During the Tribulation, the two witnesses rise to world prominence, as they pronounce judgement on the world. These are Elijah and Moses, two men who had previously experienced Rapture – God personally took them both to heaven, alive.
Though there is much discussion concerning their identities, They are believed to be Moses and Elijah. We come to this conclusion simply because they are both shown doing exactly what they did during their Old Testament ministries (Rev. 11:4-6).
Moses turned the waters of Egypt to blood and Elijah withheld the rain in Israel for three and a half years, which just happens to be the length of the first half of the Tribulation. Each of them stands up to proclaim the Lord under horrible conditions of idolatry and depravity. They reprise the roles that they played earlier, this time in a larger and more dramatic way, till they were killed by the Antichrist:
vs. 7-10 “ And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.”
And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. (Rev. 11:11, 12).
This is Rapture! Dead men came alive. And notice once again, that it is accompanied by a “cloud.” As we see in the Rapture of Jesus; and there was also the Voice that sounded, as in the Rapture of the Saints in 1Thess. 4:16-17.
Seven is the number of perfection, they say. We have seen seven Rapture in history to conform that Rapture is a reality. But we need to live right to justify being included in the Rapture train. That’s what we learn next.