<< Previous | Index | Next >>"THE BOOK OF REVELATION" The Temple Of God & The Two Witnesses (11:1-14) INTRODUCTION 1. In the interlude between sixth and seventh trumpets, we first saw the vision of... a. The mighty angel with the little book - Re 10:1-7 b. John eating the little book as instructed - Re 10:8-10 -- With the proclamation to John: "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings." - Re 10:11 2. The interlude continues in chapter eleven with two more visions... a. The first includes John himself and the temple of God - Re 11:1-2 b. The second involves two witnesses - Re 11:3-14 -- Both of these visions relate to where the physical temple was presently located: "the great city...where also our Lord was crucified." (i.e., Jerusalem) - Re 11:8 [Chapter eleven is key to my understanding how chapters 4-11 pertain to judgment upon unfaithful Jerusalem, while chapters 13-19 relate to judgment on pagan Rome. For this reason, we shall cover this chapter in two lessons beginning with the vision of...] I. THE TEMPLE OF GOD (1-2) A. AS DESCRIBED IN THE TEXT... 1. The command to measure the temple and its occupants - Re 11:1 a. John is given a reed like a measuring rod b. Told to measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there 2. The command not to measure the outer court - Re 11:2 a. Told not to measure the court outside the temple b. For it has been given to the Gentiles, who will tread the holy city underfoot forty-two months -- Thus the temple, the altar, and those who worship there are measured, while the unmeasured court (and city) outside the temple would be trod underfoot by the Gentiles for 42 months B. OBSERVATION AND INTERPRETATION... 1. Steve Gregg notes: "In Ezekiel 40–47 a man measures the temple with a measuring rod. In Revelation 11 John himself is given a reed for the same purpose. In both cases, the action depicts the defining of the true spiritual temple in view of the impending destruction of the physical structure in Jerusalem (by Babylonians in Ezekiel's day, by Romans in John's)." - Revelation, Four Views 2. Steve Gregg again: "As there was an interlude between the sixth and seventh seals, depicting the preservation of the 144,000 Jewish believers who escaped and survived the holocaust of A.D. 70, so here also, between the sixth and seventh trumpets, there is this interlude conveying the same thought in different symbols." - ibid. 3. The significance of the 42 months a. "Here the forty-two months or three and a half years evidently refers to the time of the siege, sack, and pillage of Jerusalem by the Roman armies." - David S. Clark, The Message Of Patmos b. "We first find this term in Daniel when Jerusalem was oppressed three and a half years by Antiochus Epiphanes, and the term may well have taken on a symbolical meaning expressing a period of oppression. - ibid. -- This vision may illustrate that while the city of Jerusalem will undergo great persecution during the Jewish War, which lasted about 3 1/2 years (42 months), the true temple of God will not be destroyed (i.e., the church, cf. 1Co 3:16; Ep 2:19-22) [From the measuring of the temple of God and its occupants, our attention is now turned toward...] II. THE TWO WITNESSES (3-14) A. AS DESCRIBED IN THE TEXT... 1. Prophesying for 1260 days - Re 11:3-6 a. Two witnesses given power to prophesy, clothed in sackcloth 1) Identified as the two olive trees and two lampstands standing before God 2) Those trying to harm them are devoured by fire from their mouths b. Having power: 1) To shut heaven so no rain falls during their prophesying 2) To turn water to blood 3) To strike the earth with plagues as they desire 2. Killed and dead for three and a half days - Re 11:7-10 a. Their testimony finished, the beast will kill them 1) The beast that ascends from the bottomless pit 2) Who will make war against them and overcome them b. Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city 1) Spiritually called Sodom and Egypt 2) Where our Lord was crucified c. The peoples, tribes, tongues, and nation who dwell on the earth 1) Will see their bodies three and a half days 2) Will not allow them to be put into graves 3) Will rejoice over them, make merry, and exchange gifts, because the two prophets had tormented those who dwell on the earth 3. Raised and ascended to heaven - Re 11:11-14 a. After three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them 1) They stood, and great fear fell on those who saw them 2) A loud voice from heaven tells them to "Come up here" 3) They ascend to heaven in a cloud as their enemies saw them b. In that same hour there was an earthquake 1) A tenth of the city fell 2) Seven thousand men were killed 3) The rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven c. The second woe is past; the third woe is coming quickly -- Most expositors concede that the two witnesses present a particularly difficult challenge B. OBSERVATION AND INTERPRETATION... 1. The vision of the two witnesses identified as two olive trees and two lampstands is reminiscent of the OT vision of Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the governor - Re 11:3-4; cf. Zec 3-4 2. Their fiery power, ability to stop rain, turn water to blood, are reminiscent of Elijah and Moses - Re 11:5-6; cf. 1Ki 17-18; Exo 7 3. Perhaps they represent the apostolic witness at that time - cf. Ac 1:8 a. The number two perhaps signifying the strength of their witness (e.g., "two or more witnesses") b. They certainly had great power to confirm their message - cf. Mk 16:19-20; He 2:1-4 c. Those that persecuted them did so at their own peril; consider what happened to Herod Agrippa I who had James killed and Peter imprisoned - cf. Ac 12:1-4,20-24 4. When their testimony would be completed, there would be a time of persecution a. By "the beast", which I understand as Satanic forces often manifested in human government as later applied to pagan Rome - cf. Re 13:1-18; 17:7-17 b. By those of "the great city", identified here as Jerusalem - cf. Re 11:8 c. The unbelievers of all nations will delight in the persecution of Christians - cf. Re 11:9-10 d. However, the witnesses (i.e., the apostles) will be victorious, symbolized by their resurrection and ascension to heaven 5. At the same time ("in the same hour") there will be a great destruction of the city (Jerusalem, where our Lord was crucified) a. A tenth of the city fell, 7000 people killed, causing others to be fearful and give glory to God b. Now the actual destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was much worse, so this may allude to a preliminary warning by God for unfaithful Jerusalem to repent (which many appeared to do) c. But obviously and sadly the repentance in the city overall was short-lived -- The vision of the two witnesses is indeed a difficult passage, but the main message is clear: God's witnesses would overcome, and those that persecute them do so at their own peril for the God of heaven is just (and we must leave vengeance to Him) - cf. Ro 12:17-19 CONCLUSION 1. With the vision of the measuring of the temple and the two witnesses, "the second woe is past" - Re 11:14 2. Recall the ominous warning at the end of the fourth trumpet: "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!" - Re 8:13 a. The first woe is past after the fifth trumpet sounds, announcing the locusts from the bottomless pit, which I suggested depicts the internal decadence that would weaken the enemies of God's people (unfaithful Jerusalem) from within - Re 9:12 b. The second woe is past after the interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets, which announced judgment upon the city of Jerusalem - Re 11:14a c. The third woe is now proclaimed as "coming quickly" - Re 11:14b 3. We shall consider what I believe is "the third woe" in our next study when we consider the rest of chapter eleven, which if correct is actually a cause for thankful praise on the part of faithful Christians...! In the meantime, we do well to consider how we today treat the words of God's witnesses. The church in Jerusalem "continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine" (Ac 2:42). Are we doing the same, especially in regards to the gospel they preached? Note carefully Peter's climax and command in the first gospel sermon he preached in Jerusalem: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." - Ac 2:36-39 Have you obeyed Peter's command to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins?<< Previous | Index | Next >>
Home Page
Have A Bible Question? | Want A Free Bible Study Course? | Looking For A Church Near You?
Want To Talk With Someone By Phone? | Want To Discuss The Bible By Email?
Search The Outlines
Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2020
