The Two Witnesses Wear at Least Some Black

Artist’s depicition of a man in black

Did you know that the Bible teaches that the two witnesses will wear at least some black?

Notice the following:

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth (Revelation 11:3).

Furthermore, notice the following, also from the Bible:

I clothe the heavens with blackness, And I make sackcloth their covering (Isaiah 50:3).

I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood (Revelation 6:12).

The implication in the above scriptures is that biblical sackcloth is black–thus it seems that the two witnesses wear some cloth that is black.

The following is one of few places in Catholic prophecies that it seems that there is an objection to two specific individuals towards the time of the end that I believe is most likely a reference to the two witnesses (it also refers to others):

Anne Catherine Emmerich (October 1, 1822) “The Church,” she groaned, “is in great danger. I must ask every one who comes to see me to say an Our Father for that intention. We must pray that the Pope may not leave Rome, for unheard-of evils would result from such a step. We must pray the Holy Ghost to enlighten him, for they are even now trying to exact something of him. The Protestant doctrine, as also that of the Greeks, is spreading everywhere. Two men live at this time who long to ruin the Church, but they have lost one who used to help them with his pen. He was killed by a young man about a year ago, and one of the two men of whom I speak left Germany at the same time. They have their employees everywhere. The little black man in Rome, whom I see so often, has many working for him without their clearly knowing for what end. He has his agents in the new black church also. If the Pope leaves Rome, the enemies of the Church will get the upper hand. I see the little black man in his own country committing many thefts and falsifying things generally. Religion is there so skillfully undermined and stifled that there are scarcely one hundred faithful priests. I cannot say how it is, but I see fog and darkness increasing. There are however, three churches that they cannot seize: St. Peter’s, St. Mary-Major’s and St. Michael’s. Although they are constantly trying to undermine them, they will not succeed. I help not. All must be rebuilt soon for every one, even ecclesiastics are laboring to destroy–ruin is at hand. The two enemies of the Churchwho have lost their accomplice are firmly resolved to destroy the pious and learned men that stand in their way.” (Schmöger Carl E. The Life and Revelations of Anne Catherine Emmerich, Volume 2. Approbation: Bishop of Limbourgh Peter Joseph. TAN Books, reprint 1976, p.298).

I am not convinced that the “little black man in Rome” (which is not “his own country”) is actually Negroid in race (nor were the one or two Catholic commentators I have read who discussed this matter–they indicated some type of Caucasian). This is because a dark/black church is spoken about there and in other places (i.e. Schmöger, pp.279-280,283-284,292), and in Catholic writings, the term black (as shown in some other Catholic writings, i.e. Hildegard of Bingen. Scivias. Paulist Press, Mahwah (NJ), pp. 173-174,299) appears to mean one contrary to or outside of the Roman Church. Furthermore since the two witnesses seem to wear some black cloth and many Catholic prophecies are warning against biblical prophecies (a related article of interest may include Do Catholic Prophecies Warn Against Jesus or Antichrist?), this warning may be directed against the actual two witnesses.

However, it should be noted that the Bible shows that there will be false prophets (2 Peter 2:1-3) and lately one has been getting a lot of attention.

Ronald Weinland is a self-appointed prophet and claimer to be one of the two witness. He claims certain events must occur this month and that the great tribulation will begin in April 2008 (but it will not, please see the article At Least Two Wrongly Claim Great Tribulation Will Begin in 2008). Anyway, apparently Ronald Weinland is also into a bit of allegory regarding the two witnesses (and although I may have misunderstood him, he apparently does not intend to wear any type of sackcloth) as he wrote:

Notice: “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth” (Revelation 11:3). The symbolism of “sackcloth” is given because these two will be filled with humility (Weinland, Ronald. 2008 – God’s Final Witness. Copyright © 2006 by the-end.com, inc., Cincinnati. Published October, 2006, pp.21-22).

While it is remotely possible that the two witnesses will not wear actual physical sackcloth, Revelation 11:13 is not speaking of just humility, but specifically that the clothing of the two witnesses will not be fancy–probably in contrast to the beast, who is likely to be flashy/wealthy in appearance. And in particular, I also suspect that the two witnesses actually will sometimes wear some literal sackcloth, at least at times. And that they will wear at least some black while they are publicly warning the world.

Two articles of related interest may include:

Who Are The Two Witnesses? What is their job? What does the Bible reveal? What has the Church of God taught on this subject? Might even Roman Catholic prophecies give some clues here?
Concerns About Ronald Weinland’s Church of God-Preparing for the Kingdom of God Ronald Weinland falsely claims to be one of the two witnesses God is raising up and that the end will come in 2008. Is he a false prophet? He has at least one other view that suggests that he is not part of the COG.