No, Moses and Elijah as an individual are
NOT Two Witnesses of Revelation 11.
Of course... so much for the fact that there are many misguided souls today who still believe Elijah must physically come again before Christ returns to fulfill that prophecy. Why? Because they simply refuse to RECEIVE the truth that Christ spiritualized, what to them, is "so obviously literal."
Jesus refutes you... on TWO counts:
First:
Luke 1:13-17 KJV
[13] But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee
a son, and thou shalt call
his name John.
[14] And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
[15] For
he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and
he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
[16] And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
[17] And
he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to
turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and
the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
John the Baptist DID have the spirit and power of Elijah.
Second:
Matthew 11:12-15 KJV
[12] And from
the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
[13] For all the prophets and the law prophesied
until John.
[14] And
if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
[15]
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Elijah had already come first fulfilling the prophesy,
but they didn't know him and thus did to him whatever they listed (chose). It wasn't that Elijah didn't already come
exactly as Malachi prophesied, it was that
they simply didn't know it because they were looking for all to be fulfilled physically and it spoke in Spirit and truth. Just as they missed the Messiah Jesus Christ for the same reason, they were busy looking or demand an Earthly or physical kingdom, reign, rule, freedom from the Romans, restoration of the nation of Israel physically, etc., etc.
Just like the Dispentastiontists today! But God
never intended it to be literally or physically Elijah. Using Scripture to interpret Scripture, we "know" that John the Baptist was the fulfillment. I did not say that, but God:
Luke 1:17
- "And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
John came as a
metonymy in the same Spirit and Power of Elijah, not physically as Elijah, but after the model. And that is what the Malachi prophesy always meant no matter what Israel's Old Testament congregation leaders or Dispentastiontists supposed. It doesn't matter that some people don't get it, that's what the prophesy
always looked forward to. Christ interpreted the meaning of this to His disciples (Look for yourself in Matthew 17:10-13; Luke 1:17) explaining it as referring to John the Baptist who came in the same "Spirit and Power" that characterized the prophet Elijah. As long as we interpret Scripture by Scripture and not by what "seems" right in our own eyes, or by book-sellers, church traditions or by mimicking ideas of famous theologians, we can not go wrong. Indeed, following your logic, Christ spiritualizes what is so obviously literal. But it's not so, Christ spiritualized what God always intended to be spiritual and not physical/literal, and it is He that sent the Spirit of truth that these things might be made known or revealed to us.
John 14:17
- "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
Whether one sees these things or not is not in my hands, but in the power of the Spirit of truth that reveals its validity. As it did with the more noble (honest) Bereans, who searched the scriptures daily to see if these things were true or not. As Jews, they didn't simply follow the teachings of the religious leaders of Israel, they followed the Word. Thus the believed Christ was indeed the Messiah prophesied in Scripture, and John the Baptist indeed came before Him in the Spirit and power of Elijah. What I can say is the
carnal mind that looks at things in worldly, carnal or physical terms of swords, script and purse does not see these things as truth.
So the real question is, do you have
ears to hear to receive that Elijah has ALREADY come through John to prepare people for Lord Jesus Christ? Or are you as blind as the Scribes and Pharisees who were looking for the same physical fulfillments?