Revelation 10-11 (Temple & Two Witnesses)

Introduction

English Standard Version Chapter 10

The Angel and the Little Scroll

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” 5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

The Seventh Trumpet

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,

who is and who was,

for you have taken your great power

and begun to reign.

18  The nations raged,

but your wrath came,

and the time for the dead to be judged,

and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,

and those who fear your name,

both small and great,

and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

This week we’re entering some of the most difficult symbolism contained in John’s Apocalypse. Commentators from all interpretive camps often regard chapter 11 and its two witnesses to be the most difficult chapter of the entire book. So, keep that in mind as we look at chapters 10 and 11 this morning. However, regardless of the difficulty of some of the symbolism found here, I believe we can still understand the basic intent of these two chapters and to see how they fit within the broader storyline of the book. I think, by the end of our time together, you’ll be able to see the importance of these chapters.

Recap

But, before we begin, let’s recap where we’ve come and where we’re headed, so that we don’t lose our place in John’s prophecy of events. The Apostle John has been given a vision of what must shortly take place in his day. He’s been taken up into God’s heavenly sanctuary and given a glimpse of the spiritual forces animating the affairs of men on earth. He sees the souls of martyrs under an alter crying out for vindication, and a scroll given to a Lamb who is standing, but as though it had been slain.

This scroll is written on the front and the back and sealed with 7 seals, it contains judgments intended for those who were responsible for killing the prophets and stoning those sent to them, judgments aimed at Jerusalem, that great city which is now symbolically referred to as Sodom and Egypt, where the Lord was crucified. The city now stands condemned, and only Jesus is found worthy to execute the judgments against her, to open the seals of the scroll, to vindicate those under the alter in heaven.

In chapter 6 these seals are opened, one by one, describing the plagues promised Israel at Mt Sinai if they broke the terms of the covenant, but in chapter 7 the judgments are restrained, there’s an interlude, the judgments are put on hold, that God’s remnant might first be sealed, 144,000, that they might be protected from the wrath coming upon the city.

Then in chapters 8-9, after the seals are opened, and God’s servants sealed, the judgments are unleashed at the sound of 7 trumpets. The judgments that had only been described in chapter 6 are carried in chapters 8-9. Many of the plagues that had befallen Egypt during the Exodus were now turned against Jerusalem, and all the demons that Jesus had cast out during his earthly ministry returned to Jerusalem in hordes, resulting in a far worst state than before.

Interlude

Now, as we approach chapters 10-11, leading up to the final trumpet, we’re met with another interlude, a pause in the judgments, and, as we’ll see later, this interlude between the 6th and the 7th trumpet parallels the interlude we saw earlier between the 6th and 7th seal when the 144,000 were sealed on their foreheads. The parallel will be essential for understanding chapter 11 when John is told to measure the Temple, so keep that in mind as we walk through these two chapters.

Mighty Angel

But for now, let’s pickup there in chapter 10, beginning in verse 1,

English Standard Version Chapter 10

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”

This angel’s description is much like what’s attributed to Christ elsewhere. This angel is clothed in a cloud, just as Jesus is repeatedly associated with riding on clouds both in chapters 1 and 14. There’s a rainbow over his head, just as there’s a rainbow around the throne of God in heaven back in chapter 4. His face shines like the sun, just as Jesus’ face shone like the sun at his transfiguration, and then again in Revelation 1:16 when John said that his face was like the sun shining at full strength. His legs are like pillars of fire or burning torches, reminiscent of the pillar of fire that had lead the Hebrews through the wilderness at night during the exodus.

But, whether this is Jesus or not, isn’t essential to understanding the text. The point is that this mighty angel is standing in authority over the nations of the earth, symbolized by his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land. The sea is frequently used to describe Gentile nations, while the land is usually intended to describe the Land of Israel. That God’s authority encompasses all the nations of the earth.

7 Thunders

We’re also told that the angel called out with a loud voice, like a roaring lion, and when he called out, the seven thunders sounded. Now, to us the phrase “seven thunders” might sounds cryptic, but this is probably a reference to Psalm 29 where David describes the voice of the Lord in seven different ways.

English Standard Version Psalm 29

3  The voice of the LORD is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders,

the LORD, over many waters.

4  The voice of the LORD is powerful;

the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

5  The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;

the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

6  He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,

and Sirion like a young wild ox.

7  The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.

8  The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;

the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

9  The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth

and strips the forests bare,

and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

We’re meant to perceive the magnitude of this angel’s power and authority, that this is, indeed, a mighty angel, likely even Christ himself.

And as the angel thundered, we’re told that just as John started to write, the angel commanded him to seal up the words of the prophecy, and not to write it down. At the end of Revelation in chapter 22:10 John is told just the opposite, saying, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” So while the contents of John’s Apocalypse was not meant to be sealed up, because the events were near, here, he’s told to seal up the words uttered by this angel.

And probably for one of two reasons, either 1) the events were still in the distant future, or 2) because the words are meant for John alone. Just as the Apostle Paul described in 2 Corinthians 12:2 when he was caught up to the third heaven, caught up into paradise, and heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.

Secret things belong to the Lord

So, we might ask ourselves, then why tell us about it all? Well, I suspect we’re meant to be reminded that there are many things God has no intention of telling us beforehand. Deuteronomy 29:29 famously says,

English Standard Version Chapter 29

29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

We should always approach prophecy carefully, and not as a one who is simply curious about future events. Our motivation for understanding prophecy must not be out of curiosity, but obedience. Remember what John wrote at the outside of his Apocalypse, in chapter 1, verse 3,

English Standard Version Chapter 1

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

Our motivations for understanding eschatology, or any theological subject for that matter, should always be motivated by a heart that seeks to know and obey our Lord. Therefore, we should always guard against vain speculations.

Mystery of God fulfilled

That being said, let’s continue there in verse 5,

English Standard Version Chapter 10

5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

This is a particularly important point in the book, because we’re meant to see the fundamental purpose of these judgments. While there are chapters upon chapters of judgment described in John’s Apocalypse this is not the telos of the book, it’s not the end for which it was written. We must understand and remember that the tribulations described here are ultimately birth pains. The judgments carried out against Jerusalem will result in the birth of a new city and a new Temple, whose builder and make is God.

There’s a reason the last two chapters of John’s Apocalypse depict a new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, because as the Jerusalem on earth is cast out, a new Jerusalem is revealed from heaven to take its place. The destruction of Jerusalem and her Temple is meant to serve God’s ultimate redemptive purposes in history, what had otherwise been a mystery until then. That the Gentiles will be made fellow heirs with the Jews, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. This is what the angel here is referring to when he says that there would be no more delay, but that the mystery would be fulfilled.

The old Jerusalem must be removed in order for the new Jerusalem to take its place. Or as Jesus put it in Matthew 9:16-17,

Matthew 9:16–17 ESV

No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

In other words, the wineskins of the old covenant could not hold the wine of the new, therefore the new wine had to be put into new wineskins, and the old wineskins could not be reused, but nor were they meant to be. The old covenant was always intended to give way to a better covenant, a covenant of grace, enacted on better promises, therefore the types and shadows of the old had to be removed, lest they get in the way of the new.

Judaism had become a stumbling block to the churches of the first century. The unbelieving Jews persecuted the church and the Judaizer’s, a Christian group who had adopted Jewish customs, sought to impose Judaism on Gentile Christians. This was why the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians, to warn them against submitting to circumcision, and seeking to be justified by works of the law. As long as the Temple stood Christians would feel pressure to become Jews in order to be Christian, however, God had intended the Gentiles to become fellow heirs of the promise to Abraham, not to become Jews. The new covenant was a covenant of grace while the old was a covenant of works, and the old covenant, with its types and shadows, had become obsolete.

Therefore, the angel here makes an oath that there will be no further delay, that the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

Bittersweet

English Standard Version Chapter 10

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

There’s disagreement related to the identity of this scroll, whether it’s a different scroll or the same scroll that was given to Jesus earlier in chapter 5, but given the context I’m inclined to understand it as the same scroll. The angel tells John to eat it and to prophesy again, which seems to indicate that John is meant to pickup where he left off in chapter 9, to continue.

Whenever a prophet is described as eating a scroll it’s meant to depict the words of God being put into their mouth. And more than that, we read here that when John eats it that it will be as sweet as honey in his mouth, but that it will make his stomach bitter.

The point here is that judgement is always bittersweet. On one hand, we rejoice when the righteous are vindicated, but on the other hand even righteous judgement is awful to behold. Listen to how the prophet Jeremiah described the joy associated with the Lord taking vengeance on his persecutors in Jeremiah 15:15-16,

Jeremiah 15:15–16 ESV

O Lord, you know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. In your forbearance take me not away; know that for your sake I bear reproach. Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.

Most of us in our western context are unacquainted with persecution, therefore we fail to understand the comfort derived from knowing that the Lord has our backs, that the wicked will not prevail or go unpunished. In fact, we’re so unacquainted with persecution that we find it hard to read texts like these, or to stomach impreccatory psalms, but for those who know persecution well, they understand the great comfort and joy that’s found in knowing that God will one day take vengeance on their persecutors, that no injustice will be overlooked.

However, this does not mean that we take delight in the destruction of the wicked, as though we were looking for an opportunity. Listen to how God lamented over Israel’s rebellion in Ezekiel 33:11,

Ezekiel 33:11 ESV

Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

And it’s this same lament and plea that’s at the heart of the Gospel, that surely your transgression and sins are upon you, and you rot away because of them. But God takes no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked, but rather that you would turn from your way and live; to turn back from your evil ways and repent that you might live! That God might forgive your trespasses and sins, for God sent his Son into the world to save the world, for God did not send his Son to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Therefore, repent and believe on the Lord,Jesus, and be saved from your sin.

So, as we walk through the Book of Revelation it’s intended to be a bittersweet experience. On one hand the church and its martyrs are be vindicated, they will be avenged, while on the other hand the wicked are utterly destroyed by righteous judgement. The threats and warning of judgement are always meant to drive us to Christ, to find forgiveness for our sin. This is why the Gospel is so important in this age, because the we have an opportunity to tell our unbelieving neighbors to flee the wrath that is to come, and to proclaim to them the way of salvation. Our proclamation is always fundamentally twofold, 1) a warning to flee the wrath that is to come, and 2) to proclaim the way of salvation.

Measure the Temple

Now, let’s turn to chapter 11, starting there in verse 1,

English Standard Version Chapter 11

11 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.

Now, remember what I pointed out at the beginning, chapters 10-11 are an interlude between the 6th and 7th trumpet, there’s a pause in the judgment sequence, and it parallels the interlude that we saw between the 6th and the 7th seal when the 144,000 were sealed on their foreheads. Therefore, what happened between the 6th and 7th seal is being portrayed again between the 6th and 7th trumpet, that the true worshipers of God will be preserved from the calamity that will befall Jerusalem.

Notice that John is instructed to measure the temple and the altar and those who worship there. The Greek word translated temple there refers to the inner court or the holy of holies, not the whole temple mount. In other words, only those who worship there are to be measured. The measuring is meant to divide those who will be protected from calamity from those who will not, to mark out those who are true worshipers of God from those who are not. While Jerusalem and her temple will be destroyed we’re meant to understand that the true worshipers of God will escape the destruction, that the Christians will be protected.

Trampled by the Gentiles

John is explicitly instructed not to measure the court outside the temple, to leave it out, because it has been given over to the nations, that they should trample the holy city for 42 months. Listen to how Jesus described these events to his disciples in Luke 21:20-24,

Luke 21:20–24 ESV

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

This is precisely what John is referring to in his Apocalypse, that the true worshipers will be protected from the calamity coming against Jerusalem, and that Jerusalem has been given over to the nations to be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles.

John also says that the Gentiles will trample the holy city for 42 months, which is a number we’ll see repeated in the chapters that follow stated in various ways, but for now, it’s important to know that the war between Rome and Jerusalem lasted for precisely 42 months.

Two Witnesses

Then John goes on to describe two witnesses, which may be some of the most difficult and complex imagery in the entire book. We pickup it up there in verse 3,

English Standard Version Chapter 11

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

4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

While we could spend hours following every thread of symbolism, I want to take the remainder of our time to focus on the most important aspects.

Of those, one is this concept of two witnesses. You may recall that Deuteronomy 19:15 that says,

English Standard Version Chapter 19

Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.

While it may be difficult to discern the precise identity of these two witnesses, their role is what’s essential to understanding this text. These witnesses are intended to establish a charge against Jerusalem. They bear witness to Jerusalem’s killing of the prophets and the stoning of those sent to her. They establish the charge of the martyrs in heaven under the alter who cry out, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

This is why the beast rises from the bottomless pit to make war on them, to silence them. The reason there’s inherently so much vitriol toward Christianity in our nation and around the world, is because we bear witness to the world that its deeds are evil. Our presence is a constant reminder to the world of its sin and rebellion. Jesus told his disciples in John 7:7 that the world “hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.”

There’s a reason the world works really hard to convince Christians that they shouldn’t be judging others, and it’s not because the Bible says we shouldn’t confront sin, but because they don’t want anyone making them feel uncomfortable about their sinful behavior. The only kind of Christian they’ll permit is one who won’t interfere with their sinful pursuits. The world will only tolerate benign Christians, Christians who hide the light of the Gospel under a bushel, Christians who are unwilling to be salt and light, who are Christians only in name, and keep their Christianity to themselves.

Therefore, these two witness have become a thorn in the devil’s side, a constant thorn in the flesh of those who serve him. Jesus was certainly a thorn in the sides of the Pharisees and a thorn in the side of Pontius Pilate, so they killed him. And before that John the Baptist was a thorn in the flesh of the Pharisees and of Herod, so Herod had him killed and put his head on a platter. And Jesus prepared his disciples for the same end.

However, no matter the persecution from the Jews or the Roman Empire the devil could not silence these two witnesses, even when they thought they had, Johns writes that a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet again.

I doubt these two witnesses are meant to portray two particular individuals in the first century, but their characteristics do describe several characters from the OT. John says they have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during their days of prophesying, just like the prophet Elijah had, and that they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, just like Moses in Egypt. John also describes them like two olive trees and two lampstands, like Zerubbabel and Joshua in Zechariah 4 who who were the governor and high priest when the Jews were rebuilding the temple after exile. These two witnesses appear to signify the law and the prophets, that they stand bearing witness against Jerusalem, and bearing witness still to the world today.

Conclusion

While there were many who died in the first century for their faithful witness, their witness did not die with them, and that same witness endures today, in both you and I. Therefore, we must realize that our witness remains unstoppable, that the kingdom of heaven remains a kingdom that cannot be destroyed, and that God has assured us that it will break in pieces the kingdoms of this world.

English Standard Version Chapter 11

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,

who is and who was,

for you have taken your great power

and begun to reign.

18  The nations raged,

but your wrath came,

and the time for the dead to be judged,

and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,

and those who fear your name,

both small and great,

and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

John speaks here not of the second coming or the end the world, but of the result of Christ’s first coming. That as the earthly temple was swept away God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within it. Just as the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom as Jesus breathed his last on the cross, so God’s temple in heaven was opened. Access to the holy of holies is no longer forbidden, now we may enter it by the blood of Jesus.

Prayer