The Two Witnesses as Apostles of the Lord

 

by

Damien F. Mackey

  

 

“In his speech (Wars 4.3.10), Ananus said that he would lead the people in an

all-or-nothing attack against the Zealots, and that he would not spare his own body in that effort. In that battle, Ananus and his followers actually gained the

upper hand against the Zealots, forcing them into the inner temple and

gaining control of the rest of the city (Wars 4.3.12)”.

 Adam Maarschalk

  

Adam Maarschalk has wonderfully laid the foundations for us to resolve the intriguing matter of the two witnesses of Revelation 11.

 

I based my recent article:

 

Situating those Two Witnesses of Revelation 11

 

(3) Situating those Two Witnesses of Revelation 11

 

on Adam’s work, beginning with: “Adam Maarschalk, who has written, from a preterist point of view, some compelling articles on the Book of the Apocalypse, has gone a long way towards identifying the Two Witnesses: The Two Witnesses Killed by the Beast (Revelation 11:3-13) – Pursuing Truth”.

Adam’s choice for the two witnesses, following the testimony of Flavius Josephus (Wars), are the courageous characters below, Ananus and Jesus, who perfectly fit the terms of Revelation 11 chronologically, and also in various other most important ways, e.g.  their deaths without burial. Adam has written:

 

Ananus ben Ananus and Jesus ben Gamaliel

 

I would like to propose that the two witnesses were two first century high priests, Ananus ben Ananus and Jesus ben Gamaliel (also known as Joshua). According to Josephus, they led the peace movement in Jerusalem when the Zealots were determined to rebel and incite war with the Romans, hoping to gain full independence for Israel. As we will see, their roles, deaths, the aftermath of their deaths, and the timing of their deaths line up with a number of details John saw in Revelation 11.

 

Here is a short summary of these two men.

 

1.       Ananus: The appointment of Ananus as high priest is recorded in Antiquities 20.9.1. He was appointed in 62 AD. Josephus called him “the ancientest of the high priests” and “a very prudent man” (Wars 4.3.7), “a prodigious lover of liberty” who “preferred peace above all things,” and “a shrewd man in speaking and persuading the people” (Wars 4.5.2). Ironically, in December 66 AD he was appointed as a general over Jerusalem, one of 10 generals appointed to prepare for war with Rome (Wars 2.20.3). A long speech given by Ananus against the Zealots is recorded in Wars 4.3.10.

 

2.  Jesus: The appointment of Jesus as high priest is recorded in Antiquities 20.9.4. He was appointed in 63 or 64 AD, but only for about a year (Ant. 20.9.7). From that time on, Josephus said, Jerusalem was “greatly disordered” and “all things grew worse and worse” (Ant. 20.9.4). Josephus referred to Jesus as “a friend and companion” (Life 41.204), and called him “the eldest of the high priests next to Ananus.” Josephus added that “although he was inferior to [Ananus] upon the comparison, he was superior to the rest” (Wars 4.5.2). Jesus also gave a long speech against the Zealots, which is recorded in Wars 4.4.3.

 

The Zealot Temple Siege

 

Ananus and Jesus were both killed at the same time during the Zealot Temple Siege of February-March 68 AD. This siege took place after the Zealots appointed a fake high priest, Phannias, who “did not well know what the high priesthood was” (Wars 4.3.6-8), and he unworthily presided over that post until Jerusalem was destroyed.

In a sense, Ananus and Jesus represented the final lampstands, the final oil-bearing olive trees, of the temple before it was destroyed.

 

Phannias was a fraud, and the people of Jerusalem finally had enough of the Zealots. Ananus and Jesus led them in an uprising:

 

“And now the people could no longer bear the insolence of this procedure, but did altogether run zealously, in order to overthrow that tyranny… The best esteemed also of the high priests, Jesus the son of Gamalas, and Ananus the son of Ananus, when they were at their assemblies, bitterly reproached the people for their sloth, and excited them against the zealots …” (Wars 4.3.9).

 

In his speech (Wars 4.3.10), Ananus said that he would lead the people in an all-or-nothing attack against the Zealots, and that he would not spare his own body in that effort. In that battle, Ananus and his followers actually gained the upper hand against the Zealots, forcing them into the inner temple and gaining control of the rest of the city (Wars 4.3.12). Ananus then chose 6000 armed men to keep the Zealots surrounded and under guard. Unfortunately, as we will see, this strategy came undone because of the trickery of John Levi of Gischala (Wars 4.3.13-14).

 

Revelation 11:5-6

 

In Revelation 11:5 we read that fire would proceed out of the mouths of the two witnesses to devour their enemies who would try to harm them. Compare this to what Jeremiah was told:

 

“Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them” (Jeremiah 5:14).

 

For more on God’s word being like a fire, and having the power to “slay” people, see Jeremiah 23:29 and Hosea 6:5.

 

 

Revelation 11:6 says that the two witnesses would “have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy …” Note that during the days of Elijah “it did not rain for three years and six months” (James 5:17; Luke 4:25). This matches the duration of time that the two witnesses would prophesy (Rev. 11:3). During the Roman siege in 70 AD, Josephus gave a speech to the Zealots in which he mentioned that the springs of water were “almost dried up” while Jerusalem was in the hands of the Zealots, but suddenly had more than enough water once the Romans arrived. This indicates that there was a lack of rain during the time that the Zealots controlled Jerusalem:

 

“… and as for Titus, those springs that were formerly almost dried up when they were under your power since he is come, run more plentifully than they did before; accordingly, you know that Siloam, as well as all the other springs that were without the city, did so far fail, that water was sold by distinct measures; whereas they now have such a great quantity of water for your enemies, as is sufficient not only for drink both for themselves and their cattle, but for watering their gardens also” (Wars 5.9.4.409-410).

 

Josephus said that Ananus had “the mastery of those that opposed his designs, or were for the war” (Wars 4.5.2). Josephus didn’t give many details about how he mastered his opponents, but this indicates that Ananus remained untouchable for a significant period of time even while the Zealots had their way in Jerusalem.

Revelation 11:7-9

 

Revelation 11:7-9 says this about the two witnesses:

 

“Now when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into the graves.”

 

Here “the beast” is mentioned for the very first time in the book of Revelation. (As we discussed in the previous post, it seems evident that John expected his readers to be familiar with Daniel’s description of the fourth beast in Daniel 7.) Here is also the first mention of “the great city” (later mentioned in Rev. 14:8; 16:19; 17:18; 18:10, 16, 18-19, 21). “The great city” is clearly defined as Jerusalem, the place where Jesus was crucified (e.g. Luke 9:31).

 

It’s significant that the beast oversees the deaths of the two witnesses in Jerusalem. This has a bearing on whether the beast was Roman, as many suppose, or Jewish, which is the view I’m presenting in this series. As we saw in our study of Daniel, the Romans were not in Jerusalem from August 66 AD until April 70 AD, except for a few days in November 66 AD when Cestius Gallus led a failed attack on the city. If the events of Revelation 11 took place anytime between late 66 AD and the spring of 70 AD, the beast that overcame the two witnesses was Jewish, not Roman. The events which I believe fulfilled this prophecy took place in February-March 68 AD.

[End of quote]

 

Without my intending to be specific about the “beast” at this point, Adam’s argument otherwise would appear to me to be a perfect foundation for the two witnesses.

 

On an earlier occasion when considering all of this, I believe that I wrote briefly to Adam congratulating him on his work. My only query was then, and would still be now, who are the pair, Ananus and Jesus, in terms of the New Testament? For I would expect the exalted pair to be biblically identifiable – the Bible tends to interpret itself.

 

I wrote to Adam something along such lines.

 

Well, it is my purpose in this present article to attempt to do just that, to suggest biblical identifications for Josephus’s Ananus and Jesus.

 

Ananus and Jesus in biblical terms

 

The Names

 

What I would like to propose here is that Ananus was John the Evangelist and that Jesus was James the Less, two Apostles of the Lord.

 

Ananus, or Annas, is a name related to John (my emphasis):

Annas | The amazing name Annas: meaning and etymology

 

Related names

 

• Via חנן (hanan): Ananias, Anna, Baal-hanan, Ben-hanan, Elhanan, Elonbeth-hanan, Hanan, Hananel, Hanani, Hananiah, Hannah, Hannathon, Hannibal, Hanniel, Hanun, Hen, Henadad, Jannai, Jannes, Jehohanan, Joanna, Joanan, Johanan, John, Jonan, Tahan, Tehinnah

 

Moreover, John “was known to the High Priest” (John 18:16).

Thus, he may have been a Levite.

 

Jesus had told Peter that John would still be alive when He came back (21:22): ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me’.

 

This was the Coming in that generation to which Jesus had referred, when some of the disciples would still be alive (Matthew 16:28).

Now, He was about to return to destroy the unfaithful harlot city of Jerusalem and all of its environs, and to take up his martyred saints, like John, to Himself (what is called the Parousia) (Revelation 11:11-12):

 

But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here’. And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.

 

Paul had referred to Peter, John and James as “the three pillars (Galatians 2:9): “… James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars …”. By now, however, Peter and Paul had been martyred, and so had John’s brother, James, who could not be the James intended here.

No, this was James the Just (the Less), the holy Patriarch of Jerusalem.

 

Admittedly, the name of the fellow witness of Ananus, Jesus/Joshua, or Joses, is not a good fit with the name James. The latter is supposed to have had a brother with that name, Joses, the pair being relatives of Our Lord (Mark 6:3): “‘Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joses, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at him”.

 

Possibly the Evangelist Mark may have intended us to read here, “… James (that is) Joses …”, as we would get in a Hebrew waw-consecutive construction.

 

It is possible, again, that Flavius Josephus confused the names. He would, for instance, according to my view, badly confuse Judas Maccabeus:

 

Josephus has four versions of Judas Maccabeus thinking they were all different persons

 

(2) Josephus has four versions of Judas Maccabeus thinking they were all different persons

John the Evangelist, who envisioned the Apocalypse (Revelation), may even have been a key player for half of it, up to Chapter 11. As a leader of the Christians, like a Bishop, he may have been accepted by them, and by any peace-loving Jews, as their leader, both spiritual and martial. As Jesus would have required of him, John would have been a peace-maker, “a prodigious lover of liberty” who “preferred peace above all things”.

 

Whereas other great Apostles had by now been martyred, John and James the Just had both survived until the eve of the destruction of the Temple, until the spiritual return (Coming) of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

James the Just

 

The most complete description of James the Just is found in Saint Jerome's De Viris Illustribus, which quotes from the fifth book of Hegesippus' lost Commentaries:

 

After the apostles, James the brother of the Lord surnamed the Just was made head of the Church at Jerusalem. Many indeed are called James. This one was holy from his mother's womb. He drank neither wine nor strong drink, ate no flesh, never shaved or anointed himself with ointment or bathed. He alone had the privilege of entering the Holy of Holies, since indeed he did not use woolen vestments but linen and went alone into the temple and prayed in behalf of the people, insomuch that his knees were reputed to have acquired the hardness of camels' knees.

 

Although some parts of this passage may not be accurate, it does confirm the idea that James was called the Just because of his piety and ascetic lifestyle. James died in 62 AD, apparently as a result of conflicts with the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem. According to the historian Josephus, a Jewish council condemned him "on the charge of breaking the law," then had him executed by stoning. Josephus says that this action was very unpopular with many of the citizens of Jerusalem, and that many of them viewed it as a political murder.