In this essay we will look at a couple of major sources of error and confusion in biblical teaching.
One is the failure to have two witnesses, another is the failure to see the timing of a scripture’s fulfillment, a third is the failure to see multiple fulfillments in prophetic scripture. These are not exclusive but usually interrelated.
The Need for Two Witnesses
Let’s look at the idea of having 2 witnesses.
De 17:6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
De 19:15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
Mt 18:16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
2Co 13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
Here we have 4 verses relating to the idea that 2 or more witnesses are needed to prove something. In the old testament verses, they are witnesses in a case of a capital crime. The 2 witnesses are needed to establish the guilt of a guilty party when there is a death sentence possible.
In the case of the new testament verses, capital punishment is not the issue; the principle is applied much more broadly. It covers any situation where positive proof is needed.
Early in my Christian walk, I was taught that these verses were the foundation of a principle of Bible Study. That is they are generalized to means that in order to prove or establish a teaching or doctrine, you needed to find 2 verses of the bible that said roughly the same thing to support whatever you were trying to prove.
Well this made some sense, and nobody questioned it at the time. It was one of those things you were taught as a baby Christian and never gave much thought to. So what’s the problem with it, you ask? Well, everyone gave this principle ‘lip service’ but nobody really applied it for real. It’s one of those things that you can use for emphasis when you have 2 verses that support what you’re trying to say. But when you don’t have 2 verses, well, 1 will do just fine. That is to say, everyone said they agreed with the 2 witness, 2 verse theory. But nobody actually applied it in any honest way. I have never heard any teaching challenged because the teacher failed to supply 2 verses to make his point. We all operate on the basis that if you can find it in the word of God, then that’s enough proof. God only needs to say something once. After all the word is considered infallible and without error. So if God said something, even if only once, it’s still something that God said, and has to be true. After all do we go through the bible and rip out every verse that doesn’t have a backup somewhere else in the bible? Of course not! So what’s wrong with this picture? Why does God say to establish every word by two witnesses. Is this meant to apply only to specific situations where witnesses are called to testify? Is it a mistake to apply this to the word of God itself? Does the Word of God need 2 witnesses before we believe it? Or rather does the Word of God require 2 witnesses before we can understand it?
We find the 2 witness idea repeated several times in the bible, so it must be important; yet we’re not sure how to apply it. The reason is we are looking at the matter in an entirely wrong way.
Just recently, I got some new revelation on the matter. We were in a discussion with a skeptical young man about some issues of the bible and faith. I had challenged him to puzzle out the events in John 8: 1-11 on the basis of some background info about the Pharisees, and some verses from the law of Moses. One of these was De 17:6 quoted above. His comment about it really opened my eyes to what the real issue was here. And I found it tied in perfectly with my thinking in preparing this essay.
What he said was: Moses is calling for 2 or three witnesses here. But the only witness that I have that this is really the word of God is Moses. Well, I had never thought about it that way! It’s like we take it for granted that the words in the Bible are the words of God which the Holy Spirit spoke to the various authors. Then these authors, like Moses, went and wrote them down. So Moses is the witness. When we read the word of God at the hand of Moses, Moses is the witness that this is what God said. Even if we find 3, 4 or 5 verses that support one of our ideas, there is still only 1 witness! And that witness is Moses. So my friend says, here I am taking Moses word that this is what God said. But Moses is still just one witness!
So I explained to this young man how I understood the inspiration for the bible works. As I did so, the understanding came to me, even while I was talking, that the second witness has to be the Holy Spirit! Here is how I presented it.
The Bible says that ‘all scripture is given by inspiration of God. ‘[i.e. the Holy Spirit]
2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, ….
Now this works two ways. Like in the case of Moses, the Lord said to him, take and write these words in a book. Well the Lord appears to Moses and tells him, or he speaks the words directly into his mind. And Moses writes down exactly what God says. He doesn’t need to understand what God means by any of it. All he has to do is write it down exactly as given to him. That’s the first way that scripture is given by the Spirit.
A witness is someone who gives testimony. A biblical writer is giving his testimony that he has written what God told him to write. And a testament is another word for testimony. So the bible, new and old, is just a series of testimonies. It’s one witness, the Spirit is the second one!
The second way the Spirit gives scripture is by giving it to the reader! As the reader is reading in the bible, the Spirit will give him bits and pieces of it. He opens the understanding of the reader so that it makes sense. If you’re reading parts of the bible without the guidance of the Spirit, you just won’t get it. Get it?
So in reading Moses or Matthew or any book of the Bible, the first witness is the bible itself. You’re reading a long, confusing, vague and sometimes boring and sometimes puzzling book that claims to be the word of God. That’s your first witness, the book claims to be the word of God. Now along comes the Spirit and takes the long, confusing, vague and sometimes boring book, and brings it to life by showing you what things mean. That’s your second witness. And with these 2 witnesses you can prove things. The written word by itself is just a dead letter. The letter kills but the Spirit Gives Life. So the letter plus the Spirit gives life. That’s two witnesses. That’s the word mixed with faith!
So the implication of this is that without the Spirit, no word can be established. The Spirit is our proof, not man’s wisdom. It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got the Spirit behind it.
False Witnesses
Well so far, so good. But what if you have false witnesses? When Jesus was brought to trial there were many false witnesses against him. The odd thing was that none of them agreed with each other. Here is a case where false witnesses were used that makes an interesting allegory.
1 Kings 21:7-15
7 And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.
9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:
10 And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.
11 And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.
12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.
13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.
14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.
15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.
Now the allegorical part of this is found by looking at names and symbols. Naboth means fruit, and the vineyard is a symbol of the church, and or Israel. Jezebel is a wicked spirit who aims to hinder or halt the flow of the prophetic word. What this story is saying points to the church in the end times. The spirit of Jezebel will use various false accusations to try and take over the church and kill off the fruit. But we also know this;!
Isaiah 59:19 …. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
Faithful Witnesses
What we need in seeking out two witnesses are faithful witnesses. Jezebel used false witnesses and got away with it. Proverbs has this to say.
Proverbs 14:5
5 A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.
This is the underlying idea in courtroom tactics when an attorney will attempt to undermine the character of a witness. Once the integrity of the witness is removed, their testimony can be discounted. The kind of witness we need to have is one whose integrity is unquestionable. Note these verses from John chapter 5.
1 John 5:6-10
6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
John 5:36-37
36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
John 8:17-18
17 It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.
18 I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.
So the witness you need if you are to handle the Word properly is not a fallible human witness.
Romans 3:4
4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
1 Peter 4:11
11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
The witness you need if you are to handle the Word properly is the witness of the Spirit If the word being preached is not backed by the Spirit of God, it will not be mixed with faith in the listener. And therefore it will not do them any good.
Hebrews 4:2
2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Could this be why so much preaching is ineffective?
Can the word preached be a lie?
Take a look at this passage from first Kings. Elijah had been staying at the home of this woman, and one day her son dies. Elijah then prays and raises the dead son to life.
1 Kings 17:23-24
23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
Here is a case where the power of God was demonstrated and it became a witness to the integrity of the Prophet.
1 Corinthians 4:20
20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
The important point for our study is this: that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth. What this implies is that there can be times when the Word of the Lord can be spoken, yet not be the truth. If the word is misused, misunderstoon, or misapplied, there will be no truth in it. It will just be a case where the word, i.e. the letter of the law, kills.
Are we saying the bible is untrue? No, of course not. We are pointing out that in specific cases at certain times some one can be teaching or preaching from the bible and there will be no truth in it. These are times when there is no witness of the Spirit to back up the word being shared.
When you hear someone tell you, “The bible clearly teaches such and such” be careful. You could even say the bible doesn’t teach anything! Man teaches from the bible, and the Holy Spirit teaches from the bible. If a man’s teaching is not by the Spirit, there just might be no truth in it. The word of the Lord in his mouth will not be truth! This applies to more than just teaching.
2 Timothy 3:16
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
It also applies to exhortation, intercession, praise, worship and spiritual warfare.
The Timing Of A Scripture’s Fulfillment
Let’s look at a famous text that mentions the Timing of Fulfillment.
Luke 4:16-21
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. What is going on here? What did it mean to say the scripture is fulfilled? It meant that at the time Jesus stood up and read it, the word of the Lord in His mouth was truth. For anyone else, at any other time, to get up and read those verses would have been a lie. More exactly, the reader would have only been reading what it said, with no idea or intention of being taken seriously or having any truth. If you or I got up and read those words aloud, and the Holy Spirit was not leading us, it would just be a lot of noise.
1 Corinthians 13:1
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
One of the special things about the bible is that you cannot draw any conclusions based on the tense of a scripture. The example from Isaiah above was written in present tense, but from Isaiah’s viewpoint, it pointed to something to happen in the future. From our viewpoint, it points to something that happened in the past.
When John wrote I saw it’s past tense but points to the future. Here he is seeing into the future, but it is written in past tense.
Revelation 21:2
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Here’s an example of something written in present and future tense, but has already past.
Genesis 6:17
17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
The quote from Revelation has not been fulfilled yet. The one from Genesis has. Now look at this one.
Hosea 11:1
1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
The quote from Hosea was fulfilled in Exodus, yet according to Matthew it was fulfilled centuries later in the life of Jesus. This is a case of double fulfillment.
Matthew 2:15
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
Here’s a case where it’s not so clear as to fulfillment.
1 John 3:2
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Suppose someone preached and based a teaching on the ‘fact’ that Now we are the sons of God. After all, they could claim, the bible says Now and that means now! Right. Well is this scripture 1 John 3:2 fulfilled or not. See what it says in Romans.
Romans 8:14-16
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
There is a catch here isn’t there. You have to be led by the Spirit. And the Spirit has to bear witness with us. A teaching based on the ‘fact’ that Now we are the sons of God, depends on the teacher and the listeners being led by the Spirit. If that’s not the case, then there is no truth in it. We’re not talking about being able to hear from the Spirit, or having a Gift from the Spirit. We’re talking about being led by the Spirit on a full time basis; 24 by 7 by 365. You can’t be a Son of God one day and revert back to your old self the next. That’s not being led by the Spirit.
John 3:5-8
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
To be a Son of God, you have to be dead to the flesh, and born of the Spirit; This is the Kingdom of God.
So the verse that says Now we are the Sons of God is not yet fulfilled. You may find as you look through First John, that it is written in present tense, yet it speaks of a future condition or time.
Another good example is those who say we are not under the law, we’re under grace. What does the bible say?
Romans 6:14
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
A lot of people want to take this verse, Romans 6:14 and run with it. But if you check out what it says in Galatians 5, you will see that there is that same condition, being led by the Spirit.
Galatians 5:18
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
So are we under the Law or not? Perhaps Romans 6 has not been fulfilled yet.
Here is another passage in present tense that is not yet fulfilled.
Hebrews 12:22-24
22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Multiple Fulfillments
New testament scriptures taken at face value, speak of things in the present tense. We take them on faith, but do not see them in reality. The catch is that the New Testament church in the writings of the New Testament is primarily a type of the end time church. And many of the scriptures describing New Testament happenings are only partial fulfillments, or not fulfilled at all. These scriptures will not be finally fulfilled till the end time church comes into being. The chiefest of these is in Acts 2.
Acts 2:16-20
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
The gift of the holy Spirit on that day was only a partial fulfillment of Joel, and obviously they did not see the wonders in heaven or signs in the earth. The Day of the Lord did not come in their time. The gift of the Spirit on that day was only a measure of foretaste of the spirit. These next quotes speak of the earnest of the Spirit. This means a partial payment or token.
2 Corinthians 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Ephesians 1:13-14
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Notice that Ephesians 1:13-14 mentions the promise and looks ahead to time of the redemption. The fullness of the Spirit will come with the complete fulfillment of Joel 2.
Joel 2:28-31
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Our problem comes when we assume that the partial fulfillment is the one and only fulfillment. Then we get into preaching and teaching on scripture that is not yet fulfilled. And people wonder ‘What’s wrong with this picture?’
So if you hear claims that :
we are a new testament church
we are under grace, not the law
we are the sons of God
we are spirit filled and spirit led
we belong to the kingdom of God
we are crucified with Christ
we are walking in newness of life
we are a new creation
we have the fullness of the five fold ministry
and so on, look for the witness of the Spirit. Because although those making these claims mean well, there may be no truth in them.
Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.