Bear Witness to God's Kingdom Coming
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Revelation 11:1-2.
1 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.
Why is he measuring?
Measuring signifies either judgement (2 Samuel 8:2; Lamentations 2:8) or protection (2 Samuel 8:2; Ezekiel 40:1-6) in Scripture. The context determines which one. Here, measurement is protection. So he is measuring to demonstrate protection of the temple and the worshipers, but not those outside the temple.
What temple could he be measuring?
There are four possibilities for which temple he is measuring for protection:
The second temple of John’s day, which was destroyed in 70 A.D.
The church as the temple of God, as illustrated in Ephesians 2:11-21. This would signify the protection of those who believe.
The third temple, which will be built before Christ returns. This would be the temple that Ezekiel is measuring in Ezekiel 40, which is the OT base for these verses. This would signify the protection of believing Jews.
The third temple, which is built before Christ returns, and it representing both Israel and the Church being preserved during God’s judgement of the world, I.E. the Day of the Lord.
The unmeasured is trampled underfoot for 42 months - the idea that it is unprotected.
God protects his witnesses!
Church, we are protected witnesses!
Revelation 11:3.
3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
What is the idea behind 42 months, 1260 days, three and one half years, time, times and half a time?
If you are a preterist, these times speak of the time of siege of Jerusalem, which started in the fall of 66 A.D. and ended on September 26, 70 A.D. However, the math works out to 48 months.
If you are an idealist, this number symbolizes an end times time period, representing trial for the people of God and God’s judgement of the whole world.
If you are a futurist, this time period represents the last half of Daniel’s 70th week, which is the last half of the tribulation. For further discussion on Daniel’s 70 weeks, listen to Wednesday on 9/13/2023. https://www.youtube.com/live/mDYqBhatlvA?si=CUuLZBxEcdLJOmA0
Also, since these times are dealing with a calendar, there is a dense but interesting discussion on what calendar these calculations should be made on. You can listen to that podcast here. https://nakedbiblepodcast.com/podcast/naked-bible-381-revelation-11/
What are the speculations on the identity of the two witnesses?
For the answer to this question, please listen to Wednesday Study on 9/27/2023. https://www.youtube.com/live/_Yhvalv2Qzw?si=yVnuZl6SsteuM1pJ
The identity of the two witness is not critical to the meaning of the passage or the application of the passage, but being a witness is. We are all called to be a witness.
What does it mean to be a witness?
Acts 1:8.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 4:19-20.
19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,
20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
1 John 1:1-3.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—
2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—
3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
The Greek word for witness is “martyrs”. Martyr in modern day has come to mean one who dies for their belief. In 2022, according to Open Doors, 5,621 Christians gave their lives for Jesus.
We are called to be witness. A witness testifies to what he or she has seen and heard. We have seen the work of God in our lives; we heard the Word preached to us. We then are to follow the apostle's example and bear witness to what God has done and is doing, despite the cost.
Will you be a good witness?
Revelation 11:4.
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
What is meant by the two olive trees and the two lamp stands?
Zechariah 4 is the OT background for the images of the olive trees and lamp stands.
The symbolism for the olive trees could very possibly be Israel. God calls Israel an olive tree in Jeremiah 11:16.
16 The Lord once called you ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed.
Paul works off this identity in Romans 11 when speaking of God’s faithfulness to Israel, and Gentiles sharing in salvation, which was to the Jews first, and then to the Gentiles .
17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,
18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.
24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
Jesus already identified the symbolism of the lamp stands in Revelation 1:20 as the seven churches. Here we only have two. It is interesting that there where only two churches Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11) and Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13) who did not receive a rebuke from Jesus .
So the two witnesses are possibly a Jew and Gentile standing side by side, representing Israel and the Church unified in the testimony of Jesus as Messiah, the Savior of the world, who is coming again to judge the living and the dead.
How is our witness? Is it unifying to the body of Christ?
Revelation 11:5-6.
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.
The OT background for these miracles are events that happen in Moses' and Elijah's ministry. This is part of the reason why some identify the two witnesses as Moses and Elijah.
What are their God-given powers?
The power to breathe fire. (2 Kings 1:9-16; Jeremiah 5:14)
The power to stop the rain. (1 Kings 17:1; Luke 4:25)
The power to turn water to blood. (Exodus 17:7)
The power to strike with every kind of plague. (Exodus 7-10)
These powers are like reading a superhero comic.
God empowers his witnesses to accomplish the mission.
Matthew 28:18-20.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We are empowered by Jesus to be a witness. Let’s be his witnesses.
Revelation 11:7-8.
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.
The enemy only succeeds when they are finished witnessing, and not before. God has a purpose and a plan for us as witnesses.
This beast is embodied in the figure of the Anti-christ. We will look at him more in chapter 13.
They stood in Jerusalem bearing witness for their appointed time.
Will we stand and bear witness where we live in Paw Paw, Earlville, Lee, Rochelle?
Revelation 11:9-13.
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.
We might fear rejection. We might fear death. We are not to fear, for God is for us. The ones who need to fear are those who reject the message of life.
Sadly, often our witness in not recieved. The world celebrates their death. Yet death is not the end, but the beginning, for they are raised and ascend to heaven.
God raises his witnesses to life eternal and judges those who reject their testimony.
Will you choose to be his witness?
Revelation 11:14.
14 The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
The death of the two witnesses concludes the second woe of God’s judgement. How will we respond to his judgement. Will we be his witnesses?
Revelation 11:15.
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.”
Here we have a clear example of the “already/not yet” tension in which we live. The world has become Jesus’ kingdom, but the fullness of the Kingdom has not come in. The wrath of God is not finished. It will be finished with the seven bowls Revelation 15:1.
Church, we bear witness that Jesus’ death and resurrection have destroyed the devil, who has the power of death (Hebrews 2:14-15), and Jesus has set free all those who believe. He is coming again to rule all things forever and ever.
Will we bear witness?
Revelation 11:16-19.
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.
Psalm 2.
1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Will we bear witness to his reign with hearts of thanksgiving?
Our witness will not be well received, for the nations rage, but that is God’s problem which he solves in his coming wrath, which ends with the judgement of the dead and the destruction of the destroyers.
The Lord rewards all his witnesses, both small and great, with the fullness of his presence. (Revelation 21:22-26)
So I challenge each of you to be his good witnesses as we go about the life he has given us.