Revelation 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.
Revelation 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Revelation 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
What we know is that they are Christians, when they are done what they were called to do the "beast" will come to make war against them. This is seen twice in Revelations with this "make war"; when satan is kicked out of Heaven to attacking those that "have the testimony of Jesus Christ", also when the beast comes from the pit and makes war with the "two Witnesses". So is there any mention of "two" Christians or groups that will be named in the end times, and what will they be doing?
Revelation 2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
Revelation 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
Revelation 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Revelation 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
Revelation 3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
Revelation 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Revelation 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
In the Churches, we learn that two of the Churches are pleasing to God and will receive the "crown of life". Smyrna is specifically said will be put in "prison" and "tribulation ten days". So not speaking of now, but speaking of a specific "ten days" where satan himself will be "making war" on them. There is Philadelphia which seems to be a...better...group of Christians, that they are pleasing to the point that God will "keep thee from the hour of temptation". So again, "the hour of temptation", so another references to the tribulation at the end times. But it shows they are not home clear, as verse 11 says "hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown". It can be seen here that they wont be raptured away or totally protected, that by acting against God some how during the tribulation they can still make themselves a target to satan and lose their "crown".
"Keep"-
Original Greek: τηρήσω tay-RAY-soh,
Definition: to guard
Revelation 7:2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Revelation 7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
Before the tribulation, the chosen of God will be "sealed on their foreheads", it is not literal. But it shows us that some Christians will be "guarded". As we learn from the greek meaning of "keep thee from the hour of temptation", it is not the well used versed of the rapture to say they will fly away, but just that they will be guarded. So how can these Christians who are guarded by God find themselves attacked by satan, if they are the second "witness"?
Matthew 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Matthew 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Matthew 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Matthew 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
What we learn from Jesus himself is to run to the desert, hide, avoid the world until his coming. If you stick around near people and the events of the end, there is a chance that some will "deliver you up" because people will "betray one another". We see this enough today, never mind when all this spiritual stuff will be going on. One Christian religion is always calling another "evil" or "heretic" to the point of having another Christian burned at the stake or just publicly shamed, the same will happen to the "Christians" that fall to the lies of the anti-Christ thinking that they are serving God and everyone else are evil, and that is when they will say to the church leaders or the demons '...you should look for Tom, he was always talking about satan coming first and deceiving people'. Then the demons come drag you off, those that are dragged off will become the two Witnesses while the rest of the Christians are guarded because they hid themselves away or were not pointed out.
SECOND WITNESS:
Daniel 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
Daniel 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Daniel 7:26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
Daniel 11:32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
Daniel 11:33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.
Daniel 11:34 Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries.
Daniel 11:35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
Daniel 11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
Jesus in Matthew Chapter 24, spoke specifically of the visions of Daniel to speak of the prophecy for the end times (
Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand) The amazing thing to me, is that the more important information about the two witnesses is not even in the New Testament. Daniel 7 makes the reference to connect the dots between Revelations with the "made war with the saints, and prevailed against them", which is exact wording of Revelations Chapters 11 and 12. But the most interesting is the more literal explaining of what Daniel saw, compared to the spiritual figurative language of John in Revelations. It is not that the Christians will be killed, but satan will speak "great words against the most High, and wear out the saints" and then "now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries...and some of them of understand shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white"!!! Amazing! We are told they will "fall" to "purge them and make them white", we are given a reason why some of the two groups of Christians will not be guarded and allowed to be handed over to satan. Also shows them as the two witness, since we are told "They that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword".