What the Bible says about Establishing a Fact Requires Two Witnesses
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Deuteronomy 4:6 Both the Old and New Testaments often repeat the principle that to establish a fact requires two or three witnesses. This criterion applies to the death penalty (Deuteronomy 17:6; Hebrews 10:28), accusations against an elder (I Timothy 5:19), disputes with the brethren (Matthew 18:16), establishing iniquity or sin (Deuteronomy 19:15), and problems in the church (II Corinthians 13:1). What if God gives us a command, not just two or three times, but fifteen times? Surely, such repetition would establish the importance God places on that instruction. In Deuteronomy, we find such a repeated charge, in which God declares fifteen times that we are to be careful to obey all His commands. Because God felt the need to pound this idea into our minds, following His example, here are the fifteen times in Deuteronomy He tells us to be careful in our obedience: “. . . be careful to observe them . . .” (4:6). “Take careful heed to yourselves . . .” (4:15). “. . . be careful to observe them” (5:1). “. . . be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you . . .” (5:32). “. . . be careful to observe it . . .” (6:3). “. . . if we are careful to observe all these commandments . . .” (6:25). “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe . . .” (8:1). “. . . you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments . . .” (11:32). “These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe . . .” (12:1). “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (12:32). “. . . you shall be careful to observe these statutes” (16:12). “. . . be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes” (17:19). “. . . be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul” (26:16). “. . . if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them” (28:13). “. . . command your children to be careful to observe—all the words of this law” (32:46). The message is loud and clear: be careful to obey every and all commands of God. Some would consider these many statements as mindless repetition. Why this “overkill”? Because humanity has proven since the beginning that it is nearly unfailingly not careful. Were Adam and Eve careful to obey all that God commanded? No, and their progeny, all humanity, has followed in their footsteps ever since. Was ancient Israel careful to obey? Of course not! Their history is a record of failure nearly at every turn. Was the early church careful? Not completely. So, in various places we find the writers of the New Testament having to admonish those who were missing the mark. What about in more recent times? Were the leaders of our former fellowship careful in their obedience? Like ancient Israel, the answer is the same: of course not! God's church would look far different if they had been. What about those in the greater church of God today? Most recognize that we are in the Laodicean era of God's church. What is a Laodicean? Scripture describes a Laodicean as one who is lukewarm or half-hearted, suggesting that such a Christian shows a lack of intensity or focus that is almost the opposite of being careful. To admit that we are in the Laodicean era is to acknowledge the reality that the vast majority of us are not careful in our obedience to God. This situation illustrates the perversity of human nature that, for most of us, the repetition of a command fifteen times is still not enough to make the message stick. While Deuteronomy repeatedly warns us to adhere carefully to all that God commands, Christ takes it even further, saying, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word” that comes from God (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4). In Matthew 5:18, He adds, “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Not even the smallest letter or word or even one little hook of a Hebrew letter is to be overlooked. Pat Higgins Every Word? Related Topics: Be Careful to Observe What the Lord Commands | Establishing a Fact Requires Two Witnesses | Every Word | Laodicean Attitude | Living by Every Word of God | Living by God's Every Word | Obeying Every Word

Revelation 11:6 These verses contain explicit references to types of events, people, and miracles in the Old Testament. This prophecy is constantly looking back to the Old Testament and the prophets and what they did to give us clues about the Two Witnesses. These identifications with the miracles of Elijah and Moses mean that we should look back into the Old Testament for further clues about them. Certain things, like these miracles, have forced many commentators to conclude that the Two Witnesses will literally be these two prophets, Elijah and Moses. But God has never worked that way! God has never resurrected somebody from far in the past and brought him to a time of which he knew nothing about and given him authority to preach. Every time God acts, He uses someone from that particular time—from that particular era—who has grown up in that milieu, that environment, so that he is prepared for the work that he needs to do. If God is going to be consistent, He will not resurrect Moses and Elijah to do this end-time work. They would be "fish out of water." They would not understand what was happening in the world at the time of the end. Some have said the Two Witnesses will be Enoch and Elijah because those two were both translated, and their deaths are unrecorded. The Bible does not say how they died, where they were buried, or even how long they lived. In verse 4 is another one, as it specifically compares the Two Witnesses to Zerubbabel and Joshua. It is also said that the Two Witnesses are like John and James, the sons of Zebedee, in having a fiery zeal to do a spectacular work for God. My view is that the Two Witnesses are actual men of the time, not resurrected saints, not angels from heaven, not prophets brought back after living in heaven for a few thousand years. These are all things that people have thought they might be. However, they will fulfill types, roles, or patterns that God has used in the past to proclaim His Word and to pronounce His judgments. It is rare that God springs something on us He has not done in the past or that He has not at least alluded to or prophesied about. He is consistent; He works the same way. This consistency is one way that we can have faith in Him because we can always recognize the way He works. We can be suspicious of anything that does not fit God's patterns because His mind is always the same. Malachi 3:6 says that He does not change. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). For instance, God has worked in twos, pairs, or couples, if you will, from the beginning. The ultimate type is the Father and the Son (the Spokesman, the Logos, the One who appears, speaks, and manages affairs). They are the ultimate Dynamic Duo. While the Son is seen or heard, the Father is always there too—giving His guidance and governing from His throne. These pairs always work together to accomplish a goal. When He created mankind, He created them as a pair—a male and female, and they worked together to build the human family. Married couples today do the same thing on a smaller scale. There are various other pairings in the Bible of prophets, kings, priests, or what have you throughout the Old and New Testaments. Consider Deuteronomy 19:15: "One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established." God will need two witnesses to convict the world of sin at the time of the end. They will speak the same thing, and they will back it up with miracles and signs. This is the way God works. He follows His own law, and it says that two witnesses are needed. So, He provides them—Two Witnesses at the end time. Richard T. Ritenbaugh The Two Witnesses (Part Six) Related Topics: Division into Two Groups | Dualism | Enoch and Elijah | Establishing a Fact Requires Two Witnesses | God's Patterns | God's Two Witnesses | Identity of Two Witnesses | Jesus Christ as Spokesman | Jesus Christ as the Logos | Joshua | Logos | Patterns of God | Patterns, God's | Spokesman | Zerubbabel

 

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