These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Standing before (in the presence of) the God of the earth. 'Aleph (') A B C, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, Andreas, read 'Lord' for "God;" so Zechariah 4:14. Ministering to (Luke 1:19) Him who, though now so widely disowned on earth, is its rightful King, and shall at last be openly recognized as such (Revelation 11:15). The article "the" implies allusion to Zechariah 4:10; Zechariah 4:14. They are "the two candlesticks; not the Church, the one candlestick, but its representative light-bearers [Philippians 2:15, foosteeres (G5458)], ministering for its encouragement amidst apostasy. Wordsworth's view is, the two witnesses, the olive trees, are THE TWO TESTAMENTS ministering testimony to the Church of the old dispensation, as well as to that of the new, which explains the two witnesses being called also the two candelesticks (the Old and New Testament Churches: the candlestick in Zechariah 4:1-14 is but one, as there was then but one Testament, and one Church-the Jewish). The Church in both dispensations has light, not in herself, but from the Spirit, through the witness of the twofold Word, the two olive trees (cf. note, Revelation 11:1). The reed, the Scripture canon, the measure of the Church: so Primasius X., p.
314. The two witnesses preach in sackcloth, marking the ignominious treatment which the Word, like Christ Himself, receives from the world. So the 24 elders represent the ministers of the two dispensations by the double twelve. But Revelation 11:7 proves that primarily the two testaments cannot be meant; for these shall not be "killed," or "have finished their testimony," until the world is finished.