Hi Douggg,
The 2 witnesses are in the second part of the trib. You are not reading scripture correctly.
`And they (Gentiles) will tread the holy city for 42 months. AND I will give power to my 2 witnesses and they will prophecy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.` (Rev. 11: 2 & 3)
One is related to the other. Both in the second part of the trib.
Note NOT ALL Jews flee to the wilderness, ONLY the one third that will be saved. The rest are throughout Israel.
One is related to the other, yes. But not concurrently. The 42 months will follow the 1260 days of the two witnesses.
The 1260 days of the two witnesses precede the sounding of the 7th angel - right? in Revelation 11:15.
In Revelation 8:13, the 7th angel is associated with the third woe. What the third woe will be is in Revelation 12:12, which also follow the 1260 days there in Revelation 12:6. The third woe is the time, times, half times that Satan will have left when his cast down to earth.
1260 days of the two witnesses - then the 7th angel sounds - then the war in the second heaven - then the time, times, half time of the third woe.
As soon as the person becomes the Antichrist, the
1260 days of the two witnesses in Revelation 11 (concurrent with Revelation 12:6) begin.
They prophesy of what is about to take place, warning the Jews about the betrayal by the Antichrist.
In the middle part of the week, still in the first half, he commits the ToD act.
God is angered by it and has him killed.
Then in disdain for him because of his betrayal to his people and the holy covenant made with them, God brings him back to life, the strong delusion that God sends to them who will have believed his outlandish claim of having achieved God-hood.
(The head on the beast that appeared mortally wounded but has been healed in Revelation 13.)
The false prophet then has the people of the world make a statue image of the slain but come back to life beast - the image still inanimate at this point.
And places the statue image in the temple holy place. Desecrating the temple.
The aod setup on day 1185, near the end of the 1260 days, and in the middle part of the 7 years, 1335 days before Jesus returns.
Seeing the aod placed in the temple, the Jews begin to flee, as the two witnesses battle the beast.
That lasts 75 days until the exact midpoint, and on day 1260 the beast kills them.
When the two witnesses are killed, the people of the world rejoice, and say "who can make war with the beast?" in their exhuberance.
3 1/2 days later, into the second half, the two witnesses ascend, leaving this world.
leaving 42 months that the beast can rule freely, with his armies occupying Jerusalem during that 42 months (Revelation 11:2), enforcing his will.
(Note, that although the 1260 days of the two witnesses are presented in length in Revelation 11, nothing is said about the 42 months in Revelation 11 other than the gentiles will occupy the city, i.e. called the outer court.)
As soon as the witnesses ascend, there is a great earthquake. Sending a temporary fear into them left in the city.
Next the 7th angel sounds, and during his days the mystery of God shall be finished, to bring the Kingdom of God to be the ruling Kingdom here on earth over the nations. Revelation 10:7.
God takes His power and asserts it to destroy Satan's hold over the nations of the world. And begins dismantling Satan's kingdom of Mystery Babylon the Great.
There is the war in the second heaven, and Satan and his angels are cast down to earth. Babylon is fallen is fallen from its lofty perch.
Satan comes down in great wrath, woe to the inhabiters of the earth - the third woe. He knows but he has but a little time left. The time, times, half left - remaining in the seven years, after the war in the second heaven, and the 3 1/2 days that two witnesses will have been left dead in the street of Jerusalem.
Cast down to the earth, Satan will enter the lifeless AoD statue image making it come to life, which the world then will be required to worship the image. That goes on during the second half of the 7 years, until Jesus returns to bring the image to ashes, and expose Satan there on the temple mount.
Now whether the AoD statue is inside of the sanctuary building or outside at the entry in the courtyard, at the time that Jesus returns, in plain site of everyone is not stated. I tend think in the courtyard, because when the image is brought to ashes - Satan will be exposed there on the temple mount - and to the shock and dismay of the millions in the armies that will have surrounded the temple all around - right before Jesus pronounced judgment on them and they fall dead with the plague described in Zechariah 14:12.