Most have
heard of the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11 who prophesy or preach for
3½ years before they are killed by the beast from the
bottomless pit. But, how many realize that there are two other
witnesses mentioned in scripture?
"Heaven and the
earth" were called as witnesses to the Covenant YHWH made with His
bride, Israel, at the base of Mount Sinai. In a typical
Hebrew wedding ceremony, the bridegroom calls two witnesses, friends of
the bridegroom, to the marriage. One witness is for the
bridegroom and the other is for the bride. The Covenant made
at Sinai was, in effect, a marriage proposal. The two
witnesses are the heaven and the earth. The witness of heaven
is for the bridegroom whereas the witness of the earth is for the bride.
On
the 50th day after the children of Israel left
Egypt, they came and
encamped at the base of Mount Sinai, at which time YWHW sent Moses to
them with His proposal of marriage. The first stage of the
marriage ceremony is called the betrothal.
Exo
19:2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to
the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there
Israel camped before the mount.Exo
19:3 And Moses went up unto Elohim, and YHWH called unto him
out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob,
and tell the children of Israel; Exo
19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I
bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.Exo
19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice
indeed, and keep
my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me
above all
people: for all the earth is mine:Exo
19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an
holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the
children of Israel. All of the people
answered and said "All that YHWH has spoken, we will do". This was
their acceptance of the marriage proposal.
They
were then set apart for betrothal, which is called "Kiddushin" or
sanctification.
Exo
19:14 And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and
sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. Exo
19:15 And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third
day: come not at your wives.Exo
19:16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning,
that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the
mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the
people that was in the camp trembled.Exo
19:17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to
meet with Elohim; and they stood at the nether part of the
mount. Exo
19:18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because YHWH
descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke
of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. The
people came to the lower most part of the mountain and stood beneath
the Chuppah, the marriage canopy, the thick clouds where the bridegroom
was waiting. The conditions of the marriage, called the
Ketubah, were then read to Israel. In the Ketubah were
spelled out the conditions of the marriage proposal. The
obligations of both parties were specified. Typically, it is
read to the bride before she makes her final decision, and such was the
case here.
The Ten Commandments and the
judgments (the ketubah) were read to the people. They were
promised to become a set apart people unto YHWH. He would
bless them and protect them. They would be given the land of
Canaan for an eternal possession and He would make them a kingdom of
priests unto Him.
However, if they failed to obey,
He set before them the consequences of their disobedience. He
set before them two courses they could take, they could choose life and
go in and possess the land, or they could disobey and be scattered into
the world.
The people gave their final consent to
the proposal and the covenant was sealed by the sprinkling of blood.
Exo
24:3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of
YHWH, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one
voice, and said, All the words which YHWH hath said will we do.
Exo
24:4 And Moses wrote all the words of YHWH, and rose up early
in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve
pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Exo
24:5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which
offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto
YHWH.. Exo 24:6 And Moses
took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he
sprinkled on the altar.Exo
24:7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the
audience of the people: and they said, All that YHWH hath
said will we
do, and be obedient. Exo
24:8
And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and
said,
Behold the blood of the covenant, which YHWH hath made with you
concerning all these words. Once
the
terms were set and agreed to, they could not be altered.
Deu
4:1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and
unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may
live, and go in and possess the land which YHWH Elohim of your fathers
giveth you.
Deu 4:2
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither
shall ye
diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of
YHWH your
Elohim which I command you. Now all
Israel had to do was to obey and they would be blessed above all
nations on earth. But, did Israel obey? No, they
began to disobey as soon as Moses went up into the Mount to receive the
written wedding contract, the Ketubah. YHWH was livid with
the people and wanted to destroy them, but Moses interceded on their
behalf and YHWH relented.
However, none of that
generation except for Caleb, Joshua and the children that had no
knowledge of good or evil in the day of the golden calf, would be
allowed to enter into the Promised Land.
Moses
cautioned the ones who were to go into the Promised Land, not to make
any graven images, or worship the sun, moon or stars and to not forget
the Covenant of YHWH. Then Moses called the Two
Witnesses to
the Covenant, heaven and earth, to witness against the children of
Israel that they would be ejected from the land and be scattered among
the nations if they disobeyed.
Deu
4:26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day,
that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go
over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but
shall utterly be destroyed.Deu
4:27 And YHWH shall scatter you among the nations,
and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither YHWH
shall lead you. This was so
important that Moses again called the Two Witnesses to record against
Israel to keep YHWH’s Commandments, statutes and judgments.
Deu
30:15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and
death and evil; Deu 30:16 In
that I command thee this day to love YHWH thy Elohim, to walk
in his
ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments,
that thou mayest live and multiply: and YHWH thy Elohim shall bless
thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
Deu
30:17 But if thine heart turn away, so
that thou wilt not
hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and
serve them; Deu
30:18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall
surely
perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the
land, whither
thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.Deu
30:19 I call heaven and earth to record
this day against you,
that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing:
therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: However,
Moses knew that they would not obey and wanted to make sure they got
the message and the gravity of it and let them know what would befall
them in the latter days.
Deu
31:28 Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your
officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call
heaven
and earth to record against them. Deu
31:29 For I know that after my death ye will
utterly corrupt
yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and
evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do
evil in the
sight of YHWH, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. Moses
then had one last shot at warning Israel in what is called Shira
Ha’azinu, also known as the Song of Moses.
Ha’azinu roughly means listen or give ear.
The
Song of Moses opens with the following verse:
Deu
32:1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will
speak; and hear, O
earth, the words of my mouth. Shira
Ha’azinu is a prophecy of the tribulation and the Day of
Yahweh!
In essence, what Moses did was to call
heaven and earth to witness against Israel what would happen to them if
they disobeyed the terms of the wedding covenant they had made with
YHWH. They would be egested from the land and scattered into
the world and evil would befall them in the latter days.
Were
these two witnesses mentioned anywhere in the Renewed Covenant?
Yes, they were:
Mat
5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Mat
5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and
earth pass,
one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be
fulfilled. Mat 5:19 Whosoever
therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach
men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but
whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in
the kingdom of heaven. Yahshua
Himself reaffirmed that as long as the two witnesses to the
Covenant
remained, that not one yod or one nekudah would pass from the
Torah,
the Ketubah, until all be fulfilled. There is still much to
be fulfilled today. Heaven and earth are still here, so
according to Yahshua, the Torah is still in effect today with its
Commandments, Statues and Judgments.
A Renewed
Covenant was to be made with the House of Israel and the House of
Judah. YHWH had divorced Israel and could not remarry her
since she had lain with another and was condemned to death.
He had to shed His blood for her sins and she had to die to
sin. She had to become a new creation.
The
Renewed Covenant still contains most of the elements of the former
covenant. The parties to the covenant are the same, so there
was no need to make a completely new covenant. The Renewed
Covenant reflects some changes to the Priesthood.
Yahshua’s blood and his priesthood made the Renewed
Covenant a better Covenant. The blood of bulls and goats
could not take away the sins of the world. The Torah would be
written upon the hearts of those entering into the Covenant instead of
carved upon stony tablets.
We are still in the
betrothal stage today. We have an earnest of the Spirit as a token of
what we will receive when the marriage is consummated at the marriage
supper of the lamb. Our wedding ring is the Sabbath.
We have been set apart by the Kiddushin, sanctified by the
blood of Yahshua. We look forward to our redemption when our
bridegroom returns to take us to be with him and the marriage supper
begins. We will be changed from this earthly body to a
glorified body like our betrothed redeemer and be adorned in clean fine
white linen. We will then drink the cup of redemption with
him and receive the fullness of the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh.
We will then be priests and kings unto YHWH forever.
Then
there will be a new set of witnesses, a new heaven and new
earth to
forever remain as a testament to the eternal covenant between the
bridegroom and his bride, Yahshua and His Israel. Halleluyah!
Brick
Parrish
Sept 18, 2007
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