Who are the prophets that hold to the "Testimony of Jesus"?

Question

In Revelation 19:10 it is recorded that John and his brothers hold to the testimony of Jesus and following on in the same verse,the angel announces, "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy".

In Revelation 22:8-9, which is a continuation from Rev:19-10, it is recorded that John and his brothers are prophets,and because as previously recorded in Rev:19-10,the reason for John and his brothers being prophets is because they hold to the testimony of Jesus,

For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10) [ESV]

8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” (Revelation 22 8-9)

My question is,who are the prophets that the angel is referring to? is the angel referring to old and new testament prophets or is the angel referring to the the two witnesses of Revelation 11 who are empowered to prophesy.Revelation 11

And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

Answer 1

The Testimony of Jesus is a technical phrase used only by John in the book of Revelation. Rev 1:2, 9, 12:17, 19:10(x2), 20:4. It is explicitly defined in the first three verses of Revelation as part of the so-called, “Chain of Revelation”, as set out in the table below.

Rev 1:1–3	Technical Phrase	Definition
God gave the message to Jesus	The Revelation of Jesus	The message God gave
Jesus gave the message via His angel to John	The Testimony of Jesus	That John saw (his prophetic visionary gift)
John gave the message to the church	The words of the prophecy of this book	What John wrote (ie, the book of Revelation)

Thus, the Testimony of Jesus is the visionary prophetic gift. Further, as if to confirm this, Rev 19:10 also identifies the Testimony of Jesus as the Spirit of Prophecy. A second confirmation is provided by the parallels between Rev 19:10 and 22:8, 9. See table below.

Rev 19:10	Rev 22:8, 9
See that you don’t	See that you don’t
Your fellow servant	Your fellow servant
Of your brothers	Of your brothers
Who have the testimony of Jesus	The Prophets And those who keep the words
Worship God	Worship God

Therefore, by this analysis, the "Testimony of Jesus" is the visionary gift of prophecy given to the prophets. Thus, any prophet appointed by God has the testimony of Jesus. This includes the OT prophets (who prophesied of Jesus) and NT prophets who testified of Jesus.

In Rev 11, the two witnesses are also (because they prophesy, V3) are prophets of God and so also had the gift of prophecy.

Answer 2

According to the authors of the NT, the OT presented Christ in an outline, like Plato's allegory of the shadows that are cast by a firepit of people outside the cave. The people can't be seen directly but only known partially by the shadows on the cave wall. So too, the law and the prophets are conceived as shadows of Christ. But the NT reveals Christ plainly, and interpreting and explaining the shadows and what they really referred to:

[Heb 10:1 NLT] (1) The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship.

[Col 2:16-17 NLT] (16) So don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. (17) For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.

So the OT, thru John, pointed forward to Christ, but since then the Kingdom gates have been thrown open and even the least witness for Christ has the benefit of a clear view of the reality, in the face of Jesus Christ:

[Mat 11:11-13 NASB] (11) "Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen [anyone] greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (12) "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. (13) "For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John.