Revelation 11

Revelation 11 is the second of 2 visions (ch 10 the first) that are an interlude before the 7th Trumpet is blown, which is the 3rd Woe.

John is commissioned as a preacher of God’s Word/Gospel in ch 10 and in ch 11 he is encouraged in that commission as part of the Witnessing Church.

Overall, ch 11 gives further great encouragement to the church as it witnesses of Christ in the world and trusts Him as it faces the persecution of the world...

Derek Thomas says that this is also the point of the interlude in chapter 7 between the opening of the 6th and 7th seals...

NOTE: what John sees in ch 11:1-14, as what we have seen earlier in the seals and first 6 Trumpets is what has been happening THROUGHOUT the church age, from Christ ascension to Christ second coming.

That is...this is what is happening in our world NOW...it is what is true about US! So LISTEN CAREFULLY!

Revelation 11

The TWO WITNESSES

I. MEASURING THE TEMPLE....vv 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. 

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-Measuring is symbolic for marking for protection (see Ezekiel 40-41). The same as ‘sealing” in ch 7:4-8. The Temple is the church of Christ (1 Cor 3:16) in the midst of the world...What we need to understand is that this “protection” of God’s people...of us...does NOT mean to be exempted from suffering or physical and other harms...but it means absolutely that we will NOT be hurt spiritually so that we reject our faith and our God, our Lord.

NOTE ALSO: 42 months is the same as 3-1/2 years and the same as 1260 days (when a month is rounded to 30 days)...(also in Daniel 7:25 & Daniel 12:7 as “a time, times, and half a time”) this is not a literal number of days or space of time, but is symbolic of the time that the world seems to have dominion, even over the the church, but during which the church continues to have its witness of Christ...

-the court outside is not measured, because it is the place of the rebellious nations who persecute God’s people.

II. THE TWO WITNESSES...vv 3-13

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

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-WHO are these “two witnesses”?

Simply, the two witnesses are the WITNESSING CHURCH in the hostile world, God’s people amongst the heathy nations that oppose God and the gospel. THEY ARE US. Let’s see what we can learn about our witness during these “last days” from the description of these witnesses here...

-They witness during the entire time of the church, between Christ’s first and second comings.

-They wear sackcloth because their seriousness and solemness of their message, and perhaps because many will die in this dangerous service...

Let’s see what else we learn...

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. 

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-Why are there 2 witnesses?

*the certainty of our witness: the testimony of 2 men is true, Deuteronomy 17:6; Jn 8:17

*their witness will resemble that of Elijah v6: power to shut the sky that no rain may fall; and Moses, v6, power to turn waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague...

*the two component parts of the church’s witness, like that of Christ, are FAITHFULNESS & TRUTH (see Rev 3:14; Rev 19:11).

In v4: the witnessing church is called “the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth...

*lampstands: the church in the vision of Christ (Rev 1:12: seven golden lampstands), we are to be LIGHT in this dark world, specifically the light of gospel of Christ. Matthew 5:14-16...

*two olive trees...this and the lampstands connect to Zechariah 4:2ff and the message to Zerubbabel there: It is not by might, nor by power, but by MY SPIRIT says the Lord.” The witness of the church as light in a dark world is by the power of the very Spirit of God.

V5: fire pours from their mouth...our witness is not only a message of mercy but a message of judgment...

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.

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V7 when Christ’s witnesses have finished their testimony, God may sovereignly give them over, like He did Job, to the power of Satan, even to kill. This has often been the case in the history of the church...it was, remember, true of Antipas, Christ’s faithful witness in the Church in Pergamum in Rev 2:13f. (Or Stephen in Acts 7, for that matter!)...

Sodom: immoral; Egypt: stubbornly resistant to the gospel, idolatry; where their Lord was crucified: religious opposition...

There have been many times, and will be many more, when it looks like the faithful witnessing church has lost and the pagan world, Satan and his demons, have won.

The bodies of dead saints have even been refused burial and lay open to the mocking of the world...often the world has said the church is destroyed and therefore its witness has been ended...

But, v11, after a short period, like the 2 witnesses John sees, the witnessing church is resurrected and continues its witness again (Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones in Ez 37 is a great picture here) until more death comes or (after whatever period is between their standing on their feet in v11 and the Come Up Here! Of v12)...the Lord Himself returns with a shout, “Come Up Here!” V12

III. THE THIRD WOE/SEVENTH TRUMPET...vv 14-19

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.

ROMANS 15:30-33

Romans 15:30-33

30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

WHEN WE PRAY FOR OTHER BELIEVERS, we strive together with them

-NOTE the Trinitarian praying: by our Lord Jesus, the love of the Spirit, prayers to God...

-NOTE delivered from unbelievers that would hinder service to God, fellowship, the gospel going forth.

Safety, Service, Salvation