Revelation 11:2: ... the holy city shall [the Gentiles] tread under foot forty and two months.

The holy city of Jerusalem or simply the Holy City¹ has been repeatedly trampled² by Gentiles for many centuries,³ and this condition will continue (more or less)⁴ until the Second Coming.⁵ In Luke 21:24, the Savior prophesied that "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."⁶ The times of the Gentiles refers to the time in the earth's history when non-Jewish (non-Israelite)⁷ people have power in the earth⁸ and are given the opportunity to receive the gospel on a priority basis.⁹ This period began when the gospel was taken to gentile nations and non-Jewish people after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.¹⁰ The times of the Gentiles continued through the Great Apostasy¹¹ when their power on earth was demonstrably great.¹²

In the last days, the times of the Gentiles are called the fullness of the Gentiles in 1 Nephi 15:13,¹³ because they have a fulness of power in the earth¹⁴ and they also receive the fulness¹⁵ of the restored gospel¹⁶ ahead of the Jews.¹⁷ This fulfills the scriptural mandate in 1 Nephi 13:14 that the last (meaning the Gentiles) shall be first, and the first (meaning the Jews) shall be last.¹⁸ The fulness of Gentile power will begin to decline after the saints gather at Adam-ondi-Ahman and Christ begins to take dominion on the earth.¹⁹ As the power and dominion of the Gentiles begins to decline,²⁰ the gospel will once again be taken to the Jews through the ministry of the Two Witnesses identified in Revelation 11:3.²¹ The times of the Gentiles will end completely as the Jews accept Christ and his gospel, and the Gentiles lose their power on earth at the Second Coming.²²

Revelation 11:2 predicts that the Holy City shall be trodden down by the Gentiles during the last 42 months²³ (3½ years literally)²⁴ before the Second Coming.²⁵ The 42 months correspond to the second half of the Second Woe called Armageddon.²⁶ The 42 months (a compound of 6x7)²⁷ will begin immediately after the saints gather at Adam-ondi-Ahman.²⁸ The Great Tribulation will be nearly complete when the Two Witnesses die.²⁹ The Gentiles will then massacre Jews in the Holy City for 3½ days³⁰ and destroy the Third Temple³¹ in another and final Abomination of Desolation.³² The period of Gentile power and Satanic control over the Holy City³³ will end abruptly³⁴ when Christ destroys the Gentile armies at his Second Coming.³⁵

Revelation 11:3: And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

The 42 months (3½ years) identified in Revelation 11:2³⁶ is the same period of time as the 1260 days in Revelation 11:3.³⁷ During these last 1260 days (3½ years) before the Second Coming,³⁸ Christ will give power³⁹ to those whom he designates as my two witnesses.⁴⁰ They are future martyrs⁴¹ who will prophesy of Christ among the Jews in Jerusalem.⁴² These Two Witnesses will be actual mortal men⁴³ that can die a martyr's death,⁴⁴ and not translated prophets from ages past as some have speculated.⁴⁵ Isaiah foresaw and predicted the ministry and death of these two sons in Isaiah 51.⁴⁶ The Lord also revealed to Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) Section 77:15, that they will be "two prophets that are to be raised up to the Jewish nation in the last days ... to prophesy to the Jews after they are gathered and have built the city of Jerusalem in the land of their fathers."⁴⁷ The 42-month ministry of the Two Witnesses will continue at Jerusalem until their martyrdom.⁴⁸

The Two Witnesses will be latter-day forerunners for Christ's Second Coming as John the Baptist was a forerunner for Christ's first coming.⁴⁹ They will prepare the Jews to receive the gospel last from the millennial Messiah at the Second Coming⁵⁰ as they received the gospel first from the mortal Messiah at his First Coming.⁵¹ At the Second Coming, the Jews‒as a natural branch of the olive tree‒will be re-grafted into the stock of the true olive tree, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ.⁵²

The Two Witnesses will be literally two in number⁵³ so that their testimony to the Jews will be legally binding⁵⁴ in accordance with the ancient law of witnesses.⁵⁵ Some scholars ignore this principle and spiritualize the number and meaning of their ministry.⁵⁶ The Two Witnesses will prophesy of the Abomination of Desolation that will occur at the Second Coming,⁵⁷ including destruction of the Third Temple built by unbelieving Jews during the first half of Armageddon.⁵⁸ Based on the law of witnesses, the Jews and any other people⁵⁹ that reject the testimony and warning of the Two Witnesses shall be left without excuse⁶⁰ against the coming destruction at the end of their 42-month ministry.⁶¹

Doctrine and Covenants 77:15 states that the two witnesses "are to be raised up ... in the last days, at the time of the restoration."⁶² This revelation from 1832⁶³ does not mean that the Two Witnesses will be raised up at the time of the restoration of the gospel in 1830.⁶⁴ The time of the restoration in this verse refers to the restoration of the Jews to the land of Israel where they will restore Jerusalem and rebuild the Third Temple.⁶⁵ The time of the restoration also refers to the restoration of all priesthood keys to Jesus Christ during the future gathering at Adam-ondi-Ahman.⁶⁶ At that gathering, the Two Witnesses will stand by the Lord of the whole earth⁶⁷ as stated in Zechariah 4:14. The Two Witnesses will then be anointed⁶⁸ as his witnesses in Jerusalem⁶⁹ for the 3½ years that follow.⁷⁰ Since the scope of their ministry is limited to the Jews in Jerusalem for just 3½ years, the Two Witnesses will not have apostolic keys as special witnesses in all the world.⁷¹ They will minister to the Jewish nation by virtue of the Melchizedek Priesthood they hold,⁷² and not because they are Jews themselves.⁷³

Once they are anointed at Adam-ondi-Ahman, the Two Witnesses shall prophesy in the Holy City.⁷⁴ This means they will call the Jews to repent and to come unto Christ.⁷⁵ They will proclaim hope to the believers⁷⁶ and destruction to the nonbelievers.⁷⁷ They will preach after the manner of ancient prophets in Jerusalem before them.⁷⁸ The Two Witnesses are symbolically clothed in sackcloth⁷⁹ as a sign of mourning for the wickedness and suffering of the Jews in the past,⁸⁰ and for the future destruction of those that fail to repent.⁸¹ The time of their ministry in the Great Tribulation⁸² shall be filled with sorrow, perplexity, and distress of nations.⁸³ Wicked and unbelieving Jews will conspire to kill them as their forefathers killed the Son of God in the meridian of time.⁸⁴