the time of Moses, Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish festival Jesus himself attended and is celebrated close to Christmas (appropriately, though not intentionally) to mark God’s miraculous intervention during the reign of the ruthless Syrian-Greek emperor Antiochus Epiphanes. He desecrated the Jewish Temple by sacrificing a pig there and blasphemously proclaimed himself God.

As with Christians, Jews at this time of year also light up the darkness with a glittering host of candles

Judah Maccabee led a brave and successful revolt against the tyrant in 164 BC and re-established temple worship (Hanukkah means ‘Dedication’) with the aid of the menorah (seven-branched candlestick) which burned miraculously for eight days despite having only enough oil for a day. The Greeks had polluted the rest.

In my opinion, the feast also foreshadows the coming of the Jewish Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), described as “the light of the world”, and I’m sure it’s no coincidence that it falls around the same time as Christmas (even though it is more likely that Jesus was born in the autumn) when much of the world is lit up with elaborate decorations to commemorate his birth some 2,000 years ago.

Messianic Jews (who do believe Jesus is their Messiah) celebrate both feasts and it is interesting to note that the sight of a menorah as part of the festive decorations is increasingly common.

The Only Hope for Peace

And yet, at a time when billions of people celebrate the coming of light into the world in the person of Jesus Christ, a dark evil casts a shadow over the place of his birth as sabre-rattling surrounding nations threaten the very existence of Israel.

Paradoxically, the spectre of Armageddon continues to loom each year just when the world focuses on the coming of the ‘Prince of Peace’.

Armageddon is not some sci-fi invention of a film-maker’s overactive imagination. It’s a reality; for there will come a time, very possibly in the near future, when the nations of the earth will clash in a catastrophic battle on the plains of Megiddo in northern Israel – the Bible makes this clear. But then the Messiah will return in power and great glory to put an end to war and usher in a thousand-year reign of absolute peace.

As my wife and I were reminded a few years ago in a Christmas card from the Jews for Jesus organisation, the baby born at Bethlehem is the only hope for peace in the Middle East.

Explaining the feast of Hanukkah, a Jews for Jesus spokeswoman said: “That is why each year we kindle our lamps, one light for each of the eight nights,” adding: “The Hanukkah Menorah has nine branches and we light each of the branches with the ninth candle, the shammas or servant candle. The light of the menorah reminds us of our Messiah Jesus, the Servant King, of whom the Apostle John said: ‘The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.’

“We can’t help but see the connection between the light of Hanukkah and the light that pierced the darkness when Yeshua [Jesus] was born. During this Hanukkah and Christmas season, let us remember that the light of the world has come among us to bring hope and life to all who believe.”

In my opinion, Hanukkah foreshadows the coming of the Jewish Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), described as “the light of the world”.

Shining in the Darkness

But as Jesus was misunderstood, so are his followers. As John also wrote: “The light [of Christ] shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not understood [or overcome] it.” (John 1:5).

Conflict over Jesus’ claims was also apparent during the Hanukkah feast he attended. John writes: “Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered, ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe…’” (John 10:22-25).

Millions of Christians today testify to being among those who once walked in darkness, but have since seen “a great light”. Their testimony is the same as the slave ship captain turned hymn-writer John Newton, who so beautifully reflected the truths of the Gospel with the words: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.”

Persecution for faith is nothing new. Here is a reminder of a festival birthed from persecution of God's people that Jesus himself celebrated in winter time - Hanukkah: festival of lights.

Origins of Hanukkah

Like Christmas, Hanukkah is not a biblical festival. Its roots lie in the period between the writing of the Old and New Testaments. The only reference to it in the Bible is in John 10, where we read that Jesus celebrated the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah in Hebrew) referring to the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration.

About 200 BC, a Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, ruled part of Alexander the Great's former empire, including Judea (modern day Israel). He outlawed Jewish practice and massacred Jews who refused to obey. He looted the Temple in Jerusalem and sacrificed pigs on the altar, an outrage to God's people since pigs are seen as unclean in the Law of Moses. In 167 BC, he ordered an altar to Zeus to be erected in the Temple, which Daniel the prophet described as the "abomination that causes desolation" (Dan 9:27).

Jesus also used this term (Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14), while predicting the later Roman destruction of the Temple in 70 AD (as biblical prophecy can have more than one fulfilment, this term may also apply to a future time).

Resistance to Persecution

One priestly family resisted this persecution, its most famous son being Judah Maccabee (a name derived from the Hebrew word for hammer). In 164 BC, the Maccabees reclaimed the desecrated Temple. However, priestly service could not resume until the Temple was cleansed and rededicated to God. One small jar of uncontaminated oil remained, but it was only enough to last for one day. They lit the menorah, the huge seven-branched golden Temple candelabra, and by a miracle it stayed alight for eight days, by which time a new supply of purified oil was ready.

To commemorate this miracle, Jewish people celebrate the Festival of Hanukkah for eight days. Each day, using a special candelabra called a Hanukiah with nine stems, they light the prominent shamash or servant candle and this is used to light the others in turn (going from right to left like Hebrew text), one candle on the first day, two on the second, and so on.

Light of the World

At Christmas we often read John 1, verse 9 of which says, "the true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world". Jesus is that light, the shamash or servant flame, laying down his life and lighting the lives of those who approach him humbly in repentance and faith. In Acts 2:47, we read of the young church that "the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."

Each day, new souls all over the world are lit up by the transforming light of Jesus the Messiah, just as each night of Hanukkah one more candle is set aflame on the Hanukiah. Once we have been set alight, we must guard that flame and turn to Jesus daily so that our lives are sustained by the blaze of his Spirit.